Timberlake, Prince of Monaco Stretch Out in Juvenile

Since the Breeders' Cup began in 1984, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) has been a championship-defining race, with 31 of its 39 winners honored with Eclipse Awards as North America's top 2-year-old male.

The trend is likely to continue this year. The $2 million, 1 1/16-mile dirt race at Santa Anita Park Nov. 3 drew last-out grade 1 winners Locked , Muth , Prince of Monaco , and Timberlake . A victory from any of the four would make them a near-certainty for an Eclipse Award and, a championship also could go to supporting Juvenile players with existing graded wins or upper-level graded placings should they prevail.

The trainers of Locked, Muth, Prince of Monaco, and Timberlake have already been down this road.

Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher has won the Juvenile three times, including last year with Forte  , and all were awarded championships. He starts Breeders' Futurity (G1) winner Locked for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm; any two horses for Repole Stable— Sapling Stakes winner Noted  and Fierceness , who, after a dominant maiden victory, disappointed as the favorite when seventh on a sloppy track in the Champagne Stakes (G1) during the Belmont at the Big A meet.

Winning that race by 4 1/4 lengths was WinStar Farm and Siena Farm's Timberlake, who in the Champagne was not as keen behind horses for jockey Florent Geroux early as he had been in his prior start when second in the Hopeful Stakes (G1). After the more disciplined effort early in the Champagne, Timberlake rallied to victory over front-running General Partner . Trainer Brad Cox removed the Into Mischief   colt's blinkers for the Champagne, and the colt rated for Geroux, responding with a more enthusiastic finish.

Timberlake had been cross-entered in the Breeders' Futurity, but his connections opted to run him to New York.

"Anytime you are faced with a decision, as a decision maker, you lean on facts, you lean on intuition, and you lean on your gut a little bit," WinStar Farm president, CEO, and racing manager Elliott Walden said.

The colt's slow-starting ways and eagerness displayed in the Hopeful made the Champagne the more appealing race due to being shorter and being one turn. But Walden is confident in the colt's ability to stretch out to two turns and 1 1/16 miles in the Juvenile in light of how he performed in the Champagne; not to mention some stamina on the female side of his pedigree.

"I don't feel like it'll be any problem with the way that he ran, just the way he galloped out and the fact that he's a big imposing horse that comes from a family that wants to run all day," Walden said.

One challenge could be securing a favorable running position in the scramble to the first of two turns if Timberlake breaks slowly, as is his custom.

Cox won the 2020 Juvenile with eventual champion Essential Quality  , who would win the Belmont Stakes (G1) the following year at age 3.

Also stretching out to two turns for the first time Friday is Prince of Monaco, who Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert elected to run fresh in the Breeders' Cup after the Speightstown   colt's win in the seven-furlong Del Mar Futurity (G1) Sept. 10. Though he improved to 3-for-3 in winning the Del Mar Futurity, he was more workmanlike than in two preceding races when he blew away the opposition.

He races for the partnership of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Dianne Bashor, Bob Masterson, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, and Tom Ryan.

Baffert, a five-time Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, also trains Zedan Racing Stables' Muth, as well as Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman's Wine Me Up , the 1-2 finishers from the Oct. 7 American Pharoah Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita.

Muth, soundly beaten by Prince of Monaco when heavily favored this summer in the Best Pal Stakes (G3), displayed a change in running style under Juan Hernandez in the 1 1/16-mile American Pharoah that translated into a vastly improved performance. Fourth early as Wine Me Up shot to the lead, Muth, a son of 2017 Juvenile winner and champion Good Magic  , kicked into gear leaving the second turn to score by a widening 3 3/4-length margin. He raced 1 1/16 miles in a quick 1:42.45

He earned a 100 Equibase Speed Figure, surpassed only by Timberlake's off-track 102 in the Champagne among last-race efforts from Juvenile competitors.

Locked did not run as quickly in winning the 1 1/16-mile Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, completing 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.62 in defeating The Wine Steward  by a half-length despite having to race wide under jockey Jose Ortiz.

"Jose even said after the race, 'Man, I got a terrible trip, but thankfully, he was good enough to overcome it,'" Pletcher said.

The Gun Runner   colt circled the field on the second turn to pass The Wine Steward, appeared to lose focus briefly upon making the lead, then showed renewed focus after bumping with that rival in the stretch. The victory was his second in a row following a mile maiden win at Saratoga Race Course that came after a third-place finish in a six-furlong race there on debut.

Baffert, Cox, and Pletcher are not alone in having previously won the Juvenile. Trainer Mike Maker, who starts Paradise Farms and David Staudacher's The Wine Steward, and Chad Brown, who runs Klaravich Stable's General Partner , are also past winners.

Maker won the 2011 Juvenile with Hansen , and Brown captured the race six years later with Good Magic.

The Wine Steward, a standout New York-bred son of 2019 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Vino Rosso  , lost for the first time in four races in the Breeders' Futurity, his first start running longer than six furlongs. He can threaten in the Juvenile If he moves forward from his first route.

The speedy General Partner controlled the pace in the Champagne through quick fractions of :45.44 and 1:10.41 in the mile race. He initially stayed with a surging Timberlake in early stretch before faltering in the final furlong.

A start earlier, he was a fast wire-to-wire winner of a seven-furlong maiden race at Saratoga after a debut fourth when he pressed the leader before fading.

The Juvenile field includes longshot foreign invaders Cuban Thunder  and Ecoro Neo .