In Wise Dan's absence, Toronado inherits role of favorite
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
ARCADIA, Calif. – The champ is out, and in his absence, 15 others are in.
Wise Dan, injured earlier this month, can’t return on Saturday to try and win his third straight Breeders’ Cup Mile, and his defection swelled the field to bursting. Fourteen turf milers are in the main body of the $2 million Mile, with Mr. Commons the lone also-eligible.
Toronado, the 5-2 morning-line favorite, drew well in post 5, and will have the services of regular rider Richard Hughes, who won his first Breeders’ Cup race here last year with Chriselliam in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.
Toronado, owned by Al Shaqab Racing, won the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes earlier this year, and the Group 1 Sussex last summer. The Queen Anne is a straight-course mile, while the Sussex has a mild right-handed bend, and Toronado’s lone start going left-handed, the direction of travel in North America, produced a dismal finish in the 2013 Juddmonte International, albeit at a distance farther than Toronado’s best.
:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2014: Post positions and odds
Toronado is one of five Europeans in the Mile. Karakontie, the French 2000 Guineas winner this year, drew very poorly, landing post 14. Only six horses have started from the 14 post in one-mile races the last 30 years at Santa Anita, but none have won, and posts 13 and 14 are a combined 1 for 20 over that period.
Karakontie is one of three France-based horses in the Mile, and Anodin, another, is a full brother to three-time Mile winner Goldikova. Anodin drew post 9 and will be ridden by Goldikova’s jockey, Olivier Peslier, one of Peslier’s final rides for Alain and Gerard Wertheimer before Peslier’s long association with the owners ends this year.
Three-year-old filly Veda, the third French horse, has post 3, while England-based Trade Storm, the Woodbine Mile winner, breaks from 8, and the Ireland-based Mustajeeb drew post 4.
Obviously, making his third Mile appearance, drew post 2 and is nearly certain to go straight to the front, as is his wont. Sayaad (post 11) and Tourist (post 13) should be closest to the pacesetter. Seek Again, trained like Tourist by Bill Mott, might be the best American-based hope (though he, too, was imported from Europe) but post 12 is not ideal.
Grand Arch, the Canadian shipper, has the rail, while Kaigun, whose connections flirted with running in the Turf Sprint, drew post 7. Tom’s Tribute, vying with Obviously for leading California turf miler this year, has post 6, while the admirably consistent Summer Front drew 10.