Ok, I’m just excited because I just got my 1st watch mail for a BC entry! DH and I will be watching at Lone Star Park 
Oooh! Declaration of War is in for the Classic! We’ll see how he likes the dirt…
[QUOTE=danceronice;7231965]
Oooh! Declaration of War is in for the Classic! We’ll see how he likes the dirt…[/QUOTE]
It will be his last start before retirement.
Also shipping in will be 4-year-old filly The Fugue (GB) owned by The Lord Andrew Llyod Webber* (yes, of Cat’s fame, although Ken Ramsey effectively “owns” that equine naming franchise!) and she’ll take on the boys in the BC Turf.
* technically the title is The Lord Lloyd-Webber, Baron of Sydmonton in the County of Hampshire
You have to respect the wisdom of John Nerud (‘Dr. Fager’ among others he trained) on the Breeders’ Cup. John btw turns 101 this Feb!
DRF - 10/23/13: “Nerud suggests way Breeders’ Cup can stir things up”
“I’ve talked to a couple people,” Nerud said. “I told them you’ve screwed up the Breeders’ Cup. You’ve got two days of fancy racing, but you can’t make champions of all those horses. They run the same old races and try to tell us the winners are champions when a lot of times they’re nothing more than million-dollar allowance races, with the same horses running for a little bit more money. I mean, you’ve had times when the winner of the Classic wasn’t even mentioned for Horse of the Year.”
I’m excited for my Broad Brush connection, Fort Larned!!! (But Game On Dude is so incredible too…)
I haven’t decided whether to have a small Breeder’s Cup party, go to Santa Anita, or record the Breeder’s Cup and attend the Galway Downs Three-Day Event. Nice problem to have.
Whoa- only 6 pre-entries in the Distaff!
I hope The Fugue has a better trip this year. So glad she’s coming back.
Outside of possibly the Distaff, those have to be some of the weakest and uninspiring fields ever at the Breeders Cup.
The Euro participation in particular is very weak… outside of Coolmore it seems like they have lost interest in the BC, and even Coolmore are bringing some dross with the likes of Cristoforo Colombo.
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;7232048]
You have to respect the wisdom of John Nerud (‘Dr. Fager’ among others he trained) on the Breeders’ Cup. John btw turns 101 this Feb!
DRF - 10/23/13: “Nerud suggests way Breeders’ Cup can stir things up”[/QUOTE]
I couldn’t agree more. We stopped nominating our foals a few years ago. We will only go when it’s in the east and convenient. When we can find the time and money to travel for the races it will be in England or Ireland and sometimes France.
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;7235430]
Outside of possibly the Distaff, those have to be some of the weakest and uninspiring fields ever at the Breeders Cup.
The Euro participation in particular is very weak… outside of Coolmore it seems like they have lost interest in the BC, and even Coolmore are bringing some dross with the likes of Cristoforo Colombo.[/QUOTE]
Adding races and expanding to two days did nothing but water down the fields. I don’t agree with Nerud that the Classic has lost its luster, but some of these races are little more than allowances propped up by one or two top horse out for an easy Cup win.
And the Euros don’t like to travel to CA.
[QUOTE=gumtree;7235601]
I couldn’t agree more. We stopped nominating our foals a few years ago. We will only go when it’s in the east and convenient. When we can find the time and money to travel for the races it will be in England or Ireland and sometimes France.[/QUOTE]
And why nominate when they dropped the rewards programs? I personally hate the “Win and You’re In” program. IMO it can tend to water the fields down even more.
The 2-yr-old turf “Championship” races are a joke. The US doesn’t have high-profile stakes races on the grass for the babies, and the Euros just send their second and third stringers.
Weak fields or not, I’m very excited for My Conquestadory!
I don’t think the fields are that weak. Who should be there that isn’t retired/injured? I’ll give you Orb, but I think it’s best that they skip it this year. His JCGC wasn’t too inspiring. 
