Thoroughbred Connection's WeBLOG

JUVENILE FILLIES
Dreaming Of Anna
Untouched Talent
Bel Air Beauty
Cash Included


JUVENILE
Great Hunter
Stormello
Scat Daddy
Circular Quay


FILLY & MARE TURF
Wait A While
Germance
Honey Ryder
Ouija Board


SPRINT
Too Much Bling
Siren Lure
Dubai Escapade
Henny Hughes


MILE
Aragorn
Gorella
Ad Valorem
Araafa


DISTAFF
Fleet Indian
Lemons Forever
Bushfire
Asi Siempre


TURF
Cacique
Hurricane Run
English Channel
Red Rocks


CLASSIC
Bernardini
Lava Man
Discreet Cat
Invasor

Thoroughbred Connection’s annual road trip to the Breeders’ Cup starts November 1 with my flight from San Diego to Louisville.


I’ll headquarter at the Galt House in downtown Louisville along with co-hosts Dick Harbin and Derek Simon. We’ll be at Churchill Downs early Thursday morning, then likely tour some Lexington “Blue Grass” breeding farms before returning to Louisville for the big VIP party on Thursday night.


At this point, it looks like we won’t be able to broadcast “live” shows from Kentucky, but we DO plan to produce and upload three “live on tape” shows Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Our Friday broadcast will review our first couple of days at Churchill Downs, then Saturday we’ll do comprehensive analysis and handicapping of the eight Breeders’ Cup races before following up on Sunday morning with a review of the days happenings.


All of the significant Breeders’ Cup prep races are in the books as of October 21. The last races that might have had any impact on this year’s BC were the Violet Stakes Friday 10/20 at The Meadowlands in which Distaff hopeful NO SLEEP provide victorious by 2 ½ lengths, the Maid Of The Mist Stakes Saturday 10/21 at Belmont Park in which Juvenile Fillies possible WIN WITH A WINK was a disappointing 5th, the Empire Classic Handicap 10/21 at Belmont Park in which Classic contender WEST VIRGINIA was 3rd, but beaten just a length, and the Carleton Burke at Oak Tree/Santa Anita in which Turf possible RUNAWAY DANCER finished a well-beaten 3rd, some 7 lengths behind the winner SYMPHONY SID.


As for developments away from the actual competition, there are a handful to report: trainer Richard Mandella says Arlington Million hero THE TIN MAN will NOT travel to Kentucky for the BC Turf. According to Mandella, the eight-year-old veteran has not rebounded as well as he had hoped for after his September 30 victory in the Clement Hirsch Turf Championship … trainer Barclay Tagg says hard-luck Champagne runner-up NOBIZ LIKE SHOW BIZ will not go in the BC Juvenile. NOBIZ LIKE SHOW BIZ was “sandwiched” coming out of the starting gate on the backstretch at Belmont Park, but rallied to make the lead before giving way late to SCAT DADDY. Tagg likely thinks he’s got his hands on a bona fide Triple Crown contender, so it’s hard to argue with his decision to bypass the Breeders’ Cup based on the last race … look for foreigners GEORGE WASHINGTON and DAVID JUNIOR BOTH to appear in the BC Classic … DAVID JUNIOR is supposedly “working a hole in the wind”across the pond … trainer Dallas Stewart says he’ll run three-time Louisville Handicap champ SILVERFOOT in the Turf … the old veteran PERFECT DRIFT turned in a solid 5F workout of 1:02 2/5 at the Churchill Downs Trackside Training Center on Saturday 10/21, so he’s on schedule to lineup for an unprecedented FIFTH Breeders’ Cup Classic … two other Classic contenders, SUAVE and SUN KING, turned in respectable Saturday works over the Churchill Downs main track.

On Sunday October 15, Derek Simon and I has the pleasure and the privilege of interviewing the legendary track announcer Trevor Denman, who will call the Breeders’ Cup races for the first time November 4, on Thoroughbred Connection.


In my opinion, and taking nothing away from NYRA’s Tom Durkin, who has done a great job calling every Breeders’ Cup race since the inaugural BC at Hollywood Park in 1984, it’s about time Trevor Denman got the assignment to call racing’s biggest event. Interestingly enough, it was 1984 when a relatively young race caller from South Africa was first heard in Southern California. Trevor took over for the likes of the great Harry Henson at Del Mar and Hollywood Park and the likeable Dave Johnson at Santa Anita.


Suffice it to say, the early returns were NOT favorable. For one thing, there was that accent. For another thing, there was that style, a style so different from the long-accepted “chart calling” style of announcing that dominated American race calling. But time would prove that the Trevor Denman “way” of calling races was so much more superior and so much more meaningful for racing fans whether they were at the track, watching on a simulcast monitor, or simply listening to a stretch call on a results line or on the radio.


What made –and still makes– Trevor Denman’s style so unique and so valuable is the uncanny way he is able to instantly analyze and convey to the fans whether a horse is challenging or dropping out of contention. Simply put, when Trevor says your horse “is not finding,” you can be 99.9% certain that your bet is a goner. Or when he says “they’re gonna have to sprout wings to catch” your horse, you’ve definitely got a ticket to cash!


Sounds simple enough, and many have tried to copy him, but Trevor Denman is in a league of his own when it comes to “analyzing” a race in mid-stream.


I really don’t know why it took so long for Trevor Denman to get the opportunity to call the Breeders’ Cup races, but I’m sure glad the higher-ups at ESPN, the network that will debut on the 2006 BC broadcast, gave him the call this summer. It’s not as though Trevor NEEDS the BC, he’s accomplished as much as a track announcer could ever hope to accomplish in his 20+ years in the United States, but –as he told us on Thoroughbred Connection– “it’s the cherry” on the top of his professional career.


As for the final week of significant Breeders’ Cup preps, there were two races at Belmont Park, two more at Keeneland, and another at Newmarket in England. Let’s start with the British race… BC Turf/F&M Turf hopeful PRIDE (FR) won the Champion Stakes over Turf/Classic possible HURRICANE RUN (IRE). In New York, SUTRA and ENCHANTING STAR finished 1-2 in the Frizette. The disappointing efforts there came from Juvenile Fillies hopefuls AWESOME ASHLEY (4TH) and MEADOW BREEZE (10TH). SCAT DADDY and NOBIZ LIKE SHOBIZ ran 1-2 in the Champagne, stamping their tickets to the BC Juvenile. GORELLA (FR) hung a nose win on KAREN’S CAPER in Keeneland’s First Lady to set up a start in the BC Mile. VACARE beat BC F&M Turf hopeful MAURALAKANA (FR) by a half-length in the QE2, with another F&M Turf possible GERMANCE finishing fourth.

The results of the two most significant Breeders’ Cup prep races on “Super Saturday” were as expected … the brilliant three-year-old BERNARDINI won the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park under wraps and Santa Anita Handicap/Hollywood Gold Cup/Pacific Classic hero LAVA MAN was victorious in the G2 Goodwood Breeders’ Cup Handicap at Oak Tree Santa Anita in their final tune-ups for the BC Classic on November 4 at Churchill Downs.


Not surprisingly, those two maintained the top two spots in the Classic division of the latest NTRA Breeders’ Cup World Championships polls. BERNARDINI tops the list with 148 points to 131 for LAVA MAN. The Uruguayan champion INVASOR (ARG), who sat out the Jockey Club Gold Cup after spiking a fever about 10 days ago, is third with 116 points. Those three are the only horse on the list with triple-digit totals, as SUN KING holds third at 73 and doubtful starter DISCREET CAT sits fourth at 72.


BERNARDINI is definitely in the “driver’s seat” based on the ease of his JCGC victory. It was essentially an “afternoon workout” for the Darley Stable flag-bearer as he cruised to a seven-length win under a motionless Javier Castellano, increasing his margin convincingly down the stretch after taking the lead approaching the stretch.


Trainer Tom Albertrani was definitely pleased with what he saw, saying, “That was exactly what I was hoping for. I’ve got a fresh horse for the Breeders’ Cup now. He does things so easily, I don’t know if anyone can give him the kind of race where he has to fight.”


As for LAVA MAN, a horse I am definitely rooting for, I did not come away as impressed with his win in Oak Tree’s Goodwood Breeders’ Cup Handicap as I did with the BERNARDINI win. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but it seemed like jockey Corey Nakatani has to stay a little busier on LAVA MAN than I expected him to after throwing those first two “crosses” when LAVA MAN hit the top of the lane. Granted, LAVA MAN shouldered the high weight in the race at 126 and he set a pressured pace of :23 1/5, :46 4/5, and 1:10 3/5, then pulled away from the field through a mile in 1:34 3/5 and a final time of 1:48 for 9F over a fast Arcadia oval. Doug O’Neill, who trains LAVA MAN for STD Racing Stable & Jason Wood, said, “This horse just keeps running big races. I’ll have to dissect this one, but it sure seemed like he ran as good a race as he ever has.”


"LAVA MAN ships (to Kentucky) Tuesday morning on Tex Sutton," O'Neill said Monday morning at Santa Anita. "He'll go to Keeneland, then we'll figure out when we'll send him over to Churchill. The game plan is to train him at Keeneland as long as we can."

