Belmont Park Notes 10.21.17

by NYRA Press Office

• Brown's Breeders' Cup contingent puts in Saturday works
• Mind Your Biscuits turns in 'useful work' ahead of BC Sprint
• Jerkens remembers multiple Grade 1 winner Effinex
• Clement finalizes BC plans; Disco Partner puts in easy work
• Firenze Fire heats up training track in prepping for BC Juvenile

Saturday was a busy day for trainer Chad Brown's Breeders' Cup contingent, with 11 potential starters working at Belmont Park.

Grand Jete, the winner of the Grade 3 Eatontown and runner-up finisher in the Grade 1 Beverly D., breezed four furlongs in 49.67 seconds on the inner turf in company with Irish-bred Roca Rojo. Grand Jete is one of three possible starters for Brown in the Grade 1, $2 million Filly & Mare Turf on November 4 at Del Mar. The 4-year-old English bred has been at Belmont since September and is coming off a third-place effort last out in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl on October 8, where she held the lead into the final sixteenth before being overtaken by stablemate Dacita for second and War Flag, the winner.

"They did terrific. They worked half a mile very sharp," Brown said. "They looked good."

Dacita, a multiple graded stakes winner, breezed four furlongs in 50.02 seconds on the main track in preparation for the Filly & Mare Turf. The 6-year-old, who Brown has consistently breezed on dirt, has finished in the money in eight of her 11 starts since arriving in North America in 2015, notching four wins against graded stakes company.

Lady Eli, Browns' third potential starter in the 1 1/8-mile route, was clocked going 1:00.09 for five furlongs on the inner turf in company with Elysea's World. Lady Eli, who was second to Queen's Trust in last year's Filly & Mare Turf at Santa Anita, will return to California with three straight graded stakes wins on her ledger, finding the winner's circle in the Grade 1 Gamely, Grade 1 Diana and Grade 2 Ballston Spa.

"They worked terrific," Brown said. "They breezed again together for the second week in a row. They breezed perfect."

Beach Patrol and Fanciful Angel again worked in company for the second time in six days, going five furlongs in 1:02.23 on the inner turf. The duo, who finished 1-2 in both the Grade 1 Arlington Million and the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, are pointed towards in the Grade 1, $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf on November 4.

Practical Joke, a possibility for the Grade 1, $1 million Las Vegas Dirt Mile on November 3, breezed five furlongs in 1:01.87 in company with Business Cycle on Big Sandy. Practical Joke, who ran third in the Grade 1 Haskell before capturing the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens on August 26 at the Spa, is undefeated in one-turn races and could also be entered in the Grade 1, $1.5 million TwinSpires Sprint on November 4 instead of the two-turn Dirt Mile.

Significant Form also breezed five furlongs on the inner turf, going 59.76 seconds in company with Rymska in preparing for the Grade 1, $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf on November 3. Significant Form rebounded from a seventh-place finish in her debut to win the Miss Grillo on October 1 at Belmont.

"A touch quick but they did it the right way, so I thought they were good," Brown said.

Voting Control, a possibility for the Grade 1, $1 million Juvenile Turf on November 3, breezed four furlongs in 50.57 seconds on the main track, going in company with Bricks and Mortar.

Paulassilverlining, targeted for the Grade 1, $1 million Filly & Mare Sprint on November 4, worked five furlongs in 1:01.09 on the main track, going in company with Jamyson 'n Ginger.

"She worked terrific," Brown said. "It was just more of the same from her. She's been working well."

Early in the morning, Good Magic, pointing towards the Grade 1, $2 million Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile on November 4, worked a half-mile in 50.91 seconds in company with Allured on the main track.

Carina Mia also breezed on the main track, going four furlongs in 48.78 seconds as she readies for the Grade 1, $1 million Filly & Mare Sprint on November 4.

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Multiple graded stakes winner Mind Your Biscuits breezed four furlongs in 47.88 seconds in company shortly after the renovation break on the main track Saturday morning at Belmont, his last major preparation for the Grade 1, $1.5 million TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint.

With jockey Joel Rosario aboard for the move, the 4-year-old New York-bred broke behind his workmate and blew past down the lane before galloping out through five furlongs in 1:01 and out six furlongs in 1:13, according to NYRA clockers.

The breeze was the fifth at Belmont for Mind Your Biscuits since he finished sixth to Drefong in the Grade 1 Forego on August 26 at Saratoga, his first off-the-board finish since the 2016 Grade 1 King's Bishop.

"I thought it was fine. It was a useful work, he got what he needed out of it," said trainer Chad Summers. "If we call the Forego a non-effort, which is what I think it was, I think he had to get a little work in company there, have a little target to get those competitive juices flowing heading into the Breeders' Cup.

"It's not about time with us, it's about how they look," he added. "He galloped out well today. He galloped out all the way to the gate. I got him in 1:41 for a mile and 1:13 for three-quarters. It's not a bad work; it's a useful work. It's your last major work before the Breeders' Cup. I thought it was fine, it just wasn't perfect. The last three going into today were perfect. We couldn't have scripted those better."

Named the 2016 New York-bred Horse of the Year by the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, the chestnut colt by Posse began his 2017 season with a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint before going on to win the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan Racecourse in March and the Grade 2 Belmont Sprint Championship on July 8, where he earned an all-fees-paid berth into the TwinSpires Sprint on November 4 at Del Mar. Mind Your Biscuits boasts a 6-6-2 record from 17 starts for lifetime earnings of more than $2.2 million.

