Classic Diary

CLASSIC DIARY

AUGUST 14, 2010

by James Scully

This week's Classic Diary will focus on the older horses, with last

Saturday's Whitney Invitational H. (G1) being the major highlight of the season so far, and

we'll feature the three-year-old division next week, with a preview of the

Travers S. (G1) on August 28.

Any discussion of the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) must take note of

defending champion Zenyatta (Street Cry [Ire]), who has stretched her perfect

number to 18 with four victories this year, but her exploits are being covered

in the Ladies' Classic Diary. We'll take a closer look at her following the

final round of prep races this fall.

Whitney showdown: Six horses lined up for the 1 1/8-mile Whitney at

Saratoga on Saturday, with QUALITY ROAD (Elusive Quality) heavily favored

at 1-2 over a near 7-2 second choice BLAME (Arch). The former was seeking

his fourth consecutive win, while the latter was going for five straight.

Quality Road went right to the lead under John Velazquez and established a slow

pace of :24 2/5 and :48 on about a one-length lead. Blame settled into a

comfortable stalking trip along the rail, never farther than 3 1/2 lengths back,

during the early stages of the race.

Garrett Gomez began to urge Blame for more run on the far turn as Quality

Road spurted a little clear, opening up by 1 1/2 lengths. Velazquez

continued to sit chilly approaching the stretch, looking around both sides for

competition, and apparently wanted to accomplish the task under a hand ride,

never asking Quality Road for run as they exited the final bend. But the lead

had been reduced and he was still riding confidently inside the quarter-pole,

constantly looking back for a threat as the final furlong approach.

Blame found his best stride in the stretch and had all the momentum late,

gallantly running down Quality Road after Velazquez belatedly went to a full

drive. The final margin was a head, with Blame covering his final eighth in

about :12 1/5 seconds, and the winner earned career-best BRIS numbers,

registering a 108 Speed and 117 Late Pace. Quality Road, who had garnered

whopping BRIS Speed ratings of 116 and 113 for his respective victories in the

Donn H. (G1) and Met Mile (G1), also received a 108.

Claiborne/Dilschneider homebred: Blame, who made his first start

against winners in an entry-level allowance at Churchill Downs in June 2009,

rounded out his sophomore campaign with solid wins in the Fayette (G2) and Clark

H. (G2), the latter coming at Churchill, site of this year's Breeders' Cup.

Clark runner-up MISREMEMBERED (Candy Ride [Arg]) captured this year's

Santa Anita H. (G1) in early March, and Blame made his four-year-old debut in

mid-May with high expectations.

Blame opened 2010 with an easy win over an undistinguished group of rivals in

the William Donald Schaefer S. (G3) on the Preakness (G1) undercard at Pimlico.

His second appearance came in the June 12 Stephen Foster H. (G1) at Churchill,

where the bay colt left himself with plenty of work to do entering the stretch.

Pacesetter and 9-5 favorite BATTLE PLAN turned for home that afternoon

with a clear lead, but Blame gamely ran him down in deep stretch to prevail by

three-quarters of a length.

Battle Plan exited the Foster with a soft tissue injury and has been retired.

The Todd Pletcher runner took a bad step during the race and switched to the

wrong lead inside the sixteenth pole, probably in distress from the injury. It

likely cost him the race.

Blame, who netted his second 102 BRIS Speed rating in the Foster,

took his game to another level in the Whitney. Trainer Al Stall Jr. obviously didn't have him

fully cranked up for his first two starts this season, and the Kentucky-bred

impressively rallied into a slow pace to get the job done at Saratoga. The scary

thing for his opponents is that we potentially haven't seen his best yet. Give

Stall credit for a job well done so far, and he's been pointing his charge

toward the Breeders' Cup all year. He'll give Blame a race at the 1 1/4-mile

Classic distance in the October 2 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Belmont Park, and

that should set him up for a top effort in early November.

Evans homebred: Quality Road was giving Blame five pounds in the

Whitney and was beaten only a head; they'll be at equal weights when they meet

next in the Breeders' Cup. He'll prep for that event in the Woodward S. (G1) on

September 4.

Quality Road caught wet tracks when finishing second in the both Jockey Club

Gold Cup and Travers last year, and those wound up being his last starts at

three after he failed to load properly and was scratched at the gate prior to

the Classic at Santa Anita. Instead of receiving a break afterward, the

Pletcher-trained colt remained in training and opened 2010 in the one-mile Hal's

Hope S. (G3) on the opening weekend at Gulfstream Park, winning in workmanlike

fashion by 2 3/4 lengths. The well-built bay returned a month later with a much

better performance in the nine-furlong Donn, earning a career-topping BRIS Speed

rating for the 12 3/4-length thrashing.

Freshened for 3 1/2 months off his scintillating Donn, Quality Road proved

much the best in the Met Mile, winning wire to wire, and he trained forwardly

for the Whitney, with Pletcher saying at the draw, "We believe he is the best

horse in training." Despite the setback, Quality Road could still prove him

right with victories in his next two starts.

Quality Road is very quick, but his connections believe that he's better with

a target to run at during the early stages of the race. That's what he had in

the Donn, as well as in his track record-setting performance in last year's

Florida Derby (G1), and we can expect to see him revert to rating tactics in the

future.

Ten furlongs remains a question going forward, given the fact that he dropped

both attempts at 1 1/4 miles last year and gave up the lead late to Blame in the

Whitney, but it doesn't worry me. He receives plenty of endurance from his

female side and should have no problem getting the trip as long as the track is

fast at Churchill -- it will be a matter of whether he's good enough to win.

Track condition is a much bigger concern because Quality Road doesn't like it

wet.

