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G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Yibir arrives in New York for G1 Man o’ War

by NYRA Press Office

• G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Yibir arrives in New York for G1 Man o’ War
• Cody’s Wish registers 104BSF in G3 Westchester; Speaker’s Corner works for G1 Met Mile
• Gufo drills half-mile over turf for G1 Man o’ War; Pizza Bianca works towards next start
• Safe Conduct posts career-best 92BSF
• Belmont Park Week 3 stakes probables

Godolphin homebred Yibir, winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf in November at Del Mar, landed in New York early Sunday morning for Saturday’s Grade 1, $700,000 Man o’ War, an 11-furlong inner turf test for older horses, at Belmont Park.

Man o' War Day boasts five graded stakes, including the nine-furlong Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan, the local prep for the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets; the Grade 3, $150,000 Beaugay; the Grade 3, $150,000 Vagrancy; and the Grade 3, $150,000 Runhappy.

Trained by Charlie Appleby, Yibir, a 4-year-old Dubawi chestnut, captured the $1 million Jockey Club Derby Invitational in September at Belmont ahead of his rallying half-length score over Broome at the Breeders’ Cup.

The multiple group stakes winner shipped from Stansted Airport in London, England, to Frankfurt, Germany, on their journey to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.

"We touched down just after midnight and we were into the barn and done by 2 A.M.,” said Appleby’s traveling assistant Chris Connett. “We were very happy with him on the flight. He ate and drank a nice amount of water which is key when you get horses on a plane for that length of time.”

Yibir has made two starts this campaign, finishing a close second in March in the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic ahead of a runner-up effort on April 29 over good going in the Group 2 Jockey Club at Newmarket.

Connett said Yibir has matured physically since his last appearance at Belmont.

“He's got that bit bigger and filled out and strengthened again,” Connett said. “He's had two runs this year, one in Dubai where he finished a nail-biting second and then he had a little prep run one week ago at Newmarket. That race didn't quite pan out the way we'd have liked it to - the ground was a bit softer than he probably really likes and it was an undulating course, but we're excited to get him back to America on quick ground and a nice, level surface.

“I think he likes coming to America,” Connett added. “The races suit him and plays to his strengths. There's a nice even tempo and he likes to kick off of that.”

Last year, Yibir captured the Group 3 Bahrain Trophy in July at Newmarket and the Group 2 Great Voltigeur in August at York before shipping to North America and winning both stateside tests.

Connett said that Yibir, who does not have a jockey assignment as of yet, will only require light training into Saturday’s prestigious event.

“We'll break quarantine Tuesday morning and hopefully go out to the track for a jog and a hack around,” Connett said. “It will just be light maintenance work. He ran last week and he's done all his fast work at home. We'll just keep him happy.”

Bred in Great Britain by his owner, Yibir is out of the Monsun mare Rumh, who also produced Group 1-winner Wild Illusion.

Cody’s Wish registers 104BSF in G3 Westchester; Speaker’s Corner works for G1 Met Mile

Godolphin homebred Cody’s Wish made the grade with a powerful five-length score in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Westchester, a one-turn mile for older horses contested over a sloppy and sealed main track at Belmont Park.

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott and expertly piloted by Junior Alvarado, Cody’s Wish stalked the early foot of Sound Money through splits of 22.68 seconds and 44.91 before taking command through three-quarters in 1:08.82. The Curlin bay, out of the Grade 1-winning Tapit mare Dance Card, opened up a 3 1/2-length advantage at the stretch call and crossed the wire in hand in 1:34.68.

“He had a great trip. It set up nicely for him and he ran great,” said Mott’s New York-based assistant Leana Willaford. “He was good this morning, ate up and no complaints.”

Cody’s Wish graduated at fourth asking traveling one-mile in October at Churchill Downs to kick off a three-race win streak at the Louisville oval that included a pair of November allowance wins. He entered the Westchester from a close runner-up effort in his graded stakes debut in the Grade 3 Challenger on March 12, while racing off a four-month layoff.

“He's a real big horse, physically, and it probably took him a little while to develop into himself,” Willaford said. “He's always showed ability, it was just getting everything put together. Some of them take a little longer than others.”

