Jackie's Warrior, Aloha West Tangle in BC Sprint

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 10/31/2022 - 11:42
Link: 
Jackie's Warrior, Aloha West Tangle in BC Sprint
Image: 
Description: 

Photo: Rick Samuels
Jackie's Warrior gallops Oct. 29 at Keeneland

Last year's Eclipse Award champion sprinter Jackie's Warrior  , winner of two grade 1 races this year and the leader of his division, will be tough to beat in the $2 million Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) if he runs his race. That is a very big IF, however, as the 4-year-old son of Maclean's Music   has failed to run to expectations at the World Championships twice before, finishing off the board as an odds-on favorite in the 2020 TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1) (fourth) and the 2021 Breeders' Cup Sprint (sixth).

"He was a big favorite here (at Keeneland) in the Juvenile but obviously a mile-and-a-sixteenth was farther than ideal for him and then nothing went right last year at Del Mar," said Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

The colt underwent surgery to remove a chip from his left knee shortly after last year's Sprint and came back this season in large part to get a Breeders' Cup trophy.

"What we really need and want and expect for him is a Breeders' Cup," Asmussen said. "He's training extremely well. He looks magnificent and we're extremely excited."

Jackie's Warrior's 4-year-old season proved he came back from the minor surgery as good as ever, if not better. He reeled off four easy consecutive wins at four tracks, including the Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Ford (G1) on Derby Day and the Alfred G. Vanderbilt (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. Along the way he famously became the first horse to win a grade 1 at Saratoga three years straight. There was a surprising second in the Forego (G1) at Saratoga in August but Asmussen took it in stride and emphasized after that Jackie's Warrior would be 100% sharp for his next and final career race.

Sign up for

The field awaiting Jackie's Warrior is significantly deeper than last year's Sprint, led by defending Sprint hero Aloha West  , training sharply for his first race back since early July. The Wayne Catalano trainee came flying to get his nose down last year in the Sprint after Jackie's Warrior set opening fractions of :21.91 and :44.11 and couldn't sustain his run.

Aloha West took a break from racing after a disappointing start to the year. He couldn't keep up with Jackie's Warrior in the Churchill Downs, then managed to face an even more impressive foe at the Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1) in Flightline . He got what was meant to be a confidence-building win in the overnight Kelly's Landing Stakes at Churchill Downs but it just wasn't convincing enough in such a soft spot. Catalano pulled the plug.

The 5-year-old son of Hard Spun   only returned to the work tab this month but has shown enough in his appearance and desire to earn the chance at a repeat. "We all know he's only going to run all-out the last three-eighths of a mile anyway," Catalano said. "That's all we need is a good three-eighths and he'll be fit enough to do that!"

Catalano also trains 6-year-old Manny Wah , who won Keeneland's premier dirt sprint, the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (G2), which this year served as a local prep for the Breeders' Cup. Two years ago, at the last Breeders' Cup in Kentucky, Manny Wah was on his way to hitting the board at a massive price before being shut off at the top of the stretch. "I thought he should have won," Catalano said, "but that's just me."

Aloha West seeks to become the third repeat winner of the Sprint, joining Roy H (2017, 2018) and Midnight Lute (2007, 2008).

Roy H was trained by Peter Miller, who took a break from official training duties to start the year but returned in May. He will start C Z Rocket , who was seventh in this race last year but just missed in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G2) on Oct. 1.

American Theorem  represents the top of an unusually thin West Coast sprint division, having won the Triple Bend (G2) at Santa Anita Park and the Bing Crosby (G1) at Del Mar after cutting back from several ineffective two-turn efforts.

Kimari , a grade 1 winner who was seventh in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) last year, is one of two females in the field, the other being Chain of Love. The 5-year-old mare is at the top of her game, coming in off consecutive wins in the Honorable Miss (G2) at Saratoga and the Gallant Bloom (G2) at Aqueduct.






Entries: Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1)

Keeneland, Saturday, November 05, 2022, Race 7

  • Grade I
  • 6f
  • Dirt
  • $2,000,000
  • 3 yo's & up
  • 2:30 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 1Manny Wah (KY) Corey J. Lanerie 126 Wayne M. Catalano 30/1
2 2Kimari (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 123 Wesley A. Ward 4/1
3 3O Besos (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 126 Gregory D. Foley 20/1
4 4American Theorem (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Joe Bravo 126 George Papaprodromou 10/1
5 5Aloha West (MD)Keeneland Sales Graduate Luis Saez 126 Wayne M. Catalano 12/1
6 6Elite Power (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Irad Ortiz, Jr. 126 William I. Mott 6/1
7 7Super Ocho (CHI) Hector Isaac Berrios 126 Amador Merei Sanchez 30/1
8 8C Z Rocket (FL) Flavien Prat 126 Peter Miller 20/1
9 9Jackie's Warrior (KY)Keeneland Sales Graduate Joel Rosario 126 Steven M. Asmussen 4/5
10 10Willy Boi (FL) Chantal Sutherland 126 Jorge Delgado 30/1
11 11Flash of Mischief (KY) Cristian A. Torres 126 Karl Broberg 30/1