As the countdown to next month’s Breeders’ Cup moves inside eight weeks, sure shots and longshots from coast to coast came through during an eventful Labor Day weekend.
At Del Mar in California, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert swept the two Grade 1 races for 2-year-olds, Saturday’s Del Mar Debutante with 2-5 favorite Miss Monica ($2.80) and Sunday’s Del Mar Futurity with 1-5 favorite Hughes ($2.40).
At Saratoga in upstate New York, 8-5 favorite Summer Starlet ($5.24) rolled to a 6 ½-length victory in the Spinaway Stakes (G1) on Saturday for a fees-paid automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). On Sunday, 5-2 favorite The Good Life ($7.14) was a four-length winner in the Hopeful Stakes (G1), a steppingstone to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1).
While favorites ruled in key 2-year-old stakes, there were quite a few upsets as well as a slew of racing news – particularly the possibility that 2025 Horse of the Year Sovereignty will miss his next start after developing an abscess.
At Kentucky Downs, with super rich purses all weekend, 5-year-old mare Tiffany ($15.98) beat the boys in the $2 million Kentucky Turf Cup Invitational (G2) on Saturday, securing a berth in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) at Keeneland on Oct. 31. A race earlier, Possiblemente ($11.58) won the $1.75 million Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint (G2) and earned a spot in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1).
Also, Caroline St. Beat ($36.54) edged Glacius in the stretch and won the $3 million Nashville Derby Invitational (G2) just a week after winning an allowance race at Saratoga for trainer Miguel Clement.
And then there was Manny Franco’s run to his first Saratoga riding title with a weekend surge that clinched the prestigious honor – the Angel Cordero, Jr. riding title – on Sunday with a win aboard Mashallah ($2.96) in the Prioress Stakes (G3). He added to his total by winning the Hopeful aboard The Good Life.
Two other Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In" races took place in Korea on Sunday, with Diktaean winning the Korea Cup (G2) for the second year in a row and earning a spot in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and Dragon Welds winning the Korea Sprint (G3) for a berth in the Breeders Cup Sprint (G1).
Exhale. There’s more on Labor Day:
On Monday, there are four graded stakes races on the turf that could have Breeders’ Cup implications: the Old Dominion Derby (G3) at Colonial Downs; the John C. Mabee (G2) on closing day at Del Mar; the Franklin-Simpson Stakes (G2) and the Mint Millions Invitational (G3), both at Kentucky Downs.
On closing day at Saratoga, there are a pair of ungraded stakes: the Gio Ponti, a 1-miler on turf for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies and the Funny Cide, a 6-furlong sprint for 2-year-olds.
For handicappers, Scramjet is the 9-5 favorite in the Funny Cide and Siyouincanada is 7-2 top choice in the Gio Ponti (Chief Wallabee is 4-5 and Talk to Me Jimmy is 8-5 as also-eligibles).
If that’s not enough, 2025 Horse of the Year Sovereignty may be out of the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) on Sept. 18 – opening day of the totally renovated Belmont Park.
A showdown between Japan’s star Forever Young, winner of the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), and Sovereignty is “50-50’’ for the race after the 2025 Kentucky Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes, Travers winner developed an abscess.
That news, along with a hot spell in Kentucky, has trainer Mark Casse thinking his star filly Nitrogen – second to Sovereignty in the Whitney Stakes (G1) -- might just take on the boys again in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
The race is a “Win and You’re In’’ event for the BC Classic at Keeneland on Oct. 31.
Among the list of contenders for the Jockey Club Gold Cup are Forever Young, Sovereignty, Money Game, Phileas Fogg, Willy D’s, Banishing and Nitrogen.
Summer Starlet, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, pulled clear after racing off the pace for a 4 ¾-length victory over Harper’s Corner in the 7-furlong sprint for 2-year-old fillies on Saturday.
The filly is 2-for-2.
“Ricardo gave her a beautiful trip,” Asmussen said of jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. “Obviously, her debut race showed a tremendous amount of ability. She's done extremely well since. She was away from there great, and she was in hand in a very comfortable position for him. And it went perfectly."
