Sports, Ink

By Gene Kershner

A few weeks ago we reviewed our 2012 racing predictions where we batted a rock solid .500 looking back at the results from the now complete thoroughbred racing season. As we approach the new year, it’s time to pull out the crystal ball and start channeling our inner Kreskin to take a look at the coming 2013 racing season.  We’ll keep some of the staples in the mix (you’ll recognize them) and add a few new twists this year. So without further adieu, Mr. Kreskin…

-- Ramon Dominguez will win the jockey title at the inner meet at the Big A by at least 25 victories. In 2010, he won it by 29, in 2011 by 57 and last year he lost by one to Cornelio Velasquez. This question came up during an interview on Capitol OTB-TV earlier in the week when I was challenged by the hosts to put this one into this year’s prognostications. Game on.

-- The Derby winner will come from a middle post. We’re calling the middle gates anything from eight to 14 as the outside gate houses posts 15 through 20. We nailed this one this year from the outside gate so I’m going with the odds that we’ll shift inside in this year’s Run for the Roses.

-- The Derby winner will come out of the Arkansas Derby. I’ve gone with the Florida Derby the past two years, and the Arkansas Derby has given us some solid Triple Crown performers over the past ten years (Bodemeister, Curlin, Afleet Alex and Smarty Jones), so we’re looking for Oaklawn to give us this year’s Derby winner.

-- There will be an inquiry or objection in one of the three Triple Crown races. We haven’t had a stewards’ inquiry or jockey objection in recent memory in one of the Triple Crown races. We haven’t had much controversy on the Triple Crown trail, I’m banking on 2013 to be the unlucky year.

-- The Derby winner will not run again in 2013 after the Preakness. Whoa. No Triple Crown again? Not only that, he’s done for the year. I hope this one doesn’t come true, but my crystal ball says one and done.

-- Roger Attfield wins a record ninth Queen’s Plate. The Hall of Famer is currently tied with Harry Giddings, Jr. for the top spot atop the trainer category for Plate victories. I watched his last win at venerable Fort Erie Race Track on the simulcast in 2008 when Not Bourbon helped him tie the record.

-- The Haskell Hat is white. I’ve given up on yellow (it’s been since 2002). For a number of years it was the color of the previous year’s winner, but in 2009 they actually asked the fans to name the color. I’m looking for a potential gimme here with the color white, which goes with just about anything.

-- Churchill Downs will be awarded the 2014 Breeders’ Cup.  It’s been a two-track rotation for six straight years. I’m doubling down that the BC Board loves those big Churchill crowds and handle numbers to return under the Twin Spires in ’14.

-- The post time favorite will finish off the board in the Classic. On average the favorite wins 33 percent of the time and finishes second half of the time, so I’m going out on a limb on this one. Game on Dude would have held serve for me here, but will it happen in back-to-back years? I say it will.

-- A 3-year old will finish first or second in the Classic. We haven’t had a solid 3-year old finish in the Classic since Curlin won it at Monmouth in 2007 and Raven’s Pass upset him in 2008 on the Pro-Ride synthetic surface. I’m counting on a good class of 3-year-olds with a late maturing colt threatening to win the big one at Santa Anita.

That’s a wrap on my 2013 predictions for 2013. We mixed it up a little from prior years and have challenged ourselves with some bold predictions. No easy pickings like Pletcher winning the Saratoga training title this year. We’ll see if we can uphold our .500 mark of 2012 next year. Look for my year in racing review in print editions of The Buffalo News this weekend.

Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer, is a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, and tweets @EquiSpace.

By Gene Kershner

It's that time of year where we dance around the Festivus Pole and discuss Racing’s 2012 Feats of Strength and the Airing of Grievances. I’m no Frank Costanza, but I do have some thoughts to share during this joyous time of the year. After downing a delicious Festivus dinner and a few Festivus ales we're ready to unveil this year’s Racing Festivus for the rest of us...

“Feats of Strength”

Thank you sir, I’ll Have Another. Was there a more impressive four race run than I’ll Have Another had, highlighted by the Derby win and culminating in the Preakness? The first horse to sweep the Santa Anita Derby and Kentucky Derby in 23 years tops our list. Having the nation talking about horse racing again and the potential of a Triple Crown was a feat of strength all of its own.

Ramon Dominguez’ dominance of the NYRA circuit. Not only did he capture the coveted Saratoga meet riding title (68 wins), he won the Aqueduct spring meet (82 wins) ending in April, the Belmont spring (38 wins) and fall (36 wins) and currently leads the winter Aqueduct meet as we close out the year. The king of New York in 2012 sweeping each title claims one of our feats of strength laurels.

The versatility of Wise Dan. The probable Horse of the Year and Breeders’ Cup Turf champion won graded races on all three surfaces (Grade 1’s on turf and dirt) during 2012. He’s put together a winning streak of four straight races which include wins at Saratoga, Keeneland, Woodbine and Santa Anita. His only loss of the year was when he was nipped at the wire on a fast closing Ron The Greek in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster in June. His connections weren’t afraid of taking on the competition and traveling around North America, thus he captures one of the feats of strength honors for 2012.

Joshua Tree wins his second International in three years.  The 5-year-old Monjeu had the French sensation, Frankie Dettori aboard to win the Pattison Canadian International at Woodbine Racetrack in October. The world class jockey won for Joshua Tree’s connections for the first time and beat a stellar field to grab one of our 2012 feats of strength.

Ok, so here’s what you’re really looking for, the annual airing of grievances…also known as “I’ve got a lot of problems with you people!”

“Airing of Grievances”

Governor No-Show. Come on, Mr. Governor you can’t take over an entire Racing Association and not show up for the two biggest races on the NYRA’s calendar? You’re even a short drive up the Northway to Saratoga for the Travers? Triple Crown was on the line, and no plans to grace Belmont Park prior to the announcement of the dreaded scratch? No gubernatorial applause from this end of the state.

NYRA Wager Minimums. I’ve been beating this drum for several years, but can’t we get a $0.50 trifecta or $0.50 Pick-3 wager at the NYRA tracks? Give it a shot for a meet or two…and check the handle.

Provide Hochuli-like explanations from the Stewards Booth.  The NFL does it as well as any sport, explaining reviews and replays and explaining decisions. If there’s a steward’s inquiry, describe the reasoning of the final decision over the microphone, or at least give it to the track announcer to give the horseplayer an explanation why his horse has been taken down.

Derby Points System shuns Illinois Derby. It was more than obvious of the snub that parent company Churchill Downs pulled when eliminating the Illinois Derby from its new points system. The Illinois Derby is run at Hawthorne Race Course, the rival Chicago track to Churchill-owned Arlington. Draw your own conclusions, but I’m airing a grievance here.

TVG still in Standard Definition. Come on TVG, let’s get the HD mojo going! Horse racing, by far, is a sport that jumps out at you in High Definition. I’m no techie, but let’s make this happen.

That’s a wrap for this year’s Racing Festivus. Next week we’ll look at some 2013 prognostications, Kreskin-style. Happy holidays, racing fans.

Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer, is a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, and tweets @EquiSpace.

By Gene Kershner

There's a bit of a lull in the schedule for the holidays and it’s not quite time to post my ballot for the Eclipse Awards, so instead I’ll share my annual racing candy bar awards for 2012.

We're giving away candy bars to our favorite horses, jockeys and trainers, whether they won a Breeders’ Cup race or not complete with the theory behind each winner’s candy bar award.  So let's get after it....because sometimes you feel like a nut…

Reggie Bar. We give the Reggie Bar to Archwarrior.  There was lots of hype, but not too much substance for the juvenile who was billed as the next coming of Secretariat.

Kit Kat.  It was a rough year for the Cat horses, usually dominated by Storm Cat and Kitten’s Joy progeny. We had to search long and hard to find Csaba, who won three stakes races at Calder, including the Grade 3 Fred W. Hooper Handicap. We’ll give this Kitten’s Joy 3-year old the nod.

Snickers. There were some great names during 2012 that entered the racing scene, but none were better than Notacatbutallama. C’mon that made you snicker, just a little, right?

Everlasting Gobstopper. This one has to go to the winner of The Test of a Champion, the Belmont Stakes victor Union Rags, who gets this long-lasting candy hands down. The horse winning the year’s toughest race matches up perfectly with the gobstopper.

Ghirardelli White Chocolate bars.  I used to love when they called Jason Williams, "White Chocolate" on the hoops floor. Since no white horse established him or herself during the 2012 racing campaign, we’ll give this one to the white-haired Bob Baffert. After surviving a heart attack in Dubai before the World Cup, he returned with a couple of prized 3-year olds, Bodemeister and Paynter, who collectively ran second in all three classic races and won the Haskell,  which was a record sixth time for Baffert! He gets the Ghirardelli white chocolate laurels.

Oh Henry. We'll give one of these to The Lumber Guy, for being a war horse along the lines of Hank Aaron. The New York-bred gave us a tremendous season winning the Grade 1 Vosburgh and the Grade 2 Jerome and running a respectable second in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint behind Trinniberg. His connections were not afraid to run him against the best and he definitely brought the lumber like Hammerin’ Hank.

Baby Ruth.  I’ll Have Another gains a Baby Ruth bar for his Derby/Preakness double. Winning the Preakness in Baltimore, the Babe's hometown, put him over the top.

$100,000 bar (aka 100 Grand Bar). We'll just award this one to trainer Todd Pletcher for winning another Saratoga training title and crushing it with 23 juvenile winners in 67 starts at the Spa meet. That’s 34 percent winners and 58 percent ITM (in the money) resulting in a $2.42 ROI (return on investment).

Heath Bar. Made with old English toffee...we'll send one of these to super-horse Frankel, it just seems right, doesn't it?

Payday. The richest race in North America, the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic went to Fort Larned, who grabs the Payday bar award. He won the Classic holding off Mucho Macho Man in the stretch to collect the big check.

Clark Bar. That’s an easy one. The Clark Handicap went to none other than Shackleford in his final career race. I’ve been a big fan of the Shack since seeing him in the paddock on Derby day 2011, and he has not disappointed since.

York Pepperment Patty. The king of the New York racing colony is as cool a customer as those minty patties are in your mouth. Ramon Dominguez garners this candy bar award as the top jockey in the land.

Whoppers. Louisiana Derby winner Hero of Order lit up the tote board at the Fair Grounds at 109-1, paying $220.80 for the win. Need I say more?

Wonka Bar.  Who's got a golden ticket? Travers dead-heater Golden Ticket wins this one hands down.

So that's a wrap for this year's candy bar awards, next week we’ll treat you to the annual “It’s a Racing Festivus” column.

Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer, is a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, and tweets @EquiSpace.

Winter racing is off and running at Aqueduct, Hollywood, Turfway Park and the Fair Grounds, tracks that die hard racing fans and horseplayers will follow over the coming months. It’s as good a time as any to look back at the best moments of the second half of the year through the eyes of this turf writer.

While there was no race with as big a purse as the Breeders’ Cup Classic, I just can’t find a way to put it in the top five moments of the second half of 2012. So here goes….