Godolphin homebred Speaker’s Corner breezed a half-mile solo in 47.68 Friday over Big Sandy in his second work back following a 4 1/2-length romp in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap on April 9 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The 4-year-old Street Sense bay is targeting the Grade 1, $1 million Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap on June 11 on the Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets undercard.

“He did it very easily,” said Willaford of Friday’s breeze. “His first work back was a real easy work and he's not running until the Met, so we didn't want to work him every week. We're spacing it out. He went right along and handled it well. He came back good, too.”

Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber, R.A. Hill Stable and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing’s multiple Grade 1-winning Canadian-bred Channel Maker is training at Belmont Park.

The 8-year-old English Channel gelding, bred in Ontario by the Tall Oaks Farm of Ivan Dalos, earned a 98 Beyer in a winning seasonal debut in the Grade 2 Elkhorn on April 23 at Keeneland.

Willaford said Channel Maker, who was honored as the 2020 Eclipse Award Champion Turf Male, is in good order.

“He's doing great,” Willaford said. I haven't breezed him, yet. He's just been galloping here and he is very sound, happy and healthy.”

Gufo drills half-mile over turf for G1 Man o’ War; Pizza Bianca works towards next start

Dual Grade 1-winner Gufo worked an easy four furlongs in 51.03 seconds in company with graded stakes winner Plum Ali over the inner turf on Friday at Belmont Park. The 5-year-old son of Declaration of War will make his next start in the 1 3/8-mile Grade 1, $700,000 Man o’ War on May 14 at Belmont.

Owned by Otter Bend Stables and trained by Christophe Clement, Gufo won his first Grade 1 in the 2020 Belmont Derby Invitational before earning three more consecutive Grade 1 placings, including last year’s Man o’ War where he was defeated a nose by Channel Cat. He went on to earn a win in the Grand Couturier and a second Grade 1 triumph in the Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer in August at Saratoga Race Course.

Gufo closed out the year with a third in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic and a distant tenth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar. He returned victoriously from a five-month respite with a strong win in the 1 1/2-mile, Grade 2 Pan American on April 2 at Gulfstream Park. 

“He’s good and doing well,” Clement said of the Friday work. “He had a very good race in Florida and he’s doing very well at the moment.”

Gufo’s workmate, Plum Ali, was last seen earning a determined win in the one-mile Plenty of Grace on April 16 at Aqueduct Racetrack where she ran down pacesetter and multiple graded stakes winner Technical Analysis to win her 4-year-old debut.

Clement said the daughter of First Samurai could make her next appearance in the Grade 3, $150,000 Beaugay on May 14 over the Belmont lawn.

“Plum Ali is doing well,” Clement said. “She’s got a few options and one of them is the Beaugay next week.”

Owned by Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables and Michael Caruso, Plum Ali won the 2020 Grade 2 Miss Grillo at a juvenile and earned two graded placings as a sophomore with a third in the Grade 2 Appalachian at Keeneland and a second in the Grade 3 Wonder Again at Belmont. She closed out the year with a victory over the Aqueduct turf.

Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Pizza Bianca breezed a half-mile Friday in 50.61 seconds in company with maiden winner Eylara.

Pizza Bianca, a 3-year-old Fastnet Rock filly owned by renowned chef Bobby Flay, provided Clement with his first Breeders’ Cup victory when she stormed home from last-of-14 over the Del Mar turf to nab a half-length victory at odds of 9-1 over Malavath. The lightly-raced dark bay was away from the races until she returned with a runner-up effort in the Memories of Silver on April 24 at Aqueduct. Pizza Bianca took the lead from Consumer Spending by a head at the stretch call but just missed and was defeated three-quarters of a length.

Clement said Pizza Bianca continues to train well and will target the $100,000 Hilltop on May 20 at Pimlico Race Course.

“The plan at the moment is to run in the Hilltop and then we’ll go from there,” Clement said.

John McCormack’s Eylara made her American debut for Clement on April 9 at Aqueduct, finishing third in a 1 1/16-mile allowance in her first start since a second-place finish in a weight for age in July at Killarney.

“I think she ran well,” Clement said. “She finished third and has improved from the race. We’ll see if we can get a race going long and we’ll put her back in.”

