Lintner: WinStar’s Breeders’ Cup Classic hopes lining up

How the 3-year-olds will stack up with their older counterparts is an increasingly important part of voting in the weekly Breeders’ Cup Classic Rankings, where Maximum Security (No. 7) and Game Winner (No. 10) both secured spots in the most-recent poll.

But until we see the rest of the class run in Saturday’s Jim Dandy (G2), it seems unfair to harp on the sophomores too much. The picture’s simply incomplete.

In both the 3-year-old and handicap divisions the next month, WinStar Farm figures to play a part in a trio of major races deserving a closer look.

First, Global Campaign, who goes first in the Jim Dandy, could return in the Aug. 24 Travers Stakes (G1) with the son of Curlin owned in partnership with Sagamore Farm. When he can run, he has been good, defeating eventual Belmont Stakes winner Sir Winston last time in the Peter Pan (G3). But nagging foot issues have kept him from a busier schedule.

The 5-year-old Yoshida and 4-year-old Quip, both campaigned in partnership with China Horse Club, figure to go their separate ways toward potential Breeders’ Cup bids.

Sean Tugel, WinStar’s director of bloodstock services and assistant racing manager, confirmed this week that Yoshida’s on target for Saratoga’s Aug. 3 Whitney (G1). Quip, meanwhile, is expected to ship to California for Del Mar’s Aug. 17 Pacific Classic (G1).

“It’s a separation of two really top horses,” Tugel said. “We ran them both in the Stephen Foster, but here’s an instance of having two Grade 1s within a week of each other, so we’ll split them up.”

Yoshida was sixth in the Foster but in the Whitney returns to the site and distance of his Grade 1 victory on dirt in last year’s Woodward going nine panels at the Spa. Quip will stretch to 1 1/4 miles in the Pacific Classic for the first time after finishing second to Seeking the Soul in the Foster.

“That’s going to tell us a lot about where he goes the rest of the season,” Tugel said. “We know Yoshida can do the mile and a quarter.”

“Quip’s done really, really well. He’s a horse that’s matured a lot, and physically he looks unbelievable right now.”

He may not be back in top form by the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but Audible, fifth in the Pegasus and Dubai world cups this season, is training over WinStar’s track in Kentucky.

“It just took him a little bit longer to get over his trip to Dubai,” Tugel said. “He ran really hard there. He’s doing well. He’s having his first breeze back this weekend, and we’ll monitor him. He’ll get going, and we’ll hopefully have a big fall campaign for him.”

One other WinStar colt to keep an eye on is Off the Record, who debuted a winner on July 17 at Saratoga in a race taken off the turf. Tugel said it’s likely the son of Distorted Humor takes on allowance company before any stakes plans are made.

“It was off the turf,” Tugel said of the seven-furlong trip, “so I don’t know how much he liked the slop, but he came up the rail, which the rail’s been terrible at Saratoga. He drew away and ran to what we were expecting.”

Rodolphe Brisset, who conditions Quip, also trains Off the Record.

“His mother (Savvy Star) was a homebred for us who won first time out at Saratoga and we thought had a lot of talent,” Tugel said. “She unfortunately got injured breaking from the gate in her second start — career-ending injury — and this is her first foal.”

That mare is by Medaglia d’Oro, adding some distance to the pedigree. Were it not for some 2-year-old issues, we might have seen Off the Record earlier.

“This is a horse that, on the farm, really skipped over the track,” Tugel said. “When he went to Rodolphe, his breezes kept getting better and better. We fully expected a top-notch performance.”

With a few more, maybe we’ll be talking about him as a Breeders’ Cup prospect.

A look at this week's rankings: