Robert Mauhar Photo

Wow Cat, Complexity on Breeders’ Cup trail after impressive October Festival of Racing wins

by NYRA Press Office

• Have At It, Disco Partner in good order after solid day for Clement barn
• Divine Miss Grey exits Beldame in fine fettle; eyeing G3 Turnback the Alarm
• Code of Honor in good spirits after valiant effort in Champagne; On Leave on target for G3 Athenia

Peter Brant and Stud Vendaval’s Wow Cat came out of her 3 ¼-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 1 Beldame fine, trainer Chad Brown said from his barn on Sunday. The 4-year-old Lookin At Lucky filly will now be pointed towards the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on November 3 at Churchill Downs.

Wow Cat will have company on the trip to Kentucky, as Brown said Complexity also was in good order following his three-length win in Saturday’s Grade 1 Champagne, a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on November 2.

Brown said both of his winners will likely breeze twice before the races next month and will likely ship in the week of the race.

Wow Cat was a perfect 8-for-8 in her native country before arriving in North America this year, including winning the Chilean Triple Crown over males. After finishing second in her U.S. debut in the Grade 3 Shuvee on July 29 at Saratoga, she finished 10 lengths back to Abel Tasman and Elate in a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign on August 25 at the Spa.

Klaravich Stables’ Complexity, who also earned 10 qualifying points towards the 2019 Kentucky Derby, built on his 4 ¼-length debut win at six furlongs on September 3 at Saratoga Race Course by winning the one-turn mile. The Maclean’s Music colt stretched out to the Champagne distance of one mile, leading gate to wire on the fast main track. Purchased for $375,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Complexity will now take aim at the 1 1/16-mile Juvenile.

“He’s a really talented horse,” Brown said. “It’s a question mark but we’re going to try and stretch him out further and see how he does. He’s talented enough to probably do it. We’re just focused on the two turns; it’s the first time around two turns and it’ll be a challenge for him.”

Raging Bull, also owned by Brant, finished fifth in the Grade 2 Hill Prince at 1 1/8 miles on the inner turf on Saturday. Entering with wins in four of his first five starts, including back-to-back graded stakes victories in the Grade 2 Hall of Fame and Grade 3 Saranac this summer in Saratoga, Raging Bull bumped with Cullum Road and could not make up ground in the stretch.

“I don’t have any excuse. The horse didn’t fire,” Brown said. “Maybe he didn’t care for the turf course, the way it was. It’s the only thing I can think of, because the horse looks sound. He just never fired on it.”

Brown also reported Newspaperofrecord is doing well a week after winning her stakes debut in the Grade 2 Miss Grillo and remains on target for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on November 2.

Brown added that U S Navy Cross, a 2-year-old debut winner on September 29 at Belmont, will be looking at the Grade 3, $200,000 Nashua on November 4 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

“He looked great, it’s what we were [expecting],” Brown said.

Gronkowski is back in training following a sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup on September 29 at Belmont, according to his conditioner. The runner-up to Triple Crown-winning Justify in the Belmont Stakes, Gronkowski ran eighth in the Grade 1 Travers on August 25 at Saratoga and then struggled in the 1 ¼-mile race on Big Sandy, where he was brushed at the start and failed to make an impact in the race.

“The horse came out of the race great. I don’t have an excuse for him at all. It was over a track he likes, he just didn’t fire,” Brown said. “So, I’m not sure what we’re going to do next. He’s back training and he looks good.”

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Have At It, Disco Partner in good order after solid day for Clement barn

Patricia Generazio’s Disco Partner and Robert S. Evans’ Have At It are in good order following a successful October Festival of Racing for the Christophe Clement barn on Saturday at Belmont with respective victories in the $150,000 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational and the Grade 2, $500,000 Hill Prince.

Disco Partner exploded at the top of the lane to overtake stablemate Pure Sensation in the stretch en route to a 4 ½-length victory, geared down late by Irad Ortiz, Jr., in preparation for a likely repeat bid in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on November 3. The 6-year-old New York-bred by Disco Rico finished third in last year’s edition, held at Del Mar.

On Saturday, Pure Sensation, another Generazio homebred, led the early pace over the inner turf course listed as good, before being passed late to finish third. Pure Sensation, winner of the 2016 Belmont Turf Sprint as well as the last two editions of the Grade 3 Turf Monster, is possible to make his fourth try in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, said Clement.

The 7-year-old Zensational gelding was fifth in last year’s Breeders’ Cup with his best finish being a third, beaten a length, in the 2016 Turf Sprint at Santa Anita Park.

“Everybody looks OK to me,” said Clement. “We’ll just see how they come out of it and train over the next week to 10 days and make a plan after that. Disco Partner is a great credit to the Generazios. The horse has done well and he came back in good shape. You’d have to think Breeders’ Cup with him. I think he was very impressive yesterday.

“And Pure Sensation actually ran very well,” he added. “Being on the lead and being used early, it makes it a long way for him. Both of those horses do much better on firmer turf. I don’t think we’re going to decide [on the Breeders’ Cup] with him right now. I think I’m going to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Generazio about it and see what happens with him in the next week.”

Clement said his Breeders’ Cup contingent will likely ship to Louisville Monday or Tuesday the week before the World Championships.

“I like to go late, whenever possible,” said Clement. “Older horses know their job; they don’t need to be there too early. They do better in their regular environments.”

