Aqueduct Sunday

DESPITE bad weather in New York doing its best to disrupt the proceedings, as the season counts down to the Breeders’ Cup, it was a busy weekend stateside with many graded races on both coasts.

European interest was postponed until next week as the Aqueduct turf was not able to host the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic and it was moved to next Saturday with the card transferred from Saturday to Sunday.

America’s current top-rated horse Cody’s Wish was the star attraction in the seven-furlong Grade 2 Vosburgh Stakes at Belmont at the Big A meeting.

He got back to winning ways after his Whitney defeat, giving 6lb and a length and a half beating to Accretive, the pair clear, but he had to work to get to the lead. The extra furlong of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile will be to his advantage but it will be interesting in who takes him on.

“It wasn’t earth-shattering, but just the fact that he won with slow pace is commendable. It was a good effort,” trainer Bill Mott said as Cody’s Wish now heads to the west coast with a record of 10 wins in 15 starts, with four Grade 1 victories and this was his seventh win in his last eight starts.

“We’ll probably retire him to stud at the end of the year,” Michael Banahan, bloodstock manager for Godolphin USA reported of the five-year-old. “We got an extra year out of him and he achieved our major goal, which was winning the Metropolitan Handicap.”

Woodward

The other feature on the card was the Grade 2 Woodward Stakes which has many famous names on its roll of honour.

Chad Brown’s four-year-old Zandon may not match those famous names on ability but he does for consistent endeavour at the top level after placings include seconds in the Grade 1s; Whitney Stakes, Metropolitan Handicap, Pennsylvania Derby. He was also second in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes along with thirds in the Kentucky Derby and Travers Stakes.

He made no mistake this time, coming wide into the straight and sustaining his run to get on top around the furlong pole and go away from Film Star to a four-and-a-quarter-length win for Flavien Plat to cover the nine furlongs in 1m 48.48secs.

“I’m really proud of this horse and I’m just so happy for him. He’s showed up every week for us,” Chad Brown said of his $2.1million earning colt.

The son of Upstart will head to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, his final outing before a stud career.

Controversial

The Grade 2 Gallant Bloom Stakes for fillies and mares produced a controversial finish with the first two past the post disqualified and the Bill Mott-trained Godolphin mare Caramel Swirl promoted to first in the six-and-a-half-furlong contest, under Junior Alavarado.

Sterling Silver and Headland, the first and second-place horses across the finish line, were taken down and favourite Caramel Swirl was declared the winner of the $250,000 contest. Sterling Silver was placed second and Headland third by the stewards.

There were grounds for believing that Sterling Silver was the best horse, she won by four clear lengths but she did cause significant interference to Caramel Swirl. Headland also moved out of the rail and Caramel Swirl was denied her run.

Junior Alvarado said of the Godolphin filly: “I was expecting it to be a little tight because you’re right defending your race, but it went beyond that.”

Javier Castellano on Sterling Silver was not happy,” he said. “I had much the best horse. It’s unfair to disqualify the horse. If you want to punish me, I get punished, but don’t disqualify the horse. Don’t punish the bettor, the owner, the connections. I think that was the wrong decision.”

Santa Anita Saturday

Awesome Again Stakes (Grade 1)

ON the West Coast, the Santa Anita feature was the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes and it went to the Doug O’Neill-trained Slow Down Andy, a four-year-old Reddam Racing-owned colt by their Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist.

Slow Down Andy broke first, led and sailed home the winner of the nine-furlong contest.

He had run third to three-year-olds Arabian Knight and Geaux Rocket Ride in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar in September and this was a step up on that form.

Slow Down Andy and regular pilot Mario Gutierrez went straight to the lead.

“I thought the two Bafferts would go,” owner Paul Reddam told reporters. “We’ve tried to get him to relax in races, and he’s been rank. Today we said just let him go. Wherever he wants to be, that’s where he wants to be - don’t fight him.”

Slow Down Andy was able to dictate from the front on a track that was fast due to a burst of rain early in the day.

“I think we took advantage of the good, clean break. He relaxed. I tried not to fight him - sometimes I fight him and he gives me his head - so my goal today was to let him run comfortable and it paid off,” Gutierrez said.

Slow Down Andy set fractions of to a half mile in 46.91secs, and mile in 1m 10.59secs. Last year’s winner Defunded, on his seventh race of the year, tried to close the gap in the stretch, but Slow Down Andy had enough left to pull away, beating him by two and a quarter lengths in 1m 47.6secs,

Dr Schivel, beaten a nose in the 2021 running of the Grade 1 Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar, is likely to put up a bold bid next month at Santa Anita as he got on the scoreboard for the season with a battling head win over Speed Boat Beach in a close finish to the six-furlong Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes

The son of Violence scored in a time for 1m 08.49secs for trainer Mark Glatt, and was ridden by Juan Hernandez.

There was another Irish-bred success from the Phil D’Amato stable in the Grade 2 City Of Hope Mile Stakes over a mile when the five-year-old Es Que Love gelding Hong Kong Harry scored by a neck over Astronomer under Juan Henandez.

Sunday

The Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes went as expected as the Uncle Mo filly Adare Manor won her fourth in a row, coming home an easy winner by over five lengths.

Her facile triumph over Desert Dawn and two others likely earned her a shot in the Breeders’ Cup, according to trainer Bob Baffert.

“We wanted to see something like this if we were going to take a crack at the Breeders’ Cup.

“If she comes out of it well, we’ll go for it. I think she deserves it,” Baffert reported.