Auctions

Mar 12 Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. March Sale of 2YOs in Training 2024 HIPS
Mar 14 Tattersalls Cheltenham Festival March Sale 2024 HIPS
Mar 27 Tattersalls March Sale 2024 HIPS
Apr 3 Texas Thoroughbred Association 2YOs in Training Sale 2024 HIPS
Apr 16 Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. Spring Sale of 2YOs in Training 2024 HIPS
View All Auctions

Caravel to Stay Stateside, Pointed to Jaipur Stakes

Sights set on a return to the winner's circle in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

Caravel wins the Unbridled Sidney Stakes at Churchill Downs

Caravel wins the Unbridled Sidney Stakes at Churchill Downs

Mathea Kelley

Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) champion Caravel will contest the $400,000 Jaipur Stakes (G1T) on the Belmont Stakes undercard June 10. The six-furlong race is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series and offers the winner an automatic berth into this year's championship Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park.

Initially, her team planned on taking the mare overseas to compete in the prestigious Royal Ascot meet, with their sights on the June 20 King's Stand Stakes (G1).

"We (trainer Brad Cox and myself) have been chatting with the owners the last couple of days and think to focus on a second Breeders' Cup with her," said Fergus Galvin, U.S. racing manager for Qatar Racing and Marc Detampel. "All of the shipping and staying over for quite a bit of time afterward just didn't fit in our wheelhouse. The Jaipur is coming up soon. It's a grade 1 worth almost as much as the King's Stand Stakes."

The 5-year-old Mizzen Mast mare debuted this year in the April 8 Shakertown Stakes (G2T) at Keeneland, winning for Qatar Racing, Detampel, and Madaket Stables. The Pennsylvania-bred followed up with another win, by 1 1/2 lengths, in the May 5 Unbridled Sidney Stakes at her base, Churchill Downs.

"She is doing really well right now, and Brad is pleased with her," Galvin said. "She is doing great; it's just a change of plans for where we are going."

Elizabeth Merryman bred and trained the mare out of Zeezee Zoomzoom. Caravel won four stakes on the East Coast, including the Goldwood, The Very One, Malvern Rose, and Lady Erie Stakes at 3 and 4. Merryman picked up a partner in Bobby Flay during the middle of her 2021 campaign, during which she captured the Caress Stakes (G3T) for Merryman. Caravel ran third in the Highlander Stakes (G1T) after switching to trainer Graham Motion.

She was sold later that year during the Fasig-Tipton November Sale to Galvin for $500,000 and transferred to Cox for owners Qatar Racing and Detampel. Caravel won on first asking for her new connections in the Queen Stakes in March 2022 and captured the Intercontinental Stakes (G3T) in June.

With Madaket Stables joining the team in May of 2022, Caravel continued her winning ways, adding the Smart N Fancy Stakes, Franklin Stakes (G3T), and capping off the year victorious in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T).