Breeders' Cup Classic Hopefuls Work at Santa Anita

The connections of Accelerate  sent out the likely Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) favorite Oct. 14 at Santa Anita Park on a busy morning for potential Classic runners at the Arcadia, Calif., track.

After a soaking rain Saturday, trainer John Sadler opted to delay the work by Hronis Racing's Accelerate to Sunday. In his first timed workout since winning the Awesome Again Stakes (G1) Sept. 29 at Santa Anita, Accelerate handily completed a half-mile in :47 4/5.

Accelerate, a 5-year-old son of Lookin At Lucky , will enter the Classic off three straight grade 1 wins. Before the Awesome Again, he won the $1 Million TVG Pacific Classic Stakes and the Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes.

"He's going to go further the next two weekends, so it was a good work," Sadler said. "We were off one day on our timing because of the weather, but he worked really nice. I couldn't be happier."

Also Sunday, trainer Bob Baffert—looking for his fourth Classic win in five years—sent out Classic hopefuls West Coast  and McKinzie. West Coast handily completed five furlongs in :59 2/5, second-fastest of 62 at the distance, and 3-year-old McKinzie completed six furlongs in a bullet 1:12, fastest of a dozen works at the distance.

The work by Gary and Mary West's West Coast was his first since finishing second in the Awesome Again, which marked his first race since a runner-up finish in the March 31 Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1) at Meydan. Baffert noted that West Coast needed that start in the Awesome Again.

"He came out of it really well," Baffert said. "I didn't have a choice but to run him in the Awesome Again. I had to do something. I couldn't just bring him up to that race on works. He's happy and he's training well."

Karl Watson, Michael Pegram, and Paul Weitman's McKinzie posted his first official work since winning the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) Sept. 22 at Parx Racing.

"McKinzie went nice. I'm very happy with his work," said Baffert, who won the Classic with 3-year-olds Bayern  in 2014, American Pharoah  in 2105 and Arrogate  in 2016. "He's doing very well."

Trainer Michael McCarthy also opted to move a planned work by two-time grade 1 winner City of Light from Saturday to Sunday. City of Light handily completed four furlongs in :50 following his bullet move Oct. 7, when he completed five furlongs in :59. McCarthy is preparing City of Light for a start in the Classic or Dirt Mile (G1). McCarthy noted his preference is the one-turn Dirt Mile.

"Missing one day of training is OK," McCarthy said Saturday. "We're on the West Coast, so we rarely run into this type of weather. On the other hand, as the Breeders' Cup draws near, you like everything to be as close to on schedule as possible."

In addition to Accelerate, Sadler sent out two other Breeders' Cup candidates: Dirt Mile favorite Catalina Cruiser (six furlongs in a bullet 1:12 with a gallop out of 1:25 1/5 under Drayden Van Dyke) and Selcourt (grade 1 Filly & Mare Sprint, six furlongs with Van Dyke up in 1:12 4/5).