GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - The first local appearance by members of the European contingent for Saturday's Breeders' Cup program, the majority of whom had just cleared quarantine, highlighted training hours at Lone Star on Wednesday.
Only two horses turned in recorded workouts, one on the main track and one on the turf course.
LONE STAR PARK
Overcast, low 70's
Main track fast, turf soft
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - In 2002, owner Michael Paulson was desirous of running Azeri in the Breeders' Cup Classic, but trainer Laura de Seroux talked him out of it. Instead, Azeri won the Distaff, and subsequently was named Horse of the Year.
Last year, Paulson again was eager to take on the boys, but this time Azeri would not cooperate. She sulked so badly in two works before the Breeders' Cup that she was taken out of training, skipped the Breeders' Cup, and nearly was retired.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - When D. Wayne Lukas took over as the trainer of Azeri at the beginning of the year, he entered what was seemingly a no-win situation. The conventional wisdom was that Azeri had soured on racing, based on her obstinacy while training in the fall of 2003. She had accomplished enough, by virtue of having captured Horse of the Year in 2002. What more could she do?
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - That sound you heard from coast to coast about 2 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday was the collective cheer of trainers with horses in the Breeders' Cup Distaff reacting to the decision of owner Michael Paulson and trainer D. Wayne Lukas to run Azeri in the Classic on Saturday at Lone Star Park.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - The Breeders' Cup just doesn't just draw some of the world's best horses, it also lures top riders from here and abroad. Lone Star Park will capitalize on that Thursday when it stages the International Jockey Championship.
A number of changes have been made to the competition from last year, but one constant is that patrons can make win, place, show, exacta, and trifecta bets on how the riders competing will finish overall in the Jockey Championship.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Kela comes into the $1 million Breeders' Cup Sprint for one of the hottest barns in racing. His trainer, Mike Mitchell, leads the standings at the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita, where he has won with 48 percent of his starters through Tuesday.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Tex. - So much for the pool table effect. The two or so inches of rain that drenched the Dallas area Monday afternoon has left the Lone Star Park turf course considerably softer than what had been widely predicted for this time of year, and now the trainers of the top contenders in the $2 million Turf are trying to envision how that development may affect the race.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Perhaps the strongest contingent of European runners for this year's Breeders' Cup has collected within the confines of the Mile. Four of the 14 horses expected to start in the $1.5 million Mile are from Europe, most notably the defending champion, Six Perfections.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - More than two inches of rain fell over the local area on Monday evening, leaving the condition of the grass course a giant question mark for Saturday's Filly and Mare Turf.
Bobby Frankel, who will send out the uncoupled pair of Light Jig and Megahertz in the Filly and Mare Turf, is among the trainers who would prefer to see firm ground by Saturday.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Graham Motion wasn't necessarily planning to bring Dance Away Capote to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. So, the filly decided to bring him.
By pairing up two strong efforts around two turns in a 13-day period, Dance Away Capote earned her shot at the $1 million Juvenile Fillies, and Motion certainly wasn't going to take it away from her.
