Key events
And so as the clocks back in Britain tick past midnight, the 40th running of the Breeders’ Cup is in the form book, and the winning rides by Frankie Dettori, William Buick and Ryan Moore aboard Inspiral, Master Of The Seas and Auguste Rodin respectively will live long in the memory. Rick Dutrow, meanwhile, is back from his 10-year exile, and winning on the biggest stage that US racing can offer. Funny how things can turn around.
I hope you enjoyed the live coverage on the blog and there will be plenty to chew over tomorrow, but for now this is Greg Wood at Santa Anita, signing off.
BREEDERS’ CUP SPRINT RESULT:
1. ELITE POWER, 2. Gunite, 3. Nakatomi.
Speed Boat Beach leads into the stretch, here comes Elite Power with a storming run … and he gets there with something to spare!
OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP SPRINT!
Elite Power, last year’s winner, is a sure-fire favourite for a repeat win, and currently a 2-1 shot on the tote. Here’s his success at Keeneland 12 months ago:
Dr Schivel and Speed Boat Beach, first and second over track and trip last month, are also prominent in the betting.
Ten minutes to post time for the last race of the night: they are out on the track for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
Here’s the replay of the Turf Sprint:
A valiant run by Live In The Dream but he couldn’t maintain his speed to the line. Nobals (he’s a gelding, ho, ho), arrived on his inside and had little trouble easing past for the win. Ryan Moore arrived. with a flying run on Aesop’s Fables but could not edge out Big Invasion for second.
BREEDERS’ CUP TURF SPRINT RESULT:
1. NOBALS, 2. Big Invasion, 3. Aesop’s Fables
Live In The Dream is fading, here’s Nobals on the inside, Aesop’s Fables coming with a run too
Two clear turning in, Motorious a long way back,
Live In The Dream out like lightning and leads
OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP TURF SPRINT!
It is 5-2 Motorious, 7-2 Live In The Dream, 9-2 Caravel, and they are going in for the Turf Sprint.
Two minutes to post in the Turf Sprint, the locals are backing Motorious, the Green Flash Handicap winner.
Adam West, Live In The Dream’s trainer, sent the gelding to Keeneland for his prep run for the Turf Sprint, where he finished second in the Woodford after leading into the straight.
We are now 20 minutes away from one of the highlights of the whole weekend from a British point-of-view: the hugely likeable Live In The Dream and his even more likeable connections, looking to land the Turf Sprint.
To balance out the dumping on Rick Dutrow a little, here’s another Paulick Report piece on the divisions that arose in US racing after his ban.
Here’s the replay of the Classic, as we wait for the post-race interviews.
A refresher from the excellent Paulick Report which includes details of Rick Dutrow’s extensive rap sheet before his 10-year ban from the sport, including “loaded syringes in a desk drawer in his barn office”.
You guessed it – just as the gates opened for the Classic, there goes the wifi.
That was a pretty straightforward win for White Abarrio though, he broke well and tracked the early pace set Arabian Knight and Saudi Crown, before taking over at the top of the stretch and holding the late charge of Japan’s Derma Sotogake.
Rick Dutrow is back in the big time.
BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC RESULT:
1. WHITE ABARRIO, 2. Derma Sotogake, 3. Proxy.
Going into the gates …
AND OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC!
The more I looked at this race over the week, and at Ushba Tesoro on the track, the more I started to think that he should probably be the favourite. The locals, though, definitely prefer White Abarrio, and he is a fairly solid 2-1 shot with a minute left to post time.
The connections of Auguste Rodin were just in the interview room, and suggested that all options remain open for their colt, including an intriguing suggestion that he might stay in training to be aimed at next year’s Classic at Del Mar. You would have to think it’s a 50-1 shot but stranger things have happened on the turf (and dirt).
And now, two races earlier than usual, here were are at the $6m Classic – the championship event of American dirt racing. Unlike last year, when hot favourite Flightline produced a memorable swansong at the end of a brilliant career, this looks like a very open (and perhaps sub-standard) renewal.
The market is currently struggling to separate the top three in the betting: White Abarrio, Japan’s Ushba Tesoro and Arabian Knight.
White Abarrio arrives on the back of a career-best performance in the Whitney at Saratoga:
His trainer, incidentally, is Richard E Dutrow, successful in the Kentucky Derby with Big Brown in 2008, but subsequently banned for 10 years for a whole string of medication offences.
Arabian Knight won the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar:
Ushba Tesoro, meanwhile, is 7 from 8 since a switch to dirt and his only defeat came on a sloppy track. His biggest win came in the Dubai World Cup in March.
Ryan Moore is in the interview room:
It didn’t really go to plan the first half of the race at all, everyone was in each other’s way. I didn’t really like where I was but I wanted to let the horse find some sort of rhythm, and when a run presented itself, I was able to keep going. Considering the first half, I think it was a big performance and probably the best that he’s been.
Here’s an aerial view of Ryan Moore’s winning move in the Turf:
That were also big runs there from Up To The Mark, showing himself effective at this trip, and also Shahryar who, like the winner, is by the Japanese stallion, Deep Impact.
That was another memorable ride and another top-notch winner for Team Europe. Here’s the closing stages:
BREEDERS’ CUP TURF RESULT:
1. AUGUSTE RODIN, 2. Up To The Mark, 3. Shahryar.
Still the outsider Balladeer leads but they’re queueing up to take him on
Amazing run around the inside by Ryan Moore on Auguste Rodin, he hits the front with a furlong to run, Up To The Mark and Shahryar try to close but Moore has sealed it
Up To The Mark also prominent, Auguste Rodin has three behind him
Balladeer leads, King Of Steel broke well and is handy
They are going into the stalls …
AND NOW OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP TURF!
Shahryar, from Japan, has not been in tip-top form this season but would have a real chance on his form in the 2022 Sheema Classic in Dubai:
About 5 minutes to the off in the Turf and Auguste Rodin, the Derby winner, is firming up as the likely favourite at around 5-2.
A full(ish) list at the current tote odds: 5-2 Auguste Rodin, 3-1 Up To The Mark, 7-2 Mostahdaf, 7-1 War Like Goddess, 8-1 King Of Steel, 10-1 Onesto, 20-1 Shahryar, 30-1 bar.
As for the US challenge, Up To The Mark won the Turf Mile at Keeneland but is obviously taking a big step up in trip here:
War Like Goddess, meanwhile, was third behind Rebel’s Romance in this race last year:
My fancy here, for what that’s worth, is Onesto, who has not had as much racing this year as most of his rivals and should be lining up as a relatively fresh horse. His run into third behind the exceptional Ace Impact in the Arc was his best of the campaign, and this track, trip and time of year could be the perfect combo.
Track feed reports that Mostahdaf, the International Stakes winner, has “been a handful to say the least” in the saddling barn. Rishi Persad, though, is on hand to point out that this just how he is – he is a strapping, hormone-fuelled colt, after all.
Jim Crowley, his regular rider, is aboard today, but Frankie was in the plate for a memorable International: