LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The longshot Hunt will be withdrawn from Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile, a Breeders’ Cup racing official confirmed Tuesday afternoon.
Hunt’s trainer, Phil d’Amato, did not return a text message regarding the defection and calls to his mobile phone went directly to voicemail, suggesting he might have been traveling from California.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It is a van ride of a little less than 75 miles from Keeneland, where trainer Wesley Ward is based, to Churchill Downs, where on Friday stablemates Chelsea Cloisters, Moonlight Romance, and Stillwater Cove will contest the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.
Child’s play.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For most his adult life, Bill Parcells was immersed in football, reaching the pinnacle of his coaching profession by guiding the New York Giants to a pair of Super Bowl victories in five years.
To fill the void left by leaving coaching, Parcells has immersed himself in horse racing, a hobby that has turned into a passion.
“I’m one of those kind of guys – I need action,” said Parcells, 77. “At my age, I got to have something to think about.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Highlighted by the success of millionaires Da Big Hoss and Bigger Picture in recent years, Mike Maker has developed a reputation for being a trainer adept at developing claimed horses and turning them into successful turf stayers. Apparently he can train speed into a claimer, too.
For the second straight year, Maker will have a starter in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint with a horse he claimed when Hembree goes in Saturday’s $1 million race. His participation comes a year after Hogy ran 11th at Del Mar in the Turf Sprint for him.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The National Football League has the New England Patriots. Thoroughbred horse racing has Aidan O’Brien.
Year after year there is no down year for the Patriots, nor for O’Brien. Each season the horses pass through the O’Brien system like the lineage of receivers plugged into the New England offense, talented inherently, honed by the enterprise that envelops and develops them.
Aidan O’Brien might as well be Bill Belichick, the craggy Patriots coach.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Baseball has the setup man, the closer, and the designated hitter, football has defensive backs inserted on passing situations and pass-rushers who play just on third down. The age of specialization has accelerated in all sports, including racing, where rarely are top-class horses as good on turf as they are on dirt.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The first local appearance of nearly two dozen European contenders for this year’s Breeders’ Cup, a group that included Arc winner Enable and defending BC Turf winner Talismanic, highlighted Monday’s five-hour training session at Churchill Downs. Also featured were impressive-looking breezes by top contenders Midnight Bisou (Distaff) and Yoshida (Classic).
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – At 34, Chad Summers is old enough to know that respect is earned only through the passing of time, but sometimes he gets impatient anyway. Summers has been a licensed trainer for less than two years, and that’s one reason he believes his stable star Mind Your Biscuits is often slighted.
“We call Biscuits the ‘but’ horse,” Summers said. “People say, yeah, he’s a good horse – but he’s a New York-bred. But he’s never gone a mile and a quarter. But he’s not in the barn of a super-trainer. It does get a little old.”
