Seeking the Next Superstar at Breeders’ Cup

Brody's Cause looks to be a superstar in the making. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire unless otherwise noted)
There are plenty of reasons to love the Breeders’ Cup, but one that is near and dear to my heart ever since I watched Arazi demolish his opposition in the 1991 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile is trying to find racing’s next superstar.
With four 2-year-old races on the program now, including two on the turf, there are more opportunities for juveniles to make a splash at the World Championships as Arazi did 24 years ago.
ARAZI, 1991 BREEDERS’ CUP JUVENILE

Courtesy of Breeders’ Cup
As racing fans, we’re always on the lookout for our Kentucky Derby or Kentucky Oaks horse for next year, but the turf races also offer an early glimpse of some of the best of the next generation of European horses. You might see a couple of future Kentucky Derby horses and an Epsom Derby (pronounced Darby for those unfamiliar European racing) horse or two over the two-day Breeders’ Cup program.
It’s almost like draft analysis for the National Football League on the National Basketball Association at this point — analyzing physical traits, talent shown and pedigree — in trying to uncover that gem. Let’s take a shot with two horses from each of the 2-year-old races who have a shot at stardom.
SENTIENT JET BREEDERS’ CUP JUVENILE
Brody’s Cause
Trainer Dale Romans thinks this colt is the best 2-year-old currently in training and I don’t disagree. I watched in person his impressive rally from way off the pace to win the Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity on Oct. 3 and came away very impressed. I loved his turn of foot and the fact that he was able to make a middle move to get into contention and then sustain that burst to win a race where the finish line comes quickly with the short stretch for 1 1/16-mile races at Keeneland. He’s my pick to win the Juvenile and I think he could develop into a serious classic contender.
Brody’s Cause is by 2000 European Horse of the Year Giant’s Causeway, the runner-up in the thrilling 2000 edition of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, in which he finished a neck behind Tiznow. His dam is 2006 Woodbine Oaks runner-up Sweet Breanna, by Sahm.
Greenpointcrusader My hunch is that Greenpointcrusader might be one of the best 3-year-old early next year and I think he will be very tough at 1 1/16 miles and 1 1/8 miles. He looked outstanding when winning the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes by 4 ½ lengths on Oct. 3 at Belmont Park and he seems to do his best running late. His 104 Equibase Speed Figure for the Champagne puts him just one tick behind probable Juvenile favorite Nyquist, but the difference is that Nyquist earned his best figures when sprinting.
Greenpointcrusader is one of six stakes winners produced by his dam, Grade 3-placed Ava Knowsthecode, by Cryptoclearance. His full-brother (same dam [mother], same sire [father]) is 2012 Holy Bull Stakes winner Algorithms. His half-siblings (same dam, different sire) Keyed Entry and Justin Phillip both had dazzling speed. The former was a Grade 2 winner who set a track record sprinting at Gulfstream Park and the latter was a Grade 1-winning sprinter who earned $1.29-million.
GREENPOINTCRUSADER

14 HANDS WINERY BREEDERS’ CUP JUVENILE FILLIES
Songbird
It’s not so much how dominant Songbird has been in winning each of her first three starts but how easily she’s done it. I’m a huge fan of both Rachel’s Valentina and Dothraki Queen, also pre-entered in the Juvenile Fillies, but I expect Songbird to win as the overwhelming favorite. She’s very fast and showed in winning the Grade 1 Chandelier Stakes that she can carry that speed 1 1/16 miles, recording a new career-best Equibase Speed Figure of 98. In the hands of Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer, Songbird has improved in every race and could be just scratching the surface.
Songbird is by 2002 Travers Stakes winner Medaglia d’Oro out of 2003 Bonnie Miss Stakes winner Ivanavinalot, by West Acre.
Rachel’s Valentina
This is a horse bred to be a superstar and so far she’s lived up to expectations with clear victories in both of her races. She won her debut by a couple of lengths in August at Saratoga and then handled a class test by winning the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes by a length.
RACHEL'S VALENTINA

