By Alan Carasso
Hall of Fame conditioner Bob Baffert will go down as one of the most successful trainers of all time, but until Bayern (Offlee Wild) scored at 6-1 in one of the wildest renewals in the history of the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita in 2014, he hadn't tasted victory in the race. Baffert would go on to make history of his own, saddling Triple Crown hero American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) to a resounding success at Keeneland in 2015 and Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) to a thrilling defeat of California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) back at Santa Anita the following November. The latter made him the only trainer to saddle as many as three winners of the Classic, and 'TDN Rising Star' McKinzie (Street Sense) will look to add to that record Saturday afternoon.
Despite winning just two of his six starts this season, the $170,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, named in honor of the late Los Alamitos executive Brad McKinzie, was made the 3-1 favorite on Jon White's morning line and will break from gate eight. Joel Rosario replaces Mike Smith aboard the 4-year-old.
“You never want to be down inside and actually, I was happy with all my draws,” Baffert told Laffit Pincay III. “All the good horses are next to each other, but at the end of the day, the cream rises to the top. That's what the Breeders' Cup is all about. It's great racing, you have to be really good and really good that day.”
McKinzie tuned up for the weekend by working five furlongs in a bullet (1/41) five furlongs in 1:00.20 Monday morning at Santa Anita.
“I'm really happy with him, he's doing as well as he can,” Baffert commented. “I loved his work today, he looks like he's doing really well and no excuses. One thing I've learned about the Breeders' Cup–the edge is that you have the best horse. I feel like I have [the best horse]. I've always thought he was the best horse and now he has to prove it.”
Contrarians will oppose McKinzie on the combination of his lack of success over Saturday's 10-furlong trip as well as his ability to see out that distance.
“I think the pace makes the race,” he said. “I've won this race with horses that didn't want to get a mile and a quarter. Bayern wasn't a mile-and-a-quarter horse and he got it. This is a really tough race, we all have to show up. It's a good field of horses, but they all have to show up.”
Fellow Hall of Famer Bill Mott is also a two-time Classic winner (Cigar, 1995; Drosselmeyer, 2011) and he will look to upset the apple cart with a pair of entrants. 'Rising Star' Elate (Medaglia d'Oro) is one of two in the race for her sire and opts for the Classic over the GI Distaff.
“We were talking about the Classic last year, but we weren't able to make it because of some soundness issues,” Mott told Pincay III. “I think it's something that we've always wanted to do. With our mare going in the Classic it's based on the fact that she's got a lot of class and that she's proven at a mile and a quarter. She seems better at that distance than any distance.”
Elate, who was most recently upset in the GI Juddmonte Spinster S. at Keeneland, is perfect in three runs over 10 furlongs, having won the GI Alabama S. at three and back-to-back runnings of the GII Delaware H.
'Rising Star' Yoshida (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) picks up the services of Smith, who also jumped on Drosselmeyer before the 2011 Classic.
“I see a lot of similarities,” Mott said with a grin.
Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}) can lock up the 3-year-old championship with a win in the Classic and given his get-back, run-on style, was done no harm by drawing widest in gate 11. With a 2 1/2-furlong run into the first turn, all of the inside speed should clear and allow John Velazquez to get down and save some ground.
Vino Rosso (Curlin) is the 4-1 joint-second choice with Code of Honor and is the lone member of the Classic field with a victory over the course and distance, having won the GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita from on the pace May 27. Both Shug McGaughey and Todd Pletcher are in search of a first score in the Classic.
Luck…Good and Bad…of the Draw…
Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) is the heaviest favorite in any of the weekend's 14 Breeders' Cup events, having been made the 6-5 chalk again 10 others in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. Mike Smith has the call from a good gate in four.
“I'm thrilled about Midnight Bisou,” said managing partner Jeff Bloom. “If I had to pick a post, four is what I would pick. She's so versatile and adapts so well. I have the luxury of sitting back and letting Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith make the decisions.”
The already-strong chances for Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) to become the first back-to-back winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf were enhanced further with the Monday morning announcement that last year's GI Turf runner-up Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) had spiked a temperature, did not make the trip and was retired straight away. Though Ballydoyle sends out a capable understudy in the form of the GSW & MG1SP Fleeting (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), Sistercharlie was made the 8-5 chalk and should enjoy a comfortable trip from the two hole.
Bricks and Mortar (Giant's Causeway) will try to give trainer Chad Brown a first victory in the GI Turf and drew gate nine as the 9-5 morning-line selection. G1 Investec Derby hero Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is the 3-1 second choice to give trainer Aidan O'Brien a remarkable seventh win in the race, while Godolphin's Old Persian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) drew one to the outside of the chalk as the 4-1 third pick.
Mitole (Eskendereya) is the 9-5 choice in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint and pulled an interesting stall towards the inside, with the speedy Shancelot (Shanghai Bobby, gate six, 4-1), Imperial Hint (Imperialism, gate nine, 4-1) and Japan's Matera Sky (Speightstown) drawn outside. It will be up to Ricardo Santana, Jr. to work out the right trip from the four.
The 'Rising Star' favorites in Friday's 2-year-old dirt races were done positively no favors by the draw. The once-raced Donna Veloce (Uncle Mo) will be trying two turns for the first time in the GI Juvenile Fillies as the 3-1 chalk and got stuck with the rail draw, with the quick GI Chandelier S. winner Bast (Uncle Mo) and 'Rising Star' Wicked Whisper (Liam's Map) outside in six and seven, respectively. Dennis' Moment (Tiznow), whose sire annexed a pair of memorable Classics in 2000 and 2001, will also have to negotiate the inside barrier as the 8-5 favorite against 'Rising Star' Eight Rings (Empire Maker, gate six, 2-1) and Maxfield (Street Sense, 3-1), ideally drawn outside for his late-running style.
“It's not historically my favorite [post], but I think he can pick it up coming away from there,” Dennis' Moment's trainer Dale Romans said. “The inside might be the place to be this race. He's going to be fast enough to be up close. It just makes it most important that he breaks more clean, that he doesn't miss the break at all. And I don't think he will anyway.”
Saturday's first Breeders' Cup race is the GI Filly & Mare Sprint, led by the exciting Covfefe (Into Mischief), but she, too, will have to have her running shoes on from the one hole. Come Dancing (Malibu Moon) figures her chief market rival and she will get to watch the favorite's every move from gate four.
Circus Maximus (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is the 3-1 favorite from gate nine in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile and is looking to become the seventh winner of the race for the Niarchos Family, who races him in partnership with Coolmore. Uni (GB) (More Than Ready) and Got Stormy (Get Stormy) represent the fairer sex, each having been given a 7-2 chance.
Omaha Beach (War Front) and 'Rising Star' Improbable (City Zip), who was defeated a neck by Omaha Beach in this year's GI Arkansas Derby, lock horns in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in a race many will rate a two-horse affair. Improbable, who has had his fair share of problems behind and in the stalls, drew two, while Omaha Beach is mid-gate in five.
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