Keeneland Barn Notes

By Amy Owens —-

Keeneland’s 17-day Fall Meet concludes Saturday, Oct. 28, with racing
on Wednesdays through Sundays. Post time for the first race each day is 1:05 p.m. ET.
**********

· SHADWELL TURF MILE WINNER SUEDOIS (FR) RETURNING HOME TUESDAY
· FREE DROP BILLY HEADS WEST AFTER CLAIBORNE BREEDERS’ FUTURITY WIN
· FIRST LADY WINNER ZIPESSA TO PREP AT KEENELAND FOR BREEDERS’ CUP
· FINLEY’SLUCKYCHARM HAS CALHOUN PACKING FOR DEL MAR
· GALLOPING OUT
· PROBABLE FIELDS FOR UPCOMING STAKES
· FALL MEET SPECIAL EVENTS

SHADWELL TURF MILE WINNER SUEDOIS RETURNING HOME TUESDAY
Trainer David O’Meara’s two runners from Saturday’s $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile (G1), winner Suedois (FR) and fifth-place finisher Mondialiste (IRE) were doing well Sunday morning at Keeneland’s quarantine barn.
“They are going back home Tuesday,” said Fergal Davis, the exercise rider for Mondialiste. “Suedois would come back for the Breeders’ Cup (Mile-G1 at Del Mar Nov. 4), and Mondialiste, I imagine they would retire him. He doesn’t owe us anything.”
Suedois, who was a handful in the Paddock and Walking Ring prior to the Shadwell Turf Mile, wore down favored Heart to Heart in deep stretch to get his first Grade 1 victory in his U.S. debut.
“I didn’t think he would be so fresh,” said Carly Scott, the O’Meara assistant who brought Suedois to the Paddock. “I think he just wanted to get going.”
Trainer Buff Bradley said Gunpowder Farms’ Divisidero came out of his fourth-place finish in good order.
“He’s fine,” Bradley said. “He ran his race and it is just like his past few races, he just needs a little more pace to make up those couple of lengths.”
Bradley said no decision about a possible Breeders’ Cup run has been made and that he would talk it over with ownership.

FREE DROP BILLY HEADS WEST AFTER
CLAIBORNE BREEDERS’ FUTURITY WIN
Albaugh Family Stables’ Free Drop Billy returned to trainer Dale Romans’ Churchill Downs base on Saturday evening after he cruised to a four-length victory in the $500,000 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1). The Union Rags colt is scheduled to leave for Southern California on Oct. 16 for his date in the $2 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) on Nov. 4 at Del Mar. He earned his travel expenses and entry fees for winning the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity, part of the Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” series.
“We want to get him acquainted to the California weather as soon as possible,” Albaugh Family Stables General Manager Jason Loutsch said Sunday morning.
Joining Free Drop Billy on the trip west for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile is the Albaughs’ Hollywood Star, runner-up in the Iroquois (G3) at Churchill for Romans. Both colts were purchased at Keeneland’s 2016 September Yearling Sale.
Free Drop Billy, second in the Hopeful (G1) and Sanford (G3), is a half-brother to English highweight and Group 1 winner Hawkbill, a Keeneland sales graduate who was second in Woodbine’s Northern Dancer Turf (G1) on Sept. 16 in his North American debut.

FIRST LADY WINNER ZIPESSA TO PREP
AT KEENELAND FOR BREEDERS’ CUP
Empyrean Stables’ Zipessa, 16-1 longshot winner of the First Lady (G1) on Saturday, will remain at Keeneland as she prepares for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) to be run Nov. 4 at Del Mar. Her First Lady win awarded her a fees-paid berth to the race.
“We will keep her here as long as we can,” trainer Mike Stidham said Sunday morning. “We are happy that the Filly and Mare Turf is 1 1/8 miles this year. With it being shortened, that helps our cause. (A longer distance than that) is kind of stretching us a little bit.”
In previous runnings, the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf was contested at 1¼ miles and beyond, an option not available this year because of Del Mar’s grass course configuration. Zipessa was fifth in the 1¼-mile race last year at Santa Anita.
The First Lady is the initial Grade 1 win for Zipessa, a 5-year-old mare by City Zip, who won the Dr. James Penny Memorial (G3) in July 2016 at Parx.
“The win in the First Lady was huge for so many reasons,” Stidham said. “We are more than delighted. We knew she had it in her; it was just a matter of putting it all together on the right day.”
Lael Stables’ First Lady runner-up, Hawksmoor (IRE), is scheduled to head back to Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland on Monday, according to trainer Arnaud Delacour.
“She is fine this morning,” Delacour said. “She had everything her way yesterday. She had no excuse.”
As for the Breeders’ Cup, Delacour said, “I am not sure if it is the right fit, but we will look at it. She is lightly raced this year with only four starts. Maybe something like the ($300,000) Matriarch (G1 on Nov. 26 at Del Mar). We will see how it plays out.”
Fourth-place finisher Dona Bruja (ARG), the 2-1 second choice in the First Lady, is to remain in training at Keeneland before targeting a race at Churchill Downs.
“She was far behind, she closed very well,” said Benjamin Correas, assistant to his father and trainer Ignacio Correas IV Sunday morning. “She came out of the race fine and we’re going to aim at Churchill with her and then Tampa Bay Downs.”
Correas said his father is still considering options for her next start.
“He doesn’t know yet,” the younger Correas said. “He’s still thinking about it because he doesn’t know if he wants to go a bit longer again, which I think we will. He makes the last decision”

