Sunbean and Ide Be Cool find themselves in an unusual position heading into Saturday night’s $100,000 Gold Cup at Delta Downs. Both horses are looking to get back into the win column.
Anyone who dreams of a life-changing journey to the races has an idol in Breeders’ Cup trainer Conor Murphy. Murphy, who starts Dimension in Saturday’s $1 million BC Turf Sprint at Santa Anita, is proof anything is possible in the world of race betting.
After Shared Belief won his first start at Golden Gate Fields on Aug. 19, 2013, he was transferred to the Hollywood Park barn of trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who was informed the horse was for sale. Hollendorfer asked Marty Wygod, who bred and owned Shared Belief, if he could have the first crack at buying the horse.
It sure seems like the 2-year-old grass races with 14-horse fields are the spots to cast a wide net in the Breeders’ Cup Friday pick four, while there is considerably more to go on in the Dirt Mile and Distaff.
The $130,000 Mountaineer Mile is an 11-horse head-scratcher with top contenders shipping in from Kentucky, New York, and Maryland.
Some people have been let down by the 2014 performance of last year’s Horse of the Year Bee A Magician. Trainer Richard “Nifty” Norman is not one of them. Heading into Saturday’s $178,000 Muscle Hill at Vernon Downs, Bee A Magician may be as sharp as any of the ten trotting mares in the select field.
SUNSET GLOW is the deserving 7-2 morning-line favorite, but she has history working against her as the favorite hasn’t won the Juvenile Fillies Turf since it was established in 2008. She also reportedly did not eat up after arriving in California, and trainer Wesley Ward altered her training schedule, missing a planned workout. Daily Racing Form’s Mile Welsch also mentioned she looked listless on the track in one of his clocker reports. Despite her excellent record, she looks vulnerable in what appears to be a wide-open race.
The Breeders’ Cup Saturday card begins with the $100,000 Juvenile Turf Sprint, a ridiculously wide-open race that figures to set a frantic tone for an incredible afternoon.
Strut the Course was a dominant winner of the Classy ’n Smart Stakes on Sept. 28, and will now stretch out to 1 1/4 miles for the first time in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Maple Leaf Stakes at Woodbine
A deep search for the true speed in this fascinating renewal of the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint finds this conclusion: It should very well be Stonetastic (#3), hurried up the rail by Paco Lopez, followed closely by a trio of mid-drawn runners: Artemis Agrotera (#5), Leigh Court (#6), and Judy the Beauty (#7).
