Big Kick Confirmed for American St. Leger
Big Kick, impressive wire-to-wire winner of the about 1¾-miles Grade II San Juan Capistrano in June, has been confirmed for the Listed $400,000 American St. Leger by his connections. Trained by Mike Machowsky and owned by Ernest Marchowsky et al, the son of Tiznow has been training well at his Del Mar base and been on the fence for the race since early July. His presence ensures a solid pace presence in the race, which saw its prep race - the Grade III Stars and Stripes - unfold without a pacesetter and won by Midwest Thoroughbreds' The Pizza Man, who set glacial fractions throughout.
Joining Big Kick in the confirmation list is Mick and Janice Mariscotti's lightly raced Havana Beat. A son of European champion juvenile Teofilo, Havana Beat was last seen finishing eighth of 13 in the Group I Ascot Gold Cup for trainer Andrew Balding. The bay 4-year-old gelding, who has only raced nine times, hails from the same training yard as last year's Million third-place finisher Side Glance.
On the 'out list' for the American St. Leger is one if its key players, Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey's Charming Kitten. Expected to be one of the favorites by virtue of his impressive win in the inaugural Belmont Gold Cup at two miles in June, the Todd Pletcher trainee was removed from consideration Thursday afternoon.
"Similar to last year with Dark Cove, we have to remove him close to the race," reported Ken Ramsey. "He's having some ankle issues. Todd thought he was off - and he is. There are no fractures, according to Dr. Larry Bramlage, and we're sending him back to the farm for some R&R. He's been going quite a while. We don't want to take a chance with a condylar fracture, which is what can happen in as situation like that." Last year, Ramsey's Dark Cove entered the American St. Leger as one of the two big favorites (along with eventual winner Dandino), only to be forced to scratch with an injury.
Also out of consideration for the American St. Leger is Andrew Black and Owen Promotions' Brown Panther. Expected to be well supported at the windows in the 1 11/16-miles event, the son of Breeders' Cup Turf winner Shirocco finished a good fourth in the Group I Ascot Gold Cup in June and was recently third behind one of the best marathoners in the world - Godolphin's Cavalryman - when defending his title in the Group II Goodwood Cup on July 31. Originally under strong consideration to run in the American St. Leger on short rest, he has now been withdrawn by trainer Tom Dascombe.