Focused Filly

Beyond the Buzz: Real Implications of the Supposed Dance of the Doyennes

Focused Filly — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 01:27:00 +0000

This past Monday night, I’m driving with my mom down Wilshire Boulevard and my Pre starts buzzing like a frenzied bee colony – “we must have a new Horse of the Year,” Mom says.

Boy – rather, Girl – do we ever! Now that the debate has been settled, we can start to focus on the other parts of the Rachel Alexandra v. Zenyatta story.

I was (admittedly) tough on the Rachel camp last year for not going to the Breeders’ Cup and I still feel they made a mistake – even though I do think to push her any harder than 8 races in 7 months could have been a bigger mistake. I was (admittedly) understanding of the Zenyatta camp for facing the boys and then announcing retirement, even though they kept her in training long enough for most of us to expect the inevitable Favreian reversal – and though I think the breeding shed is a safer bet for a mare who has nothing left to prove on the track, you cannot fault the Moss/Shirreffs camp for wanting to keep their superstar in orbit.

And the stats of this supposed rivalry are tremendous: the next start is #15 for both; Rachel’s combined win margin is 45-3/4 more lengths, even though Zenyatta’s been in training 52% longer (she’s older by 2 years, I know, but the numbers don’t lie: 1,360 days v. 637), and the stats go on…

Now the big question is when will the ladies stop doing the dance of the socialiates and finally sit down to lunch at the same table?

Personally, I think both of them would be ready – with two preps apiece – for the La Troienne (aka the Louisville Breeders’ Cup) on the Kentucky Oaks undercard. This is the same race Zenyatta came into Churchill for last year – and for which she trained like an absolute beast – but was scratched from the morning of, due to fears of a wet track. After that incident, I think John Shirreffs will be more trusting of Butch Lear’s ability – there’s no one better in the business at getting a track to dry out.

And we all know how much Rachel likes her home turf (or, rather dirt). Oh, and “ironically” enough, the Breeders’ Cup is not only not on “plastic” this year but happens to be at Churchill – just like the La Troienne.

I don’t think there’s a question that a starting gate with these two ladies in it will be among the greatest moments in recent racing history. But – as a fan of this game as much as I work in the sport – I have to ask myself: Do I really want these two to meet?

And, after much deliberation, I honestly have to admit that no, I really don’t. I know it’s sacrilegious to say such a thing, but I’m not sorry: I don’t want to see one of them lose.

It’s not about Zenyatta getting her 15th straight or Rachel her 10th – it’s the fact that there are two certainties in racing (with a walkover being the exception that proves the rule): someone’s going to win and someone’s going to lose. Realize that in 26 years and 208 Breeders’ Cup races there has been just 1 (one!) dead heat. One of the many reasons I love the call of the 2002 Test Stakes is that Tom Durkin said it: it was a photo finish that didn’t deserve a loser – even though the stewards called it and You got the W while Carson Hollow just went back to the barn.

From a business standpoint, I know it would be amazing: it’d be great promotion for a sport that’s struggling: our version of David Beckham playing in the MLS. We know that fans turn out in droves to see either mare run, so it’s absolutely safe to assume that getting them together would cause even the calmest fire marshall to need oxygen. Heck, we could race for charity instead of purse money – as long as people keep buying wine and music, neither owner is hurting for cash – and we could maybe even convince other owners to run their horses instead of it being just a match race.

Whichever track finally gets these two gals into the same gate is going to have a great day in the handle department, no doubt. And it will be a major coup for a sport that’s been dying to see it happen for two racing seasons. But – ask yourself this without geographic bias and knowing that the odds of these two super girls getting their noses on the same line at the same time is near impossible – is an invitation to this meeting really what’s best for the sport?

I have to regretfully decline.

2009: Merry Mares & A Cajun King

Focused Filly — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 06:08:00 +0000

I Heart Asia & the Ex(pony)pat Phenomenon

Focused Filly — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:15:00 +0000

For anyone who wants to ask me what I think of the Horse of the Year debate, my answer is this: while I could lay out a case for both Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra, I thought the bigger story was that two girls would be on the final ballot for the first time in the 111 years that the honor has been handed out.

I have a soft spot for the last female Horse of the Year: I had just started at TVG when Azeri was starting her reign over the racing world, highlighted by 2002 Horse of the Year honors. Then, while I was working at Churchill, I was lucky enough to touch (ok, hug!) the superstar when she was yanked from retirement and shipped into D. Wayne Lukas’ barn for her whisker-loss run in the ’04 Humana Distaff.

What struck me most about Azeri’s recent $2.25 million trip through the Keeneland auction ring wasn’t the pricetag: that’s a fair price in this market for a horse who did what she did on the track but who’s still completely unproven as a broodmare.

The more interesting part is that she’s going to Japan. But the more I thought about her going to Asia, the less I was surprised.

After all:

My first car was a Ford ZX2, my second a Chevy Blazer. I now drive a Hyundai Elantra.

My high school (which counts Will Ferrell as a grad) was 55% Asian when I started. It was 70% when I graduated.

My office used to be in midtown Manhattan. Now I work on the KoreaTown border.

My mom’s fiance is Thai.

While the rest of the world can gripe about buying everything with a Made In China label – racing has long understood that international success doesn’t extend to just the European Union or Dubai. And, yes, while the meltdown of the UAE economy will certainly effect racing’s many segments, the Asian market is stable and ready to pounce where the Sheiks can’t.

In a somewhat ironic twist, the Dubai debt crisis happened just as a slew of American horses – including Belmont/Travers/Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Summer Bird – were making their final preparations for a run in the Japan Cup Dirt – a longstanding end-of-the-season target for many. Things didn’t go so well for Summer Bird (or, rather, for his right front leg), but America still had a runner in the field. And many American-based jockeys – including Calvin Borel and Rajiv Maragh – made return trips for the Japan Cup Turf.

Plus, Darley kicked off this week’s stallion news with Pyro joining Storming Home in bringing American pedigree to their Japan division (along with fellow Japan residents Silver Charm, Charismatic, and War Emblem).

To boot, the Hong Kong Jockey Club recently hosted a “Name Our Chantal” competition to honor Chantal Sutherland – the only woman to race against 11 men in the Cathay Pacific International Jockey Championship. The contest drew 6,119 in just 5 days (that’s an average of over 1,200 submissions per day), while the Kentucky Derby Twitter account has just 2,204 followers in 8 months (and a scant 322 Tweets to its name).

I know most racing folks are wary of the Asian countries because of what happened to Ferdinand. Yes, I share the same “you don’t get to kill a Kentucky Derby winner and get away with it” philosophy. But that was a sad wake-up call the industry needed and won’t let happen again. Most horses sold or shipped over for breeding purposes have a “return to the US” clause built into their contracts nowadays thanks to him. If we’re not going to let horses cross borders where slaughter is legal or horsemeat is eaten, then we’d have to cross Mexico and Canada (respectively) off the list too.

Given that we don’t have the centuries it would take US racing to fix itself and Dubai is suddenly not as viable a savior as we’d all planned for, I’m all for Asia stepping in to fill the void. If you don’t think they do it right over there, here’s some food for thought: even without having on-track wagering, racing is such a draw that they broadcast the major stakes on the jumbotrons of Tokyo’s town center.

Can you imagine New York City freezing for two whole minutes while the Kentucky Derby plays in Times Square?

Yeah, me neither.

Media Chemistry: Picking a Horse, Not a Guy

Focused Filly — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:31:00 +0000

Get a group of horseplayers together and ask ‘em who they like and it’s going to sound a lot like this:

Racing is a sport built on debate – do you see a toteboard in the middle of Lambeau Field? No. That’s because racing (unlike football) depends on 2 things: horses running in circles and folks betting on them. Here is where I’ll take the British style of bookmaking over the American style of wagering any day – across the pond, you can wager on not only which number will win today but if the Sea The Stars x Zarkava baby will win the 2014 Arc de Triomphe.

I’ve got a new bet to add to their lineup: the odds of a singularly unanimous response to “what was the most interesting moment” from the same group of guys as above after a Breeders’ Cup weekend like we had at Santa Anita. The odds would probably be the same as that blue blooded 2014 Arc winner is on Ladbrokes right now: 100/1.

But that was exactly the ticket that cashed on Saturday night. In my very unofficial FocusedFilly polling of the media going into the race, I heard about 60/40 in favor of Zenyatta not getting the Breeders’ Cup Classic win (or, as track announcer Larry Colmus told me afterwards: we all wanted her to, but no one in the industry really thought she could pull it off). Yet, post-race polling showed that the stand-out moment for every single member of the media was not Vale of York in the Juvenile or even the repeat wins of Goldikova and Conduit (shocking, I know).

One hundred percent of folks had a singular answer to the singular moment question and it was: Zenyatta. This from members of the media who can’t agree whether the free hotel ravioli is filled with ricotta or sausage. Not that we needed any more confirmation that what the superfreaky supermare did was extraordinary, but I think her ability to unify a very vociferous press corps makes her eligible for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

Speaking of prizes, the wonderful double edged sword of Saturday’s victory is that it now forces a two month blitz from the Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra camps on just who gets to be Horse of the Year (I’m expecting something on par with the Obama/McCain presidential campaigns minus the shock of adding an Alaskan to the ticket – though they did have a (yes, 1) Thoroughbred stallion a few years back).

Of the 111 previous Horses of the Year, fewer than 10 have been female. So, for the first time in history, we’re in for the treat of seeing 2 fillies do battle on the ballots used by the National Turf Writers to determine the ultimate end of the year honor.

A cross country battle royale is all but a given when you consider where these two have campaigned: Zenyatta left Southern California just once this year (to train at Churchill Downs for a month), while Rachel Alexandra has been on 7 tracks in 8 states (none west of the Mississippi).

On Saturday night over cocktails at the media hotel, much of the buzz echoed Zenyatta’s owner Jerry Moss’ sentiment that she deserves it because she “beat everyone who showed up” (ie: not Rachel). It seemed the tide was turning against months-old beliefs that Rachel sewed up the honor when she bested boys for the second time in the Haskell.

Of the hundreds of conversation snippets overheard, it was amazing to hear just how many votes had seemingly already been cast – before the end of the season, before the Breeders Cup, before the ballots were even printed. Bob Fortus of the New Orleans Times-Picayune was the lone voice of dissent: when asked by a New York writer whether the weekend had changed his mind, he said not in the least, and the reason – when pressed – “I had never let myself make up my mind before getting to today. That’s the point of voting at the end of the season.”

I don’t pretend to know which mare will end up Horse of the Year – they both deserve it and we should have the first ever joint title if it were up to me. But I do know that racing – and its media especially – has a very short memory. And why not? It is a sport about opinions and debate and two minutes after one race is decided, we all turn the page and go at it again (eight-plus times a day). This does not bode well for Rachel Alexandra.

The great thing is that a healthy debate – much like the content of the presidential campaign trails wind up as governmental policy – can only improve the game and raise its profile. It also means that the records and run lines of these great mares will be scrutinized every which way from the Saturdays and Sundays on which they ran and every step of those big races will count twice as much as they did when the gates broke open, the wires were crossed, and the flashbulbs went off.

As lyricist Fred Ebb once explained about the appeal of the song Adelaide’s Lament in Guys and Dolls: “Every line in it is worth something. It means something – has impact. It has vitality. It has humor and charm and appropriateness. And I don’t know how you can get much better than that.”

With the year racing’s had and the Horse of the Year ballot we’re expecting, I truly don’t know how it does get any better.

btw, if you don’t get the title of tonight’s blog or just saw the video clip for the first time (or really just in general), you must rent the movie – it’s truly one of the greats

Classic Day: Truly A Zen Moment

Focused Filly — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:26:00 +0000

For the 4th time this year, I get to write a blog about a filly beating the boys impressively in a major stake. But, for the 1st time this year, this is not a story about Rachel Alexandra.

The list of racing’s greatest mares includes the likes of Personal Ensign, Ruffian, Paseana, Regret, Lady’s Secret, and Winning Colors. And there’s no doubt that Rachel’s name gets to be added to that list – but not before you see Zenyatta there.

The mare whose gritty style will have your heart in your throat until the wire’s shadow has past.

The mare whose every win came with a pre-race dance and ears pricked at the wire.

The mare whose jockey says he still doesn’t know how many gears she has.

The mare whose Beyer figures and Sheets numbers never scared you enough to toss her but never had you rushing to the windows.

Zenyatta: the mare who retires a perfect 14-for-14 lifetime.

On a Breeders’ Cup weekend that saw 3 returning champs get beat, we also had 3 win (taking liberty that Zenyatta won last year, just in the other Classic). Yesterday was a day for multi-named winners: Life Is Sweet, Man of Iron, Informed Decision, etc. Today, on the other hand, was one for the single named: Zenyatta, Conduit, Goldikova, and Pounced.

It wasn’t without controversy – we had the only official jockey objection and steward’s inquiry in the Dirt Mile (kudos to Manny Cruz for trying to get the extra purse money for a fading horse who was barely bumped: that may be ok at Calder, but this is the big leagues baby).

Today also wasn’t without giant prices. Yesterday’s longest shot was $21.60 (Tapitsfly in the Juvenile Filly Turf) … today had 3 over $40, topped by $63.20 (Vale of York in the Juvenile).

Speaking of Vale of York, yes, you can already pencil him in to the Kentucky Derby starting gate for next year. Don’t believe me? When asked about how the horse performed today, Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford’s response was basically “we’ll see how it goes next first Saturday in May on the Churchill Downs dirt.”

And Churchill Downs’ John Asher has admitted to already adding to the bio book for next year’s Derby – and for a great reason: Vale of York’s rider is a Dubaian apprentice jockey who literally makes a second living riding camels in the UAE desert and was deported from the UK at some point for what I’m told were “immigration issues”. If you’re not already, I highly recommend following Ahmed Ajtebi on Facebook – the kid’s hysterical.

Among the other racing news, we saw a wonderful career closeout performance by Conduit – the dual Turf winner will soon head off to Japan to start life as a stallion. I find it a truly remarkable circle of racing life that Conduit’s stallion, Dalakhani, will now be neighbors at the Aga Khan’s Gilltown Stud with Sea The Stars, who just beat Conduit in the Arc in what would turn out to be both of their final performances on European soil.

Then there’s Goldikova – your repeat Mile winner. Remember when folks said Rachel was the only 3yo filly to be facing (let alone beating) older males? Yeah, well, US memories are short when it’s a Euro we’re talking about. Regardless, Goldikova proved she’s as gusty and gritty and yet girly as they come – she took on 2 tough (if not stellar) Breeders’ Cup Mile fields and did the near impossible: she won. That now makes 4 dual Mile winners, 3 of those consecutive (Miesque and Lure being the other 2).

When asked about what honor Zenyatta should receive given her record and performances this year, jockey Mike Smith said simply and honestly that “she’s the Horse of the Decade”. There’s no doubt that the debates that have already been started will now rage like a true Southern California wildfire about Horse of the Year and other end of year honors – Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra, Summer Bird, Gio Ponti, Mine That Bird, etc.

I’m not a turf writer and therefore don’t have an official vote, but I’m seriously thinking that this weekend be called the Breeders’ Cup of the Decade.

Classic Day: Bring On The Dart Board

Focused Filly — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:21:00 +0000

I’m investing in a dart board. Why? Glad you asked: today is one of those cards where I want to put the Form up on a wall and simply throw darts at it to pick my plays. It’s one of the tougher cards I’ve ever seen and yesterday’s shutout of favorites has me a little freaked to single anyone who seems to be a lock.

With that said, here’s my stab at what’s going to happen…

Juvenile Turf: I personally am not an 11-Interactif fan, so I would totally rather look at Kenny McPeek’s charge 7-Bridgetown, but I’m going the Euro route with 4-Pounced because his Sheet numbers put him square in the mix and John Gosden doesn’t ship unless he’s got talent

Turf Sprint: I want to see a filly sweep on boy’s day, so I gotta root for a 9-Diamondrella over 7-Gotta Have Her exacta, but John Sadler thinks his best shot of the weekend is 1-Noble Court and that’s lofty enough praise for me

Sprint: we may be in for a broken track record with the ridiculous speed duel that’s going to take place here and 1-Zensational doesn’t break clean so will probably not be a part of it and wants no part of closing so he’s a totally beatable favorite; 5-Gayego is the non-route buzz horse of the week, but my gut says 8-Capt. Candyman Can closes like a freight train and gets the glory

Juvenile: with 13-Lookin At Lucky drawing the far outside Lucky 13 post, this goes one of two ways for me, as I see either 5-D’Funnybone stealing it on the lead (if his record & Sheet numbers hold and he keeps incrementally stepping up, then he’s going to be tough to beat); otherwise 9-Aikenite (the only horse I wanted to buy from the sales all season and my biggest buzz horse of the year so far) closes into the pace and gets the win for Dogwood

Mile: the start of the DartBoardPick4 here begins with crushing my big Keeneland play last out 5-Karelian, but it’s all 11-Goldikova here (I don’t care about the outside post when you have such a freakily talented horse) with 8-Zacinto and 7-Fernely behind her; quick shoutout to the jockey of 9-Gladiatorus, who’s Facebook page is truly fun to follow

Dirt Mile: a good friend who’s handicapping I trust implicitly says that 1-Mastercraftsman is the bullgoose of the week (strutting around like he owns the joint), so I gotta heart that; and I’m looking for a price underneath from either 4-Bullsbay or 7-Pyro

Turf: 2-Conduit was my play of last year and I still love him, so for the exotics I’m thinking the filly 5-Dar Re Mi completes a Euro exacta and the (banned in the UK because he can’t load into a gate) 7-Spanish Moon gives us the imported trifecta

Classic: what a race to end with! I truly believe that 4-Zenyatta gets the win (distance and other horses going with her won’t be a factor – she’s as bigger freak than Goldikova); 2-Colonel John is as consistent as they come & absolutely loves synthetics/Santa Anita so he’s gotta be on the ticket, and I round out insanity with either 8-Einstein (gotta root for the hardest working horse in showbiz – he gives 110% every single time) or 10-Rip Van Winkle (the supposed feet issues don’t scare me)

As a sidenote to the Classic, please do not get me started on the ridiculousness of 7-Gio Ponti and 12-Quality Road … the former is an utter grass horse who could trounce the now 7 horse field in the Turf even though it’s not at his preferred distance; the latter should be in the Dirt Mile because – as I’ve said time and time again – he doesn’t want to go too much further than 8 furlongs.

Ladies Day: Who’s Your Mama?

Focused Filly — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:49:00 +0000

A non-TrackRat friend asked me earlier this month why the Breeders’ Cup is special. “The Kentucky Derby is like the MLB All Star Game,” he said, “everyone’s heard of it, even if we don’t really understand exactly what it is.”

If the Derby is the All Star Game, that makes Breeders’ Cup the World Series, right?

I live in New York, so the fact that the Yankees just won their 27th Championship is pretty big news (so big in fact that their celebratory parade preempted even Oprah on local television today). And there isn’t really a pinstriped lineup in recent memory that hasn’t been listed at some point during the season as a favorite for pennant contention.

But they still have to play 162 games a year. And the same is true in racing: they still have to load the horses into the gate and send ‘em round the track. And, last I checked, the teams (and horses) who do it best all year long wind up in the championships. But the Yankees don’t always win – and neither do the favored horses.

The working theory on racing favorites is a 33% win rate – not too bad, not too good. Today’s Breeder’s Cup card probably skews the curve some … 0 for 6. 0%. As I say to my dog when he asks for table scraps: none, zilch, zip, nada, nanka. That’s – umm – disturbing.

Now, that said, the biggest price on the day was only $21.60 for Tapitsfly in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. That means the prices were fairly logical all day long. However, fate (otherwise known as whatever God you pray to when you’re half of a photo finish) did pitch a Favorites Shutout today at Breeders’ Cup Stadium.

Who got beat? Three returning winners, a slew of international stars, and much of the best fillies (and colts for those who played the Marathon) that America had to offer.

Who won is the better question: if winning today was a pitcher’s dream, then homebreds were it’s A-Rod. Five of the six horses walking around the winner’s circle decked out in a golden blanket of flowers were owned by the same folks who’d paid for their birth to be possible. That’s staggering. It’s also a statement on where the sport’s heading (we live in a world where Overbrook is dispersing all of their horses) – I, for one, wouldn’t object to a “old new age” of racing – remember when Juddmonte owned turf racing? It was good business.

And today gave us more than a few glimmers that yesteryear isn’t too far gone: the breeding on the new Marathon and Distaff/Ladies Classic winners alone is enough to make me squeal – the former is Man of Iron (half brother to Belmont winners – with an “s” – Rags to Riches and Jazil, and G2 winner Casino Drive); the latter is Life Is Sweet (full sister to 2004 champion juvenile filly Sweet Catomine).

Among the great things about Life Is Sweet getting the victory was how she overpowered what were thought to be much better horses, did it with ease, and established her rightful place outside of Zenyatta’s shadow. And it does prove that John Shirreffs was going to win the Distaff/Ladies Classic for a second straight year with whatever it took – Zenyatta, Life Is Sweet, or a claimer if he had to.

See, I always saw Life Is Sweet as the pinch runner on the roster: she earned her spot to play in every game, but never really got the glory of hitting the grand slam. If I say Brett Gardner, you probably would say “who?” He’s the guy the Yankees bring in to score crucial runs off base hits late in the game. Gardner’s made a name for himself stealing bases and today Life Is Sweet earned her own pinstripes with her version of a clutch hit: but this one came with a $2,000,000 kicker. No RBI needed.

As every coach (and handicapper) must ask: what did we learn from today’s game? We saw the track play fair with the rail the strongest route, and 0% favorites with 83% homebreds. If I may move from baseball to football analogies here: as Pete Carroll must’ve said after last week’s Oregon game: this is not what I was expecting.

But, hey, that’s Breeders’ Cup!

Distaff Day Plays

Focused Filly — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:46:00 +0000

I’m sorry, I simply cannot call it the Ladies Classic. It’s like calling a Kleenex a tissue or saying “search the internet” instead of “Google it”. I’m not programmed to such things.

With that tantrum out of the way, here are my plays for Distaff Day:

Marathon: call me a chalk eating weasel but it’s 6-Mastery (’nuff said)

Juvenile Filly Turf: if Aidan O’Brien felt she’s good enough to get on & school her himself, then 8-Lillie Langtry is a play for me

Juvenile Fillies: Kenny McPeek says she’s way better than his talented filly star of last year, so I have to go with 4-Beautician, though I think 10-Negligee could take ‘em all down

Filly & Mare Turf: 3-Rutherienne always gets my backing but I think it’s 2-Forever Together holding off 6-Midday in the final strides

Filly & Mare Sprint: 2-Sara Louise will totally be there at the end but 9-Ventura repeats and may be a decent price with how evenly matched these gals are

Distaff/Ladies Classic: in the Karma category (trainer Bobby Frankel is ill), 5-Proviso upsets a ridiculously talented field, though 8-Rainbow View makes a serious bid with 7-Music Note close in third … in a “beat the probable favorite” move: 1-Careless Jewel does have the best sheet numbers & has never been out of the money (5 wins in 6 starts w/ 1 third) but her worst numbers were on the synthetic surfaces that started her career – true she’s had time to mature & is probably a different horse than she was back then, but at the price she’ll probably be, there’s other horses here I’d rather take

Bring on the Ponies!

Focused Filly — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:28:00 +0000

Welcome to #bc09 or @BreedersCup or simply The Breeders’ Cup.

Other than Oaks & Derby Days, you won’t find a more difficult set of cards to handicap. While it’s true that we’re missing some stars, it’s just as true that the best horses in the world are in town to throw it down.

Who’s going to run away with the Classic like Ghostzapper? Who’s going to fly like War Chant in the Mile? Who’s going to dead heat like Johar and High Chapparal in the Turf? Who’s going to catch who in the final strides of the Ladies Classic (Distaff) like Personal Ensign did to Winning Colors?

I’m not sure if I’ll cash a ticket (real or mythical) in any of the now 14 races – I’m a realist – but I do know that we’re in for some seriously fantastic racing action.

These are the moments us TrackRats live for.

A Lusterless Classic?

Focused Filly — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:47:00 +0000

Given that we’re about 2 weeks away from Breeders’ Cup, nearing the end of the ’09 racing season in general, and starting to focus on the 2yo crop that will be next year’s stars, I figure that when I log on to DRF.com nowadays, the news will be somewhat happy – who’s going to which division, who’s standing at stud, and who debuted big.

What I don’t like to see is what I got this afternoon:
And we have to add Macho Again after it was announced early Tuesday that a cough (aka The Clark’s A Better Fit) will keep the feisty gray from contending this year’s Classic.

If you’re keeping score, that’s 5 horses in 1 afternoon. If we keep at this pace, Zenyatta will have the Breeders’ Cup Classic all to herself.

The way I see it, a bruised foot (Rail Trip) and a cough (Macho Again) are totally logical reasons to stay away – a few missed days of training this close to the big event can be the difference maker.

As for the retirement of Sea The Stars last week – for a 3yo to do what he did this season is beyond extraordinary and he absolutely deserves time off. Did that necessitate full blown retirement? Probably not in my book, but John Oxx is without question one of the best horsemen in the world so I find it hard to second guess him.

But – I’m sorry – Gitano Hernando not coming because he’s prepping for the Dubai World Cup, Mambo Meister giving up a guaranteed spot due to owner issues, and Lahaleeb being a supplement should not be reasons to steer clear of Santa Anita.

The biggest issue I have is with the Goodwood Stakes winner – Gitano Hernando – sitting out. As I recall, Team Valor purchased him earlier this year for a run at the Belmont Stakes before a fever knocked him out of training for a few weeks. If you were pointing a horse towards the Classic races and he then blasts a talented and full field over the Breeders’ Cup Classic surface … why, then, would you pull him out of contention for a race that’s not for another 5 months?!? That just doesn’t add up. But what does figure as a more logical “reason” is the supplemental fee it would take for him to be in the starting gate – 9% of the $5 million purse is still a lot of zero’s (even if the Classic’s history started with supplemental entrant Wild Again).

This would probably be a really good time to mention that – had she not gotten a very well deserved break for the back half of the year – Rachel Alexandra would have contested the Breeders’ Cup Classic. When trainer Steve Asmussen and owner Stonestreet Stable chose to bench her, she was looking at a field that included the likes of Summer Bird, Macho Again, Einstein, Sea The Stars, Bullsbay, Rail Trip, Mastercraftsman, Gitano Hernando, Conduit, and Rip Van Winkle. Not to mention Zenyatta should she seek to win her 14th straight start against the boys.

There’s always that point in late February when a ton of horses fall of the Kentucky Derby Trail for one reason or another – illness, injury, realization that they just aren’t that good. Suddenly the picture you’d had in your head for months about what the probably field will be is demolished. And that moment for me always comes with a twinge of guilt for the game overall because you know you would’ve seen something magical.

As with any set of athletes, there will always be injuries that knock the best from contention. But to lose 3 big names (Rail Trip, Macho Again, and Gitano Hernando) from just the Classic all in one day is just depressing.

The race will still be amazing but it does lose a smidge of its original luster. So with 2 weeks still to go I gotta ask: who’s going to step up and bring some excitement?