ARCADIA, Calif. – Richard Dutrow Jr. believed he’d have a big horse in the barn again. He just didn’t know it would be this soon.

The man who trained Big Brown to win two-thirds of the Triple Crown in 2008 and Saint Liam to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2005, is back in the spotlight with White Abarrio, who just may go off favored in Saturday’s $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

It comes just seven months after Dutrow returned from a 10-year suspension handed him by the New York Racing Commission for a history of repeated violations.

ARCADIA, Calif. – It takes time and effort to parse the form of dozens of international Breeders’ Cup runners. These horses are all over the Saturday card. The time has been spent, the effort put forth. Here’s how it looks, and let’s hope it was worth the work.

Classic
International runners in main body: 2
Win chance: Moderate
Contenders: Ushba Tesoro

ARCADIA, Calif. – Tuesday morning outside the international quarantine facility tucked into the northwest corner of the Santa Anita backstretch, the great English photographer Edward Whitaker watched a couple European horses walk through the chain-link fence gate and down toward the racetrack for their first morning training since arriving Saturday night in America. Whitaker has been working Breeders’ Cups for decades.

“This is the best group of European horses that have ever come,” he said.

Anecdotal? Sure. Accurate? Possible and to be determined this weekend.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Late on Sunday morning at Santa Anita, War Like Goddess bounced off the track in the manner of a frisky 2-year-old more than a 6-year-old mare with eight stakes wins. It was not the first time she displayed such enthusiasm.

“She’s a little bit of a challenge to train,” trainer Bill Mott said over the weekend. “She wants to be a strong galloper.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – The first 10 months of her training career were challenging. The last five months have been exhilarating.

The career trajectory for Cherie DeVaux over the last six years is impressive, albeit hardly surprising. An assistant to Chad Brown for nearly eight years, DeVaux ventured out on her own in 2018 with no horses and mainly the support of her husband, bloodstock agent David Ingordo.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Although most of the major works were completed over the weekend for Breeders’ Cup 2023, there was still some significant business to attend to Monday at Santa Anita. Stablemates Arabian Knight and Speed Boat Beach, key contenders in both the Classic and Sprint, put the finishing touches on what has been a series of very impressive works leading up to their respective races here Saturday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Total wagering during Keeneland’s 17-day fall meet declined 3.5 percent compared to last year’s record fall meet handle, according to the charts of races that Keeneland held during the meet.

Though total fall handle declined from $209.2 million last year to $201.8 million this year, the total was the second highest in the history of the fall meet. Last year, Keeneland benefited from the publicity surrounding the 2022 Breeders’ Cup, which was held at the track the weekend after the conclusion of the fall meet, and from slightly larger fields.