Breeders' Cup Track Report
by Tim Clauss
10/26/98
Well hello, it's your intrepid reporter again. I have been missing since May, but back again to report to you once again from the backside at Churchill. The big event this time, the Breeder's Cup Championship day. Now less than two weeks away, walking around the backside is like having floor seats at the Academy Awards, all the stars are here (or will be soon).
If your wondering, that cat has settled down a bit, and waits for us to get up before she starts yowling. Much better for our sanity, but now I have to rely more on an ordinary alarm clock to get me moving. Sunday morning broke crisp and clear, with temperatures in the mid forties. However, on the way to the track, I was blessed with a gorgeous sunrise. I don't say it often, but for this assignment, I'm glad daylight savings has come to an end. The temperatures at 6 am are much easier to deal with if the sun has begun warming the sky.
This time through the gates, I had no worries. You see, Cindy Pierson, majordomo of the derby list, matron of horseracing at the Mining Co., and now the co-creator of racingbooks.com (as seen on all your Stable Mail's this fall), worked the press department at Churchill downs and convinced them that we should have a shot at providing coverage of the sport we love so much. Thanks to her efforts, all of my visits in this series of reports will be full access media coverage. Be warned however, the only place I cannot go is the press office, so your other favorite reporters won't have their chance to take me under their wing and "show me the ropes".
Anyway, back to the morning. As this was my first return to the backside, I needed a morning to get my bearings and readjust to seeing this many horses. Fortunately, only a few contenders worked today, and all of them late. So it was OK that I didn't make it to the shadow of the twin spires until 6:45. I first wandered around the barns a little.
The quarantine barn is a nice structure with a 15 foot chain-link fence all around. They've got plenty of space, but the barn openings are almost completely sealed off with opaque plastic. This poses two problems for me. First, I can't see in to see how the foreign shippers are doing. Second, those same shippers don't get to see out and take in the wonderful aura that is the Churchill backside. I hope they plan to give their horses more time outside their stalls than usual, otherwise, they could get a little depressed, locked away in the gloom of an enclosed barn.
Nearly all the other usual suspects were in their usual places. Lukas, Brothers, Baffert, Mott, Walden, Byrne, etc. all have the same barns in the same places. The one unusual sight was Nick Zito's string. His usual barn was completely empty. That's a shame too, because they usually give the place an new coat of paint and dress it up very nicely. Instead, Nick's horses looked like they were taking up temporary accommodations in only about a third of a seldomly used barn. I don't know if he hasn't yet moved in the rest of his string, or if he's just planning a smaller contingent at the Churchill fall meet, but the backside has lost a little luster without the dressed up Nicky Z barn.
After my quick tour through the barns it was up to the observation platform to watch some horses work. Before the break, there wasn't much in the way of activity. However, it was a good chance to see how horses were getting along the track to compare them to the big names I would see later. There is always so much activity at morning works, it's hard to tell how anybody could keep it all straight. No surprise, but the track looks to be in great shape. Fairly deep, with a good deal of moisture still in it. It held up well all through the early session, with the surface looking relatively fresh despite having hundreds of horses run across it. The turf course looks in similarly good shape, with the length cut back a bit from the deep grass that covered it for much of the spring meet.
I wandered over the Eliot Walden's barn during the break, and they were
preparing Victory Gallop for his scheduled work. Victory Gallop looked
focused and very professional as they wrapped his hind legs, and saddled
him up for the work. Both Shelia's Flag and Victory Gallop had their
riders up and were the first horses on the track after the mid break
grooming session. They took both horses clockwise around the outer rail
and began galloping with their lead ponies. They disappeared from view as
they headed up the front stretch, but would be back soon. I didn't know if
they'd be going 5 or 6 with Victory Gallop, but the question was soon
answered as they came galloping around the turn along the inside rail with
their ponies, about halfway through the turn, both were released from their
lead ponies and began getting up to speed.
Shelia's Flag was out in front of Victory Gallop by about 5 lengths when they geared up at the 6 furlong pole. Victory Gallop kicked into gear about 8 feet off the rail. Gallop took off very powerfully, and settled in very nicely down the backstretch. He was running easy and smooth. However, Shelia's flag was getting away from him. When I looked at the splits though, I was surprised, 12 and 2 for the first and 11 and 4 for the second. By the 4f pole, Shelia's Flag had about 9 lengths on Victory Gallop. It wasn't looking good. Into the turn though, he really got into it. I caught the 4 furlongs in 47 and 3. That's about where you lose the visibility from the backside because the infield buildings get in the way. By that point Victory Gallop was really eating up ground on Shelia's flag. You get another glimpse about a furlong before the finish, and Victory Gallop had pulled even with Shelia's Flag. Victory Gallop came across the finish line at least 5 lengths in front of Shelia's Flag and I caught him in 1:12 and 1. The other times I've read had him anywhere from 1:12 and 2 to 1:11 and 3. Ahh clocking discrepancies...
As he cooled out after the work, Victory Gallop looked like the going had been easy. He wasn't blowing, and he slowed very professionally under his rider's command. He was still moving very comfortably across the surface. The times on the Churchill worktab have been very slow as of late, and this move in twelves was definitely the best of the day, and probably of the past two weeks. He was very smooth, and did not look like he was putting everything he had into the run down the backside. They got into him a little on the turn, but the results were pretty stunning as he gobbled up ground against the speedy Shelia's Flag. Never did he look like he was being taxed by the work. He was reaching out with a very smooth stride, and the track was very much to his liking.
I stuck around on the stand to catch Tomisues Delight's work. This one,
also at 6 furlongs was different from Victory Gallop's. When she broke
off, the rider had to do some work to get her going. For the first
furlong, there was a lot of urging to get her up to speed. She settled in
halfway down the backstretch and looked OK through the turn. On the
stretch though, she definitely did not get into the bit and finished out
the six furlongs in 1:15 and change. While the intention here did not
appear to be anything more than a maintenance work, Tomisue did not look to
be particularly comfortable in her stride. She was climbing on the
backside and never settled into a long, smooth stride. She wasn't blowing
after the work, but she didn't pull up as professionally as one might have
hoped.
After Tomisue came around, I headed to the Walden barn to see how Victory Gallop came out of the work. Eliot was giving a small press conference and I listened in. He was happy with the work, but had expected to see a good one out of Victory Gallop. In the past two weeks, he's been a very happy horse who has been doing everything that they had hoped. Up until about 2 and a half weeks ago they weren't particularly happy with his recovery from the surgery. He'd had a good bit of swelling and discomfort, and wasn't ready for the routine of training. Walden was very candid about the fact that they weren't sure if Victory Gallop was going to be ready three weeks ago. Since then, he's been professional, eating well, ready to work, and showing his old character.
Elliot Walden said that despite the setback with his throat, Victory Gallop has been a true joy to have in the barn. He even admitted that Gallop was up against it in the Travers and that it was probably a mistake to not have entered Shelia's Flag. However, they just didn't think that Shelia's Flag was good enough to really force the issue against the Coronado's Quest. He was hoping that Shug's horse did enter, and get and inside post, because they might be able to exact a measure of redemption.
Walden was also very candid about his thoughts on Victory Gallop's chances in the Classic. He really feels that Victory Gallop will be at his best for the race, but that this is going to be one heck of a difficult race to win. He's encouraged by the fact that there will be a lot of speed in the race, and Victory Gallop's history on this track, but, in his opinion, Silver Charm looks as good as ever and there's always that little gray Skip Away to deal with. He commented that three year olds have won 5 of the 10 Classics, so they've got some history, but this race also will have 10 horses with over a 50% win to start ratio. They've got Alex Solis slated to ride Victory Gallop in the Classic
Walden also told us that he planned to enter Royal Strand in the turf, if he can get in. (He doesn't have many Breeder's Cup points) He's coming into the race in great shape, and he loves to run all day. Also, Walden stated that while Distorted Humor is out of the Sprint, they're still looking for a final race for him before he heads off to the breeding shed. Most likely his next start will be the Ack Ack Stakes on opening day at Churchill. This race at 7 and half furlongs would fit nicely into Walden's belief that Distorted Humor is at his best between 7 and 9 furlongs. They'd like to see him go out as a winner, and not have his final races be the disappointments in the Vosburgh and more recently at Keeneland.
Following the work, I watched as they washed down Victory Gallop. He wasn't sweating excessively, and he looked very much at ease despite his strong work. He looks very good considering he hasn't raced since August 29th. He nicely on the muscle, with a couple of ribs showing slightly. His brown coat with 4 black socks isn't showing any signs of winter yet. This is all a good sign that he hasn't gotten fat and lazy while he was off for the surgery. He his not a big bulging type of horse. He's an average length and height, but his legs seem to be longer than one would expect for a horse of his size. He is balanced slightly to his rear. His shoulders look good and evenly developed, but not as defined as his hind muscles. When viewed from the rear the muscles in his rump are not that large, but the thigh muscles are well defined. He has an average sized head with a shortish neck. I didn't spot any conformation difficulties in his legs, however, his hooves look a little small, and his leg bones are a little light.
In all, Victory Gallop does not look like a horse that hasn't been to the track for a race in month and a half. His work was promising as well. He is a genuine 3 year old closer and a case could certainly be made for him being this year's version of Concern. From the backside, I can't make any arguments against him, except that the rest of this field is awfully good.
I apologize that I did not see Tomisue's Delight as she cooled out, but I will track her down and give you some visual impressions of her physical stature later on in the week. I visited with a number of other horses that I will run down for you as well, but for that, you will have to wait until tomorrow.
From Louisville, KY
©1998, Tim Clauss
Tim's other Breeders' Cup workout articles
Breeders' Cup logo courtesy of the Breeders' Cup and used with permission, photographs by Cindy Pierson