1. The dead heat in the Travers. While it wasn’t the most competitive field that the Midsummer Derby has produced over its historic past, the second dead heat (the first was in 1874) produced some great racing drama that is rarely captured with a national television audience tuning in on NBC. It was a superb moment for thoroughbred racing. The story was compelling with the long shot Golden Ticket (33-1) hitting the wire simultaneously with race favorite Alpha.

2. Jim Rome winning a Breeders’ Cup race. A proponent of racing since he started owning horses under the Jungle Stables moniker, this could be one of the bigger moments of the racing year. His filly, Mizdirection, rolled down the hill to victory at Santa Anita in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on day two of this year’s championship weekend. He spent no less than two hours talking about racing on his national television show the following Monday.

3. Dullahan rolling home in the Pacific Classic. In a major upset, Dullahan closed late to win the Pacific Classic at Del Mar defeating older horses such as Game On Dude and Richard’s Kid on the polytrack where the surf meets the turf. It gave the 3-year-old crop a little more street cred after most of the year’s stars had fallen by the wayside via injury after the Triple Crown trail wrapped up.

4. The thrilling finish to the Cigar Mile. In a photo finish that was decided by a head bob, Stay Thirsty showed his versatility in nipping Groupie Doll at the wire. Groupie Doll was attempting to become the first filly to win the Cigar.  You have to give trainer Buff Bradley props for his sporting try to win the one turn mile at Aqueduct last weekend. Stay Thirsty had never run at the mile distance in 16 career races and added a valuable Grade 1 to his resume before heading off to the breeding shed.

5. Havre de Grace brings $10 million at Fasig-Tipton sale. In a classic “Just get the bread, Fred” moment, and 30 bids later, the daughter of Saint Liam garnered a cool $10 million in the sales ring at the Fasig-Tipton sale in November. The sales price was the third highest price for a broodmare in a public auction. The 2011 Horse of the Year was purchased by Whisper Hill Farm and sold by Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farm. She had nine wins from 16 career starts and $2,586,175 in earnings.

The second half of the year produced some great racing moments and clearly turned the corner from the hangover related to the unfortunate ending to the Triple Crown season.

Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer, is a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, and tweets @EquiSpace.

By Gene Kershner

It’s been a wacky week, starting with a run on Twinkies, the Big Ten adding two teams to become a 14-team conference, and concluding with Hewlett-Packard taking an $8.8 billion (that’s billion with a “b”) write-down primarily related to a 2011 acquisition. It’s no different in the world of thoroughbred horse racing as Groupie Doll will attempt to enter the history books. She would become the first filly to ever win the Grade 1 Cigar Mile on Saturday afternoon. In other major race of the weekend, Shackleford will make his final career start in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap late this afternoon at Churchill Downs.

By and away, the Cigar Mile is one of my favorite races of the year. Held at the Big A (Aqueduct Racetrack) in Ozone Park, N.Y., the one-turn mile race is the last of the biggest races on the New York Racing Association calendar. Groupie Doll (8-5), the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner, will attempt to win her fourth Grade 1 race of the year and potentially entering the Horse of the Year equation for Eclipse Award voters.

Groupie Doll was assigned 118 pounds, two pounds less than Coil (8-1), a Grade 1 winner, looking to bounce back from his seventh-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint who was designated the colt carrying the most weight. Trainer Buff Bradley wasn’t even thinking Cigar Mile after the Breeders’ Cup victory. “I wasn’t looking for another race for her; I wasn’t looking for a race against boys,” said Bradley. “I thought that trip [to and from California] might knock her back a little, but they had the parade of Breeders’ Cup champions here at Churchill last weekend and she was just feeling so good. We took her to the track to train her just to let her down a little. I never even thought about the Cigar Mile until that weekend.”

The Cigar will also feature 2011 Travers winner and second choice Stay Thirsty (7-2) and 2010 Cigar Mile winner Jersey Town (4-1) in addition to Coil and Groupie Doll. Hymn Book, Buffum and Associate will round out the seven horse field. Last year’s contest featured a win by To Honor and Serve who held off a late charging Hymn Book after fast early fractions. This year’s edition could prove to be historic should Groupie Doll off the victory. It will be her first start at the distance since she finished second against males in an optional claiming race in Florida in January. 

Stay Thirsty will be looking to add the Cigar Mile to his impressive resume. “It would be a huge win for him,” trainer Todd Pletcher said of the Cigar Mile. “For a horse that’s already accomplished a lot, especially a Travers winner, to also show the versatility to win at a mile would be a feather in his cap.” Ramon Dominguez will ride Stay Thirsty who drew the rail.

The Grade 1 Clark drew a field of 10, including Todd Pletcher’s Mission Impazible (5-1) Florida Derby winner Take Charge Indy (8-1) and Hawthorne Gold Cup winner Pool Play (5-1) a horse who savors the Churchill strip, winning last year’s Stephen Foster Handicap. Those three will be trying to send Shackleford off to retirement on a losing note. Jesus Castanon, who rode Shack in a winning effort in last year’s Preakness, regains the mount after giving way to New York-based riders Ramon Dominguez and John Velazquez in his last four efforts.

The Met Mile winner would love to close out his career with a win at historic Churchill Downs, but some pundits are questioning his connections choice to run in the two-turn Clark, to be run over 1 1/8-miles (5-1-2-0 career mark at the distance) versus the one-turn (3-1-2-0) Cigar Mile.

The Clark also includes former Queen’s Plate champion Eye of the Leopard (20-1), who finished third in the Prince of Wales at Fort Erie Race Track in 2009. Take Charge Indy returns to the scene of his last race, a 19th place finish in the Kentucky Derby where he suffered an ankle chip. He comes off a huge workout over last weekend and will try and regain the form he showed early in his 3-year-old season in Florida.

