Work All Week Makes Phoenix Win Look Easy
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Win machine Work All Week remained undefeated in nine starts on dirt and stamped his ticket to the Xpressbet Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) with a smart win in the $200,000 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes (gr. III) on opening day of the Keeneland fall meet Oct. 3 .
With jockey Florent Geroux winning his second race on the card Friday, Work All Week scored in his graded stakes debut by one length. He completed the six-furlong test in 1:09 flat over Keeneland's new dirt surface, which was rated wet-fast after earlier rain. The Phoenix was contested on dirt, which replaced the former Polytrack surface, for first time since 2005.
Richard and Karen Papiese's Midwest Thoroughbreds, better known for its great success as a claiming outfit, bred Work All Week in Illinois. Roger Brueggemann trains the 5-year-old by City Zip out of the stakes-placed Repriced mare Danzig Matilda.
The Phoenix is a "Win & You're In" event for the BC Sprint, providing Work All Week's connections with a fees-paid starting berth at Santa Anita Park Nov. 1.
"We'll see how he comes out of this, and if he comes out good, then yes, we'll go to California," owner Richard Papiese told TVG afterward.
Hawthorne-based Work All Week had not raced since finishing second July 26 in the Addison Cammack Handicap for Illinois-breds at Arlington International Race Course, which halted a seven-race win streak. That was a rare hiccup for the chestnut gelding as he posted his 11th lifetime win in 14 races in the Phoenix.
Work All Week broke best from the far outside post in the field of eight, but settled into second, just off the flanks of Zee Bros directly to his inside as a second choice Bern Identity stalked in third. Zee Bros set a fast tempo, getting the opening quarter mile of :21.77 before Work All Week, three wide on the turn, forged a narrow lead while reaching the quarter pole in :44.17.
The winner shook loose in upper stretch to lead by 3 1/2 lengths at the furlong mark and was kept to his task by Geroux as the late-running C. Zee, ridden by Luis Saez, cut into the margin. Bern Identity, struggling at times along the inside for Paco Lopez, was two lengths farther back in third, followed by Lemon Drop Dream, Rainbow Heir, Mr. Baker, and Zee Bros.
"Really liked the post going into the race, being outside like this with a lot of speed," Geroux said. "So I could see what was going to happen inside. If we have to go, we go. If not, we can sit off (the pace) like I just did. My horse, he loves to win. He's 11 for 14 now. He's a very special horse. He's run some big races before, and today he proved now he's probably the best sprinter in the country."
"We had the inside post and he's fast, but the race had a lot of speed so I kind of followed the speed," said Saez of the runner-up. "When we came to the three-eighths pole I asked and he responded, but the winner was too far in front."
Work All Week's biggest payday was worth $120,000 and boosted his career bankroll to $532,571.
Carrying 122 pounds, he paid $6.40, $3.60, and $2.40 across the board, keying a $45.60 exacta with C. Zee, who returned $6 and $4. Bern Identity paid $2.80 as his three-race winning streak for trainer Kelly Breen came to an end.
"I don't know if he would have won it, but I think he would have been second with a better post position," said Lopez of Bern Identity.
Eastwood scratched.