Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
New Money Honey set for QE II
LEXINGTON, Ky. – New Money Honey is among the Chad Brown contingent that has settled in at Keeneland, as the star turf filly looms the biggest name for the final Grade 1 race of the fall meet, the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup.
New Money Honey, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last fall and the Belmont Oaks in July, is one of 11 3-year-old fillies whose connections have accepted invitations to the 34th QE II, to be run next Saturday, Oct. 14.
Owned by eFive Racing Thoroughbreds, New Money Honey will be returning to turf after Brown gave her a first opportunity to show what she could do on the dirt in the Aug. 19 Alabama, a Grade 1 race in which the Medaglia d’Oro filly finished fifth. Since the Alabama, New Money Honey had four breezes at Belmont prior to being shipped here.
Brown also will be represented in the 1 1/8-mile QE II by Uni, a British-bred filly who rallied to win the Grade 2 Sands Point last month over the Belmont Park turf as the favorite.
Keeneland officials originally invited 13 for the race, but the connections of two European fillies declined.
In alphabetical order, here is the updated list of invitees for the QE II, for which entries will be drawn Wednesday: Beau Recall, Con Te Partiro, Daddys Lil Darling, Dream Dancing, La Coronel, Madam Dancealot, New Money Honey, Proctor’s Ledge, Unforgetable Filly, Uni, and Wuheida.
The QE II is the biggest of three stakes to be run here next week, with the others being the Grade 3 Jessamine on Wednesday and the Grade 3 Franklin County on Friday.
Gio Game wins opener
Mark Casse was up before 5 a.m. Friday so as to make his commercial flight out of Gainesville, Fla., in time for the 1:05 opener of the Keeneland fall meet. His flight was canceled, but that didn’t keep the Cassetrained Gio Game from dominating her six opponents in the $65,000 maiden special weight route.
“She looked pretty good running off by herself on the screen,” Casse said by phone, adding he hoped to be on hand later in the day by way of a private jet out of Ocala.
After assistant trainer David Carroll gave Julien Leparoux a leg up, Gio Game dueled the odds-on favorite More Mojo into defeat, and was never challenged thereafter in prevailing by nine lengths. The 2-year-old daughter of Gio Ponti returned $5.60 as second choice after finishing in 1:44.74 over a fast track.
“We liked her for her two races at Saratoga,” said Leparoux, whose riding title here last fall was his 11th overall at Keeneland. “Coming off the turf, she was very impressive today. It was nice to win the first one.”
The second wagering choice also won the second race when Your Secret’s Safe ($5.60), ridden by Florent Geroux, swept to command leaving the quarter pole to end a $2 daily double worth $16.
The meet opened under partly sunny skies, with a steady breeze blowing and the high temperature expected to reach 83. The Grade 1 Alcibiades and Grade 2 Phoenix were to be run later on a 10-race card. In all, nine stakes were to be run here opening week, including five Saturday and two Sunday.
Full gate for Jessamine
The turf-course maximum was exceeded when entries were drawn here Friday for the $150,000 Jessamine Stakes, the ninth and final Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In event of the meet.
Sixteen 2-year-old fillies will be on the program for the Jessamine, which anchors an eightrace Wednesday card, although only as many as 14 can start. The 1 1/16-mile race is a prep for the Nov. 3 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar.
Among the probable favorites for the Jessamine are Lady O’Toole, winner of the Happy Ticket at Louisiana Downs, and Rushing Fall, a sharp winner of her debut last month at Belmont for trainer Chad Brown.
Foley impressed by Tiger’s Rule
With its oversubscribed field, options for the Grade 3 Bourbon on Sunday are almost limitless – but trainer Vickie Foley is hoping handicappers don’t have to look any further than the No. 1 horse, Tigers Rule.
A sharp two-length winner of a maiden race last month at Kentucky Downs, Tigers Rule has Foley and her numerous partners in the Kitten’s Joy colt excited about his future prospects.
“He won so impressively,” said Foley, a winner of nearly 600 races in a career dating to 1981. “None of the stakes winners from New York are coming down for this race, so I really think we’ve got as good a chance as anybody.”