Another 3-year-old trying to establish himself with a Grade 1 win is Super Derby winner Bourbon Courage, (15-1) who finished second last out in the Indiana Derby. It should be a fun race to watch and see who emerges, last year current Horse of the Year favorite, Wise Dan, won his first ever Grade 1 race propelling him to a wonderful 2012 campaign.

Enjoy the races during this holiday weekend.

The field for the Grade 1, $350,000 Cigar Mile Handicap:

Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer, is a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, and tweets @EquiSpace.

By Gene Kershner

It’s a slow time in the thoroughbred racing world, so let’s take a timeout this week and take a glance back at some of my 2012 predictions that I concocted last December at the EquiSpace blog. On an annual basis for the past three years I’ve made some bold predictions by looking into a crystal ball relating to the upcoming year in horse racing. We didn’t fare too badly, but let’s look closely at my top 10 projected moments of 2012 now that the racing year is practically in the books.

1.       Horse from the outside gate will win the Derby.  I wish I would have listened to myself on this one. A week before the Derby, I was touting I’ll Have Another, but like many, was spooked the moment he drew post No. 19. No horse had ever won from that post. Of course, he won chasing down a game Bodemeister from the outside gate and giving me for a short period of time a batting average of 1.000.  (1 for 1)

2.       One of the Classics will end in a photo. When the photo sign went up at the Preakness, I was in full on Kreskin-mode. Stop the race. What a beautiful thing. (2 for 2)

3.       A female jockey will be ITM in one of the Classics. All good things have to come to an end. With only one chance, Rosie Napravnik on Five Sixteen (who unfortunately passed away this week) in the Belmont, this one died on the vine. Rosie also had a mount on Derby hopeful Mark Valeski, but he was pulled out a week before the race. Ironically, she became the first female jockey to win the Kentucky Oaks and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, so I wasn’t too far off. (2 for 3)

4.       The Florida Derby will wield us the Derby winner. Take Charge Indy, my pick for third in the paper, started to make a move on the far turn, but came up injured with a bone chip and the Florida Derby champ finished next to last. The Santa Anita Derby was the prep that delivered I’ll Have Another, the first time in 23 years that the winner of that race prevailed in Louisville. (2 for 4)

5.       One of the three winners of the Canadian classics will win a graded stake later in the year. While the year has a six weeks left, it appears neither Prince of Wales winner Dixie Strike or Breeders Stakes winner Irish Mission will run again this year. The Plate winner, Strait of Dover, was sidelined with an injury after the race and will not race again in 2012. We’re going sharpie on this one. (2 for 5)

6.       Haskell hat is yellow. I went with yellow since the giveaway hat hasn’t been that color since 2002 and I thought it most certainly would be due. I attended this year’s race at beautiful Monmouth Park and arrived to a sea of blue hats. Boo. (2 for 6…starting to stagger home)

7.       Pletcher will win the Saratoga Training Title. No way that I was getting shut out completely. This was the 2-footer, the gimme. He won going away, besting his next closest competitor, Chad Brown, by seven wins, finishing with the top total of 36. (3 for 7)

8.       Santa Anita will be awarded the 2013 Breeders’ Cup. There was some speculation a smaller track, like Monmouth in New Jersey would be awarded the ’13 Cup. However, Santa Anita prevailed for the second year in a row; the BC will be headed to California. (4 for 8)

9.       The BC Classic winner will go off at odds greater than 10-1. Ouch. Fort Larned went off at 9.4-1. Can we round up? Can’t get any closer than that. That’s a tough one to put in the loss column. (4 for 9)

10.   A scandal will rock the racing industry. Ok, so that’s a pretty subjective and wide open topic. I’m going to say the NYRA botching of the takeout rate increase resulting in the untimely dismissal of CEO Charlie Hayward and VP/Chief Counsel Patrick Kehoe qualifies as a scandal. Emails between Daily Racing Form editor Steven Crist and Hayward eventually led to his downfall and the revamping of the NYRA board after Governor Andrew Cuomo assumed control. (5 for 10).

The channeling of my inner Kreskin results in a 50 percent showing for 2012, easily my best effort in several years, and was sniffing a couple of the other predictions. I’ve already started working on 2013’s big picks, so stay tuned in December when I release next year’s list.

Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer, is a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, and tweets @EquiSpace.

By Gene Kershner

The 2012 Breeders’ Cup (BC) is in the books and the 29th anniversary of the event that was the brainchild of the late John Gaines most certainly delivered the goods. Even though handle and attendance were both down in comparison to 2011, the racing product did not disappoint.

Attendance for the two days at Santa Anita was down 6.9 percent (89,742 versus 96,496 in 2009) in comparison to the last time the Cup was held at the California track. Of course, in 2009 hometown hero Zenyatta was a big draw and she impacted that year’s Saturday attendance figures significantly.

Nonetheless several results stuck with me the most while observing the two days of 15 championship races:

“It Never Rains in California.” That was a quote from trainer George Weaver, who handled Bona Ventures Stables’ Summer of Fun who finished third in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, and it certainly did not disappoint. The context of our conversation was that Summer of Fun did not like the moisture in the turf up at Woodbine and that would prefer a firmer grass course. This was also the case for Juvenile Turf winner George Vancouver whose trainer Aidan O’Brien who had struggled in Great Britain on soft ground and really loved the firm turf of the Santa Anita course, upsetting the field at odds of 9-1. The weather at Santa Anita was just gorgeous all weekend and couldn’t have been better for the big weekend.

Animal Kingdom’s monster final furlong time in the Mile. The come home time for the 2011 Derby winner in the BC Mile was less than 11 seconds (0:10 4/5). Animal Kingdom roared home picking off four horses in the stretch only to finish a length and a half behind ultimate winner and likely Horse of the Year Wise Dan. He was steadied early in the race and had nowhere to run until he finally split horses in the final eighth of a mile to finish strong.  Compared to the 2012 Kentucky Derby field that has been decimated by injury, the 2011 group also had a strong showing from third place Derby finisher Mucho Macho Man, who lost a stretch duel with Fort Larned in the Classic.

Strong TV ratings. With a solid lead-in by a Notre Dame football game that went into triple overtime with Pittsburgh, the prime time telecast drew a 2.2, which according to NBC was 83 percent higher than last year’s telecast on ESPN. The Classic went off at 8:43 p.m. ET and the aforementioned tight stretch duel provided NBC with yet another thrilling race on the main network. Earlier in August, the network televised the first dead heat in over 100 years in the Travers at Saratoga.

Filly Power. As the Friday BC card usually highlights the majority of the filly races (five of six races), two fillies stole some of the spotlight from the boys on the Saturday card. Groupie Doll, the fabulous Bowman’s Band filly, overcame a strong speed biased track to be the only horse to win coming off the pace to win the Filly and Mare Sprint. She was much the best in pulling away from the field winning by over four lengths in winning her fifth straight race. The other filly to win on Saturday, did so against males, when Jim Rome’s Mizdirection captured the 6 ½-furlong Turf Sprint coming down the hill. With morning line odds of 20-1, the Mizzen Mast filly was crushed at the windows down to 5-1 and proved to be a horse for the course, winning her third straight race on the Santa Anita turf.

Maragh’s Marauders. While Mike Smith was named the weekend’s outstanding jockey with his wins on Royal Delta and Mizdirection, Rajiv Maragh quietly won two BC races himself. He was aboard D. Wayne Lukas’ upset winner Hightail in Friday’s Juvenile Sprint and Groupie Doll in the Filly and Mare Sprint on Saturday. The New York-based rider continues to improve and made the most of his mounts during this year’s Breeders’ Cup.

It’s time to start looking forward to the few big races remaining this year like the Clark Handicap and the Cigar Mile as well as sorting out who will be on my year end Eclipse ballots before we close the book on 2012.

Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer, is a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, and tweets @EquiSpace.

ARCADIA, Ca. -- Greetings from sunny Southern California and Breeders' Cup (BC) Saturday from Santa Anita Park. I'll be with you all day to talk horses and share the sights and sounds through all nine championship races culminating in the BC Classic. The Classic will be shown live on NBC (Ch.2) in a prime time telecast starting at 8 p.m. ET. Post time for the classic is 8:30 p.m.

We've been racing since 10 a.m. PST this morning on the west coast and three races are already in the books. The weather is absolutely stunning and should approach 80 degrees by mid-afternoon. The beautiful backdrop of the San Gabriel mountains makes this site one of the most picturesque race tracks in the land. The track is fast and the turf is firm.

I wandered about a bit this morning and enjoyed seeing the brand new Zenyatta statue just outside the paddock area where they are hosting a "Taste of LA" food court of vendors from local Los Angeles restaurants. Below is a picture of the Zenyatta statue.

2:35 p.m. (all times ET): The first of the nine championship races is the $1M BC Juvenile Turf, where a full field of 14 two-year-olds will try and claim the top prize. I'm favoring a couple of Euros in here, both 3-George Vancouver and 6-Dundonnell, both of whom should enjoy the firm turf coming over the pond. I've included 9-Noble Tune (Chad Brown red-hot on the turf) 10-Joha and 14-Lines of Battle (Dettori in the irons) in an early Pick-3, so I'm fairly deep here. Good luck as we get this day rolling!

2:59 p.m.: Hello George! The Aidan O'Brien-trained 2-year-old George Vancouver ($20.60) by Henrythenavigator, who ran in the Classic here against Curlin in 2009 absolutely loved the firm turf here at Santa Anita cruising past Chad Brown's Noble Tune. That gets our Pick-3 off to a very good start at 9-1.

Coming up next is the BC Filly & Mare Sprint. Most tickets here will be singled to 9-Groupie Doll, who on paper looks to be much the best in this field. I've also included Padua Stables' 3-Dust and Diamonds in the middle leg so maybe she can pull an upset here. I also have another Pick-3 ticket starting here with Groupie Doll.

3:45 p.m. - Wow! Groupie Doll ($3.40) made it look easy, taking the lead just past the top of the stretch, which keeps me live on two tickets. Dust and Diamond rode a valiant second, but was beaten by 4 1/2-lengths. Rajiv Maragh picks up his second BC victory on the weekend after winning yesterday on Hightail.

The BC Dirt Mile is next and we're four horses deep in the last leg of the first ticket, with 3-Jersey Town (will pay of $55.90), 4-John Scott ($124.10), 5-Fed Biz ($66.15) and 7-Emcee ($35.45). We included 6-Shackleford in the second leg of the other ticket, so we're still in business going into this one.  By the way, just had a tasty lunch made up of chicken quarters, red potatoes and a fruit salad. Yesterday I ventured out of the press area and found a nice carving station that was serving carved turkey and corned beef. Food grade for Santa Anita so far: A minus.

Ok, let's get it going with both of these tickets!

4:10 p.m.: Just returned from the paddock where a fractious 6-Shackleford was not enjoying his walk around the ring. He reared several times before finally calming down. Delegation and Fed Biz were the best two lookers in the paddock. I decided to put $2 saver win bets on 2-Delegation and 8-Tapizar to protect my Pick-3 wager.

4:20 p.m.: It's 8-Tapizar ($32.60) at 15-1 in the Dirt Mile who just wouldn't relinquish the lead after taking over just past the top of the stretch. It's why you have to back up your plays with saver win bets on the long-priced horses. Rail Trip finished second.

The BC Turf Sprint is next where they go downhill on the backside before joining the main track. We are 5 deep here with 1-California Flag (2009 winner here), 9-Bridgetown (Pletcher speedster), 10-Corporate Jungle (my top pick), 11-Mizdirection (Jim Rome's horse) and 13-Unbridled's Note. We're starting a new Pick-3 here into the BC Turf. I love the $0.50 fractional bet that let's you spread deep in the more competitive races.

4:55 p.m.: After visiting with some friends from Buffalo and running into Bill Tallon, the Daily Racing Form correspondent, I headed down to the paddock to get a glimpse of Mizdirection and Jim Rome. The talk show host is all decked out in his best duds today for his first Breeders' Cup try. He was swarmed by reporters several times in the paddock and seemed to be soaking up the limelight. Back here in the auxiliary press box (which is actually outside just before the clubhouse turn) I salvaged one of the last chocolate chip cookies, which was delicious, by the way.

5:05 p.m.: Now that is good for racing! Jim Rome's Jungle Racing Stables' Mizdirection ($15.80) wins the Turf Sprint over Unbridled's Note. He wins the $1 million dollar race and pockets the $600K first prize purse money. You can guess what is going to be talked about on his talk show next week. Back here at the ranch, it's a good start to our next Pick-3, let's see if we can bring this one home.

In keeping with our rolling Pick-3's for the afternoon, we get a first look at next year's Derby hopefuls in the BC Juvenile. We're going with the two Baffert horses (1-Title Contender and 9-Power Broker) along with Todd Pletcher-trained Hopeful winner 4-Shanghai Bobby. We have these three horses in the middle leg of one Pick-3 and we'll add 8-Fortify to start a second one.

Back to the Turf Sprint, that was Mike Smith's record 17th win in Breeders' Cup competition, he broke the record yesterday winning on Royal Delta in the Ladies' Classic.

5:45 p.m.: Wowsa! What a finish! It's a photo in the BC Juvenile and Shanghai Bobby ($4.60) prevails for Todd Pletcher! I thought Rosie Napravnik moved way to soon and was ready to back up at the eighth pole, but that horse just kept on chugging and held off the grey, He's Had Enough and Mario Gutierrez (I'll Have Another's jockey) in deep stretch. The Harlan's Holiday colt won the Hopeful this year and Napravnik continues to move forward in big races, she won the Kentucky Oaks earlier this year.  Is a Derby win in her future?

If you're keeping score at home we're live to 1-Point of Entry (favorite, $45 will pay) and 5-Shareta (Irish shipper, $75) in the BC Turf, the last leg of one P3, I have Point of Entry singled in the middle leg of our second P3 play. I wouldn't mind Point of Entry winning here as we're five deep in the BC Sprint (2,4,7,11,13).

6:08 p.m. In looking at Shanghai Bobby's pedigree and on his damside it's pretty untested. His dam sire, Orientate, was mostly a sprinter and Harlan's Holiday was halfway decent at the classic distance with seconds in the Hollywood Gold Cup and Dubai World Cup at age four and a third in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at age three. Harlan's Holiday finished seventh in the 2002 Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Preakness, so there's some nuggets to chew on.

6:15 p.m.: Some quotes from the Mizdirection press conference from renowned talk show host Jim Rome. "I'm numb. Having a hard time believing that just happened and she came back and won the race. I talked to Bobby Flay on my show earlier in the week and I said you've been there before, you know what it's like. And he said outside of the birth of my daughter it was the most exhilirating feeling in his lefe. I would say the same, but I'm too numb to to know how it feels," said Rome.

7:10 p.m.: Trinniberg ($29.40), who set the early pace in this year's Kentucky Derby, was all about that six furlongs completing it in a lightning fast 1:07.98. He held off NY-bred The Lumber Guy at the wire. Those two horses completed a $203 exacta for $2. Trainer Shivananda Parbhoo put the blinkers on him for this race and it proved to be just the right equipment change.

We're down to two BC races left, next up is the BC Mile, featuring the talented 2-Wise Dan, and the return of last year's Derby winner, 5-Animal Kingdom. Wise Dan looks to be the class of the race, a couple others to ponder would be 3-Obviously and European shipper 6-Excelebration who has faced the mighty Frankel several times on the other side of the pond, finishing second to him three times and third once.

7:45 a.m.: Wise Dan ($5.60) was much the best in the Mile taking over at the eighth pole, setting a new record at 1:31.78 for the mile distance on the turf. Animal Kingdom finished second to complete a $27.30 exacta and looked good closing late in his comback attempt. A case could be made for Horse of the Year for Wise Dan, but Game on Dude might have something to say about that.

Animal Kingdom received a round of applause from the Santa Anita throng as he returned from his second place finish.

The $5 million BC Classic is next. I'm staying with my top pick, 5-Game On Dude. My advance on the race can be found here. I will be playing him on top of 11-Mucho Macho Man, 4-Fort Larned and 10-Ron the Greek in a trifecta.

I will be heading down to a jam packed paddock and will return here for a short recap after the race. Good luck in the Classic!

8:50 p.m.: It's Fort Larned in the $5M Classic in a thrilling stretch duel with Mucho Macho Man. If you boxed my top four in a $2 exacta (cost: $24) you would have cashed a pretty ticket ($120). I have to get to work on my commentary due to the tight deadline being on the West Coast so check tomorrow's morning editions for my thoughts.

Thanks for following along today and I hope you cashed a lot of tickets!

--Gene Kershner

By Gene Kershner

ARCADIA, Ca. – The first day of the Breeders’ Cup (BC) World Championship thoroughbred racing delivered some big winners, highlighted by Royal Delta’s historic win in the Ladies’ Classic. It was the second straight Ladies’ Classic victory for the Empire Maker 4-year-old. She covered the 1 1/8-mile race in 1:48.80 after setting some serious early fractions of 22.69 and 45.81. Royal Delta paid $5.40 to win, $3.40 to place and $2.60 to show.

Jockey Mike Smith won his third consecutive Classic as he won on Royal Deltalast year (Ladies) and on Drosselmeyer in the BC Classic and will look to extend that string to four aboard Mucho Macho Man in tomorrow’s big $5M race. Trainer Bill Mott set two records with the victory, winning his fifth Ladies’ Classic and his third straight.

My Miss Aureliafinished second and paid $5.80 to place and $4 to show. Include Me Out finished third and paid $5.20 to show while completing a $2 trifecta. The $0.50 Pick-4 returned $885.80 to winning ticket holders and the $2 Pick-6 paid a whopping $773,865.20.

The first three BC races delivered winners at 15-1, 17-1 and 11-1, as bettors Trainer D. Wayne Lukas won his 19th Breeders’ Cup race with long shot Hightail ($32.80) that nosed out the favored Merit Man and survived a steward’s inquiry in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint. Lukas was pumped after the race. “I just thought that we had a great shot. These races are historically very fast up front. We’re a good closer and I thought we had a shot,” said the 78-year-old trainer. Hightail finished the 6-furlong race in 1:09.75.

The BC Marathon was won by the Argentinean horse Calidoscopio ($36.40) who closed late to beat Grassy in an upset. He was the oldest horse to ever win a Breeders’ Cup race at the age of nine. Aaron Gryder, a Dubai World Cup winning jockey, won his first Breeders’ Cup and was ecstatic about the win. “This is a world championship race, it’s a great thing to be able to win one of our best races here in America and it goes along with the World Cup, it definitely matches that,” said the winning jockey.

Flotilla ($24.80) kept the bombs coming with a hard charging late close in the Juvenile Fillies Turf for trainer Mikel Delzangles. Bona Venture Stables’ Summer of Fun finished third and paid $19.40 for the show. Jockey Ramon Dominguez had nowhere to run on Summer of Fun. “I was in behind horses, tracking the favorite (Sky Lantern) and I had to wait. I think if we had gotten out before the eighth pole, she could have gotten second,” said New York’s leading rider.

Summer of Fun’s trainer George Weaver was pleased with the effort. “I knew she was better than 40-1. I wasn’t surprised that she finished third and wouldn’t have been surprised if she won. She will continue to get better.”  Managing partner Dan Collins was pleased with the finish and the result. “She ran a great race, she just couldn’t get through.” What’s next for Summer of Fun? She ships on Tuesday to Florida and George will decide whether to keep her in training,” said Collins.

Things settled down a little in the Juvenile Fillies when Beholder ($9.80) took them gate-to-wire holding off 3-2 post time favorite Executiveprivilege, who drifted out in the stretch on jockey Rafael Bejarano. It was the first graded stakes win for the 2-year-old Henny Hughes filly. It was the 13th Breeders’ Cup win for jockey Garret Gomez.

The Chad Brown-trained Zagora ($20.40) took over at the sixteenth pole and never looked back to win the BC Filly and Mare Turf. Javier Castellano broke a lengthy winless steak in the Breeders’ Cup in the irons on Zagora.

The track played very fair today and speed held most of the day. Check back here tomorrow for where I’ll be live blogging starting with the first Breeders’ Cup race.  Good luck!

Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer, is a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association and tweets @EquiSpace.

By Gene Kershner

ARCADIA, Ca. – After a two year hiatus from the west coast, the Breeders’ Cup returns on Friday to sunny Southern California and beautiful Santa Anita Park for the first of two days of championship racing at the Arcadia track. Today’s featured event, the Ladies’ Classic, is one of the most anticipated races of the weekend as it features three former Breeders’ Cup winners and defending champion Royal Delta.

Friday’s six championship races will be carried live on NBC Sports Network (4 - 8 p.m. ET), the network formerly known as Versus. The Breeders’ Cup can prove very fruitful for the savvy horseplayer whose mining for gold within the deep fields of horses. Keep an eye out for potential overlays whose odds at post time that could offer tremendous value. The multi-race horseplayer must also make a stand and make a decision on whom to single and/or weigh heavily on based on opinion to be able to spread deeper in the wide open races. Fortunately the minimum bet for Pick-3’s, 4’s and 5’s is $0.50, which can make your play much more affordable.

Let’s look at the day’s last four Breeders’ Cup races and offer some quick picks and thoughts to consider when handicapping.

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf

This highly competitive division had five “Win and You’re In” races and four of the winners of those races will be in the gate at Santa Anita for the one mile turf race for 2-year-old fillies. Highly regarded Irish filly 3-Sky Lantern (3-1), winner of the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh, is the morning line favorite should not be discounted. She stretches out to the mile distance for the first time after making the trip over the Atlantic for owner Ben Keswick. The Chad Brown-trained filly 6-Watsdachances (4-1), won the Miss Grillo on yielding turf, and will race third off of a layoff. She’s run two 8.5-furlong races with top turf jockey Javier Castellano in the irons and looks to be my top choice.

