ARCADIA, Calif. - With her perfect record and stylish way of winning, Zenyatta has ascended to the leadership of the nation's older fillies and mares. And on Friday, in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting, Zenyatta will, truly, be No. 1. She wound up in the inside post in a field of eight when the Ladies' Classic field was drawn on Tuesday at Santa Anita.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Midshipman suffered his first defeat when he finished second to Street Hero in the Grade 1 Norfolk last month. Trainer Bob Baffert said he believes that loss may actually help Midshipman's chances in Saturday's $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.
"We learned a lot from that race, his style of running,'' said Baffert, who wouldn't reveal exactly what he learned. "I saw something in there that he needs to do, so we're going to do things a little different. He's going to run much better; he needs to run much better. It's a tough field.''
ARCADIA, Calif. - What's the difference between owning a professional sports franchise and a champion racehorse? Just ask Alan Cohen, who is both the principal owner of the Florida Panthers NHL hockey team and the Eclipse Award-winning mare Wait a While.
"The biggest difference is that Wait had three good years in a row and an agent never called," quipped Cohen, 54, who headed the consortium that purchased the Panthers from H. Wayne Huizenga in 2001.
Fields for the 14 Breeders' Cup races were drawn Tuesday afternoon at Santa Anita, where the championship events will be run Friday and Saturday.
The $5 million BC Classic drew a field of 12 topped by defending champ and Horse of the Year Curlin, who was installed as the 7-5 favorite on the morning line.
In the Ladies' Classic, Zenyatta drew the rail and was placed at 3-5 in the morning line in a small but highly competitive eight-horse field.
$1,000,000 Filly and Mare Sprint
1 Magnificience
ARCADIA, Calif. - Neither Bobby Frankel, the owner and trainer of Mast Track, nor Eoin Harty, the trainer of Well Armed, were desirous of having their horses, who have similar front-running styles, compete against one another in the Breeders' Cup on Saturday at Santa Anita. By the end of the day Monday, it worked out much more favorably for Harty and Well Armed than for Frankel and Mast Track.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Curlin may have grabbed most of the attention, but his final workout for Saturday's Breeders' Cup Classic was just one of many important preps that took place under cool and cloudy skies Monday morning at Santa Anita. The group included four other likely members of the Classic field.
Coronet of a Baron is expected to make his turf debut in Saturday's $1omillion Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita after breezing five furlongs over the surface on Monday morning.
Working in company with stablemate African Diamond, Coronet of a Baron was timed in 1:02.80, working well off the inside rail, which is customary for turf workouts in Southern California.
After the workout, trainer Eoin Harty said Coronet of a Baron is likely to bypass the $2 million Juvenile on the main track for the turf race on the same day.
Evita Argentina is one of two fillies to have defeated Stardom Bound. She will try to do it again in Friday's $2 million Juvenile Fillies, where Stardom Bound figures to rule a strong favorite. Trainer John Sadler had pre-entered Evita Argentina and Emmy Darling in both the Juvenile Fillies and Juvenile Fillies Turf, but was always planning to run one in each race.
Bear Now has finished in the money in 8 of her last 9 starts, winning 5, including her most recent start, the Kentucky Cup Distaff at Turfway Park on Sept. 27. Despite that consistency, she will be a longshot on Friday in the $2 million Ladies' Classic, because the strong field includes the unbeaten Zenyatta, along with such accomplished Grade 1 performers as Carriage Trail, Cocoa Beach, Ginger Punch, and Hystericalady.
Tropic Storm was declared out of the Turf Sprint after suffering a tendon injury his left foreleg, trainer Craig Dollase said Monday. Tropic Storm had been pre-entered for both the Sprint on Pro-Ride and the Turf Sprint, but was always pointing for the Turf Sprint.
"He's out indefinitely," Dollase said. "Bad timing. We're very disappointed, but he'll live to fight another day."