LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For most his adult life, Bill Parcells was immersed in football, reaching the pinnacle of his coaching profession by guiding the New York Giants to a pair of Super Bowl victories in five years.
To fill the void left by leaving coaching, Parcells has immersed himself in horse racing, a hobby that has turned into a passion.
“I’m one of those kind of guys – I need action,” said Parcells, 77. “At my age, I got to have something to think about.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – They tried something new with Newspaperofrecord, an Irish-bred daughter of the European stallion Lope de Vega whom trainer Chad Brown bought for Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stable at the Tattersalls October 2018 yearling sale in Newmarket, England.
Yet her position here this week at Churchill Downs is old news. Brown has won the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf three out of the last four years and four times in its 10-year history, and Newspaperofrecord figures a heavy favorite to extend Brown’s epic record in the race Friday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Six months after Justify and Good Magic finished 1-2 in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, their trainers, Bob Baffert and Chad Brown, are back here with 2-year-olds they hope are their future stars.
Baffert will send out Game Winner, while Brown will saddle Complexity and Standard Deviation in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, the last of five Breeders’ Cup races for 2-year-olds to be run Friday at this historic venue.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Simon Callaghan came down this road last year. The youthful trainer had the favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar, but Moonshine Memories could do no better than seventh.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – If you create it, they will come.
That seems to be the theme for the inaugural running of the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, which will have a capacity starting gate of 12, plus the maximum four also-eligibles listed on the program, with entrants drawn from both sides of the Atlantic. The Juvenile Turf Sprint brings the number of Breeders’ Cup races to 14, and is the first Breeders’ Cup race on Friday at Churchill Downs. All five of the Breeders’ Cup races on the card are for juveniles.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Highlighted by the success of millionaires Da Big Hoss and Bigger Picture in recent years, Mike Maker has developed a reputation for being a trainer adept at developing claimed horses and turning them into successful turf stayers. Apparently he can train speed into a claimer, too.
For the second straight year, Maker will have a starter in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint with a horse he claimed when Hembree goes in Saturday’s $1 million race. His participation comes a year after Hogy ran 11th at Del Mar in the Turf Sprint for him.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Five previous Breeders’ Cup race winners, a two-time winner of the Arc de Triomphe, a pair of Kentucky Oaks winners, and a pair of Travers winners were among the 191 horses entered Monday in the 14 Breeders’ Cup races that will be run Friday and Saturday at Churchill Downs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The National Football League has the New England Patriots. Thoroughbred horse racing has Aidan O’Brien.
Year after year there is no down year for the Patriots, nor for O’Brien. Each season the horses pass through the O’Brien system like the lineage of receivers plugged into the New England offense, talented inherently, honed by the enterprise that envelops and develops them.
Aidan O’Brien might as well be Bill Belichick, the craggy Patriots coach.