Anyway, I’m especially looking forward to the Turf, Mile, and Classic. The Distaff, for some reason, doesn’t excite me as much (though Close Hatches and PoS, LOL, rocks).
True, I wish more Euros came, but there are some nice ones in this bunch.
I don’t think the fields are exactly weak. They do seem to be the best NA racing has to offer at the moment. NA racing was just sort of blah this year. The Distaff is STACKED, the Mile should be thrilling, and the Classic has everyone who really SHOULD be there based on performance this year.
I was looking forward to a romp by Points Offthebench in the Sprint.
With the exception of the Marathon, I also find the “extra” races laughable. Spreading things out over two days has really lessened the thrill for me as a viewer & bettor.
And for the love of ALL THAT IS HOLY, could we PLEASE try rotating tracks again?
The real BC races are great - Distaff, Classic, Mile, Turf, Sprint will all be great races.
It’s the also-ran races added a few years ago that will feature a bunch of also-rans. Juvenile turf? Filly & Mare sprint? Dirt Mile? Give me a break.
Not only should we see more rotating of tracks, I think they should experiment with splitting it into two different tracks the same year - one for turf races, one for dirt races. Then you can go to a dirt track that might not have great turf for the dirt races and you can send the turf races to Europe!
How is it that Churchill and Santa Anita seem to have gotten a lock on hosting the Cup anyway? It was a lot more fun when it shifted locations. Does no one else want the headaches of hosting - is it not paying off?
[QUOTE=Mara;7237765]
How is it that Churchill and Santa Anita seem to have gotten a lock on hosting the Cup anyway? It was a lot more fun when it shifted locations. Does no one else want the headaches of hosting - is it not paying off?[/QUOTE]
The problem goes back to BC buying into the theory that having the event held two years in a row at the same location allowed it to “build interest” and gain a media and public perception foothold. Eh, I don’t buy it as that wasn’t needed before.
NYRA has wanted it back badly, but was boxed out and of course there is the “its too cold in NY” chorus of whiners. Honestly I’m still surprised they haven’t tried doing their own big pursed, champions-esq day on BC Saturday. If you look at the riders in the BC this year its overly heavy with California-based riders which is I suppose the nature of the beast.
I will agree with others that it should go back to an action packed single day with fewer but deeper races. Clearly there are fewer Euros for a variety of reasons ranging from the waning prestige factor to the rise of the QIPCO British Champions Series culminating in QIPCO British Champions Day held this year Oct 19th.
Interestingly looking over the final entries, post positions and ML odds I see just one entry with Rosie up.
NYRA’s troubles haven’t helped them either. Between that, the above, and the mindset that it must be held at a larger track with the infrastructure already in place to handle an event of such size & scope (Monmouth, the last smaller track that hosted back in 2007, had to do some significant renovations to accommodate the BC and then had crappy turn out. It wasn’t THEIR fault it rained buckets, but the BC seems to think it was…) the options are pretty limited. Even if they just rotated between Churchill and SA annually i’d deal. If we’re going to leave it at SA forever, which looks more and more likely, let’s just call it the Santa Anita Really Big Purses Race Days.
If it stays at SA, I’d expect to see NYRA put something together at Belmont to compete within a couple of years. Troubles or not, I can’t see them standing for being brushed aside as a host site for so long.
[QUOTE=Rubyfree;7238587]
If it stays at SA, I’d expect to see NYRA put something together at Belmont to compete within a couple of years. Troubles or not, I can’t see them standing for being brushed aside as a host site for so long.[/QUOTE]
Not that Del Mar should be lumped as an extension of Santa Anita, but obviously the perception from the rest of the country would be if DM gets the Breeders’ Cup there will be complaints.
Del Mar is said to working on making a credible bid (and soon) a reality.
I myself like the multi-track changes as it keeps everyone on their toes. From it being held in Texas (Lone Star) to Illinois (Arlington Park) to New Jersey (Monmouth) and Florida (Gulfstream) … it never was previously a partisan event as its become.
