River Keen Might Not Put Best Foot Forward in Classic

Trainer Bob Baffert’s many Breeders’ Cup horses have been bedded down at Gulfstream Park. Baffert himself is leaving for Florida on Sunday. But there’s one straggler. River Keen, the hottest older horse around and one of the favorites in the $4-million Breeders’ Cup Classic, is still at Belmont Park.

It’s got nothing to do with the Florida heat, or even Hurricane Irene. It’s about River Keen’s problem feet.

“Wherever that quarter-crack guy goes, that’s where my horse goes,” said Baffert, who’s leaving Santa Anita, where he’s the leading trainer at the Oak Tree meet. “That guy’s been my salvation.”

Baffert’s guy at Belmont is Ian McKinlay, an equine foot specialist who has kept River Keen’s underpinnings together through upset wins in the Woodward Stakes and the Jockey Club Gold Cup. River Keen was 5-1 in the Woodward and 12-1 in the Gold Cup, against fields that included many of the same horses he will find at Gulfstream.

That’s if the 7-year-old Irish-bred gets to Gulfstream. Baffert is giving no guarantees.

“It’s a day-to-day thing,” he said. “This is the way it’s been going: On Wednesday, he had a bad day. But [Thursday] he had a good day. They’re keeping the infection out and they wired up [the hoof crack]. So [Friday] he went to the track for a gallop. We’ll take another look at him over the weekend.”

Baffert estimates that River Keen won’t arrive at Gulfstream until a few days before the Nov. 6 race.

“We won’t ship him until we definitely know he’ll be able to run,” he said. “And if the foot’s not right, he won’t run.”

Baffert won his first Breeders’ Cup race at Gulfstream in 1992, when Thirty Slews ran first in the Sprint at 18-1. Silverbulletday gave him his only other Breeders’ Cup victory in the Juvenile Fillies last year at Churchill Downs.

This year, he has eight hopefuls: General Challenge and River Keen in the Classic, Silverbulletday in the Distaff, Forestry in the Sprint, Tuzla in the Mile, Forest Camp and Captain Steve in the Juvenile, and Chilukki in the Juvenile Fillies. He could have a big day, but since 1991 he has sent out 10 horses that didn’t win, and he knows the realities.

“It’s not that easy,” he said. “You can say, ‘I’ve got a chance to win five or six [of the eight races],’ but it’s never easy. And when you’re shipping someplace, that makes it even tougher. You’ve got to treat each race like it’s just another stakes race.”

River Keen, owned by Hugo Reynolds, a road contractor from Norco, Calif., was claimed for $100,000 at Hollywood Park last December, then ran three more times under Baffert in $80,000 and $100,000 claiming races before he moved into stakes company to stay. He won the Bel Air Handicap at Hollywood in July, then finished second twice behind quality horses at Del Mar--Mazel Trick and General Challenge--before being sent to New York. Baffert wanted to split up River Keen and General Challenge, who is owned by John and Betty Mabee, before the Breeders’ Cup.

On Oct. 9, the day before the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Baffert doubted that River Keen would make the race. The horse was lame after throwing a shoe during a workout.

“I didn’t tell the owner,” Baffert said. “He was back there sightseeing, having a good time, and I didn’t want to ruin it for him unless I absolutely had to. He was going to see the Empire State Building, and I didn’t want him to worry. He pays me to do the worrying.”

By the time Reynolds knew there was anything wrong, McKinlay had patched up River Keen, treated him and got him ready to run. He won by 3 1/4 lengths over Behrens, the odds-on favorite. Because the Gold Cup was run over a sloppy track, some trainers will try to throw out the result, and Behrens will still be the favorite at Gulfstream.

If River Keen gets to Florida, he will become that Breeders’ Cup oddity, a 7-year-old running in one of the races. No horse older than 5 has ever won the Classic, and the only 7-year-old to run in it in 15 years has been Savinio, who was fifth at Hollywood Park in 1997. The only 7-year-old to win any Breeders’ Cup race was Cardmania, who won the Sprint at Santa Anita in 1993.

Before River Keen ran roughshod over his New York opposition, he had won only one of eight starts for Baffert. After he’d won the Bel Air Handicap at Hollywood Park in July, no one was telling Reynolds or Baffert that they had made a spectacular claim. No magic has been involved. River Keen’s fodder hasn’t changed, and there have been no dramatic training innovations.

“It was just a case of a horse that had run through his conditions,” Baffert said simply. “We were at the point where it was run him in another $100,000 claimer, or throw him in against the very best.”

Horse Racing Notes

Trainer Looie Cenicola, who is having a strong meet with just a few horses, saddled Joopy Doopy for his victory Friday in the Sunny Slope Stakes. Victor Espinoza rode the colt, who ran six furlongs in 1:08 4/5 for his second win--along with two seconds--in four starts. . . . Prime Timber makes his second start on grass in today’s Oak Tree Derby. Trainer Bob Baffert’s colt, second in the Santa Anita Derby, returned from a hoof injury at Del Mar and then won his turf debut at Santa Anita. . . . Olympic Charmer, with 118 pounds, is the high weight for Sunday’s $100,000 Harold C. Ramser Sr. Handicap for 3-year-old fillies on grass. Ten horses are entered, with Olympic Charmer drawing the inside post.

Instead of running in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, Baffert’s Tout Charmant, the Del Mar Oaks winner, will run in the $150,000 Pebbles Stakes at Gulfstream on Nov. 7. . . . A tendon injury, possibly career-ending, has knocked Sayarshan out of the Breeders’ Cup Turf, and Abby Girl, second to Chilukki in the Oak Leaf Stakes, won’t run in the Juvenile Fillies.

Terry Lanni, who has an ownership interest in three Breeders’ Cup probables, has joined the board of MI Ventures, the Frank Stronach-led company that owns Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park. Lanni resigned last week as chairman of MGM Grand Inc., the Las Vegas casino company. . . . Coral, the British bookmaking firm, has made Daylami the 5-2 favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Turf.