Friday morning was busy at Keeneland with works by five other horses
pointed at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on November 2-3 at
Santa Anita.
Working on the main track was Shortleaf Stable’s Atigun.
With exercise rider Danny Ramsey up, the Istan colt worked five
furlongs on his own in :59.40 with fractions of :12, :23.60, :35.20,
:47.20 and out six furlongs in 1:12.80.
“I thought he worked good,” trainer Ken McPeek said of the move that
was fastest of eight at the distance. “He will ship Sunday and Mike
Smith will ride him.”
Atigun, third in the Belmont (G1) at 1½ miles, is pre-entered in the
$500,000 Breeders’ Cup Marathon (G2) at 1¾ miles on November 2.
“We felt that he was not ready for the (Breeders’ Cup) Classic (G1),”
McPeek said of choosing the Marathon. “He can run all day. He likes
every bit of a mile and a half and I think he needs more than a mile and
a quarter. The Travers (G1) and the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) were both
good races.”
Smith was aboard Atigun in those past two starts in which he finished fourth going 1¼ miles.
For trainer Wesley Ward, Houyhnhnm Farm’s Great Attack, a 5-year-old Grade 3-winning son of Greatness, worked five furlongs with Ice Wine Stable’s Almost an Angel,
a 2-year-old Artie Schiller filly who was sixth in the Darley
Alcibiades (G1) on October 5. Great Attack, ridden by Paco Lopez,
started five lengths behind the filly and was five lengths in front of
her at the finish.
Great Attack’s time was 1:02.40, and Almost an Angel’s time was 1:04.40.
“Both of them get a lot out of their works,” Ward said. “She’s a good
work horse, and he’s kind of an older, seasoned veteran, a little lazy,
so that’s why I try to put them together.”
Clockers caught Great Attack in fractions of :12.60, :26.20, :39.40, :51.20, 1:02.40 and out in 1:15.80.
“Great Attack looks like he’s coming into the race in perfect
fashion,” Ward said about the horse, who was pre-entered in the $1
million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) on November 3. He has not raced
since winning the Twin Spires Turf Sprint (G3) on May 5.
Almost an Angel, who was ridden by Julio Garcia, was pre-entered in
the $500,000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint and the $2 million Grey Goose
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). Both races are on November 2.
“I’m going to see how the races are setting up – what everybody else
is thinking – before I make a decision,” Ward said. “She can do either;
she can sprint because she broke her maiden going short on the grass at
Belmont. I really believe (dirt) is her best surface. She worked on the
dirt at Palm Meadows (in Florida) before her career began and worked on
the dirt at Saratoga. She works far better on it than she does on the
grass or the Polytrack.”
Almost an Angel and Great Attack are scheduled to ship to California on Sunday.
Brown Almighty worked for the second time at Keeneland since his second-place finish to Balance the Books
in the Bourbon (G3) on October 7. The 2-year-old Big Brown colt, owned
by Tri-Star Racing LLC, Joe Denson and Brent Gasaway, was pre-entered in
the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) on November 3.
With Kent Desormeaux aboard, Brown Almighty worked five furlongs in
1:02.60 with fractions of :12.20, :25, :39, :51.40, 1:02.60 and out in
1:15.60.
“He looked like he worked good,” trainer Tim Ice said. “He finished
up really nice; come home the last quarter in :23 and change. So I’m
very excited. It’s just a matter of seeing how he comes back and off to
Santa Anita.”
Brown Almighty will be the second Breeders’ Cup starter for Ice. In 2009, he sent out eventual champion Summer Bird, with Desormeaux up, to finish fourth behind Zenyatta in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) in the final race of the colt’s career.
Brown Almighty is to travel to California on Sunday.
Also working on the grass was Bona Venture Stables’ Summer of Fun
for trainer George Weaver. With exercise rider Kim Brooking up, Summer
of Fun worked five furlongs in 1:02.20 on her own. Fractions for the
move, which was the fastest of six for the morning, were :25.20, :38.40,
:50 and out six furlongs in 1:15.60.
Third in the JPMorgan Chase Jessamine in her most recent start,
Summer of Fun is scheduled to ship Saturday to Santa Anita for the $1
million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on November 2.