Friday's Breeders Cup Results

First and foremost, my prayers and thoughts are being sent to racing analyst Bob Neumeier and his family.  According to the Boston Globe, the venerable handicapper suffered a stroke on 29 October and is in the hospital.  Neumy, I always loved to hear you and Mike Battaglia trading wit and opinions during the Breeders Cup coverage, as well as the Triple Crown coverage.  I hope you're back on the job and joking on camera again - very soon!  Consider yourself embraced.
    Even though the Breeders Cup did not sponsor the Marathon race, the city of Las Vegas put up a guaranteed purse of $200,000 for the horses that like to run all day.  I was very happy to see the 1 and 3/4 dirt race on the program at Santa Anita today - again, my only complaint is that it was not sponsored by the Breeders Cup this year.  A field of nine, including Argentina-bred Big Casanova, the alternate entry for the BC Classic tomorrow, left the gate in good order.  The horses ran at a good, steady clip, but Cary Street was trailing by 12 lengths (or more) through most of the race.  Irish Surf, the betting favorite, stayed close to the leaders and paced them.  with 5/8 mile to go, Cary Street started to roll - he charged past the rest of the horses and won easily, going away, by almost 10 lengths, and under a hand ride.  Irish Surf finished second, and Patrioticandproud got up for third. Sky Kingdom came up for fourth, and Big Casanova, who had led for a bit, faded to fifth place.  It was a beautifully run race!  Cary Street, a 5-year-old bay gelding by Smarty Jones, paid $7.80 on a $2 win ticket...
   For the actual Breeders Cups races, my picks were so-so....   Faithful Creek was added to the entries in the Juvenile Turf after the scratch of Aktabanay, so a full field of 14 colts were on the grass course.  I had chosen Aktabantay as one of my picks, and with his scratch, I switched to Luck of the Kitten - which turned out to be very nice for me.  Hootenanny, under the ride of Frankie Dettori, won the race; so that $2 got me $14. Luck of the Kitten came in second, which got me $9.20.  Daddy D T placed third, and paid $11.  I bet $2 on an exacta with Hootenanny first and Luck of the Kitten second - that won me $100.  My other picks did not fair as well - Wet Sail finished last; Imperia was tenth; and the roan colt Danny Boy was in eighth place. I came out ahead with $113.20 (betting$10).
  In the Dirt Mile, Goldencents, the betting favorite for the mile race at 3 to 5, and defending champion, made history by repeating his win.  He's the  first horse to win the Dirt Mile Breeders Cup twice.  He is also being rewarded for his efforts by being retired to stud at Spendthrift Farm.  Tapiture finished a strong second, and Pants on Fire was in third.  My four picks in this race finished in second, third, fourth (Bronzo), and last - Vicar's In Trouble.  Vicar's In Trouble was lame at the end of the race, and was vanned back to his barn.  He suffered a condylar fracture in his left fore during the race, and will have a vacation before returning to the races.  I placed $2 bets in this race - Goldencents paid $3.40; Tapiture paid $3.80; and Pants on Fire paid $4.  The exacta paid $14.20; and the trifecta paid $71.  I spent $8, and received back $7.80 - so a loss of 20 cents.
  The Juvenile Filly Turf was also a wide open race - fourteen contenders arrived on the track, but one of my betting choices, Lady Zuzu, was scratched by the veterinarian before entering the starting gate.  I lost $6 on this race.  The winner was Lady Eli, with Sunset Glow in second, Osaila in third, and Prize Exhibit coming in fourth.  On a $2 bet, Lady Eli paid $6.80, Sunset Glow paid $5.20, and Osaila paid $3.60.  Money bet on Lady Zuzu was returned.  The exacta paid $35, and the trifecta paid $65.90.  I had chosen four fillies - the three who ran finished in third, fourth and fifth places.  But I had only placed bets "to win" in this race.
  After the Breeders Cup Distaff, winning jockey Rosie Napravnik surprised everyone (except her husband, horse trainer Joe Sharp) by announcing her retirement from racing after this year's Breeders Cup.  The reason is a happy one - she and Joe are expecting their first child.  Congratulations, Rosie and Joe!  But, back to the horses...  I figured that Untapable, Rosie's mount, would be the betting favorite for the race, and she was.  I placed 4 $2 bets to wins and lost another $8.  Untapable was unstoppable in the Distaff, with Don't Tell Sophia in second, and Iotapa in third.For $2 bets, Untapable paid $5.20, Don't Tell Sophia paid $4.60, and Iotapa paid $4.  The exacta paid $27, and the $2 trifecta paid $150.40.  The four horses I bet on finished in the last four positions in a field of eleven - so my choices in the Distaff were rotten.
 

Breeders Cup Information - Part 1

First and foremost, I made a mistake.  Yesterday the pre-entries were given to Santa Anita Race course for the fourteen Breeders Cup World Championship races.  Post positions for all races will drawn on Monday, October 28; they were not drawn today.  But at least I can share with you the pre-entries for the races, and a few thoughts.  One hundred and seventy-two horses are pre-entered, compared with 180 last year.  One of the reasons for the lower number is, in part, due to the six ladies pre-entered in the Distaff - no one else wants to run against these six fillies and mares.
  Horses designated with an * won a Breeders Cup Challenge Race are are guaranteed a post position.

