When the grading system for stakes was first introduced in the 1973 season, the Laurel Futurity was among a dozen Grade 1 races for 2-year-olds. The race retained that status for nearly two decades.
In recent years, with changes in track ownership and financial troubles plaguing the Maryland racing industry, the Laurel Futurity has not been contested in four seasons, was moved to the grass at various distances, and is now an ungraded event.
A car dealer by trade, a gambler by nature, Bernie Schiappa is always looking for a good deal, particularly when it comes to buying racehorses. He’s never in the market for yearlings or 2-year-olds in training, preferring ready-made horses who are acquired, the hope goes, long before they blossom. Betting on the come, they call it at the craps table.
Breeders’ Cup history is replete with longshot winners ranging from lone speed, to overlooked imports, to horse-for-course specialists.
Didn’t have Adoration in the 2003 Distaff? Few did, although her $83.40 payoff might have been a bonanza for bettors that appreciate Santa Anita lone speed.
ARCADIA, Calif. - One of Richard Mandella’s top horses for the Breeders’ Cup races at Santa Anita on Nov. 2-3 is the promising 3-year-old Jimmy Creed, a candidate for the $1.5 million Sprint on Nov. 3.
Wednesday, Jimmy Creed worked five furlongs in 59.80 seconds, the fastest of 28 works at the distance. Jockey Garrett Gomez, who has the mount in the BC Sprint, was aboard for the workout.
[BREEDERS' CUP 2012: Race-by-race coverage, video, early odds]
Among the 14 pre-entrants for the Filly and Mare Sprint are Musical Romance, the defending titlist and the division’s reigning Eclipse winner; Turbulent Descent, a Grade 1 winner each of the past three years and the 7-5 favorite in last year’s renewal; Switch, a dual Grade 1 winner at Santa Anita and the Filly and Mare Sprint runner-up each of the last two years; and Contested, a perfect 5 for 5 on fast dirt tracks, including decisive triumphs in the Acorn and Test.
Handicappers expecting to come up with the winner of the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint may be disappointed to find that Daily Racing Form past performances don’t come with a decoder ring, Ouija board, or Magic 8 Ball.
That’s because there are far more questions than there are answers when it comes to assessing the chances of many of the contenders in this race, which drew 17 pre-entries, only 14 of which will be allowed to start. For instance: What happened to Starspangledbanner in that last race in France, where he finished last of 11?
There were no major surprises when a list of 13 pre-entered horses in the Breeders’ Cup Mile was revealed Wednesday. And that’s just fine. The matchup between Wise Dan and Excelebration alone makes the BC Mile must-see racing. Add to that intriguing inter-continental showdown the 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom as well as top French filly Moonlight Cloud and the Mile should be memorable.
The $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies could go with its shortest field in history Nov. 2 at Santa Anita, as five of the nine horses pre-entered Monday were cross-entered in other BC stakes.
