LEXINGTON, Ky. – A below 30-degree morning sent many Breeders’ Cup pre-entrants to the Keeneland training track in lieu of the main track that did not open for training until 90 minutes after its regular 6 o’clock opening.
Training was extended on the main track until 10:30 and turf training pushed back to 10:30-11.
Among the marquee names training on the main track was Tiz the Law (Classic), who had a strong gallop under Heather Smullen in his first day back on track following a 5f work in 59 1/5 on Saturday.
Arriving across the road from the track at Blue Grass Airport was a flight from New York that included the World Championships contingents from trainers Chad Brown and Todd Pletcher.
The draw for post positions for all 14 Championship races is scheduled for this afternoon starting at 5 p.m. ET on TVG and streaming live on www.Breederscup.com.
Longines Classic (G1)
Authentic, Improbable/Maximum Security – Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert traveled from his home in Southern California to Kentucky Monday after entering six horses in the 37th Breeders’ Cup. Baffert’s sextet will ship to Keeneland on Tuesday.
Baffert is scheduled to have three starters in the $6 million Classic: Authentic, Improbable and Maximum Security. He has won the marquee event of the 14-race Breeders’ Cup lineup three times.
Also headed to the World Championships from the Baffert barn are Gamine for the Filly and Mare Sprint; Princess Noor in the Juvenile Fillies and Classier in the in the Juvenile.
By My Standards – Allied Racing Stable’s Longines Classic contender By My Standards jogged a circuit of Churchill Downs on Monday morning for trainer Bret Calhoun.
“He just went and jogged today,” Calhoun said. “He came out of his work well (5f in 59 4/5) and was very sharp this morning.”
The son of two-time Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Goldencents will ship over to Keeneland on Wednesday.
Calhoun added: “We’ll just train him on Wednesday morning and ship him over early.”
Global Campaign – Sagamore Farm’s Global Campaign, who galloped 1 1/4m at Churchill Downs Monday morning, will ship to Keeneland Wednesday morning for his scheduled start in the Classic.
“He’ll just gallop into the race. He’s been training really, really well,” trainer Stanley Hough said.
Higher Power – Hronis Racing’s Higher Power jogged once around on the main track at Keeneland with Juan Leyva, assistant to trainer John Sadler, in the saddle.
The morning exercise marked the first day back on the track for Higher Power, who had worked 5f in 58 4/5 on Saturday, his fifth work since arriving at Keeneland a month ago.
Leyva said that Sadler, who won the 2018 Classic with Accelerate, will be at the barn in the morning.
Tacitus – One day after breezing 5f in 1:00 flat, the Bill Mott-trained Tacitus continued his preparation for the Longines Classic on Monday morning at Keeneland. While the majority of Thoroughbreds may walk or jog the day after a workout, the 4yo Juddmonte Farms blueblood did a little more. Leaving Barn 60 at just past 8 o’clock, the son of Tapit galloped one lap of the 1 1/16m main track under Felipe Castro.
“He had worked yesterday,” said Riley Mott, assistant trainer. “We usually take him to the track the day after he works just to do a little something, because he’s pretty high-energy in the barn. He just galloped a short mile. He came out really good (from the breeze). He has good energy and is moving sound. His legs are good and he looks good.”
Title Ready – Charles Fipke’s Title Ready braved the cold early this morning and galloped at his Churchill Downs base at 5:20under exercise rider Emerson Chavez. Trained by Dallas Stewart, Title Ready is scheduled to arrive at Keeneland Wednesday.
Tiz the Law – Exercise rider Heather Smullen knows Sackatoga Stable’s three-time Grade 1 winner Tiz the Law very well and likes how he feels and is acting approaching the Longines Classic.
With Smullen up Saturday, Tiz the Law breezed 5f in :59.20 at Keeneland. The rider and her enthusiastic 3yo colt were back on the track Monday for more routine daily exercise. Smullen said the son of Constitution was happy to be out on the sunny but chilly morning.
“Yes, he drug me around for a mile and a half,” she said with a laugh.
Tiz the Law won the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park on March 28, the Belmont on June 20 and the Travers on Aug. 8 at Saratoga to climb to the top of the 3yo division. He has not competed since finishing second by 1 ¼ lengths to Authentic in the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5. On the advice of trainer Barclay Tagg, the owners decided to skip the Preakness on Oct. 3 and prepare for the Classic.
Tagg worked him a Belmont Park on Oct. 16 and shipped him to Keeneland two days later to give him three weeks – and two works – to become accustomed to the track. Smullen said Tiz the Law is comfortable and gearing up for his first try against older horses.
Tom’s d’Etat – Two days after putting in his final serious breeze in advance of the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, G M B Racing’s Tom’s d’Etat returned to the track and put in a jog at Churchill Downs on Monday under the watch of trainer Al Stall Jr.
If simply getting a horse into a Breeders’ Cup race is an achievement in itself, Tom’s d’Etat’s slated presence in Saturday’s 10f test is a massive reward to his connections for the faith they have displayed through his start-and-stop career. Though the son of Smart Strike is the veteran of the Classic field at the age of 7, he has made just 19 career starts because of physical setbacks, including a pair of ankle surgeries.
Since November 2018, however, Tom’s d’Etat has been able to stay healthy. After ending his 2019 season with consecutive wins in the Fayette and Clark, the bay horse has kept himself at the forefront of the handicap ranks this year with victories in the Oaklawn Mile and Stephen Foster.
“That’s it. The continuity has just helped him where instead of starting and stopping, he’s been actually good since November of 2018,” said Stall, who famously upset eventual Hall of Famer Zenyatta in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic with champion Blame. “He’s basically been going forward since then. He’s been a straight forward, regular horse for over two years now. That continuity has got his cardio perfect and has his mind just right. I think that’s why we’re where we are today.”
Tom’s d’Etat hasn’t started since finishing third in the Whitney at Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 1, a race in which he stumbled at the break and lost all chance. Stall gave his charge some extra time to make sure no physical issues manifested after that troubled start and Tom’s d’Etat has been solid on the worktab since, including a pair of bullet 6f moves on Oct. 17 and Oct. 24.
“I’m just happy for the horse. He deserves to be this type of horse,” Stall said. “We’ve felt that way all along and a lot of horses might have had this kind of untapped potential and not get to it. But for him to show up on this type of stage at this point in his career, I’m happy for him and the owners. My crew worked hard on this horse for a long, long time. It’s a feel-good story.”
Longines Distaff (G1)
Ce Ce – Bo Hirsch’s Ce Ce galloped on the Keeneland training track the morning after arriving from her home base at Santa Anita.
“All of my horses shipped well and came out of their last works well,” said trainer Michael McCarthy, whose other Breeders’ Cup pre-entrants are Speech (Filly & Mare Sprint), Rushie (Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile) and Rombauer (TVG Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance).
Ce Ce, fourth in the Derby City Distaff on Sept. 5 in her initial trip to Kentucky, had worked 5f in 59 3/5 at Santa Anita on Friday.
Dunbar Road – Peter Brant’s Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff contender Dunbar Road walked the Belmont Park barn of trainer Chad Brown one day after breezing 5f in 1:00 3/5 and then shipped from New York to Kentucky.
Per her conditioner, the daughter of Quality Road is among the remaining nine of Brown’s 11-strong Breeders’ Cup brigade that arrived late Monday morning. Front Run the Fed (Turf Sprint) and Raging Bull (Mile) were already on the grounds in Keeneland’s Barn 64 and each jogged.
Harvest Moon – Alice Bamford and Michael Tabor’s Harvest Moon jogged on the Keeneland training track for trainer Simon Callaghan.
Harvest Moon had worked 5f in 1:01 at Keeneland Saturday and today’s activity marked her return to the track.
“She came out of the work well,” Callaghan said. “She may do the same thing tomorrow (come to the training track) because the conditions are expected to be the same.”
Horologist – Bill Mott-trained Beldame winner Horologist had an easy day of it on Monday, sticking to Barn 60 at Keeneland one day after breezing 4f in 47 2/5.
“She worked yesterday, like Frank’s Rockette,” said Riley Mott, assistant trainer. “She came back good and just walked. All in all, we’re in good shape.”
Frank’s Rockette, who breezed the same distance in 49 flat, will enter the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in lieu of the Filly & Mare Sprint, per Mott.
Lady Kate – Lady Kate, fourth in Keeneland’s Spinster on Oct. 4, is scheduled to arrive at Keeneland Wednesday morning after training at Churchill Downs. The 4yo daughter of Bernardini breezed 4f in :48 1/5 at Churchill Downs on Oct. 31.
“She is doing great and we are looking forward to the Breeders’ Cup,” trainer Eddie Kenneally said.
Monomoy Girl – The 2018 Longines Distaff winner Monomoy Girl had her first gallop over the Keeneland track Monday morning. She put in her final work at her Churchill Downs base Saturday and then vanned over to Keeneland Sunday afternoon.
“I don’t think I’ve seen her gallop any better,” trainer Brad Cox said. “She looked really good.”
Ollie’s Candy – Paul and Karen Eggert’s Ollie’s Candy jogged once around the main track at Keeneland with Juan Leyva, assistant to John Sadler aboard.
Ollie’s Candy, runner-up here in the Juddmonte Spinster Oct. 4, had worked 6f in 1:11 on Saturday that was her second work since the Spinster. Monday’s exercise marked her return to the track.
Sadler is expected to be at the barn Tuesday morning.
Point of Honor – Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Stetson Racing LLC’s Point of Honor galloped 1 1/4m over Keeneland’s main track in preparation for a start in the Longines Distaff.
“She’s going to be a bit of a long shot in this race, but she’s training as well as she ever has,” trainer George Weaver said.
Swiss Skydiver – Peter Callahan’s Preakness Stakes winner Swiss Skydiver made a favorable impression coming on to the track a little before 8 a.m. and jogging once around the main track under jockey Robby Albarado.
Trainer Kenny McPeek said the decision to go into the Distaff was easy compared to deciding whether to go in the Preakness against straight 3-year-olds or the Spinster against older fillies and mares.
“This was a relatively easy decision compared to the Preakness,” McPeek said. “I like to keep my horses within their generations. I like to think of the 2-year-old year as the high school level, the 3-year-old year as the college level and 4-year-olds and up is the pros. The Classic is a very deep field of quality older horses. The Distaff seems a little lighter. I think she’s ready to show how good she is against older horses.”
Valiance – Valiance, who capped a three-race winning streak with her victory in the Spinster at Keeneland on Oct. 4, arrived at Blue Grass Airport across the road from Keeneland at approximately 10 a.m. Also in the group from Belmont Park were trainer Todd Pletcher’s Breeders’ Cup pre-entrants Mutasaabeq (Juvenile Turf), Union Gables (Juvenile Turf Sprint) and Likeable (Juvenile).
Halladay (Mile) was expected to arrive from Belmont on a later flight Monday afternoon.
Filly & Mare Sprint (G1)
Serengeti Empress – Things are still going to plan for Joel Politi’s 2019 Longines Kentucky Oaks champ Serengeti Empress. The Tom Amoss trainee will attempt to give her conditioner his first Breeders’ Cup victory in his 14th try on Saturday in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. On Monday morning, she stretched her legs with another easy gallop at Churchill Downs, going out at her normal early time.
“She worked on Thursday and Friday was a walk day, Saturday a jog day and galloped the last two days,” Amoss said. “Because she goes early, she was on the in-house big screen video at Churchill and she looked great. It was really nice to see that. We’re really pleased.”
Turf Sprint (G1)
Imprimis – Breeze Easy LLC’s Imprimis jogged around the training track at Keeneland Monday morning for his scheduled start in Saturday’s Turf Sprint.
“I don’t want to take him to the main track. I now what he wants. He wants to be out there on the quiet track. It’s a decent surface. I like the Keeneland training track. He’ll stay there all week,” trainer Joe Orseno said. “There’s no need for him to do anything else.
Due to very rainy weather in South Florida, Imprimis’ final Breeders’ Cup tune-up was switched from turf to dirt at Gulfstream Park.
“He got here safe and sound. He’s in his feed tub. The cold weather, he’s loving it. I’m not, but he is,” he added. “I’m very happy with him right now – the way he looks, his weight, everything. We’ll get him shod today, and we’ll be done.”
TVG Juvenile (G1)
Sittin On Go – The undefeated winner of the Iroquois at Churchill Downs was scheduled to arrive at Keeneland on Monday after training hours with trainer Dale Romans’ other Breeders’ Cup contenders.
Juvenile Fillies (G1)
Girl Daddy – The unbeaten Pocahantas winner was scheduled to ship to Keeneland from trainer Dale Romans’ Churchill Downs base after training hours on Monday.
Dayoutoftheoffice – With frost keeping the main track closed until 7:30 a.m., trainer Tim Hamm originally thought about just sending Dayoutoftheoffice out for a jog. Satisfied with the way the track looked after diligent work by the Keeneland crew, however, Hamm opted to let his unblemished filly gallop and she carried good energy on a frigid morning.
“I was a little worried about the track being frozen. I went out early and checked the track and we decided to jog at that point,” Hamm said. “But when I went back they had worked it some more so we went ahead and galloped. She looked good.”
There has been a lot of chatter in recent weeks about certain juvenile fillies who are unbeaten in three career starts. While the Bob Baffert-trained Princess Noor and Kenny McPeek-conditioned Simply Ravishing have garnered their share of headlines, Hamm is confident his charge more than deserves to be part of the conversation heading into Friday’s Juvenile Fillies.
Including her most recent score in the Frizette at Belmont Park on Oct. 10, Dayoutoftheoffice has won her three career starts by a combined 12 ¾ lengths. The daughter of Into Mischief broke her maiden by 4 ¾ lengths at Gulfstream Park on May 14, but didn’t merit a ton of respect from the betting public when she took the Schuylerville Stakes by 6 lengths at odds of 19-1.
In the 1m Frizette, the dark bay filly yielded favoritism to Vequist as she notched a two-length victory to give Hamm his first career Grade 1 triumph.
“She’s done everything perfect,” said Hamm, who also co-owns Dayoutoftheoffice with Siena Farm. “My level of confidence is probably as good as anyone else in the race. I think she deserves to be in there, has a legit shot. We’ll find out how she matches up with the other undefeated fillies.”
Vequist – Exercise rider Teresa Hagemeier had to work to keep Vequist on the ground Monday morning as the Grade 1-winning filly was more than happy to go back to the track two days after completing her last serious breeze in advance of the Juvenile Fillies.
With trainer Butch Reid overseeing his string at Parx, his wife and assistant Ginny got an eyeful as Vequist was full of herself while galloping about 1 5/8m over the Keeneland main track.
“She was ready to do this today,” Ginny Reid said. “The breeze really woke her up. Every time you do something strong with her, she gets that much better. I’m really pleased with the way she went and how nice and relaxed she is after the gallop. She’s doing very well.”
Owned by Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Swilcan Stable, Vequist most recently finished second to fellow Juvenile Fillies contender Dayoutoftheoffice in the Frizette Oct. 10. Prior to that outing, the dark bay filly broke her maiden and became the first Grade 1 winner for her sire Nyquist when she blitzed the field by 9 ½ lengths in the 7f Spinaway Sept. 6.
The decision to go in the Spinaway off a runner-up outing in her career debut at Parx on July 29 was spurred in part by new additions to her ownership, but also by Reid’s faith that the filly would get better as the distances got longer.
