Stars of Saratoga meet bring a presence to Breeders' Cup, minus Arcangelo
The stars of the Saratoga Race Course meet will bring a substantial presence to the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita Park this weekend.
The biggest star among them will not.
Travers winner Arcangelo was declared out of Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic on Tuesday because of a minor foot issue, and owner Jon Ebbert told the Daily Racing Form that the son of Arrogate would also be retired to stud.
Arcangelo, who won the Belmont Stakes prior to the Travers, threw a left hind shoe and had some soreness in that foot that had been healing over the last three days, but not quickly to allow him to run in Saturday’s $6 million BC Classic, for which he was the 7-2 second choice on the morning line.
“As we have said since Day 1, it is horse first,” trainer Jena Antonucci told the Breeders’ Cup notes team. “The journey that he brings us on is exciting and we are grateful for, but we are not going to get clouded by white noise and the excitement of it all. I need to fully figure out where he is and what is going on, and I need time to do that.”
Arcangelo had been working out at the Oklahoma Training Track in Saratoga Springs until late September and had continued to thrive at Santa Anita.
“He is coming out of his skin right now, and he looks phenomenal, but I’m not comfortable,” Antonucci said. “The left hind foot is resolving, but we’re still not 100% there and I want to know what it is. In order to figure out what it is, medications, those kinds of things, take racing out of the conversation. So we have run out of time in that regard.”
In any given year, Saratoga is an initial proving ground for 2-year-olds because of its series of graded stakes restricted to that age group.
Horses who win those races stamp themselves as potential stars as 3-year-olds the following year.
First things first, though.
The Breeders’ Cup opens this week at Santa Anita Park with Future Stars Friday, five BC races for Juveniles. Not coincidentally, the two races on dirt, the Juvenile and Juvenile Fillies, are heavily populated with horses who passed through Saratoga, not only in the stakes, but in maiden races with big purses.
Eight of the 13 horses entered in the Juvenile Fillies raced at Saratoga, five of those broke their respective maidens and Brightwork was one of six horses during the course of the 40-day meet to win two races.
She did that in the Grade III Adirondack and Grade I Spinaway on closing weekend, but subsequently was fifth in the Grade I Alcibiades behind two of the Saratoga maiden-breakers, Candied and Alys Beach. So Brightwork is 12-1 on the morning line for the Juvenile Fillies, a long shot in a field that includes the shortest-odds favorite out of all 14 Breeders’ Cup races this weekend, Tamara (4-5).
In the Juvenile field, six of 11 ran at Saratoga, and five of those were winners, although none managed to win the Sanford, Saratoga Special or Hopeful, the three graded stakes on the dirt.
There was a stakes winner on dirt out of that group, though, The Wine Steward, who won the Funny Cide restricted to New York-breds on New York Showcase Day on Aug. 27.
Not counting also-eligibles, there are 166 horses entered in the 14 Breeders’ Cup races, and 54 ran at Saratoga, representing 33 victories.
Besides Brightwork, dual Saratoga winners in the entries include Bright Future in the Classic (allowance, Jockey Club Gold Cup), Randomized in the Distaff (Wilton, Alabama), Casa Creed in the Dirt Mile (Kelson, Fourstardave), Roses for Debra in the Turf Sprint (Caress, Smart N Fancy) and Gala Brand in the Juvenile Fillies Turf (maiden, With Anticipation).
Saratoga maiden winners who are in the Juvenile Fillies field include Candied, Jody’s Pride, Just F Y I, Life Talk and Alys Beach.
The Juvenile appears to be wide open, as the favorite, Locked, is 7-2. He’s one of the four Saratoga maiden-breakers, along with Noted, Fierceness and General Partner. Locked, Noted and Fierceness are all trained by Todd Pletcher, and General Partner is trained by Chad Brown.
Hopeful runner-up Timberlake, who came back to win the Grade I Champagne at Belmont Park, is one of three horses entered as 4-1 co-third choices.
Although Fierceness did not run in any of the graded stakes at Saratoga, he turned in one of the most eye-popping performances by a 2-year-old at the meet, winning his career debut by 11 1/4 lengths, then was a disappointing seventh in the Champagne.
“We just feel like his debut was so impressive and the way he's trained has always been of the highest quality that we feel like we just have got to draw a line through the Champagne and try again,” Pletcher told the Breeders’ Cup notes team.
Even without Arcangelo, the field for the BC Classic still carries a heavy Saratoga presence.
White Abarrio has not raced since the Aug. 5 Whitney in his second start for trainer Richard Dutrow, Jr., who is back after a 10-year suspension for a history of infractions.
Besides Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Bright Future, Pletcher will also saddle Dreamlike in the BC Classic off a second in the Pennsylvania Derby preceded by a maiden win and a fifth in an allowance at Saratoga as a 3-year-old.
“He won at Saratoga, then he came back with a little bit of a disappointing effort in a Saratoga allowance but redeemed himself with a fast-closing second in the Pennsylvania Derby,” Pletcher said. “He was third in the Wood Memorial when he was still a maiden. He's a horse that we've always had high expectations for as well and kind of compared him a little bit to Bright Future in terms of one that's shown a lot of talent and is just on the verge of delivering that.”
Jim Dandy runner-up Saudi Crown is in the BC Classic field off a win in the Pennsylvania Derby, as is the Brown-trained Zandon, who had been knocking on the door for a big win since the Blue Grass in the spring of 2022 and finally got one, in the Woodward at Belmont Park after having finished second in the Whitney. Last year, Zandon was second in the Jim Dandy and third in the Travers.
The BC Dirt Mile will mark the farewell to the most popular horse in the country, Cody’s Wish.
He’s named after teenager Cody Dorman, who was born with the rare genetic disorder Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome and is unable to walk or communicate without utilizing a tablet. Dorman and his family traveled to Saratoga from Kentucky this summer to watch Cody’s Wish run in the Whitney, and he was third to White Abarrio.
Cody’s Wish, who won the BC Dirt Mile last year after having won the Forego at Saratoga, is the 9-5 favorite.
“He’s been a real gift in a lot of different ways, and it would be nice if he could go out with a bang,” trainer Bill Mott said.
Saratoga fans will be well familiar with the BC Distaff field, led by 5-2 favorite Idiomatic riding a four-race winning streak that includes the Grade I Personal Ensign on Travers Day Aug. 26.
“She’s amazing right now. So, super-pleased with her,” trainer Brad Cox said.
Also entered are Clairiere, who was fifth in the Personal Ensign and second in the Shuvee; Randomized; Grade I Coaching Club American Oaks winner Wet Paint, who was second to Randomized in the Alabama; and Pretty Mischievous, who won the Grade I Test at Saratoga by virtue of Maple Leaf Mel fatally breaking down just before the wire.
One of the most interesting matchups on the weekend serves as a rematch between Elite Power and Gunite, in the BC Sprint.
They swapped 1-2 finishes in Grade I sprints at Saratoga, Elite Power finishing a head in front of Gunite in the A.G. Vanderbilt, and Gunite turning the tables by 1 3/4 lengths in the Forego on Travers Day.
Elite Power won the the BC Sprint last year to lock up an Eclipse Award, while Gunite was entered in the Dirt Mile and finished fourth to Cody’s Wish.
“Both of his Grade I wins have been at seven-eighths [of a mile], and he’s dropping back to three-quarters,” trainer Steve Asmussen said of Gunite. “It’s going to be a rubber match between him and Elite Power at three-quarters. Obviously, we feel that Gunite is worthy and up to the task.”
On the female side, Goodnight Olive is the 6-5 favorite for the Filly & Mare Sprint by default, since Echo Zulu is out of the race after having been injured during a workout at Santa Anita on Oct. 13, which required surgery.
Goodnight Olive won the Filly & Mare Sprint last year to earn an Eclipse Award, but was second to Echo Zulu by 2 1/2 lengths in the Grade I Ballerina at Saratoga this summer on Travers Day.
Only two horses in the full field of 14 for the BC Mile ran at Saratoga this year, but one of them, Casa Creed, was one of the stars of the meet, with his wins in the Kelso and Fourstardave at the age of 7.
PRACTICAL MOVE DIES
The scratch of Arcangelo wasn’t the only bad news coming out of Santa Anita on Tuesday.
Santa Anita Derby winner Practical Move, the 3-1 second choice behind Cody’s Wish in the Dirt Mile, died of what appears to have been a cardiac event following a routine gallop at Santa Anita on Tuesday morning.
The Breeders’ Cup issued this statement: “Breeders’ Cup is saddened to report the loss of Practical Move after what is suspected to be a cardiac event while returning from his gallop this morning at Santa Anita Park. His rider was uninjured, and the horse was immediately tended to by veterinarians from the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), 1/ST Racing, and Breeders’ Cup.”
Trained by Tim Yakteen, Practical Move was a top contender for the Kentucky Derby off wins in the Grade II San Felipe and Grade I Santa Anita Derby, but was scratched two days before the Kentucky Derby with a fever. He got back to the races on Oct. 6 and won an allowance by four lengths.
