Breeders’ Cup World Championships
Friday, October 30 and Saturday, October 31
$5 Million Breeders’ Cup Classic (Grade I)
Three-Year-Olds & Up
1 1/4 Miles
Saturday, October 31
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Contact Notes Team (859) 250-0358
American Pharoah – Bob Baffert, the Hall of Fame trainer of $5 million Breeders’ Cup
Classic favorite American Pharoah, took the conservative approach again with the Triple Crown
winner’s preparations on Thursday morning after tack-walking him the day before.
“We took him out to the (Polytrack) training track because when we checked out the
main track yesterday afternoon it looked pretty wet still, and when it starts to dry out, it can get a
little deep,” he said.
The Zayat Stable’s homebred 3yo colt, who galloped under regular exercise rider Jorgie
Alvarez, signaled that he is full of fire and vinegar going into the final race of his history making
career.
“We took him around the training track and it looked like he was pretty aggressive and
was full of himself. He looked pretty happy. What we saw today was very encouraging. He was
tough. He couldn’t have gone any slower. He didn’t go very far. As long as he doesn’t go very
far like that, he’s okay,” he said. “He was a little fresh today because he didn’t do anything
yesterday. He won’t be like that tomorrow. He’ll be more relaxed.”
American Pharoah has had a two-month break from his last race in the Travers Stakes,
and in the interim has added weight and muscle so that he now tips the scales at 1,195 pounds.
“The time off gave him the chance to get his strength back,” Baffert said. “He’s at his
peak he’s happy and he’s doing really well. He’s going to come out of there running.”
“They still have to get the trip and we’re hoping he gets a clean break, a clean trip and a
good trip,” he said, while making no predictions about how the race will unfold. “I haven’t even
sat down and figured anything out yet. My job is to have him at peak performance. Then it’s up
to Victor Espinoza to play the break and decide what he’s going to do with him. He has an idea
because he’s on the inside (post 4) so there’s not a lot of thinking going on there.
Baffert continued, “The trip is going to be important…the pace, the trip. A lot of jockeys
get excited and you don’t know who is going to do what. I told Victor ‘Just ride your horse and
don’t worry about anyone else. Don’t panic.’ I told him to keep him happy and stay in his
groove. He can’t worry about what’s going on around him.”
American Pharoah won’t be schooled in the paddock before the race. Baffert said that
training plans for tomorrow morning are not finalized, but he expects that the horse will gallop
over the main track.
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“It’s important for me to see him go out with a win because I’m his caretaker. This one is
for ‘Pharoah’ This isn’t for Bob Baffert, it’s for the horse,” the trainer said.
Beholder – Two-time Eclipse Award champion Beholder, winner of the 2012 Breeders’
Cup Juvenile Fillies and 2013 Breeders’ Cup Distaff, has been declared from Saturday’s $5
million Breeders’ Cup Classic after it was discovered she bled following her Thursday morning
gallop. Beholder had been listed as the 3-1 second choice on the morning line behind favorite
American Pharoah.
“After she galloped this morning we scoped her and found her to have bled,” said trainer
Richard Mandella. “This was obviously due to the fever she had when she arrived. Knowing this,
we feel it is too great a risk to start her in the Classic.
“There’s obviously some irritated lung tissue there. She will be fine, but if I put her under
the pressure of a race situation, it could cause some real damage.
“You could say we just haven’t had any luck shipping, but it’s been something different
every time. She’s an aggressive mare and just got herself worked up shipping and made herself
sick.
“It’s sad. It’s exciting to take on a challenge like this. It’s still a great race. I just wish I
was part of it.”
Effinex – Tri-Bone Stables’ Effinex returned to the main track to gallop Thursday
morning after exercising under the shedrow the morning before.
The 4yo New York-bred colt has blossomed since joining James Jerkens stable in the
summer of 2014.
“He was bouncing around from trainer to trainer and it looks like he wasn’t getting the
continuity he deserved. Being in one place, one program, he kept getting better and better as we
went along,” Jerkens said.
Effinex is rated at 30-1 in the morning line for the Classic, but Jerkens said when the son
of Mineshaft is on his game, he’s capable of holding his own against the best.
“He has before. He’s been a little in and out. He hasn’t done it consistently, but he’s
certainly capable of it,” Jerkens said. “He beat Tonalist fair and square (in the Suburban).”
Frosted –Wood Memorial and Pennsylvania Derby winner Frosted continued his
preparations for the Classic Thursday by galloping a mile toward the outer rail of the main track.
Throughout this week, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has said that the gray 3yo Godolphin
colt was impressing him and noted how he has improved throughout this season.
Frosted has faced American Pharoah three times, most recently in the Aug. 29 Travers at
Saratoga Race Course. With Jose Lezcano subbing for regular rider Joel Rosario, who was
injured earlier in the program, Frosted pressed American Pharoah through some testing mid-race
fractions and was a major reason why the Triple Crown winner finished second to closer Keen
Ice. Frosted ended up third, three lengths behind the winner, Keen Ice. Rosario was aboard for
the Pennsylvania Derby win and will ride the homebred colt in the Classic.
When assessing Frosted’s chances against American Pharoah in the Classic, McLaughlin
was optimistic, but cautious.
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“Will we be three lengths better than we were in the Travers with a different rider? I can’t
be sure about that,” he said. “We couldn’t be doing better.”
Even before Beholder’s defection Thursday morning, McLaughlin said that his speed
gives American Pharoah an advantage.
“Maybe the race shape favors him,” McLaughlin said. “We might all be in trouble if he’s
left alone on a 47 and change half-mile.”
McLaughlin smiled at a question about the chances of beating American Pharoah,
especially if the race develops that he does not face much early pace pressure.
“It will be hard,” he said. “I’m sure it will be hard, but it’s horse racing.”
Still, McLaughlin said his colt, who has not been worse than fourth in eight starts this season, is
ready for the test.
“We’re very confident,” he said. “It’s a tough race. We’ll find out how good he is, but
he’s going to run his race.”
Gleneagles – See European Report
Hard Aces – The 4yo son of Hard Spun jogged two miles on the main track Thursday as
his training clicked off another day on his way to Saturday’s Classic.
“I didn’t want him to gallop over a sealed track too many days in a row, so he jogged
today,” trainer John Sadler said.
Hard Aces is scheduled to school in the paddock during the race day.
Honor Code – Lane’s End Racing and Dell Ridge Farm’s Honor Code galloped over the
main track at Keeneland Thursday morning in preparation for a start in the Classic.
“He walked through the paddock, jogged a good ways and galloped a mile and a quarter,”
trainer Shug McGaughey said.
For the Hall of Fame trainer, a native of Lexington, the Friday and Saturday’s Breeders’
Cup at Keeneland will be a homecoming of sorts.
“I was very in favor of it. Keeneland is deserving of it. The central Kentucky breeders
and Central Kentucky’s big farms, they were the ones who backed the Breeders’ Cup in its start.
I think they deserved to have this,” McGaughey said. “Keeneland will do as good as or better
than anybody can do. I think Saturday will be a very good day.”
McGaughey is expecting Honor Code to also have a very good day Saturday, stating his
confidence level is “very high.”
“I know I’ve never seen him do better – in his training, his attitude, looks-wise,”
McGaughey said. “All the boxes are checked.”
Honor Code has fired his best shots back to back in the Met Mile and the 1 1/8m
Whitney, in which he closed from far back and surged through the stretch to score impressively.
McGaughey doesn’t think the 1 1/4m distance of the Classic will pose any problems for
the 4yo son of A.P. Indy.
“He’s probably going to have to start easing to them at the half-mile pole and then start
doing something around the three-eighths pole,” McGaughey said. “A lot of times, it’s up to him.
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When you tried to squeeze him a little bit early, sometimes he’s not ready for it. When he wants
to go, he goes.
“I think there’ll be pace going a mile and a quarter. It’s not like a mile race where you
have to have it. I think some of these horses will start backing up because they’re not used to
running that far.”
Keen Ice – With the main track still wet from steady rain the past few days, Keen Ice had
light training by galloping 1 1/2m Thursday. Trainer Dale Romans said the 3yo Curlin colt is
coming into the race better than ever. He compared the colt to a “big gangly kid” earlier in his
career and said he has matured tremendously.
“He’s trained good, I’ve never gotten to the bottom of him,” he said. “He has steadily
improved.”
Keen Ice arrived at Keeneland on Tuesday afternoon after a 75-mile trip from his
Churchill Downs base. Romans said that in addition to the strong workouts at Churchill Downs,
Keen Ice has a new attitude.
“He’s playing and he is having fun,” he said. “He is very aware of what he is supposed to
do. Horses are a lot smarter than people give them credit for.”
Romans and Donegal Racing president Jerry Crawford have said repeatedly that they are
thrill with their number 2 post position.
“With him it doesn’t matter,” Romans said. “He’s not going to be close to the lead. He’ll
find a tactical spot from the 2 hole; he should be just fine.
Tentative plans call for Keen Ice to have another light training session on Friday and
walk in the barn on race day.
Smooth Roller - Trainer Victor Garcia, who has his first Breeders’ Cup starter in Smooth
Roller in the Classic, is thoroughly enjoying the ride. “I love it that we’re here,” he said. “It’s too
cold for me here, but I love it.”
Smooth Roller’s victory in the Awesome Again Sept 26 at his home track of Santa Anita
marked the first Grade one win for Garcia as well.
The trainer has opted to jog the 17.1 hand Smooth Roller the last three days after heavy
rains left the main track sloppy. “We schooled him in the paddock and then took him to the track
this morning. He jogged two miles,” he said. “He’s feeling good.”
Tonalist- The American racing roots of Robert S. Evans run deep.
He is the son of Thomas Mellon Evans, whose Buckland Farm bred and campaigned
1981 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner and champion Pleasant Colony. His late
brother, Edward P. Evans, was also a prominent breeder and owner, and together they
campaigned Pleasant Colony’s descendant and champion Pleasant Tap. His cousin was the
beloved and respected horseman and philanthropist Paul Mellon.
But Robert Evans, who bought his first horse in 1965, had never had a Classic winner
until Tonalist won the 2014 Belmont Stakes.
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On Thursday morning, he was at the barn visiting the horse he purchased almost by
accident.
When Tonalist, who was bred in Kentucky by Woodslane Farm, did not meet his reserve
at a yearling auction, Evans executed a private deal for him because the now 4yo Tapit colt is the
maternal grandson of Pleasant Colony.
“Tonalist galloped one-mile-and-a -quarter on the main track and looked very well again
today. He continues to impress,” said Christophe Lorieul, the captain of “Team Tony” until
trainer Christophe Clement arrives from New York and takes over tomorrow.
Clement will saddle four Breeders’ Cup hopefuls this year. Red Vine contests the Las
Vegas Dirt Mile, Hard Not to Like is in the Filly & Mare Turf, and Purse Sensation runs in the
Twin Spires Turf Sprint.
“Red Vine did the same thing as Tonalist today. We went a mile and three-eighths with
Hard Not to Like and Pure Sensation on the Polytrack. They all looked good and all seem to be
doing well. We schooled all of them yesterday, and we will school Hard Not to Like and Pure
Sensation between the sixth and seventh race today. We will leave the other two in the barn
because their schooling went well yesterday.”
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