Eight Rings Tops Strong Cast of TVG Juvenile Pre-Entries

One of the most popular races of the Breeders’ Cup, the TVG Juvenile gives us a look into what the future might hold and helps a crown a 2-year-old champion. A total of 12 horses are pre-entered in this year’s running of the feature Breeders’ Cup event for Friday, November 1, at Santa Anita Park. The event will be contested at 1 1/16 miles with a purse of $2,000,000.

Trainer Bob Baffert has won this race several times in the past, including last season with Game Winner. This year, he brings the highly-touted Eight Rings, who won the American Pharoah Stakes (G1) last time out over this track. The lightly-raced colt has won two of his career starts, including an impressive maiden special weight at Del Mar. Things didn’t go smoothly for him in his second start, as he dumped the rider early in the Del Mar Futurity (G1). The fact that he recovered so nicely from that debacle was impressive, though, and he seemed to handle his first start around two turns well.

This race is loaded with talent and includes a horse who could be an absolute monster. That would be Dennis’ Moment, who had the horse racing world buzzing after breaking his maiden at Ellis Park by an eye-popping 19 1/4 lengths. That led to the Iroquois Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs for his next start. After stalking the early pace up the backside, he put away his rivals with ease, cruising to a 1 3/4-length victory. Trainer Dale Romans seems to have an extremely talented colt on his hands.

Another horse who made a big impression on everyone last time out is Maxfield, who took home the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland by 5 3/4 lengths. That came against what looked to be a talented field, and the son of Street Sense seems to be suited for longer distances, too. He debuted going 1 mile at Churchill Downs in a maiden special weight win before his Breeders’ Futurity romp. Jockey Jose Ortiz rode him in both starts and believes that Maxfield has an abundance of talent. 

One horse who has been knocking on the door in big-time races lately is Scabbard, who finished second in both the Saratoga Special Stakes (G2) and the Iroquois. He made up ground in the stretch in each event, so perhaps he will enjoy when the distances get longer. A hot pace up front would greatly help his chances.

It’s fun watching the first crop of runners from the 2015 Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup Classic champion American Pharoah, who is off to a great start as a sire. He’ll be represented in this race by American Theorem, who was an impressive maiden special weight winner at Del Mar by 1 1/2 lengths. That led to a start in the American Pharoah next, where he ran a strong second behind Eight Rings. This colt seems to be improving at the right time and has posted several solid workouts leading up to this race.

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The California-based Storm the Court is another horse of interest coming into this event. An impressive debut winner in a Del Mar maiden special weight, he made his next start in the Del Mar Futurity next time out. However, that did not go well, as he threw the rider while trying to avoid the already rider-less Eight Rings. Much like Eight Rings, he rebounded well in his next start, finishing a solid third in the American Pharoah. 

The other pre-entries include Anneau d’Or (second preference), Billy Batts (second preference), Full Flat (second preference), King Neptune (second preference), Shoplifted, and Wrecking Crew.