Whitney also-rans: MUSKET MAN (Yonaguska) was beaten only 1 3/4

lengths following a wide trip in the Whitney and will make his next start at two

turns, according to conditioner Derek Ryan. A listed stakes winner sprinting at

Tampa Bay in his 2010 debut, he proceeded to finish second by a nose in the

seven-furlong Carter H. (G1) and recorded a third at the same distance in the

sloppy Churchill Downs S. (G2) on Kentucky Derby Day. The four-year-old entered

the Whitney off a non-threatening second in the Met Mile and, after being wide

throughout, battled all the way to the wire to finish a clear third.

The Classic is still under consideration, but the Breeders' Dirt Mile (G1)

looks like a perfect fit for Musket Man. The hard-knocking colt outran his

pedigree to place in both the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness (G1), but it's

difficult to imagine him getting the distance against much tougher competition

in the Classic. He'll be one of the favorites in the Dirt Mile.

Suburban H. (G2) hero HAYNESFIELD (Speightstown) broke through the

gate prior to the Whitney and never appeared to be traveling comfortably during

the actual race, eventually weakening to be 9 1/2 lengths back of Musket Man

in fourth. The Steve Asmussen pupil concluded his three-year-old season with a

pair of victories, including the Discovery H. (G3), and extended his winning

streak to four with a good-looking 2 3/4-length score in the nine-furlong

Suburban on July 3. I WANT REVENGE (Stephen Got Even), who is headed to

next Saturday's Philip H. Iselin S. (G3), was one of the horses left in Haynesfield's wake

in the Suburban, but we'll give him a pass since it was the

2009 Wood Memorial (G1) winner's first start in 15 months.

Haynesfield could ultimately be pointed toward this year's Classic, but the

Dirt Mile is a much more realistic goal for the versatile New York-bred colt.

MINE THAT BIRD (Birdstone) never made an impact from off the pace in

the Whitney, checking in fifth. Despite training forwardly upon his arrival in

D. Wayne Lukas' barn this spring, the four-year-old gelding has turned in a pair

of clunkers since returning to the races and probably should set his goals a

little lower than Grade 1 competition. But the Breeders' Cup is at Churchill,

site of his 50-1 Derby upset, so Lukas will do everything he can to get Mine

That Bird to the Classic starting gate.

Rail Trip East: After opening the year with a pair of impressive wins

in the May 8 Mervyn LeRoy H. (G2) and June 12 Californian S. (G2), RAIL TRIP

(Jump Start) was favored at 2-5 in the July 10 Hollywood Gold Cup (G1). But the

defending champion was hard held behind the slow pace and didn't display the

same acceleration off the far turn, eventually finishing second by a half-length

to AWESOME GEM (Awesome Again). His owners were disappointed in the way

the race set up and wasted no time in sending him to the New York stable of

Richard Dutrow. Rail Trip is expected to make his dirt debut in the Woodward.

He's a potential major player in the division if he makes a seamless

transition to a conventional racing surface. In 2009, Rail Trip posted a

convincing three-length score in the 10-furlong Gold Cup and followed with a

commendable third, beaten only a length, in the Pacific Classic (G1) at the same

distance. The Kentucky-bred went to the sidelines following the latter and

looked better than ever when returning to the races this summer. The jury is

still out on how he'll fare against deeper competition on the East Coast, but

Rail Trip rates as an intriguing sleeper at this point.

Californians: Misremembered was sidelined following his half-length

victory in the March 6 Santa Anita H. but recently returned to the worktab for

Bob Baffert, recording a three-furlong bullet move at Del Mar on Monday. The

four-year-old can handle any kind of main track, capturing the Indiana Derby

(G2) prior to his neck second in the Clark, and he overcame post 13 to win the 1

1/4-mile Big 'Cap. The chestnut earned a career-best 103 BRIS Speed rating last

time, and we're looking forward to his return to the races.

Baffert could easily send Misremembered east for a prep race before the

Breeders' Cup and there's still plenty of time left barring no setbacks. He's

probably the best older male horse in California.

Awesome Gem snapped a five-race losing skid and earned his first Grade 1 win

in his 13th attempt in the Gold Cup. An earner of more than $2.2 million from a

35-race campaign, the gelding will make his next start in the August 28 Pacific

Classic, but it would be a surprise to see him earn consecutive wins for the

first time since 2006. The late runner is much more apt to grab a slice of the

pie, and he'll be one to consider for the bottom of the exotics, probably at

long odds, in this year's Classic.

Awesome Gem has run well previously on dirt for trainer Craig Dollase,

winning the 2009 Hawthorne Gold Cup (G2) and finishing third in the 2007 Classic at

Monmouth, and the Gold Cup has to rank as his career-best effort. It's

fascinating to see the old timer discover arguably his best form at age seven.

RICHARD'S KID (Lemon Drop Kid) will defend his Pacific Classic crown

off a disappointing third to Temple City (Dynaformer) in the July 30 Cougar II

H. (G3). Trained by Baffert, Richard's Kid got off to a fast start this year with a

victory in the February 7 San Antonio H. (G2), but he wasn't a factor in the Dubai

World Cup (UAE-G1) in late March and finally received an extended vacation

following that effort, returning with a non-threatening third in the Hollywood

Gold Cup. The five-year-old does have plenty of experience earlier in his career

on dirt, defeating eventual Grade 1 winner Bullsbay in the 2009 John B.

Campbell S. at Laurel Park, but he's going to need to elevate his game in his

upcoming starts to be considered a legitimate Classic contender.

Upcoming: Lookin at Lucky (Smart Strike) and the rest of the three-year-old prospects

will be discussed next week, and we'll begin to specifically break down the

Classic, Dirt Mile and Marathon (G3) in September.