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New York connections abound in Breeders' Cup World Championships

by Ryan Martin

The upcoming Breeders' Cup World Championships, to be contested Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, will feature a multitude of horses with New York ties.

The Breeders’ Cup coincides with Opening Weekend at Aqueduct Racetrack, which will feature the $100,000 Tempted and $100,000 Atlantic Beach on Friday and the Grade 3, $100,000 Turnback the Alarm Handicap and $100,000 Stewart Manor on Saturday.

Friday’s first post at the Big A is 11:15 a.m., while Saturday’s Aqueduct card will kick off at 10:30 a.m.

Racing fans can watch and wager on all the action with NYRA Bets, the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the 18-day fall meet. 

Available to horseplayers nationwide, NYRA Bets is currently offering a $200 new member bonus in addition to a host of special weekly offers. The NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

Pre-entries for the Breeders' Cup were announced Wednesday, with 201 individual horses pre-entered across 14 Breeders' Cup races.

The $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic will feature Sackatoga Stable’s four-time Grade 1-winning New York hero Tiz the Law, who became the first Empire State-bred to notch a victory in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes in over a century, before a commanding victory in the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers at Saratoga.

Trained by Barclay Tagg, the son of second-crop sire Constitution was second as the heavy favorite in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on September 5 at Churchill Downs. Bred in the Empire State by Twin Creeks Farm, Tiz the Law seeks to become the first New York bred to win the Classic and the fourth overall to win a Breeders’ Cup race.

"Everything with him is perfect," said Jack Knowlton, managing partner of Sackatoga Stable. "I haven't heard Barclay feel this good about a horse, maybe ever. His two works at Keeneland have been tremendous, so all is good. We'll definitely want to get the kind of trips he's gotten all year. He certainly has earned his status so far this year and hopefully he makes a good showing, which I expect that he will."

Previous New York-breds to notch Breeders’ Cup triumphs are London Bridge [2013 Dirt Marathon], Dayatthespa [2014 Filly and Mare Turf] and Bar of Gold [2017 Filly and Mare Sprint].

Tiz the Law will exit post 2 under New York-based rider Manny Franco, who has won NYRA's year-end riding title two years in a row.

Also carrying the New York-bred banner is undefeated 2-year-old filly Simply Ravishing for trainer Kenny McPeek in the Juvenile Fillies.

A winner of an off-the-turf edition of Saratoga’s P.G. Johnson, the daughter of first-crop sire Laoban then captured Grade 1 glory in the Alcibiades on October 2 at Keeneland for owners Harold Lerner, Magdalena Racing and Nehoc Stables. Bred in the Empire State by Meg Levy, Simply Ravishing will be piloted by New York-based Luis Saez from the inside post.

Belmont Park fall meet-leading trainer Chad Brown has pre-entered a baker’s dozen for racing’s year-end showcase. 

“It's a solid group,” said Brown. “There are some favorites in the group. Some horses that are under the radar that seem to be doing well. I like the fact that all the horses seem to be coming into the race the right way. My team has done a great job.”

The four-time Eclipse award-winning conditioner will send out a tetrad of fillies and mares in pursuit of his fifth win in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, including 2018 winner Sistercharlie, who has amassed over $3.7 million lifetime earnings with a record of 17-10-3-3.

Brown also sends out six-time Grade 1-winner Rushing Fall, who won the Juvenile Fillies Turf in 2017 and will look to become the only fifth horse to secure victories in two different Breeders’ Cup events. 

Graded stakes winners Nay Lady Nay and My Sister Nat make up the Brown bunch for the Filly and Mare Turf. In addition to Sistercharlie, Brown previously saddled Zagora [2012], Dayatthespa [2014] and Stephanie’s Kitten [2015] to Filly and Mare Turf scores.

Brown said he is confident in his strong and varied group of Filly and Mare Turf contenders.

