Breeders' Cup at Arlington Park horse racing in Illinois

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Tuesday, October 22, 2002
Contact: Notes Team (847) 385-7472/7473

$4 million Breeders' Cup Classic (GI)
World Thoroughbred Championships
Three-Year-Olds and Up
1¼ Miles
Came Home -- The 3yo colt worked 4f in 48 1/5 Tuesday at Santa Anita to the satisfaction of trainer Paco Gonzalez. "He went very nice, the last quarter in 23 2/5," said Gonzalez. "He worked alone with his regular exercise rider, Danny Benitez and galloped out in 1:01 1/5. He went beautiful."
Came Home will be flown east from California Wednesday for the Breeders' Cup Classic that could determine Horse of the Year honors. Came Home has won six of seven starts this year and defeated older horses in the Pacific Classic at 1 ¼ miles in his last start at Del Mar on Aug. 25.
"If we were lucky enough to win this race, he should be Horse of the Year," said Gonzalez. "But this horse doesn't get the respect he deserves. No matter what he does, there is always some excuse for another horse in the race. But I'm happy the way he is coming up to this race."
Dollar Bill -- Trainer Dallas Stewart was en route to Chicago from Louisville with his Classic starter and was scheduled to arrive at Arlington between 3 and 4 p.m. Tuesday. The 4yo Peaks and Valleys colt, second in the Kentucky Cup Classic last time out on Sept. 14, will have his first gallop over the Arlington surface on Wednesday.
Dollar Bill, best known for this troubled trips in major races as a 3yo, including the Kentucky Derby, has made 15 of his 19 career starts in either Grade I or Grade II races. On Saturday, he will be seeking his second victory of the year, but has compiled a record of 1-3-2 in seven starts and earned $496,850.
E Dubai -- Godolphin Racing's E Dubai put in his final major preparation for Saturday's Classic by working 6f in 1:16 1/5 over a fast track at Belmont Park with jockey Jorge Chavez aboard.
Tom Albertrani, assistant to trainer Saeed bin Suroor, said E Dubai "worked very good, very easily." E Dubai comes into the Classic off a 16-week layoff, not having run since a wire-to-wire victory in the Suburban at Belmont on July 6.
"He bruised a foot in the Suburban and we had to miss a few weeks of training," Albertrani said. E Dubai is scheduled to walk Wednesday at Belmont and then ship to Arlington Park on Thursday.
Evening Attire -- Having put in a strong 5f work of 1:02 on the fast main track at Arlington Park on Monday morning, the son of 1991 Classic winner Black Tie Affair had an easy day Tuesday.
"He just walked the shedrow," trainer Pat Kelly said. "He was very strong yesterday, so he got the day off today. He'll be back under tack on Wednesday."
In finishing up his work on Monday, Evening Attire got the last quarter-mile in 24 3/5. He galloped out 6f in 1:14 4/5.
Harlan's Holiday -- The 3yo colt jogged 1 ½ miles Tuesday at Belmont Park, will gallop again Wednesday before shipping to Arlington Wednesday.
Trainer Todd Pletcher said he was not concerned that the colt faded somewhat in the stretch in his last race, a third place in the 1 ¼ miles Jockey Club Gold Cup.
"We kinda got the worst of it in that race," Pletcher said. "He broke sharply and got stuck inside. He had to go into a drive the last 3/8. He's a determined kind of horse. He fights hard. It would be ideal if he didn't have to run that way the whole race."
Hawk Wing -- The 3yo colt by Woodman is part of the strong group that trainer Aidan O'Brien is bringing in for the Breeders' Cup.
Although Hawk Wing was pre-entered in the Mile as a second preference, he is expected to make his main track debut in the Classic. Winner of the Eclipse Stakes in July, the Kentucky-bred was second in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot last out on Sept. 28.
Hawk Wing was scheduled to arrive in the Arlington stable area with seven other O'Brien-trained horses at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Macho Uno -- Stronach Stable's Macho Uno, the 2000 Juvenile winner and the only pre-entrant in this year's Championships with the opportunity to win two different Breeders' Cup races, walked in the paddock with exercise rider Tim McCanick up Tuesday morning at Arlington Park.
Five horses have won two Breeders' Cup races, but those came in the same event. Bayakoa won the Distaff in 1989 and '90; Lure (1992-93), Miesque (1987-88) and Da Hoss (1996 and '98) won the Mile, and Tiznow won the past two Classics.
"He's coming into the race as well as I would like," trainer Joe Orseno said. "He's a very happy horse right now."
Macho Uno is one of three Classic hopefuls to have run at Arlington, but the only one to have run here this year, finishing fifth in the Washington Park Handicap on Sept. 29.
"He was beaten seven lengths," Orseno said. "He was coming off the Whitney, and looking back, it looks like that race cooked everybody. They sent him back to the farm after that for a while and he worked at Woodbine on Sept. 16 and got here two days later. I think he may have been too relaxed in that race."
Medaglia d'Oro/Milwaukee Brew -- Medaglia d'Oro and Milwaukee Brew, who arrived in Chicago on a Monday flight from New York with four other Bobby Frankel-trained Breeders' Cup participants, were walked around Barn 12 Tuesday morning and were scheduled for a shedrow stroll later in the afternoon.
"All of my horses are coming in fresh, to be honest with you," said Frankel. "I don't think any of them ran their best race right before the Breeders' Cup. Last year, some of my horses might have been over the top.
"This year, Medaglia d'Oro had a big break and he couldn't be training any better. Milwaukee Brew didn't run too hard the other day. I think he was on a track he didn't have a lot of confidence on."
Before Monday's flight, Travers Stakes winner Medaglia d'Oro and Santa Anita Handicap champ Milwaukee Brew worked in company at Belmont Park, well distanced from one another. Medaglia d'Oro, with jockey Aaron Gryder in the saddle, broke off at least five lengths in front of his stablemate, who was ridden by Edgar Prado.
Medaglia d'Oro was officially clocked 1:00 4/5 for 5f, while Milwaukee Brew covered the same distance in 1:01 3/5.
"He (Medaglia d'Oro) went real good," Gryder said. "I've worked him the last five times and this was a real steady work. He started slow and finished with energy. I'm anxious to watch him run (Saturday) because he's been coming up to the race strong."
Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, a four-time Classic winner, will ride Medaglia d'Oro. Milwaukee Brew will be piloted by Prado.
Perfect Drift -- Trainer Murray Johnson sent his stable star out for his final workout before Saturday's Classic and was pleased with what he saw. The Lane's End Spiral Stakes winner and Kentucky Derby third-place finisher breezed an easy 5f in 1:02 3/5 under jockey Joe Deegan at Churchill Down's Trackside on Tuesday morning and will ship to Chicago on Wednesday.
"Everything went as planned," said Johnson. "He galloped out strong and everything looks fine. He came out of his last race (a win in the Indiana Derby) in good shape and other than missing a few days of training because of the foot infection, everything's been perfect."
Perfect Drift, a 3yo Dynaformer gelding owned by Dr. William Reed's Stonecrest Farm, will be ridden by Robby Albarado for the first time, but Johnson is not concerned about having a new rider aboard for such a big race.
"Every time he's had a new rider he's won," explained Johnson. "The first time Tony (D'Amico) rode him he won, the first time Eddie (Delahoussaye) rode him he won and the first time Jon (Court) rode him he won. Robby is very experienced at Arlington and he's one of the up and comers in the sport. We're hoping he can break through with a win for us and himself."
Albarado was leading rider at Arlington in 1996 and is consistently among the top 10 despite missing large parts of the meet to ride in Kentucky.
Rock of Gibraltar -- See Mile.
Volponi -- Walked the shedrow Tuesday at Belmont Park after working 4f in 48 1/5.
Hall of Fame trainer P.G. Johnson explained his decision to put the 4yo son of Cryptoclearance in the Classic rather than the Mile.
"He's more of a mile and a quarter horse in my opinion, and to win a mile race you have to be lucky," he said. "To win a mile and a quarter race you just have to be the best horse. I'd rather not have to be lucky.
"I think the horse to beat in the Classic is Evening Attire, and he's a good horse."
The Mile is "more contentious," Johnson said, "because it doesn't allow for mistakes. He ran the second-fastest mile at Belmont Park this year but that was one turn and Arlington is two turns, and I don't want to get him jammed up. I think he's good enough to be a Classic contender."
War Emblem -- Trainer Bob Baffert left Santa Anita on Tuesday and was en route to Arlington Park, where he will greet his seven-horse Breeders' Cup contingent on Wednesday. Chief among these horses is War Emblem, the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Haskell winner who will try to secure Horse of the Year honors with a Classic victory on Saturday afternoon.
"He galloped about a mile and a half today with Larry Damore," said Baffert's assistant, Jim Barnes, from Santa Anita. "He's doing very well since his work over the weekend. We just hope he runs his race."
War Emblem and his stablemates will take the 40-minute van ride from Santa Anita to Ontario, Calif. to catch a flight at 4 a.m. Pacific time on Wednesday.
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Monday, October 21, 2002
Contact: Notes Team (847) 385-7472/7473

$4 million Breeders' Cup Classic (GI)
World Thoroughbred Championships
Three-Year-Olds and Up
1¼ Miles
Came Home -- The 3yo colt galloped about 1 ½ miles at Santa Anita. "He will work Tuesday, three-eighths or one-half," said trainer Paco Gonzalez. "He will fly out Wednesday. The groom, Israel Garcia, and I will accompany the horse."
