Breeders' Cup Classic notes: Accelerate 'saves his energy' well

While looking ahead to Saturday’s $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, trainer John Sadler is not averse to thinking back over Accelerate’s 2018 season and marvel a bit at his accomplishments.

“What’s been so much fun with him is he’s improved so much from 4 to 5," Sadler said. "Often, horses staying on the track for that year don’t seem to make that kind of jump in quality.

“That’s been the joy of having him this year. He’s run good races every time. And he’s been fun to train. Also, he’s easy to train in that he knows the difference between the morning and the afternoon. He saves his energy for the afternoon. In the morning he just goes out there and does what’s necessary.”

As with his other days leading up to Classic, Accelerate went out at 5:30 a.m. Friday for his 1 1/4 miles gallop under regular exercise rider Rafael Meza.

Axelrod – As training was winding down Friday morning for Saturday’s Classic, trainer Mike McCarthy mused a bit about Axelrod: “He’s a really good feeling horse, a very pretty horse. I bought him and City of Light at the same yearling sale and I’m really proud of both of them going into tomorrow.

“I expect Axelrod to be laying sort of close but in a very manageable situation. He’ll do whatever the rider asks of him. He can lay close to the pace or a little off the pace. We always expect him to fire.”

Catholic Boy – On the morning before his scheduled start in Saturday’s Classic, Catholic Boy had a “leg-stretcher” under exercise rider Tracey Brown Friday at Churchill Downs.

“He just had what we call a short gallop. He jogged off to the quarter-pole and galloped around to the half, just going through the motions. It was just a little leg-stretcher, but everything went really well,” trainer Jonathan Thomas said.

The 3-year-old son of More Than Ready will face older rivals for the first time Saturday.

“I have to think about it like I’m looking at this horse a year from now," Thomas said. "I think he’s going to be 50-60 pounds heavier, more mature. It’s like taking your kid, who you think is pretty good, and putting him against the pros for the first time. There are all these great college football players that look amazing and then they go in there against all those pros and you say, ‘Is he really that little? It’s going to be a big learning experience, because it’s a big step up.”

Thomas expects Catholic Boy to be well prepared for the challenge.

“Off of how he’s training and how he approaches his races and how generous he’s been while running, I think he’s going to give a very good account of himself,” Thomas said. “Like everyone, we’re going to have to negotiate a good trip from the three-hole. We’re going to need a lot to go our way.”

Javier Castellano has the return mount aboard Catholic Boy, as he was for victories in the Travers and Belmont Derby, both 10-furlong races.

“There’s going to be a furlong of gut instinct and reaction that Javier’s going to need to employ. I don’t think we could have a better guy for the job,” Thomas said. “Honestly, we’re probably going to go in with zero instructions and let him ride his race.”

Thomas provided a couple of observations concerning Catholic Boy’s competition Saturday.

“I think McKinzie is the scariest because he ran so well off the layoff. If he improves off that race, he’s very scary. It will be interesting to see what happens when he needs to run that extra eighth of a mile, but I thought on sheer talent, I thought he ran tremendously well,” Thomas said. “Having said that, one of the best preps was…I thought Mind Your Biscuits ran tremendously well here (in the Lukas Classic).

"He dispatched the field that he was supposed to dispatch – he definitely was supposed to do that – but he’s a really neat horse that looks like he’s training great. I thought of all the preps that was the prettiest one to watch.”

Discreet Lover – The upset winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup jogged twice around the Churchill Downs track in the clockwise direction Friday morning.

“He looked good,” said Amanda St. Lewis, wife of owner-trainer Uriah St. Lewis. “He was comfortable out there. He won’t go to the track on Saturday morning.”

The St. Lewises continue to enjoy their first Breeders’ Cup experience with the best horse they have ever had. Based at Parx Racing, St. Lewis owns and trains the 28 horses in his barn and along with his son Uriah Jr. does much of the hands-on work. Their chores include hauling hay and feed to their stable to save on delivery costs.