  The first Breeders Cup race to be run will be the Marathon, covering a distance of one and three-quarters mile on the main track, and with a purse of $500,000, open to any horse aged 3 or older.  There are ten pre-entries:
 Blueskiesnrainbows
 Cease
 Commander
*Ever Rider (bred in Argentina)
 Indian Jones
 London Bridge
 Old Time Hockey
 Pool Play
 Suns Out Guns Out
 Worldly
      I really like the horses that run in the marathon - they are stayers, like the original thoroughbreds - and I really believe that their purse should be $1 million, as well.

The second race will be the Juvenile Turf, for two-year-old colts and geldings, racing one mile on the grass for a purse of $1,000,000.  There are 18 pre-entries:
 All Cash
 Aotearoa
 Arpinati (bred in Great Britain)
 Bashart
*Bobby's Kitten
 Bon Accord
 Dance With Fate
 Diamond Bachelor
 Giovanni Boldini
 Got Shades
 Home School (bred in Ireland)
 Ontology
 Outstrip (bred in Great Britain)
 Poker Player
 Shamshon (bred in Great Britain)
 Smarty's Echo
 We Miss Artie
 Wilshire Boulevard (bred in Ireland)

The Dirt Mile is the third Breeders Cup race on Friday, with three-year-olds and up running one mile on the main track for a part of the $1,000,000 purse.  There are 15 pre-entries:
 Alpha
 Broadway Empire
 Brujo de Olleres (bred in Brazil)
*Centralinteligence
 Easter Gift
*Fed Biz
 Golden Ticket
 Goldencents
*Graydar
 Holy Lute
 Hymn Book
 Laugh Track
 Pants on Fire
 Taptowne
 Verrazano

Fourth Breeders Cup race will be the Juvenile Fillies Turf, for two-year-olds, covering one mile on the grass track, for a purse of $1,000.000.  There are 17 pre-entries:
 Al Thakira (bred in Great Britain)
 Chriselliam (bred in Ireland)
 Clenor (bred in Ireland)
 Colonel Joan
 Dancing House
 Flying Jib (bred in Great Britain)
 Granny Mc's Kittens
*Kitten Kaboodle
*My Conquestadory
 Nesso
 Ready to Act
 Ria Antonia
 Rosalind
 Sky Painter
 Street Sailing
*Testa Rossi (bred in France)
 Vorda (bred in France)

Ending the Breeders Cup races on Friday will be the Distaff, 3-year-olds and up, fillies and mares, run at one and one-eighth mile on the main track.  There are 6 pre-entries for the $2,000,000 purse:
 Authenticity
*Beholder
 Close Hatches
*Princess of Sylmar
*Royal Delta
 Street Girl

For the information that I use to make my betting choices, go to:   http://www.bloodhorse.com/  and scroll down to the green Breeders Cup section, and then down to the grey section that reads Breeders Cup Divisions.  Click on the race that you are interested in, and then click on the name of the horse that catches your eye - here you can view the horses's "Bio", with trainer, jockey, owner and breeder information; then look at the pedigree (I like the expanded "Five Cross Pedigree"), and then you can see the horse's auction history, if he/she isn't running for the original breeder....  You find the horse's birth date, where it was born, and what it's registered coat color is.  Once the post positions are drawn (on Monday), you can also see the silks the jockey will be wearing in the race.

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Two items of note:
 Jockey Calvin Borel's mount in a race at Keeneland yesterday, broke down in the first flight of horses.  Borel was struck by the horses following; and the race was declared a no contest.  Calvin was taken to the hospital, where it was announced that he had broken the fibula in his left leg.  He will not be riding in the Breeders Cup.  (Sonic Dancer, his mount, had suffered catastrophic leg damage and was euthanized.)
     After a seemingly miraculous recovery period, having suffered a broken pastern and then colic, St Nicholas Abbey has developed a mild case of laminitis in his left fore.  He broke the right pastern during a training gallop.  Vets are disappointed that, now that the colt is able to walk on his casted right fore, he has developed the early signs of laminitis in the opposite foot.  His condition will be monitored closely.

Jim's Marathon

Poor Jim!  I reported Sunday that he had finished 10th in his age group (of 25) in Saturday's Pikes Peak Ascension race, a half-marathon.  I had no idea that he was horribly ill Saturday night and Sunday morning, and that an RN told him not to run in the race Sunday.  Jim was committed to running, however, and run he did.  Only ten men in his age group ran in the marathon, and, besides Jim, only one of these men had run the Ascension the day before.  Jim had to stop multiple times to throw-up during his run Sunday.  He finished ninth out of ten -  and the other man who was a Doubler finished only 9 minutes ahead of him in the marathon.  So Jim was second in his age group for the Doubler contestants.  We still don't know what made him so ill.  He was about 90% yesterday, and seems to be fine today.
  Lovey and Nedi were very happy when I returned home yesterday afternoon and had no problems coming inside for the night at 10.  When I was ready to leave this morning, to walk Rosie, and head over to Alexy's, it was another story.  I'd get one of the kits inside, and go out to catch the other.     Once I caught the second kit, I had to open the door to get us both back inside with the first kit.  Whichever kit was inside managed to escape outdoors when I brought the other kit inside.  I felt like I was in a Keystone Kops short film...  I finally managed to carry Lovey in, while keeping Nedi in at the same time.
  Met one of the new bus drivers on my route this morning.  His name is Steve, and he's a third generation Boulderite.  He's driving an RTD bus as a stop-gap measure; he was in advertising, but his company outsourced the entire office to the Philippines, so he's still on the job trail.