Wed, 11/02/2011 - 15:10

No Breeders' Cup simulcast in Hong Kong

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Breeders’ Cup’s Friday and Saturday cards will once again be available this year to customers of Betfair, the British bet-matching operation, but none of the event’s 15 races will be simulcast in Hong Kong, according to the organization’s simulcasting consultant.

Wed, 11/02/2011 - 15:09

Breeders' Cup: Turbulent Descent unlikely to sell at Fasig-Tipton sale

Barbara D. Livingston
Turbulent Descent cruises to the finish of the Test after blowing the race open in upper stretch.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Turbulent Descent, the 3-year-old filly who figures as one of the heaviest favorites on the 15-race Breeders’ Cup card as the solid choice in the Filly and Mare Sprint, is entered as Hip No. 47 on Sunday at the Fasig-Tipton sale in Lexington, Ky., although her actually being walked through the sales ring is not expected to happen.

Wed, 11/02/2011 - 15:07

Breeders' Cup: No complaints about turf course

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In stark contrast to 2010, this Breeders’ Cup week has so far been a no-drama turf-a-rama.

Wed, 11/02/2011 - 15:05

Breeders' Cup: Uncle Mo back on track after day off

Barbara D. Livingston
Uncle Mo gallops Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs as he prepares for the BC Classic.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With all the serious work done for Saturday’s $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, there was just a little bit of fine tuning to take place at Churchill Downs on Wednesday, when Uncle Mo returned to the track after getting a day off, and Game On Dude and Rattlesnake Bridge both made their first appearances on the track after arriving Tuesday.

Wed, 11/02/2011 - 14:35

Breeders' Cup: Secret Circle's race to lose in Juvenile Sprint

Barbara D. Livingston
Secret Circle, trained by Bob Baffert, is the 6-5 morning-line favorite.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – When the Breeders’ Cup officially begins Friday with the inaugural running of the $500,000 Juvenile Sprint, the race will carry a familiar Breeders’ Cup theme – Bob Baffert has a prominent contender.

Baffert, a seven-time Breeders’ Cup-winning trainer, has the 6-5 morning-line favorite in Secret Circle, one of nine horses Baffert is expected to run at Churchill Downs on Friday and Saturday.

Wed, 11/02/2011 - 14:13

Breeders' Cup: Jockeys permitted to make pre-race comments to TV reporters

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Jockeys in Breeders’ Cup races will continue to be allowed to make pre-race comments to television reporters during this year’s two-day event, one year after comments made by jockey John Velazquez about the pre-race condition of his mount Life At Ten led to an investigation and consideration of charges against the rider and the state’s chief steward.

Wed, 11/02/2011 - 13:41

Aqueduct begins long winter run with Turnback the Alarm

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It will be slots of fun at Aqueduct on Friday as the New York racing scene shifts nine miles or so down the Belt Parkway and takes a quantum leap into a new era.

Wed, 11/02/2011 - 13:32

Breeders' Cup: Filly and Mare Turf a four-way route

Barbara D. Livingston
Aruna wound up in the Filly and Mare Turf after failing to work well enough on dirt to try the Ladies’ Classic.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Tearing the shell from the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf won’t take taxing effort. Twelve were entered in the $2 million race to be run around three turns and over 1 3/8 miles, and either Stacelita, Announce, Nahrain, or Misty for Me seems likely to win. But the nut at the race’s heart feels far tougher to crack.

Wed, 11/02/2011 - 13:25

Santa Anita: Ellis filly looks ready for bigger things

ARCADIA, Calif. − The lightly raced Include Me Out could be on the verge of a breakthrough in coming months for owner Samantha Siegel and trainer Ron Ellis.

Include Me Out starts in an optional claimer over six furlongs at Santa Anita on Friday, a race that could lead to a start in the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old female sprinters in late December.

“Include Me Out is improving all the time,” Ellis said last weekend. “She’s bred to run longer.”

Wed, 11/02/2011 - 12:50

Breeders' Cup workout updates from DRF's on-track reporters for Nov. 2

Twitter updates from DRF's Mike Welsch and David Grening in Kentucky for morning Breeders' Cup workouts on Wednesday, Nov. 2. Check back later today for Mike Welsch's final report card for Friday's Breeders' Cup races as well as an update on today's training and works at Churchill Downs. Check here for the rest of Welsch's Breeders' Cup clocker reports and a list of Breeders' Cup workouts by key contenders: