ARCADIA, Calif. – Average field size has shown growth at the Santa Anita autumn meeting, months after the track canceled four days of racing in the spring because of insufficient entries.
Through Sunday, the 11th day of the 19-day meeting, fields averaged 8.87 starters per race compared with 8.62 starters during a similar period at the 2016 autumn meeting. Fields averaged 8.59 runners for the entire 2016 meeting, which included the Breeders’ Cup races.
Two years ago, trainer Larry Rivelli ran Cocked and Loaded in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and the 16-1 shot ran a creditable fifth behind Nyquist, beaten just a length for third.
This year, Rivelli will be back in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and he’s expecting even better things from The Tabulator.
“I think he is a better horse than Cocked and Loaded,” Rivelli said. “Cocked and Loaded was an overachiever. I liked him a lot going into that race. With Nyquist, we had an uphill battle but he put in a good showing. I’m expecting better results from this horse.”
Even with last weekend’s Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup and Grade 1 E.P. Taylor generating only a few possible starters for the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar, an oversubscribed field is expected when pre-entries are announced next week.
As many as 19 fillies and mares are being considered for the race, according to Breeders’ Cup officials, with seven of those – Dacita, Zipessa, Avenge, War Flag, Birdie Gold, Hydrangea, and Rhododendron – having fees-paid berths by virtue of winning a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race.
Separationofpowers looked like a star in the making when she dominated her debut at Saratoga – but then looked like a green filly with some holes in her armor when she faded to third in the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes. After bouncing back with a more professional effort to win the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes on Oct. 8 at Belmont, she again looks like a prominent Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies contender.
Decision time has arrived for people with key participants in the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 4 at Del Mar.
Expected favorite Ulysses was under consideration for Saturday’s Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot in England, although a start in the BC Turf seems more likely. Alan Cooper, the racing manager for the Niarchos family, which co-owns Ulysses, said Wednesday that a decision would be made later this week on whether to target Ascot or wait for the BC Turf.
“We’ve left it to the last minute,” Cooper said.
Ultima D won for the first time in her fourth career start in the $348,000 Juvenile Fillies Stakes on Sept. 6 at Kentucky Downs. The win changed the filly, trainer Wesley Ward said Wednesday.
“The last race put a lightbulb on her,” Ward said.
DEL MAR, Calif. – A decision will need to be made by Monday, the day pre-entries are due to be submitted, as to whether Diversify will head west and compete in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 4 here at Del Mar, and the implications of his potential participation are far-reaching, not only in terms of field size, but, more importantly, the likely pace scenario.
Elate ships from New York to California next week to complete preparation for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, a race in which she could vie for the role of favorite following back-to-back Grade 1 smashers.
It is a long way to Del Mar, but Elate has come a long way already, from early-season bomb to late-season star.
Expectations were high for Elate, whose 2-year-old debut was stunning. Facing maidens in November at Aqueduct, she romped by more than 12 lengths, similar to another Bill Mott-trained juvenile filly, Royal Delta, who won her autumn debut by a similar margin.
When heavy rain began to fall Wednesday at Gulfstream Park as Curlin’s Approval was being tacked up in preparation for her final serious work prior to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, her owner-trainer Happy Alter suddenly had an important decision to make. Does he send his multiple graded stakes winner out to breeze over a sloppy track or does he wait, hoping conditions might improve over the next couple of days?
