Annapolis Ready for BC Mile Off Keeneland Grade 1 Win

A mere week before last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T), Perry and Ramona Bass' best chance at Breeders' Cup glory faded into the sands of Del Mar when their promising colt Annapolis  was withdrawn from the race with ankle chips.

"It's bad timing, but he'll be back. It's a humbling game," Perry Bass told BloodHorse at the time.

And back he is.

Bass Racing's homebred Annapolis will attempt to etch his name beside the select group of 3-year-olds to take home the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile Presented by PDJF (G1T) prize when he lines up against older horses once more Nov. 5.

"It's a difficult race but we're super confident with the way he's doing and coming into it," trainer Todd Pletcher said of Annapolis. "It means a lot to the (Bass family) to run him. He's a homebred of theirs. They own the mare and all his siblings, so it's great for them."

Out of the grade 2-winning Unbridled's Song  mare My Miss Sophia, runner-up in the 2014 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1), Annapolis flashed talent from the get-go, graduating first time out at Saratoga Race Course ahead of a game victory in the 2021 Pilgrim Stakes (G2T).

With Annapolis knocked out of the picture, the mother-son team at Bass Racing was left with just one starter in the 2021 Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Owned in partnership with Hat Creek Racing, the filly Averly Jane  could only manage a fifth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2T). Ramona Bass, breeder of two-time Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) hero Roy H  and owner of 2016 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) third-place Avenge  (who was unplaced in the race in 2017), is still looking for that coveted Breeders' Cup win.

Sent to elite equine veterinarian Larry Bramlage of Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Annapolis underwent surgery for the ankle chips and was given a six-month freshening before returning to Pletcher's barn in New York. The improving son of War Front   began his 2022 campaign with a runner-up effort in the Penn Mile Stakes (G2T) on a soggy turf course before rattling off wins in the Manilla Stakes and Saranac Stakes (G3T), with a second-place finish over the perhaps-too-far distance of 1 3/16 miles to Nations Pride  in the Caesars Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T).

It was Annapolis' last start, however, that secured his slot in the $2 million Mile.

Facing older horses for the first time in the Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes (G1T), the colt flourished over the Keeneland turf, tracking a swift pace and surging clear of the field down the lane for a decisive 1 1/2-lengtth score.

"I thought he handled (older horses) really well last time. He's a big, strong, mature horse so that helps," Pletcher said. "He seems to like this course and he's breezed well over it also. It seems like he came out of (the Coolmore Turf Mile) in great shape. We're very pleased."

In his first work since the Coolmore Turf Mile, Annapolis drilled four furlongs in company with stablemate Portfolio Company  Oct. 21 over the Keeneland turf course.

Since the race was inaugurated in 1984, 11 3-year-olds, including the great European fillies Miesque and Goldikova, have won the Mile. The most recent 3-year-old victor was none other than Ballydoyle runner Order of Australia  in 2020. A gritty third behind Annapolis in the Coolmore Turf Mile, the Aidan O'Brien trainee will attempt to reclaim his title.

Ever dominant on the turf, Europeans have captured the last three of four runnings of the Mile. With the presence of multiple group 1 winners Modern Games  and Kinross , the Americans will have to be at the top of their game to take back the Mile crown. Godolphin’s Modern Games, second to Bayside Boy  in the Oct. 15 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1) will likely vie for race favoritism with the Ralph Beckett-trained Kinross. Bayside Boy, despite earning an all-expense paid trip to the Breeders' Cup off his Breeders' Cup Challenge triumph, has already been ruled out of the race by trainer Roger Varian.

The 3-year-old Modern Games, an impressive victor of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf last year, will attempt to become the first horse to complete the Juvenile Turf-Mile double. Prior to his Queen Elizabeth II runner-up, the son of Dubawi  displayed a devastating turn of foot when blasting clear to a 5 1/4-length win in the Ricoh Woodbine Mile (G1T) over Mile entrant and 2021 Mile third-place finisher Ivar .

The horse to spoil the Euros bid in 2019, however, was the Chad Brown-trained Uni. Brown will try to thwart the Europeans once more with the three-time grade 1 winners Regal Glory  and Domestic Spending . While Domestic Spending has a task of Da Hoss-like epic proportions in the Mile, not having started since August 2021, Regal Glory will have to tackle males for only the second time in her career come next Saturday.

The Peter Brant colorbearer was a bold runner-up to the speedy Casa Creed  in the Fourstardave Handicap (G1T) earlier this summer at Saratoga.  

"I thought (Regal Glory) had a tough trip in the Fourstardave—she just got caught wide and it was a tough, tiring trip," Brown said. "Last time (in the Oct. 8 First Lady Stakes Presented by UK HealthCare, G1T), In Italian  just got away from her but I liked it as a prep for this race. I don't think it was a hard race. It's a race she can move forward from. She was finishing well. I think if I can get in the (Mile) with more of a crowded scenario up front, more pace in front of her, it'll help her."

Enjoying her finest campaign yet as a 6-year-old, Brown indicated that the Mile could very well be the career finale for Regal Glory. The Animal Kingdom  mare will join the Brant broodmare band come retirement alongside Brant's Breeders' Cup-winning mares Sistercharlie and Newspaperofrecord.

Here’s the field for the @BreedersCup Mile on Saturday at #Keeneland! pic.twitter.com/gj0vfmi0hI

— Keeneland Racing (@keenelandracing) October 31, 2022

Entries: FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile Presented by PDJF (G1T)

Keeneland, Saturday, November 05, 2022, Race 8

• Grade IT
• 1m
• Turf
• $2,000,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 3:10 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Pogo (IRE)	James Doyle	126	Charlie Hills	20/1
2	2Shirl's Speight (KY)	Luis Saez	126	Roger L. Attfield	30/1
3	3Dreamloper (IRE)	Kieran Shoemark	123	Ed Walker	6/1
4	4Modern Games (IRE)	William T. Buick	123	Charles Appleby	7/2
5	5Smooth Like Strait (KY)	John R. Velazquez	126	Michael W. McCarthy	10/1
6	6Ivar (BRZ)	Javier Castellano	126	Paulo H. Lobo	15/1
7	7Beyond Brilliant (KY)	Victor Espinoza	126	John A. Shirreffs	20/1
8	8Regal Glory (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	123	Chad C. Brown	6/1
9	9Malavath (IRE)	Tyler Gaffalione	120	Francis - Henri Graffard	15/1
10	10Order of Australia (IRE)	Ryan L. Moore	126	Aidan P. O'Brien	12/1
11	11Annapolis (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	123	Todd A. Pletcher	10/1
12	12King Cause (KY)	Juan J. Hernandez	126	Michael J. Maker	30/1
13	13Kinross (GB)	Lanfranco Dettori	126	Ralph Beckett	9/2
14	14Domestic Spending (GB)	Flavien Prat	126	Chad C. Brown	8/1
15	15Front Run the Fed (KY)	Francisco Arrieta	126	Caio Caramori	30/1
16	16Gear Jockey (KY)	Luis Saez	126	George R. Arnold, II	30/1