As if there wasn’t already a supposition that the $1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint will be more competitive this year at Santa Anita than last year – when Groupie Doll won easily as an odds-on favorite – that sentiment was confirmed over the weekend, when Groupie Doll was a no-excuse third as the 1-2 choice in the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland.
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DRF Past Performances
Mon, 10/07/2013 - 16:37
The field for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf went a long way toward solidification this past week when some key preps were held on both coasts, and one in the middle of the country. Favorites have sorted themselves out, though one of the best of the division - if not the best - is so good right now that she may be pointed for the richer $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies to try to win a divisional title.
The Shadwell Turf Mile didn’t live up to its billing.
First, a torrential downpour caused the event to be washed off the turf and onto the Polytrack at 1 1/16 miles.
Then, heavy favorite Wise Dan, the reigning Horse of the Year, had his nine-race winning streak snapped by the speedy Silver Max.
Yes, there were some surprises in the race, but the style Silver Max employed wasn’t a shock to anyone. The Dale Romans-trained colt knows only one way to run, and that is to zip to the early lead and hope no one catches him.
Nobody was catching him Saturday.
Mon, 10/07/2013 - 15:33
In winning Sunday’s Grade 1 Juddmonte Spinster at Keeneland, a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, Emollient earned a fees-paid berth in the race. But if she heads to Santa Anita in the coming weeks, it almost certainly will be for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 2.
Although Emollient is graded stakes-placed on dirt, the surface on which the Distaff will be contested, her form is erratic on it. Also, Juddmonte Farms, which owns the filly, could have another starter in the Distaff in Close Hatches.
Bobby’s Kitten left no doubt that he is the top 2-year-old on turf in North America and likely will be favored in the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 1. With Javier Castellano aboard, Bobby’s Kitten blew away the field in the Grade 3 Pilgrim at Belmont Park on Sunday.
The Pilgrim was one of three Win and You’re In races for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf held Sunday, and Bobby’s Kitten, trained by Chad Brown, is the only horse coming out of the races who will take advantage of the fees-paid berth that comes with winning.
“The Best is Yet to Come” is not only the mantra for the Breeders’ Cup, it is exactly what trainer Shug McGaughey thinks when he looks at his 2-year-old Honor Code.
What decision has yet to come from McGaughey is whether the best thing to do for Honor Code is to ship him cross-country for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita.
Finnegans Wake and Lucayan, second and third in graded stakes on turf in September, are unlikely to start in the $3 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 2, their trainers said on Sunday.
Finnegans Wake, second to BC Turf hopeful Hyper in the Grade 2 Bowling Green Handicap at Belmont Park on Sept. 7, is a candidate for the $200,000 Fayette Stakes over 1 1/8 miles on the Polytrack surface at Keeneland on Oct. 26, trainer Dale Romans said.
My Conquestadory and Artemis Agrotera spiced up the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies division last weekend with Win and You’re In victories in the respective Grade 1, $400,000 Alcibiades at Keeneland and the Grade 1, $500,000 Frizette at Belmont Park.
My Conquestadory, who has been a leading candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, opened up her options with an athletic Alcibiades score on Friday. Artemis Agrotera, meanwhile, upset the pro-tem leader Sweet Reason in the Frizette on Saturday.
The growing possibility Princess of Sylmar and Close Hatches both might start has dramatically altered the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, and changed it from a small-field procession into a race that would be among the most eagerly anticipated of 2013.
Confirmed starters as recently as a week ago included only three – Royal Delta, Beholder and Authenticity. That small-but-mighty group might be getting a lot stronger. Four-time Grade 1 winner Princess of Sylmar and two-time Grade 1 winner Close Hatches are back in the picture.
After a flurry of important races on Sept. 29, this past weekend was a quiet one in regards to the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Classic, with no races that impacted the field.
As present, it looks like approximately a dozen runners will be in the $5 million, 1 1/4-mile Classic, including five horses who ran in last year’s race – the first four finishers, plus the beaten favorite.