At least one of the ideas in presenting 14 Breeders’ Cup races over two days of festive competition is to crown the champions of the various Thoroughbred divisions. But since there does not exist 14 championship divisions, some of these races end up being run just for the fun of it.
Hello Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.
For those who value local knowledge, there have been six runnings of the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita Park, with number seven poised for Friday and Saturday. They have had a few things in common – the mountains, forest fires, early post times, Arnold Schwarzenegger – and each Santa Anita version has presented the seven original Breeders’ Cup races, plus a few extras in recent years. All this makes for lively conversation over drinks at Nola’s new Santa Anita clubhouse bar since everyone has got their Santa Anita favorites among those six. These are mine:
Even at giddy moments like the start of Breeders’ Cup Week, there is an obligation to account for those chalked up as casualties along the way. Chance Rollins was reached on his seven-acre spread in Vernal, Utah. Ramon Dominguez answered his cell phone at home on Long Island, N.Y.
“The thing of it is, you know how jocks are,” said Rollins, 43, a winner of 2,049 Thoroughbred races. “You learn how to live with pain, and you learn how to ignore some of it. I could be like 99 percent of people who get hurt and feel sorry for myself, but every day I’m thankful.”
LAS VEGAS – The Breeders’ Cup is next Friday and Saturday, but the festivities start earlier than that here.
The annual kickoff to Breeders’ Cup Week every year is the Pick the Ponies horse handicapping tournament at the LVH – Las Vegas Hotel & Casino (formerly the Hilton) – on the Wednesday through Friday of the week, just like the spring rendition which is held the three days prior to the Kentucky Derby.
Before we start whittling and judging and deciding who should or shouldn’t win the Breeders’ Cup races Nov. 1 and 2, let’s take a moment to look at the forest instead of the trees and consider the entire assembly of the 172 racehorses who have been pre-entered for the 14 races:
The fairy tale could have come true last year, and everyone would have written and raved about how the first Thoroughbred whom Ted and Judy Nichols ever sent to the races jumped up to win a Breeders’ Cup event. Clouds of flowers would have descended upon their horsey hideaway in the hills east of Oceanside, Calif. Their grouchy American bulldog, Boomer, would have let strangers approach to pay tribute. The avocado orchards would have brought forth unmatched bounty and vintage guacamole.
The stage is set for another orgy of good racing, with a list of 172 horses pre-entered for the 14 races of the 30th Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships to be run at Santa Anita Park on Friday, Nov. 1, and Saturday, Nov. 2.
This year, with domestic stars Wise Dan, Royal Delta, Princess of Sylmar, Little Mike, Point of Entry, Beholder and Palace Malice in the mix, a memorable event is all but guaranteed. Betting will be offered and encouraged.
I don’t know if George Santayana ever went to a racetrack, but he would have understood the Breeders’ Cup that began 32 years after his death.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” the Spanish-American philosopher reminded us.
He also understood what the two-day betting extravaganza feels like when the last race ends and all resolve drains from betting bodies everywhere.
“Only the dead have seen the end of war,” he said.
Who could argue with that?
One Maryland-bred star ran in an unfamiliar spot and lost gallantly. The other Maryland-bred star caught a weak field and won easily. Two West Virginia-bred stars ran in a race each had won. One lost grudgingly. The other lost shockingly.
It was an easy drive Saturday evening from Laurel Park to Charles Town, the Maryland Million to West Virginia Breeders Classics Day. It was Ben’s Cat and Eighttofasttocatch at Laurel, Russell Road and Lucy’s Bob Boy at Charles Town.