Came Home will make his first start since winning the Pacific Classic at Del Mar Aug. 26. "He's doing very good," said Gonzalez. "I just hope it doesn't rain. I've come to Arlington twice before, and it rained both times and my horse didn't handle the soggy turf." Mike Smith will ride the son of Gone West in the Classic.
Dollar Bill -- The hard-luck horse of the 2001 Triple Crown walked the shedrow of trainer Dallas Stewart's Churchill Downs base on Monday, one day after working a half-mile in 50 1/5 over a sloppy track. The 4yo Peaks and Valleys colt, who most recently finished second in the Kentucky Cup Classic on Sept. 14, is scheduled to arrive at Arlington Park Tuesday evening by van from Louisville.
"It was a good work," said Stewart. "We're ready."
Hall of Fame rider Pat Day will have the mount on Saturday.
E Dubai -- Godolphin Racing's E Dubai galloped 1 ¼ miles under exercise rider Laurang Barian at Belmont Park. The Suburban winner is scheduled to work 6f at Belmont Park on Tuesday morning and then ship to Arlington Park on Thursday according to assistant trainer Tom Albertrani. Jorge Chavez is scheduled to ride E Dubai in the Classic.
Evening Attire -- Trainer Pat Kelly sent the 4yo son of 1991 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Black Tie Affair out for his final serious work for the Classic today, going 5f in 1:02, breezing on Arlington's fast main track. Dan Vogt, who first worked for Kelly's father, Hall of Fame trainer Tommy "T.J." Kelly, was aboard for the work.
The entire Kelly family is having a ball with Evening Attire, who is co-owned by T.J. Kelly and Joseph and Mary Grant and previously trained by Pat's brother, Tim, but no one is having as much fun as Pat. The eldest of T.J.'s children, he has been around horses all of his life and was his father's driver when T.J. was known as "Turnpike Tom," driving through New York and the Mid-Atlantic states to run his horses.
"We figured out one day that we saddled horses in three states one day," Pat Kelly said. "We were at Delaware Park, then saddled one in Jersey and wound up in New York."
Pat even has memories of Chicago.
"I was here at Arlington back in 1955 when they had the match race with Swaps and Nashua," Pat Kelly said. "We saw a film of that race, and my father swears that you can see us at the half-mile pole. The top of my head wasn't even up to the rail."
As to the competition in the Classic, Kelly has respect for all who will go to post.
"I'm scared to death of the Europeans," he said. "They've been firing bullets the last few years. They are good horsemen and they are training good horses. I have a lot of respect for them. Last year, they almost pulled off winning the two biggest races by doing something unorthodox.
"I also have a lot of respect for the 3-year-olds. Some of them have a lot of speed. But you can only do what you can with your own horse. After the Hopeful in 2000, Evening Attire had knee surgery and was later castrated. Timmy decided to go to work for NYRA (New York Racing Association as an official) in the meantime, and Evening Attire went to a farm in Ocala.
"I got him right before Saratoga in June, and we thought he was a good horse. He faced some pretty nice horses as a two-year-old, and when I got him, he hooked Orientate in his first start back. "Last fall, we tried him on the turf with blinkers and then we went to the main track. I really think that the added distance and the two turns turned him around. Gelding him may have had an effect, but he wasn't cut because he was a rogue. He was cut because he was a ridgling with one, undescended testicle. Sometimes, that can be a painful condition, so we gelded him."
The turnaround was immediate. Evening Attire, at better than 65-1, won Aqueduct's Discovery Handicap by a length over Street Cry. In the ensuing year, he would go on to win a graded stakes race at every NYRA dirt track: Aqueduct's main and inner track, Saratoga and Belmont Park.
"We tried him in the Discovery hoping to get a piece of it, and we wound up with the whole enchilada," Kelly said. "I wish the Breeders' Cup was in New York this year, but we missed it by a year."
Vogt, who remembers working Plugged Nickel for T.J. Kelly between races in preparation for the Remsen, is confident that Evening Attire will put in a strong showing on Saturday.
"He keeps training good," Vogt said. "If he runs his race, he will be knockin' on the door."
In the Classic, Shaun Bridgmohan will ride Evening Attire, who took over as his jockey last September. In 10 starts with Bridgmohan, Evening Attire has won six races, including the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park, with two seconds and two fourths.
Harlan's Holiday -- The 3yo son of Harlan walked the shedrow in his home barn in Belmont Park Monday after working 6f in 1:13 1/5 Sunday. He'll gallop Tuesday and Wednesday at Belmont before being put on a flight to Chicago. Trainer Todd Pletcher said he'd arrive separately Wednesday night; assistant trainer Judy Elias, who will double as exercise rider, will travel with the colt. His groom is Martin Estrada.
John Velazquez has the mount Saturday.
Hawk Wing -- The Aidan O'Brien-trained 3yo by Woodman is due in Tuesday evening with the rest of the strong Coolmore contingent. Hawk Wing will be making his first start on dirt if he goes in the Classic. He was second in his most recent outing, the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on Sept. 28. The Coolmore horses are expected to arrive at Arlington Park at about 5 p.m.
The son of Woodman is also pre-entered in the NetJets Mile.
Macho Uno -- Stronach Stable's 2000 Breeders' Cup Juvenile hero Macho Uno worked 3f in company in 40 1/5 under exercise rider Tim McCanick at Arlington Park over a fast track Monday morning.
"I wanted him to go in 15-15-15," trainer Joe Orseno said. "We had the walkie-talkies going and after I saw the first eighth in 13 and 4, I told Tim to sit still. That was good. He's (Macho Uno) happy and he's got a good bottom under him now."
Macho Uno has been at Arlington since Sept. 18. Orseno plans to take Macho Uno to the paddock Tuesday morning.
"We did that last week after he worked a mile," Orseno said of Macho Uno, who on Saturday will become the only Juvenile winner to compete in two Classics.
Previous Juvenile winners to compete in Classics were Chief's Crown, Rhythm and Fly So Free.
Gary Stevens, who has piloted Macho Uno in six of his past eight starts, will ride Saturday.
Medaglia d'Oro/Milwaukee Brew -- Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel worked each of his seven Breeders' Cup participants Monday, including millionaires Medaglia d'Oro and Milwaukee Brew.
Both Medaglia d'Oro and Milwaukee Brew worked 5f at Belmont Park in advance of the Classic. Medaglia d'Oro covered the distance in 1:01 4/5, while Milwaukee Brew went a tick faster in 1:01 3/5.
"I worked all of them and they went great," Frankel said. "It was just what I was looking for. No one looked better than the other because they all went perfect.
"After the workouts, we got them ready for the plane and they should get [to Chicago] around 2 o'clock. I'll be in town this afternoon, too."
Frankel, who won his first Breeders' Cup race last year in the Sprint with Squirtle Squirt, will ride Jerry Bailey on Medaglia d'Oro and Edgar Prado on Milwaukee Brew. Prado replaces Kent Desormeaux.
Frankel has started nine horses in the Classic. Bertrando, second to longshot Arcangues in 1993, was his best finish.
Momentum -- The 4-year-old son of Nureyev has been declared out of Saturday's Breeders' Cup Classic because of a soft-tissue injury discovered late last week.
Perfect Drift -- The Lane's End Spiral Stakes winner and Kentucky Derby third-place finisher galloped 1½ miles at Churchill Downs' Trackside on Monday and is scheduled to have his final work Tuesday. Trainer Murray Johnson said he is "watching the weather" before he decides whether to ship (by van) on Wednesday or Thursday.
Perfect Drift, to be ridden by Robby Albarado for the first time in the Classic, had his work postponed from Saturday because of a minor foot bruise.
"He's perfect, no problems." said Johnson. "He looks great. So far so good."
Rock of Gibraltar -- See Mile
Volponi -- The 4yo son of Cryptoclearance worked 4f in 48 1/5 on the training track at Belmont Park Monday, and P.G. Johnson was satisfied with the move.
The colt will walk Tuesday at Belmont and gallop there Wednesday before joining a planeload of Breeders' Cup horses flying to Chicago. Johnson, suffering from a bad case of laryngitis, said Volponi will visit the paddock and jog at Arlington Thursday and then gallop Friday.
War Emblem -- The Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Haskell winner could write a storybook ending to his 3-year-old season with a victory in Saturday's Classic.
All he needs is a lead.
"War Emblem is going to go to the lead," trainer Bob Baffert said from Santa Anita this morning. "I'm going to tell Victor (Espinoza, jockey) not to worry about rating. Just get him out there and let him take you as far as he can."
The Classic will be War Emblem's first start of the fall. He has not raced since a sixth-place finish behind Came Home in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 25. Although he failed to become racing's 12th Triple Crown winner when he ran eighth to 70-1 longshot Sarava in the Belmont Stakes, War Emblem could clinch Horse of the Year honors with a Classic victory.
War Emblem had a strong 7f work 1:24 2/5 on Saturday, and this morning, galloped and schooled in the gate. He and the rest of Baffert's Breeders' Cup entourage - Atlantic Ocean, Bull Market, Composure, Kafwain, Santa Catarina and Vindication - are scheduled to arrive at Arlington Park on Wednesday.
Baffert said that he would be leaving for Arlington on Tuesday morning.
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