Drosselmeyer at CD, Thursday AM (Debra Roma Photography)
Six New York-breds, two of them Grade 1 winners and four of them juvenile fillies, plus Drosselmeyer, who will make his final career last start in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic before taking up stallion duties at Keane Stud, will be performing on North American racing’s biggest stage on Friday and Saturday with scheduled starts in Breeders’ Cup races at Churchill Downs. Offspring of New York Sires Posse and Congaree will also compete.
The undefeated Weemissfrankie, the country’s top-earning two-year-old filly ($337,800) and only two-year-old in North America with two Grade 1 wins (Del Mar Debutante, Oak Leaf), is among the favorites in Friday’s $2 million Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. The chestnut filly from the first crop of late New York sire Sunriver is already proven around two turns and one of four entrants in the 14-horse field looking to preserve a perfect record.
Co-second choice on the morning line (with Grade 1 Spinaway winner Grace Hall) at odds of 4-1, Weemissfrankie, will probably at some point need to grapple with 5-2 favorite My Miss Aurelia, winner of the Grade 1 Frizette and Grade 2 Adirondack, who will be making her two-turn debut.
Weemissfrankie is drawn in post 11 under regular jockey Rafael Bejarano. Of the wide draw, trainer Peter Eurton said, “If you would have given me the choice of the 11-hole or the three or four, I would have taken the outside.” He added, “It’s better than the 13 or 14. You’ll have to go a little wide, but I won’t have any dirt thrown in my face.”
Post time for Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies is 6:10 PM on Friday and the race will be broadcast on ESPN 2/ESPN 3. Entries.
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Earlier Friday’s card, no fewer than three two-year-old New York-bred fillies will line up for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, which attracted an overflow field of 14 plus two AEs.
Pure Gossip at CD (Debra Roma Photography)
Flying Zee Stable’s Pure Gossip, who unleashed a powerful kick in late stretch to win the Grade 3 Miss Grillo on October 2 by a commanding six-plus lengths, and Dayatthespa, game runner-up to Northern Passion in the Grade 3 Natalma S. on September 17, are both tabbed at 12-1 on the morning line, co-fifth choice with two other fillies. Also entered in the Juvenile Fillies Turf is Royal Bonnie, who crossed the finish line second in the Miss Grillo after a hard-charging finish, but was demoted to fourth place for interference after a stewards’ inquiry. Royal Bonnie is one of three fillies in the main body of field given longshot odds 30-1.
Dayatthespa will break from post 2 under Ramon Dominguez. Royal Bonnie exits post 7 under Cornelio Velasquez. Pure Gossip is drawn in post 9 under Ryan Curatolo, just inside the 2-1 morning line favorite, Elusive Kate (Elusive Quality), a group 1 winner in France.
Post time for Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf is 4:50 PM and the race will be broadcast on ESPN 2/ESPN 3. Entries.
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On Saturday, Giant Ryan will contest the $1.5 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Dual-qualified for the Sprint, the five-year-old son of New York sire Freud was last seen wiring the field of the Grade 1 Vosburgh Invitational in the mud at Belmont Park while extending his winning streak to six. The winner of the Vosburgh has produced five previous Breeders’ Cup Sprint winners.
Co-fifth choice on the morning line for Sprint at odds of 8-1, Giant Ryan will need to best a field packed with power to extend his consecutive winning streak to seven. Last year’s sprint winner Big Drama is the morning line favorite at 5-2; the resurgent Jackson Bend is second choice at 7-2, while other contenders include Euroears (4-1) and top west coast sprinter Amazombie (5-1). Cornelio Velasquez has the assignment aboard Giant Ryan and the pair will break from post two of nine.
Post time for Breeders’ Cup Sprint is 2:37 PM on Saturday and the race will be broadcast during ABC’s portion of the Breeders’ Cup broadcast (2-3:30 PM). Entries.
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Compliance Officer at CD (Debra Roma Photography)
Compliance Officer, who received a top BRIS Speed Rating (106) for his utterly dominant victory in the Bluegrass Cat Mohawk on October 22, will share the spotlight with the likes of Goldikova and Gio Ponti in the $2 million TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile on Saturday. Claimed for $25,000 in May by Bruce Brown for LaMarca Stable, Compliance Officer has now won five races in a row and three consecutive stakes, convincing his connections that he had earned the right to face some of the world’s best turf horses. As Bruce Brown told the DRF after he decided to enter the gelding – one of two in the 13-horse field given 30-1 odds on the morning line – “You’d hate to get to the end of the week and he’s ripping the barn down and you’re saying ‘Why didn’t we do it?’”
The Breeders’ Cup Mile will be run directly before the Classic this year to highlight Goldikova’s historic quest for a fourth straight Mile victory. Post time is 6:07 PM on Saturday and the race will be broadcast on ESPN 2/ESPN 3. Entries.
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While Churchill Downs caps two days of championship racing with the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, Drosselmeyer will try to put a final exclamation point on his racing career, before retiring to stallion duty for WinStar/Keane Stud at Keane Stud. Exiting a strong runner-up effort behind Flat Out in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup on October 1, the Belmont Stakes-winning son of Distorted Humor will exit post two in the Classic under Mike Smith as eighth choice on the morning line at odds of 15-1. Trainer Bill Mott told the Thoroughbred Times Today that under the right circumstances his charge could make some noise in the Classic: “I think Drosselmeyer’s a horse that’s probably going to drop back midpack or maybe further back. If they have a wicked pace up front, maybe Drosselmeyer can get a piece of it.”
Post time for Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic is 7:00 PM and the race will be broadcast on ESPN/ESPN3. Entries.
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Also, keep an eye out for two non-New York-bred offspring of current New York stallions at the Breeders’ Cup:
Caleb's Posse at CD (Debra Roma Photography)
Caleb’s Posse, winner this year of the Grade 1 King’s Bishop and Grade 2 Amsterdam and the leading 2011 runner by top New York sire Posse (Vinery New York at Sugar Maple), will take on eight rivals in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Post time, Saturday 4:01 PM ESPN/ESPN3. Entries.
Jeranimo, a multiple Grade 2 winner and the second-leading earner for Congaree (Highcliff Farm) will join Compliance Officer in the $2 million TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile. (Post time, Saturday 6:07 PM ESPN/ESPN3. Entries.)
