Breeders' Cup Memories 1995-Present

by Alan Carasso

Though I have obviously seen the first 11 Breeders’ Cups on tape, my first real experience with Championship Day came in 1995 when I watched the events of the day on an absolutely abysmal day on Long Island unfold from the relative comfort of my suburban Chicago basement. I even had a few ‘locals’ to root for, as Golden Gear was in the Sprint and Mariah’s Storm faced the unenviable task of trying to run with Inside Information and Heavenly Prize in the Distaff. Neither horse did especially well, though the day ended in memorable fashion (more on that below). In any event, here are my top 10 Breeders’ Cup moments. Some generic, some gambling-related, all memorable.

10--Singletary wins the ‘04 Mile at Lone Star. Most of us have seen the piece TVG put together on the Little Red Feather group in the day or two leading up to the race. Each time I see the bunch hooting and hollering on that platform (which I think is going to collapse at any moment), I feel like I was part of them. Singletary, trained by the unassuming Don Chatlos, was a sneaky third when prepping in the Oak Tree Mile, but sat a tough trip and boxed on well enough for third. He was dismissed at 17-1 on the big day, made a ‘blitz’ for the lead (thanks, Tom D.) turning for home and held sway late. Should Antonius Pius have won? Hmm, maybe, but I’ll take it!

9--Falbrav/Mandella at Santa Anita in 2003. I became smitten with this Italian-based horse in early 2002, when he won a Group 1 at home going 10 furlongs in 1:57 and some change, then my good friend Steve DeCaspers and I lucked into the chance to bet him (thanks Peter K.) in that year’s Japan Cup and listened in the wee morning hours as he won by a nose (sorry for the wake-up call, Steve). The next year, all Falbrav did was win the G1 Prix d’Ispahan, G1 Coral-Eclipse, G1 Juddmonte International and G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. He was gamely routed for the Turf and I was betting him, come hell or high water, even if that 12th furlong was a huge question mark. Sure enough, he was in front after a mile and three-eighths and still there after a mile and three-eighths and 217 yards, only to be gunned down by the dead-heating Johar and High Chaparral. The former gave Richard Mandella one of his four winners on the day, an amazing record that should stand the test of time.

8--My first Cup in person, Woodbine 1996. I didn’t really have plans to do so, but I was offered tickets to the one and only Breeders’ Cup to be held outside the borders of the United States in suburban Toronto. Aside from getting used to exactors and triactors, the day proved a fun one, with especially good performances from Jewel Princess and Lit de Justice. Of course, it ended with a stirring stretch duel in the Classic with Alphabet Soup, Louis Quatorze and a gallant Cigar slugging it out to the bitter end.

7--Anyone who knows me is aware that I am the world’s biggest Pollard’s Vision fan (even those Red Bankers who occupied workspace beneath ours know as well!). So, when a totally unheralded low five-figure chestnut filly from his first crop took her connections to the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, it was cause for celebration. Unfortunately, Blind Luck didn’t get the best trip that day, but the ride she took me and a few other Pollard devotees on remains unforgettable.

6--No Breeders’ Cup top 10 would be complete without the 2001 renewal at Belmont Park, which took place just a handful of weeks after the tragedy of that second Tuesday of September. Tiznow was looking to become the first back-to-back Classic winner, and though his season was not a straight-forward one, he came through. I can vividly recall that stretch drive--the massive Cal-bred’s one stride for every two taken by Sakhee, it seemed--followed by one of Durkin’s more memorable lines: "Tiznow wins it for America!" Really evokes a chill to this day.

5--Having spent my first 31-plus years in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, the 2002 Breeders’ Cup at Arlington, a stone’s throw from my childhood home, was always going to be special. It was a day of majestic performances from some of racing’s royalty (the Lewises, the Phippses, the Niarchoses) and some tragedy and was capped by a monster upset in the Classic. The thermometer may have read something like 43 that day--it felt much more like 33 out there on the apron--but to attend the Cup in my hometown was very special.

4--Buck’s Boy--1998. I was about two months into my new gig at the TDN, having just relocated from the Land of Lincoln, and lo and behold, here’s this blue-collar Illinois-bred who’s one of the favorites in the Turf. I spent plenty of afternoons watching ‘ Bucky,’ run in races like the Milwaukee Avenue H. (he lost to the great Polar Expedition) and the W.H. Bishop H., but here he was on racing’s biggest stage at one of its famed venues, Churchill Downs. He was a 7-2 chance that year and maybe it wasn’t one of the greatest renewals of the Turf ever staged, but he did his thing from the front and held sway to become (and he remains) the only horse bred in Illinois to win a Breeders’ Cup race.

3--2000 Sprint at Churchill. I remember sitting in the race book at Bally’s in Las Vegas in August 1998, when a son of Java Gold was looking to follow up on a 15-length maiden win in a Del Mar allowance. Kona Gold whipped them that day by seven and was third in that year’s Sprint before going one better at Gulfstream in 1999. He came into the 2000 Sprint with four wins from five outings that year and was a key horse for many, including me. But the real treat in the race for this gambler was a rangy and likeable chestnut named Bet On Sunshine, who loved it beneath the Twin Spires and rarely missed the top three. Bet On Sunshine was a ripe eight years of age when he lined up for the 2000 Sprint and the play was Kona on top and Bet On Sunshine to come with his patented late run and fill second or third. Well, sure enough, he was 12th after a rough start, but rallied past pacesetting Caller One into third at 20-1. To make things even nicer, Honest Lady, a 31-1 shot against the boys, flew home for second. The triple returned $2,076. I only had it for the penny, but that result still brings a smile to my face.

2--Cigar, 1995 Classic. More than any other horse, Cigar really captured my imagination and is really owed the credit for making me as big a fan of horse racing as I am. We all remember the passing of the baton when Holy Bull went wrong on the backstretch of the ‘95 Donn and a new star was born. The Paulson runner was campaigned ambitiously, with seven subsequent starts prior to the Cup at five different tracks from coast to coast. The underfoot conditions worried even trainer Bill Mott that dreary day as Cigar tried to complete a perfect 10-for-10 season, and the 5-year-old was a handful for Jerry Bailey before he cut him loose "with a dramatic rush" on the sweeping final turn. It was never in doubt from there for the "inconquerable, invincible, unbeatable" Cigar.

1--Street Sense, 2006 Juvenile. Street Cry really hadn’t established himself when this son of Bedazzle (by Dixieland Band) came around, and few in attendance for his maiden-breaker at Arlington Park that August would have believed that the Jim Tafel homebred would go on to super-stardom. For reasons somewhat difficult for me to articulate, I was a believer, and backed him when third in the Grade III Futurity at Arlington and when he covered all sorts of ground at Keeneland in the Grade I Breeders’ Futurity. Here and there, I’d field a call from Dan Pride at Darley, and he’ll tell you that I never failed to mention Street Sense and how I thought he’d go on to do something big when we conversed. It was almost inconceivable to me that he would be something in the vicinity of 15-1 for the Juvenile getting back on to a conventional dirt surface with a race flow he was certain to appreciate. Back near the tail as they sizzled up front, I watched as the athletic dark bay hugged the fence with this monster move. So fast was he traveling that even Trevor Denman failed to pick him up until he was six clear into the final furlong. I think most of the Northern Hemisphere--and especially those who had the great misfortune of trying to enjoy Breeders’ Cup 2006 in a near-empty Keeneland sales pavilion (oh my, the acoustics, right Lucas?)--knew that Street Sense had given me one of my greatest scores, and in a broader sense, victories, of all time.

Feel free to chime in with your Breeders’ Cup stories and recollections. We’re inside of 10 days to another helping of Championship weekend and a whole new set of memories to be made.

