ELMONT, N.Y. - Breeders' Cup hopefuls were busy from coast to coast on Friday with nine working in New York, seven in California, and one over the host track at Monmouth Park.
DRF Past Performances
Skip to main content
If you want to drink the Kool-Aid, go ahead and concede the Breeders' Cup Turf to Dylan Thomas, who won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe two weekends ago in Paris and is regarded by many as the best 1 1/2-mile grass horse in the world. But while 4-year-old Dylan Thomas was no more than a twinkle in his mother's eye, 8-year-old Better Talk Now already was winning graded stakes races, and here is a horse who has a way of sneaking up on people come Breeders' Cup time.
In his two forays into the really big time, Xchanger has had the misfortune of running against the very best of the 3-year-old crop. The gray colt finished eighth behind Curlin and Street Sense in the Preakness, then labored home sixth behind Any Given Saturday and Hard Spun in the Haskell Invitational.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The majority of the final major preps for the 141 horses pre-entered in this year's 11 Breeders' Cup races will take place between Friday and Wednesday mornings, although most of that work will be done at sites other than the host track, Monmouth Park.
ELMONT, N.Y. - In the space of 96 seconds on Oct. 6, Majestic Warrior went from being one of the heaviest favorites in a Breeders' Cup race to one of the biggest questions. He had won his first two starts impressively, including a powerful victory in the Hopeful Stakes. But in the Champagne Stakes, he finished sixth of eight, beaten 14 lengths.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - A total of 141 horses, including a Breeders' Cup Classic that includes all the leading contenders for Horse of the Year, were announced on Wednesday at Monmouth Park as pre-entries for the 24th Breeders' Cup World Championships Oct. 26 and 27 at Monmouth.
The $1 million Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf offers half the purse of the Juvenile and less prestige, in part because the Juvenile Turf lacks graded status for its inaugural running.
Yet everyone it seems wants to run in the race. Twenty-three horses were announced Wednesday as pre-entered for the mile turf race, the most of the 11 Breeders Cup races, including the Juvenile, which drew 16.
Having established himself as the best 12-furlong horse in the world with victories in Europe's two most prestigious 1 1/2-mile races, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Dylan Thomas should go off as a strong favorite in the Breeders' Cup Turf.
Twelve were pre-entered on Monday for the Turf, so no horse will be excluded. Honey Ryder has also been pre-entered in the Filly and Mare Turf, which is her first preference.
The connections of Benny the Bull, Bordonaro, La Traviata, and Commentator are all very eager to run in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint, although for the past several weeks they have been worried they might not get into the starting lineup if the race were to oversubscribe.
Not to worry.
Although 15 horses were pre-entered on Monday for the 14 starting positions, everybody who wants to run in the Sprint will have that opportunity because one of the entered horses, Park Avenue Ball, has as a first preference the Dirt Mile.