5-Spring Venture (5-1), winner of the Natalma on Woodbine Mile day, ships in after working well for Mark Casse’s barn at Churchill Downs. She was flattered when second place finisher in the Natalma, Spring in the Air won the Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland. If you’re looking for live longshots, two fillies look like they could make some noise in here. Bona Venture Stables’ 2-Summer of Fun (30-1) with Ramon Dominguez aboard could make a timed late run and 10-Waterway Run, a Euro who should have no issues stretching out to a mile, could be a potential upset win threat.

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies

The Juvenile Fillies only drew eight entries, but a powerful group it is. Top trainers Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher will each send out two fillies making up half the field. Baffert sends a First Samurai filly 2-Executiveprivilege (2-1) out to extend his five race winning streak. He has beaten Richard Mandella’s 1-Beholder (5-2), in their only two meetings, but the Henny Hughes sired filly has the top speed figure in the race. The sires of these two battled several times as juveniles, most notably in the Hopeful at Saratoga and in the BC Juvenile.

Pletcher sends out two impressive fillies, 5-Dreaming of Julia (5-2) and 8-Kauai Katie (3-1), both of whom posted impressive victories at Saratoga this summer and are both graded stakes winning fillies.

If you’re looking for a sleeper to upset the top four in this race, the aforementioned 3-Spring in the Air (15-1) joins Executiveprivilege (Del Mar Debutante) and Dreaming of Julia (Frizette) as the only other Grade 1 winner in the field. She could pick up the pieces if there is a pace meltdown as there is a lot of speed in this race.

Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf

In a competitive field of 12, I’m going to favor two of the Euros in this one. I absolutely love 4-The Fugue (7-2), my best bet of the Friday card. The John Gosden-trained filly won the Group 1 Nassau Stakes at Goodwood in Great Britain in August at the same distance and will be running on lasix for the first time. His main challenger is 10-Ridasiyna (4-1), a French filly whom owns a Group 1 win at Longchamp, and has the very talented Christophe Lemaire on board.

9-Marketing Mix (9-2), the Ontario-bred Medaglia d’Oro filly, has some terrific workouts on her slate and a win at the distance on the Santa Anita sod. She will challenge the top two Euros, but is more of a late pace horse and may find the top two difficult to catch on the firm Santa Anita turf.

A long shot play in this race would be 6-Lady of Shamrock (12-1), who is three for three on the Santa Anita turf course and has a win at the mile and a quarter distance for trainer John Sadler.  One interesting twist is Pletcher’s 12-In Lingerie (12-1) who will try turf for the first time ever. The Black-Eyed Susan winner won the Grade 1 Spinster on the polytrack at Keeneland in her last start and adds intrigue to an already stellar race.

Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic

The biggest race of the first day of championship racing is unquestionably the Ladies’ Classic. The 9-furlong race is loaded with talent; most notably 6-Royal Delta (9-5) will attempt to defend her title as America’s top female race horse. She comes off a wildly impressive victory in the Grade 1 Beldame at Belmont Park where she crushed the field by nine lengths on an off track.

Trainer Bill Mott could set two records if his defending champion repeats: a third straight Ladies’ Classic and a fifth overall victory in the race. He won in 1997 (Ajina), 1998 (Escena) and 2010 (Unrivaled Belle). “I think it’s very competitive,” Mott said. “You have to respect a lot of the horses in there. It looks like a good, fast pace. And it looks like some horses have speed and good quality. There is no shortage of talent.”

5-Awesome Feather (3-1), undefeated in 10 lifetime races, has only raced four times since winning the  2010 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies race at Churchill Downs for trainer Chad Brown. The Awesome of Course filly has yet to be tested against top company since then, so I am still a wee leery about backing her on Friday. Brown is happy with how Awesome Feather has taken to the Santa Anita surface. “She’s come to Santa Anita, been on the track three days in a row, and every day she’s looked dynamite out there. I’m optimistic that she’s going to come with a big race,” said Brown.

2-My Miss Aurelia, last year’s Juvenile champ and 4-Questing, are co-third choices at 4-1. My Miss Aurelia has yet to lose in six career starts and held off Questing at the wire in the Cotillion at Parx in September, in a stretch run for the ages. One has to wonder if that took a little steam out of both of their engines. Questing had two impressive victories at Saratoga and has a relatively rookie jockey in Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard.  She also was giving up a big weight break to My Miss Aurelia in the Cotillion. They will both race at 121 pounds in the Distaff.

These are four of the top fillies in the land, none of which has ever raced on the Santa Anita track. I’m going to favor Royal Delta as my top selection and play with long shot 8-Love and Pride (8-1), who I think could sneak up on this field. Pletcher decided to ship her to Santa Anita early and she won the Grade 1 Zenyatta fairly easily so we know she will take to the surface.

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As a follow up to Sunday’s print article on Summer of Fun and Bona Venture Stables, I spoke with managing partner Dan Collins today and he said that St. Bonaventure president Sr. Margaret Carney sent her well wishes and she and the university will be cheering on Summer of Fun in the $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf. That race is scheduled to go off at 5:28 p.m. ET on Friday afternoon.

Be sure to come back and visit the Sports, Ink blog on Saturday afternoon, as I will be live blogging the Saturday card, starting with the first Breeders’ Cup race at 2:50 p.m. ET through the Breeders’ Cup Classic which is scheduled to go off at 8:30 p.m. ET Saturday night in prime time on NBC (Ch. 2).

Good luck and let’s go and cash some tickets!

Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer is a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association and tweets @EquiSpace.