No less than twelve horses have been pre-entered by Todd Pletcher for the upcoming 2-day Breeders’ Cup on Nov 6-7 at Santa Anita Park.
Included in the dozen is Quality Road, who traveled 5f in 1:00.52 at Belmont Park in preparation for the $5 million Classic. The flashy 3yo obviously has talent, but ten furlongs is pushing the envelope, and how will be handle the Pro-Ride surface?
Exciting Juvenile Turf prospect Interactif breezed 4f in :49.14 on Oct 26th. He looked good in winning the Bourbon at Keeneland on Oct 11th.
Pletcher sure is loaded with promising youngsters, and …read more

Overseas invaders are frequently a force in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, and in the 2008 Turf euro-shippers Conduit and Eagle Mountain ran 1-2 at Santa Anita. With this year’s Cup back in SoCal, it could be deja vu all over again.
Conduit might be back to defend his title, and he is a fresh and dangerous contender if he decides to return to the states. He was last seen finishing a rock solid 4th in the Arc, and that was hist first start in ten weeks. Trainer Michael Stoute also wants to run his charge in the Japan …read more

Eclipse Awards
Curlin repeated as Horse of the Year at the Eclipse Award ceremonies. The recently retired all-time North American money earner stands at Lane’s End Farm with a $75k stud fee. Undefeated miss Zenyatta took home Older Female honors.

Big Brown was unanimously voted 3yo Champion, and Proud Spell took down 3yo filly honors over her late stablemate Eight Belles.
As expected, Midshipman is the Juvenile Champ, and Stardom Bound nabbed Juvenile Filly honors.
The other equine Eclipse Awards went to Conduit (Turf Male), Forever Together (Turf Female), Benny the Bull (Male Sprinter), Indian Blessing (Female Sprinter), and Good Night …read more

Friday (1-9-09) Fair Grounds recap
Fast track and good turf course. Four wire jobs on the main. Stalkers and closers fared best in the two turf races carded.
Jesus Castanon and James Graham both booted home a pair. Bret Calhoun saddled two winners on the card.
Trusty made it 3-3 for Tom Amoss with a gritty win in the 7th. My top choice Holiday Cruise was coming late but fell a length short in a solid show finish.
Note that Francisco Torres took off his mounts the last two days, and he’ll be out a bit longer after …read more

Undefeated filly sensation Zenyatta made her case for Horse of the Year with a powerful performance in the Ladies’ Classic. She remains in light training until a decision is made regarding her future. I would like to see her race next year and possibly take on males at some point.
Ginger Punch finished 6th in her Ladies’ Classic title defense, and the Robert Frankel trainee has been retired. The five-year-old mare won six Grade 1 races and amassed over $3 million in career earnings.
Carriage Trail, 4th in the Ladies’ Classic, has been retired.
Curlin, 4th in the Breeders’ Cup …read more

It was a fun and exciting two days of racing, and I had success selling my full card Breeders’ Cup analysis. I got a pair of best bets home (Ventura, Albertus Maximus), and I also tabbed the Ladies’ Classic exacta, the Mile trifecta/superfecta, and Donativum ($13.60) in the BC Juvenile Turf.
Breeders’ Cup recap: Saturday, October 25, 2008
BC Marathon
The day started out well for the Euros as overseas synthetic specialist Muhannak ($26.80) kicked it up a few notches to upset the Mike Mitchell duo of Church Service and Big Booster.
BC Turf Sprint
Desert Code ($75.00) returned to previous sharp downhill …read more