Breeder's Cup Races, Day 2

Today's Breeder Cup Races were for the boys -but girls could race against the boys, if their owners and trainers so desired. And a little girl beat a bunch of big boys in the Breeder's Cup Mile - she just flew - she didn't gallop or run, she flew.
Several races were very close over the past two days, and of the 9 races of today, 5 of them were won by European bred and trained horses. As next year's Breeder's Cup is to be held at the same venue, I think this bodes well for international entries, and since there were no injuries over the past two days, I think we might see even more of a truly international day of racing.

Garrett Gomez won four of the 14 races and walked away with the Shoemaker Award.

As usual, I made $2 bets at home, and would have won a little, had I actually placed the bets at a track... This year, also as usual, I chose my horses by bloodline and how they looked in the paddock prior to the race - and this is my 20th year in a row that I chose the winner of the Sprint! Today's races, winners and my comments:

BC Marathon (1 1/2 miles on main track) - winner is Mukhannak, bred in Ireland

Turf Sprint (about 6 1/2 furlongs) - winner is Desert Code, the longest shot on the board, ridden by Richard Migliore who was going to retire earlier this year; there were 2 fillies in the race

BC Mile (on the main track) - winner is Albertus Maximus in a very hard-fought race

BC Mile (on turf) - winner is Goldnikova, bred in Ireland, a very small 3-year-old filly, who sprouted wings and flew past the rest of the field to win.

BC Juvenile (1 1/8 miles on main track; 2 year-olds only) - winner is Midshipman, a son of Unbridled's Song (son of Unbridled) - I always root for an Unbridled relative!

BC Juvie Turf (1 mile; 2-year-olds only) - winner is Donativum, bred in Great Britain, a very handsome grey; second is Westphalia, bred in Ireland; third is Coronet of a Baron - I couldn't choose between the three, and they all appeared on the board!

BC Sprint (3/4 mile on main track) - Midnight Lute won this race; he won it last year in the slop at Monmouth Park; 6 furlongs in 1 minute, 7 seconds, and 8/100 today. He was scorching!!!

BC Turf (1 1/2 miles) - Conduit, bred in Ireland, won this race and set a course record, running 12 furlongs in 2 minutes, 23 sconds, and 42/100ths.

BC Classic (1 1/4 miles) - Raven's Pass is the winner of the $5 million Classic; he was bred in Kentucky, is owned by HRH Princess Haya of Jordan, trained in Ireland, and was ridden today by Frankie Detorri, the famous Italian jockey. Today most people thought that Curlin would be the winner - originally the race was viewed as a face-off between Big Brown and Curlin, until Big Brown's last injury. But Jerry Bailey kept bringing up how much mileage Curlin had this year, not just racing, but traveling to Dubai, etc. Jerry was not certain that Curlin could continue to be as brilliant as he had been - so I looked past Curlin and picked Raven's Pass. Thanks for the big tip, Jerry!!