Light Jig and Ouija Board emerged as the two likely favorites for the Filly and Mare Turf following last weekend's four major prep races in the U.S. and France.
Light Jig became the top American hopeful following her four-length victory in the Grade 1 Yellow Ribbon Handicap at Santa Anita. The following afternoon, Ouija Board was nearly as impressive in defeat, rallying from the rear of the pack to finish a fast-closing third against males in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp.
The Joe Hirsch Turf Classic gave the Breeders' Cup Turf its likely favorite. The Clement Hirsch gave the Turf perhaps its most compelling story. And the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe apparently failed to give the Turf much of anything.
This was the fallout from a weekend that figures to carry the greatest impact on the $2 million Turf when it is renewed Oct. 30 at Lone Star Park.
Will he or won't he?
Pico Central returned to his Hollywood Park base Tuesday afternoon, and his trainer, Paulo Lobo, said a decision on supplementing the horse to the $1 million Breeders' Cup Sprint is not expected to be made until pre-entries for the six-furlong race are taken Oct. 18.
Pico Central won the Grade 1, $500,000 Vosburgh at Belmont Park on Saturday. The win was his third Grade 1 score in New York this year, with his others coming at seven furlongs in the Carter Handicap at Aqueduct and at one mile in the Metropolitan Handicap.
Trainer Tim Ritchey has taken it one race at a time with every horse he trains. So when he says he's not sure whether Afleet Alex will run in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Oct. 30 at Lone Star Park, he is not being difficult.
"Depends on how he races in the Champagne and how he comes out of it," Ritchey said. "Everything hinges on that. I just have to do what's best for my horse. If he comes out of the race very well, it is a possibility to go to the Breeders' Cup."
Miss Matched was no match for Sense of Style when the two fillies met in the Grade 2 Spinaway at Saratoga on Aug. 20. John Ward, the trainer of Miss Matched, doesn't know if things will be different when the two meet again in Friday's $400,000 Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland. But to Ward, winning is not necessarily the main objective.
For Ward, the Alcibiades is a stepping-stone to get Miss Matched to the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Lone Star Park on Oct. 30.
They are in the same barn, and have often run in the same races, but that is where the comparisons end between Birdstone and The Cliff's Edge. Birdstone does his best with plenty of time between races, while The Cliff's Edge can handle a more aggressive schedule. That is the reason Birdstone will be forgoing a prep race before the Oct. 30 Breeders' Cup Classic, while The Cliff's Edge will rev up the engines yet again, this time to take on older horses in the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup on Saturday at Belmont Park.
Her two victories at the beginning of last winter's Santa Anita meeting put Island Fashion atop her division, a position she solidified with a gutsy second-place finish when facing males in the Santa Anita Handicap. But a subsequent trip to Japan and lengthy layoff following a 16th-place finish there has resulted in Island Fashion becoming the forgotten horse of this year's Breeders' Cup Distaff.
When Breeders' Cup fans sit down in a few weeks to analyze the $2 million Turf, the prep races they will scrutinize closest are the three to be run this coming weekend.
Three huge preps for the 1 1/2-mile Turf are set for this weekend: the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on Saturday, and the Arc de Triomphe and Clement Hirsch on Sunday.
The Joe Hirsch, named for the retired Daily Racing Form columnist, is full of interesting possibilities, with the standout 3-year-old Kitten's Joy squaring off against Magistretti, Kicken Kris, and others at Belmont Park.
With the major American preps for the Breeders' Cup Mile still a weekend away, the most significant latest developments about the $1.5 million race center on happenings in Europe, notably the fallout from the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes last Saturday at Ascot in England.
The prospective starting lineup for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf should come into sharper focus by the end of the weekend, with major prep races scheduled Saturday on both coasts and two more the following afternoon at Longchamp in France.
