All of the Friday Breeders' Cup winners came back in fine form, according to their respective trainers Saturday, topped by GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Forte (Violence).
“He's happy and proud of himself this morning,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “I thought he was more professional yesterday than he was when he won the [GI Claiborne] Breeders' Futurity here.”
Pletcher said Forte would get a little break–“not sure where”–and then look at a two-prep program from Pletcher's winter base at Palm Beach Downs in Florida leading up to the 2023 GI Kentucky Derby.
Mark Casse was still basking in the glow of Wonder Wheel's (Into Mischief) win in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.
“I think the performance was amazing by Tyler [Gaffalione] and Wonder Wheel,” Casse said. “They were both dealt a tough hand. Things didn't go as planned. Obviously, we figured we would be up a little closer early. She didn't break running like she has in the past, and she just put in an amazing trip. With the spots that Tyler had to go through it was astonishing actually. Tyler can only do those things when he has a horse like her. I've been doing this for 40-something years. There's not a lot of awe moments, but that was an awe moment for me. She's a young horse that had to overcome a lot of adversities and she won with authority so I'm very proud of her, and proud of our entire organization.”
Casse reported that Wonder Wheel will ship out Sunday morning to spend the winter at his training facility in Ocala, Florida while they assess the next move for the filly.
The European runners, who swept Friday's turf races, were all reported to be in fine form as well.
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