NYRA/Coglianese Photo

Pletcher breezes Breeders' Cup contingent at Belmont

by NYRA Press Office

• Ratajkowski looking to repeat in Empire Distaff
• Myhartblongstodady streaks into Ticonderoga

Trainer Todd Pletcher, who has 4,993 career wins heading into Friday's racing action, breezed a quintet of Breeders' Cup contenders over the past two mornings at Belmont Park.

Harrell Ventures' Halladay, winner of the Grade 1 Fourstardave last out on August 22 at Saratoga Race Course, worked five-eighths in company Friday in 1:00.60 on the fast dirt training track while being pressed from the outside by maiden winner Jerry the Nipper, a 3-year-old New York-bred.

It was the second breeze back for the Breeders' Cup Mile contender after scratching out of the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile on October 3 at Keeneland with a hind leg infection.

"I thought it was a good work. We normally don't work him in company, but seeing as we're a little rushed for time between races, I wanted to get a good solid work into him today in company," said Pletcher. "He's a very willing work horse on his own but the fact that we missed the prep race we wanted to get a good solid company work into him and we got what we were hoping for.

"He responded quickly to antibiotics and everything has gone according to plan so far," added Pletcher.

The 4-year-old War Front gray, who captured the Tropical Park Derby in December at Gulfstream Park, took a big step forward in his 4-year-old campaign, reeling off a trio of triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures over his last four starts from wins in an optional-claimer [102] on the Gulfstream turf in April; a 1 ¼-length score in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch [103] at the Spa in July; and a 105 Beyer for his frontrunning Fourstardave coup.

"He's always been an impressive horse to watch train," said Pletcher. "The key to him getting better has been that he's learned to settle and relax a bit in the early part of his races. He was on the bridle in the early part of his breeze today with his company but he wasn't throwing his head and getting silly about it."

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Martin S. Schwartz and CHC Inc.'s Valiance made the grade last out in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Spinster on October 4 at Keeneland. The Tapit gray clocked a half-mile in 48.04 on the dirt training track Friday while working outside of 3-year-old allowance-winning filly Thankful.

"I thought it was an excellent work," said Pletcher. "She seems to be in really good form at the moment. I was really happy with the work and gallop out."

A six-time winner from eight starts, Pletcher said the $650,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale purchase continues to improve with each start ahead of facing deeper waters in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff.

"This is another step up but she seems to be in the best form of her career," said Pletcher. "As she's gotten older and more mature and stronger, she's trained better on the dirt. She's won her last two starts on the dirt and has a win over the track which never hurts."

Valiance, who won the off-the-turf Eatontown at Monmouth Park in August ahead of her Spinster score, is out of the Grade 1-winning Empire Maker mare Last Full Measure.

Breeders' Cup hopefuls Mutasaabeq [Juvenile Turf], Likeable [Juvenile] and Union Gables [Juvenile Fillies Turf/Juvenile Turf Sprint] worked on Thursday at Belmont.

Shadwell Stable's Mutasaabeq, who was third in the Grade 1 Runhappy Hopeful in September ahead of a last-out win in the Grade 2 Bourbon on October 4 at Keeneland, worked a half-mile in 49.75 through the fog on the dirt training track.

"We were under quite a bit of fog at the time, but what we could see looked very good. He seemed to be moving great and came back well," said Pletcher.

By Into Mischief and out of the Scat Daddy mare Downside Scenario, Mutasaabeq was a $425,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase.

Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable and Stonestreet Stables' Likeable worked five-eighths in 1:02.11 on Big Sandy under Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez.

The Frosted bay finished second in his August 22 debut at Saratoga under Irad Ortiz, Jr. ahead of his impressive 8 ¼-length maiden score under Luis Saez in a one-turn mile on September 19 at Belmont.

"I wanted him [Velazquez] to get a feel for the horse and to learn something about him," said Pletcher. "We've always liked this horse a lot. His two races have been good and he's trained like we would have hoped since then."

Pletcher said Likeable is training forwardly enough that he opted for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile rather than the Grade 3 Nashua on November 8 at the Big A.

"The choices are do you take a conservative route like the Nashua or do you take a shot at the long ball when the horse is doing really well," said Pletcher. "We figured there's a lot of upside if we're fortunate and not a lot of downside if were not."

GMP Stables and F. Bellavia's Union Gables, a 2-year-old Speightstown filly, breezed a half-mile in 50.25 on the dirt training track. She finished third in the off-the-turf P.G. Johnson on September 3 at Saratoga ahead of a last-out second in the Grade 3 Matron at six furlongs on the Belmont turf on October 11.

"I think we'll pre-enter Union Gables in the Juvenile Fillies Turf and second choice in the Juvenile Turf Sprint after her second in the Matron. We'll see where she lands and how popular those races are," said Pletcher.

