Mission Approved works a mile at Belmont Park ahead of the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational
The 7-year-old Mission Approved, owned and trained by Naipaul Chatterpaul, is ready to take on his rivals, as planned, in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational on 1 October, 2011, at Belmont Park.
The son of With Approval, out of Fortunate Find by Fortunate Prospect, Mission Approved turned in a workout of one mile on 22 September, 2011, on the Belmont Park’s Inner turf course, covering the distance in 1 minute and 39.07 seconds.
Trainer/Owner Naipaul Chatterpaul said that many people don’t breeze their horses over a distance of 1 mile before the race, but he has done it with Mission Approved ever since he has had him.
The tentative line-up for the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic includes a number of big names, and the most prominent one of them all is the Aidan O’Brien trained Irish invader, Cape Blanco, already 2 of 2 in the U.S in as many starts.
Trainer Christophe Clement will double his chances of winning the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic by deploying two of his top runners, Winchester and Grassy. Both of them have done well and will be a constant threat to their rivals on the race day.
Mission Approved is coming off a seventh place finish in the Grade 1 Arlington Million, at about 1 ¼ miles at Arlington Park on 13 August, 2011, and Cape Blanco was the one who downed Gio Ponti to win the race.
Prior to the Arlington Million, Mission Approved was among more or less the same cast of Arlington Million in the 1 3/8 mile long Grade 1 Man O’ War Stakes at Belmont Park on 9 July, where Cape Blanco edged past Gio Ponti to win the race.
Mission Approved finished 4th in the Man O’ War Stakes, despite, to begin with, Mission Approved had a Grade 1 win under his belt when he came to run in both of these races.
The Winner of the Grade 1 Manhattan Handicap on 11 June at Belmont Park still has it in him to take on rivals of high caliber.
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