Vino Rosso Heads Breeders' Cup Works at Belmont

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Vino Rosso  visited the Belmont Park training track Oct. 18 for his second work since a disqualification in the Sept. 28 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1).

The multiple graded stakes winner, who was placed second in the Gold Cup for interference, breezed five furlongs in 1:01.58 under Irad Ortiz Jr. Trainer Todd Pletcher is preparing him for a start in the Nov. 2 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Santa Anita Park.

"I thought he worked great," Pletcher said. "He finished up strongly and galloped out very strong. Everything has gone according to our plan and schedule. He seems to be thriving at the moment, so we're happy with him."

Pletcher will follow a similar schedule to the one that brought Vino Rosso success in May when the colt shipped west to win the Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes (G1).

"Right now, our plan is to breeze back next Friday or Saturday and then fly to California on Monday," Pletcher said. "It's almost an identical schedule to what we followed for the Gold Cup. I feel like we have a blueprint from what worked for him before in shipping to Santa Anita, so we're trying to follow that as closely as we can."

Multiple graded stakes winner Coal Front also worked on the Belmont training track for Pletcher, going five furlongs in 1:01.25 toward a start in the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1). Graded stakes winner and Pletcher trainee Channel Cat breezed four furlongs in :49.05 on the training track in preparation for the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T), and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) contender Freewheeler returned to the tab Thursday for the trainer, breezing four furlongs in :48 1/5 in his first workout since a second in the Oct. 6 Futurity Stakes (G3T).



Tax Fires a Bullet

Multiple graded stakes winner Tax recorded a bullet half-mile work Friday morning for trainer Danny Gargan, completing four furlongs in :48 3/5. Breezing in company, it was the fastest of 53 recorded works at the distance.

"We had a horse in front of him, and it's always nice when he gets company," said Gargan, who trains the Arch gelding for owners R. A. Hill Stable, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Hugh Lynch, and Corms Racing Stable. "He likes to run at a target, so I was really happy with his work. He's a good work horse when he gets company."

Gargan has three options on the table for Tax's next start. He could either race in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, the Breeders' Cup Classic, or the Nov. 30 Discovery Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack.

"If we go to the Breeders' Cup, he'll have one more work—that's why I worked him today," Gargan said. "We have a backup plan for the Discovery if we don't go to California."

Patricia Generazio's 11-time stakes winner Pure Sensation posted his final work for the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T), breezing a half-mile in :48 flat on a fast dirt main track for trainer Christophe Clement.

The 8-year-old Florida-bred son of Zensational has raced in the Turf Sprint three times, with his best finish a third in 2016.

"He worked very well. I'm very happy," Clement said. "It was a nice work, very willing, very sound. He won't work between now and the race, by design. I don't like to work him too close to the race."

Clement also plans on sending Decorated Invader to Santa Anita for the Breeders' Cup. Owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, William Freeman, and William Sandbrook, the chestnut son of Declaration of War won the Summer Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine last out and will have two more works before a likely start in the Juvenile Turf.