Union Gables was a private purchase following her first-out graduation on the Saratoga main track on August 4 for former trainer Gary Gullo.

Pletcher said Wertheimer and Frere's undefeated Happy Saver, last-out winner of the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup on October 10 at Belmont, will not enter the Breeders' Cup Classic.

The Super Saver sophomore graduated on June 20 at Belmont ahead of a nine-furlong allowance win against older horses in July at the Spa. He entered the Jockey Club Gold Cup from a prominent win in the Federico Tesio at Laurel Park on September 7.

"We're going to pass on the Breeders' Cup with him and make a decision in the next week on whether we'll give him some time off or focus on a Plan B towards the Pegasus [at Gulfstream]. I think the Classic is coming up a little too soon," said Pletcher. "He's a horse we plan to race next year and I felt like for the long term skipping this race and focusing on 2021 is the right move for him. He has a lot of talent and we want to make sure we keep him fresh for next year."

***

Ratajkowski looking to repeat in tomorrow's Empire Distaff

Gary Broad's Ratajkowski will look to thrive when stretching back out in distance as she attempts to repeat in Saturday's 1 1/16-mile $175,000 Empire Distaff at Belmont.

Ratajkowski, trained by Graham Motion, returned off a nearly seven-month break to win the Critical Eye in her 2020 debut on June 18 going one mile on Belmont's Big Sandy in tandem with jockey Jose Ortiz. The 6-year-old Drosselmeyer mare was shortened to seven furlongs last out, running fifth in the Union Avenue on August 13 at Saratoga.

Motion gave her another break after that effort before returning her to the work tab on September 26 at his base in Fair Hill, Maryland. She has breezed four times heading into the Empire Distaff.

"She ran subpar that day," Motion said. "Jose said she was never really into the race and never on the bridle that day. We went easy on her for a bit after that. She didn't seem quite right in herself, so hopefully freshening her up has done the trick."

Ratajkowski has won four of her five career races at Belmont, posting a 4-0-1 ledger in her starts at the Elmont-based track, including a maiden score at second asking in June 2019 and a head win in last year's Empire Distaff that was held at one mile in October 2019.

"Obviously, she loves Belmont," Motion said. "She's always done well there. I'm definitely looking forward to that."

Previously trained by Brian Lynch, for whom she won four of seven starts, Ratajkowski was moved into Motion's care this year. On Saturday, she will break from post 2 in the seven-horse field under Ortiz as the slight 2-1 morning-line favorite ahead of 3-1 Lucky Move.

The Empire Distaff is one of eight stakes and 11 races total for New York breds on Belmont's docket, with total stakes purses of $1.2 million. In Maryland, Laurel Park will also feature eight stakes and four starter stakes for Maryland Million Day as part of the track's "Maryland's Day at the Races" to celebrate the progeny of stallions standings in the state.

"It's tremendous that tomorrow we have a showcase day in New York and a showcase day in Maryland and they're both extremely important for us in this region to train for the local owners and show these kind of horses," Motion said.

While Saturday will have a local focus, Motion also has his sights set on national prominence with a stable of contenders for the Breeders' Cup World Championships on November 6-7 at Keeneland.

Among his top contenders is A. G. Campbell, Jr.'s Mean Mary, who is training towards the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf on November 7.

Mean Mary went gate-to-wire to post a 5 1/4-length dominating score in the 1 1/4-mile Grade 2 New York on June 27 at Belmont before running second, just a neck behind Rushing Fall, in the Grade 1 Diana going 1 1/8 miles on August 23 at the Spa.

Mean Mary worked in company with Ratajkowski on October 17, when both went seven furlongs over Fair Hill's all-weather training track. After making her career debut on the main track in September 2019, Mean Mary has made her last seven starts on the turf, winning five of those contests with two second-place finishes overall. Before the Diana she won three consecutive graded stakes, capturing the Grade 3 La Prevoyante in January and the Grade 3 Orchid at Gulfstream Park before earning her first career triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure in the New York [101]. She also earned a 102 for the Diana effort.

"She breezed with Ratajkowski last weekend and she'll breeze on the grass tomorrow at Fair Hill, which is the first time we're going to do that," Motion said. "Knock on wood, everything is good, and she'll have one more work after this weekend."

Contested at 1 3/16 miles, the Filly and Mare Turf would actually mean a shorter distance for Mean Mary, who has posted graded stakes wins this year at 1 ¼ miles and 1 ½ miles.

"I wish at the end of the day it was a mile and a quarter, I think that would help her chances," Motion said. "The further, the better for her, but even the extra sixteenth from the Diana is going to help."

Four of Mean Mary's five career wins have come in front-running fashion, with the exception of a win against optional claimers in December 2019 to close her sophomore year, where she sat a close second before outlasting Cap de Creus by a head.

Motion, who has four wins in Breeders' Cup races to his credit, starting with Better Talk Now in the 2004 Turf and continuing last year when Sharing won the Juvenile Fillies Turf, will also look repeat in that race, with Alda and Invincible Gal both slated to go in $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf on November 6.

Owned by Wertheimer and Frere, Alda is 2-1-1 in four starts since starting her career with a third-place effort on June 12 at Belmont. After breaking her maiden running again on the Elmont-based turf on July 9, Motion moved the Munnings filly to stakes company, where she bested a six-horse field in the Catch A Glimpse on August 23 on the Woodbine grass. Stretched out to one mile on the same track, she ran a competitive second to Lady Speightspeare in the Grade 1 Natalma on September 20.

The English-bred Invincible Gal, owned by Michael Ryan, Jeff Drown and Team Hanley, burst onto the scene with a half-length debut win on August 7 in a 5 ½-furlong turf sprint at Saratoga. Back-to-back runner-up efforts in stakes races - starting with the Sorority on September 7 at Monmouth and continuing in the Selima on October 3, Preakness Day, at Pimlico has the $258,109 purchase at the 2019 Tatersalls Yearling Sale ready to make her graded stakes debut in the biggest stage for her division.

"They're going to breeze on the grass tomorrow at Fair Hill and I'm pretty happy with both of them. They haven't missed anything," Motion said. "I thought Alda bounced a little bit in the Natalma and was coming off a big effort the race before. I'm very happy with both of them."

***

Myhartblongstodady streaks into Ticonderoga

Trainer Jorge Abreu, who is enjoying a strong Belmont fall meet with a record of 19-4-2-1, will be represented by Myhartblongstodady and Espresso Shot on Saturday's lucrative Empire Showcase Day program at Belmont Park.

Lawrence Goichman's homebred Myhartblongstodady brings a three-race win streak into the $150,000 Ticonderoga, a 1 1/16-mile turf test for state-bred fillies and mares 3-year-olds and upward.

The 5-year-old Scat Daddy mare was a gate-to-wire winner of the 1 1/16-mile Yaddo last out on September 4 at the Spa while making her stakes debut.

"She's come out of the Yaddo really well. I think the time off was good for her and she's been training pretty forwardly," said Abreu.

Myhartblongstodady kicked off her current streak in November at the Big A when rallying from 11 lengths off the pace to win a state-bred allowance on the turf for former trainer Chad Brown. She followed with a frontrunning four-length win on the Saratoga turf in an optional-claiming tilt on July 30.

Abreu said Myhartblongstodady, listed as the 7-5 morning line favorite under returning rider Jose Lezcano, can be versatile.

"We'll play the break and see how it goes," said Abreu. "There's a couple in there with speed and Jose knows her. I don't think she needs the lead."

Top contenders in the six-horse Ticonderoga include War Canoe, Wegetsdamunnys and Niko's Dream.

NY Final Furlong Racing Stable, Maspeth Stables and Parkland Thoroughbreds' Espresso Shot will switch surfaces and turn back in distance as a 15-1 longshot in the $125,000 Iroquois at 6 ½-furlongs on the main track for state-bred fillies and mares 3-years-old and upward.

The 4-year-old Mission Impazible bay, bred by Twin Creeks Farm, has won a pair of stakes at one-mile on the Aqueduct main track, including the 2018 East View against state-breds and the 2019 Busher Invitational against open company.

Last out, Espresso Shot finished seventh when making her first turf attempt in nearly two years on September 26 in a 1 1/16-mile optional-claimer at Belmont under Manny Franco.

"I'd always wanted to try her again on the turf. I thought Manny gave her a good ride and she was in a good position turning for home, but she just didn't fire," said Abreu. "I think she's better at seven furlongs to a mile going one turn, but we'll see what happens. She's New York-bred and we'll give her a shot."

Hall of Famer John Velazquez picks up the mount from post 4.

Abreu said William H. Lawrence's Liveyourbeastlife, runner-up in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on September 5 at Saratoga, is enjoying some downtime following his off-the-board effort in the Grade 1 Preakness on October 3 at Pimlico.

"He came out of the race in good shape but there's nothing else for him right now," said Abreu. "We'll give him a couple of months off and I'll pick him up in Florida and go from there. I think he's going to be a good 4-year-old."

Klaravich Stables' Price Talk, a 3-year-old Kitten's Joy gelding, crossed the wire first in his July 16 debut in a maiden claimer on the Saratoga turf but was disqualified and placed fifth for interference. The chestnut followed with a three-length maiden allowance win on September 6 at the Spa ahead of an impressive one-length score in a first-level allowance on October 11 on the Belmont green that garnered an 87 Beyer.

Abreu said the improving gelding will resurface at the Aqueduct fall meet.

"He's 3-for-3 now and doing really well," said Abreu with a laugh. "We'll take a look at the Aqueduct book and go from there."