Mind Your Biscuits Heads Busy BC Worktab at Churchill

It's not uncommon for trainers to lose a fair amount of shut-eye the night before their charges are set to go through a major workout, and as Chad Summers wearily leaned against a tree outside Churchill Downs' Barn 18 the morning of Oct. 19, he conceded he got precious little rest in the hours before Mind Your Biscuits' most serious pre-Breeders' Cup move.

It wasn't stress keeping Summers up but rather the effects of a bug likely brought on by the swings in Kentucky temperature. He is hopeful it's something a "Z-Pak" can knock out in short order, but either way he is confident that what he saw Friday morning will ensure better sleep is ahead of him over the next two weeks.

The last major work for Mind Your Biscuits in advance of the Breeders' Cup didn't go exactly as planned, but it satisfied Summers nonetheless. Working in company with multiple graded stakes winner Imperative—co-owned by Ron Paolucci—Mind Your Biscuits covered six furlongs in 1:15 flat over the Churchill Downs main track with jockey Tyler Gaffalione up.

Mind Your Biscuits broke off a couple lengths behind Imperative and clocked splits of :13 2/5, :26 3/5, :39 2/5, and :51 4/5 while galloping out seven furlongs in 1:28. The early portion of the work was slower than Summers hoped to see, but the 5-year-old son of Posse he also co-owns overtook Imperative handily in the lane and galloped out well in front.

"We broke off a little slower than we wanted, but other than that the work went according to plan," Summers said. "He got the last half-mile in :47 and 1, and when (another worker)  came up to him, he galloped out real strong. He is sitting on go. We just want the race to be here now."

Just which race is still to be determined as Summers reiterated that Mind Your Biscuits will be pre-entered in two Breeders' Cup races, one of which will be the $6 million Classic (G1). The Twinspires Sprint (G1) and Dirt Mile (G1) are also on the table as Summers watches to see where a couple potential contenders end up.

"If X Y Jet doesn't go (in the Sprint) … Promises Fulfilled becomes the lone speed if he ends up in the Sprint. There is nobody else who can run with him early," Summers said. "If Promises Fulfilled goes from the Dirt Mile to the Sprint, that means there is no speed in the Mile. That kind of makes the Classic as the one, ironically enough, that has the most speed in the race. We'll see what happens. I think X Y Jet's work will be a big one for the moving parts."

Should Mind Your Biscuits end up Classic-bound, it will mark the first time the multiple grade 1-winning sprinter will tackle 10 furlongs. His victory in the 1 1/8-mile Lukas Classic Stakes (G3) gave the well-built chestnut two-turn credibility over the surface he will travel over Nov. 3. And after Mind Your Biscuits was bested by California-based horses in the last two editions of the Breeders' Cup Sprint, Summers feels the adopted home track he is going to enjoy this season will be an advantage.

"The Classic allows us not to be so dreadfully far back, because if you watch the replays of the Breeders' Cup (Sprint) the last two years, we were so far back and it was tough to do what we did," said Summers, who added he might two-minute lick Mind Your Biscuits next week and blow him out a quarter-mile the week of the Breeders' Cup. "We made up more ground than any other horse in both years, and last year, the short stretch at Del Mar really hampered us. This year, we have a long stretch at Churchill Downs.

"Now, these California horses have to get on a van and plane, and we have the advantage of already having a race over the track and training here. We know he loves this track, and we think whatever race we run in, he's going to be one of the horses to beat. Our major stuff is done … and we're going to sleep well the next 15 days."

About an hour and a half after Mind Your Biscuits was put through his paces, Godolphin's multiple group 1 winner Thunder Snow touted his fitness with a one-mile workout in 1:42 1/5 beneath the Twin Spires. The runaway winner of the Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1) has a reputation for being on the lazy side in the morning, but he got into his breeze in energetic fashion Friday as he readies for his expected start in the Classic.

"We're very happy with the way he's doing," said Tommy Burns, traveling manager to trainer Saeed bin Suroor. "We gave him an extra blow today since he has been pretty fresh. We're very pleased with how it went."

Trainer Dallas Stewart confirmed that the 1 1/4-mile Classic is Plan A for grade 1 winner Seeking the Soul, if the son of Perfect Soul  can get into the 14-horse lineup. The 5-year-old bay horse worked five furlongs in 1:01 and will be pre-entered in the one-turn Dirt Mile as a backup.

"(The Classic) is where we'd like to be. They say we're 15 or so on the list and that we should get in, so we'll see what happens," Stewart said.

Both of Seeking the Soul's graded victories have come over the Churchill main track. He took the 2017 Clark Handicap presented by Norton Healthcare (G1) in November and the one-mile Ack Ack Stakes (G3) Sept. 29.

"He's a grade 1 winner here, so you feel good about that," Stewart said. "I think he can handle the one-turn mile, but I hope he'll handle the mile and a quarter. He's an accomplished horse, so why not shoot for the Classic with him? We think he can do it."

Where the Dirt Mile is the fallback plan for Seeking the Soul, it is the main target for Mark Casse-trained graded stakes winner Awesome Slew, most recently fifth in the Ack Ack. The 5-year-old son of Awesome Again  worked in company with Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) hopeful Wonder Gadot, with each being clocked five furlongs in a bullet 1:00 flat.

Nick Tomlinson, assistant to Casse, was especially pleased with the energy Wonder Gadot continues to show after starting 10 times in 2018. The daughter of Medaglia d'Oro  finished third most recently in the Sept. 22 Cotillion Stakes (G1) and has been worse than third just once in her last 11 outings, that coming when she was 10th against males in the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1).

"It was a very big work and a very good work for the both of them," Tomlinson said. "This was probably one of the better works I've seen out of (Wonder Gadot). She amazes me because … if you ask a lot of horses to do what she's done this year, they'll never hold up or they'll need a lot of time off. She thrives. She truly amazes me what she's done this year. I know some of her races haven't been up to par but … we really do believe that Wonder is a great horse, and we want her to prove it."

Trainer Ron Moquett has a proven commodity in grade 1 winner Whitmore and had the gelded son of Pleasantly Perfect out in the early morning darkness Friday as he readies for the Breeders' Cup Sprint. Working in company with stablemate Petrov, Whitmore covered four furlongs in a bullet :47 flat in his first move since finishing second to Promises Fulfilled in the Oct. 5 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes (G2) at Keeneland.

"This was supposed to be a conditioning-style work," Moquett said. "We would rather there be lots of good horses (in the Sprint) to ensure a solid pace, so we don't have to go out of our game and start chasing lone speed. We're vulnerable when we have to chase lone speed."

Though Whitmore earned a "Win and You're In" Breeders' Cup qualifier for the Dirt Mile when he took the Aug. 25 Forego Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, Moquett is paying the difference to go in the race he feels is most in the 5-year-old's wheelhouse.

"I just want to win," Moquett said. "For me, we're proven a good sprinter, but we're not proven at a mile. And I think we're just going with the science we've got."