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This past weekend certainly qualified as “the calm before the storm” in terms of Breeders’ Cup prep races go, although there were a couple of races run that will have some impact on the BC Classic and the BC Mile.


In the G2 Louisiana Super Derby, STRONG CONTENDER scored a one-length victory over one-time Triple Crown contender LAWYER RON. The win was the second G2 tally for the John Oxley-owned son of Maria’s Mon, who improved his overall record to 7-4-0-3. STRONG CONTENDER also moved into the top ten in the latest NTRA Breeders’ Cup Classic rankings, which are topped by BERNARDINI, INVASOR (ARG), and LAVA MAN. The top two, of course, are on target for a meeting in the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on “Super Saturday” October 7.


The other race that had BC impact was the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot, which went to Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, & Derrick Smith’s GEORGE WASHINGTON (IRE). The three-year-old defeated runner-up ARAAFA (IRE) and also-ran LIBRETTIST in a salty edition of the QE2 that produced some typical English “drama” after IVAN DENISOVICH (IRE) and jockey Seamus Heffernan were disqualified and placed last for “deliberate interference” against LIBRETTIST on the final bend. Unlike racing officials in the United States, the British judges wasted no time in making a ruling on the incident, suspending Heffernan immediately for two weeks. Frankie Dettori, the rider of LIBRETTIST, was so incensed by the incident that he clashed with winning trainer Aidan O’Brien shortly after the race. GEORGE WASHINGTON (IRE) vaults from sixth to second in the BC Mile rankings, ARAAFA (IRE) moves from fifth to fourth, and LIBRETTIST falls from third to sixth. ARAGORN (IRE), the Neil Drysdale-trained hero of the recently completed Del Mar session, holds down the top spot in the Mile poll. According to published reports, LIBRETTIST came out of the race injured, so his future plans are on hold.


The “Road To The Cup” shifts into full throttle this week as the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting opens in Arcadia, CA. With the 2006 edition of the BC scheduled just 38 days after the lidlifter at Oak Tree, the racing office has no choice but to offer the best of its stakes schedule in the first two weeks of its 26-day session. That means this Saturday’s card includes a Grade 1 “tripleheader” with the Yellow Ribbon, the Oak Leaf BC, and the Clement Hirsch Turf all on the docket. Each of those races figures to feature a G1 stakes winner as the early favorite … Del Mar Debutante winner POINT ASHLEY in the Oak Leaf, Arlington Million hero THE TIN MAN in the Clement Hirsch, and WAIT A WHILE in the Yellow Ribbon. All of those three can stamp a ticket to Kentucky with a win or at least a respectable finish.


There’s another big turf race scheduled this Saturday at Turfway Park, the G2 Kentucky Cup Classic. This race will attract the likes of GOULDINGS GREEN, GREELEY’S GALAXY, IT’S NO JOKE, PERFECT DRIFT (with new rider Julien Leparoux) and PREMIUM TAP, the 31-1 upset winner of the G1 Woodward at Saratoga September 2 last out under Kent Desormeaux. PERFECT DRIFT, the Murray Johnson trainee who has “danced all the dances” in a long racing career that’s seen him bank nearly $4.6 million will attempt to end a nine-race absence from the winner’s circle and earn a start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.


The results of week four in our Thoroughbred Connection "Road To The Cup" handicapping contest are not yet official because of the Monday 9/24 cancellation of racing at Kentucky Downs. They'll take another shot at getting those races in on Tuesday 9/25. The races for week five are already posted on the handicapping contest page and this week's entry code is VOLPONI, the BC Classic winner at Arlington International in 2002.

It seems like every week thoroughbred racing loses another one of its equine stars and this week is no exception. The Eclipse Award winning sprinter of 2005, the hero and the heartthrob of Northern California racing, LOST IN THE FOG was put down Sunday September 17 at Golden Gate Fields, just three weeks after veterinarians found inoperable cancerous tumors in his spleen and along his spine.


According to reports, trainer Greg Gilchrist had just finished grazing LOST IN THE FOG outside his barn at the Bay Area track when the horse went into distress. Gilchrist said, “We accomplished what we wanted to do. It was all about giving him quality time. We did everything we could for him. He was happy and content right up to the end. He went quietly and easily.”


It was a sad and bittersweet conclusion to an all-too-brief racing career that saw LOST IN THE FOG start out with ten consecutive victories before finishing off the board as the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint last October at Belmont Park in New York.


