It’s not so much what Next will do in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Greenwood Cup at Parx Racing that’s intriguing, it’s what Next will do, well, next.
The recent announcement that the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes, run Breeders’ Cup weekend at Del Mar, has been changed from a marathon dirt race for older males to a one-mile turf race for 2-year-olds mean’s Saturday’s Greenwood Cup at 1 1/2 miles is the last marathon dirt race of the year for Next, a marathon dirt specialist.
Even before that announcement a few weeks ago, trainer Doug Cowans and owner Michael Foster were already contemplating a Breeders’ Cup race on Nov. 2 at Del Mar. The decision will come down to the $7 million Classic at 1 1/4 miles on dirt or the $5 million Turf, a 1 1/2-mile race.
“If I go to the Breeders’ Cup, I’ll either have to give up distance or surface,” Cowans said. “I really don’t know what the answer is there. My gut tells me to go to the Turf for the distance. He’s proven he’s a good marathon horse. That’s only a gut. I can’t tell you that’s what’s going to happen.”
Okay, yes, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. There is still the matter of the race at hand on Saturday. But, given the way Next has performed in these marathon dirt races – he’s won 8 of 9 such races including a 25-length victory in last year’s Greenwood Cup – it’s difficult to see him getting beat.
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Surprisingly, there were nine entered against Next, though it would be equally surprising if they all run. Frankly, Cowans isn’t concerned with the competition or the fact Next has to break from post 9 under Luan Machado. His concern is just making sure the horse gets into his big, bounding stride easily and comfortably.
“For me, the post is great, it allows me to do what I want to do,” Cowans said. “I think they’re going to throw a little speed at him, which is fine. When you’re on the inside that can cause the horse to get a little aggressive. On the outside, he’ll be able to get off the bridle fairly quickly.
“The whole key is getting him in his rhythm – the quicker he can do that the better off he is,” Cowans added. “When he ran in the Brooklyn it took him a little longer than usual to get off the bridle. Finally, he did at the wire [first time] or three-eighths into it.”
Cowans said it took Next a little more time than usual to recover from his 22 1/4-length victory in the Birdstone at Saratoga, the trainer attributing that to having made two trips to New York in a month from his Kentucky base.
“It took him a minute to get back on his feet,” said Cowans, who added the horse has done well the last few weeks.
If there is to be an upset, Truculent or Magic Michael seem like the most logical choices to pull it off. Truculent, trained by Lindsay Schultz, came within a head of winning a starter allowance going 1 3/4 miles at Oaklawn in May. The 7-year-old son of Raison d’Etat is coming off a dominant win in a second-level allowance going a mile and 70 yards on Aug. 24 at Monmouth.
“Hopefully, there’ll be a bunch of scratches and a short field and maybe somebody else goes out there with Next and puts a little pressure on him,” Schultz said. “The horse deserves a chance. We thought this was a logical place to try. He ran well last time.”
Magic Michael, trained by Jamie Ness, won the Greenwood Cup in 2021. The 7-year-old gelding by Dramedy won a 1 1/4-mile allowance race at Parx by six lengths on Aug. 27, a race designed to be a prep for the Greenwood Cup. Ridin With Biden and Modern Era, second and third in that allowance, are back in the Greenwood Cup. My Imagination nosed out Ridin With Biden for second in last year’s Greenwood Cup.
Dai Vernon, second to Next in the Isaac Murphy at Churchill Downs, Suigu Star, Treble Clef, and the mare Beach Daze complete the field.
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