Jimmy Toner has been saying for a while now that the $400,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (gr. IT) Oct. 15 at Keeneland—not the Breeders’ Cup—is the major year-end goal for star filly Winter Memories.
But in a national media teleconference Oct. 11 the trainer left the door open for a possible Breeders’ Cup appearance, if she runs well in Saturday’s QE II and comes out in good order. Which Breeders’ Cup race that might be remains a major question.
“Well, I think that remains to be seen,” Toner said. “If you look at it, the Filly & Mare Turf, you’ve got Stacelita. So do you run against her, or do you cut back (in distance) and you run the mile against Goldikova? Those are the kind of things I look at first because either race that you would run in is going to be very tough. So, that would be a tough option; a tough call right now.”
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