Emerald-Based Horse to Run in Breeders' Cup Juvenile

Local 2-year-old Gallant Son, who was purchased as a yearling for $9,000 and has won four out of five career starts, is into Saturday's $2 million field because Believe in Hope is out with a fever. Full details after the jump.

Gallant Son, Emerald Downs' 2-year-old marvel, is officially in Saturday's $2 million Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Trainer Frank Lucarelli received the good news via phone call Monday from Gary Stevens, the Hall of Fame rider who has taken an avid interest in Gallant Son after working the colt last week.

The Breeders' Cup website confirmed that Believe in Hope, the third-place finisher in the Grade I Norfolk Stakes, is out of the Juvenile after developing a temperature, and that Gallant Son is in.

The maximum field for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile is 14 horses, and Gallant Son is the first of two alternate runners.

“I was hoping this would happen,” Lucarelli said. “It's bad news for them, and I feel bad for Ron Ellis and the owners, but it's good for us.”

Entries for all 14 Breeders' Cup races will be taken Tuesday morning, and since Lucarelli no longer has to worry about which race Gallant Son will run in, he can now ponder more traditional pastimes such as drawing a good post position. And with 14 relatively inexperienced horses being asked to negotiate two turns, ground saved and ground lost could be a critical factor in the outcome.

“We hope to draw in the first six, and anywhere from eight to fourteen is a tough go,” Lucarelli said. “Leslie (jockey Mawing) knows the horse, and I'm confident he'll get him around there okay.”

Lucarelli also is confident in Gallant Son.

“We've got a horse that is getting bigger, stronger and better,” he said. “He's had two very good works over the (synthetic) surface, and he's coming up to the race just like we hoped he would.

“Don't get me wrong, these are all good horses in this race, but I don't see any really great horses. Some of them might turn out to be great horses, but they aren't there yet. Maybe this is the right year for us to be down here.”

GALLANT SON FACTS/FIGURES

Who: Gallant Son, Emerald Downs' 2-Year-Old Champion in 2008
What: The $2 million Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile, 1 & 1/16 mile, synthetic surface
Where: Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, Calif.
When: 12:55 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 25 (Race 5 on 11-race program)
TV/Radio: ESPN, KLAY 1180-AM
Gallant Son to date: 5-4-0-1, earned $113,038
Owners: Chris and Dianna Randall, Bellevue, Wash. (1st with 15 wins and $365,457 in purses at EmD in 2008)
Trainer: Frank Lucarelli (2nd with 46 wins at EmD in 2008, 2nd all-time with 541 wins at EmD)
Jockey: Leslie Mawing (6th with 76 wins and tied for 1st with seven stakes wins at EmD in 2008)