LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There is no glass ceiling at the Breeders’ Cup. In recent years, quite often it has been ladies, first.
Goldikova has won the Breeders’ Cup Mile the last three years racing against the boys. Two years ago, Zenyatta won the Classic, and she was the focal point of last year’s Breeders’ Cup, when she just missed in her attempt to win the Classic for the second straight year.
Switch, the second choice on the morning line for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Churchill Downs on Friday, will be withdrawn from the Keeneland sale on Monday and will race next year at 5, according to trainer John Sadler.
“The original plan was to sell her, but we’ve decided recently to go on and run her again,” Sadler said. “That’s good news for us.”
Turbulent Descent, the solid favorite for the Filly and Mare Sprint, also will be withdrawn from the Fasig-Tipton sale on Sunday and will race next year, according to trainer Mike Puype.
The most celebrated racehorses in the world compete in the Breeders’ Cup races, but bettors shouldn’t let themselves be blinded by lofty reputations. The way to make money in this game is to look for vulnerability in favorites, and there may be several such opportunities at Churchill Downs on Saturday.
Twitter updates from DRF's Mike Welsch in Kentucky for morning Breeders' Cup workouts on Thursday, Nov. 3. Check back later today for Mike Welsch's final Clocker Report Card for Saturday's Breeders' Cup races, plus video analysis of today's training and works at Churchill Downs. You can also find the rest of his Breeders' Cup clocker reports and a list of Breeders' Cup workouts by key contenders:
For the second year in a row, European connections have clashed with Churchill Downs officials over turf course policy, with Thursday’s confrontation between three trainers, track maintenance crew, and Churchill outriders coming after Churchill canceled turf training following a short period of morning rain. At the center of the battle was trainer Michael Stoute, whose Breeders’ Cup Turf entrant, Sea Moon, had been scheduled for a five- or six-furlong grass workout Thursday.
If Uncle Mo wins the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Saturday it will be:
1. The greatest training feat in the history of the Breeders’ Cup.
2. The greatest training feat in the history of mankind.
3. The second-greatest training feat on Saturday afternoon.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – When Todd Pletcher put Uncle Mo on a van bound for a farm in Lexington the morning of May 9, two days after the Kentucky Derby was run, the multiple Eclipse Award-winning trainer didn’t know if he would see his champion colt again.
Saturday’s nine Breeders’ Cup races are a staggeringly compelling card of racing, a combination of competitive, if not inscrutable, wagering propositions and showcases for many of the most talented horses on the planet.
The first five races fall into the first category, starting with the Marathon. American horses run 1 3/4 miles about as often as they skydive, and the Europeans who do have never raced on the dirt. I’ll side with distance over surface and try the imports Meeznah (12-1 morning line) and Brigantin (8-1) to upset the Americans A. U. Miner, Giant Oak, and Cease.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Medaglia d'Amour will be scratched from the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic on Friday after coming down with a temperature of 102 degrees on Thursday morning, trainer Ben Cecil said.
"She had a high temperature this morning and coughed a few times. We didn't train her, and obviously we can't run tomorrow," Cecil said.
Medaglia d'Amour was a longshot in the Ladies' Classic, 30-1 on the morning line of Mike Battaglia of Churchill Downs. She drew post 9 in the field of 10, so Super Espresso, who was in post 10, will come in one slot.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There has been some shuffling to the field for Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.
Longshot Gung Ho, trained by Mike Maker, was declared out of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Thursday morning by co-owner Ken Ramsey due to hind-end soreness, clearing the way for the race’s lone also-eligible, Tequila Factor, to draw into the field.
“When I checked him this morning he was off in the rear end,” Ramsey said of Gung Ho. “They’ve done some X-rays, no broken bones or anything.”
