Whitmore, Zulu Alpha Pointed Toward Stakes in July
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Photo: Skip Dickstein/Tim Lanahan
Whitmore wins the 2020 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland
Two Kentucky-based grade 1 winners are expected to race out of the state next month.
Whitmore, last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) winner and the champion male sprinter of 2020, is pointed toward the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, according to a tweet from Moquett Racing. Ron Moquett trains and owns the $4.4 million earner in partnership with Robert LaPenta and Head of Plains Partners.
Whitmore raced in the Vanderbilt last year, finishing second to Volatile . Whitmore won the Forego Stakes (G1) at Saratoga in 2018 and was seventh in the 2020 Forego over a sloppy racetrack.
The 8-year-old Pleasantly Perfect gelding was twice second to C Z Rocket in stakes this winter at Oaklawn Park before finishing third behind Flagstaff and Lexitonian in the May 1 Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Ford (G1) in his last outing.
Michael Hui's Zulu Alpha , away from racing since an injury to his left front leg caused him to miss last year's Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) at Keeneland, could return in the July 17 Arlington Stakes (G3T) at Arlington International Racecourse, according to trainer Mike Maker. The $100,000 turf race is at 1 3/16 miles, the distance over which Zulu Alpha won the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes presented by Runhappy (G1T) at Gulfstream Park in 2020.