Owendale 'awesome' in final Churchill work for Breeders' Cup
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Photo:
Eclipse Sportswire
On a rainy Saturday morning at Churchill Downs, Breeders’ Cup contenders Owendale (five furlongs, :59.40, Classic), Arklow (five furlongs, 1:00.40, Turf) and Mr. Money (four furlongs, :49.60, Dirt Mile) logged their final works prior to shipping to California on Sunday to compete in next weekend’s World Championships at Santa Anita.
Rupp Racing’s Oklahoma Derby (G3) winner Owendale was the first horse to work Saturday when the track opened at 5:30 a.m. Sporting blinkers, as usual, the 3-year-old colt worked on the outside of stakes winner Pole Setter from the half-mile pole through splits of :11.80, :23.40, :35 and :46.40. The duo galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.
The track was sealed in the overnight hours and much of the moisture stayed off the track for the first 10-15 minutes of training.
“I thought it was an awesome work,” Cox said. “I looked down at my watch when they were going and saw :35 and couldn’t believe they were going that fast because how easy they were going. I thought getting their works in early today was going to be best because the rain looks like it will continue the rest of the day.”
Shortly after Owendale completed his work, his stablemate, Donegal Racing, Joseph Bulger and Peter Conway’s recent Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1) winner Arklow breezed on the outside of multiple stakes winner Pioneer Spirit through splits of :12, :23.40 and :47.60. Arklow galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.80.
Fifteen minutes later, Allied Racing Stable’s Mr. Money worked an easy half mile with jockey Gabriel Saez aboard. The multiple Grade 3 winner splashed through opening fractions of :12.60 and :24.60 before galloping out five furlongs in 1:02.80.
“We thought about a few options of different races in the Breeders’ Cup, even the Classic, but we always thought the Dirt Mile would be the best race for him,” trainer Bret Calhoun said. “We know he can get up to 1 1/8 miles but didn’t want to have an unknown entering the race.”
Mr. Money, who finished fourth in last year’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, is the only horse from that field to compete at the 2019 Breeders’ Cup.
All three horses ship to California on Sunday. In total, there are more than 30 horses competing at the Breeders’ Cup with Churchill Downs ties.
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