Breeders' Cup works

Less than two weeks before the Breeders' Cup, a quartet of hopefuls--highlighted by GISW Sweet Azteca (Sharp Azteca)--turned in six-furlongs works Sunday at Santa Anita. With jockey Juan Hernandez aboard, Sweet Azteca was clocked officially in a swift 1:10.80. Trainer Richard Baltas timed the drill in 1:11.20. Also working six furlongs on the main track Sunday, all for trainer Bob Baffert, wereTDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard Nysos (Nyquist) (1:11.60), Nevada Beach (Omaha Beach) (1:11.80) and last year's juvenile champion Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) (1:12.60). Nysos and Citizen Bull are...

Godolphin's Sovereignty (Into Mischief) breezed five furlongs in 1:01.39 over the Oklahoma dirt training track at Saratoga Sunday as he prepares for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. Trained by Bill Mott, Sovereignty was piloted in the work by assistant trainer Neil Poznansky, starting slightly in front of workmate Playa Del Mar [1:02.27] before kicking away in the stretch and finishing several lengths in front. NYRA Clockers caught Sovereignty through splits of :24 2/5, :36 3/5 and galloping out in 1:14 3/5 over the fast...

GI Breeders' Cup Classic contender 'TDN Rising Star' GISW Newgate (Into Mischief), along with three other horses pre-entered in this weekend's championships at Del Mar, worked Sunday morning at Santa Anita. Firing his second bullet in a row going five furlongs, this time in :58.80, the Bob Baffert-trainee shared the top ranking on the morning with John Sadler runner GSP-Arg & GISP Full Serrano (Arg) (Full Mast). In the Classic, Newgate will be making his second start since returning from a six-month layoff after a ninth-place finish in the G1...

It was a tale of two Breeders' Cup preps Monday morning at Santa Anita for Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) and White Abarrio (Race Day), the former putting in an eye-catching six furlong work in 1:11.54 and then galloping out a mile in 1:37.57 without any pressing encouragement, as reported by the DRF in the Breeders' Cup Clocker Report, and the latter having it tentatively postponed until Wednesday. When asked for a reason, conditioner Rick Dutrow only said: "We weren't able to work [White Abarrio] this morning. Hopefully we'll get to...

The early-morning activity at racetracks across the country was ablaze Saturday, with horses targeting next month's Breeders' Cup races dominating the scene. Well represented at Keeneland, trainer Chad Brown had the bulk of his championship team working on both the main track and the turf. "Everything went really, really well this morning, considering everything that was going on," Brown said, referring to the volume of horses that featured 190 works on the main track. "They all did very well and they will have another work next week, but these were...

Trainer Bob Baffert's arsenal was on full display Saturday morning at Santa Anita in preparation for their respective Breeders' Cup engagements at Keeneland Nov. 6 and 7. Heading the charge was GI Kentucky Derby hero Authentic (Into Mischief), who breezed seven furlongs in 1:24.40 (XBTV video) in advance of the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. In his latest start, the colt finished a neck behind winner Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) in the Oct. 3 GI Preakness S. Undefeated TDN Rising Star Princess Noor (Not This Time) breezed six furlongs in a bullet...