What I remember most about LOST IN THE FOG and the Breeders’ Cup is not how the race ended, but just how gracious and accommodating Greg Gilchrist was with the fans, his fellow horsemen, and the racing media. I remember having an at-length conversation with him at the festive Thursday night VIP party at Belmont Park. He agreed to join us on our Thoroughbred Connection broadcast Breeders’ Cup morning and freely offered his mobile phone number so we wouldn’t have any trouble getting a hold of him.


Thinking back, it was the only Breeders’ Cup race I didn’t bet that day. I just wanted to focus on watching the race and pulling for LOST IN THE FOG to perform well without having to worry about how any wagers turned out.


Thanks for the memories LOST IN THE FOG! And thank you Greg Gilchrist for making it enjoyable to cover last year’s event!


One of my favorite human stars in racing, jockey Patrick Valenzuela, made an unexpected and successful return to the saddle Sunday at Woodbine. PVal, riding for the first time since July 16, replaced the injured Corey Nakatani and piloted the Neil Drysdale-trained BECRUX to victory in the G1 $1 Million Woodbine Mile. I realize there are more than a few Patrick Valenzuela critics –I dare say “haters”– out there, but don’t count me among them! Even though he’s let me down more than once after committing to an interview or an appearance on a broadcast, he’s always been courteous and friendly. I remember last year at Santa Anita I was in the saddling barn after a race, and Patrick said “hi” to me but I was concentrating on something else. He turned to face me and said, “What’s up, John? Aren’t you talking to me anymore?”


Congratulations to Bill Pietschmann, the week three winner in our Thoroughbred Connection "Road To The Cup" handicapping contest. His entry included the double-digit Monmouth Park winner JERSEY PEACH. The races for week four are already posted on the handicapping contest page and this week's entry code is TIZNOW, the only two-time winner of the BC Classic.


The big news in the NTRA Breeders’ Cup rankings was the debut of the Juvenile and Juvenile Fillies polls. Hopeful Stakes winner CIRCULAR QUAY and Del Mar Futurity champion HORSE GREELEY are one-two in the Juvenile poll, while Del Mar Debutante winner POINT ASHLEY and Schuylerville victress COTTON BLOSSOM top the Juvenile Fillies division.

The sudden and unexpected death of Dubai World Cup champion ELECTROCUTIONIST over the weekend took a leading star away from this year’s Breeders’ Cup and caused a shakeup in the new NTRA Breeders’ Cup World Championship polls.


The Godolphin stable color-bearer, the five-year-old ELECTROCUTIONIST (RED RANSOM), died of an apparent heart attack only days after a cardiac abnormality was first detected. According to Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford, the horse initially responded well to treatment, but was fatally stricken early Saturday morning.


The multiple stakes winner came to Godolphin after the end of the 2005 racing season and promptly rattled off a pair of impressive wins at Nad al Sheba, taking the Maktoum Challenge Round III March 2 and the Dubai World Cup over BRASS HAT three weeks later. He resumed his 2006 campaign in June, finishing second to Breeders’ Cup Filly/Mare Turf leader OUIJA BOARD (GB) and –in what proved to be his final start– finished second to Breeders’ Cup Turf contender HURRICANE RUN in late July.


With ELECTROCUTIONIST unfortunately out of the picture, Breeders’ Cup Turf leader SHIROCCO (GER) moved way up into the Breeders’ Cup Classic rankings, coming from out of the top ten to take the sixth spot. DAVID JUNIOR moved up from sixth to fifth, with the top four unchanged: BERNARDINI, INVASOR (ARG), LAVA MAN, and SUN KING.


In the Turf rankings, a weekend victory by SHIROCCO (GER) over HURRICANE RUN at Longchamp in France, forced a flip-flop of last week’s one-two ranked runners, while the departure of ELECTROCUTIONIST, seventh last week, allowed GO DEPUTY to sneak from out of the top ten to ninth place. And Irish Derby winner DYLAN THOMAS (IRE) scored a narrow victory over OUIJA BOARD (GB) in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown to move up three notches to sixth place. Susan Magnier and Michael Tabor, the owners of DYLAN THOMAS (IRE) --also seventh in the Classic division rankings-- will face a decision on which of the two BC races to send their ace three-year-old to on the first Saturday in November.


Three G1 stakes races run over the weekend at Belmont Park all had Breeders’ Cup implications … the Man O’ War Stakes, the Garden City Breeders’ Cup, and the Gazelle. Turf contender CACIQUE (IRE) moved up two spots to third after posting a two-length victory over GO DEPUTY and SHOWING UP in the Man O’ War. In the Garden City BC, the Todd Pletcher-trained MAGNIFICENT SONG took advantage of the absence of barnmate WAIT A WHILE to beat TAKE THE RIBBON and JADE QUEEN. But, even with the victory, the winner couldn’t crack the top ten in the Filly/Mare Turf rankings, with OUIJA BOARD (GB) and GORELLA (FR) listed one-two. In the Gazelle, PINE ISLAND tallied over TEAMMATE and LAST ROMANCE to move up to fourth in the BC Distaff rankings.


Even though the first Breeders’ Cup Juvenile rankings aren’t due out for another week, trainer Richard Mandella served notice that he might have a contender by sending out HORSE GREELEY to win the G2 Del Mar Futurity on closing day at the scenic seaside oval.

The two graded stakes races on closing weekend at Saratoga were supposed to shed some major light on both the Breeders’ Cup CLASSIC and the Breeders’ Cup SPRINT, but they left many more questions unanswered than they did answered!


In the 7F Forego, Tracy Farmer’s COMMENTATOR was favored to make it two straight wins in two starts this year and remain perfect at Saratoga after winning his first two career starts there in 2004 and adding last year’s 9F G1 Whitney to his list of accomplishments as the highlight of a brief three-race campaign in 2005. But COMMENTATOR, breaking from the two-hole, stumbled at the start, brushed slightly with FRIENDLY ISLAND, and had to rush up to avoid being swallowed up by the outside speed horses. COMMENTATOR never had a sniff of the lead, which went to longshot SPANISH CHESTNUT until the eventual winner, Silverleaf Farm’s POMEROY, took charge at the 5/16ths pole and repelled the stretch challenge of WAR FRONT to post the mild surprise. Based on what I saw, the connections of POMEROY definitely deserve to set their sights on Churchill Downs and the BC SPRINT, but –first—they’re likely to move on to the 6F Vosburgh at Belmont Park in early October. And given the bad start by COMMENTATOR, you shouldn’t be surprised to see his connections take one more shot at a BC prep by testing POMEROY again in a month.


If the results of the Forego were surprising, then the results of the 9F G1 Woodward had to be considered SHOCKING! This was a race that was supposed to ratchet up Breeders’ Cup CLASSIC hopes for the likes of SUAVE, SUN KING, FLOWER ALLEY, and even ANDROMEDA’S HERO. But on a difficult, tiring Saratoga surface, none of those four horses acquitted himself well, let alone gave indications that he could be considered a contender in the BC Classic, which will be run in 60 days. The race went to longshot PREMIUM TAP, under veteran jockey Kent Desormeaux, at odds of more than 30-1. SUAVE ran into traffic troubles on the first turn, ‘Mo settled his horse just off the early pacesetter SECOND OF JUNE, made the lead at the top of the lane, put away a that dogged rival late, and easily withstood a mild rally by SUN KING. After the race, Desormeaux commented that his horse, fifth in the G1 Whitney August 5, couldn’t get in any workouts for about a three-week period in late July and early August, but was able to get in solid 4F and 5F drills prior to the Woodward. This race was probably most damaging to the BC hopes of FLOWER ALLEY, the CLASSIC runner-up to the late ST. LIAM last October at Belmont Park. He was off for eight months before winning the sloppy Salvatore Mile at Monmouth Park in June, threw in a clunker (seventh, beaten nine lengths) in the Whitney, and really damaged his BC hopes with a dull and uninspiring effort in the Woodward. The win by PREMIUM TAP, whose tongue dangled out the left side of his mouth the entire race, prompted Hall Of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey –on the ESPN broadcast – to say, “I couldn’t have bet this horse even on the replay!”


With two months left until “the big day” in Louisville, there’s finally some action in the Juvenile and Juvenile Fillies divisions to discuss. Michael & Doreen Tabor’s CIRCULAR QUAY, a horse we talked up quite a bit on Thoroughbred Connection prior to his Bashford Manner win at Churchill Downs in July, overcame a slow break to post an impressive victory in Saratoga’s G1 Hopeful on Labor Day. Later in the afternoon, the Bob Baffert-trained filly POINT ASHLEY registered a 2 ½ length victory in the G1 Del Mar Debutante.