LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It was 7 in the morning here at Churchill Downs on Wednesday when trainer Jerry Hollendorfer’s phone rang, with Hollywood Park-based assistant Dan Ward on the line. Not 30 seconds later, the phone rang again, with his wife, Janet, based at Golden Gate Fields, checking in with updates on the horses Hollendorfer has there. It’s true. You’ve got to get up pretty early in the morning to beat Hollendorfer.
“I get up at 3 every day,” he said.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In the vast majority of horse races, there are question marks among the past performances of the entrants, ranging anywhere from whether a prospective runner can handle an untried distance to perhaps another’s potential effectiveness with a change in racing surface.
Friday’s Grade 3, $500,000 Breeders’ Cup Marathon at Churchill Downs presents those specific unknowns, plus a whole lot more. At 1 3/4 miles on dirt, the race is atypical, and the outcome appears as murky as the Ohio River that flows past downtown Louisville.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Owner Andrew Rosen hopes that Breeders’ Cup success runs in the family.
Twenty-six years ago, Rosen’s family won the first-ever Breeders’ Cup race when Chief’s Crown took the 1984 Juvenile at Hollywood Park. Five years ago, Merv Griffin’s Stevie Wonderboy won the 22nd Juvenile at Belmont Park.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Forever Together of 2008 would give favored Midday all she wanted in Friday’s Filly and Mare Turf, while Informed Decision, vintage 2009, would be a clear favorite in the Filly and Mare Sprint. But empires fade.
Neither mare has come back in 2010 to their best form of seasons past, and it has generally been that kind of year on the Thoroughbred side of trainer Jonathan Sheppard’s stable. Sheppard had a magical 2009, going 16-8-6 with 50 graded stakes starters. This year, Sheppard comes into Breeders’ Cup weekend with seven graded stakes wins.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There are any number of compelling stories in this year’s Breeders’ Cup. One of them is trainer Jimmy Toner’s attempt to win the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf with Winter Memories, whose dam, Memories of Silver, competed in the Breeders’ Cup for Toner 14 years earlier.
Winter Memories will be favored to win the one-mile Juvenile Fillies Turf, having captured her only two previous starts in impressive fashion, including the Grade 3 Miss Grillo over a yielding course at Belmont Park on Oct. 3.
Friday’s distaff-plus-Marathon Breeders’ Cup card gets off to a modest start with a largely meaningless Marathon at 1 3/4 miles on dirt, conditions that you will find in few places in the world outside of South America. This is a race that would benefit by a switch to turf, in which case some of Europe’s better stayers might express an interest.
DRF.com handicapping editor Dan Illman, author of "Betting Maidens and 2-Year-Olds," takes an in-depth approach to juvenile racing every year at Saratoga and Keeneland in his DRF Plus columns, Spa Babies and Keeneland Babies.
DRF.com handicapping editor Dan Illman, author of "Betting Maidens and 2-Year-Olds," takes an in-depth approach to juvenile racing every year at Saratoga and Keeneland in his DRF Plus columns, Spa Babies and Keeneland Babies.
DRF.com handicapping editor Dan Illman, author of "Betting Maidens and 2-Year-Olds," takes an in-depth approach to juvenile racing every year at Saratoga and Keeneland in his DRF Plus columns, Spa Babies and Keeneland Babies.
DRF.com handicapping editor Dan Illman, author of "Betting Maidens and 2-Year-Olds," takes an in-depth approach to juvenile racing every year at Saratoga and Keeneland in his DRF Plus columns, Spa Babies and Keeneland Babies.
