BREEDERS’ CUP – WATCHING WORKOUTS
Entries/posts drawn tomorrow
Canadian-bred CHANNEL MAKER is going for the Breeders’ Cup Turf for a host of owners including Gary Barber – JULIE WRIGHT PHOTO
On Facebook on the Breeders’ Cup World Championships page you can watch a three-hour show with all morning workouts and gallops hosted by Caton Bredar and Joe Kristofek.
Most workouts have been completed abut it is interesting to watch the horses train each day and get to know some of the 175 horses that will be racing on the day 2-day extravaganza Friday and Saturday.
THOROUGHBLOG has made note of a handful of horses who have looked better than the average in the last few days and wil note them once the post positions are drawn on Monday beginning at 4 p.m.
There are 14 Breeders’ Cup races now over 2 days.
AXELROD, a Breeders’ Cup Classic contender by Warrior’s Reward and winner of two Grade 3’s had a nice workout with 2yo filly Vibrance on Saturday for trainer Mike McCarthy. The pair went a half mile in 48.40.
Vibrance is in the Juvenile Fillies and she is by Violence and was recently 2nd to Bellafina in the Grade 1 Chandelier.
VIBRANCE, a 2yo filly trained by Mike McCarthy, and AXLEROD, an older horse, prepped Saturday morning in the slop. Churchill Downs press photo
YOSHID
A, another Classic contender, has been making a great appearance and is one of the best looking horses on the grounds
at Churchill (Photo by Vanessa Ng, horse-races.net)
THOR SCORES but PINK SINKS
The Overskate Stakes, an Ontario sired race for sprinters, was the Woodbine feature on Saturday, a cold, rainy, sleety day at the track. Horse of the Year 2017 PINK LLOYD was seeking another rebound as he suffered his 2nd loss of the season his previous race, the Grade 3 Bold Venture.
The tough 6-year-old was on better behaviour at the gate, not breaking through or hopping up ate the start and he seemed to have a good position tracking the speed of Sweet Grass Creek. While the pace fractions appeared to be slow, the track surface was slow and the speed crumbled in the late stages. the horses in last and next to last ran 1-2 – Thor’s Rocket, who had not won a race in more than 2 years, blew past to win the 7 furlong dash under Alan Garcia for Buttigieg Training Centre and Gus Vlahos. The 5-year-old by Old Forester – Glory Royale by Tethtra was bred by Buttugieg.
It was the 5th win in 20 starts for the flashy chestnut who won the Vice regent Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on the main track in 2016.
Red Cabarnet also came from far back and ran second in her first try against boys and first run on the Tapeta since the spring. Pink Lloyd was asked for everything he had but he faded to fourth.
The gelding still remains the leader for Champion Sprinter this year with 5 wins and one graded stakes score in sprints.
COUNTRY BOY 123 CLOSE 2ND IN SEASON FINALE AT INDIANA DOWNS
Indiana Downs photo
Canada’s superstar Quarter Horse COUNTRY BOY 123, unbeaten in 7 races this year and likely the Horse of the Year for the third straight season, closed strongly in the Indiana Championship last night at Indiana Downs and was 2nd by a neck in the $99,000 dash at 400 yards. Racing at night for just the second time in more than a year, Country Boy 123 is owned by Ruth Barbour. He heads back to Ontario and his farm on Monday.
Tommy The Train Back On Track at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino
SHELBYVILLE, IN—OCTOBER 27, 2018—Tommy the Train was back on track in the sixth running of the $84,520 Indiana Championship Saturday. The stakes race was the first of four featured on the final all-Quarter Horse racing night at Indiana Grand.
Starting from post one, Jockey James Flores had Tommy the Train ready to roll when the starting gate sprung open. In two quick jumps, the son of Freighttrain B was on top of the field of eight older sprinters in the 400-yard dash.
The four-year-old held steady down the stretch, and although Country Boy 123 and L.D. Martinez were beginning to close in late, Tommy the Train pushed through to the wire, winning the race by a neck in a time of :19.672 seconds, just missing the stakes record set by Gallant Ways in 2013 in a time of :19.607 seconds. As and Js and Yordanis Amaro maintained ground for third
http://www.stallionesearch.com/RaceReplay/showrace.asp?link=3
COT CAMPBELL, PARTNERSHIPS PIONEER, PASSES AT 91
“I went into racing because I loved horses,” Campbell said. “At first, it was a way to have some fun, but then it evolved into a way of life and a business. I never started out to cut a wide swath. It just gradually happened.”
