Global Campaign to Train Up to Breeders' Cup Classic

Sagamore Farm and WinStar Farm's Global Campaign will train up to the Nov. 7 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) after his Sept. 5 victory in the Woodward Handicap (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, trainer Stanley Hough said the morning after the race.

"We're hoping if everything stays good that we can take him to the Breeders' Cup," Hough said. "We have 60 days, so the timing is good."

The Woodward was the first top-level win for Global Campaign, who held off multiple grade 2 winner Tacitus by 1 3/4 lengths. It was run at the same 1 1/4-mile distance of the Breeders' Cup Classic, which will be held at Keeneland this year.

"It was quite a performance. I'm so proud of him," Hough said. "He came out of the race great and will be coming back to Churchill Downs later this morning."

Global Campaign is 3-for-4 this year, including a victory in the Monmouth Cup Stakes (G3) in his previous start. Hough said the 4-year-old Curlin  colt overcame some minor issues and is now living up to his early promise.

"He's had a lot of issues with nagging kinds of things, but at Monmouth I think he turned the corner," Hough said. "He's been doing very well, and his feet are better. We had a little problem with his feet after Monmouth with the shedding of a 'frog' (located on the underside of a horse's hoof), but that happens at some racetracks. For him, it's something that happens, but we were able to shoe him regularly for this race and he went into it fine."

Hough said Global Campaign has the credentials to be a successful stallion. The bay is a half brother to multiple grade 1 winner and Spendthrift Farm stallion Bolt d'Oro .

"I think Global Campaign is a really talented horse, and with that pedigree, as far as being a stud goes, I don't think there's anybody more qualified than him," Hough said.

Hough said a more mature Global Campaign will hopefully be a handful for his opponents, rather than himself, in the Breeders' Cup.

"He's been his own worst enemy in the past," Hough said. "As a young horse he could be a little playful, and some of the things that bothered him, he caused himself. But he's maturing, so I'm hoping he has at least one more good one in him."

William Clifton Jr.'s Prioritize, who got up for third in the Woodward, will point to the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) Oct. 10 at Belmont Park. Trainer H. James Bond said the Tizway gelding's effort in the Woodward gave him encouragement to try the Jockey Club Gold Cup. 

"That's what we'll be pointing towards. We'll see what happens," Bond said. "He's a grinder, and grinders are those mile-and-a-quarter-type horses to me. He came back excellent, and the goal is to hopefully have him ready for the 10th of October."