Clement said he will weigh his options for Have At It, a 3-year-old chestnut colt now with a graded stakes win under his belt. By Kitten’s Joy, Have At It rallied from third in the 1 1/8-mile turf route and reeled in the pacesetting Sand Dancer to win by a length under jockey David Cohen.

It was his first stakes win and third victory overall. He was sixth over yielding ground in his stakes debut at Saratoga, beaten 8 ¼ lengths by Raging Bull in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Hall of Fame, and followed with a gutsy runner-up finish in the restricted Better Talk Now at a mile on August 27.

“I was delighted with Have At It’s performance. It’s a testament to Mr. Evans’ breeding program. He owned and bred the horse and Mr. Evans has been a very big supporter of ours, so I’m very happy about that. It was a very good race for him. He’s trained well all year, but he’s been a little bit frustrating in that he runs well and then comes back a little disappointing. He runs much better if you put him close to the pace, which David did yesterday. I think he gave him a very good ride. I think David is a very underrated rider.

“[Have At It] had a good work in Saratoga before we shipped him here,” he added. “Then he had another very good work here on the main track, so we decided to run him here. We were going to send him in an easier stakes at Woodbine. But based on how he worked, we decided to take a shot and go for it. It just goes to show you: don’t overcomplicate things.”

Clement said Have At It will be under consideration for the Grade 2 Twilight Derby on November 4 and the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on December 1, both at Santa Anita Park, as well as the $150,000 Gio Ponti on November 23 at Aqueduct.

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Divine Miss Grey exits Beldame in fine fettle; eyeing G3 Turnback the Alarm

Grade 1 Beldame runner-up Divine Miss Grey was in good order on Sunday morning according to trainer Danny Gargan. The 4-year-old by Divine Park sat a stalking pocket trip before being sent three-wide to rally for second behind 3 ¼-length winner Wow Cat.

“She ran awesome. I couldn't be happier,” Gargan said. “The only way I could be happier is if she won. She ran tremendous. I'm proud of her. It’s a Grade 1 placing. Everybody is thrilled to death. I mean, she ran her butt off.

“It's a nice filly that won. They paid a lot of money for [Wow Cat],” he added. “She probably should've won her first race here, and then in her second start, she ran into two monsters [Abel Tasman and Elate in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign], so she's a filly that’s improving. So we're happy with how we ran, for sure.”

The winner of 10 from 21 career starts will not ship to the Breeders’ Cup, but instead will be considered for the Grade 3, $150,000 Turnback the Alarm on November 3 at Aqueduct, said Gargan.

“We're going to run her one more time, then I'm going to give her a few months off then bring her back for next year,” he said.

The Beldame was the second Grade 1 start for the Divine Miss Grey after her seventh-place finish in the Test as a 3-year-old on August 5 at Saratoga Race Course. The filly ended her campaign with an allowance victory at Aqueduct then returned to begin this year with a 3 ¼-length victory in the Interborough on January 15 at Aqueduct and extended her win streak to three capturing the Heavenly Prize Invitational by 6 ¾ lengths on March 10 at Aqueduct.

A return to graded stakes competition landed her a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Distaff Handicap at Aqueduct before she finished fourth in the Grade 3 Bed o' Roses Invitational Stakes on June 8 at Belmont Park.

Divine Miss Grey returned to the winners' circle after winning the Lady's Secret Stakes on June 30 at Monmouth Park, then returned to finish third in the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher Stakes on July 29, also at Monmouth.

The filly then added her 10th victory with a gate to wire win over the slop against two others in the Dr. James Penny Memorial Stakes on September 8 at Parx before making her start in the Beldame.

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Code of Honor in good spirits after valiant effort in Champagne; On Leave on target for G3 Athenia

Finishing second with an impressive late kick in the Grade 1 Champagne after stumbling badly at the break, Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey reported Code of Honor exited the race in good order and that he would continue to evaluate the colt’s progress before deciding where to run him next.

A homebred for owner Bill Farish, the son of Noble Mission won his debut wire-to-wire by 1 ½ lengths on August 18 at Saratoga. Dropping to last following the break, Code of Honor was quickly sent by rider Eric Cancel, coming into a drive along the backstretch to the quarter-pole, finishing three lengths behind Complexity and three lengths ahead of third-place finisher Call Paul.

“He came back fine,” said McGaughey. “After the stumble, he had a couple of superficial things that didn’t amount to anything. It’ll either be the Breeders’ Cup [Juvenile on November 2] or the races here, the Nashua or the [Grade 2, $250,000] Remsen [December 1]. We have plenty of options. We’ll continue to see how he is and I’ll decide whether to move him or not. Field size and other various factors.”

McGaughey said he was impressed with Phipps Stable’s 3-year-old War Front colt Breaking the Rules following a 2 ¾-length turf allowance victory on Saturday, adding that he’s undecided on where he may enter next.

“Yesterday, he finally kind of figured out what he was supposed to do,” said McGaughey. “I thought he ran very professionally yesterday and that’s the first time he’s really done that, so I think we got him going in the right direction. We’ll figure out what we’re going to with him from here.”

Multiple graded stakes winner On Leave, who won the One Dreamer on September 1 at Kentucky Downs in her most recent start, breezed four furlongs in 49.34 seconds on the inner turf in preparation for a start in the Grade 3, $200,000 Athenia on Sunday, October 21.

“She went very good this morning,” added McGaughey. “I thought she looked very good and we’ll continue to get her ready for a start in the Athenia. My only concern is that we won’t catch a real soft turf course, but she’s coming along nicely.”