Congaree to Run in Cigar Mile; Frankel Horses Fine

Trainer Bob Baffert said Stonerside Stable's Congaree, who set the pace in the Breeders' Cup Classic – Powered by Dodge (gr. I) before finishing fourth, will make his next start in the Cigar Mile Handicap (gr. I) Nov. 29 at Aqueduct.

Referring to the early matchup between Congaree and Edmund A. Gann's Medaglia d'Oro, who held on for second, Baffert said "Those were two good horses going toe to toe. It just goes to show you the pace was wicked."

Baffert said Congaree and his three other Breeders' Cup runners came out of their races in good shape. Baffert said Victory U.S.A., third in the Juvenile Fillies (gr. I), might run in the Hollywood Starlet (gr. I) on Dec. 21. The trainer said Padua Stable's Class Above, seventh in the Juvenile Fillies, "was stressed or something...she might be coming down with something because she had a lot of brown mucus in her throat. That (performance) wasn't characteristic of her. He (jockey David Flores) said he had a lot of horse. He made t he move and all of a sudden it was like she hit a wall."

Another trainer with a large contingent of runners on Breeders' Cup Championship Day, Bobby Frankel, also had a favorable health report.

"It was a rough day yesterday, but that's racing," said Humberto Ascanio, assistant to Frankel, who was planning to leave for a delayed honeymoon to Barbados with his wife, Bonita. The two married Oct. 12.

Ascanio said all of the horses, including Juddmonte Farms Tates Creek, who was vanned off the track after the Fillies & Mare Turf (gr. IT). Ascanio said it is possible Tates Creek suffered heat stroke. "The good news is that all of the horses came back fine, including Tates Creek."

Despite no victories, the Frankel stable earned $1,006,220 Saturday from the following results: Juddmonte's Heat Haze, Michael Bello's Megahertz, and Tates Creek, fourth, fifth, and sixth in the Fillies & Mare Turf; Juddmonte's Sightseek, fourth in the Distaff – Presented by Nextel (gr. I); Flaxman Holding's Aldebaran and Edmund Gann's Midas Eyes, sixth and eighth, respectively, in the Sprint (gr. I); Edmund Gann's Peace Rules, 13th in the NetJets Mile (gr. IT).