Annapolis winning the Coolmore Turf at Keeneland. Keeneland Photo
Breeders’ Cup Notes/Edited
LEXINGTON, KY.—Annapolis had a routine gallop on Tuesday and will add a session at the starting gate to his Wednesday routine in advance of the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile presented by PDJF on Saturday. He has the 11-post position in the field of 14.
The 3yo has a home-court advantage after capturing Keeneland’s Coolmore Turf Mile on Oct. 8 over 10 rivals.
“It is always great to see one that handles the course,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “We are hoping the weather stays good all week and that he will have a firm turf course Saturday. Looking at the forecast it looks like that is going to happen.”
Annapolis arrived in Pletcher’s barn as a 2yo with plenty of potential.
“He’s a son of War Front,” he said. “He is a very good-looking colt and we had high hopes for him from the day he arrived from (Harris Training Center near Ocala.) He delivered on that promise and trained very well for his (winning) debut in Saratoga (Sept. 4, 2021). He has always shown class and ability.”
One of the most intriguing runners on Saturday is Klaravich Stables’ Chad Brown-trained Domestic Spending, who is unraced since Aug. 14, 2021, when finishing second in the Mr. D. and who will contest the Mile.
A three-time Grade 1 winner immediately prior to that effort, he cuts back to one mile for the first time since June 2020 and returns to the World Championships one year after being scratched the week of as the morning line favorite for the Grade 1 Longines Turf.
“I have thankfully good horses in my barn for him to work with, even if I haven’t had the benefit of a prep race for him,” Brown said. “A few weeks ago, I started to watch him work thinking this is a possibility. I know it’s a tall order, but all I can do is get him ready to run the best race I can and he’s going to have to work out his own trip.”
Flavien Prat, aboard for the son of Kingman’s victories in the Turf Classic and Manhattan last year, reunites with the bay 5yo gelding. The late-running pair break from the outside post 14 and received a morning line of 8-1.
“We are going to find out if he needed the benefit of that prep race,” Brown said. “It’s a likely possibility that it will affect him – I’m not confused about that – but there’s also a chance that he’s such a brilliant racehorse that he can overcome it, especially if the dynamics of the race fall right for him.
“Being a Kingman and having a nice mile win under him back when he was younger give me a little confidence, as well as coming off a layoff,” he concluded. “Hopefully that leads to him being a little sharper and gives him a little better position at a mile.”
Peter Brant’s Regal Glory, a three-time Grade 1 winner over the past year, will break from post eight of 14 in Saturday’s Mile. The Chad Brown trainee continued her preparation with a routine gallop Tuesday morning and will be ridden by Jose Ortiz on Saturday. They team up for the 17th time in what is Regal Glory’s 22nd career start and were assigned a 6-1 morning line.
The daughter of 2012 Mile runner-up Animal Kingdom will face the boys for a second time, having finished second in August’s Fourstardave at Saratoga as the 1-2 favorite.
“She didn’t get a good trip in the Fourstardave,” Brown said. “She was out in the center of the track the whole way. Although, she prefers a clear run on the outside of horses, she was basically in the center of the track with no cover.”
The 12-time winner and earner of $2,359,134 exits a game second to stablemate In Italian in the G1 First Lady over the course and distance of Saturday’s Mile.
“She got a very good trip and was second-best, but it was the kind of race that should set her up for a good run here,” Brown said. “It wasn’t too tough on her, she saved ground most of the way and she had a clear shot in the lane. A loose leader got away from her, but I liked the way she finished down the lane and how she came back not as tired as she did in the Fourstardave. She came back a happy horse who’s looking to move forward, in my opinion.”