FINLEY’SLUCKYCHARM HAS CALHOUN PACKING FOR DEL MAR
Trainer Bret Calhoun has fond memories of Del Mar, the first-time site for this year’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
“I took a filly named Storm Mesa out there in 2008 and won a Grade 2, the San Clemente,” Calhoun said. “I took her out a couple of weeks before the race and loved it out there. I can’t wait to go back.”
Calhoun will not have to wait much longer as Finley’sluckycharm earned her way there Saturday for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) on Nov. 4 with an off-the-pace victory in the $250,000 Thoroughbred Club of America (G2).
It was Calhoun’s second victory in the race, having won previously with Dubai Majesty in 2010. Dubai Majesty came back to win that year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Churchill Downs to close her career and earn an Eclipse Award as champion female sprinter.
Finley’sluckycharm, owned by Carl R. Moore Management, returned to Churchill Downs last night and Sunday morning was “doing great,” Calhoun said. “And I am doing a lot better than before the race and during the race.”
Saturday’s victory, the ninth from 11 starts in one-turn races, marked the first time Finley’sluckycharm had not been on the lead.
Calhoun said Finley’sluckycharm would have two works at Churchill prior to leaving for Del Mar.

GALLOPING OUT
Trainer Tim Glyshaw said Ironhorse Racing’s Bucchero, winner of Saturday’s $200,000 Woodford (G2) Presented by Keeneland Select, returned to Churchill Downs Saturday night and came out of the race fine.
“He will probably go to Indiana Grand on Wednesday which is where his base is,” Glyshaw said. “We may look at the Breeders’ Cup because those opportunities do not come around often.” …
Godolphin Racing’s Group 1 winner Wuheida (GB) and Ali Ridha’s Unforgetable Filly (GB) arrived at the Keeneland quarantine barn at 7 a.m. Sunday from Europe for expected starts in Saturday’s $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Presented by Lane’s End (G1) for 3-year-old fillies.
Charles Appleby, who trains Wuheida, is expected to be at Keeneland this week. Hugo Palmer, trainer of Unforgetable Filly, will not be here for the race. …
Keeneland Racing Analyst Tom Leach, the “Voice of the Wildcats” for University of Kentucky football and men’s basketball, interviews trainer Rusty Arnold about Romantic Vision, racing in today’s Juddmonte Spinster (G1).

PROBABLE FIELDS FOR UPCOMING STAKES
$100,000 BUFFALO TRACE FRANKLIN COUNTY (G3) (Entries taken Tuesday, race Friday, Oct. 13) – Always Thinking (Tom Albertrani), Boom Bam Bing (Karl Broberg), Justa Lady (Steve Asmussen), Miss Ella (Graham Motion), Morticia (Rusty Arnold), Nobody’s Fault (Neil Pessin), Ring Knocker (Mike Maker), Ruby Notion (Wesley Ward), Scatter Gun (Pessin) and Triple Chelsea (Joe Sharp).
$500,000 QUEEN ELIZABETH II CHALLENGE CUP PRESENTED BY LANE’S END (G1) (Entries taken Wednesday; race Saturday) – Invitees: Beau Recall (IRE) (trainer Simon Callaghan), Con Te Partiro (Wesley Ward), Daddys Lil Darling (Kenny McPeek), Dream Dancing (Mark Casse), La Coronel (Casse), Madam Dancealot (IRE) (Richard Baltas), New Money Honey (Chad Brown), Proctor’s Ledge (Brendan Walsh), Unforgetable Filly (GB) (Hugo Palmer), Uni (GB) (Brown) and Wuheida (GB) (Charles Appleby).

FALL MEET SPECIAL EVENTS
Sunday, Oct. 8 – Fall Stars Weekend
“Keeneland Magazine on TV.” 8 p.m. ET on The CW Lexington. The 30-minute program chronicles Central Kentucky life and culture from the print edition of Keeneland magazine. The episode features Juddmonte Farms, Brewgrass Trail, Lexington’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Medical Center and Lexington’s murals.