DEL MAR, Calif. – Christoper Head never wanted to become a jockey. Not interested when he was young enough for an early start, not the right weight when he might’ve gotten interested. In his early 20s, he studied computing and languages. That came at the urging of his father. The algorithm generating his family history pushed him away from computers. The Heads are coded to work with horses.
DEL MAR, Calif. – After Giant’s Causeway took a tough, narrow loss to Tiznow in the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs, his 31-year-old trainer Aidan O’Brien surely imagined, even if he’d hesitate to admit it now, that before too long he’d win a Classic.
One year later, O’Brien saddled his first Breeders’ Cup winner, Johannesburg, who transitioned from European turf racing to American dirt and won the Juvenile. O’Brien has since won 17 more Breeders’ Cup races.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The list of countries reads like a deluxe worldwide cruise, or the itinerary of a high-ranking government official.
The United States, Italy, France, England, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia.
Those are the countries where jockey Antonio Fresu recalls riding in his 13-year career. A native of Italy, Fresu is more settled of late. In the last 18 months, Fresu has been based in Southern California, developing a reputation as a big-race rider.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Well, they’ve done it. Five Breeders’ Cup races Friday, nine more Saturday, and in every one of them at least one entrant from a distant land.
“World Championships” still rings hollow – a vast number of the world’s best Thoroughbreds don’t travel for the Breeders’ Cup – but the “world” part has come to fruition. And not just in the European sense, part of the Breeders’ Cup from the event’s inception. Nineteen horses shipped here from Japan, and the more you look at the races, the more it looks like they’ll have a say. The Europeans, too.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Batucada and Miss New York, both longshots, have been scratched out of Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar, bringing the field for the race down to eight horses.
Trainers Saffie Joseph Jr. (Batucada) and Jorge Delgado (Miss New York) both said their horses were scratched by the Breeders’ Cup veterinarians.
“The vets weren’t satisfied with her, I’ll respect their decision and scratch her,” said Joseph, who will still be represented in the race by Honor D Lady.
DEL MAR, Calif. - As a two-time Group 1 winner, Emily Upjohn fits in the Breeders’ Cup races at Del Mar on Saturday.
The race choice for Emily Upjohn is more of a surprise.
A 5-year-old, Emily Upjohn will start against males in the BC Turf at 1 1/2 miles and not in the BC Filly and Mare Turf at 1 3/8 miles. Trainer John Gosden said the longer race was the difference maker.
“She wants a mile and a half,” Gosden said on Wednesday morning. “It is her best distance.”
Takeout rates for the various bets being offered on Friday and Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup races will mirror those offered by Del Mar during its regular fall meet.
As a result, win, place, and show bets will have a takeout of 15.43 percent. Daily double bets will have a takeout of 20 percent, while other two-horse exotics, such as the exacta, will have a takeout rate of 22.68 percent.
All other bets, including trifectas, superfectas, and multi-race bets like the pick three, pick four, pick five, and pick six will have a takeout rate of 23.68 percent.
DEL MAR, Calif. - D. Wayne Lukas will not be at Del Mar when Preakness winner Seize the Grey runs in Saturday’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
“I got 12 to run this week here and 38 I’m training here,” Lukas said by phone Wednesday from Churchill Downs. “For me to go out there for 13 days and sit in there in front of a horse didn’t make any sense to me. If I thought my being there could make a difference I’d be there.”
DEL MAR, Calif. - Tenacious Leader, a 15-1 shot in Friday’s $1 million Juvenile Turf at Del Mar, will be scratched due to a fever, trainer Todd Pletcher said Wednesday.
Tenacious Leader, a son of Not This Time owned by Mike Repole and Spendthrift Farm, was returning to turf, a surface on which he finished second to Zulu Kingdom in the Grade 3 With Anticipation at Saratoga, after he finished sixth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity on dirt at Keeneland.
