Is Dominance by O'Brien and Appleby Good for the Sport?

On the surface, it was business as usual in the turf races at the Breeders' Cup. Aidan O'Brien enjoyed success with Meditate , Victoria Road , and Tuesday , while Charlie Appleby continued his fantastic Breeders' Cup record thanks to Mischief Magic , Modern Games , and Rebel's Romance .

It would appear that all is rosy with British and Irish racing after another stellar international result, but is that really the case?

The success and dominance of O'Brien and Appleby on British and Irish shores needs no introduction, and the fact it was those two trainers, backed by their vastly rich and endlessly successful owners, suggests all is perhaps not right.

There have been conversations appearing about a potential monopoly of the top British and Irish races, and results such as this will do little to dissuade people from that viewpoint.

We all want to see the best horses in the best races—that is not up for discussion—but the Breeders' Cup showed the conglomeration of Europe's best talent heading to the superpowers remains alive and well.

It poses one big question: Is there a danger of future Highfield Princess -esque stories being lost to a racing monopoly?

Racing Can Still Produce Some Exceptional Human Stories

In any other year not involving the magnificent Flightline , the biggest talking point from the Breeders' Cup would have been the remarkable story of Cody's Wish .

Sixteen-year-old Cody Dorman was born with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that means he has to communicate using a tablet.

On a Make-A-Wish trip to Godolphin's Gainsborough Farm, an unnamed foal took a shine to Cody, and the Cody's Wish story was born.

Cody's Wish got up in the final strides of the Dirt Mile to win his second consecutive grade 1 in astonishing fashion, leaving his trainer, Bill Mott, to say "luck is following this horse."

Seeing the family celebrations in the winner's circle will have left most watching shedding a tear (or two).

Horse racing is often in the headlines for the wrong reasons, and this is a story everyone associated with the sport can savor.

If You're Good Enough, Weight Doesn't Matter

No, that's not an advert for Weight Watchers, rather a philosophy that Paul Nicholls seems to subscribe to after stable stars Greaneteen and Frodon made a mockery of their top-weight status by storming to victories at Exeter and Wincanton Nov. 4 and 5.

Greaneteen had Nicholls reaching for the "D" word as he compared his performance in winning the Haldon Gold Cup off an official rating 168—conceding upwards of 15 pounds to the rest of the field—with Denman's stunning Hennessy Gold Cup win off 174 in 2009.

Frodon followed that up with a typically gutsy display giving piles of weight away to land the Badger Beer.

It's no secret that Britain's major handicaps have declined in quality over the last two decades, with many top trainers preferring to keep their best horses away from such company, but Nicholls' bold strategy shows there should be nothing to fear from pitching the stars into these historic contests.