DEL MAR, Calif. - Trainer Peter Miller put an exclamation point on an unforgettable day after Roy H wore down a game Imperial Hint to all but sew up division honors with a one-length victory in Saturday’s $1.5 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar.
Earlier in the afternoon, Miller sent out both the first- and second-place finishers, Stormy Liberal and Richard’s Boy, in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Lady Eli was unable to write a storybook ending to her brilliant career as significant trouble early in the race resulted in her finishing seventh behind Wuheida in Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar.
Trainer Chad Brown reported after the race that Lady Eli had cuts on the back of both of her hind legs and lost her left hind shoe in the early stages of the race.
The incident happened early on as horses were coming out of the chute.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Bar of Gold was one of five starters in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint with at least $1 million in earnings, but boy, was that misleading. The 5-year-old New York-bred mare entered the $1 million race with records of 0-for-15 in graded stakes and 0-for-11 on dry dirt tracks, which helped to explain her 66-1 odds as a rank outsider in a full gate of 14.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Peter Miller posted his first Breeders’ Cup victory and did so in memorable fashion Saturday at Del Mar, sending out both the winner, Stormy Liberal, and runner-up, Richard’s Boy, in the $1 million Turf Sprint.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Ralph Nicks enjoyed some great moments as an assistant to Bill Mott, most notably the glory years with Cigar. But when Caledonia Road rolled to a 3 1/4-length victory Saturday, it was Nicks, finally, who could claim a Breeders’ Cup win all his own.
Caledonia Road, well back through the early stages, closed with a flourish under Mike Smith to overtake the front-running Alluring Star and win the 34th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Ulysses, the 7-2 favorite for Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Turf, was withdrawn on Friday evening because of soundness issues.
In a one-sentence statement, the Breeders’ Cup announced his withdrawal without providing specifics. The statement said Ulysses was scratched “per recommendation from the track veterinarians.”
Ulysses is scheduled to go to stud at Cheveley Park in England in 2018 and is not expected to race again.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Is there anything Forever Unbridled cannot do?
It is a fair question following her Breeders’ Cup Distaff victory Friday at Del Mar.
In winning the Distaff by a half-length, Forever Unbridled ($9.40) has now won eight races on eight different tracks. Third last year in the Distaff, she won her first two starts this year including a victory over Songbird that sent that rival into retirement.
She pretty much does it all, and now Forever Unbridled holds the record for longest layoff by a Distaff winner. She was returning Friday from a 73-day layoff.
DEL MAR, California – Trainer Aidan O’Brien and jockey Ryan Moore won the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on Friday at Del Mar with a colt named Mendelssohn.
Of course they did.
This was the 11th edition of the Juvenile Turf. Moore and O’Brien have won four of them.
Handle on the four Breeders’ Cup races held on Friday at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., was $31.5 million, according to the charts of the races, up 3.2 percent compared to the same four races last year.
Race 1: KITTEN'S ROAR figures tough dropping out of a solid showing in the Grade 1 E. P. Taylor, though it is worth noting that she caught the kind of give in the ground that she adores in that race. Both she and the consistent ON LEAVE will be part of my play, but the main two for me will be MAJESTIC HEAT and the Marco Botti shipper ALJAZZI.
Main: 9, 11
Backups: 1, 4, 7
