Cherchez la Femme

By Jude T. Feld

It was spectacular.

The 25th anniversary Breeders’ Cup was everything John Gaines envisioned when he dreamt up the concept years ago.

Who didn’t enjoy Friday, Ladies’ Day?

The bald face of Ventura flying around the turn under Garrett Gomez in the Sentient Flight Group Filly and Mare Sprint, set the tone for a day that would be remembered by all in attendance, not just for the great racing but for the chickadee blue sky, the perfectly trimmed palm trees and the majestic purple San Gabriel mountains that completed the “awe before the sacred” feeling that is so much a part of Santa Anita.

Speaking of Ventura…the genius of Frankel entering her in the ‘Sprint…”Brilliant!” as the Brits say.

Stardom Bound stamped herself as the champion two-year-old filly when the big grey cruised past her rivals in the Bessemer Trust Juvenile Fillies (G1). Who is more accomplished in that division than her? The daughter of Tapit is scheduled to sell at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky next Sunday and the line to buy her should extend all the way to Taylor Street in Louisville. “If I were a rich man…”

My girl, Forever Together, who many thought couldn’t get the mile and one quarter, showed her tremendous heart and the quality of Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard’s skills, as she gamed it out in the last 70 yards of the Emirates Airline Filly and Mare Turf (G1) to beat longshot Sealy Hill. It was her third Grade 1 win in her last four starts. She has been so good to me at the wickets that Cougar II might lose his spot as my all-time favorite equine.

Then ya’ got Zenyatta. Eight for eight and facing the toughest field of her life, the daughter of Darley stallion Street Cry dismantled her rivals and etched her name forever on the list of “greatest ever.” Save some bronze for John Sherriffs’ plaque at Saratoga.

All the neighsayers who pooh-poohed Ladies’ Day should have their credentials revoked. This was one of the best days of racing, maybe even the best day of racing I have attended in my 48 years racegoing. It was truly amazing.

After Friday’s events, Saturday figured to be in tough.

I was in the paddock, viewing the Marathon on a large screen TV and witnessed a Middle Eastern man ride along with P.J. Smullen as he guided Muhannak to an upset victory. This guy started yelling and jumping when the gates opened and didn’t stop until they passed the wire, shouting, “You carried a hundred and thirty-nine in England and you’re carrying a hundred and twenty-six here.”

It was his solid mantra for two and a half minutes, accompanied by constant leaping. This guy was certainly fit to bet on the marathon. You gotta love an enthusiastic fan.

David Hofmans, the best American trainer not in the Hall of Fame, won another Breeders’ Cup race when his Desert Code took home the Ecorche in the Turf Sprint. Hello. Is there anybody on the Hall of Fame committee that even goes to the Breeders’ Cup?

What a shocker – a lady stole the Saturday show too.

Goldikova (not to be confused with the Breeders’ Cup’s own Peggy Gdovka but just as classy) exploded in the final sixteenth of a mile in the Mile (G1) to beat a tremendous field like a drum. Her trainer, Freddie Head, also showed a nice turn of foot, as he ran alongside his filly on the main track while she was powering to victory on the turf. Both were “scintillating performances” as track announcer Trevor Denman would say.

Midshipman gave Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley Stable a welcome score and gave the great Bob Baffert his first of two on the day (Midnight Lute would later defend his crown in the Sprint (G1)), but more importantly his first win for the ruler of Dubai. If racing’s most powerful man wants to win the Kentucky Derby (G1) as bad they say he does…Baffert’s his man and Santa Anita is his new training facility.

Not to be outdone by her husband, Her Royal Highness, Princess Haya of Jordan watched her now famous green colors cross the wire first.

Donativum, a grey gelding, aptly won the Grey Goose Juvenile Turf and hinted that top British trainer John H.M. Gosden did not ship to California just to have a martini or go to the beach. Gosden and a gelding in the Breeders’ Cup…still plenty of bollocks to go around.

Then, at the end of the Saturday Breeders’ Cup card, stood the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), this year powered by Curlin. There was a lot of hype surrounding Casino Drive too, and he was heavily bet by the plethora of his Japanese fans in attendance, but it was hard to believe he could topple the great and powerful colt who has been billed as “the best horse on the planet.”

Curlin, resplendent in the paddock, made a big run on the turn and got the lead turning into the stretch but he couldn’t sustain his bid at the eighth pole and was crushed like a Kendall Jackson grape as Frankie Dettori, sporting Princess Haya’s green, made a charge on Raven’s Pass and added another magnificent stallion prospect to the already amazing Darley roster.

Friday was supposed to be Ladies’ Day but it turns out both days were Ladies’ Day.

Obviously nothing is perfect, but with zero horses with catastrophic injuries, this Breeders’ Cup was an absolute winner in the safety department. Kudos to Santa Anita president Ron Charles and Oak Tree chairman Sherwood Chillingsworth, both longtime horse owners, who appreciate racehorses on a personal level and worked hard to protect the best of them during the Breeders’ Cup. Looks like CHRB Chairman Rick Shapiro was right.

There were some grumblings by racing scribes (“Bad form” was the most often used term) about the lack of the upscale press party they enjoyed in years past. That’s what happens when the bean counters take control. What the accountants don’t realize is that the Dubai World Cup and Racing Carnival is the Breeders’ Cup’s major competitor so it is not a good idea to cut costs in the party department – or any department for that matter.

Some people kevetched about the ticket prices but they couldn’t complain about the quality of racing. The two afternoons of sport were 31 lengths in front of the World Series and less than half the price.

It is not easy to perform under the pressure of “the whole world watching” and the Breeders’ Cup staff put on an excellent show. There certainly wasn’t more than a speck of tarnish on the silver anniversary event and it seems to me like this year’s edition will shine for decades.

As I was walking out of The Great Race Place, I saw an old racetrack acquaintance and asked him if he had a good time at the Breeders’ Cup.

“I lost my ass,” he said. “But it was really great.”

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 26th, 2008 at 11:53 am and is filed under Featured Articles. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.