There is no more recognizable pedigree at the Breeders’ Cup than Rachel’s Valentina, whose sire (father) is 2006 Preakness Stakes winner and champion Bernardini and dam (mother) is 2009 Preakness winner and Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra. Talk about regal blood! Expect her to be even better at three given both of her parents were dominant in the spring of their 3-year-old seasons.
BREEDERS’ CUP JUVENILE FILLIES TURF
Tin Type Gal
The slam-dunk selection for this race is Grade 3 winner Harmonize, who also has a very intriguing pedigree, but I wanted to venture away from the obvious. Tin Type Gal’s win in the Grade 3 Miss Grillo Stakes impressed me because she charged from well off a slow pace and then outfinished a game runner-up that I respect greatly in Thrilled to win by a nose. Trained by Graham Motion, this My Meadowview Farm homebred has won two straight on grass after a disappointing debut on a sloppy, main track.
Tin Type Gal is by the best sire in the U.S. right now in Tapit and her dam (mother) is 2006 Personal Ensign Stakes winner Miss Shop, by Deputy Minister. Miss Shop’s half-sibling Trappe Shop, a Grade 2 winner by Tapit, provides confirmation that Tapit works well with this family. Another of Miss Shop’s siblings is stakes winner Shop Again, the dam of Grade 1 winner Power Broker. This also is the family of 1989 English Horse of the Year Zilzal and 2005 Epsom Derby winner Motivator.
TIN TYPE GAL

Photo by NYRA/Coglinese Photos
Mirage
I wanted to go way out on a limb for one of these and I landed on Mirage, who looks like she was loaded entering the stretch of the Surfer Girl Stakes but lost all momentum when steadied hard in the final furlong. She finished third but was elevated to second via disqualification in her first race for trainer Simon Callaghan. She won her only previous race in England for her previous trainer. I think she has a shot to his the board in the Juvenile Filies Turf at a huge price and a chance to be a good one moving forward.
From a pedigree perspective, it looks like Mirage could be serious filly on the grass, either in the U.S. or even in Europe next year should she return across the Atlantic. Her sire is 2003 champion sprinter Oasis Dream and her dam, Applauded, by Royal Applause, is a half-sister (same dam, different sire) to 2012 Irish Two Thousand Guineas winner Power and this year’s Irish Oaks third-place finisher Curvy, who earlier this month won the 1 ¼-mile E. P. Taylor Stakes at Woodbine. This also is the family of English Two Thousand Guineas winner Footstepsinthesand.
BREEDERS’ CUP JUVENILE TURF
Cymric
Cymric won two of his first four races for top European trainer John Gosden and finished third in a Group 3 race in England. Gosden sent him to France for the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere Grand Criterium on the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe undercard and he closed powerfully to finish second by a neck. That performance was a career-best race by far for Cymric, who appears to be maturing into a serious racehorse. His foot speed should serve him well in the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland and perhaps down the road in the European classics in 2016.
Undefeated champion Personal Ensign anchors Cymric’s family as his fourth dam (maternal great, great-grandmother). A Hall of Famer and one of the all-time great racemares, Personal Ensign also exceled as a broodmare with three Grade 1 winners and another Grade 1-placed runner who have helped cement her place in the Thoroughbred breed. Cymric is by 2004 champion turf male Kitten’s Joy, probably the best sire of turf runners standing in the U.S., and out of the Unbridled mare Fastbridled, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Interactif and Grade 3-place stakes winner Stretching.
CYMRIC’S RUNNER-UP FINISH IN FRANCE

Ray’s The Bar
After watching the replay of the Grade 3 Pilgrim Stakes, I feel pretty confident Ray’s The Bar would have won with a clean trip through the stretch. He was last of 10 entering the lane and turned on the jets but was trapped briefly behind a wall of horses and lost some momentum. He still finished well but ended up third by a half-length. He won his debut in July at Ascot in a field of 13, which is no small accomplishment and his stakes debut leads me to believe he’s got a really high ceiling.
Australian champion sprinter Exceed And Excel is the sire (father) of Ray’s The Bar and his dam (mother) is winner Cosmic Fire, by Dalakhani. Cosmic Fire is a half-sister (same dam, different sire) to Group 2 winner Smoking Sun, stakes winner Zhiyi and Group 3-placed Ikat, best known as the dam of 2014 champion turf male and older male Main Sequence. This also is the family of 2007 Epsom Oaks winner Light Shift and it’s anchored by fourth dam (maternal great, great-grandmother) Northern Trick, by Northern Dancer. Northern Trick was the French Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old filly in 1984.