October 14, 2020 COUNTDOWN TO THE BREEDERS’ CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS NEWSLETTER Advisory: This is the eighth of nine weekly news releases focusing on the horses and races leading to the 37th Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7 at Keeneland. For more information, please visit BreedersCup.com. The Breeders’ Cup will be televised live on NBC and NBCSN. You can follow all the contenders’ activity leading up to the Breeders’ Cup with Equibase’s free “Road to the Breeders’ Cup” Virtual Stable notification service. Ascot’s Champions Day Could Have Direct Breeders’ Cup Impact Saturday’s QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot in Berkshire, England, which will have a quartet of Group 1 stakes, could go a long way in defining several key Breeders’ Cup contenders from Europe. The day is highlighted by the Champions Stakes, which could send a key starter or two to the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1), while the Queen Elizabeth II, Champions Fillies & Mares and Champions Sprint could all send leading contenders to Keeneland for the 37th Breeders’ Cup. The $1.807 million QIPCO Champion Stakes, at about 1 ¼ miles, will be led by the Coolmore conglomerate of Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Mrs. John Magnier’s defending champion MAGICAL (IRE), a superstar 5-year-old daughter of Galileo (IRE) who should be well known to Americans off her close second to the supermare Enable (GB) in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs in 2018. Magical, who is 15-8 in the ante-post betting, qualified for the Turf when she won Leopardstown’s “Win and You’re In” Irish Champion (G1) in her last start Sept. 12 for trainer Aidan O’Brien. All told, Magical is 12-for-25 lifetime, which includes seven Group 1 wins. 10.14.20 PAGE 1 Magical (IRE) winning the Irish Champion Stakes Photo courtesy of Leopardstown Racecourse Prince A A Faisal’s MISHRIFF (IRE) is a strong second choice at 5-2 for trainer John Gosden, as the 3-year-old son of Make Believe (GB) has won three straight, including the Prix du Jockey Club (G1) two races back in July at Chantilly. His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Mohammed Racing’s LORD NORTH (IRE), who qualified for the Longines Turf when he won Royal Ascot’s “Win and You’re In” Prince of Wales’s (G1) in June for Gosden, is also expected for the Champions Stakes, as are major group stakes winners ADDEYBB (IRE), JAPAN (GB), MOGUL (GB), PYLEDRIVER (GB), SERPENTINE (IRE), and SKALLETI (FR), who are all trading at 10-1 or under in a field that could have 16 runners. Queen Elizabeth a Worthy Co-Feature at Ascot Ascot’s $1.463 million Queen Elizabeth II Sponsored by QIPCO (G1) hardly takes a backseat on Champions Day, and the 1-mile test figures to have the biggest favorite on the card, as Sheikh Hamdan al bin Mohammad Al Maktoum’s PALACE PIER (GB) is 8-11 in the early betting off a 5-for-5 record for trainer John Gosden. The 3-year-old son of Kingman (GB) earned an automatic starting berth into the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile presented by PDJF when he won Deauville’s “Win and You’re In” Prix du Haras de Fresnay-Le-Buffard Jacques le Marois (G1) in his last start Aug. 16. 10.14.20 PAGE 2 Palace Pier, who also won the St James’s Palace (G1) at the Royal Meeting in June, could see as many as 16 opponents in the Queen Elizabeth II, including Flaxman Stables and Coolmore’s CIRCUS MAXIMUS (IRE), who earned a Mile bid when he won the “Win and You’re In” Queen Anne (G1) at the Royal Meeting in June for trainer Aidan O’Brien, as well as THE REVENANT (GB), BENBATL (GB), and NAZEEF (GB), who are all 10-1 or less in ante-post betting. The $731,500 QIPCO Fillies & Mares (G1), at about 1 ½ miles, is shaping up as the most competitive race of the four Group 1 stakes on the card, as the top five contenders are trading at 6-1 or less among European punters, with Anthony Oppenheimer’s DAME MALLIOT (GB) a tepid 9-2 favorite. The 4-year-old daughter of Champs Elysees (GB) is 4-for-8 lifetime for trainer Ed Vaughan, including the Tattersalls (G2) at Newmarket in July. Mrs. John Magnier and Mrs. Paul Shanahan’s EVEN SO (IRE), who won the Juddmonte Irish Oaks (G1) at The Curragh in July for O’Brien, ALPINISTA (GB), ANTONIA DE VEGA (IRE), and WONDERFUL TONIGHT (FR), are all being well-backed in a Fillies & Mares field that could reach 13. The $731,500 QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes (G1), at 6 furlongs, has a strong 3-2 favorite in Saeed Suhail’s DREAM OF DREAMS (IRE), a 6-year-old son of Dream Ahead who is 7-for-28 lifetime and has won two straight for Sir Michael Stoute, including the Sprint Cup (G1) at Haydock Sept. 5. Lael Stable’s ONE MASTER (GB), who won Longchamp’s Oct. 4 Prix de la Foret (G1) for trainer William Haggas, is 9-2, while ART POWER (IRE), GLEN SHIEL (GB), MAKE A CHALLENGE (IRE), OXTED (GB), and STARMAN (GB) are all 10-1 or less in a field that could swell to 19. *** News and Notes Tiz the Law Works as Classic Field Begins to Take Shape Sackatoga Stable’s Belmont winner TIZ THE LAW, recently second as the heavy favorite in Churchill Downs’ Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby (G1), continued his preparations for the $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) with a 5-furlong drill in 1:01.87 Oct. 10 at Belmont Park. The 3-year-old son of Constitution, who passed on the Oct. 3 Preakness (G1), which was a “Win and You’re In” for the Classic, posted his third drill since the Derby, with his work tab highlighted by a scintillating 57.87 5-furlong bullet move Oct. 2 at Belmont. Trainer Barclay Tagg opted to pass on the Preakness, as Tiz the Law, who also won the Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park in March and Travers (G1) at Saratoga in August, exited the Derby with some minor stiffness. Tiz the Law is expected to have one, or possibly two works over Keeneland’s main track as he continues preparations for the Classic. The 1 ¼-mile Classic is shaping up to have one of the most complete and dynamic fields in the 37 runnings of the race, with older stars IMPROBABLE, MAXIMUM SECURITY, and TOM’S 10.14.20 PAGE 3 D’ETAT—all “Win and You’re In” qualifiers—leading the handicap brigade. Kentucky Derby winner and “Win and You’re In” qualifier AUTHENTIC, as well as the star 3-year-old filly SWISS SKYDIVER, who won the Preakness, will join Tiz the Law in looking to become the 13th 3-year- old to win the Classic, a feat most recently accomplished by Arrogate in 2016 at Santa Anita. Handicap stalwarts BY MY STANDARDS, GLOBAL CAMPAIGN, HIGHER POWER, and MIDCOURT are also expected for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, while 3-year-olds HAPPY SAVER, who won the “Win and You’re In” Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1, see race recap below) Oct. 10 at Belmont to qualify for the race, and ART COLLECTOR are possible. Kameko Passes Queen Elizabeth II, Headed to Mile Qatar Racing Limited’s KAMEKO, who was highly regarded in Saturday’s $1.463 million Queen Elizabeth II Sponsored by QIPCO (G1, see preview above) was declared Wednesday by his connections and will instead be sent to Keeneland for the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile presented by PDJF. The 3-year-old son of Kitten’s Joy won the 2000 Guineas (G1) at Newmarket in June and the Joel Stakes (G2) there Sept. 25 for trainer Andrew Balding and is 4-for-9 lifetime. Kameko was a clear 4-1 second-choice behind the undefeated Palace Pier (GB) but David Redvers, racing manager for Qatar Racing, was not only weary of that superstar, but the ground as well, which figures to be soft after taking plenty of rain over the past 10 days. "In that regard we didn’t want to risk a good-actioned horse like Kameko on Saturday,” Redvers said. “We would prefer to tackle Palace Pier at the Breeders' Cup, where we are considering running him in the Mile.” Got Stormy Wins Again, Points to Mile or Turf Sprint Gary Barber’s multiple Grade 1 winner GOT STORMY, second in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) at Santa Anita, won her second straight turf sprint Oct. 9 at Keeneland in the Buffalo Trace Franklin County (G3). The 5-year-old daughter of Get Stormy had lost her first five starts this year—all between 1 mile and 1 1/16 miles—before trainer Mark Casse elected to cut her back to 6 ½ furlongs in the Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint (G3), where she closed strongly for an easy win. Got Stormy is 10-for-25 lifetime, which includes last year’s Fourstardave (G1) at Saratoga and Matriarch (G1) at Del Mar, but has struggled over a softer turf course, which could be the deciding factor when Casse and Barber pick their Breeders’ Cup race at Keeneland. “Gary and I will talk about it and if the turf course were to be extremely firm, it would be a decision (between the FanDuel Breeders’ Mile presented by PDJF and the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint),” Casse said.