(Tight Ten winning at Churchill Downs / Photo Courtesy of Churchill Downs)

(Catholic Boy winning the G1 Travers Stakes / Photo Courtesy of NYRA)

Every day, we scour the work tabs at racetracks all over the country.  We are looking for workouts that may be of interest and helpful to you — as both race fans and handicappers.  Some of the horses we will be tracking, you will know.  Some of them, you may not know — as of yet.  We will keep a keen eye and stopwatch to see who may be working well:

  1. Channel Maker, a 4YO gelding by English Channel and trained by Bill Mott, stretched his legs over the Churchill Downs dirt track this morning. The Ontario-bred, who won the G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park in his last out and is now got dead aim on the Breeders’ Cup, went an easy half-mile in :49.20. That was 12th of 42 to go the distance today. In the last three starts, Channel Maker has a win in the G2 Bowling Green and a second in the G1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga, and the win at Belmont in the last. But? The last time he was here, in the G1 Old Forester Turf Classic, he was fifth on Derby Day. Interesting.
  2. Toast of New York, now a 7YO gelding by Thewayyourare and trained by Jamie Osborne, worked at Churchill Downs this morning, as well. This one, who ran second to Mind Your Biscuits in the G3 Lukas Classic here on Sept. 29, went an easy half mile in :53.60 in his first published work since the last race. Interesting move to just about gallop around, but the most interesting thing about this one is the fact that he ran second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic way back in 2014 at Santa Anita. He was beaten only a mere nose that day by Bayern, who many believe to this day should have been DQ’d after the start. Interesting to watch this old man still make the rounds.
  3. Catholic Boy, a 3YO son of More Than Ready and trained by the young Jonathan Thomas, must now be considered the best hope for the 3YOs in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic. After back-to-back impressive wins over the grass in the G3 Pennine Ridge and the G1 Belmont Derby, the connections moved this one back to the dirt and he ran away to an massive victory inn the G1 Travers Stakes in the last out. Although he could go either to the grass or the dirt, the speculation is that he will move up to face the older generations in the Classic here on the first Saturday in November.  And, he looked every bit as good as advertised this morning. He went 5 furlongs in an easy-as-could-be 1:02.60 — which was the 17th best time out of the 34 to go that far. It was not the time, but the general effortless that this big boy showed and demonstrated in the work that made him look so impressive. Loved him early this year, and wagered a tidy sum as my KY Derby Winter Book pick. Maybe he can return some of that money this November.
  4. Tight Ten, a top 2YO from the barn of Steve Asmussen, worked 5 furlongs under the Twin Spires today, as well. The son of Tapit breezed in a superb time of :59.60 — which was the bullet move of the day at the distance. In three lifetime starts, this one has a win and two seconds. But look for more. Sons of Tapit seem to improve with a bit of age and schooling. This one is getting both, and could be a tough out in the BC Juvenile.