I always feel a sort of proprietary interest in the Breeders Cup because I was among the handful of media people the legendary breeder John Gaines invited to the luncheon in 1983 where he announced his brainchild.
As Gaines saw it, thoroughbred racing needed a season-ending championship event that would be loosely modeled after the Super Bowl. He envisioned a series of races for colts and fillies, grass specialists and dirt runners, juvenile horses and older horses.
This year’s edition will be held at Del Mar, the lovely track hard by the Pacific Ocean near San Diego. Today, five juvenile races will produce the leading contenders for next spring’s classic races. On Saturday, nine more races for older horses will complete the Breeders Cup program.
Billy Reed is a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Hall of Fame, the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame and the Transylvania University Hall of Fame. He has been named Kentucky Sports Writer of the Year eight times and has won the Eclipse Award twice. Reed has written about a multitude of sports events for over four decades and is perhaps one of the most knowledgeable writers on the Kentucky Derby. His book “Last of a BReed” is available on Amazon. Handicapping these races, especially the ones for juveniles, always is a crapshoot. You never know who’s improving or declining until the races are run. But I step where only fools dare. So here are my selections:
Juvenile Turf Sprint — Likely favorite Averly Jane has won all four of her starts by a combined 22 1/4 lengths. “She’s just fast — that’s the bottom line,” trainer Wesley Ward told The Daily Racing home. Interestingly, her main competition may come from two other fillies trained by Ward — Twilight Gleaming and Kaufymaker.
Juvenile Fillies — It’s difficult to pick against likely favorite Echo Zulu, who has won all three of her starts by a total of almost 17 lengths. Her main challenge could come from Hidden Connection.
Juvenile Fillies Turf — I can’t decide between Malavath, coming off a stakes win in France, and Hello You, who will be running an eighth-of-a-mile farther than she has ever run. The winner probably will be Consumer Spending, who has a big late kick.
Juvenile — Jack Christopher, who has been impressive in both his starts, is the likely favorite, but I’m picking Cormiche, mainly because I’ve felt trainer Bob Baffert has been unduly bashed by the media because of this year’s Kentucky Derby fiasco. Baffert also has Pinehurst and Barossa in this field. The golfer in me feels a tug about Pinehurst.
Juvenile Turf — The Godolphin Stable of Dubai is coming after this race hard with Albahr and Modern Games. But I’m going with Tiz the Bomb, largely because trainer Kenny McPeek is a longtime friend.
Turf Sprint — How can you bet against a horse named Golden Pal? I can’t because I’m blessed with more than my share of wonderful friends.
Dirt Mile — our country is going through some tough times and unprecedented divisiveness, but I still contend that Life Is Good. That’s why I’m betting on the horse who goes by that name.
Filly and Mare Turf —Do you think War Like Goddess will get a lot of play from female fans? you bet she will. And she’ll get my money, too.
Sprint — I’ve had to see a lot of doctors recently, so I am thinking Dr. Schivel has the right prescription for victory. But I can’t overlook Jackie’s Warrior, trained by Asmussen.
Mile — Appleby might become one of my favorite trainers if he wins this race with either Space Blues of Master of the Universe.
Distaff — In my early years as a sports writer, I covered many Dunbar High games. So there’s no way I’m picking against Dunbar Road.
Turf — I did Sports Illustrated’s first cover story on basketball star Bill Walton when he was at UCLA, and that’s reason enough for me to bet on Walton Street. Trained by Charlie Appleby, by the way.
Classic — The favorite almost certainly will be Essential Quality, winner of the Belmont Stakes and Travers at Saratoga, but I’m pulling for Medina Spirit as hard as I possibly can.
One good thing about the Breeders Cup is there’s no such thing as a stupid pick. The horses all have classy pedigrees. So that gives a bettor like me permission to use my imagination and make picks that suit me.
I hope Del Mar has balmy weather and no racetrack accidents.
Now let the dreams begin.
I don’t mind if Billy wants to use this space to tout horses trained by his friends because I find that harmless and useless. But it is disappointing that this site continues to allow him to spread misinformation about Medina Spirit, who is still the offiical winner of the Kentucky Derby until/unless the state’s racing commission declares him otherwise. Additionally, he seems to be experiencing memory issues in writing above that the inaugural Breeders’ Cup was conducted at Churchill Downs rather than the now defunct Hollywood Park. A fact checker is seriously needed before publishing his work at this stage of his career.
The issue of Medina Spirit and the Kentucky Derby is yet unresolved, as Billy has reported. The racing commission made a decision that is being challenged in the courts by Bob Baffert. Ticketholders for Medina Spirit were paid out the day of the race and can’t be rescinded. But the “official” winner of the Kentucky Derby has not yet been determined. We are awaiting that decision too.
The state racing commission has issued no ruling in the Medina Spirit Derby matter, as Billy has incorrectly reported. Baffert is challenging the test results through the court system. But stating that Medina Spirit was DQ’d is simply incorrect.
Thanks, Chris, for the comments. You are correct in that the Kentucky Horse Racing commission has requested more drug tests related to additional testing on Medina Spirit’s post-race urine sample and a ruling is still pending. The flap is about the condition of the sample. Baffert and Medina Spirit’s owner, Zedan Stables, sued the KHRC demanding their right to test the split urine sample and that issue is still tied up in the court. I have removed that part of Billy’s comments — you are correct about the “disqualification.”