Dutrow pair head to Santa Anita

Kip Deville will try to join a select group of two-time Mile winners (Pat Lang Photo/Keeneland Association) Defending Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) champ KIP DEVILLE (Kipling) boarded a van that left Aqueduct around 6 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday. His flight to California departed at approximately 9 a.m. “No problems whatsoever,” said trainer Rick Dutrow Jr., who already owns three Breeders’ Cup victories. “The hardest part of my job with Kip at this point is figuring how much money I’m going to bet on him to win. I’m counting my money right now.” Kip Deville will be attempting to join Miesque (1987-88), Lure (1992-93) and Da Hoss (1996, 1998) as a two-time winner of the Mile. He enters the Mile off a less-than-stellar performance, however, having finished a well-beaten fifth in last month’s Woodbine Mile (Can-G1) as the heavy favorite. Dutrow says the Woodbine Mile will not have any bearing on Kip Deville’s performance this Saturday.

“We went over him a bunch of times after the Woodbine race and couldn’t find
anything wrong with him,” Dutrow said. “The only thing I can say is I guess he
didn’t like the turf course. Even if he had won that race I don’t think we would
have trained him any differently going into the Breeders’ Cup.”

Regular rider Cornelio Velasquez has the mount.

Dutrow had originally planned to fly to California later in the week, but
“after seeing Kip and (Turf Sprint entrant) SALUTE THE COUNT (Count the Time)
leave (Aqueduct) this morning, I gotta be with my horses. They both look
unbelievable. I belong with them, babe.”

Salute the Count was hampered by a brief hind leg filling Monday, and Dutrow flirted with
the idea of withdrawing the eight-year-old from the Turf Sprint.

“We’re going in,” Dutrow said. “The filling is gone. We walked him for an
hour yesterday morning, hosed him down and then walked him for another hour and
hosed him down again in the afternoon. Everything looked perfect this morning
and we put him on the van.”

Salute the Count was to have worked Monday morning at Aqueduct, but Dutrow
scrapped those plans because of the filling. Now, Dutrow says Salute the Count
will breeze “a basic three-eighths” Thursday at Santa Anita.

In other Breeders’ Cup news:

Despite dealing with a small quarter crack, trainer Bobby Frankel reported
Tuesday morning that his charge MAST TRACK (Mizzen Mast), who it appeared would
run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) and likely be the pacesetter in the 1
1/4-mile race, instead was entered in the Dirt Mile this morning.

“The quarter crack is in his right front, on the outside,” the Hall of Fame
conditioner noted. “It’s a small one; you could even say it is tiny. My
blacksmith wanted to put a patch on it, but I told him I didn’t think it was
that bad. I think it’s going to bust out through his coronet band. By the time
we get to the race, I think we’ll have it all cleaned up.”

Tuesday morning Mast Track went to the track and galloped 1 1/4 miles, coming
off the track at 6:45 (PDT) dancing and feeling full of himself.

“He doesn’t know he’s got a quarter crack,” stated Frankel, nodding toward
the horse that he owns, trains and bred. “If you push on it, he knows, but
otherwise he could care less. I’m going to train him like he doesn’t have one
and bring him up to the race right.

“It’s a better spot for him; he fits better there,” Frankel said of the
change to the Dirt Mile from the Classic. “And the (entry) money is a whole lot
less. The money is a factor, absolutely.”

As owner, Frankel saved himself $100,000 in fees by switching races.
Pre-entry and entry fees for eligible horses for the Classic come to $125,000.
Those fees amount to $25,000 for the Dirt Mile.

Tyler Baze has the call on Mast Track. The pair combined to win the Hollywood
Gold Cup (G1) in June.

Pyro has been re-routed to the Dirt Mile (Mathea Kelley/Horsephotos.com) Another who called an audible Tuesday was trainer Steve Asmussen, who said that after “further deliberation,” it has been decided to run his Grade 2 winner PYRO (Pulpit) in the Dirt Mile rather than the Classic (G1). It was reported on Monday that he would run in the Classic, giving Asmussen three starters in the race. “I am still concerned with how fast the racetrack has been playing,” Asmussen said. “Will he have time to catch anybody going a mile? That’s the concern. But things change day to day, and we’ll see how the track itself comes up in front of him.” Juvenile Fillies (G1) candidate DOREMIFASOLLATIDO (Bernstein) schooled in the starting gate and galloped over Santa Anita’s main track Tuesday. “Her gallop was in two parts because she galloped to the gate and galloped after she schooled,” said trainer Jimmy Jerkens, a two-time winner in the Breeders’ Cup. “She was very well behaved. She seems to like the track.”

Doremifasollatido, winner of last month’s Matron S. (G2) at Belmont Park, has
yet to race beyond seven furlongs and around two turns. She has, however,
competed like a seasoned pro, running inside of horses, outside of horses, on
the lead and from off the pace. Overall she is 2-2-0 from four starts.

“She’s gritty that’s for sure,” Jerkens said. “You don’t get too many young
horses like her that run from anywhere, even when things are really crowded.”

SKIAPADATE (Skip Away) will wear blinkers for the first time when he makes
his fourth career start in Saturday’s Juvenile Turf.

Skipadate, who missed winning the Summer S. (Can-G3) at Woodbine by a head
last out, galloped 1 1/2 miles Tuesday morning and then schooled at the gate,
where he was granted approval to add the equipment for the race.

“We thought all along that he needed blinkers and now he’ll run in them,”
said Norman Casse, the assistant trainer to his father Mark Casse. “If you look
at his last two races, he missed by this much (about two inches). You’ve always
got to keep him honest. He can get a little lazy, so we think this will help
him.”

Skipadate also lost the With Anticipation S. at Saratoga by just a head in
August after winning his debut there.

The Breeders’ Cup announced Tuesday that they will recognize 2008 U.S.
Olympic Team and California natives on Friday at Santa Anita. Championship
Friday will feature the first ever all-female racing card. Olympians scheduled
to attend include basketball golf medalist Candace Parker; volleyball gold
medalist Misty May-Treanor; and softball silver medalists Jennie Finch and
Crystal Bustos.