Smith lands on Corniche

Mike Smith has ridden both Corniche and Pinehurst to a victory in a maiden race and a Grade 1 stakes. He can only ride one when the two meet in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 5 at Del Mar, and he opted to stick with Corniche.

“They’re both really aim-toplease, straightforward colts,” Smith said by phone from California. “I believe Corniche is just a little quicker out of there than the other one has been as far as their first two starts. In saying that, Pinehurst has a big heart; he don’t like to let no one by him.”

Corniche and Pinehurst – who will be ridden by John Velazquez – were among 14 2-year-olds pre-entered for the Juvenile. Since 14 is the maximum that can run in the Juvenile, all may start if their connections so choose.

Corniche and Pinehurst are both trained by Bob Baffert, who also pre-entered Barossa, a maiden winner in his third start on Oct. 15 at Santa Anita. Baffert has won the Juvenile four times.

Corniche, a son of Quality Road who fetched $1.5 million at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. 2-year-old in training sale in April, won a 5 1/2-furlong maiden race on Sept. 4 at Del Mar. He came back 27 days later to win the Grade 1 American Pharoah.

As solid as he’s been in his first two outs, Corniche has room to improve, Smith believes.

“I feel like there’s a whole lot of upside to him,” Smith said. “He’s the kind of colt who could continue to develop and even get better.”

Pinehurst, a son of Twirling Candy, won his maiden going five furlongs on Aug. 1 at Del Mar and came back five weeks later to win the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity. He was off slow in both starts, but “he makes up for time lost really quick,” Smith said.

Baffert opted to train Pinehurst to the Juvenile rather than shipping him for a race, opting to bring a fresher horse to the race.

Conversely, Baffert will be running Barossa back three weeks after he won a one-mile maiden race at Santa Anita. Barossa, a son of Into Mischief, will be ridden by Juan Hernandez in the Juvenile.

Jack Christopher, winner of the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont, and Rattle N Roll, winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, join Corniche as 2-year-olds who won automatic qualifiers to get into the Juvenile. Jack Christopher is trained by Chad Brown, who won the Juvenile with the maiden Good Magic in 2017, the last time the Breeders’ Cup was held at Del Mar.

Commandperformance will enter the Juvenile as a maiden, having finished second in the Champagne following a runner-up finish in a maiden race. Commandperformance is trained by Todd Pletcher, who also pre-entered Double Thunder, runner-up to Rattle N Roll in the Breeders’ Futurity.

The Juvenile pre-entrants include American Sanctuary, fourth in the Breeders’ Futurity; Tough to Tame, second in the Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill; Pappacap and Oviatt Class, second and third in the American Pharoah; and Keeneland maiden winner Giant Game. Japanese-based colts Jasper Great and Jasper Krone also were pre-entered. Jasper Krone also was pre-entered in the $1 million Juvenile Turf, but is four deep on the preference list for that race.