Breeders’ Cup Photo ©
With a little more than a week remaining until the September 26th Awesome Again Stakes (gr. I) at Santa Anita, nominations for the prestigious Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I) prep race have been posted on Equibase.com.
Headlining the list of nominees are 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Bayern, Pacific Classic Stakes (gr. I) runner-up Catch a Flight, Gold Cup at Santa Anita (gr. I) winner Hard Aces, 2014 Clark Handicap (gr. I) winner Hoppertunity, and 2014 Charles Town Classic (gr. II) winner Imperative.
Red Vine, who most recently finished third in the Pacific Classic, has also been nominated but is expected to pass the race in favor of the October 3rd Kelso Handicap (gr. II) at Belmont Park, where he is expected to face the two-time grade I winner Honor Code.
One horse that will definitely run in the Awesome Again is Normandy Invasion, who finished fourth in the 2013 Kentucky Derby (gr. I). Trained throughout his career by Larry Jones, Normandy Invasion was transferred to the barn of Richard Mandella following a seventh-place finish in the August 8th Whitney Handicap (gr. I) and is now training in California, where he most recently breezed six furlongs in 1:12 3/5 on September 11th at Santa Anita.
The complete list of nominees for the Awesome Again can be viewed here.
