Street Band, Seeking the Soul Regroup After BC Starts
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Photo: Skip Dickstein
Street Band under trainer Larry Jones at Santa Anita Park
Racing plans are in the works for a couple of Kentucky-based grade 1 winners—Street Band and Seeking the Soul—after they were outrun in the Nov. 2 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park.
Larry Jones, trainer of Street Band, winner of the Sept. 21 Cotillion Stakes (G1) at Parx Racing, said his 3-year-old filly is under consideration for the Jan. 26 Houston Ladies Classic Stakes (G3) at Sam Houston Race Park. Jones hopes that race will set her up for the March 14 Azeri Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park and April 18 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1), also at Oaklawn. Eighth in the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), Street Band will travel soon from Churchill Downs to Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots to train in a warmer climate in New Orleans.
"That's the penciled-in game plan," said Jones, who trains the daughter of Istan for partners Ray Francis, Medallion Racing, MyRaceHorse Stable, and Jones' wife, Cindy.
In addition to the Cotillion, Street Band won the Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) and Indiana Oaks (G3) earlier this year.
Seeking the Soul is staying put in Kentucky for his next race. After the 6-year-old Perfect Soul horse was sixth in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), trainer Dallas Stewart is aiming to regroup with him Nov. 29 in the $600,000 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (G1) at Churchill Downs.
"We're not just looking at the Clark, we want to run," said Stewart. "We're back home and that's where we like it."
Seeking the Soul has been at his best at Churchill Downs, recording four victories, two seconds, and four thirds in 12 starts over the main track there, his training base for much of the year. He won the 2017 Clark and was third in the race last year for owner/breeder Charles Fipke. In June he won the Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) during the spring meeting at Churchill, earning an automatic berth in the Classic through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series.
Seeking the Soul will attempt to become only the fourth horse in 145 years to win the Clark multiple times and the first horse to win the race in non-consecutive years. Horses with multiple wins in the Clark are Hodge (1915-16), Bold Favorite (1968-69), and Bob's Dusty (1977-78).