Connections Forgo Retirement With Millionaire Morticia

In running to victory in the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park Nov. 2, 6-year-olds Belvoir Bay and Blue Prize helped run 5-year-old turf sprinter Morticia right out of retirement.

Encouraged by their success as older racehorses in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) and Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), respectively, trainer Rusty Arnold said he and owner G. Watts Humphrey Jr. have decided Morticia's second career as a broodmare can wait. More racing is in the cards for the 5-year-old, perhaps even in the sixth race at Churchill Downs Nov. 14, though more likely next year, owing to an early-week wintry mix of weather that could leave the Churchill Downs turf course short of the firm condition Arnold desires to keep her in the race.

Churchill Downs cancelled its entire Nov. 13 race card due to weather conditions, though temperatures are expected to be moderate Thursday, forecasted to rise into the mid-40s.

Morticia was originally announced as retired following a runner-up finish in the Oct. 11 Buffalo Trace Franklin County Stakes (G3T) at Keeneland, earning a secondary prize that pushed her earnings past $1 million. But in the days and weeks that followed, Arnold and Humphrey began to have second thoughts. Arnold breezed her Oct. 29 at Keeneland, followed by a second workout Nov. 7 that came after the results of the Breeders' Cup.

"Her best year was at 5 and she probably finished it off as the best she's been," Arnold said of another factor in their decision.

A daughter of Twirling Candy  out of the Mr. Greeley mare Halloween Party, bred by Arnold and Humphrey, Morticia has compiled a 3-3-1 record from eight starts in 2019, earning $501,044. She won the Spendthrift Farm Ladies Sprint Stakes (G3T) at Kentucky Downs and the Giant's Causeway Stakes during Keeneland's spring meet in seasonal highlights.

Coupled with also-eligible Pastime, also owned by Humphrey but trained by Vicki Oliver, Morticia and Pastime are listed at 4-5 odds for Thursday's sixth race.

If Morticia is scratched Thursday, she will likely have the rest of the year off and be pointed toward at a spring return at Keeneland, Arnold said. That would place her in a similar position to his grade 3-winning grass sprinters, Totally Boss and Leinster, both getting downtime after finishing off the board in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Totally Boss is turned out at owners Susan and Jim Hill's Margaux Farm in Midway, Ky., while Leinster is resting at Wavertree Stables in Ocala, Fla.

Arnold's other Breeders' Cup starter, 2-year-old Gear Jockey, remains in his trainer's barn at Keeneland, though his racing plans are "up in the air" after he exited his third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Presented by Coolmore America (G1T) with a cough.

Other Kentucky-based Breeders' Cup participants receiving short freshenings include Scabbard and Abscond for trainer Eddie Kenneally and Zulu Alpha for trainer Mike Maker. Scabbard ran fourth in the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1), Abscond seventh in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T), and Zulu Alpha fourth in the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T).

Maker's other Breeders' Cup runner, Chimney Rock, second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2T), races next on dirt in the $500,000 Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile Stakes for state-bred runners going six furlongs at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots Dec. 14, his trainer said.