"He's gotten a little older and a little wiser and he doesn't need to put forth everything in the morning," Summers said. "Coming off a flat effort, you could say that you have to make up for it, but he's got a 16-race body of work that speaks for itself. As long as he got enough out of it, which I think he did, we'll take this one for what it is and move forward."

Mind Your Biscuits is scheduled to ship to Southern California on Tuesday and is expected to have a blowout at Del Mar in the days leading up to the race, "like we did in Dubai," said Summers.

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Trainer Jimmy Jerkens recalled the remarkable career of multiple graded stakes winner Effinex, who died suddenly from a ruptured pulmonary artery just before 9 p.m. on October 18. Jerkens saddled the New York bred for 21 of his 28 starts winning the Empire Classic Handicap, the Grade 3 Excelsior, the 2015 and 2016 Grade 2 Suburban, the Grade 1 Clark Handicap and the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap.

In addition to his victories Effinex finished second to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the 2015 Breeders' Cup Classic and was the runner-up in last year's Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup.

"I'm shocked. I thought he was in perfect health," Jerkens said. "They were excited about him standing in New York. It's just a freak thing. I can't remember this happening. It's not that common. Things happen. I'm just glad that if it had to happen that it wasn't something that was long and torturous like a bad colic, there's nothing worse than witnessing a horse go through that."

Jerkens, who acknowledged the support and emotion that was shown by racing fans in the hours following Effinex's passing was just as impressed with him and his effort that earned him $3,312,950 in his career.

"He started out it looked like he was just a very average horse, but to see him develop like he did that's what's great about training," he said. "So much of it is so hard, but you get a horse like that, and you see him develop before your eyes, and see them reach their potential, it's very gratifying.

"He showed so much class, you know like when he ran in the Santa Anita Handicap," Jerkens added. "It was a 'hurry up' decision to run him there, and we tried to prepare him the best we could, and whenever you do that it never works out. He wasn't training very well, plus he broke out in a terrible case of hives out there, and still finished third, I couldn't believe it. Then he came right back and probably ran one of the best races of his life in Oaklawn.  He'd throw in a little bit of a clunker there, and you'd shake your head, but you could never count him out.

"I was on the fence about going to Keeneland [2015 Breeders' Cup], Russell [owner Russell Cohen] said, 'Oh we're going! If you don't take him someone else will,' that kind of thing, and he went there and ran incredible. They reach back for something more, those are the kind you miss. They find it somehow.

"Even after the Breeders' Cup, the horses that he beat that were behind him, you had Tonalist, you had Honor Code, the Godolphin horse, Frosted, they say that was just a fluke thing, but then when he came back and ran in the Clark, I felt that vindicated him, I felt great about that."

Effinex's career began in trainer Richard DeMola's barn where he debuted with a fifth-place finish over Aqueduct's inner track before returning less than a month later to win via a disqualification after being interfered with in the stretch. He then went on to win an allowance three weeks later after being transferred to trainer David Smith's care.

The son of Mineshaft then finished eighth in the 2014 Wood Memorial, and returned with a third-place finish against open allowance company then responded with two off-the-board finishes, and was again transferred, this time to Jerkens who saddled Effinex to a runner-up finish in the Albany Stakes at Saratoga. Jerkens remained his conditioner through the rest of his career.

As many as 103 foals were confirmed in foal to Effinex this year, and his passing will leave a void in New York breeding. Effinex will be buried at McMahon Farm, where he died, and will be laid alongside Grade 1 winner Personal Flag.

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Christophe Clement-trained Disco Partner, who broke the world record for six furlongs on the turf in the Grade 3 Jaipur in June, worked an easy three furlongs in 39.03 Saturday morning over the Belmont main track in preparation for the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint on November 4 at Del Mar.

"It was a slow work by design, but he finished well," said Clement. "He moved great and I'm very happy. He'll have another work next Saturday which will be a bit more serious, but he looked good."

A 5-year-old New York-bred for owner/breeder Patricia A. Generazio, the son of Disco Rico most recently won the Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational by 1 ¼ lengths on October 7.

Also expected to start in the Turf Sprint from the Clement barn is Disco Partner's 6-year-old stablemate Pure Sensation. Also owned and bred by Generazio, Pure Sensation posted a half-length victory in the Grade 3 Turf Monster on September 4 at Parx last time out. By Zensational, Pure Sensation is tentatively scheduled to work Monday morning, said Clement.

Multiple graded stakes-placed Best Performance, who finished a game second in the Grade 3 Miss Grillo on October 7 and is pointing for the Grade 1, $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf on November 3 will also work on Monday, according to Clement.

Best Performance is scheduled to ship to Del Mar on Monday, October 30, Clement added, while Disco Partner and Pure Sensation are slated to leave the following day on Tuesday, October 31.

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Mr. Amore Stables' Firenze Fire breezed four furlongs on Belmont's training track Saturday morning, preparing for the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile on November 4 at Del Mar. DRF clockers caught the Poseidon's Warrior colt in 50.61 seconds.

With regular jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard, Firenze Fire recorded his first official work since winning the Grade 1 Champagne on October 7.

"It went good," trainer Jason Servis said. "Irad was smiling, and that's always a good sign."

Servis said Firenze Fire will ship to California on October 31. Firenze Fire has three wins in four career starts, including a victory in the Grade 3 Sanford on July 22 at Saratoga.