INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Calvin Borel will ride the Grade 1 winner Tell a Kelly in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill Downs on Nov. 5, trainer John Sadler said on Monday.
Borel will ride Tell a Kelly for the first time in the Juvenile Fillies, which is run over 1 1/16 miles and plays a major role in the determination of the champion 2-year-old filly.
“He’s the man at Churchill Downs,” Sadler said. “She’s pretty easy to ride.”
Borel, 43, won the riding title at the Churchill Downs spring-summer meeting earlier this year, and has ridden three of the last four winners of the Kentucky Derby, including this year’s running aboard Super Saver.
Owned by Ike and Dawn Thrash, Tell a Kelly won the Grade 1 Darley Debutante at Del Mar on Sept. 4 in her second start. She followed that with a second to Rigoletta in the Grade 1 Oak Leaf Stakes over 1 1/16 miles at Hollywood Park on Oct. 3.
Tell a Kelly was ridden in her first four starts by Alonso Quinonez, who Sadler said earlier this week does not figure in his plans for Breeders’ Cup mounts. Joel Rosario is booked to ride Switch in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint and Sidney’s Candy in the BC Mile, Sadler said.
“He’s young and he’s getting better all the time,” Sadler said of the 26-year-old Quinonez. “He’s not on the traveling team for this fall.”
There may be as many as five California-based starters in the BC Juvenile Fillies. Aside from Rigoletta and Tell a Kelly, other candidates include A Z Warrior, who won the Frizette Stakes at Belmont Park last Saturday and was fifth in the Darley Debutante; and Indian Gracey and Izshelegal, who were third and fourth in the Oak Leaf Stakes.
The Usual Q. T. on target for BC Mile
The Usual Q. T., the winner of the Grade 1 Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar in the summer, remains on course for the BC Mile on turf, trainer Jim Cassidy said on Tuesday.
Owned by a partnership, The Usual Q. T. was second to BC Mile hopeful Court Vision in the Woodbine Mile on Sept. 19, the 4-year-old’s most recent start. The Usual Q. T. has won five stakes and $1,270,240 in his career.
Four board members confirmed
Four members of the California Horse Racing Board – chairman Keith Brackpool, vice-chairman David Israel and commissioners Bo Derek and Richard Rosenberg – received confirmation of their appointments from the California state senate on Oct. 7.
Brackpool and Rosenberg were confirmed for their first terms, which started in September, 2009, while Derek and Israel were reconfirmed. Derek and Israel were first appointed to the racing board in July 2008 and reappointed in March of this year.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made the appointments, which are subject to state senate approval.
