Things are not improving wifi-wise here and, intensely frustrating though it is, I think it will be necessary to draw stumps for today on the live blog and offer up a quiet prayer to the patron saint of wireless technology that it is a million times better tomorrow.
The evening got off to a great start for the visitors when Big Evs got it done in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, and the most impressive success since has been the runaway win of Fierceness in the Juvenile. There are nine races on the main Saturday card tomorrow, and I can only hope that it will be a more rewarding day at the races work-wise and I’ll be able to blog the action in the normal way.
This is Greg Wood signing off in California.
BREEDERS' CUP JUVENILE TURF RESULT:
1. UNQUESTIONABLE, 2. Mountain Bear, 3. My Boy Prince
BREEDERS' CUP JUVENILE RESULT:
1. FIERCENESS, 2. Muth, 3. Locked.
Ok, as anyone who has stuck with this must surely now be aware, the tech here at Santa Anita is in a desperate state. I’m doing what I can but it’s taking five minutes to send an email.
The last two races have both been won by the offspring of the Triple Crown winner, Justify, who is making a remarkable start to his stallion career. Dirt, turf, it all seems to come the same to him, as Just FYI, in the Juvenile Fillies’, and Hard To Justify, in the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf, have impressively demonstrated.
BREEDERS' CUP JUVENILE FILLIES TURF RESULT:
1. HARD TO JUSTIFY, 2. Porta Fortuna, 3. She Feels Pretty.
BREEDERS' CUP JUVENILE FILLIES RESULT:
1. JUST FYI, 2. Jody’s Pride, 3. Candied.
Big Evs wins Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint
1. BIG EVS, 2. Valiant Force, 3. Starlust.
Updated
Big Evs is 5-2 favourite on the track tote, with No Nay Mets, Crimson Advocate and Slider also attracting plenty of money. Adian Murray’s Valiant Force, with William Buick in the plate, is an outsider for Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing operation, while the big miss in the field is Givemethebeatboys, who travelled over from Jessica Harrington’s stable in Ireland but was ruled out by an official panel of vets at the track this morning.
It was a distinctly controversial decision with Givemethebeatboys’ connections, with Con Marnane, one of his owners and a lifelong horseman, reportedly saying that the colt was “moving like a ballet dancer” when he was trotted up for the vets.
And also the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot, in which Crimson Advocate squeezed home by the skin of her teeth:
As soon as I said it, off the wifi dropped. ‘Twill be the death of me.
Anyway, here’s some video form to peruse, courtesy of YouTube. First up, Big Evs in the Flying Childers at Doncaster:
Right, the wifi seems to be behaving itself for the moment so this is probably a good moment to start building up towards the Juvenile Turf Sprint in around 30 minutes’ time, when Big Evs will lead the European challenge.
It would have been a relatively short price about six months ago that a trainer called Appleby would have a winner at this year’s meeting, given the Breeders’ Cup success that Charlie of that ilk, Britain’s champion trainer in 2021 and 2022, has enjoyed in recent years. His namesake Mick from north Yorkshire, however, would not have been on anyone’s radar, and it will be hugely satisfying for the trainer who has worked his way up from the very bottom if Big Evs completes his juvenile campaign with a win today.
His return to the form of his Royal Ascot win when he landed the Flying Childers at Doncaster gives him a favourite’s chance, while his key opponents from the US side, Crimson Advocate and No Nay Mets, were also in action at Ascot in June, in the Queen Mary. Crimson Advocate won, while No Nay Mets was ninth after ending up drawn on the wrong side of the track.
Preamble
Good evening (if you’re on GMT or similar) from Santa Anita racecourse in Arcadia in southern California, and good afternoon if you’re lucky enough to be Stateside for the Breeders’ Cup 2023 – the nearest thing that racing has to a world championship, with horses from the US, Britain, Ireland, France and Japan going to post for 14 races with prize funds that range from $1m (£807k) to $6m (£4.8m).
The “Future Stars Friday” card includes five Breeders’ Cup races, all of which, as the name suggests, are for juveniles. European stables are strongly represented in the three races on turf – the Juvenile Sprint, the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf and the Juvenile Turf – while the main event for US fans is the Juvenile on dirt, offering possible clues to the early favourites for next year’s Kentucky Derby.
Frankie Dettori’s biggest ambition now that he has decided to base himself at Santa Anita is to pick up a ride in the Run For The Roses, and while he does not have a ride in the Juvenile, the Pasadena area’s latest jockey-in-residence does have a mount in two of the three turf races: the Juvenile Turf Sprint (21.00) and then the Juvenile Turf at 23.40GMT.
The three turf events on the Friday card – the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf at 22.20GMT is the other) have all become key targets for the Europeans, and 10 of the 15 runnings of the Juvenile Turf have crossed the Atlantic, including five that have been bagged by Aidan O’Brien alone.
O’Brien supplies the first and second favourites tonight in River Tiber and Unquestionable, and there is not much obvious opposition from the Americans. Their turf fillies, though, look stronger and should provide decent opposition for the European-trained favourites, Porta Fortuna and Carla’s Way, while on the dirt, Tamara, the favourite for the Juvenile Fillies (21.40) could definitely be something special.
Some picks for the juvenile events, which kick off with Big Evs attempting to give Mick Appleby a first Breeders’ Cup winner, are here, along with some locals’ thoughts about Mr Dettori’s relocation, and the live blog will be running – hopefully – until the horses are back in their barns after the Juvenile Turf.
I say hopefully because the wifi here at Santa Anita is the slowest I’ve come across since the days of dial-up, and is currently pushing my blood pressure to an unsustainably high level. If I suddenly stop posting entirely, it either means the network has collapsed completely, or my head has exploded. Or possibly both in quick succession.
Still, technical issues notwithstanding, I’m very much looking forward to sharing this wonderful event with you, as immediately as humanly possible, throughout the next two days of world-class racing. Here’s hoping you all get lucky, and then stay lucky too.
