GUNS ABLAZIN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BREEDERS’ CUP WINNING BEYER FIGURES

 

4 CALEDONIA ROAD   1 1/16M BCJuvFil-G1 2,000,000 FT 13 F 14 82

5  STORMY LIBERAL  5F BCTrfSpt-G1 1,000,000 FM 12  8 103

6  BAR OF GOLD F BCFMSprt-G1 1,000,000 FT 14 F 12 94

7  WAHEIDA  1 1/8M BCFMTrf-G1 2,000,000 FM 14 F 7 104

8  ROY H  6F BCSprint-G1 1,500,000 FT 10  12 111

9 WORLD APPROVAL  1M BCMile-G1 2,000,000 FM 14  7 107

10  GOOD MAGIC 1 1/16M BCJuvnle-G1 2,000,000 FT 12  14 100

11 TALISMANIC 1 1/2M BCTurf-G1 4,000,000 FM 13  7 108

12 GUN RUNNER   1 1/4M BCClasic-G1 6,000,000 FT 11  14 117

 

Now that was some wild horse racing out at the OK corral known as Del Mar.

Longshots dropped bombs from the sunny skies all afternoon during the 9 Cup races (the same thing was going on at Woodbine) and one heavy favourite after another  was finishing up the track.

Ah, well that’s the Breeders’ Cup World Championships my friend.

Every good horse for each division you can find and some are weary, some are fresh and some loved the Del Mar surfaces.

From a Canadian standpoint, the remarkable, and yet heartbreaking run by AMI’S MESA was the talk.

The compact, sleek bay owned and bred by Toronto’s Ivan Dalos looked a winner in the Filly & Mare Sprint as she coasted to the lead in the 7 furlong race under Luis Contreras.

The mare she had just beaten at Presque isle, Bar of Gold, was chasing her, but it never looked like the Ontario bred, trained by oOsie Carroll was going to lose. Until she got nipped on the wire.

The Beyer Figure for the race, 94 for 1:22.63  was the same number she posted when she won at Presque Isle.

Dalos, who did not go to the Breeders’ Cup to watch his filly, stayed at Woodbien and watched GAMBLE’S GHOST win the Grade 3 Maple Leaf.

Surely this is Dalos’ year to be named Breeder of the Year, an awatd he should have won either of the last 2 years.

AMI’S MESA’s near miss plus her 3 graded stakes wins in the US and Canada this year will put her neck and neck with PINK LLOYD for Horse of the Year.

The debate has already begun on social media.

Here’s her race again –

Some notes from the amazing day of racing:

Thoroughblog had some pretty nice selections, with 7 of the winners either on top in the top 4 picks:

THOROUGHBLOG PICKS from Saturday Breeders’ Cup
Juvenile Fillies – Mark Casse is a good spot to win this – 1 – HEAVENLY LOVE; CALEDONIA ROAD 3 – MOONSHINE MEMORIES 4 – GIO GAME
Turf Sprint – 1 – DISCO PARTNER 2 – LADY AURELIA – 3- RICHARD’S BOY 4 -MARSHA
Filly & Mare Sprint – 1- UNIQUE BELLA 2 – AMI’S MESA 3 – HIGHWAY STAR 4-FINLEY’SLUCKYCHARM
F/M Turf Sprint 1 – LADY ELI 2 – WAHEIDA 3- CAMBODIA 4- WAR FLAG
Sprint – 1- DREFONG 2- IMPERIAL HINT 3 – ROY H 4 – MIND YOUR BISCUITS
Mile – 1 RIBCHESTER 2- SUEDEOIS 3- MIDNIGHT STORM 4 – WORLD APPROVAL
Juvenile – 1 BOLT D’ORO 2 – GOO MAGIC 3 – SOLOMINI 4 FIRENZE FIRE
Turf 1 – TALISMANIC 2- HIGHLAND REEL 3- FANCIFUL ANGEL 4- BEACH PATROL
Classic 1- GUN RUNNER 2– ARROGATE 3- WEST COAST 4- COLLECTED

 

GUN RUNNER’s CLASSIC win was remarkable in that he went fast on the lead through 1 1/4 miles, was hounded by Collected, a good horse, and racing against the closers bias.

The son of Candy Ride (Arg) left Arrogate in his dust. Arrogate, last year’s Classic winner, has simply not been the same since he returned from  Dubai and does not seem to love the Del Mar surface, will retired to stud.

Steve Asmussen and his assistant Scott Blasi, who have been through some tumultuous times with the PETA videos and incidents (there

JAY HOVDEY WROTE IN DAILY RACING –  In the fall of 2015, Julie Asmussen, Steve’s wife and mother of their three sons, was diagnosed with neck and throat cancer. Six months later, after a series of aggressive treatments, she scanned clean. About the same time, Asmussen was elected to the Hall of Fame.

“Knock on wood, she had a recent check and she’s 100 percent free, so we don’t have to go back for about three months,” Asmussen said.

And he is still not cutting his flowing Andrea Bocelli hair.

“It was kind of a pact we had, a symbol of her getting through it and her hair coming back,” Asmussen said. “Somebody was giving me a hard time. I said if you can make your wife happy by simply not cutting your hair, don’t you think you should?”

 

 

WOODBINE and its WOODBINE MILE continue to rule as a major stepping stone to the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

WORLD APPROVAL was one of just 2 favourites to win yesterday as he powered to victory in the Mile, holding off Lancaster Bomber. Those 2 were 1-2 in the Woodbine Mile in September.

The almost white WORLD APPROVAL is trained by Woodbine’s leading trainer Mark Casse for Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Plantation. World Approval’s dam, WIN APPROVAL, is by the great Canadian WITH APPROVAL. This is the 2nd Breeders’ Cup Mile winner for the mare (Miesque’s Approval).

 

 

 

 

 

The list of big favourites that were beaten on Saturday included – undefeated 2yos Moonshine Memories (2yo filly) BOLT D’ORO (2yo colt), LADY AURELIA (Turf Sprint),  DREFONG (Sprint) , LADY ELI (Filly/Mare Turf, cut her leg badly) and UNIQUE BELLA.

It really was a bizarre day of racing in many respects.

Trainer PETER MILLER and his owners ROCKINGHAM RANCH (Gary Hartunian of California)  came to the fore yesterday.

The combo ran 1-2 in the Turf Sprint with STORMY LIBERAL and RICHARD’S boy and then won the Sprint with ROY H. The latter edged IMPERIAL HINT, a son of ALBERTA STALLION, IMPERIALISM.

And how many racing fans fell in love with TALISMANIC (GB)? The dark bay 4yo colt has a fat, white blaze and long white stockings on all his legs and he won the Turf for Godolphin (Lessee) and trained Andre, the Fix, Fabre.

 

**

 

The two-day, on-track wagering of $25,181,317 was the highest for the event and marked a 21.4% increase over 2016.

Saturday’s on-track handle of $15,900,813 was the best for the event since 2006 and an increase of 17.2% from the previous year. All-sources handle for the two days of $166,077,486 resulted in a 5.9% increase over last year. Attendance at Del Mar on Saturday was 37,692.

At Woodbine, wagering of $6.7 million on the day (just a bit higher than last year with one more race on the card) was solid and it was a day of a wild longshots – a recap will come tomorrow.