Breeders' Cup Alumni in Action May 29 at Churchill

There is a Breeders' Cup reunion of sorts taking place at Churchill Downs May 29—in a pair of allowances, no less.

Hog Creek Hustle, the winner of last year's Woody Stephens Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park and sixth in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Santa Anita Park, is the 4-1 morning-line chance in race 7, an $85,000 third-level allowance optional claimer on dirt. The 4-year-old son of Overanalyze seeks a return to the winner's circle off an eighth in the April 18 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) at Oaklawn Park, and has not brought home a victory since his Woody Stephens score.

One race later, fellow 2019 Breeders' Cup alums Totally Boss and Leinster are part of a banner field in an open $88,000 allowance grass race at five furlongs in their first starts since both were out of the money in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T).

Also in race 8 is Bulletin, who won the 2018 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on a yielding turf course at Churchill Downs, and Wellabled, who was 10th in the 2016 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T).

Trained by Todd Pletcher at 2 and 3, Bulletin has moved into the barn of trainer Steve Asmussen for his 4-year-old debut. Owned by WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, and SF Racing, the City Zip colt wintered at WinStar Farm in Versailles, Ky., before joining Asmussen's nearby Keeneland string. Since April, he has recorded six breezes, including a bullet May 17. WinStar president and CEO Elliott Walden has watched him train, Asmussen said.

"This is an opportunity to run him on a turf course he won the Breeders' Cup on," Asmussen said.

Ricardo Santana Jr. will ride Bulletin, who has lost his past four starts since his Palisades Turf Sprint Stakes victory at Keeneland in April 2019. He is 8-1 on the morning line.

Every one of the 10 entrants in the body of the 10-horse field is a stakes winner, as are many of those on the also-eligible list, though some, such as Wilbo, Wellabled, and Heartwood, seem to prefer surfaces other than grass.

That is not the case with Totally Boss and Leinster, both of whom were graded stakes winners last year on turf for trainer Rusty Arnold. Totally Boss won the Runhappy Turf Sprint Stakes (G3T) at Kentucky Downs, and Leinster took the Troy Stakes (G3T) at Saratoga Race Course. Both horses were given a winter break, Totally Boss more so, though some of his downtime included preparatory training at Margaux Farm. 

They have been training this month at Keeneland, where they twice breezed on the turf.

"We're ready to go and get running," Arnold said. "We're in the same spot everybody is. Some of them have been running through the winter, but most horses haven't been running."

Neither Arnold trainee contended in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Totally Boss was 10th and Leinster seventh—rare blemishes on the 2019 records of otherwise hard-knockers.

"Both of them had their only bad day of the year," Arnold said. "Totally Boss drew the 1 hole, he didn't get away good, and his race was over when you're running five-eighths. It was the first time they'd run it at five-eighths. Usually it had been 6 1/2 (furlongs) down the hill, but that got canceled. He really is just a little bit better horse at a little bit farther, and his race was over at the break.

"Leinster, in all honestly, might have been a little over the top for the Breeders' Cup. His best race was at Saratoga. He came back with a good race at Kentucky Downs and Keeneland. They weren't quite as good as the Saratoga race, so he needed a rest. He ran good. He didn't get beat far—three or four lengths in the Breeders' Cup." 

Florent Geoux will ride Susan and Jim Hill's Totally Boss, and Tyler Gaffalione will be aboard Leinster for owners Amy Dunne, Brenda Miley, Westrock Stables, and Jean Wilkinson.

Some of the race 8 participants could reappear in a Kentucky stakes race this summer. The $150,000 Shakertown Stakes (G2T) is on the horizon July 11 at Keeneland, which will run a one-week summer meet after the spring meet was canceled because of COVID-19.