Saturday, October 25, 2008

Breeders Cup wrap up

Hooray for the European runners!!! They have put an end to the excessive, ridiculous, over-the-top hyberbole about Curlin at long last. My gods, I thought I was going to puke listening to all the nonsense about Curlin being the greatest horse of all time. Give me a break already! He's a nice horse, but he's not an all time great. I wouldn't even say he was the best of this decade. Give me Point Given, Ghostzapper, Medaglia D'Oro, or Invasor anyday. Oh, and Jess Jackson is so full of it about keeping Curlin in training because he's a sporting kind of guy. BS! No farm will touch Curlin with a 10 foot pole until the lawsuit with his minority owners is over. How dumb do they think we are?

So anyway, here's my BC wrap up. In the Classic, Raven's Pass was superb, coming home in 1:59.27 which I believe is third only to Ghostzapper's 1:59.02 and Skip Away's 1:59.16. Beautifully done. And I'm really glad to see Frankie Dettori win the Classic. How can you not love him? Henrythenavigator roared home to be second, Tiago closed gamely to nab third, and Curlin regressed a bit in the stretch, only getting fourth, having briefly had the lead. The Duke of Marmalade could only manage 9th and Casino Drive finished dead last in 12th. His lack of conditioning destroyed any chance he had, it would seem. I hope he'll be back as a four year-old so we can see him at his best for once.

Conduit was magnificent in the Turf, winning in a stakes record time of 2:23.42. What a good looking horse he is. I hope he'll run at four. It was a bit sad to see Better Talk Now strung out sooooo far behind the field. He managed 8th, but I really think the G1s are several years behind him.

I didn't have ton of interest in the Sprint, but it was interesting to see Midnight Lute make the same move as he did last year, circling the field on the turn and sweeping to the lead. Street Boss managed third, and though it wasn't a win, it still emphasizes how extraordinarily versatile Street Cry's get seem to be---good as juvis, good as older horses, able to handle sprints and routes, dirt and synthetics. Pretty cool.

I don't have anything intelligent to say about the Juvi Turf, but I'm a nerd for horse color genetics, and I do love Donativum's Tetrarch spots. :-)

The Juvenile was a good race. My man Square Eddie ran beautifully to be second, and I wonder if he might have squeezed up for the win if Midshipman hadn't drifted in on him in the stretch. I guess his jockey didn't think so because there was no inquiry. And Street Hero, yet another Street Cry horse, was third. That guy's on fire. I suspect Midshipman will suffer an injury sometime next spring and be whisked off to stud. The Unbridled's Songs don't hold together real well (EightBelles, Buddha, even UBS himself). Square Eddie and Street Hero ought to only impove with age however. I expect they'll be quite interesting to follow next year.

It was nice to see a filly score in the Mile again. The French fillies seem to be predisposed to winning that one. Kip Deville, last year's winner, as a game second, but there was no catching Goldikova today. What a lithe little filly.

The Dirt Mile wasn't one I was watching closely. Albertus Maximus ran his eyeballs out for the win and Well Armed, the favorite, never fired.

I had no picks in the Turf Sprint or the Marathon, but it sure is fun watching those horses roar down the hill. I bet that's a fun ride!

As for yesterday, Ventura was a star in the F&M Sprint. Indian Blessing was just no match for her. Maybe next year. No real thoughts on the Juvi Fillies Turf other than I suspect the best of them will race in Europe next year.

Stardom Bound was of course sensational making her patented last-to-first move on the turn in the Juvi Fillies. She is filly to be reckoned with though I do wonder if she's going to want more than 9 furlongs. Most filly races aren't any longer than that though, so I guess she'll probably be fine.

I was very pleased to see Sealy Hill close from the clouds to get up for second in the F&M Turf. A great way to close out her career, and I'm thrilled that Point Given is having such good success as a sire.

As for the Ladies Classic (F&M Classic sounds better, I think), what's to be said? Zenyatta is a queen among fillies. With Curlin's loss in the Classic, I really hope she'll be Horse of the Year. She deserves it.

And best of all, every horse came home safely today. There wasn't a single incident, and I think that speaks well of the pro-ride synthetic surface and the Santa Anita turf surface. This has been one of the most enjoyable Breeders Cups for me, and I'm pleased it will be back at SA next year. The Euros should come over in droves after all the success they had this year. Should be fantastic!

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