Kentucky Derby 139: Winners & Winners

by Alan Carasso

Now that the dust has settled on Kentucky Derby 139, one that was satisfying on many different levels, some thoughts:

Claude McGaughey III: Shug’s work with Orb has been a study in equine management from the word go. Possessed of some of the fire which lives in his female family, Orb was something of a problem child in his first three starts, and when he finally broke his maiden fourth time out (Revolutionary third), it was plainly one step at a time as the colt shipped down to Payson Park for the winter. After clearing his first allowance condition, Shug went on record saying he’d have preferred a two-other-than, but those are hard to come by and, with really nowhere else to go, put Orb in the GII Fountain of Youth. He won that, defeating Violence, but even then, McGaughey felt the jury was still out. When Orb followed up in the GI Florida Derby, only then did the conditioner realize he was on to something big. Shug has always been classy, even before I visited his barn at Keeneland in 1995 when he had Inside Information for the GI Spinster (she beat Mariah’s Storm that year before airing in the Distaff). He doesn’t know it, but he watched Coronado’s Quest win the ‘98 Haskell from the TDN box at Monmouth, and took the win (narrowly over Belmont winner Victory Gallop) in his stride. Not one to wear his emotions on his sleeve, it was touching to see just how overcome he was with emotion following the win, and most of the racing world is thrilled that he’s finally scaled these heights. Hats off, too, to the Phipps and Janney families, two institutions in the Bluegrass.

(C) Reed Palmer

Joel Rosario: He’s 28 and already a rock star, perhaps the closest thing this country has seen to a ‘Boy Wonder’ since Steve Cauthen. It’s never easy to shift tack from California to the East Coast, but Rosario’s transition has been seamless. He attracted the attention of most of the top barns in Florida over the winter, and earned the mount on Animal Kingdom. A Dubai World Cup and Kentucky Derby in the span of five weeks (and about 3/4 of a million dollars in earnings) is a tremendous feat, not to mention his record 38 winners at Keeneland and his double-digit wins in the first few days at Churchill. All of the Dominican Republic was watching and cheering home their native son. It was front-page news the next day.

Rosie Napravnik: Quietly, ‘Girl Wonder’ had a weekend of her own to remember. She won Friday's GII Alysheba S. on Take Charge Indy and piloted Delaunay to a powerhouse score in the GII Churchill Downs Saturday. Both horses earned 109 Beyers--can you say Breeders’ Cup? Though her big Derby hope Shanghai Bobby went to the sidelines, Rosie picked up the mount on Mylute for the big race and rode him a treat, running on for fifth while not missing second by too much.

Maggi Moss: The Iowa-based owner had a memorable Friday-Saturday Daily Double with So Many Ways in the GIII Eight Belles S. and the aforementioned performance of Delaunay in the Churchill Downs S. Since being claimed for $40,000 last May 12, Delaunay is seven for eight and has earned just shy of $567,000 for Moss alone. Astonishing stuff.

Wise Dan: The Point of Entry scratch (logical as it was) was a bummer, but what can you say about Dan? Shows up every time, runs on anything, he’s simply amazing.

Charles Fipke: Never one to shy away from taking a swing, was represented in the Derby by the slow-starting Java’s War and Golden Soul, the 11th-hour addition many assumed was a toss. Well, you know what happens when you assume.

Todd Pletcher: OK, most of his five Derby runners didn’t acquit themselves particularly well (track conditions probably had some say in this), but he did manage to saddle home the first, third and fourth in Friday’s GI Kentucky Oaks, no small feat. And Revolutionary hardly embarrassed himself in the Derby, finishing a good third. Thinking is Pletcher will be back.

Dr. Scholls: For the uptick in the sales of rubber galoshes to horsemen for the walk over (OK, this is made up).

My TDN cohorts DiDonato and Sherack: DiDonato is nothing short of amazing with his finds. Put me onto 11-1 winner of the Turf Sprint Saturday and I got Chamberlain Bridge to run second (mercifully!) for a $250 score. He also managed to use Golden Soul second for the Derby exacta (uh, I didn’t have that one). Much in the same way I locked onto Street Sense off his maiden, Sherack has been an Orb guy the whole way and put his money where his mouth was on him and Delaunay. Kudos, boys. Can I borrow five bucks?

Racing at large: Despite the off track and the inclement weather, the Derby and other races were truly run affairs with few excuses, other than the underfoot conditions, and absent tragedy (no disrespect here to Dr. Bramlage). TV viewership was up, and, for at least one day, the sun shone down on our Old Kentucky Home, figuratively if not literally.

