Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott has won nine Breeders’ Cup races. Five times he has won the Distaff, twice the Classic, and twice the Turf, but in the BC Mile, Mott has sent out 19 starters and failed to land the big prize – so far.
Mott has two possible Mile runners this year, Tourist and Celestine, and while neither is a household name like Tepin, both horses have turned in races during 2016 that are good enough to make them legitimate Mile contenders.
At least some of the Breeders’ Cup winners this fall at Santa Anita are expected to have run in prep races at the host track of Santa Anita in the coming weeks. But at this stage, it seems unlikely that the Nov. 5 Filly and Mare Turf is one such race.
The strength of the female turf division, both among older fillies and mares and with 3-year-old fillies, comes from the East Coast and Europe this year, not from California, where no one has been dominant. Not a single filly or mare has recorded more than one graded turf victory in Southern California this year.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Despite the imposing presence of the undefeated pair of Three Rules in the In Reality and Cajun Delta Dawn in the My Dear Girl, the starting gate will be surprisingly full for the final legs of this year’s Florida Sire Series for 2-year-olds at Gulfstream Park on Saturday.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The dominance of older horses such as California Chrome in the Breeders’ Cup Classic division is so profound that there won’t be a single 3-year-old in the Awesome Again Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita.
In addition, there is the possibility that none of the winners of this year’s Triple Crown races will compete in this year’s Classic on Nov. 5 at Santa Anita, and if that happens, this year’s Classic might have the smallest representation of 3-year-olds ever.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Mark Casse said he expects a decision to be made this weekend regarding the next race for Tepin, the 5-year-old mare whose 6-for-6 record and stakes wins in three countries this year has her in the running for Horse of the Year.
“She’s breezing Friday morning at Saratoga and will van down to Churchill on Sunday,” said Casse, whose son and assistant, Norman, has been overseeing the mare.
Runhappy showed brilliance last year at 3, when he defeated his elders in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
This year, the champion sprinter of 2015 is going down a different path.
Runhappy is being pointed to the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, and his road to the race starts Saturday at Churchill Downs. Runhappy is set to make his 4-year-old debut in the Grade 3 Ack Ack, a one-turn mile intended as his springboard to the Breeders’ Cup.
The Dirt Mile, which will be run around two turns, is Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Ack Ack isn’t the only race Saturday at Churchill Downs that could have an impact on the Breeders’ Cup.
The fourth running of the $175,000 Lukas Classic also could produce a starter or two for the Nov. 4-5 championships at Santa Anita, with the last two winners of the Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Churchill – Noble Bird (2015) and Bradester (2016) – drawn alongside each other in posts 6 and 7 among nine older horses.
After beginning his 10-year-old season with two victories, Ben’s Cat has been beaten in his last four starts. His owner-breeder-trainer, King Leatherbury, has altered his normal schedule of races for Ben’s Cat and skipped the Grade 3 Turf Monster at Parx Racing on Sept. 5.
Leatherbury, 83, is now pointing Ben’s Cat to the Maryland Million Sprint on dirt at Laurel Park on Oct. 22.
“I want to support Maryland Million Day, and I’ve got really no other place to run,” Leatherbury said. “It’s not on the turf, but at least it’s a little bit restricted.”
Haven’t been paying attention to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf division yet? No worries – plenty of time. In six of the eight editions of the Juvenile Turf, the winner had most recently started during the first two weeks of October, and the next two weeks will go a long way toward sorting out the prime players in this year’s race.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The stakes winners Om and Gold Rush Dancer worked Wednesday at Santa Anita in advance of stakes.
Om worked five furlongs in 1:01.20. A 4-year-old, Om is scheduled to start in the $200,000 City of Hope Mile on Oct. 8. Trainer Dan Hendricks is hoping the City of Hope Mile will lead to a start for Om in the Breeders’ Cup Mile here Nov. 5.
