Hollendorfer Breeders' Cup Trio Works at Santa Anita

Every workout should be evaluated with context, and a trio of Breeders' Cup workers for Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer Oct. 25 at Santa Anita Park provided appropriate examples of this.

The most eye-catching move of the morning was Don Alberto Stable's Unique Bella. The last-out LA Woman Stakes (G3) winner and likely Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) favorite covered five furlongs in :59 1/5 under jockey Mike Smith.

In a vacuum the individual workout, along with the visual component of how easily she covered the ground, would be impressive enough. But in the context of what has been a slow main track during recent weeks, the drill stands out even more. Just through the lens of Wednesday morning, 30 horses worked five furlongs on the main track. Unique Bella was the only horse who ran the distance faster than 1:00, and the average time was 1:02.24.

"She did it rather easy," Hollendorfer said. "I thought she did it well within herself."

In a similar category was Don Alberto and WinStar Farm's Battle of Midway, who is pointing to a start in the Las Vegas Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1). The Smart Strike colt covered six furlongs in 1:12 4/5 under jockey Flavien Prat, the fastest of 11 at the distance. The average time for the distance Wednesday was 1:14.56.

"In talking with my rider, Flavien Prat, he seems to think (Battle of Midway) is doing better and better," Hollendorfer said of the last-out Oklahoma Derby (G3) runner-up, who has a win over the Del Mar trip Aug. 26 in the Shared Belief Stakes.

On the opposite end of the spectrum was Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) contender It Tiz Well, who ran six furlongs in 1:15, in what Hollendorfer called a "maintenance work."

"She was laying off another horse that we thought wasn't going to work really fast," Hollendorfer said. "She's really fit, so we wanted to get a good maintenance work and get some air in her. She may have another blowout before the race."

The trainer said all three could work again Oct. 30, and that those works would most likely take place at Santa Anita instead of Del Mar because of the current heat wave in Southern California, coupled with added humidity at the seaside racetrack.

"We're not going to work at Del Mar unless things change," Hollendorfer said. "If it cooled off significantly at Del Mar, we might go down. It's going to depend on how the weather changes, but we're based here. Don't want to ship into another hot area that's also humid."