Out of the stakes-placed Dubai Destination mare Eytarna, Eylara is a half-sister to multiple group stakes winner Eziyra, who earned Group 1 placings in the Irish Oaks, Yorkshire Oaks and Hong Kong Vase. 

Safe Conduct posts career-best 92 BSF

WellSpring Stables’ Safe Conduct, winner of last year’s $1 million Queen’s Plate at Woodbine Racetrack, registered a career-best 92 Beyer in a one-length optional claiming score on Thursday going 1 1/16 miles over the inner turf at Belmont.

Trained by Phil Serpe, the 4-year-old Bodemeister colt led gate-to-wire under Jose Lezcano, marking off splits of 22.85, 47.03 and 1:11.64 under pressure from graded-stakes winner Forty Under. Safe Conduct opened up by 1 1/2-lengths at the top of the lane and stayed on strong down the lane to win in a final time of 1:40.77.

“I thought it was a really good effort. He was really dogged by the other horse the whole way and they went a quick first quarter,” Serpe said. “Luckily, Jose was able to slow it down the second quarter which I think helped a lot. He showed his grit in the stretch and I thought he ran really well.”

Safe Conduct, bred in Ontario by Mitchell Kursner, was piloted by Irad Ortiz, Jr. to a game head score in the 10-furlong Queen's Plate, first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. He followed with an off-the-board effort in the Breeders', the 12-furlong final leg of the Triple Crown in August over the Woodbine turf.

Safe Conduct completed his sophomore campaign with 1 1/16-mile efforts on the turf, posting a second-place finish in the Gio Ponti in November at the Big A and a third in the Tropical Park Derby on December 26 at Gulfstream. Both of those events were won by Never Surprised for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

Safe Conduct entered Thursday’s test from an off-the-board effort in the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida in March at Gulfstream and Serpe said he was pleased to see the colt return to winning form.

“It was a good indication that he can move forward from a race like that,” Serpe said.

Serpe said he will take his time picking a next spot for the $45,000 Keeneland November purchase, which could include a stretch out in distance.

“Obviously, he won the Queen’s Plate going a mile and a quarter on a synthetic track, so I think he would go further, but we’re still mulling that around and figuring out what we want to do,” Serpe said.

Safe Conduct, who boasts a record of 12-4-2-1 and purse earnings of $700,464, is out of the Congrats mare Duchess Dancer, who is a half-sibling to Fatal Bullet, Canada’s 2008 Horse of the Year.

Belmont Park Week 3 stakes probables

Saturday, May 14

Grade 1 Man o’ War

Probable: Abaan (Todd Pletcher), Cross Broder (Mike Maker), Gufo (Christophe Clement), Shamrocket (Pletcher), So High (Naipaul Chatterpaul), Subconcious (Richard Mandella), Yibir (Charlie Appleby)

Grade 3 Peter Pan

Probable: Cooke Creek (Jeremiah O’Dwyer), Electability (Chad Brown), Golden Glider (Mark Casse), Set Sail (Mandella), State Planning (Juan Vazquez), We the People (Rodolphe Brisset), Wester River (Brisset), Writeitontheice (Rudy Rodriguez)

Grade 3 Beaugay

Probable: High Opinion (Anthony Dutrow), Lemista (Chad Brown), Our Flash Drive (Casse), Rougir (C. Brown), Runaway Rumour (Jorge Abreu), Stolen Holiday (Shug McGaughey)

Possible: Queenship (Phil Antonacci)

Grade 3 Runhappy

Probable: Answer In (Robert Falcone, Jr.), Chateau (Rob Atras), Drafted (David Duggan)

Possible: Jaxon Traveler (Steve Asmussen), Officiating (Saffie Joseph, Jr.), Repo Rocks (Greg DiPrima), Wendell Fong (Chad Summers)

Grade 3 Vagrancy

Probable: Assertive Style (Tom Morley), Bella Sofia (Rodriguez), Kept Waiting (Falcone, Jr.), Miss Brazil (Dutrow)

Possible: Letmetakethiscall (Keith O’Brien), Tiz Splendid News (Wesley Ward)

Sunday, May 15

Gold Fever

Probable: Dance Code (Vazquez), Doctor Jeff (Rodriguez), Provocateur (Pletcher), Runninsonofagun (John Toscano, Jr.), Senbei (Clement)