The last time the Breeders’ Cup Distaff got a full gate of 14 was in 2006 at Churchill Downs, where longshots led by Round Pond filled out a superfecta worth $19,297 for $1. This does not necessarily imply the favorites are vulnerable when a full field of 14 fillies and mares goes postward Friday in the $2 million Distaff at Keeneland, because, really, are there any favorites this year?
Key contenders for the Grade 1, $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland on Saturday.
The Breeders’ Cup was conceived as an event that would bring top horses from all regions together to settle championships. Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup races begin with one of those classic East-versus-West showdowns, between Rachel’s Valentina and Songbird in the $2 million Juvenile Fillies.
Love You Crazy, a Touch Gold mare believed to be in foal to Uncle Mo, brought $55,000 to top the Equine Sales Co. of Louisiana yearling and mixed sale on Sunday in Opelousas, La.
The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf has often run through trainer Chad Brown. He won with Maram in 2008, finished second with Watsdachances and Testa Rossi in 2012 and 2013, and then sent out Lady Eli to dominate last year.This year, if the one-mile race runs through him, it might have to be run near the outside fence.
The British are coming . . . and the Irish . . . and the French. They’re all converging on Keeneland for the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Saturday. The Europeans will meet a cast of U.S.-raised and -raced turf females, plus a few the U.S. has adopted from other countries.
Alphabet Soup, winner of the 1996 Breeders’ Cup Classic and a longtime sire for Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs operation, has been pensioned from stud duty and retired to Old Friends Equine in Georgetown, Ky.
Year in and year out, handicappers find the $1 million Turf Sprint to be one of the most inscrutable of all the Breeders’ Cup races, and Saturday’s edition at Keeneland fits that mold once again. Despite the presence of defending champion Bobby’s Kitten, the 5 1/2-furlong Turf Sprint brings together another full and evenly matched field, with the break, pace scenario, and even a little luck all helping to determine the winner among a large and deserving group of logical contenders.
The $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf will make history as the first Breeders’ Cup event contested at picturesque Keeneland. Appropriately enough for an event themed as a “homecoming,” a pair of leading European-based runners leading the annual invasion were, in fact, bred in Kentucky. However, a strong North America-based contingent is waiting to welcome them back.
In the end, it came down to doing what you know you do best. So, instead of wondering if Liam’s Map could carry his speed 1 1/4 miles against the likes of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and champion mare Beholder in Saturday’s $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, handicappers will be wondering if Liam’s Map can lose Friday’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland.
