Two days of racing at Keeneland translated to two Grade 1 wins with juveniles for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Eclipse Thoroughbreds Partners.

After winning the opening-day Darley Alcibiades Stakes Oct. 6 with Candied, these connections struck again Oct. 7 in taking the $600,000 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity with Locked, who defeated a stubborn rival in The Wine Steward. Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners owns Locked, a Gun Runner colt, with Gary Broad’s Walmac Farm.

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The Pletcher pair have something else in common: an automatic, paid berth into Breeders’ Cup races, with their Keeneland triumphs coming in designated Breeders’ Cup Challenge events. Candied qualified for the NetJets Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, Locked for the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. The two races at Nov. 3 at Santa Anita Park.

Aron Wellman, founder and president of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, marveled at the partnership buying about 15 yearlings annually at the sales and having “two of them show up on Keeneland’s Fall Stars Weekend in the two marquee Grade 1 races for 2-year-olds and have them both win [and earn] automatic berths to the Breeders Cup.”

“Candied is worth a fortune now. This horse probably just punched himself a ticket to a stallion barn somewhere. It’s just wild.”

Just as Candied came off the pace before rallying wide in notching her victory, so did Locked. Seventh and then sixth in the early going of the two-turn, 1 1/16-mile race, as longshots Baytown Chatterbox and Just Steel set the pace through quarter-mile fractions of :24.47, :48.23, and 1:13.37, Locked kicked into gear on the second turn. Swooping up four wide under jockey Jose Ortiz, he took the lead in early stretch and appeared to lose focus upon making the lead.

He lightly bumped with The Wine Steward, who had surged from a stalking position to be head and head with Locked entering the stretch. But the contact seemed to bring about renewed determination from Locked, who was up by a head with a furlong to run and by a half-length at the finish line.

“You like to think it moves them forward,” Pletcher said of the experience. “He was hung out very wide on both turns. He didn’t have a real easy trip, but he’s talented enough to overcome it.”

He was timed on a fast track in 1:45.06, his time slower than Candied’s clocking of 1:44.17 from the preceding day.

Locked, who improved to 2-for-3, paid $3.52 to win as the favorite. He had previously won a mile maiden race at Saratoga Race Course in fast time Sept. 1 after a debut third at six furlongs there Aug. 5.

“He’s a colt that we always felt like the farther, the better,” Pletcher said. “He kind of got a little bit of two-turn experience in that sort-of two-turn mile race at Saratoga, which is always a difficult race. But I thought he was super-impressive at Saratoga, and he’s just been a colt that’s done everything right since Day 1.”

The stakes-debuting Generous Tipper, trained by Ken McPeek, rallied from last to be third, 3 3/4 lengths behind the runner-up, pleasing his rider, Brian J. Hernandez Jr.

Mike Maker, trainer of the previously unbeaten The Wine Steward, said he plans to discuss with owners Peter Proscia of Paradise Farms and David Staudacher whether to run the Vino Rosso  colt in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, but that his initial feeling was to pursue the $2 million race.

Pletcher, who also captured the Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes later on the Keeneland card with older horse Up to the Mark, won the Breeders Futurity for the second straight year after striking with eventual champion Forte last year. Pletcher has four overall wins in the race.

Six horses have pulled off the Breeders’ Futurity-Breeders’ Cup Juvenile double: Tasso (1985), Boston Harbor (1996), Favorite Trick (1997), Classic Empire (2016), Essential Quality (2020) and Forte.

Up to the Mark Holds Off Master of The Seas By a Nose in Turf Mile

In an afternoon of tight finishes, Up to the Mark and Master of The Seas treated the Keeneland crowd to one final encore performance in the final stakes race of the day in the $1 million Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes.

Up to the Mark’s razor-thin victory over the European invader gave trainer Todd Pletcher the rare feat of capturing two of the Keeneland fall meet’s biggest prizes in back-to-back years, as Locked had scored in the Breeders’ Futurity one race earlier to give the trainer a second straight win in that race as well. He won the Turf Mile in 2022 with Annapolis.

In the 2023 Turf Mile, the two favorites raced nearly next to each other for much of the journey, with the Godolphin homebred Master of The Seas, fresh off a rousing triumph in the Ricoh Woodbine Mile Stakes, getting the jump on Up to the Mark into the stretch. Up to the Mark’s powerful closing punch had carried him to back-to-back Grade 1 wins in the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic Stakes and Resorts World Casino Manhattan Stakes earlier in the year, but it was uncertain if the rangy bay would feel the effects of a four-month layoff in the final drive for the finish line.

Up to the Mark winning a thriller. (Eclipse Sportswire)

The answer would reveal itself with each step as jockey Jose Ortiz was able to get Up to the Mark in the clear in deep stretch. The colt secured the photo by a nose. 

“I knew it was super tight; I knew we had the momentum and I thought we got the surge,” Pletcher said. “And I saw Jose [Ortiz] wave his whip like he got the surge, but I wanted to wait until they ran the numbers first. He put in an exceptional late run and was able to get there in time.

“It takes a talented horse to do that coming off the layoff. He hadn’t run since June and he just defeated a deep field of Grade 1 horses today.”

Ortiz was confident he had gotten there at the finish.

“At the eighth pole, I knew I had a lot of horse, and when I finally got clear, he gave me a good kick, so I was very confident I got a shot, and I’m glad we got there first,” Ortiz said.

The jockey also notched a Grade 1 double Saturday, guiding Locked to victory earlier in the Breeders’ Futurity.

“It’s an amazing day. Winning two Grade 1s in the same day isn’t easy,” Ortiz said. “I’m just thankful to the owners and the opportunities Todd gave me to ride his horses.”

Up to the Mark returned $6.58 as the second choice behind Master of The Seas. He was timed in 1:34.18 for the mile on a firm course.

Even though Up to the Mark, a $450,000 purchase for owners Repole Stables and St. Elias Stables, was cutting back to a mile after a pair of longer races, Pletcher said, “I wasn’t worried about the distance. I was worried about if he was ready enough to run to his capabilities off the layoff.”

Up to the Mark’s versatility could play into his favor come Breeders’ Cup time. Although the Turf Mile was a “Win and You’re In” event for the $2 million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile Presented by PDJF, Pletcher said the $4 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf at 1 1/2 miles also is a viable option. Both races are Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park.

Master of The Seas could also be Breeders’ Cup bound following his gallant runner-up effort. Trainer Charlie Appleby reported that the Godolphin color bearer would be taken “back home” and evaluated before their team makes a final decision. The Dubawi gelding earned his ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Mile with his Breeders’ Cup Challenge win in the Woodbine Mile.

“He was beaten by a good horse,” Appleby said. “We thought [Up to the Mark’s] lack of fitness would give us the edge there, but he nosed us on the line.”—Molly Rollins

Yuugiri Gives Connections Reason to Celebrate in TCA Stakes

Yuugiri, inside, edged Wicked Halo in TCA Stakes. (Eclipse Sportswire)

In his seven years of training, Rodolphe Brisset may have landed his first-ever Breeders’ Cup starter after Yuugiri’s thrilling victory in the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes.

Yuugiri, a starter in last year’s Longines Kentucky Oaks and a Grade 3 winner around two turns, this year has thrived as a sprinter, picking up three stakes contests at the six-furlong distance. Saturday’s win, however, puts Yuugiri in a different league as she potentially heads to the Breeders’ Cup in one of the country’s most competitive divisions — female sprinters. The $350,000 Thoroughbred Club of America was a “Win and You’re In” race for the $1 million PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint Nov. 4.

The Shackleford filly found just enough Saturday, as she was collared in the stretch before fighting back to snatch glory by the slimmest of noses over multiple Grade 2 winner Wicked Halo.

“I felt like I rode her, too,” Brisset remarked after the race. “Wicked Halo went by us pretty easily and we would have no shame to be second, but at the eighth pole [Yuugiri] just kept digging and trying and we all carried her to the wire. She’s tough and always shows up for us. She’s a millionaire now.”

Pressing swift early fractions under jockey Flavien Prat, Yuugiri stuck her head in front at the half-mile and maintained a narrow advantage before Wicked Halo swept by her down the lane. Yuugiri wasn’t done yet though, and reaching for more, she fired back along the inside fence, battling stride for stride with Wicked Halo to the finish line.

Yuugiri ($5.76) won the photo with an official “nose” margin. She ran the six furlongs on a fast track in 1:10.44. Last Leaf was a distant third, five lengths behind the top two.

“She has a big heart and followed it to the wire and got her nose down,” Brisset said. “This one is sweet, you know? It’s my first stakes [win] at Keeneland. It feels good. We’re home here; we love Keeneland. To be able to win one like this here, it means the world.”—Molly Rollins

Gina Romantica Leads Home Brant, Brown 1-2 Finish in First Lady

Gina Romantica edged stablemate In Italian, near. (Eclipse Sportswire)

That owner Peter Brant and trainer Chad Brown captured the First Lady Stakes Presented by UK HealthCare for a second year in a row did not surprise the betting public, but the filly they did it with this year supplied a bit of a jolt.

In fact, the Brant-Brown team finished 1-2 in the one-mile turf test for fillies and mares at Keeneland as 2-5 favorite In Italian carried her usual front-running speed into deep stretch before stablemate Gina Romantica surged past her late to win by a head.

The strong finish by Gina Romantica landed the 4-year-old daughter of multiple leading sire Into Mischief her first Grade 1 win against older rivals, as she previously scored at Keeneland against her own age group in last year’s Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes. Gina Romantica completed the mile on firm turf in 1:33.70.

The stretch rally by her stablemate denied favored In Italian, a 5-year-old daughter of Dubawi, her second straight win in the First Lady. In Italian followed that 2022 First Lady effort with a runner-up finish to Tuesday in the Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Keeneland.

Brown’s other runner, Juddmonte’s Whitebeam, ran fourth. Grade 2 winner Evvie Jets, racing for The Estate of Robert J. Amendola, landed third in her Grade 1 debut.—Frank Angst