Watchmaker: BC Dirt Mile negatively impacts rest of schedule

Before we get to the Saturday notes, here are a few thoughts about a topic I’ve been mulling over recently:

The fact that Whitney and Met Mile winner Honor Code is racing at Belmont this coming Saturday in the Kelso and not the Jockey Club Gold Cup is a huge reason the Kelso is the far more interesting race of the two. But it’s not the only reason. The prospective field for the Kelso in general is simply more compelling than the prospective field for the Gold Cup, and frankly, I find this to be messed up. The Kelso should never, under any circumstance or in any way, eclipse the Jockey Club Gold Cup, one of our truly great events.

Of course, the Kelso might not be where it is on the schedule were it not for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, for which it acts as a prep. And like the Dirt Mile, the Kelso clearly has taken on cannibalistic characteristics.

I was all for it when the Dirt Mile was introduced in 2007. I thought it would spur development of a national series of races for dirt milers. And since the Met Mile is one of my absolute favorite races, I considered this to be an exciting prospect.

But it hasn’t worked out this way. There still is no coherent series of races for dirt milers, just the loose collection of maybe races there always was, and it doesn’t look like one is forthcoming. As a result, the Dirt Mile has become more a consolation prize for horses that don’t quite fit in either the Classic or Sprint and is toothless in an Eclipse Award context.

If the Dirt Mile were merely a harmless “consolation prize,” that would be fine. But its mere existence creates the potential for detrimental impact. For example, the connections of Liam’s Map still are debating whether to run their fine colt in the Classic or Dirt Mile. I don’t blame them for doing their due diligence, and I understand the appeal of having the solid favorite to win the front end of the Dirt Mile’s $1 million purse.

However, beyond money, a win in the Dirt Mile will do absolutely nothing for Liam’s Map. He’s already a Grade 1 winner, and a victory in the Dirt Mile won’t make him champion anything.

Liam’s Map was beaten a hair by Honor Code in the Whitney, and he came back to be a dominant winner of the Woodward. Even if he is an unknown at the 1 1/4-mile distance of the Breeders’ Cup Classic (so is Honor Code, for that matter), Liam’s Map belongs in the Classic. And the Breeders’ Cup is doing the Classic a disservice by having another race in the Dirt Mile that might well detract from the overall strength of its signature event.

Saturday notes

** Beholder was absolutely sensational again winning the Zenyatta, and it doesn’t matter what happens in the Breeders’ Cup – she has the older dirt female championship wrapped up. None of her contemporaries can come close to countering Beholder’s demolition of males in the Pacific Classic. So it makes all the sense in the world for her to face males again in the BC Classic, in which she should be a clear second choice in the betting behind only American Pharoah.

** By the way, this will be Beholder’s third Eclipse Award, all different; she also was a divisional champion at 2 and 3.

** Beholder going in the BC Classic will thrill the connections of a bunch of other females with designs on the BC Distaff as they now have a much better chance of winning the front end of a $2 million pot. That includes Wedding Toast, who was very impressive dominating the Beldame off a nearly four-month layoff. The Beldame was a perfect prep for Wedding Toast as she was barely asked to run, and to me, she looks as good if not better than any other BC Distaff contender.

** Songbird was so good winning the Chandelier that she might actually be the favorite in the BC Juvenile Fillies. D’oh, you say? Well, don’t forget – Spinaway winner Rachel’s Valentina brings an enormous story with her (she’s out of Rachel Alexandra, you know), which guarantees she will take an inordinate amount of money every times she races.

** Unfortunately, I can’t be as enthusiastic about Nyquist. Yes, Nyquist won the FrontRunner to extend his unbeaten streak to four. But the fact he ran his 1 1/16 miles 1.10 seconds slower than Songbird after similar early paces cannot be ignored.

** Some might view Smooth Roller’s romp in the Awesome Again as a breakout performance for a gelding still in the nascent stages of his career. While that might prove to be the case, I’m leaning more in the direction of a weak Awesome Again field making Smooth Roller look good.

** Rock Fall is gutsy and loves to win, and I love those attributes. But Rock Fall is going to have to do much better than finish a neck and a head in front of Stallwalkin’ Dude, which he did in the Vosburgh, if he is to win the BC Sprint.

** I’d love to own Big Blue Kitten, who pushed his career earnings past the $2.6 million mark winning the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic. But he got lucky two ways Saturday – Twilight Eclipse, who finished a close third, was tons the best after encountering brutal trouble from late on the far turn to midstretch, and no European showed up for the Hirsch.

** Photo Call is a nice filly, but her decisive score in the Rodeo Drive exposed just how unusually soft this year’s female turf division in California is.