Breeders’ Cup Diaries: Marvelous Monday

I arrived in Los Angeles yesterday morning; I had a direct flight that left JFK at about 6 a.m.; that meant I needed to get myself in a taxi no later than 4 to make sure that I was on time. So when my alarm shrieked at me to wake up, I was tired but so ready to make my way to Santa Anita Park for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. So I hopped in a cab and made my way to the airport with a ton of luggage, a big to-go cup of coffee and about as much excitement as one can muster when you’re awake when other people are just going to bed.

Here we go. #BC14 pic.twitter.com/fuYvUn9c4U
— Penelope P. Miller (@PenelopePMiller) October 26, 2014

You may ask why I chose to put myself through such an early flight. The answer is simple: dumplings. My very favorite place to eat is Din Tai Fung in Arcadia, California, and my friend and colleague Pat Cummings (who introduced me to this place last year) was meeting me there to have a lunch of champions. Just look at these:

Little pillows of soup-infused heaven. So so good. So worth losing sleep over.
With a stomach fortified by dumplings, I went to bed a very happy girl and woke up bright and early on Monday ready to see as many of the Breeders’ Cup contenders take in their morning exercise as I could. I arrived at Santa Anita Park just as the sun was rising, and it was a breathtaking way to take in the sight of so many of the world’s top Thoroughbreds as they trained for the biggest races of their careers.

Since there are so many Breeders’ Cup contenders here at Santa Anita Park, I’ll organize the ones I saw this morning by the races they’ll be running in on Friday or Saturday.  I wasn’t able to catch every horse that’s running (because I am only one person and the Breeders’ Cup Thoroughbreds are legion) but I did the best that I could. Ready? Let’s do this!
BREEDERS’ CUP JUVENILE TURF – FRIDAY, OCT. 31, 6TH RACE
I fell a little bit in love with the Lawn Ranger when he won the Dixiana Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland earlier this month, so I am very pleased to report that he looks fantastic and appears to be taking to southern California like a champ. He was focused but eager and didn’t seem at all fazed by the crowd of people at the track there to watch morning workouts.

Imperia is a horse I’m not too familiar with, but he’s an incredibly striking animal. He’s one that kept catching my eye each time he passed me, so I may shortlist him on my betting tickets come Friday.

BREEDERS’ CUP DIRT MILE – FRIDAY, OCT. 31, 7TH RACE
Fed Biz is one of those horses that always looks fantastic, and he seemed very eager and fit as he took to the track this morning. While I don’t think he’s the winner of the Dirt Mile, he’s one to keep in mind if you plan on playing trifectas (picking the first three finishers in the race) or superfectas (picking the first four finishers in the race.)

Carve is another dark horse in the running for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. His resume is probably on the weak side for this race, but he seemed very workmanlike and professional in his gallop this morning.

Chilean superstar Bronzo is definitely an interesting horse in this race; he’s an unknown quantity here in the US but his past performances in his home nation are impressive. He’s a lovely horse but I was a bit surprised by how sweaty he was after training since it was a pretty mild morning.

BREEDERS’ CUP JUVENILE FILLIES TURF– FRIDAY, OCT. 31, 8TH RACE
I was very impressed by Sunset Glow; she’s a very pretty, athletic filly and was calm and workmanlike while galloping around the busy track.

Conquest Harlanate is my pick for the Juvenile Fillies Turf; I loved her last race at Woodbine and she’s just an attention-grabbing filly. I may revise my decision as I see more of the contenders in person, but for now she’s my choice.

BREEDERS’ CUP DISTAFF– FRIDAY, OCT. 31, 9TH RACE
Stanwyk is a tough horse who’s put in several near-win performances against tough company in recent times.

Unbridled Forever has an uphill battle to win the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, but I was very impressed by her laid-back attitude during training hours this morning. She was perfectly behaved as she galloped, and she returned to the barn with the calm demeanor of a child’s pony.

Valiant Emilia is a Peruvian mare who hasn’t finished worse than third since October of 2013. I don’t know much about her competition in Peru, but she’s a lovely horse to look at and will likely have long odds in the Distaff.

BREEDERS’ CUP JUVENILE FILLIES– SATURDAY, NOV. 1, 4TH RACE
Angela Renee was bright and alert this morning, and I think she’s a strong contender in this race. She’s had a big win already here at Santa Anita Park with her victory in the Chandelier Stakes on Sept. 27.

Christina’s Journey is a lovely filly, and I was struck by how calm and sweet her demeanor was amid the human hubbub of Clocker’s Corner this morning. She stood right in front of the crowd and didn’t bat an eyelash at the people or noise; that’s an attitude that will come in handy on Saturday afternoon.

BREEDERS’ CUP FILLY AND MARE SPRINT– SATURDAY, NOV. 1, 6TH RACE
Sweet Reason is one of my favorite fillies this year; she tries so hard every time, and she’s also just a lovely horse. She also looks like she really enjoys Santa Anita Park, and as of right now she’s going in my exacta for the Filly and Mare Sprint (along with Judy The Beauty.)

BREEDERS’ CUP TURF SPRINT– SATURDAY, NOV. 1, 7TH RACE
Marchman really caught my eye this morning. While he doesn’t have the strongest race record in this field, he’s certainly an outstanding-looking horse and he has a commanding presence when he steps out onto the racetrack.

I’m very eager to see Caspar Netscher on Saturday; he put in a tremendous performance when he won the Nearctic Stakes at Woodbine on Oct. 19, and I will be very interested to see what he does on the downhill turf course here at Santa Anita.

BREEDERS’ CUP JUVENILE– SATURDAY, NOV. 1, 8TH RACE
Holy smokes, Souper Colossal is a good-looking animal. He has a lot to deal with since he’s fast out of the gate and there’s a lot of early speed in the race, but I love his presence. This year’s Juvenile is a truly stacked field, but this horse stood out to me among the older Thoroughbreds also in training.

One Lucky Dane went by me in a flash this morning, so I barely had time to look at him; however, check out the stride on this guy! This is why I love the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile: there is so much potential talent in one race.

BREEDERS’ CUP TURF– SATURDAY, NOV. 1, 9TH RACE
Oh, Brown Panther. How I love you. How sad I was when you freaked out in the post parade before Woodbine’s Canadian International on Oct. 19 and had to be scratched from the race. But now he’s here, he’s getting used to training with a pony horse to escort him and he’s looking good. This year’s edition of the Breeders’ Cup Turf is one of the toughest in memory, but I do like this horse.

BREEDERS’ CUP SPRINT– SATURDAY, NOV. 1, 10TH RACE
Secret Circle won last year’s running of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, and from what I saw this morning he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with again this year. He looks great, and he’s going to be tough to beat on his home track.

Palace is also looking great, and he was really zipping around the racetrack this morning. He’s a fun, very fast horse, and one that should probably find a place in your trifectas for the Sprint.

Private Zone is another horse that looked very well this morning; he’s faced tough fields like this before and is always in the mix, so he’s one I’m going to keep my eye on as we draw closer to Saturday.

Indianapolis is a young gun in this field with only three races in his history – and three wins. He’s definitely wading into deeper waters facing these horses, but he looks fantastic and his trainer Bob Baffert definitely knows how to get horses to the winner’s circle.

Rich Tapestry: this horse is fascinating. A sensation around the world, this six-year-old has run everywhere from California to Dubai, Hong Kong to Ireland. He’s won here at Santa Anita, and he looks amazing. He’s also likely to attract a lot of foreign betting money, but he’s definitely a strong contender to take this race.

BREEDERS’ CUP MILE– SATURDAY, NOV. 1, 11TH RACE
Karakontie has come a long way for this Mile; his last race was in Paris and he’s run there exclusively in his career. While he’s put together an impressive race record, he threw in a clunker in his last effort. I also noticed that he was inordinately sweaty as he jogged around the racetrack at 9:45 this morning.

Anodin, another French contender in the Mile, looked just spectacular this morning. He and the rest of the French horses came out together, and he was the horse that really caught my eye among them. He’s going to have to step up his game big-time to win this race, but I think he’s got a chance to finish in the top three.

Kaigun is one of those horses who dances every dance; even if he finishes out of the top three, he’s always close to the action and I really respect him as a racehorse. He was professional and well-behaved in his gallop this morning, and I (somewhat sentimentally) hope he runs a big race on Saturday.

BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC– SATURDAY, NOV. 1, 12TH RACE
Well, well, well. Isn’t Footbridge the looker? I hadn’t seen him in person before, and he is one beautiful horse. I’m not sure that he’s going to be able to take down this year’s stacked Classic field, but that right there is what a Thoroughbred should look like.

Prayer For Relief is a lot bigger than I remembered! He was feeling good this morning as he took his exercise in the pre-dawn mist, but he’s going to have to put in his biggest effort of 2014 to get to the Breeders’ Cup Classic winner’s circle.

Imperative’s resume coming into the Classic is a bit weaker than most of the field’s; while he looked lovely on the track this morning, I have serious doubts about his ability to take on this level of competition.

V. E. Day looks good. Really, really good. If he runs on Saturday the way he did when he won the Travers Stakes this year, he’s going to be a tough horse to beat. However, he did throw in a clunker in his last start in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, so that’s something to consider as well. But I will reiterate: this horse looks just fantastic.

ODDS AND ENDS:
This exercise rider apparently goes by the name of Psycho, and he has a helmet cover that looks like a mohawk. I would like to buy this man a beer and have him tell me stories.

CLOCKER’S CORNER POOCH OF THE DAY:
Meet Tulgey!

Tulgey is an adorable pup who’s about to start out his life as a guide dog to the vision-impaired. He’s very adorable, very well behaved and very soft.

Thanks for joining me for morning workouts, and I’ll be back tomorrow with more reports from the Breeders’ Cup!