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Corporate Power returns in $150K Discovery

by Christian Abdo

Courtlandt Farms’ stakes-winner Corporate Power will return from an over two-month layoff in Sunday’s $150,000 Discovery, a nine-furlong test for sophomores, on Closing Day of the fall meet at Belmont at the Big A.

Hall of Fame-trainer Shug McGaughey has had this race circled on the calendar for Corporate Power, who last ran sixth in the Grade 1 DraftKings Travers on August 24 at Saratoga Race Course. The Curlin bay was previously second in his sire’s namesake race in July at the Spa after winning the restricted Sir Barton in May at Pimlico Race Course.

McGaughey said he has no explanation for Corporate Power’s uninvolved 6th-of-8 result in the Travers, but he did finish behind a slew of talented Grade 1-winning rivals in Fierceness, Thorpedo Anna, Sierra Leone and Dornoch, in addition to reopposing Grade 3-winner Batten Down. Both Fierceness and Sierra Leone will compete in Saturday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar, while Thorpedo Anna is the favorite there in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

“All of his races were good up until then,” said McGaughey. “I don’t know why. Maybe he isn’t as good as the first four. I mean, he has been doing good. I think he’s been doing very well since we got him back up here. I thought he struggled a bit over the training track there, maybe that is why he didn’t show any more speed than he did.”

McGaughey said Corporate Power [post 7, Javier Castellano] has done well with some time between starts.

“He ran in the Sir Barton, then he had time, that was Preakness Day and he didn’t run back until the Curlin at the end of July,” McGaughey said. “He had plenty of time between. He’s been training well over this track.”

Corporate Power debuted as a sophomore in January at Gulfstream Park ahead of a second-out graduation going nine furlongs there in February. In total, he boasts a 6-2-2-0 record with $160,700 in earnings.

Bred in Kentucky by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings, Corporate Power, out of the graded stakes-winning Quality Road mare Road to Victory, was a $925,000 purchase at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Also with some time since his last start, but one to look out for, is Spendthrift Farm’s stakes-winner Tuscan Sky [post 8, John Velazquez] for Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher. The Vino Rosso gray has not raced since a sixth in the Grade 1 NYRA Bets Haskell on July 20 at Monmouth Park, which came after a victory in the Listed NYRA Bets Pegasus there in June.

Tuscan Sky completed his preparations for the Discovery with a half-mile breeze in 49.44 seconds on October 26 over the Belmont Park dirt training track.

“That was his final breeze for the Discovery. He looked good. He ended up going with an unnamed 2-year-old,” said Pletcher. “He seems like he’s training well. He looks good and has gained some weight.”

In his other three efforts to date, Tuscan Sky won on debut sprinting six-furlongs here in January ahead of a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming win at Fair Grounds. He exited to finish seventh in the local Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino in April.

A $200,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Yearling Sale, Tuscan Sky is out of the stakes-winning Sky Mesa mare South Andros and is a half-brother to the graded stakes-winning millionaire Private Creed.

Juddmonte’s Kentucky homebred Batten Down [post 9, Junior Alvarado] enters off a 5 1/2-length pacesetting score in the 1 3/16-mile Bourbon Flight on September 21 at Churchill Downs. Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the Tapit gray set a track record of 1:54.66 after blitzing through splits of 23.19 seconds, 47.04, 1:11.04 and 1:35.67 and drawing off on the fast track.

Batten Down, who earned a career-best 99 Beyer Speed Figure in victory, added to stakes success in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby in June at Thistledown, which preceded a third in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun and the aforementioned Travers fifth this summer at the Spa.

Out of the multiple Grade 1-winner and 2014 Champion Older Mare Close Hatches, Batten Down is a full-brother to the Mott-trained multiple graded stakes-winners Tacitus and Scylla, who is entered in Saturday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar.

Rose Petal Stable’s Grade 3-placed Copper Tax [post 6, J.G. Torrealba] will have to improve from a numbers standpoint to top this classy field but the Gary Capuano-trainee certainly has a knack for winning.

The Copper Bullet bay is 7-for-11 with stakes wins this year in Laurel Park’s Federico Tesio and Private Terms, plus last year’s James F. Lewis III and Delaware Park’s Rocky Run. Copper Tax’s most recent effort was a 2 1/2-length third in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby won by Batten Down.

A $45,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, Copper Tax is out of the stakes-placed Majestic Warrior mare Wilhelmina, a half-sister to multiple Venezuelan Group 1-winner Strength Mask.

Rounding out the field is Grade 1-placed Generous Tipper [post 3, Kendrick Carmouche] for trainer Kenny McPeek; stakes-winner Regalo [post 1, Manny Franco] for conditioner Brittany Russell; two-time winner More Vino [post 5, Jackie Davis] for trainer Chandradat Goberdhan; and maiden-winners Hamilton’s Way [post 2, Dylan Davis] for trainer Ray Handal and Commuted [post 4, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] for conditioner Rob Falcone, Jr.

The Discovery is slated as Race 8 on Sunday’s nine-race card that also features a pair of Listed $150,000 stakes in the Turnback the Alarm [Race 2] and Pumpkin Pie [Race 6]. First post is 12:10 p.m. Eastern.

America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Belmont at the Big A fall meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.

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