ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - There were 3,900,000 reasons Niall O'Callaghan could have enumerated for giving Generous Rosi a shot in the Breeders' Cup Classic. In the end, O'Callaghan said no to all of them, and Generous Rosi has wound up on the Breeders' Cup undercard in the $100,000 Black Tie Affair Handicap.
"It was either $100,000 or $4 million, and I didn't think he was good enough for the $4 million," O'Callaghan said Thursday.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Familiar rivals Raging Fever and Shine Again meet again in Saturday's $150,000 First Flight Handicap at Aqueduct.
The Grade 2 First Flight and the Grade 3 Sport Page are part of a five-race card at the Big A on Breeders' Cup Day. First post is 11 a.m. Following Aqueduct's live program, the simulcast of the Breeders' Cup from Arlington Park will be shown.
Seven fillies and mares entered the First Flight. Raging Fever is the 119-pound highweight of the seven-furlong race.
When Don Winfree saddles Tenpins as the favorite Saturday for the $150,000 Fayette Stakes at Keeneland Race Course, he won't have any misgivings about keeping his stable star out of the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Instead, Winfree would be content to watch the highly consistent Tenpins run another strong race when the colt faces four other 4-year-olds in the Grade 3 Fayette, highlight of a seven-race closing-day card at the Lexington, Ky., track.
ANDERSON, Ind. - Pass Rush should rule an imposing favorite when he heads a field of 10 3-year-old Indiana-breds entered for the $40,000 Benjamin Harrison Stakes at 1 1/16 miles.
Pass Rush comes in off a solid effort in the $400,000 Indiana Derby, in which he tracked the leaders in fourth to upper stretch before fading to sixth, beaten 6 3/4 lengths by Perfect Drift. Trained by Patrick Byrne for owner Michael Tabor, Pass Rush is still in search of his first stakes victory and looks to have found the right spot.
MUSKEGON, Mich. - Sickle's Image winner Jean's Way heads a field of 11 in the $45,000 Michigan Juvenile Fillies Stakes at Great Lakes Downs.
The Michigan Juvenile Fillies, previously run at a mile and 70 yards, has been shortened to seven furlongs this year. It will be presented as the first of nine races set to begin at a special post time of 6 p.m. Eastern because of the Breeders' Cup.
Candid Glen, who did well to close for second against a slow pace in his last start, could get quicker fractions to chase Saturday when he shortens up in distance for the $30,000 Alliance Handicap at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, La.
The 1 1/16-mile race is the final turf stakes of the season, and it drew a competitive field of surface specialists.
Candid Glen was beaten 3 1/4 lengths last out by the talented Bien Nicole in the $150,000 DeBartolo Memorial Breeders' Cup Turf at 1 1/8 miles at Remington Park on Sept. 29.
EDMONTON, Alberta - It took until the next-to-last race of the meeting to crown a jockey champion here at Northlands Park, but when Quincy Welch won aboard Secret Boundary last Sunday he clinched his fourth title in the past five seasons and further established himself as the premier jockey in Alberta.
Welch's closest competitor, Rickey Walcott, had put the pressure on by winning five races Friday night, but the veteran Welch wasn't to be denied.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Breeders' Cup announced match-ups Wednesday for its inaugural Head2Head betting.
Modeled on proposition bets popular in Las Vegas race books, Head2Head match-ups will be offered on each of the eight Breeders' Cup races. The bet is parimutuel with a 10 percent takeout. The winning Head2Head horse finishes in a higher position than his or her opponent.
"It's really sports betting. That's the model that's out there," said Ken Kirchner, who coordinated the wager for Breeders' Cup.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - After spending a week watching the same handful of Breeders' Cup hopefuls train at Arlington Park, Wednesday was a refreshing change with new faces in every category out to get their first feel for both the main and turf courses.
The skies were cloudy and the temperature hovered in the low 40's during training hours although a 10-mile-per-hour wind out of the the east made it feel much colder as the morning progressed. The main track was fast and the turf again listed as good with the dogs placed well out past the middle of the course.