Probably haven’t seen last of Iridessa

Iridessa, the 13-1 upset winner of Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita, was scheduled to return to Ireland on Monday but is expected to race in 2020 with a possible year-end target being the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland.

Bill Dwan, racing manager for owner Mrs. CC RegaladoGonzalez, said Iridessa would get a break during which time he, Regalado-Gonzalez, and trainer Joseph O’Brien would formulate a plan for 2020.

“She has now won a Group 1 [at] a mile and at [1 1/4 miles] this year, so thankfully she has a lot of options next near,” Dwan wrote in an email. “The fact that she seems to handle traveling well gives us that option abroad also.”

The 1 1/4-mile Filly and Mare Turf was the third Grade or Group 1 victory this year for Iridessa, a 3-year-old Irish-bred daughter of Ruler of The World. She won the Group 1 Matron Stakes going a mile at Leopardstown in September. She also won the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes going 1 1/4 miles at The Curragh in June.

Iridessa, who held off Vasilika by a neck in the Filly and Mare Turf, made O’Brien, at 26, the youngest trainer to win a Breeders’ Cup Race. O’Brien is the son of famed Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien. In 2011, Joseph became the youngest jockey to win a BC race when, at 18, he won the Turf aboard St Nicholas Abbey for his father.

Asked if next year’s BC Filly and Mare Turf at Keeneland could be a long-range goal for Iridessa, Dwan wrote, “Yes, it would be great to come back for a crack at another Breeders’ Cup. But that’s a year away, so we’ll take it one step at a time.”

Iridessa earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure for the Filly and Mare Turf victory.

Meanwhile, Filly and Mare Turf runner-up Vasilika, flew on Sunday to Kentucky, where she was to go through the auction ring at Tuesday’s FasigTipton auction. Mark Schlaich, one of the owners of Vasilika, said Sunday that it is possible if Vasilika doesn’t bring the right price she could return to California and perhaps point to the Grade 1 Matriarch on Dec. 1 at Del Mar.

“If she doesn’t reach something that makes it worth it, we’ll bring her back to race,” Schlaich said.

Sistercharlie, third in the Filly and Mare Turf as the favorite, was scheduled to ship to Payson Park in South Florida while owner Peter Brant decides whether to race or breed her in 2020, trainer Chad Brown said.

– David Grening

Uni, Got Stormy rematch?

The mare and filly who finished one-two Saturday in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile, Uni and Got

Stormy, could meet again in 2020.

After Uni had won the mile with a scintillating finish, Sol Kumin, part of Uni’s ownership group, said the 5-year-old mare would campaign again next season. And on Sunday morning, Got Stormy was taken out of a horse auction this week in Kentucky to focus on the continuation of her racing career for owner Gary Barber and trainer Mark Casse.

While trainer Chad Brown said he’d prefer not to start Uni again until next year, Casse said Sunday morning that Got Stormy could be considered for the Matriarch Stakes in December at Del Mar. In the nearer term, Got Stormy is headed back to Casse Farm in Ocala, Fla., while her connections formulate a plan. Got Stormy also will be considered for a trip to Dubai, where she could cut back in distance to start in the Al Quoz Sprint over a straight six furlongs.

Uni, who won the Mile by

1 1/2 lengths, got a 106 Beyer for her performance; Got Stormy got a 104.

Without Parole, making his first start for Brown, first in North America, and first since May, turned in an excellent performance under the circumstances to nip Circus Maximus for third in the Mile. Without Parole is aimed at the Pegasus World Cup Turf but whether he has a prep for that race or runs fresh is yet to be determined.

Circus Maximus didn’t love the high-powered, high-speed nature of the Mile, jockey Ryan Moore suggested after the race. The Mile on paper lacked much early speed, but El Tormenta and Hey Gaman, who finished midpack and a nose apart, tore off at a breakneck clip and ran a sub-46 second half-mile. Circus Maximus looked more comfortable in slower-paced European races and is expected to campaign there again next year as a 4-year-old.

– Marcus Hersh

Omaha Beach to Malibu

Omaha Beach, runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile on Saturday, will be pointed to the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita, the first of two starts he could make before he is scheduled to begin stud duty next year, trainer Richard Mandella said Sunday morning at Santa Anita.

The Malibu is at seven furlongs on Santa Anita’s opening day, Dec. 26. Omaha Beach has sprinted twice, and won both times. On Saturday, Omaha Beach finished 2 3/4 lengths behind Spun to Run, who led the Dirt Mile from start to finish.

“He came out of it good,” Mandella said. “Got off a little slow, maybe a little flat the first quarter.

“Maybe he bounced, like they call it – he ran his heart out the other day,” Mandella said, referring to Omaha Beach’s comeback victory in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship. “He circled the field after eating a lot of dirt. He doesn’t have much experience behind dirt. I’ve worked him behind a horse, but it’s not the same as a full field. It’s hard to get that kind of experience. That might be why he fell so far back the first quarter-mile.”

Mandella said “right now, he’s set to go to stud” early next year at Spendthrift Farm. But Omaha Beach could go to the Pegasus World Cup in January after the Malibu, Mandella said.

“That would be the next step. That would be the hope,” Mandella said.

Spun to Run won the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile with a 109 Beyer. He was among four wins in Breeders’ Cup races Friday and Saturday for jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., who became the first jockey to surpass $30 million in mount earnings in a season.

– Jay Privman

Mitole irreplaceable

After watching Mitole cap his stellar 2019 campaign with a 1 1/4-length victory over Shancelot in Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint, trainer Steve Asmussen must now digest the fact his Horse of the Year candidate’s racing career is over.

Mitole, who closed the year with six wins in seven starts and four Grade 1 victories at distances ranging from six furlongs to one mile, will begin stud duties next season at Spendthrift Farm. He has been campaigned throughout his career by Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt.

“I haven’t really thought about the fact this was the last time we’ll run him,” Asmussen said by phone Sunday. “I don’t want to think about it yet. Our focus was the Breeders’ Cup, and I want to take a little time first to enjoy what he has accomplished.”

Asmussen said Mitole came out of the Sprint “in very good shape” and that he is scheduled to return to his barn at Churchill Downs on Monday.

“I have had the opportunity to watch the replay multiple times and I am extremely proud of his performance,” Asmussen said. “He is really an elite talent. There is no replacement for him.”

With a near unblemished record in 2019 and quality victories that along with the Sprint also included a hardfought triumph over a classy field going a mile in the Metropolitan Handicap this spring at Belmont Park, Mitole is definitely in the mix for Horse of the Year honors along with Bricks and Mortar and Classic winner Vino Rosso. Mitole is certain to be voted champion sprinter.

– Mike Welsch

Ollie’s Candy to race in 2020

Ollie’s Candy, fourth-place finisher in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Saturday, will race as a 5-year-old in 2020 and begin the season as the top-ranked older filly or mare in California.

Owners Paul and Karen Eggert decided to withdraw Ollie’s Candy from the Keeneland November breeding stock sale, which begins Wednesday, and instead will keep Ollie’s Candy in training next year with John Sadler. Paul Eggert confirmed the decision Sunday via text.

Sired by Candy Ride and produced by graded stakes winner Afternoon Stroll, Ollie’s Candy emerged this year as one of the top fillies and mares in California. She won the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch at Del Mar, sandwiched around in-themoney finishes in graded stakes on turf and dirt.

Ollie’s Candy, who is named for the Eggert’s youngest daughter Olivia, has won four races and $576,151 from 10 starts. The Eggerts purchased the dam of Ollie’s Candy while she was in foal carrying Ollie’s Candy and are listed officially as her breeders.

– Brad Free

Covfefe through for year

Covfefe emerged from her victory in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in good shape and was scheduled to be back in her stall at Churchill Downs in Kentucky sometime around noon following an equine charter flight early Sunday, according to Brad Cox, who trains the 3-year-old filly for LNJ Foxwoods.

“She came out of it great,” Cox said early Sunday. “We loaded her this morning at 2 a.m. She’s on her way home.”

Covfefe won the Grade 1, $1 million BC Filly and Mare Sprint on Saturday at Santa Anita with authority, drawing clear in midstretch under Joel Rosario, and prevailing by a comfortable three-quarters of a length over Bellafina. It was 7 3/4 lengths back to Dawn the Destroyer in third.

Covfefe, by Into Mischief, earned a 106 Beyer Speed Figure by finishing seven furlongs in 1:22.40. In two prior races this year, the Miss Preakness at Pimlico and the Dogwood at Churchill, she got Beyers of 107.

Cox said he was unsure of the plan going forward with Covfefe, although it seems very unlikely she would return to Santa Anita for a rematch with Bellafina in the Grade 1 La Brea on Dec. 26. The Breeders’ Cup triumph all but sealed the Eclipse Award for top female sprinter of 2019 for Covfefe, and it would make little sense to put that position at risk.

“We honestly haven’t planned that far ahead yet,” Cox said.

Meanwhile, trainer Simon Callaghan said Bellafina definitely will be pointed to the La Brea, also a seven-furlong race.

– Marty McGee

United eyes Turf Cup

For a few moments in deep

stretch of Saturday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita, the 4-year-old gelding United looked poised for a massive upset.

United rallied from fourth to take a narrow lead with a furlong remaining, but could not hold off the late kick of Bricks and Mortar, the leading candidate for the title of 2019 Horse of the Year. Bricks and Mortar was the even-money favorite. United was at 51-1 the longest shot in a field of 12.

After the race, Chad Brown, who trains Bricks and Mortar, and Richard Mandella, who trains United, were beaming. Brown had orchestrated an unbeaten campaign in six starts for Bricks and Mortar, who has been retired and will go to stud in Japan in 2020.

Mandella spoke immediately after the race of his pride for United. Sunday morning, he was looking forward to United’s next race, which could occur as soon as the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup at 1 1/2 miles on Nov. 29 at Del Mar.

“We’ll see how he comes along,” Mandella said.

United finished 1 1/4 lengths in front of third-place finisher Anthony Van Dyck, winner of the English Derby in June. Trainer Aidan O’Brien said immediately after the BC Turf that Anthony Van Dyck will remain in training in 2020.

– Steve Andersen

Miller does it again

Trainer Peter Miller had a sore throat Sunday morning, mostly the result of all the screaming he did during the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint the previous afternoon at Santa Anita.

“I’m great otherwise,” Miller said by phone from his home in Encinitas, Calif.

Miller once again dominated the Grade 1, $1 million Turf Sprint, sweeping the exacta for the second time in three runnings while winning it for the third time in a row. Belvoir Bay led all the way under Javier Castellano in prevailing by 1 1/4 lengths over her stablemate Om, while Stormy Liberal, the 2017 and 2018 winner, gave game chase behind them both before fading late to finish eighth.

Belvoir Bay made for one of the great stories of the 2019 Breeders’ Cup as a survivor of the San Luis Rey Downs fire of December 2017. Owned by Gary Barber, the Britishbred 6-year-old mare will add another chapter Tuesday when going through the sales ring as Hip No. 96 at the Fasig-Tipton November sale in Kentucky.

“If she doesn’t bring her reserve, I’d be happy to have a stall ready to welcome her back,” Miller said.

Belvoir Bay earned a careerhigh 107 Beyer Speed Figure with her 12th victory from 28 starts. Her winning time of 54.83 seconds was the fastest for the four times the Turf Sprint has been run at five furlongs.

Plans for Om, a 7-year-old horse, and Stormy Liberal, a 7-year-old gelding, are indefinite, Miller said.

– Marty McGee

BARBARA D. LIVINGSTON Iridessa (left) holds of Vasilika to win the Filly and Mare Turf.