Eclipse Voters Have Some Explaining to Do

By Alan Carasso

   Listen, I am not the smartest guy in the world. I don’t pretend to believe that my opinions are always correct. These aren’t sour grapes. But this year’s Eclipse results were among the most disturbing and unbelievable outcomes that I can remember in the handful of years that I’ve had the honor of casting a ballot.
   First of all, to the eight percent of voters from the various blocs who did not return their ballots, shame on you. Presumably, there were some extenuating circumstances, but if I represented one of the voting blocs, I’d make sure I found out just why.
   Let’s start with the night’s slam dunks. Havre de Grace was a deserving Horse of the Year and champion older mare, and Thoroughbred racing is thrilled to have its queen back for a 5-year-old campaign. The juvenile divisions were formful (though who thought Stephanie’s Kitten over My Miss Aurelia made sense?), and the fact that Royal Delta was not a unanimous selection for 3-year-old filly is nothing short of embarrassing, with no disrespect to Awesome Feather and Kentucky Oaks winner Plum Pretty. The turf divisions went the direction of deserving favorites, and among the human categories, kudos to the voters who gave the nod to Bill Mott, who was quick to credit his sweep of both Breeders’ Cup Classics as the key to his victory.
   Now, the grayer areas. Let me preface this by saying I am a fan of Thoroughbreds and I appreciate a top performance as much as the next guy. But the results from remaining divisions were puzzling, at a minimum. I’ll begin with the least objectionable of the remainder--the 3-year-old colts. By virtue of his win in the Kentucky Derby, Animal Kingdom became just the fourth winner of that race to earn a championship in the last 10 years, and he narrowly outpointed the luckless Caleb’s Posse. The latter was clearly the best sprinter of his age group (and arguably the best sprinter, period), and this voter–and 110 of my colleagues–thought he’d earned the award with wins in the GI King’s Bishop S. and GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, earning figures in each of those events far superior to Animal Kingdom’s Derby. But, you know what? I can live with that result.
   It was a good night for California and Cal-breds Monday. In hindsight, I probably didn’t give Amazombie the credit he deserved for his 2011 campaign, but I still voted for Caleb’s Posse, and I almost wish they’d gone in the Sprint with him to settle this one on the track. The fact that Amazombie won is less surprising to me than the margin of victory. As an aside, I declared that Regally Ready would win the Turf Sprint when he won down the hill at Santa Anita last winter, but was he a better or more talented sprinter than Jackson Bend, who didn’t even get a spot on the ballot? Um, no. I’ll get to the other Cal-bred at the back end of this.
   In preparing to interview Adam Lazarus for a TDN Take Two piece back in October, I reviewed Musical Romance’s record and was struck by her consistency, if not her brilliance. Looking ahead, I thought if you could get past Turbulent Descent in the F/M Sprint, anyone else could win it and why not her? So, when Adam said it was going to take a Powerball jackpot to motivate him to supplement her, I was seriously bummed. Then, when trainer Bill Kaplan posted on his website that they reasoned the F/M Sprint was a chance of a lifetime, I told almost everyone I knew to bet her. Apparently, I don’t know all that many people, because she was 20-1 on the big day and I cashed a nice ticket (thanks, Steve D.!). Now, I am thrilled on a personal level for Adam, more than I can say in words. That Musical Romance not only won the Eclipse, but swamped arguably more accomplished rivals was, to me, the night’s biggest surprise and upset. That said, heartfelt congratulations to Adam!
   And now to Acclamation, who not only won older male but was closest to Havre de Grace in HOY balloting. Wow. What can I say? This blows me away. I love a good turf horse, and his relentless running style led to five wins from seven starts, including the GI Pacific Classic. A great season? No doubt about it. A championship campaign? Can’t see how. In his one trip beyond the borders of California, Acclamation was 10th of 10 in the GIII Charles Town Classic. I’d have gone for Game on Dude, who was one game dude all season long, ahead of Acclamation, but I voted for Tizway. Frankly, I’d have included Tizway in the slam dunk category going in. OK, he was down the field in West Virginia as well, but he returned to run a monster race in the GI Met Mile and silenced his critics by seeing out the nine furlongs of the GI Whitney H. Both races earned Beyers north of 110. Acclamation didn’t run anything close to that. Tizway missed the Jockey Club Gold Cup and was training extremely well for the Breeders’ Cup Classic when he suffered a career-ending injury. The emotional toll it exacted on owner William Clifton and trainer Jim Bond was palpable in phone conversations with each the day of the injury.
   But this isn’t about tears or sentiment or voting with one’s heart. I voted for the fastest horse in training in 2011, whose season was cut short. In the end, I couldn’t take that away from him. Criminal Type and In Excess (Ire) completed the Met Mile/Whitney double in consecutive years in 1990 and 1991, but it hadn’t been done since, and for that, I felt he deserved top billing. He, in fact, got my vote for Horse of the Year.
   Eclipse Award voting can be a very personal exercise, with a wide range of opinions. Here’s hoping it’s never this confusing or disappointing again.

KONG HAS BEEN KING--AT TIMES--IN DUBAI

I have been a fan and devotee of Hong Kong racing for a little over a decade now, ever since I first traveled (circuitously, I might add) for the 2000 International Races meeting. After seeing the legendary Sunline and Fairy King Prawn come to settle the Hong Kong Mile, I was hooked. Since then, I have been able to apply my knowledge of Hong Kong racing and horses on the world stage, on occasion, and never more so than on World Cup night over the past few years.

The great Fairy King Prawn registered the first overseas victory by a Hong Kong-based horse when he took the Yasuda Kinen in Japan in 2000, and I had the honor of seeing Hong Kong’s favorite son take on Australasian legend Sunline in the Hong Kong Mile, the most exciting race I’ve ever witnessed personally and maybe the best ever staged in Hong Kong. Those two rivals would square off again four months later in the desert in the Duty Free S. Fairy King Prawn, ridden too quietly by Robbie Fradd that evening, finished ahead of the great Sunline, but both were trumped by the globetrotting Jim and Tonic in one of the most stirring finishes in the history of that race.

But, despite that smattering of world-class performances, many regard the brand of racing in Hong Kong as substandard and provincial. Vengeance of Rain came to Dubai in 2007 as a winner of the [locally] prestigious Hong Kong Derby and Hong Kong Cup in 2005. He was supposed to strut his stuff on the international stage in Dubai the following March, but was sidelined with a potentially career-threatening heart arrhythmia. He made it back to the races, and his third-place effort in defense of his Hong Kong Cup title in December 2006 suggested he’d lost little of his ability.

His desert debut awaited in the Sheema Classic against a field including reigning Epsom Derby hero Sir Percy, Breeders’ Cup Turf upsetter Red Rocks and Melbourne Cup runner-up Pop Rock. Vengeance was sent off at 10-1, with my money on his nose (finally a chance to bet him!), and he always traveled like a winner for Anthony Delpech, coming home 1 1/4 lengths ahead of the Mike de Kock-trained Oracle West. Hong Kong would be represented by the Sheema favorite in 2008 in the form of Viva Pataca. While I was thrilled to have a shot to invest in him (at a little more than 2-1), I was committed to the exacta with Sun Classique (15-2), an Australian-bred mare who miraculously got out of jail in her Sheema prep and figured to be right there in the big race. Well, Viva drew 12 and always had to cover ground, but came into the stretch with a chance to win.

Dynamic Blitz

That was short-lived, as Sun Classique ran right back to her Balanchine S. score and cleared off by about three. In 2010, the unheralded Joy and Fun upset the Al Quoz Sprint at odds of 18-1, while One World ran a place in the Golden Shaheen at 11-1. This time around, Dynamic Blitz owns an upset in the Al Shindagha Sprint--a pointer to the Shaheen--and Beauty Flash, the reigning Hong Kong Mile hero, is as tough as nails and should give a good account of himself in the Duty Free.

I’m not here to say that I’ll be emptying the pockets this weekend or that there’s a ‘banker’ in the bunch, but I’m certain the Hong Kong horses will hold their own.

--Alan Carasso