“Early on, there was a deal made where Gary Barber and Adam Wachtel bought into her and it was kind of their push to go ahead and get her in a Grade 1,” said Butch Reid, who won the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Marathon with Afleet Again. “And we knew the further distances were what she was looking for. We ran her 4 ½ furlongs first time out and she wanted no part of that. At seven-eighths, she’s just starting to get warmed up. I think it was more the distance than a lot of other things.”
Overseas Horses
The European challengers who arrived at Keenland on Friday night cleared quarantine Sunday at around 7 p.m. All European runners are now on site except for the Aidan O’Brien-trained team that is expected to arrive at the European quarantine barn around 8 o’clock tonight. They will not been seen out on the track until Thursday once they have cleared quarantine.
On a very cold Monday morning, the Jessica Harrington-trained duo of Cayenne Pepper (IRE) (Filly & Mare Turf) and Oodnadatta (IRE) (Juvenile Fillies Turf) were the first horses onto the training track just after 6:30. Both trotted a full circuit before heading back to the barn. Their work riders were happy with their horses and reported that they have settled into their new surroundings well. Harrington is due to be on site Wednesday morning.
English 2000 Guineas winner Kameko (Mile) headed the next group joined by the John Gosden trained trio of Lord North (IRE) (Turf), Mehdaayih (GB) (Turf) and Terebellum (IRE) (Filly & Mare Turf). Kameko trotted for one circuit and then did a light canter for one circuit.
Maddy O’Meara, Kameko’s regular work rider reported him to be in fine shape. “He seems in really good form. He traveled over well and is settled. I think he was pleased to get out onto the training track for a leg stretch.”
The Gosden trio trotted one circuit before heading back to the barn.
James Fanshawe accompanied by his wife Jacko were at the training track to see Audarya (FR) (Filly & Mare Turf) exercise. She did a trot and a light canter by herself with her work rider Geoffrey De La Sayette reporting she “moved like a dream.”
Fanshawe, who is having his first Breeders Cup runner, said: “Flew over yesterday and it’s great to be here. The filly looked great out on the track so I’m very pleased.”
Nazuna (IRE) (Juvenile Fillies Turf) spent plenty of time on the track trotting and did a very light canter.
Mighty Gurkha (Juvenile Turf Sprint) accompanied Cadillac (IRE) (Juvenile Turf) and Tarnawa (IRE) (Turf) onto the training track and did a nice canter covering a circuit under regular work rider Michael Murphy. “In great form, really pleased with that,” he said.
Tarnawa was slightly on her toes when first stepping on to the training track but soon became at ease and looked in great shape.
Ubettabelieveit (IRE) (Juvenile Turf Sprint) was ridden by his trainer Nigel Tinkler this morning and looked well. They trotted two circuits of the training track and did a very light canter. “The horse is absolutely fine,” Tinkler said. “Rowan Scott, who rides him on Friday, is flying out today so he will have a sit on him tomorrow morning.”
Safe Voyage (IRE) (Mile) and Siskin (Mile) came out together both trotting a circuit of the training track before having a light canter.
John Quinn the trainer of Safe Voyage is traveling over with his son and assistant Sean and will be at the training track tomorrow morning.
Glass Slippers (GB) (Turf Sprint) was due to have a canter on the turf track but because of the frost in the ground rerouted to the training track. She did a light canter and Jimmy Gee, representing trainer Kevin Ryan, reported all to be well with the filly.
Jockey Mickael Barzalona was at the training track to watch his mount Sealiway (Juvenile Turf) exercise this morning. Barzalona who already has a Breeders’ Cup victory to his name when partnering Talismanic to win the Turf in 2017 said, “I flew over on Friday and I’m delighted to be here. The weather is colder than I expected but its brilliant to be out at the training track to see Sealiway. I’m very much looking forward to riding him and the plan is to sit on him tomorrow or Wednesday.”
Japanese representatives Pingxiang (Dirt Mile) and Jasper Prince (Sprint) did two laps of the training track before heading back to their barn. Both horses are now very familiar with their surroundings and connections have been very pleased with their preparations.
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