Next up for the filly, according to Asmussen, could be the Alcibiades Stakes (G1) at Keeneland on Oct. 2.
The Good Life came through with a powerful, four-length victory in the 7-furlong Hopeful on Sunday, a strong steppingstone to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland on Oct. 30
Ridden by Manny Franco, who clinched his first Saratoga jockey title, The Good Life is trained by Brad Cox. It was Franco’s 70 win of the meet, with one day (Monday) to go.
“This is the cherry on top,” said Franco, who also won the Travers Stakes (G1) aboard Cox-trained Leading Change. “We knew this horse is a good horse, a nice horse, he just needed to run this kind of race to prove it. We were high on him, and he proved it.”
Mystrix ran second and Booked was third.
Cox said The Good Life could run next in the 1 1/16-mile Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland on Oct. 3 or the one-turn mile Champagne Stakes (G1) the same day at Belmont Park.
Possiblemente, a 6-year-old gelding who began the year racing in a $40,000 claimer won this 6-furlong test Saturday and earned a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland on Oct. 31.
Trained by Joe Sharp and ridden by Jose Ortiz, who bypassed a chance to win the Saratoga riding title to be at Kentucky Downs over the weekend, Possiblemente returned $28.95 on the $5 win base wager at the track.
“I love Kentucky Downs,” Ortiz said. “Obviously, I was having a great meet at Saratoga, but here we have a couple horses as well, so I decided to (be) here.”
Golden Afternoon staged a late rally and finished second, 1 ¼ lengths behind the winner.
Caroline Street is the party side street in downtown Saratoga, open to the wee hours of the morning. The celebrating likely started early on Saturday after Caroline St. Beat pulled off a 17-1 upset on Saturday at Kentucky Downs – nearly 1,000 miles away.
Trained by New York-based Miguel Clement, Caroline St. Beat won by 1 ½ lengths with Glacius second.
The huge purse was available only for Kentucky-breds. The winner is a New York-bred, lowering the purse to $1.75 million.
Ireland-bred Tiffany, trained by Sir Mark Prescott, took it to the boys in this one on Saturday. The 6-year-old mare topped Ethical Diamond by 1¾ lengths.
“She's fantastic. We're realizing dreams we thought we couldn't realize,” William Butler, assistant to Prescott said. “She's so consistent and it looks like she's getting better at 6. She handled everything so well, and she gives you confidence that she'll bring her 'A' game every time.
“That confidence makes you be bold and take some chances, and this was a chance that we took, and we'll keep rolling the dice.”
Tiffany returned $39.95 for a $5 win wager at the track.
Miss Monica, ridden by Juan Hernandez, gave Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert a record-extending 13th win in the 7-furlong Debutante for 2-year-old fillies.
Miss Monica ($2.80) pressed the pace, then took charge with a quarter mile to go and kicked clear for a 6 ¼-length win over Crazy Hot Mess.
“J.J. Hernandez rode her with a lot of confidence,” Baffert said. “We know going seven-eighths is demanding but at the three-eighths pole you could tell she was cruising and she went to the lead on her own. She’s that good of a filly. I’m always happy to win this race especially for the ‘Three Amigos’ -- Pegram, Watson, and Weitman.”
Hughes rolled to a 4 ¾-length victory in the five-horse Futurity on Sunday, giving Baffert his 20th win in this top 2-year-old test leading to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) at Keeneland on Oct. 31.
A son of top sire Into Mischief, Hughes ($2.40) was ridden by Juan Hernandez and improved to 3-0. He covered 7 furlongs in 1:22.57 and was eased late as he cruised home. Phone Booth, one of three trained by Doug O’Neill, finished second.
“We’re still learning about these horses,’’ Baffert said. “He’s the kind of horse who does most of his running at the end which is what you like to see, and he was taking off at the end.”
Richard Rosenblatt is an award-winning journalist and former Associated Press Horse Racing Editor. Currently, he serves as the news editor at US Racing, overseeing exclusive content from contributors worldwide.