    
Keeneland began its meet Friday and unveiled the synthetic surface, Polytrack, on its main track. O'Neill is based at Hollywood Park, which recently completed installation of a similar synthetic surface, Cushion Track.


LAVA MAN, winner of seven consecutive stakes, is winless outside of California. His two most disappointing efforts came in Japan and New York. "I think we definitely do have something to prove," O'Neill said about winning outside of Southern California. "We definitely think we can do it. It's not like we're being bull-headed and going about the BC Classic the exact same way we went about the Jockey Club Gold Cup last year. We're going to do things different this year. He'll be back in Kentucky in ample time and he seems like he's as good as he's ever been, too, so it seems like a good time to tackle that challenge of running out of state. We're excited. We think he's got a big, big chance, obviously."


Almost forgotten in the wake of the “Super Saturday” victories by BERNARDINI and LAVA MAN is the #3 horse in the BC Classic poll, INVASOR (ARG). His recent health issue certainly complicated the situation for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, who now plans to train his horse up to the BC Classic without another prep race. Further clouding the situation … the fact that INVASOR (ARG) would have to be supplemented to the BC Classic at a cost of $750,000!

It’s still “SUPER SATURDAY,” with no less than eight Grade One Breeders’ Cup prep races on the docket 10/7 at three different racetracks across the country, but a little bit of the mustard is off the hotdog with the news that Whitney winner INVASOR (ARG) will not be on hand for a showdown in the G1 10F Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park against three-year-old sensation BERNARDINI after spiking a temperature last week.


According to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, INVASOR (ARG) had a 103-degree temperature after training hours on Thursday 9/28 which forced the cancellation of a Saturday workout and prompted the decision not to run in the JCGC. At this point, McLaughlin will attempt to train INVASOR (ARG) up to the $5M Breeders’ Cup Classic on November 4. The Uruguayan champion, a perfect 3-for-3 in the United States after winning the Pimlico Special, the Suburban, and the Whitney, would have to be supplemented to the BC at a cost of $750,000.


Tom Albertrani, the trainer of BERNARDINI, had a mixed reaction to the defection of INVASOR (ARG), noting that the showdown would have been a challenge, but that the race appears to be a lot easier with the older horse on the sidelines.


BERNARDINI will face ANDROMEDA’S HERO, AWESOME TWIST, DYLAN THOMAS (IRE), and perhaps even the rabbit SPANISH CHESTNUT in his final prep for the BC Classic. Of those rivals, Susan Magnier & Michael Tabor’s DYLAN THOMAS (IRE) is the most interesting, coming into the race off a victory less than a month ago over Filly/Mare Turf division leader OUIJA BOARD (GB) in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown.


The “Big Sandy” on Hempstead Turnpike will also feature the G1 Flower Bowl Invitational (F/M, 12F T), the G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational (12 F T), the G1 Beldame (F/M 9F), and the G1 Vosburgh (6F).


The Vosburg, the final major prep for the BC Sprint, figures to attract King’s Bishop winner and BC Sprint division leader HENNY HUGHES and defending BC Sprint king SILVER TRAIN. Even a victory by SILVER TRAIN will not be enough to sent him to Churchill Downs, as trainer Richard Dutrow is already on record as saying he will not ship his horse to Kentucky.


At Oak Tree Santa Anita, Big ‘Cap/Hollywood Gold Cup/Pacific Classic champion LAVA MAN is expected to make his last start before shipping east for the BC Classic in the G2 9F Goodwood Breeders’ Cup Handicap. His principal rivals in Arcadia will be 2005 Kentucky Derby winner GIACOMO and 2006 Santa Anita Derby victor BROTHER DEREK. LAVA MAN trainer Doug O’Neill had originally planned to train his “big horse” on the traditional dirt surface of Santa Anita, but changed his mind and kept his stable star with the rest of his horses at Hollywood Park. LAVA MAN worked 6F over the Cushion Track surface in Inglewood last Saturday, with the clockers recording a time of 1:15.60. O’Neill called the work “fantastic.” Meantime trainer Dan Hendricks watched BROTHER DEREK work 5F in 59.40 at Santa Anita Sunday morning, labeling the work “nice and easy.” BROTHER DEREK looks to rebound from a somewhat dismal effort in his return to racing earlier this summer at Del Mar.


Congratulations to Gary Clawson, the week five winner in our Thoroughbred Connection "Road To The Cup" handicapping contest. His entry included the double-digit Hawthorne Gold Cup winner IT'S NO JOKE. The races for week six are already posted on the handicapping contest page and this week's entry code is ARAZI, the 1991 BC Juvenile winner.