Quality and Quantity for 2014 Breeders’ Cup

Shared Belief, above in black and blue silks holding off Fed Biz in the Awesome Again Stakes, will try to remain unbeaten in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita Park. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
By Tom Pedulla, America’s Best Racing
The quantity is surely there with a record 201 horses pre-entered for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at Santa Anita Park. So is the quality as undefeated Shared Belief heads a star-studded field for the $5-million Classic while five 2013 Breeders’ Cup winners return in search of an encore.
“I will sleep well tonight,” Craig Fravel, president of Breeders’ Cup Ltd., said on Wednesday during a teleconference that followed the naming of an unprecedented number of starters for 13 races worth $24.5-million in purses. The previous mark of 194 entrants occurred in 2011, when 15 races were contested.
Eleven winners of the Classic have gone on to win Horse of the Year since the inaugural running of the Breeders’ Cup in 1984. There are high expectations for a 12th when NBC’s primetime telecast (8-9 p.m. ET) ends on Nov. 1 and the sun sets over the majestic San Gabriel Mountains at Santa Anita.
Click here to view pre-entries for the Breeders' Cup races
Shared Belief, the 2013 champion 2-year-old male who has been a model of perfection through seven starts this season, can not only secure Horse of the Year but 3-year-old honors as well if he is able to fend off an expected stiff challenge from Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome, among others.
“It’s hard to expect a horse to be undefeated,” trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said. “We are very grateful he’s come along and done exactly what we asked him to do.”
As big as the stage has been for trainer Art Sherman and California Chrome, he knows the stakes have never been larger than they are now.
“Horse of the Year will be on our minds in this race. It’s going to be exciting,” Sherman said. “I get butterflies when I think about it.”
While Shared Belief and California Chrome most likely will come running late, trainer Bob Baffert hopes Bayern will be the one they are chasing. Bayern set the pace in the Haskell Invitational Stakes at Monmouth Park and in the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing and was never overtaken.
BAYERN LED FROM START TO FINISH IN PENNSYLVANIA DERBY

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
“His weapon is his early speed, so we’re not going to change that,” Baffert said.
With the Classic being won by older horses in 10 of the past 12 editions, handicappers will want to be sure to take a long look at Moreno, another burner who shook loose in the Whitney Stakes; Zivo, runner-up to Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist in the Jockey Club Gold Cup; and Cigar Street, winner of the Homecoming Stakes at Churchill Downs.
Cigar Street is searching for his first Grade 1 victory for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, a two-time winner of the Classic.
“You test by fire,” Mott said. “You never know unless you give him a chance.”
Mott might be difficult to beat in the $2 million Distaff, the most significant of four Breeders’ Cup races being held on Friday. Close Hatches, a runner-up last year, was undefeated through four starts this season before a fourth-place finish in the Spinster Stakes at Keeneland Race Course that continues to puzzle her conditioner.
“Hopefully, she’ll rebound at Santa Anita,” Mott said. “She ran well there last year and, hopefully, she will again this year.”
Goldencents (Dirt Mile), Ria Antonia (Juvenile Fillies), Magician (Turf), Secret Circle (Sprint) and Dank (Filly and Mare Turf) all return in search of back-to-back Breeders’ Cup victories. Magician and Dank lead a contingent of 38 runners from overseas who will represent England, France, Ireland, Chile, Peru and Hong Kong, ensuring that these are truly world championships.
SECRET CIRCLE FIGURES TO BE TOUGH IN BREEDERS’ CUP SPRINT

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire