Hopeful Stakes (G1) winner Forte , who had been expected to lead the Oct. 1 Champagne Stakes (G1) at Aqueduct Racetrack before being removed from consideration shortly before entries were taken last week, redirects into the $600,000 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) Oct. 8 at Keeneland.
While he may still be the favorite in Saturday's 1 1/16-mile race, he won't be as short of a price as he would have been this past Saturday in the Champagne, when only six horses went to post, none of them existing graded stakes winners. In the Breeders' Futurity, a full field of 13 rivals are lined up to face Forte, and another two are on the also-eligible list, hoping to gain a starting opportunity with a scratch.
Horsemen are keen to give their horses a start at the track and over the distance of the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1) Nov. 4 at Keeneland. The Breeders' Futurity is a "Win and You're In" Breeders' Cup qualifier for the race.
None of Forte's foes are as accomplished as the Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable-owned Violence colt, but many have shown promise in limited action. Those foes include last-out maiden or allowance optional claiming winners Frosted Departure, Loggins , Instant Coffee, Funtastic Again, Red Route One, Good Heart, and Powerful.
Two others in the Breeders' Futurity are stakes winners, Two Phil's and Lost Ark. The latter is Forte's stablemate, a colt Pletcher has long pointed to the race.
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Harrell Ventures' Lost Ark seems a commanding presence, having pushed his record to 2-for-2 with a 7 1/2-length victory in the one-mile Sapling Stakes Aug. 27 at Monmouth Park.
"Lost Ark has always trained forwardly and should continue to improve stretching out," Pletcher informed Keeneland publicity via text. "We went to the Sapling to get a two-turn race."
Also by Violence, he is out of the A.P. Indy mare Marion Ravenwood, making him a half-brother to Nest, winner of the Central Bank Ashland Stakes (G1) over the 1 1/16-mile trip at Keeneland this spring. After runner-up finishes in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), Nest would later take the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) and Alabama Stakes (G1).
Forte, out of the multiple stakes-winning turf router Queen Caroline (Blame ), had his Hopeful form validated when Blazing Sevens, a distant third to him, returned to win the Champagne.
The Saratoga main track was sloppy for the Hopeful. Keeneland's main track should be fast with clear, brisk fall weather forecast in Kentucky Saturday.
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Irad Ortiz Jr., who before riding Forte to win the Hopeful also was aboard the colt for fourth in the Sanford and a debut maiden win (each on a fast surface), is back up.
Flavien Prat, who guided Lost Ark to a maiden victory before Javier Castellano rode him to victory in the Sapling, has been given the Breeders' Futurity riding assignment by Pletcher, a two-time Breeders' Futurity winner.
Kenny McPeek also trains a pair in the race in Frosted Departure (Frosted ) and Honed (Sharp Azteca).
McPeek's juveniles often shine in routes during the fall. He has won the Breeders' Futurity three times, including last year with Rattle N Roll.
"We're pretty good at stretching them out," said the trainer, who also runs two fillies in the Oct. 7 Darley Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland. "I tend not to sprint many, and when they stretch out, they tend to thrive for us. I really like running younger horses longer later in the season. I think the way we handle them, they do well the further they go. We buy a certain type at auction that wants a little more ground."
Frosted Departure is 2-for-4, having recorded his victories in a pair of races at seven furlongs. Honed won first out going a mile at Ellis Park and then was second in the Sept. 17 Iroquois Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs.
Along with Forte, two of the fastest in the Breeders' Futurity on speed figures are the Brad Cox-trained duo of Loggins and Instant Coffee.
Trainer Bob Baffert also has a pair entered in Newgate and Carmel Road, though the latter is an also-eligible, needing a defection to start. Newgate won first out before a fourth in the Runhappy Del Mar Futurity (G1). Carmel Road graduated from the maiden ranks second out when trying a mile at Del Mar.
With many of the juveniles stretching out from sprints and riders feeling a need to secure position, a fast pace could develop in the Breeders' Futurity. That might play to the stretch running of off-the-pace runners like Honed, Forte, and Lost Ark—provided they can work out a favorable trip clear of traffic.
The Breeders' Futurity, like other 1 1/16-mile races at Keeneland, begins and ends at what is typically the sixteenth pole.
Keeneland, Saturday, October 8, 2022, Race 9Entries: Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Frosted Departure (KY) Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 122 Kenneth G. McPeek 10/1 2 2Loggins (KY) Florent Geroux 122 Brad H. Cox 4/1 3 3Honed (KY) Julien R. Leparoux 122 Kenneth G. McPeek 12/1 4 4Confidence Game (KY) James Graham 122 J. Keith Desormeaux 50/1 5 5Instant Coffee (KY) Luis Saez 122 Brad H. Cox 5/1 6 6Bourbon Bash (KY) Rafael Bejarano 122 D. Wayne Lukas 20/1 7 7Forte (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 122 Todd A. Pletcher 3/1 8 8Newgate (KY) John R. Velazquez 122 Bob Baffert 20/1 9 9Funtastic Again (KY) Joel Rosario 122 Wesley A. Ward 15/1 10 10Lost Ark (KY) Flavien Prat 122 Todd A. Pletcher 6/1 11 11Red Route One (KY) Ricardo Santana, Jr. 122 Steven M. Asmussen 20/1 12 12Good Heart (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 122 Brendan P. Walsh 20/1 13 13Two Phil's (KY) Jareth Loveberry 122 Larry Rivelli 30/1 14 14Powerful (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 122 Steven M. Asmussen 20/1 15 15Carmel Road (KY) Luis Saez 122 Bob Baffert 5/1 16 16Jin Tong (KY) Paco Lopez 122 Doug F. O'Neill 50/1
