The busiest slate of Breeders’ Cup Problem Sequence races takes place over the subsequent few days, starting with 5 “Win and You are In” occasions Oct. 3 earlier than eight Oct. 4 and additional eight Oct. 5. Of those 21 races, 15 are run domestically, whereas France phases the opposite six Sunday, topped by the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1).Â
There’s a high-level emphasis on 2-year-old racing on the home entrance, with Friday’s Alcibiades Stakes (G1) kicking off the top-tier Breeders’ Cup prep motion and later, Saturday’s Champagne Stakes (G1), Breeders’ Futurity (G1), and American Pharoah Stakes (G1). The filly victorious within the Alcibiades will earn a paid, computerized berth into the Oct. 31 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) whereas winners of the opposite three races advance towards the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) on the identical Halloween Day card at Del Mar.
The 1 1/16-mile Alcibiades at Keeneland lured the main 2-year-old filly within the east in Spendthrift Farm’s Spinaway Stakes (G1) winner Tommy Jo  and simply 5 others, one in every of them a maiden. The presence of the Todd Pletcher-trained Tommy Jo seemingly made the 1-mile Frizette Stakes (G1) at Aqueduct Racetrack another spot for different trainers to run their 2-year-old fillies, even with out that race being an computerized Breeders’ Cup qualifier. It’s a part of the Breeders’ Cup Filth Dozen program, nonetheless, that means the highest three finishers earn credit on a $30,000-$15,000-$7,500 towards entry charges for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. The grade 1 standing of the Frizette is after all additionally a key draw.
Eleven fillies race within the Frizette, together with a number of with a lot quicker pace figures than the maiden winners within the Alcibiades.
Legion Racing, MHM Stables, Ed Stefanski, and William Conlin’s Carmel Coast is one such fast winner, coming off a debut maiden victory at Saratoga Race Course by which the Omaha Seashore  filly rolled to a front-running 5 1/2-length rating for coach Whit Beckman. Two of 4 returnees from her maiden race, together with runner-up Beautiful Christina , gained subsequent out. Beautiful Christina additionally returns within the Frizette.Join BloodHorse Day by day
Whereas with reference to flashy Saratoga maiden winners, the flashiest of all of them—Double Down Horse Racing’s It is Our Time , a 17 3/4-length winner Aug. 16—is even cash on the morning line to win the 1-mile Champagne. His coach, Tom Amoss, runs him again in a one-turn race after a month and a half of relaxation—lessening the possibility of regression after a debut by which he sizzled 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15.63, incomes a 104 Equibase Pace Determine, the co-highest by a juvenile in North America this 12 months. Solely Breeders’ Futurity favourite Ted Noffey ran as rapidly on an Equibase Pace Determine scale in capturing the Hopeful Stakes (G1) by 8 1/2 lengths.
It is Our Time labored 5 furlongs in 1:01 2/5 with stablemate and Breeders’ Futurity entrant Huge Dom Sept. 27 at Churchill Downs. It supplied scant particulars of superiority.
“They went with one another, and it was a exercise that we had designed for them to remain collectively,” Amoss mentioned. “Neither of them have been requested for lots within the final a part of the work. It was extra of a stamina-style work.”Â
Bred in Virginia by South Gate Farm, It is Our Time, a $425,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale buy, is out of the a number of stakes-winning Summer season Entrance mare Shea D Summer season . His sire, Not This Time  , is the second-leading stallion in North America this 12 months by progeny earnings, trailing six-time basic sire chief Into Mischief  .
Not This Time can be the sire of Brookdale Racing, Lance Gasaway, and Magdalena Racing’s Blackout Time , a runaway winner when routing in his second profession begin in a 1-mile Ellis Park maiden race Aug. 2. He is among the high contenders within the 1 1/16-mile Breeders’ Futurity.
After an preliminary runner-up end on debut going 6 furlongs at Churchill Downs, coach Kenny McPeek may have confidently shipped this colt to Saratoga for the summer season. As a substitute, he opted for Ellis to rapidly stretch him out—an endorsement of the colt’s prospects as a two-turn horse.
He is bred to understand even additional distances, being out of the Elusive High quality mare Magnificence Parlor , who gained the Orchid Stakes (G3T) at 1 1/2 miles on turf in 2015.
Had been Blackout Time not dealing with Spendthrift Farm’s Ted Noffey, who was sensational in taking the 7-furlong Hopeful Stakes to enhance to 2-for-2 for Pletcher, he would fee on high.Â
Whereas the pair of grade 1 juvenile winners from the summer season at Saratoga are in motion this weekend at Keeneland, the top-level stakes winners from Del Mar are sitting out Santa Anita Park’s two-turn Breeders’ Cup preps. Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1) winner Bottle of Rouge and Del Mar Futurity (G1) winner Brant are absent from the Oak Leaf Stakes (G2) and American Pharoah, respectively. These races are additionally at 1 1/16 miles.
Even with out Zedan Racing Stables’ Brant—the highest juvenile at Del Mar this summer season—Corridor of Fame coach Bob Baffert holds his customary mighty hand within the American Pharoah, a race he has gained 13 instances, together with the previous 4 years. He has 4 of the six entered, together with his high two possible being Greatest Pal Stakes (G3) winner and Del Mar Futurity runner-up Desert Gate and gritty debut scorer Kristofferson .
Baffert felt Desert Gate ran nicely within the Del Mar Futurity, noting, “He type of stumbled leaving there and missed the break somewhat bit. However he sat behind the pace after which stored coming. Brant was fairly sturdy that day.”
Photograph: Benoit PhotoDesert Gate finishes second to stablemate Brant within the Del Mar Futurity at Del Mar
As for Kristofferson, he calls him “a giant horse, and two turns is not going to be an issue. I used to be truly actually stunned he gained first out.”
Intrepido , who took a quick two-turn maiden route at Del Mar for house owners Dutch Lady Holdings and Irving Ventures and coach Jeff Mullins, and the proficient maiden Civil Liberty full the sector. The latter, a son of Independence Corridor  owned by Nice Pals Stables and Mark Davis and educated by Doug O’Neill, had the misfortune to face the expensive and unbeaten Brant in every of his two outings, initially when second to him in a maiden race and most just lately when third behind him and Desert Gate within the Del Mar Futurity.
