By Thomas Chambers
I was quite happy when the Breeders’ Cup decided to use the individually colored saddle cloths this year, even though the decision should have come in 1985, the “championship” event’s second year. It seems like a small thing, but it makes it a lot easier to see your horse on the tee-and-vee.
|
The old purple cloths were quite regal/snooty, but watching a race was kind of like a big graphic blocking the entire line of Tiger’s putt and you don’t know what happened until he either pumps his fist or mouths the F-word.
But I’m not sure new saddle cloths are going to provide enough sheer joy to get me excited about this year’s two-day bet fest, set for November 6-7 at the Oak Tree Meet at Santa Anita. At least not as much excitement as I’ve had in past years.
After all, the Distaff (I just can’t bring myself to call it the Ladies Classic, as the BC renamed it last year) will again be run on Friday, along with all the other races for females. It looks like at least a few very good horses won’t be there. And last, but not least, it will be run for the second consecutive year on Pro-Ride, Santa Anita’s brand of synthetic track.
My lack of enthusiasm might be a good thing, building cynicism against the horses with no chance and not overloading my brain circuits with handicapping information, as I am wont to do.
The debate on synthetics, especially in California, rages on, both for and against. But for the pure purposes of this Breeders’ Cup, handicapping it will be another guessing game.
This past weekend, we had Super Saturday with five Grade I’s from Belmont, including the Jockey Club Gold Cup, once considered one of the last huge races of the year. Summer Bird won it in impressive fashion and will be a factor in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. And we have to laud Music Note (Beldame), Kodiak Kowboy (Vosburgh), Pure Clan (Flower Bowl), and Interpatation (inexplicable upset in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic) and even Awesome Gem (Hawthorne Gold Cup). But don’t ask me if these noble steeds primed themselves for a Breeders’ Cup splash. First of all, I’ll have to look at the synthetic variable. Secondly, these horses already made splashes Saturday as their races were run in the deep ends of quagmires at both Belmont and Hawthorne. It really rained hard.
What are the implications of these races for the Breeders’ Cup? Daily Racing Form Editor Steve Crist addressed the issue even before Super Saturday.
“So it’s no surprise that with the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita again this year, neither Belmont nor anyone else is calling Saturday’s card Breeders’ Cup Preview Day. The New York Racing Association is instead advertising the card as Super Saturday, resurrecting a moniker that used to be used for the September card that was a preview of Preview Day.” The caveat of synthetics is ever present.
And this just in, Kodiak Kowboy and Fabulous Strike (beaten by KK in the Vosburgh Saturday), two of the best sprinters in the country, will shy away from the Breeders’ Cup because of the Pro-Ride surface at Santa Anita.
Rachel Alexandra’s connections vow not to bring her to Santa Anita next month. Jess Jackson has plenty of disdain for the “plastic” surface, but it’s also a smart move because Rachel has run a grueling 2009 campaign and deserves the rest. But you have to wonder if she’d run on a conventional dirt Breeders’ Cup track if she was able to tell Jackson and trainer Steve Asmussen she was ready. I’ll miss her that weekend because she has been a big part of many of the memorable moments of 2009 racing.
I believe Santa Anita was chosen to host the Breeders’ Cup two consecutive years, 2008 and 2009, in order to ingratiate the synthetic surface upon fans and bettors. Sure, they wanted to avoid Breeders’ Cups like the Monmouth Monsoon and the muck of Lone Star Park, but Belmont, Churchill Downs and even Arlington Park should be in the regular mix.
Last year, it became evident that the Santa Anita surface itself became a gargantuan track bias as turf-bred Europeans ran on the Pro-Ride as if it was grass. Horses like Raven’s Pass, Henry the Navigator, Donativum, Westphalia and Muhannak, by no means world beaters in Europe, took over the day. Astute handicappers had to make the adjustment mid-card. I was lucky enough to see the trends.
Also on the down side, although it was probably never going to happen anyway, are the very slim chances we’ll see European superhorse Sea the Stars. The San Andreas Fault would rock were he to somehow make the trip to sunny California. I really don’t get into comparing American horses against the Europeans, not the smallest reasons being that I have no substantial knowledge of Euro racing, and they’ve been doing it a lot longer than we have. But many over there are calling him the best of all time. Best . . . Of . . . All . . . Time!
His win Sunday in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (thanks a bunch TVG and everybody else for not showing the race live on American TV) capped a season in which he also won the Two Thousand Guineas and the English Derby. He is the first horse to win those three storied races in the same year. The first horse, and he’s only three years old! The bookies aren’t happy, but there’s no denying greatness.
His win in the 1.5-mile Arc was spectacular. We already know the good Euros often save a big run for the end of a race, but this was ridiculous. Seemingly stymied by traffic on the rail, Sea the Stars showed equal measures of greatness and heart in blowing away the field. Did I mention he’s only three years old?
His connections seem to be leaning against bringing him stateside because of the toughness of his 2009 campaign and the long trip. Sea the Stars has absolutely no explaining to do to anybody and they’re thinking about the horse’s health over everything. A campaign at four years old has not been decided.
While we won’t see, in all probability, Rachel Alexandra or Sea the Stars at Santa Anita, I would sure dig it if Zenyatta were to take on the boys in the Classic instead of her connections preserving the almighty “undefeated” notation next to her name. Her legacy will be restrained by her narrow restricted (to females) and primarily synthetic and California successes. But she runs and looks like a locomotive who needs a few furlongs to get going and then a few miles to stop. Zenyatta preps in the Lady’s Secret at Santa Anita Saturday, taking on her usual suspects, stablemate Life is Sweet, Cocoa Beach and Briecat. Yawn. Although if she loses, maybe that will push her into the Classic.
Summer Bird is becoming a fine veteran runner and Careless Jewel is the new “It” girl in the three-year-old fillies crowd. There will be some nice matchups. Nice. Not matchups for the ages or anything like that.
But I do have the conventional saddle cloths. And Sea the Stars had Paris.
TrackNotes Notes
* Holed up at home Saturday with the online wagering – you celebrated the Olympic victory Friday night too, I trust – and heard a really nasty commercial.
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association was actually soliciting money for its political action committee. It went something like this: “We need a voice in Washington, to work for you. Won’t you donate? Click on to NTRA.org.” I just about fell over.
When horse racing needs a national voice the most, and coordination and marketing of a great game, this is one of the most toothless organizations known to man. But it can only be by design, rendered helpless by an industry that seems allergic to success.
* In an effort to rope in a happy hour crowd, Hawthorne Race Course will try two night racing cards, tonight and next Friday. With first post at 5:30, they’ll be racing under the lights. They talk about the lights like they’re a big deal. The part I like is the late post.
They’re taking a cue from Churchill Downs, which tried it this summer and had quite large crowds when they ordinarily wouldn’t have. Hawthorne will offer live music, a barbecue, a VIP event in the Turf Club ($35) and other specials.
–
Thomas Chambers is the Beachwood’s man on the rail. He brings you Track Notes every Friday. He welcomes your comments.
Posted on October 9, 2009