BREEDERS CUP SPECIAL

October 2009

AMERICANS MAY HAVE A MOUNTAIN TO CLIMB  IN SANTA ANITA

SANTA ANITA is often hailed as one of the most picturesque racecourses in the world. Set just outside Los Angeles with the San Gabriel Mountains casting a blue hue over proceedings, it is the ideal setting for the Breeders’ Cup. This renewal will be a complete contrast to the messy slop that was Monmouth last year. Horseracing in America has never really shrugged off the Damon Runyan image. With the exception of Churchill Downs and Gulfstream Park, most courses resemble enlarged dog tracks, with sheds and busy roads close by.

Not so Santa Anita, host of this and next year’s Breeders’ Cup, the ultimate test in the USA of the thoroughbred and devised as the name implies to establish the best of breed. So the stage is set for a aesthetically pleasing two-day festival of racing, which for once may not provide a benefit for American-bred and owned racehorses.

The reason is the long-overdue abolition of the surface known as dirt. Although some events are still being billed as dirt races, don’t be fooled. They have shovelled up and carted away the brown stuff, replacing it with the American equivalent of Polytrack – Pro-Ride. The only dirt in evidence at Santa Anita this weekend will be on the boot heels of visiting cowboys. Now, for the first time, European horses can compete on a playing field that may not be entirely level, but which certainly contains less of an incline. It is always difficult to do battle in someone else’s arena and there is also a climate change for European competitors to adjust to but, dispensing with dirt means our runners will be more at home on the two surfaces they will encounter. This is a bold move by America, prompted in part by the injuries suffered to horses on the unforgiving and now defunct surface once used.

Of course, in Britain we have concluded that a good artificial surface is indispensable. Most training centres have an all-weather strip and very few horses have failed to adapt to Polytrack. Past results from our horses Stateside tend to be erratic, with those most able to adapt often beating some of our stronger representatives.

So what might we expect this time round in the sunshine in the Californian sunshine?

For sure the home team fields a strong hand. FRIDAY is ladies’ night. In the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mares Sprint, INDIAN BLESSING, awesome at Monmouth last year when winning the Fillies’ Juvenile over a mile, looks to be something of a good thing. She is tough and speedy. Having won on dirt, she should handle conditions admirably.

In the Fly Emirates Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, Halfway To Heaven looks to have a bombproof constitution. Although not bred for ten furlongs, she did win the Nassau and races like the trip should not be a problem. Of her American rivals, Wait A While looks her biggest danger.

Zenyatta is the local idea of a good thing in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic, although Cocoa Beach has achieved some fast times since racing in America and by all accounts her bullet work has been impressive.

SATURDAY is show time. SIXTIES ICON should win the Breeders’ Cup Marathon – which is over twelve furlongs. It may be a marathon to the Americans, but Sixties Icon will just be warming up as they head down the stretch!

Goldikova has the best credentials in the Mile but as this is on turf, and the ground is likely to be riding fast, she may struggle.

The decision to run Bushranger over eight-and-a-half furlongs either indicates that connections are confident he will stay, or is foolhardy. His best form has been at six so his task in the Juvenile looks formidable.

The Breeders’ Cup Sprint looks between Cost of Freedom and Fatal Bullet, who has a wide draw to overcome. Watch for Street Boss here, who apparently gets himself tailed off – over sprint trips – then finishes with an astounding rattle.

It would appear the ground will be against Soldier of Fortune in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. Conduit appeals as an above average St Leger winner who only now is realising his full potential. Unsung Heroine did not enhance the form last Saturday but may have been feeling the effects of Doncaster. Conduit comes here a relatively fresh horse that has not had an especially hard season.

And so to the traditional end of what promises to be a whirlwind of a meeting, crammed with top class performers: the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Last year’s winner, Curlin, lines up an uneasy favourite on an entirely different surface. There has to be a trip doubt about both Raven’s Pass and Henrythenavigator, whilst Duke Of Marmalade may be approaching the end of a long hard season if his showing at Longchamp is anything to go by. I find it hard to oppose the strong galloping Curlin despite the waverers.

Being realistic, a strong British contingent that includes the enigmatic US Ranger, Fleeting Spirit (may struggle over six-and-a-half) and Visit, should not be coming home empty-handed. Sixties Icon looks our best hope. Add the rest of our prospects in to the mix and two, maybe three wins is not looking unrealistic. Maybe we will take Santa Anita by storm this time round. Whatever happens this year, it is clear that a tilt at the Breeders’ Cup is no longer the wing and a prayer mission it used to be.