There were no surprises when pre-entries for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint closed on Monday, with the prospective lineup for the six-furlong event virtually the same as it has been since Daily Racing Form began tracking the contenders six weeks earlier.
The last time the Breeders’ Cup Mile was run in California, a Chad Brown-trained filly beat a Mark Casse-trained filly, and it could happen again Nov. 6 at Del Mar.
Blowout, a 5-year-old mare trained by Brown, and Got Stormy, a 6-year-old mare from Casse’s stable, were among the selected runners in a vastly oversubscribed renewal of the $2 million BC Mile.
Gamine will be part of the shortest field in the 14-race Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar when the superstar filly faces just six others when seeking a repeat in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 6.
If speed holds on Breeders’ Cup Saturday, Nov. 6, at Del Mar, the favorites in all five BC dirt races that day should be in good shape, including the favorite in the $2 million Distaff.
Letruska, the traveling front-runner who has won seven graded stakes on seven tracks in her last eight starts, hopes to cement a championship season by wiring the Distaff in her first start at Del Mar. Her style is appropriate. Speed is the theme on BC Saturday.
DEL MAR, Calif. – A lot has changed with Life Is Good since he announced himself for the first time to the world here at Del Mar 11 months ago, but one thing hasn’t – his brilliance.
Life Is Good missed the Triple Crown owing to a minor injury, and his owners changed trainers and thus the coast on which he is based, but Life Is Good has continued to race and train like a special horse. He heads the list of 11 horses – two of whom are expected to go in other Breeders’ Cup races – who were announced on Wednesday as pre-entries for the $1 million Dirt Mile on Nov. 6 at Del Mar.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Essential Quality and Knicks Go are two of eight Breeders’ Cup winners from 2020 who were among those announced as pre-entries on Wednesday, but this year they are scheduled to face off in what could be an intramural battle for Horse of the Year.
Essential Quality, last year’s winner of the Juvenile, and Knicks Go, who won the Dirt Mile, are among 10 horses pre-entered in the $6 million Classic, the richest and last of 14 Breeders’ Cup races that will be run Nov. 5 and 6 at Del Mar.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday night vetoed legislation that would have removed a rule requiring married jockeys to be coupled in races for wagering purposes, citing the rule’s long history.
The rule, which is rarely invoked, became an issue in New York earlier this year when the married jockeys Trevor McCarthy and Katie Davis began riding together on the Aqueduct circuit. The rule states that horses in the same race ridden by married jockeys must be coupled, without exception.
Sam Spear, the longtime director of media relations at Golden Gate Fields and the now-defunct Bay Meadows, died early on Saturday morning of complications of sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease, according to multiple reports. Spear was 72.
Golden Gate Fields in Northern California cancelled a nine-race program Sunday after jockeys decided not to ride amid wet and windy conditions, according to steward Richard Lewis.
The decision was made less than 30 minutes before first post time after conversations between riders and track management.
Earlier in the day, Golden Gate’s synthetic main track was open for training, with 49 recorded workouts. Several trainers praised the condition of the track through the morning.
