HOMEWORK

**Quarter Horse Championships tonight at Los Alamitos, featuring 2 Ontario horses…Australian racing (Melbourne Cup Monday), nice cards at Woodbine and Belmont and Breeders’ Cup week all awaits us this weekend through next weekend..hold on!

**XBTV.COM -Don’t forget to tune in every morning to http://www.xbtv.com/watch-live/

for live coverage of Breeders’ Cup horses training at Santa Anita.

This site also has separate links for all the Cup races with interviews, works and analysis of horses, a remarkable site!

WOODBINE FRIDAY

Most of my write-up from Friday’s races was wiped out in a computer crash this morning.

The summary…BIG YUM posted the day’s best 90 Beyer Speed Figure with his win in a $40,000 claiming turf race for non-winners of 3 in this first race at Woodbine. New to the Ontario scene, this Kantharos fellow is owned by William Churly and trained by Mike DePaulo... INPERSON has won 3 straight races for $9,500 claiming for owner and trainer Mike Doyle and still has not been claimed. She has won 4 races in total this year and over $68,000 in purses..

A maiden allowance race o the grass, race 6, was a thriller as KODIAC GAL (IRE) drew in from the also-eligible list for owner Gary Barber, led all the way and just lasted over 135 to 1 longshot LOST POINT. The latter, a Gio Ponti filly who cost $7,000 at auction, was sent out by Saul McHugh (Global Equine) and the filly rallied strongly under a red-hot Jeff Alderson to just miss. Owned by Mahamoud Pootoolal, Lost Point was then sold for “six figures” following the race.

AMI’S FLATTER ATTEMPTS TO RULE AT BELMONT TODAY..

Ontario-bred AMI’S FLATTER is a major contender in the Grade 3 Bold Ruler Stakes at 7 furlongs today at Belmont for owner and breeder Ivan Dalos..

Saturday, Belmont Park, post time: 5:19 p.m. EDT
BOLD RULER H.-GIII, $200,000, 3yo/up, 7f
PP HORSE SIRE OWNER TRAINER JOCKEY ML

1 Green Gratto Here’s Zealous Gaston Grant & Anthony Grant Grant Carmouche 20-1
2 Threefiveindia Street Hero Amerman Racing LLC Brown Castellano 6-1
3 Gentrify First Defence Zilla Racing Stables Handal Arroyo 30-1
4 Economic Model K Flatter Klaravich Stables Inc. & William H. Lawrence Brown Rosario 3-1
5 Mylute Midnight Lute GoldMark Farm & Whisper Hill Farm LLC Nicks Cancel 20-1
6 Stallwalkin’ Dude City Place Head of Plains Partners LLC & David Jacobson Jacobson Ortiz, Jr. 7-2
7 Liberty Holiday (Arg) Harlan’s Holiday Team Valor International Nicks Gaffalione 30-1
8 Ami’s Flatter Flatter Ivan Dalos Carroll Velazquez 5-1
9 Dannie’s Deceiver K Quality Road Z R J Stables Cannizzo Franco 20-1
10 Cadeyrn Malibu Moon Tom O’Grady Englehart Saez 15-1
11 Farhaan Jazil Matthew Schera Martin Gallardo 20-1
12 Face of Winner K Street Boss Francisco Perez Delgado DeCarlo 30-1
13 Touchofstarquality K Mineshaft Jay Em Ess Stable Nevin Ortiz 5-1

LOS ALAMITOS LATE TONIGHT..

Ontario Thoroughbred owner and breeder Ruth Barbour has her star 3-year-old Quarter Horse gelding COUNTRY BOY 123 in the $200,000 Adequan Derby Challenge (G3) tonight at Los Alamitos. A gathering of Ontario horsepeople have converged on the track for tonight’s Bank of America Challenge races. Country Boy 123 will race at 12:45 a.m. This is only the 4th Quarter Horse owned by Barbour. Another Ontario runner, RPAINTED PISTOL is in the race before Country Boy, the $150,000 John Deere Challenge (g2) for Burlington’s Milena Kwiecien and trainer Jason Pascoe.

HorsePlayer INteractive TV will carry the card in progress and you can watch and wager on HPIBet.com.

BREEDERS’ CUP NOTES FROM SANTA ANITA –

CLOCKER GARY YOUNG TALKS DISTAFF HORSES

Perhaps the most anticipated race in the 33-year history of the Breeders’ Cup takes center stage next Friday, Nov. 4, when champions Beholder, Songbird and Stellar Wind meet in the $2 million Longines Distaff for fillies and mares, three and up, at 1 1/8 miles.

Gary Young, the respected private clocker and bloodstock agent who wears his opinions on his sleeve and usually has them at the ready, has been watching the three queens racing and working at their home base of Santa Anita all season in advance of the Distaff, and while post positions won’t be drawn until Monday, he provided his insight based on what he has observed to date and his 38 years of experience.

If the words “politically incorrect” were in the dictionary, Gary Young’s picture would be next to them.

