Sweet Catomine, who also won the Del Mar Debutante (gr. I) this summer, and Blackdoun will both get their final pre-Breeders' Cup workouts next Sunday and most likely leave for Texas the next day. Canani's other Breeders' Cup hopeful, two-time Eddie Read Handicap (gr. IT) winner Special Ring, is scheduled to work over Santa Anita's main track Tuesday and also receive his final drill next Sunday.
Del Mar Derby (gr. IT) winner Blackdoun worked seven furlongs in 1:28 1/5 around the dogs over a Santa Anita turf course labeled "good" Monday morning under regular exercise rider Jose Dominguez after which time Canani gave owners Marsha Naify and Christina and Laurent Zilber the OK to supplement the gray 3-year-old to the NetJets Breeders' Cup Mile (gr. IT) and pre-enter."I got him in 1:28 and one with a 160 pound rider up," Canani said. "It was a super move."Blackdoun was originally scheduled to work Sunday, but turf works were cancelled due to the heavy rains that hit the Southern California area the night before. Canani credits Santa Anita's racing secretary, Rick Hammerle, with allowing Blackdoun, as well as a handful of other grass stakes-bound runners, with being able to work on the turf Monday and not lose valuable training time."With all the rain we got (Sunday) the turf course is in good shape," Canani said. "There's no divots or anything. (Hammerle) really helped out. Without him the horse would have missed a work. He arranged everything and called me this morning and said we could work. Now all we have to do is see how (Blackdoun) is in the morning."Blackdoun, who also won the La Jolla Handicap (gr. IIT) and Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar this summer, will be putting his undefeated North American record on the line in the World Thoroughbred Championships. From 14 lifetime starts, the French-bred son of Verglas has six wins, four seconds and two third-place finishes for earnings of $477,765.Canani also sent Mr. and Mrs. Marty Wygod's homebred Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) hopeful Sweet Catomine out for a work and the Oak Leaf Stakes (gr. I) winner went an easy five furlongs in 1:03 over Santa Anita's good main track, also under Dominguez. "It may have been too easy," Canani said. "But she went good. The track was in good shape; it's better when it has a lot of water in it."