“You have late blooming horses who need to step up in Nay Lady Nay and My Sister Nat and trip out to spring upsets,” said Brown. “You have a previous champion [Sistercharlie] and previous winner of the race that seems to be rounding back into form on her numbers from the start of the year and in her works. Rushing Fall has had a great career, she's a model of consistency. The only thing left on her resume - she's a Breeders' Cup champion - is an Eclipse Award. She's won Grade 1s in four straight years.”

Brown also will be represented by Uni, the defending Champion Turf Female, who will attempt to become the sixth repeat winner of Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile after prevailing in a dramatic stretch battle with fellow female Got Stormy in last year’s edition. Also representing Brown in the Mile are Grade 1 winners Digital Age, owned by Klaravich Stables, and Peter Brant’s Raging Bull. 

A five-time winner of the Juvenile Fillies Turf, Brown will send out Editor At Large for Peter Brant, who was recently third in the Grade 3 Miss Grillo. Brown has saddled Maram [2008], Lady Eli [2014], New Money Honey [2016], Rushing Fall [2017] and Newspaperofrecord [2018] to Juvenile Fillies Turf scores.

Brown’s other entrants for the Breeders’ Cup are Public Sector [Juvenile Turf]; Dunbar Road [Distaff]; Complexity [Dirt Mile], Reinvestment Risk [Juvenile] and Front Run the Fed [Turf Sprint]. 

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, a 10-time Breeders’ Cup winning conditioner, sends out a half dozen horses for this year’s events, including three-time Grade 1-winner Channel Maker who makes his third straight appearance in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf arriving off Grade 1 wire-to-wire triumphs in the Sword Dancer Invitational at Saratoga and the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational at Belmont Park.

Also representing Mott is three-time graded stakes winner Frank’s Rockette who will attempt to be the first female since Desert Stormer in 1995 to beat the boys in the Grade 1 $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint. The daughter of Into Mischief has been made the favorite in all 10 of her lifetime starts and was a last-out 7 ¼-length winner of the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom at Belmont Park. 

Mott will also send out Grade 1 winner Harvey’s Lil Goil [Filly and Mare Turf], and graded stakes winners Horologist [Distaff], Tacitus [Classic] and Casa Creed [Mile]. 

R.A. Hill Stable and Gatsas Stables’ Vekoma has done no wrong this season including two strong victorious efforts in the Grade 1 Runhappy Carter and the Grade 1 Runhappy Met Mile at Belmont Park. 

Trained by New York-based George Weaver, Vekoma is entered for the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint and seeks to give his multiple champion-producing sire Candy Ride a third Breeders’ Cup victory. Weaver will also be represented by Point of Honor in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

Trainer Todd Pletcher, a seven-time Eclipse Award-winner, has saddled winners of 11 Breeders' Cup races. He is just one win shy of 5,000 for his career and will be represented at the Breeders' Cup by 2-year-old contenders Likeable [Juvenile], Mutasaabeq [Juvenile Turf], and Union Gables [Juvenile Fillies Turf] as well as Halladay [Mile] and Valiance [Distaff].

A closer look at NYRA-based trainers with starters at the Breeders' Cup:

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen will have multiple contenders, including Calibrate [Juvenile], Jackie's Warrior [Juvenile], Thoughtfully [Juvenile Fillies], Country Final [Juvenile Turf Sprint], Cowan [Juvenile Turf Sprint], Echo Town [Sprint], Yaupon [Sprint] and Archidust [Turf Sprint].

Kelly Breen, who was third with both Ruler On Ice in the 2011 Classic and Pants On Fire in the 2014 Dirt Mile, will saddle Firenze Fire in the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse, a five-time Breeders’ Cup winner, sends out War of Will [Dirt Mile], Spanish Loveaffair [Juvenile Fillies Turf], Dolder Grand [Juvenile Turf], Gretzky the Great [Juvenile Turf], Dirty Dangle [Juvenile Turf Sprint], March to the Arch [Mile], and Got Stormy [Turf Sprint].

Christophe Clement will seek his first win in a Breeders’ Cup when he sends out Plum Ali [Juvenile Fillies Turf] and Momos [Juvenile Turf Sprint].

Brad Cox will saddle a slew of hopefuls including Monomoy Girl [Distaff], Knicks Go [Dirt Mile], Owendale [Dirt Mile], Essential Quality [Juvenile], Aunt Pearl [Juvenile Fillies Turf], Abarta [Juvenile Turf], Beau Recall [Mile], Factor This [Mile], and Arklow [Turf].

Hall of Fame trainer Neil Drysdale will saddle 6-year-old mare Oleksandra against the boys in the Turf Sprint. She bested the boys last out in the Grade 1 Jaipur at Belmont.

Phil Gleaves will send out Second of July in the Juvenile Turf Sprint as the conditioner’s fourth Breeders’ Cup starter following Happy Jazz Band [fourth, 1990 Juvenile], Devil on Ice [10th, 1991 Juvenile], and Mambo Meister [fifth, 2009 Dirt Mile].

Mike Maker is the conditioner of Juvenile Turf contender Fire At Will, who won the With Anticipation at Saratoga and the Grade 2 Pilgrim at Belmont. Maker won the 2009 Dirt Mile with Furthest Land and the 2011 Juvenile with Hansen.

Carlos Martin will saddle Blue Devil Racing Stable’s Come Dancing for the final start of her career in the Filly and Mare Sprint. The millionaire mare, who won the 2019 Grade 1 Ketel One Ballerina at the Spa, enters off a win in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss at Saratoga.

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, a nine-time Breeders’ Cup winner, will send out the streaking Civil Union in the Filly and Mare Turf.

Wesley Ward's representatives include Four Wheel Drive [Turf Sprint], Campanelle [Juvenile Fillies Turf], After Five [Juvenile Turf Sprint], Gypsy King [Juvenile Turf Sprint], Into the Sunrise [Juvenile Turf Sprint], Outadore [Juvenile Turf], Amanzi Yimpilo [Juvenile Turf Sprint], Blame the Booze [Juvenile Turf Sprint], Golden Pal [Juvenile Turf Sprint], Royal Approval [Juvenile Fillies Turf], Trade Deal [Juvenile Turf Sprint].

New York-based riders will feature prominently at the Breeders' Cup:

Junior Alvarado: Dayoutoftheoffice [JF}, Harvey's Lil Goil [FMT], Frank's Rockette [S], Casa Creed [BCM], Horologist [BCD]

Javier Castellano: Editor At Large [JFT], Rombauer [Juv], Speech [FMS], Front Run the Fed/Bulletproof One [TS], Rushie [DM], Rushing Fall [FMT], Vekoma [S], Digital Age [BCM], Point of Honor [BCD], Global Campaign [BCC]

Dylan Davis: Second of July [JTS]

Manny Franco: Momos [JTS], Tetragonal [JFT], Venetian Harbor [FMS], Wildman Jack [TS], Mr Freeze [DM], Lady Prancealot [FMT], Channel Maker [BCT], Tiz the Law [BCC]

Jose Lezcano: Firenze Fire [S]

Irad Ortiz, Jr.: Golden Pal [JTS], Public Sector [JT], Royal Approval [JFT], Reinvestment Risk [Juv], Come Dancing [FMS], Imprimis [TS], Sharp Samurai [DM], Nay Lady Nay [FMT], Whitmore [S], Improbable [BCC]

Jose Ortiz: After Five [JTS], Outadore [JT], Union Gables/Invincible Gal [JFT], Keepmeinmind [Juv], Wet Your Whistle [TS], Complexity [DM], My Sister Nat [FMT], Jasper Prince [S], Raging Bull [BCM], Dunbar Road [BCD], Tacitus [BCC]

Joel Rosario: County Final/Gypsy King [JTS], Vequist [JF], Plum Ali [JFT], Jackie's Warrior [Juv], Oleksandra [TS], Knicks Go [DM], Civil Union [FMT], Yaupon [S], Uni [BCM], Ollie's Candy [BCD], Mehdaayih [BCT], Tom's d'Etat [BCC]

Luis Saez: Amanzi Yimpilo [JTS], Mutasaabeq [JT], Simply Ravishing [JF], Nazuna [JFT], Essential Quality [Juv], Serengeti Empress [FMS], Leinster [TS], Jesus' Team [DM], Mean Mary [FMT], C Z Rocket [S], Halladay [BCM], Valiance [BCD], Maximum Security [BCC]

John Velazquez: Alda [JFT], Likeable [Juv], Gamine [FMS], Chaos Theory [TS], Sistercharlie [FMT], Ce Ce [BCD], Authentic [BCC]

A total of 17 Breeders' Cup Win and You're In Challenge races were contested at NYRA tracks in 2020:

TRACK – DATE – RACE – WINNER - WAYI

Belmont Park, June 6 - Runhappy Carter – Vekoma [Sprint]

Belmont Park, June 13 - Ogden Phipps - She’s a Julie [Distaff]

Belmont Park, July 4 - Runhappy Met Mile – Vekoma [Dirt Mile]

Belmont Park, June 20 - Jaipur Invitational – Oleksandra [Turf Sprint]

Saratoga, August 1 – Whitney – Improbable [Classic]

Saratoga, August 1 - Personal Ensign – Vexatious [Distaff]

Saratoga, August 8 – Ballerina - Serengeti Empress [Filly & Mare Sprint]

Saratoga, August 15 – Alabama - Swiss Skydiver [Longines Distaff]

Saratoga, August 22 – Fourstardave – Halladay [Mile]

Saratoga, August 29 - Sword Dancer Invitational - Channel Maker [Turf]

Belmont Park, September 26 – Vosburgh - Firenze Fire [Sprint]

Belmont Park, October 3 - Belmont Derby – Gufo [Turf]

Belmont Park, October 10 - Jockey Club Gold Cup - Happy Saver [Classic]

Belmont Park, October 10 - Flower Bowl - Civil Union [Filly & Mare Turf]

Belmont Park, October 10 – Frizette – Dayoutoftheoffice [Juvenile Fillies]

Belmont Park, October 10 – Champagne - Jackie’s Warrior [Juvenile]

Belmont Park, October 11 – Futurity - Second of July [Juvenile Turf Sprint]

All of the racing action will be available on NYRABets, including a bevy of multi-race options on both days.

Race order for “Future Stars Friday” will start with the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint [G2] [2:30 p.m.] followed by the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf presented by Coolmore America [G1] [3:10 p.m.]; the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies [G1] [3:50 p.m.]; the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf [G1] [4:30 p.m.] and the $2 million TVG Breeders’ Cup Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance [5:15 p.m.].

Championship Saturday begins with three undercard races followed by the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint [G1] [12:02 p.m.]; the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint [G1] [12:39 p.m.]; the $1 million Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile [G1] [1:18 p.m.]; the $2 million Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf [G1] [1:57 p.m.]; the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint [2:36 p.m.]; the $2 million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile presented by PDJF [G1] [3:15 p.m.]; the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff [G1] [3:54 p.m.]; the $4 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf [G1] [4:33 p.m.] and the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic [5:13 p.m.].

Friday’s Breeders' Cup card at Keeneland will open with a Pick 5 with a $500,000 minimum guarantee on races 1-5; an all Breeders’ Cup Late Pick 5 with a $1 million guarantee on races 6-10, and an all Breeders’ Cup Pick 4 with a $1 million minimum guarantee on races 7-10. 

Saturday’s Breeders' Cup card at Keeneland will open with a Pick 5 with a $500,000 minimum guarantee on races 1-5; an all Breeders’ Cup Ultra Pick 6 with a $1 million guarantee on races 7-12; an all Breeders’ Cup Late Pick 5 with a $2 million guarantee on races 8-12; and an all Breeders’ Cup Late Pick 4 with a $2 million guarantee on races 9-12.

For more information on the Aqueduct fall meet, visit NYRA.com.