Ken and Sarah Ramsey's homebred Bobby's Kitten will be a formidable foe in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (gr. IT) off his last two starts and after drawing post 5. He was made the 5-2 morning line favorite. Thirteen 2-year-olds will go postward in tne one-mile race that will be run as the second Breeders' Cup race on the Nov. 1 card at Santa Anita Park.
The son of the Ramsey's Kitten's Joy , Bobby's Kitten wired a maiden special weight field at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 24, then blew open the Pilgrim Stakes (gr. IIIT) Oct. 6 at Belmont Park with an explosive move turning for home to win by 6 1/4 lengths. Javier Castellano has the call.
Paul Viskovich's Aotearoa, a surprising 13-1 winner of the one-mile Zuma Beach Stakes on the local turf Oct. 6 seems to be moving in the right direction. A Cal-bred gelding by the good turf runner Good Journey, Aotearoa topped the pace-setting Diamond Bachelor (Juvenile) by three-quarters of a length with Got Shades back in third. Aotearao will be ridden by Corey Nakatani and will break from post seven. Dennis Foster's Got Shades proved best in a pair of turf stakes at Louisiana Downs this summer and may move forward off his first trip around the Santa Anita turf course. Got Shades drew post 3 and will be ridden by Gary Stevens.
Europeans have won four of the six runnings of the Juvenile Turf, with trainer Aidan O'Brien taking the last pair with Coolmore runners Wrote and George Vancouver.
O'Brien has a pair for the Juvenile Turf in group I-placed Giovanni Boldini (War Front ) and Wilshire Boulevard, who has already made seven starts this season. Both of Giovanni Boldini's wins have come on synthetic surfaces at Dundalk. His lone turf run was a third-place effort in the Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes (Ire-I) at seven furlongs. Giovanni Boldini will have Ryan Moore up and will break from post 2. Wilshire Boulevard drew post 9 and will be ridden by William Buick.
Giovanni Boldini was installed as the 7-2 second choice for the Juvenile Turf; Wilshire Boulevard is listed at 8-1.
Holding the best form of the bunch is Godolphin's Outstrip, a two-time winner from four starts, who will break next to Bobby's Kitten in post 4. A Darley homebred by Exceed And Excel out of grade I winner Asi Siempre (by El Prado), Outstrip was beaten a neck by the highly regarded Toormore at Glorious Goodwood in the Veuve Clicquot Vintage Stakes (Eng-II) in late July, won the At The Races Champagne Stakes (Eng-II) in mid-September, then was third behind the leading 2-year-old War Command in the Dubai Dewhurst Stakes (Eng-I) Oct. 12 on Future Champions Day at Newmarket. He was made the 4-1 third choice on the morning line.
Trainer Charlie Appleby, a new conditioner for Godolphin, took over duties for Outstrip in late July.
Bashart, winner of the With Anticipation Stakes (gr. IIT) at Saratoga and second to Poker Player in the Bourbon Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Keeneland, breaks from the outside 13 post. Rosedown Racing's homebred son of War Front is a 6-1 chance under Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez. Gary and Mary West's Poker Player will break from post 11 and is 12-1 on the morning line.
The Juvenile Turf will be the second Breeders' Cup race on the Nov. 1 card with a post time of 2:25 p.m. PDT.
| Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (gr. IT) Nov 1 2:25 PM PT | ||||
| Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Odds |
| 1 | All Cash | Luis Saez | D. Wayne Lukas | 30-1 |
| 2 | Giovanni Boldini | Ryan Moore | Aidan P. O'Brien | 7-2 |
| 3 | Got Shades | Gary Stevens | Danny Pish | 30-1 |
| 4 | Outstrip | Mike Smith | Charlie Appleby | 4-1 |
| 5 | Bobby's Kitten | Javier Castellano | Chad C. Brown | 5-2 |
| 6 | Home School | Rafael Bejarano | Doug F. O'Neill | 30-1 |
| 7 | Aotearoa | Corey Nakatani | Leonard Powell | 12-1 |
| 8 | Bon Accord | Joel Rosario | Antonio Sano | 20-1 |
| 9 | Wilshire Boulevard | William Buick | Aidan P. O'Brien | 8-1 |
| 10 | Ontology | Mario Gutierrez | Simon Callaghan | 30-1 |
| 11 | Poker Player | Channing Hill | Wayne M. Catalano | 12-1 |
| 12 | Shamshon | Richard Hughes | Richard Hannon | 12-1 |
| 13 | Bashart | John Velazquez | Todd A. Pletcher | 6-1 |
Ontology works at Santa Anita for the Breeders' Cup:
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