Plenty from Breeders’ Cup worth discussing
A post-mortem of the Breeders’ Cup yielded a lot of food for thought. The biggest question is, who is the Horse of the Year? There are a few races remaining, such as the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs and the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct, which can still sway voters.
Day One of the Breeders’ Cup was more formful than Day Two. On Friday, three of six races were won by favorites. On Saturday, there was only one winning favorite among nine races, with many of the results real head-scratchers. Court Vision ($131.60) winning the Mile was this year’s version of Arcangues ($269.20) winning the 1993 Classic.
I thought the Churchill stewards made two debatable calls in the aftermath of last year’s Life at Ten debacle. First was the scratch of Announce from the Filly & Mare Turf. Granted, she was nervous from the strange surroundings when she bumped into the track ambulance and then the rail, but she looked fine to race. Possibly an overreaction to Life at Ten.
Later in the Mile, Goldikova interfered with numerous horses in the stretch while seeking racing room. It was a move that gets bugboys disqualified in claiming races. Goldikova was not taken down.
The horse most affected by Goldikova was the Bill Mott-trained Courageous Cat. That one was eased late and finished last. It was a lone blemish on the great work done by Mott.
I had written last week that the Mott horses appeared loaded for bear, and they were. Mott won the Classic with Drosselmeyer, the Ladies’ Classic with Royal Delta and was second in the Marathon with Birdrun.
On Saturday, many analysts said the Churchill rail was dead and the outside was the place to be. If so, how can one explain the strong races by Hanson, winner of the Juvenile, and Game On Dude, second in the Classic, who both raced on the rail?
Next year the Breeders’ Cup will be at Santa Anita Park, then, let’s hope, at Belmont Park in 2013. I can see a permanent rotation among Belmont, Churchill and Santa Anita, with a wild-card track every fourth year. The caveat is, will Belmont be asked to install lights for televised night races?
■ JACK’S PICK SIX — Sam’s Town has started a new Thursday handicapping contest called Jack’s Pick Six. It’s named for race book director Jack Schneider.
The entry fee is $20, and the goal is to select six winners among the contest tracks that day. Thus, there are now two Thursday contests with similar rules at Sam’s Town and the South Point.
Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick.