Two horses outrun on the Breeders' Cup Future Stars Friday program—Repole Stable's Noted and Three Diamonds Farm's Buttercream Babe—return to action in ungraded stakes company Dec. 9 at Gulfstream Park. Noted heads the $100,000 Pulpit Stakes for 2-year-olds at 7 1/2 furlongs on turf, and Buttercream Babe competes earlier in the day in the $100,000 Wait a While Stakes, run over the same conditions for juvenile fillies.
Though neither defeated a horse when racing at Santa Anita Park Nov. 3—Noted was last of nine in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and Buttercream Babe trailed in the 14-horse Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T)—both figure to be major players with class drops and based on their prior form.
Noted, a gray/roan son of Cairo Prince trained by Hall of Famer trainer Todd Pletcher, returns to turf, a surface on which he ran a close second, beaten a nose, in the Bourbon Stakes (G2T) at Keeneland Oct. 8. He is 2-2-0 in five starts.
A 27/1 upset to end the day at Keeneland! #4 Can Group gets up in a tight photo to win the G2 Castle & Key Bourbon S. under Francisco Arrieta for trainer Mark Casse! 🏆🍀
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) October 8, 2023
🎥 #TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/GQTcpC2J2q
"That was a tough beat," Pletcher said. "He just couldn't get his nose on the wire, but he ran great, so we're looking for him to bounce back with another good effort."
Pletcher said the Breeders' Cup on dirt "didn't work out."
"Now we'll head back to the grass and see what that does," he added. "He's run very well on the turf, and I'd have to say at this stage he's a little better on the grass, but we'll not rule out giving him another try on the dirt at some point."
Pletcher won last year's Pulpit with Ari Gold and in 2016 with Tapwrit .
Irad Ortiz Jr. rides.
A pair of other Bourbon starters—seventh-place Palm Tree and eighth-place Double Your Money are also in the 11-horse Pulpit Stakes, which goes as the last of 11 races.
Gulfstream Park, Saturday, December 9, 2023, Race 11Entries: Pulpit S.
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Prevent (FL) Luca Panici 118 Juan Alvarado 15/1 2 2Liam's Journey (KY) John R. Velazquez 118 Michael J. Maker 9/2 3 3Double Your Money (KY) Junior Alvarado 118 Brian A. Lynch 6/1 4 4Reminder (FL) Edgard J. Zayas 118 Jose Francisco D'Angelo 12/1 5 5Palm Tree (KY) Luis Saez 118 Brendan P. Walsh 3/1 6 6Summer Storm Stric (KY) Edgar Perez 118 Padarath Lutchman 50/1 7 7General Ledger (FL) Edwin Gonzalez 118 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. 20/1 8 8Noted (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 120 Todd A. Pletcher 9/5 9 9Ship to Shore (NJ) Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr. 118 Eddie Owens, Jr 30/1 10 10Tocayo (MD) Jorge Ruiz 120 Rodolfo Sanchez-Salomon 20/1 11 11Okiro (KY) Leonel Reyes 118 Jose Garoffalo 15/1
Poor Trip Costly for 'Babe in Breeders' Cup
Buttercream Babe, a Mike Maker-conditioned Twirling Candy filly, hit the board in her first three starts, including when second in the Surfer Girl Stakes (G3T) at Santa Anita Park Oct. 8.
Speaking of the Breeders' Cup, when Buttercream Babe broke from the rail, assistant trainer Nolan Ramsey said: "It was a tough draw and not an ideal break. She got pretty much crushed going into the first turn. I'd liked to have seen her pick up her feet a little bit more coming down the lane, but when all is said and done, it probably wouldn't have made a difference."
Buttercream Babe has since been training with Maker's division in Kentucky.
She faces nine rivals in the Wait a While, the sixth race. Great Venezuela and Ozara are two other favorites.
Qatar Racing's Milliat makes her United States debut for trainer Jack Sisterson after the Irish-bred daughter of Kodiac won her debut in a seven-furlong maiden race on a synthetic track at Dundalk in Ireland Sept. 29.
"She's a really nice filly. We were second in the race last year with Malleymoo. We kind of know the types that can handle American racing," Sisterson said. "They have to have a good mind and a bit of speed, and she has all the above and more."
Gulfstream Park, Saturday, December 9, 2023, Race 6Entries: Wait a While S.
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Cairo Street (KY) John R. Velazquez 118 Ian R. Wilkes 5/1 2 2Done Enough (KY) Paco Lopez 118 Julie Stormfelt 20/1 3 3Madame Mischief (KY) Miguel Angel Vasquez 118 Jorge Delgado 12/1 4 4Good Bright Flames (KY) Ivan Pimentel, Jr. 118 Padarath Lutchman 30/1 5 5Great Venezuela (FL) Leonel Reyes 120 Victor Barboza, Jr. 8/1 6 6Milliat (IRE) Luis Saez 118 Jack Sisterson 8/1 7 7Ozara (IRE) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 118 Christophe Clement 8/5 8 8Mist (FL) Junior Alvarado 118 Juan Alvarado 30/1 9 9Beach Cruiser (NY) Edgard J. Zayas 118 Christophe Clement 8/1 10 10Buttercream Babe (KY) Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr. 118 Michael J. Maker 4/1
