Hey, Del Mar.
A few coach Steve Asmussen’s Breeders’ Cup hopefuls had straightforward “get-acquainted with the racetrack” works at Del Mar Nov. 1 to fine-tune preparations for this weekend’s second version of the World Championships on the Southern California racetrack.
Each Max Player and Snapper Sinclair had four-furlong drills with Max Player, a Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) entrant, covering the distance in :50, while Snapper Sinclair, a starter in the Breeders’ Cup Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile (G1), was timed in :49.80.
“It was a typical easy half-mile for both of them,” assistant trainer Scott Blasi said. “We got the big works in last week at Santa Anita. This was just a get-acquainted with the racetrack move. We weren’t looking for a whole lot.”
Blasi said the Asmussen Eastern-based contingent, which also includes a pair of Breeders’ Cup probable favorites in Jackie’s Warrior (Qatar Racing Sprint, G1) and Echo Zulu (Juvenile Fillies, G1), is doing well since moving from Santa Anita Park to Del Mar and starting mild coaching Oct. 25.
“All of our horses appear to be doing rather well,” Blasi mentioned. “I just like the floor right here. The horses recover from it rather well. The horses are in good type, and we’re making an attempt to get the identical races out of them as we’ve all yr.”
George Corridor and SportBLX Thoroughbreds’ Max Participant, a 4-year-old son of Honor Code , comes into the Nov. 6 Classic off back-to-back New York victories in the Suburban Stakes (G2) and Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), both at the same 1 1/4-mile distance as Saturday’s $6 million test.
Bloom Racing Stable’s Snapper Sinclair, a 6-year-old son of City Zip with $1.8 million in earnings, was second last time out in the Eddie D. Stakes (G2), a 6 1/2-furlong turf sprint at Santa Anita.
Two thousand miles away at Churchill Downs Trackside in Kentucky, trainer Mike Maker worked Run Curtis Run three furlongs in :35 in preparation for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2) Nov. 5. The Michael Dubb and Michael Caruso-owned 2-year-old is one of three Breeders’ Cup entrants for Maker, the others being Special Reserve and Stolen Base , who run in the Qatar Racing Breeder’s Cup Sprint (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T), respectively.
Maker, a three-time Breeders’ Cup winner, took the Juvenile Turf last year at Keeneland with Fire At Will . His previous Breeders’ Cup winners were Furthest Land , who captured the Breeders’ Dirt Mile (G1) when the race was on a synthetic track at Santa Anita in 2009, and Hansen , who led throughout in the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) at Churchill Downs.
Run Curtis Run (Summer Front ), runner-up in the Futurity Stakes (G3T) at Belmont Park, flies out of Indianapolis to San Diego Monday afternoon with a big group of Kentucky-based runners.
