If future-book wagering on the Kentucky Derby in Las Vegas weren’t virtually extinct, you could be certain that the current favorite for the 2019 Derby would be Game Winner.
As well he should be. And yes, that would be the case even after the sensational debut Saturday at Del Mar by Bob Baffert barnmate Coliseum, who delivered a performance that sparked enormous buzz in the American racing community.
Just as a soggy turf course at Churchill Downs affected the performances of some Breeders’ Cup participants a couple of weeks ago, damp grass conditions could influence the outcome of two of Saturday’s graded stakes – the River City from Churchill Downs and the Red Smith from Aqueduct.
** The strongest visual impression I got from the Classic is that several horses did not really stay the 1 1/4-mile distance. And that is not good when you consider the Classic field did not exactly fly home, not with a final half-mile in 52.32, and a final quarter-mile in 27.03.
From the Breeders’ Cup Book of John, Chapter 9, Verses 1 and 2: “And ye who have fought to lift the Arc of the Covenant above all that you deem Holy shall find in the Promised Land renewed life and spirit, and the peoples of Sakhee, Trempolino, and Saumarez shall weep no more in the night as the light of the lamb shall show the way in only her third race of the year.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For my money, this Breeders’ Cup was an artistic success.
First, the decision to move all the 2-year-old races to Friday made for what I thought was by far the best format since the Breeders’ Cup went to a two-day event in 2007. Friday’s events made sense as a group way more than a random collection of races and was far more palatable than the patronizing “Ladies Day” concept. Moreover, this afforded the opportunity for the Distaff, a legacy event, to enjoy its rightful prime-time spot on Saturday.
Joel Rosario entered the Churchill Downs jockeys room late Saturday afternoon, stripped off a set of Centennial Farm silks, and offered a hand of greeting, then quickly took it back.
“Let me take a shower first,” he said. “I got a little dirty.”
Sometimes it takes but a few brief brushstrokes to paint a vivid picture of an individual, leaving not much left to explain.
For John Gosden, who has brought British superstars Enable and Roaring Lion to the 35th Breeders’ Cup, that picture was frozen forever in time on the afternoon of July 23, 2011, at Ascot Racecourse, where the faithful had gathered to watch the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Meet Michael Earl Smith, philanthropist. Earlier this week, the Hall of Fame rider could be found hopping from one Breeders’ Cup event to another, signing bottles of booze, T-shirts, programs, photographs – just about everything this side of blank checks – as crowds gathered to support a variety of causes and bask in the glow of his sunshine smile.
Peter Miller was asked for a shorthand description of his 2018 season, which finds the trainer on the threshold of the Breeders’ Cup armed with salty squad of resolute speedballs in razor-sharp form.
“A roller-coaster doesn’t do it justice,” Miller said.
The fantasy world of Thoroughbred racing reaches peak excitement this coming week with the renewal of the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs, an event that offers distractions galore. Still, it is impossible to keep cold, hard reality at bay. Barely 60 hours after the Breeders’ Cup Classic is official next Saturday night, national midterm election day dawns on Nov. 6, with considerably more at stake than a handful of Eclipse Awards.
