Only
one horse has won the Vinery Madison (G1) in the spring and the
Thoroughbred Club of America (G2) in the fall of the same year at
Keeneland, and that was Informed Decision in 2009.
Owner-trainer-breeder C. R. Trout hopes that number doubles Saturday when he sends out Shotgun Gulch in the 31st running of the Thoroughbred Club of America at six furlongs.
Shotgun
Gulch won the Vinery Madison in her first try on an all-weather surface
in April. After the Vinery Madison win, Shotgun Gulch stayed in
Kentucky and ran fifth in the Humana Distaff (G1) at Churchill Downs
three weeks later. Since then, she has raced only twice.
“The
time off was by design,” Trout said. “We hauled her to California (for
the Grade 2 A Gleam) and then we debated the best way to the Breeders’
Cup because she has enough points and seven furlongs is a better
distance for her.”
The
Thoroughbred Club of America is a “Win and You’re In” race for the
Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) to be run
November 4 at Churchill Downs.
“She
will have to run good here Saturday or we won’t go (to the Breeders’
Cup),” Trout said. “There is a lot of speed in there and if there is a
hot pace, she should get a part of it. If she gets lucky, she’ll win
it.”
Shotgun
Gulch finished seventh in the A Gleam and tuned up for the Keeneland
test with a fast-closing third-place finish in the Presque Isle Masters
(G2) on September 10, also over an all-weather surface.
“She had a little bit of a bad trip in California,” Trout said. “She
doesn’t
like to be down on the inside and then at Presque Isle, she drew the
one hole and had to come way wide. The reason we went there was because
of the (all-weather) surface that she seems to have a liking for.”
Should
Shotgun Gulch do enough to merit a Breeders’ Cup shot, Trout said she
would have a different itinerary than what she had in the spring.
“She
won’t stay here; she’ll go back home (to Oklahoma),” Trout said. “It is
still a bit quick (between races), but she’d be at home and she is
comfortable there. Then we would come back.”