St. Lewis purchases about a dozen 2-year-olds at auction each spring to restock his stable. He prefers buying Thoroughbreds that are the first foals from their dams. Discreet Lover was a $10,000 buy at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale in Timonium, Maryland.

The Lewises’ daughter, Jere, who works for ESPN, has joined the family to participate in the Breeders’ Cup festivities.  

Lone Sailor – G M B Racing’s Lone Sailor visited the paddock and then galloped 1 1/2 miles under exercise rider Maurice Sanchez at 5:45 Friday morning for trainer Tom Amoss.

Eighth in this year’s Kentucky Derby in his most recent start at Churchill Downs, Lone Sailor will be ridden Saturday by James Graham.

“I hope the pace materializes like I see it on paper with more than one horse and sets it up for a closer,” Amoss said of his dream scenario for the race.

Pavel – It was “all good” when trainer Doug O’Neill discussed attributes of his Breeders’ Cup Classic contender.

“He’s a really good worker and he’s been a good runner,” O’Neill said Friday morning during training hours. “Also, he’s been a really good shipper. He always seems to run following a trip. Churchill Downs happens to be a favorite track for him. Winning the Stephen Foster shows that.”

There is one drawback, O’Neill indicated. “We have to pay special attention to spacing his races. He always acts like he’s ready to run and we’ve had to say ‘Whoa’ once in a while.”

He galloped 1 1/4 miles Friday morning under Amir Cedeno.

McKinzie / West Coast – Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s two Classic runners went out for their routine gallops of 1¼ miles Friday morning. Dana Barnes was up on West Coast and Humberto Gomez rode McKinzie.

Mike Pegram, co-owner of McKinzie with Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, stood outside Baffert’s barn, chatting with friends and watching his colt. McKinzie was a top prospect for the Triple Crown series, but he suffered a hock injury in March that kept him out of competition for six months. He returned Sept. 22 with a victory in the Pennsylvania Derby, a tuneup for the Classic.

“When you’re at the Breeders’ Cup you know you’re lucky,” Pegram said. “We’re glad to be here and hopefully he shows up tomorrow.”

McKinzie was named after the late Brad McKinze, Baffert’s friend from their college days, who became a beloved track official at Los Alamitos in California. Brad McKinzie died of cancer at the age of 62 in August 2017.

“Brad was one of the greatest guys in racing,” Pegram said. “It was just unfortunate that he drew the bad card. But here it is 15 months later and to have a horse named after him of this caliber – and Bobby has always been high on this horse – so now the day has come where he has the spotlight. Hopefully he shows he’s worthy of it.”

Mind Your Biscuits – Trainer and co-owner Chad Summers walked Breeders' Cup Classic hopeful Mind Your Biscuits on Friday morning. A wild card in the pace scenario, the versatile multiple Grade 1 winner drew post 11 and has shown ample speed in his workouts and races. 

“We're going in with plans A, B, C, D and Q,” Summers quipped. “But seriously, the horse is doing great and today, like he usually does the day before a race, just walked the shedrow.” 

Thunder Snow – Godolphin's Thunder Snow was led out of his barn by trainer Saeed bin Suroor at 9 a.m. Friday and put through the motions the day before he tried to become the first horse to win the Dubai World Cup and Breeders' Cup Classic in the same year. Galloping a mile, the son of Helmet will look to heal the wounds of close calls for his connections from Swain (1998) and Sakhee (2001).

“He is similar Swain and Sakhee in that he's a class horse," bin Suroor said. "(Unlike them), he won on the dirt already. He won on dirt going a mile and a quarter and he has speed.”

Yoshida – Trainer Bill Mott reported that “all horses are great and Yoshida just galloped” Friday morning as he prepares the multi-surface Grade 1 winner for the Classic. Yoshida exits an eye-opening win in the Woodward at Saratoga in early September and makes his second lifetime start on the dirt. Owned by WinStar Farm, China Horse Club and partners, he would become Mott's third winner in the race.