Potential Derby, Oaks candidates star in weekend horse racing
· Yahoo Sports
Oct. 26 (UPI) -- With a week to go before the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland, the weekend brought its own flurry of meaningful races, especially for the 2-year-olds being considered for the 2027 Kentucky Derby and Oaks and. the European Classics.
It also featured mildly surprising results in Australia's iconic Cox Plate and in the final leg of Japan's Triple Crown.
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Final entries and post-position draw for the Breeders' Cup races are Monday evening.
Meanwhile: The 2-year-olds
While the Breeders' Cup races are the main focus for 2-year-olds with big dreams, Churchill Downs, Doncaster in England and Saint-Cloud in France got a head start this weekend with juvenile races at a variety of distances on both turf and dirt.
Wharfie wins Sunday's Rags to Riches Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Churchill Downs, earning 10 points toward a Kentucky Oaks start. Photo by Cady Coulardot, courtesy of Churchill DownsAmerican juvenile colts and geldings
Going to Sky wins Sunday's Grade 1 Kikuka Sho, denying Lovcen's bid for a Triple Crown sweep. Photo by and courtesy of Katsumi SaitoJas, a Justify colt trained by Steve Asmussen, pressed the pace made by favorite Card Man in Sunday's $200,000 Grade III Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs, got a narrow lead while dueling with Staunch and won by a neck over that rival as Card Man faded to report fifth. Jas ran 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:43.99 with Keith Asmussen in the irons.
In his two previous starts, Jas won a maiden event at Kentucky Downs and then returned on short rest to finish second in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile -- both on turf.
Trainer Asmussen said the turf efforts were for dough and he's "confident he'd be able to handle two turns on dirt" -- as in the Kentucky Derby. He earned 10 points on the "Road to the Kentucky Derby" leaderboard.
On Saturday at Keeneland, Just for Pippa reeled in the pacesetters in the stretch run of the $250,000 Bowman Mill Stakes and won by a neck over Conviction. The odds-on favorite, Booked, was another neck back in third.
American juvenile fillies
Wharfie, a Godolphin homebred filly by Essential Quality, came with a six-wide rally from the back of the field to win Sunday's $200,000 Rags to Riches Stakes at Churchill Downs by 3/4 length over Juana Margarita.
With Junior Alvarado aboard for trainer Bill Mott, Wharfie ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.91. She broke her maiden Sept. 15 at Belmont Park in her second start.
"It's always nice to get a win with a horse like this over the track," Godolphin's Michael Banahan said. "It's worked out well for us in the past in this race and hopefully it works out again next year." Wharfie earned 10 points in the "Road to the Kentucky Oaks" series.
On Friday at Keeneland, Stress Relief chased down 21-1 longshot pacesetter Glory Run in the closing yards of the $300,000 Myrtlewood Stakes and won by a neck.
A Not This Time filly trained by Kinnon LaRose, Stress Relief ran 6 furlongs on a fast track in 1:11.33. She's 3-for-4, with a fourth in the Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga.
England
On Saturday at Doncaster, Aidan O'Brien sent out three of the seven starters and it was the least-fancied of the three, Giant Sequoia, who got the spoils.
The Kentucky-bred Frankel colt came from the rear, blew by the favorite, stablemate Noble Exhibit and strode out to a 3-length victory. Gran Dia also overtook Noble Exhibit to finish second.
It was the third win for Giant Sequoia and a nice bounce back from a fading sixth in the Vincent O'Brien National in his last start.
"We always thought he was a classy horse," Aidan O'Brien said of Giant Sequoia. "He'll make a good three-year-old as well. He's a proper horse. He's a Guineas, Derby, French Derby horse, I'd say."
France
O'Brien and the Coolmore youngsters also held a strong hand Sunday at Saint-Cloud and came away with, for them, an OK result.
Drumbeat, with Ryan Moore up, and Shakespeare, toting Christophe Soumillon, finished 1-2 in the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud at 2,000 meters, while Master Man relegated O'Brien's Capability Brown and Aix la Chapelle to second and third in the Group 1 Criterium International.
A Wootton Bassett colt, Drumbeat achieved a breakthrough in his first Group 1. Master Man, a Goken colt trained by Richard Chotard, was in his first graded stakes heat.
"He'll be trained for the Classics," O'Brien said of Drumbeat. "He's not a slow horse and I'd say he'd have no problem starting in a Guineas, whether it's an Irish, a French or an English. And then he'll be very comfortable going up to a mile and a quarter, and maybe even further."
Around the world, around the clock
It wasn't just 2-year-olds on display in global racing.
Australia
Cosmic Crusader rallied from far back in the field in Saturday's Group 1 Ladbroke's Cox Plate at Flemington, wore down the opposition on the far outside and was up to post a mild upset win by 3/4 length over Birdman.
The favorite, Aeliana, had every chance but settled for second and promising 3-year-old Warwoven was never able to reach contention, partly due to traffic issues, and finished seventh.
"It's the greatest race in Australia," emotional owner Robert Peters said.
Japan
Going to Sky won Sunday's Grade 1 Kikuka Sho or Japanese St. Leger, denying Lovcen, a sweep of Japan's Triple Crown. The son of 2020 Triple Crown winner Contrail finished sixth in the Tokyo Yushun or Japanese Derby and came in sixth in his final prep for the 3,000-metes Kikuka Sho.
Despite those results , trainer Yuki Uehara said he trusted jockey Yutaka Take's assessment that Going to Sky had a chance. The colt and his rider delivered. Take timed out a perfect trip in the marathon, saving ground and energy early before moving to the lead early in the stretch run. Going to Sky then had just enough left to win by a nose.
Lovcen, by World Premiere, won the Grade 1 Hopeful last December before taking the Japanese 2,000 Guineas and the Derby.
France
Coolmore and O'Brien made an OK day in Paris a really nice day, as Queenstown landed the Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak by 3/4 length over Consent with Amelia Earhart fourth.
Queenstown, a 6-year-old Galileo gelding, finished second in the Group 1 British Champions Long Distance Cup just eight days earlier. Two weeks before that, he was third in the Group 1 Prix du Cadron.
The Cadron was 2 1/2 miles, Champions Day heat was 2 miles and the Royal-Oak just a half-furlong shorter.
"It's not normal what he did," O'Brien said of more than 6 1/2 miles of top-level competition in three weeks' time.