“Beholder seems to have come out of her race (the Zenyatta, second to Stellar Wind on Oct. 1) well,” he said. “Her work prior to yesterday was kind of an atypical Mandella work (Oct. 20, five furlongs in 59.20) in that she went pretty quick early, and after she passed her company, Gary (Stevens) kind of just cruised in with her. She worked well. I couldn’t knock it.

“She went decent” yesterday, six furlongs in 1:14.40.

“Stellar Wind is kind of the opposite of Beholder and Songbird. Stellar Wind is a horse that just does OK in the morning. She saves her best for the afternoon. Her work last Friday was good. I didn’t mind it at all.

“She’s not a big, imposing filly, doesn’t carry a lot of weight to her, but obviously she has a lot of try in her. For an average work horse, she looked very, very good this morning (six furlongs in 1:13.60).

“This is a whole different swimming pool Songbird is jumping into. I have the utmost respect for Carina Mia (second by nearly six lengths to Songbird in the Cotillion). I think she’s distance limited, and I think Catherina Sophia (third in the Cotillion, 9 ½ lengths behind Songbird) is, too, so consequently it’s open for debate as to what Songbird has been beating.

“Can you knock her wins? Not really. I thought it was kind of interesting, although the races were run on different days, that when she and Arrogate both ran a mile and a quarter at Saratoga, Arrogate ran four seconds faster. (Arrogate won the Travers in 1:59.20 on Aug. 27; Songbird won the Alabama in 2:03 on Aug. 20). Songbird went easy throughout (yesterday, five furlongs in 1:01, breezing).

“I can’t knock any of the three of them, and there are also some very nice fillies coming in from the East Coast.”

As to Classic favorite California Chrome, Young has been an observer from afar, so to speak, since the 2014 Horse of the Year does the vast majority of his training at his home base of Los Alamitos.

“I’ve only seen videos of his works at Los Alamitos,” Young said, “and he’s King of the Mountain now. The one hurdle that he hasn’t cleared yet is Arrogate.

“With all due respect to the older horse division and other places around the country, including New York, I don’t think they’re close to what Chrome is, and I think the only hurdle he has left to keep him from having a perfect season is Arrogate, and we’re going to see what happens on Nov. 5.”

STELLAR WIND IN ‘SMOOTH’ BREEZE FOR DISTAFF

Stellar Wind, who will seek her third straight win over three-time Eclipse Award winner Beholder in the Longines Distaff next Friday, worked six furlongs in company with Marathon-bound Hard Aces Friday morning in 1:13.20. Hard Aces was clocked in 1:13.60.

“It was her usual work, smooth, no problems, so we’re right where we’re supposed to be,” said John Sadler, who trains the four-year-old daughter of Curlin for owners Kosta and Peter Hronis.

Exercise rider Jose Contreras was aboard Stellar Wind, who defeated Beholder by a half-length in the Grade I Clement L. Hirsch at Del Mar July 30 and by a neck in the Grade I Zenyatta at Santa Anita on Oct. 1.

JUVENILE – CLASSIC EMPIRE preps for trainer Mark Casse at Churchill

This is a monster colt – he is working inside of Juvenile Turf entrant Keep Quiet. Tough week for the Casse stable with the lost of unbeaten 2yo Golden Hawk.

Canadian Horse of the Year Catch a Glimpse had a workout at Keeneland on Friday and is expected to fly out to Santa Anita on Monday for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at 1 1/4 miles. Catch a Glimpse is coming off the worse race of her career in the QE at Keeenland.

ARROGATE (Classic) is his Santa Anita prep..wow.

COMING UP ON THOROUGHBLOG BEGINNING OCT. 31

All things Breeders’ Cup – trends, who fits the criteria, what preps to tab and so much more.

Incredibly, this is the 25th year of CRUSHING THE CUP: I remember writing a review about it in the Toronto Star for the 1996 Breeders’ Cup at Woodbine. This is the baby created by Peter Mallett and Jim Mazur, a book that has been provided to Woodbine and its fans for years along with plenty of seminars by Jim and Peter.

It is the encyclopedia of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships and its mission: “arm the horseplayer with easy to read but valuable information” so that you can make your own decisions on the 2 Cup days. Then, once pre-entries are drawn, the pair offer up the CRUSHING ZONE, putting all entrants into Contenders, Pretenders and ‘Gray Zone’ categories – keying in on live longshots.

THOROUGHBLOG is pleased to have Peter Mallett on board this year right from Santa Anita beginning Halloween, Oct. 31. Peter will provide the ‘Blog with insights and barn notes for the Cup races. Peter will provide us with all the inside scoops to help us sort out these wonderful 2 days of racing.

To get started, Terence and Cindy over at www.horse-races.net have reviewed the 25th anniversary book and offer a write up here:

http://www.horse-races.net/library/review-100716.htm

To get on board with CRUSHING THE CUP, order a book or the Crushing Zone or any of their selection and detailed products head right over to.. (there is tons of Free Stuff such as Woodbine Trainer Angles, Sire Stats, etc. also!)

http://192.185.166.38/~proghand/index.php/orders/category/29-breeders-cup

Here is a cool sample page – regardng the SPRINT..