Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Rematch may not materialize
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Those looking forward to another meeting between Abel Tasman and Elate in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff could be disappointed.
Elate, beaten a head by Abel Tasman in Saturday’s controversial running of the Grade 1 Personal Ensign, could be pointed to the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic and not the $2 million Distaff, trainer Bill Mott said Sunday. Both races are at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3.
“They might have to put her in the Classic to meet us,” Mott said.
Mott said he is considering the Classic in part because of the 1 1/4-mile distance, compared with the 1 1/8 miles of the Distaff. Elate won the Grade 1 Alabama last year and the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap last month, both at 1 1/4 miles. Mott, who probably will preenter Elate in both the Distaff and Classic, said the distance was just one consideration.
“I just think she’s that good,” Mott said. “In all due respect to all our other competition – I’m not taking anything away from anybody – I just believe in our horse. Not trying to be cocky or arrogant; I think we’re going to take it under serious consideration.”
Mott was still upset Sunday morning about the stewards’ decision not to disqualify Abel Tasman from first for the bumping incident between her and Elate in deep stretch of the Personal Ensign. While Mott acknowledged that Jose Ortiz came in one path on Elate, he felt Mike Smith came in “at least two” paths aboard Abel Tasman and initiated the contact.
Mott also disagreed with the stewards’ rationale that the incident didn’t alter the order of finish.
“I just think it was a bad call,” Mott said. “I don’t see how they could determine that it did not alter the outcome of the race. I don’t think anybody or their brother could tell what the outcome was going to be. Looking at the sixteenth pole, I don’t think anybody knows.”
Mott said that Elate came out of the bumping incident in good condition and likely will make her next start in the Grade 1, $400,000 Beldame Stakes going 1 1/8 miles on Oct. 6 at Belmont.
Abel Tasman left New York early Sunday morning to return to Southern California, where she most likely will train up to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Abel Tasman won the sixth Grade 1 race of her career in the Personal Ensign, which awarded her a fees-paid berth in the Distaff, a race in which she finished second last year. She earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 105 on Saturday.
Whitmore focused on Phoenix
Whitmore’s victory in the $600,000 Forego at Saratoga on Saturday was trainer Ron Moquett’s second win in a Grade 1. In 2006, he won the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs with 90-1 Seek Gold.
Robert LaPenta, co-owner of Travers winner Catholic Boy, has been involved in both of Moquett’s Grade 1 scores. He sold Seek Gold to Moquett just prior to the Foster. Now, Moquett has returned the favor. He sold a partial interest in Whitmore to LaPenta following the gelding’s debut victory in 2015.
“Bob told me if I ever saw a horse for him, to let him know,” Moquett said. “This horse was a gelding with not much pedigree, but I thought he would be okay.”
Whitmore is now 11 for 22 with more than $1.9 million in earnings. The seven-furlong Forego oddly was a Win and You’re In for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, not the BC Sprint.
Moquett would not commit to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Sunday morning and for the time being will concentrate on getting Whitmore to the Grade 2, $250,000 Phoenix, a six-furlong race Oct. 6 at Keeneland.
“We’re going to keep our options open and let him write the script,” Moquett said. “We’re going to look at the race at Keeneland and see what happens there.”
Moquett is confident that Whitmore, a 5-year-old son of Pleasantly Perfect, can handle a one-turn mile at Churchill. As a 3-year-old at Oaklawn Park, Whitmore finished third to eventual Belmont Stakes winner Creator in the Arkansas Derby, second to Cupid in the Rebel, and second to Suddenbreakingnews in the Southwest.
Trainer Michael McCarthy said Sunday morning that City of Light, second in the Forego as the 4-5 favorite, had come out of the race fine and was already on his way back to California.
Glorious Empire eyes Joe Hirsch
Trainer James Lawrence II said Sunday morning that Glorious Empire had emerged from his 1 3/4-length victory in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer on Saturday in good shape and could start next in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park before his ultimate fall goal, the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs.
“He seems great,” Lawrence said. “We took him out, gave him a nice graze this morning. I’m proud of him. He’s a lovely horse to train, but he can be a little funny in the paddock, and he handled himself very well yesterday.”
The Sword Dancer was the first Grade 1 win as a trainer for Lawrence and the first for owner Matt Schera.
Glorious Empire, a 7-yearold gelding who has won races in Britain, Hong Kong, and the United States, earned a fees-paid berth in the BC Turf on Saturday since the Sword Dancer is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series.
“We’re going to definitely consider the Joe Hirsch and then go to the Breeders’ Cup,” Lawrence said. “The races are all spaced a month apart, and he’s been doing very well on that schedule.”
The $500,000 Joe Hirsch is a 1 1/2-mile turf stakes at Belmont Park on Sept. 29. The Breeders’ Cup Turf is Nov. 3.