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Brilliant Speed, whose biggest win came in the 2011 Blue Grass Stakes, will make the final start of his career in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 3, trainer Tom Albertrani said Tuesday.
[BREEDERS' CUP 2012: DRF top 10 lists, video replays, latest news]
Brilliant Speed is scheduled to begin stud duty in the spring at Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky. Now age 4, Brilliant Speed has made the bulk of his starts on turf, and his biggest win came on Polytrack, but he was a close third in last year’s Belmont Stakes after finishing seventh in the Kentucky Derby, which, like the Classic, is at 1 1/4 miles on dirt.
“There’s no downside,” said Albertrani, who admitted he and owner Charlotte Weber would be “taking a little bit of a chance” against a group of proven older dirt runners.
Albertrani said Junior Alvarado would ride Brilliant Speed in the Classic.
Brilliant Speed is a son of the recently deceased Dynaformer, who was at Three Chimneys, so he will carry on that line at the farm.
Brilliant Speed was bred and is owned by Weber’s Live Oak Plantation. Live Oak also has To Honor and Serve in the Classic. He is trained by Bill Mott.
Brilliant Speed has won 3 of 20 and is winless in six starts this year. He most recently finished third in the Bowling Green Stakes on the Belmont Park turf Sept. 8.
Pre-entries for all 15 Breeders’ Cup races are due Monday and will not be announced until two days later, on Wednesday, Oct. 24. Albertrani said Brilliant Speed would not be cross-entered in any other race.
“We’re just going to enter the Classic,” he said.
Also Tuesday, Whitney winner Fort Larned, third most recently in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, breezed five furlongs at Churchill Downs in 1:03 with jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., who trainer Ian Wilkes said would ride Fort Larned in the Classic.
A maximum of 14 horses can run in the Classic, and it appears the field will be very close to that number. If more than 14 are pre-entered, as many as seven horses – including Flat Out, Fort Larned, and Game On Dude – would be guaranteed berths based on having won Win and You’re In races. If there are fewer than seven Win and You’re In qualifiers, the rest of those seven slots would be filled by those having earned the most Breeders’ Cup points this year.
After those seven are determined, the next seven would be selected, in order of preference, by an international Breeders’ Cup committee. Any remaining horses above 14 would be placed on an also-eligible list, in order of preference, by the committee.
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Wasn't it a sloppy track the Day Brilliant Speed ran a "good one" in ther Belmont?? Not 100% sure, but if it was, that really isn't considered a "dirt start" in my book.
I remember him getting beat by Boys/Tusconova in debut on dirt and a weak Derby run and a weak Jim Dandy race on dirt. Maybe a start or few more on it???
So let's say Brilliant Speed ran 4x on dirt and never picked up his feet except for the sloppy track............ The odds of it raining on Nov 3rd int Santa Anita are 1%, so WHY WHY WHY would they even consider this horse to run. ( I am referring to the INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE that picks the entrants)??????? Zero Shot. We know why the owners want him to run. For good seats on BC day..... What else?
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As far as I know the last time he ran on dirt was the Belmont. He looked like he was going to win the Belmont before he hung in the final furlong so maybe dirt is his best surface. His 7th in the Derby wasn't bad either. He can get the distance too. Very interesting. Could he be sitting on a big one like Drosselmeyer last year? How many of you critics had Volponi?
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Agree with the other comments, this horse doesn't seem noteworthy enough to have an article like this written about him. Although I saw an article on Equibase about this also.
Here's his record. 20-3-3-7 1.2 million in earnings
http://www.equibase.com/profiles/Results.cfm?type=Horse&refno=8322213®istry=T.
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In other news, water is wet...
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He stank on the turf all year so why not take a chance. He ran well in the Belmont so maybe the track comes up muddy.
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Brilliant Speed and Dullahan should not be allowed in Classic, thats a joke
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Talk about taking a horse out of his comfort zone. I love this Dynaformer, but he doesn't stand a chance in the Classic. This is nothing short of a mistake, and the connections need to rethink this blundering move.
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Odd choice when he was 3rd in the BC Turf last year and his best races are definitely on the grass. Please note that Albertranni has never been one to just show up. He always (4/4) hits the board on BC day. Balletto (twice) Bernardini as well as Brilliant Speed last year. If he hits the board this time it will be a true surprise.
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i guess I'll never understand why a graded race taken off the turf and run on dirt is subject to a downgraded; but when tracks switched from dirt to synthetic - they were allowed to keep their grade - these are the synthetic Grade I Blue Grass winners (07) Dominican, (08) Monba (09) General Quarters (10) Stately Victor (11) Brilliant Speed (12) Dullahah and now these some of these quasi below average turf horses will become sires.
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Go back to Andy's article...how is this horse even allowed in the race ?
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Best Bets
A super runner-up comeback by TRIBAL CHATTER stamps the maiden filly as the most probable winner on the card. Returning from a 10-month layoff, she finished nearly nine lengths clear of third in a highly rated maiden-40. Now meets an apparently modest cast of state-bred special-weights, and switches to turf. No problem. She was sired by all-surface stallion Tribal Rule; her dam produced California Cup Mile (turf) winner Swift Winds. Blinkers on, speed for a pressing trip, pick-six single first leg of the sequence.
