Ninth in last year's Classic, Vision and Verse won an allowance race at Churchill Downs in May, then finished fourth in the Massachusetts Handicap and was eighth in the Meadowlands Cup on his return in October. "I think I would rather have a fresh horse," Mott said. Vision and Verse, owned by Bruce Lunsford and Yoshiyuki Ito, galloped 1 1/2 miles at Churchill Downs on Monday and is scheduled to breeze five furlongs Tuesday morning before the renovation break. Herberto Castillo Jr. has the mount.
Guided Tour-Guided Tour worked five furlongs Monday morning at Churchill Downs in 1:01 3/5 and had trainer Niall O'Callaghan smiling broadly. Regular rider Larry Melancon was in the irons for the work, and will ride Saturday. "It was just what we wanted," O'Callaghan said following the work after the track-renovation break. Melancon was similarly impressed, saying: "He breezed real good, and that's a lot for him, because he's not a great work horse." Guided Tour, who was first on the preference list, will move into the body of the race with North East Coast expected to run in the Breeders' Cup Mile.Jadada-Trainer Mitch Shirota continued to hold out hope that Jadada, who is on the preference list for the Breeders' Cup Classic, might still make the field for the race. In the meantime, the 4-year-old son of Jade Hunter galloped two miles over the Churchill Downs oval on Monday. Francisco Torres will ride if the horse gets into Saturday's race. If he doesn't make it into the Classic, Jadada will run in Sunday's River City Handicap at Churchill Downs, according to Shirota.Lemon Drop Kid-Trainer "Scotty" Schulhofer sent Lemon Drop Kid through a two-mile gallop Monday morning at Churchill Downs and continued to predict big things for his 4-year-old colt in the Breeders' Cup Classic. Schulhofer continued to advise onlookers about Lemon Drop Kid's difficulties in the Oct. 14 Jockey Club Gold Cup, in which he ran fifth as the odds-on favorite. "He was bumped at the start, had to be steadied and was herded by Jerry Bailey [who rode Behrens]," Schulhofer said. "This horse is doing great. I can throw out that last race entirely. People keep talking about Drysdale's horse [Fusaichi Pegasus], but I don't see it. The other horse [Albert The Great], I'd like to have all the money they bet on him. I think you can get a good price on my horse and I think he'll run well."North East Bound-See Breeders' Cup Mile Report Pine Dance-Pine Dance, a 3-year-old colt by Pine Bluff who will go into the Classic off just seven days rest, got a feel for the Churchill Downs strip Monday morning, jogging the wrong way, then cantering once around the oval. Bobby Dolan, assistant to trainer Dermot Weld, was aboard for the light exercise. "He doesn't need much," Dolan said. "He's dead fit right now and he came out of his last race in good shape." Pine Dance, who raced in Ireland earlier this year, came to the U.S. in July and has four American starts. He won the American Derby at Arlington, then took the Pennsylvania Derby at Philadelphia Park. His most recent start came Friday night (Oct. 27) at The Meadowlands, when he was third behind Kiss a Native in the Pegasus Stakes.Tiznow- The 3-year-old colt was flown from California to Kentucky on Monday. He worked six furlongs before the first race Friday at Santa Anita under regular rider Chris McCarron to the satisfaction of trainer Jay Robbins. Winner of the Super Derby and Goodwood Handicap at Santa Anita in his last two starts, Tiznow is a full brother to 1999 Classic runner-up Budroyale. Vision and Verse-Even with only four starts this year, the big question is not whether Vision and Verse has had enough racing, said trainer Bill Mott. "The big question is if he's good enough," said Mott of the 4-year-old son of Storm Cat, third in The Jockey Club Gold Cup in his last start. "He's been back two races, and he's coming off a good race. He's still fresh and he acts like he wants to keep doing it. If you over-race them, they get tired mentally."
