Breeders' Cup race analysis from DRF handicappers
DRF Past Performances
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OCEANPORT, N.J. He won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last year, then six months later became the first horse to parlay a win in that race to one in the Kentucky Derby. Since then, he has added the Travers Stakes to his resume. And on Saturday at Monmouth Park, Street Sense will try to go out a winner in his final start, the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic, which would cap an unprecedented quartet of victories.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - He won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last year, then six months later became the first horse to parlay a win in that race to one in the Kentucky Derby. Since then, he has added the Travers Stakes to his resume. And on Saturday at Monmouth Park, Street Sense will try to go out a winner in his final start, the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic, which would cap an unprecedented quartet of victories.
Dylan Thomas is the star attraction among a surprisingly small group of European invaders at this year's Breeders' Cup at Monmouth Park, where only 12 foreign-trained horses will line up this weekend. With three of those slated for the new Juvenile Turf on Friday, that means just nine foreigners will go in the eight older races, equaling the record for the smallest number since nine went in the 1997 Cup at Hollywood Park.
An analysis of the best Racing Post Ratings of the European-trained horses in the four Breeders' Cup races on turf with those of their American rivals reveals some intriguing comparisons.
When analyzing the data in the accompanying chart, remember that the RPR is a handicap rating designed to determine what weight a horse would carry in a handicap. So if the Turf were a handicap, Dylan Thomas at 131 would be giving six pounds to Red Rocks at 125. That they will be carrying equal weights on Saturday gives Dylan Thomas a big edge over all of his rivals, in theory at least.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Thursday was both the nastiest and busiest day for training here this past week, with temperatures dipping into the low 50s and some intermittent rain adding even more moisture to a track and turf course already soaked by heavy downpours the previous evening.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Barclay Tagg was around racehorses for 40 years before he became an overnight sensation in 2003. It has taken him only four more years to assemble the largest, deepest barn he has ever trained.
Long respected as a trainer on the East Coast, Tagg had knocked off a Grade 1 race here and there with the likes of Miss Josh and Royal Mountain Inn, but it wasn't until Funny Cide came along that Tagg's profile was raised.
"He certainly led the parade," Tagg said in his Belmont Park stable office the other morning.
With 0.8 of an inch of rain having already fallen as of Thursday morning, and a forecast that calls for the possibility of another 1 1/2 inches by Saturday morning, Mother Nature seems intent on having an impact on this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships.
According to the Weather Channel, there was an 80opercent chance of rain on Friday and another 80 percent chance on Saturday, though Saturday's forecast called for thunderstorms as opposed to steadier precipitation.
OCEANPORT, N.J. Attila's Storm, who was entered in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, and Dixie Chatter, who was entered in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, were scratched from their respective Saturday races on Thursday morning at Monmouth Park.
Attila's Storm has a filling in an ankle, according to trainer Rich Schosberg, who said X-rays were inconclusive.
"I'm sure it's nothing major, but we're certainly taking no risks," Schosberg said.
Dixie Chatter came up with a fever, according to his trainer, Richard Mandella.