ARCADIA, Calif. – A pair of low-odds, lightly raced fillies will try to win separate California-bred turf races Friday at Santa Anita, and an autumn trend supports both – On the Equinox in race 1, and Nene Diamond in race 6.
Grass races this fall at Santa Anita have been unusually predictable, akin to the parade of chalk that has become routine on California dirt.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Although Hurricane Milton was expected to make landfall well north of Gulfstream Park, the effects of the massive storm are likely to be felt locally when racing resumes with a nine-race program here Friday.
Far, far away from Breeders’ Cup prep races in the United States, an undefeated filly in Japan is quietly preparing for a chance to upset the stars of the BC Distaff.
It happened once before, three years ago at Del Mar, where a filly from Japan shocked the Distaff at 49-1. This year, at the same track in the same race, Awesome Result will arrive from the Land of the Rising Sun with a higher profile than Marche Lorraine, 2021 Distaff knockout.
This could be a nerve-wracking October for Steve Landers, the owner of the 2-year-old filly Destino d’Oro.
A contender for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1, Destino d’Oro finished a troubled third by a head in her stakes debut in the Grade 2 Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland last Friday.
Destino d’Oro narrowly missed a win, and the fees-paid berth to the Juvenile Fillies Turf that went to the undefeated May Day Ready.
Ramatuelle’s win Sunday in the Prix de la Foret at Longchamp surely didn’t resonate for the American racing audience the way Carl Spackler’s had the day before in the Turf Mile at Keeneland. But Ramatuelle stamped herself a serious contender for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, at least as much so as Carl Spackler, who might not even be the most interesting BC Mile contender exiting the Turf Mile at Keeneland.
Tyler Gaffalione has ridden the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile just three times. The odds on those horses were 94-1, 52-1, and 103-1.
Gaffalione will be on a much shorter-priced horse in this year’s renewal of the Juvenile, to be run Nov. 1 at Del Mar, as he is the jockey of East Avenue. Coming off a dominant 5 1/4-length victory in last Saturday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, East Avenue figures to vie for favoritism with Chancer McPatrick, a two-time Grade 1 winner.
It is the goal of every trainer with a Breeders’ Cup contender to have their horse in peak form come the first Saturday of November. And nobody has done the job better in the lead up to this year’s championship weekend than Rodolphe Brisset has with BC Sprint hopeful Mullikin.
Trainer Kevin Attard has noticed Moira’s “game face.”
“The change on race day is uncanny. I haven’t experienced a horse like that,” Attard said.
“Day to day, she goes out there, does her job, and knows what she needs to do. When the tack gets on her, she’s a horse that’s all business. On race day, she’s a handful. She turns into a completely different horse. You’ve got to be on your toes with her and be prepared for anything because she can throw anything at you.”
In the six prior runnings of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, the winner has not had his or her final prep at the track, or even in the region, where the Breeders’ Cup was held.
For the 2018 (Churchill Downs), 2019 (Santa Anita), and 2020 (Keeneland) editions of the Breeders’ Cup, the Juvenile Turf Sprint winners had their final starts at Gulfstream Park, Belmont Park, and Saratoga, respectively. The last three winners of the race, at Del Mar, Keeneland, and Santa Anita, all had their most recent starts in Europe.
Of the 12 runners British-based trainer Brian Meehan has started in the Breeders’ Cup, two have won the BC Turf – Red Rocks in 2006 and Dangerous Midge in 2010.
They are his only winners in the famous two-day festival, a list that may grow if Jayarebe is sent to California for the BC Turf on Nov. 2 at Del Mar.
“We’re very keen to come,” he said.
