NEWS
CLASSIC ANALYSIS (9/22):
Gio Ponti may target Breeders’ Cup Classic
Posted: Tuesday, September 22, 2009 9:42 AM
GIO PONTI
Adam Coglianese/NYRA photo
by Jeff Lowe
Arlington Million Stakes (G1) winner Gio Ponti may take aim at the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) following a start in either the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes (G1) on October 3 at Belmont Park or the Clement Hirsch L. Turf Championship Stakes (G1) on October 11 at Santa Anita Park.
Trainer Christophe Clement said on September 16 that he would favor the Classic for Gio Ponti, as opposed to the TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) or Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1).
Gio Ponti won the off-the-turf Sir Beaufort Stakes (G3) on the Pro-Ride surface on December 26 at Santa Anita, the site of this year's Breeders’ Cup. He notched his fourth consecutive Grade 1 victory on turf in the Arlington Million after scoring in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile Handicap (G1) at Santa Anita and Manhattan Handicap (G1) and Man o' War Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park. The Kilroe win came over eventual Woodbine Mile (Can-G1) winner Ventura.
Top European three-year-olds Mastercraftsman, Sea The Stars, and Rip Van Winkle also are candidates to switch surfaces for the Classic.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien is considering Mastercraftsman, winner of the Boylesports.com Irish Two Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1) and St. James's Palace Stakes (Eng-G1), for the Diamond Stakes (Ire-G3) on Polytrack at Dundalk on October 2 as a prep for the Classic on November 7 on Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride surface.
Sea The Stars is tentatively slated for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1), but his participation will be dependent on the turf condition at Longchamp. Trainer John Oxx insists that he will not start the Cape Cross (Ire) colt on soft ground, following five consecutive Group 1 wins, including classic triumphs in the Stanjames.com Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) and Investec Epsom Derby (Eng-G1).
The Breeders’ Cup Classic is the most likely alternative.
“I'd say that if he had to miss the Arc because of the weather, then we'd have to be giving the Breeders' Cup serious thought,” Oxx told England’s Guardian newspaper. “His owners have the view that it's either/or – that we can't be asking him for too much. We'll have to see how the Arc goes, how he comes out of it. Santa Anita is there as an option, but we have to thrash it out.”
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer
