Mor Spirit Ships East for Kentucky Jockey Club

Photo: NYRA Photo

California invader Mor Spirit, the 2-year-old Pennsylvania-bred who was an impressive 4 ¼-length maiden winner at Santa Anita last month, is “testing the waters” in Saturday’s 89th running of the $200,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Presented by TwinSpires.com (Grade II), according to Hall of Farm trainer Bob Baffert’s chief assistant Jimmy Barnes.
“We just kind of want to see what he can really do,” Barnes said. “We want to see how he ships and how he handles being on the road, but he fits in the race. When we come this time of year we try to bring a 2-year-old with us to test the waters and see where we stand. It seems like he’s taking to the track real well. He galloped on it and just glided over it.”

Saturday’s National Weather Service forecast for Louisville calls for a 60 percent chance of rain on Friday night and a 90 percent chance of on Saturday. With only two starts under his belt in California, Mor Spirit, a son of Eskendreya, has yet to run on an off track.

“Not sure if it will be the same surface with rain in the forecast, but we’ll see,” Barnes said. “I don’t think that an off track would bother him.”

 
The 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Jockey Club field from rail out (with jockey and odds): Force It (Emmanuel Esquivel; 20-1), Nana Looch (Robby Albarado; 50-1), Airoforce (Julien Leparoux; 3-1), Gun Runner (Ricardo Santana, Jr.; 8-1),Perfect Saint (Shaun Bridgmohan; 30-1), Derby Express (Malcolm Franklin; 30-1), Tom’s Ready (Brian Hernandez, Jr.; 15-1), Discreetness (Jon Court; 20-1), Mor Spirit (Martin Garcia; 7-2), Mo Tom (Corey Lanerie; 8-1), Annual Report (Joe Bravo; 5-1), Rated R Superstar (Calvin Borel; 8-1), My Majestic Flight (Joe Johnson; 30-1), Uncle Jerry (Mitchell Murrill; 30-1).
 
ANNUAL REPORT LOOKS TO STAY UNDEFEATED IN SATURDAY’S KENTUCKY JOCKEY CLUB 

Godolphin Racing LLC’s Annual Report will attempt to keep a flawless record intact against a full field of juveniles inSaturday’s $200,000 Kentucky Jockey Club (GII).

In September, the homebred son of Harlan’s Holiday broke his maiden with a 5 ¼-length romp at Parx Racing, which was followed by a victory in the Futurity (GII) at Belmont Park. While neither of these races was run around two turns, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is not concerned with how the horse will handle stretching out.

“The two turns shouldn’t be a problem, but you never know until you try it out,” McLaughlin said via telephone. “The post is more of a concern than the distance. We’re breaking from the 11-hole in a very competitive full field of 14 which should be tough.”

McLaughlin also has a highly regarded 2-year-old in Shadwell Stables’ Mohaymen, who will compete in the $300,000 Remsen (GII) at Aqueduct on Saturday Nov. 28.

“We’re lucky to have some good 2-year-olds in our barn this year with these two [Mohaymen and Annual Report],” he said. “It worked out well that they’re both on the same schedule this weekend. We decided to leave Mohaymen up in New York and take Annual Report to Churchill. It’s always nice to see if you have a 2-year-old that can run well at Churchill for the future and that could be good enough for the Kentucky Derby.”

McLaughlin also gave a quick update on Frosted, who was a well-beaten seventh behind Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in last month’s Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) at Keeneland.

“Frosted is doing well,” McLaughlin said. “He’s just training down at Palm Meadows right now. If he’s up for it, we’ll target the Dubai World Cup, probably with a race before that.”

Source: Churchill Downs

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