BREEDERS' CUP: BERNARDINI THE ONE TO BEAT SO SAYS LAVA MAN TRAINER O'NEILL, WHO PRAISES COLT.Byline: Staff and Wire Services NEW YORK -- The $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade 1 Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3 years old and older run at a distance of 1¼ miles (2012 m) on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. will be all about trying to beat Bernardini. Even Doug O'Neill says so, and he trains Lava Man -- the Southern California with perhaps the best chance to defeat the brilliant 3-year-old colt in the battle for the Horse of the Year title. ``He's just done everything without any effort whatsoever,'' O'Neill said Wednesday after 121 horses were pre-entered for the eight Breeders' Cup races, worth $20 million, Nov. 4 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. ``On sheer numbers he just towers over the rest of the field that have run in the U.S. He's definitely the horse we're all trying to beat.'' The pre-entries mark the first in a two-step process of whittling down the Breeders' Cup lineups. Entries, post positions, jockey assignments and morning-line odds will be determined Wednesday. Bernardini has cruised to six straight wins, including the Preakness, Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a prestigious thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It is typically the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers , and was made the early 8-5 favorite by Daily Racing Form The Daily Racing Form, LLC (DRF) is a broadsheet newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of race horses as a statistical service for bettors on horse racing in the United States. oddsmaker odds·mak·er n. One who calculates and sets betting odds based on the prediction of the result of a contest such as a horserace or an election. Mike Watchmaker. Lava Man -- 7 for 7 this year, and the first horse to win the Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in the late winter at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses three years old and up, and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during , Hollywood Gold Cup The Hollywood Gold Cup is a Grade I stakes race for thoroughbred horses inaugurated in 1938 at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. It was run as a handicap race until 1997 when it was switched to weight-for-age conditions. and Pacific Classic in the same season -- was the 6-1 third choice behind 7-2 Discreet Cat after the latter was surprisingly pre-entered by owner Sheik Mohammed. In addition to Lava Man, Southern California-based contenders pre-entered Wednesday included Aragorn (Mile), Healthy Addiction (Distaff), Bordonaro and Siren Lure (Sprint), Great Hunter (Juvenile) and Cash Included (Juvenile Fillies). Trainer Todd Pletcher has a chance to make one of the biggest scores in racing with a record 18 horses pre-entered in seven Breeders' Cup races. He took a pass on the Mile. Pletcher has two early favorites in Circular Quay (4-1 in the Juvenile) and Fleet Indian (2-1 in the Distaff). Pletcher's former boss D.Wayne Lukas has the record with 14 starters in a Breeders' Cup in 1987 and '88. There are other challengers in the Classic, from South American sensation Invasor (8 for 9 lifetime) to Europe's dynamic duo of Group 1 winners David Junior and George Washington, to Giacomo, who returns to the scene of his 2005 Kentucky Derby win at 50-1 odds. George Washington is a top-rated miler mil·er n. Sports One that competes in races one mile long. miler Noun an athlete, horse, etc., that specializes in races of one mile Noun 1. , but trainer Aidan O'Brien said his 3-year-old colt earned a shot in the Classic. ``We felt George has proven all he can on the turf,'' O'Brien said. Fields are limited to 14 starters, with all but the Filly & Mare Turf and the Turf oversubscribed Refers to connecting more users to a system than can be fully supported if all of them were using it at the same time. Networks and servers are almost always designed with some amount of oversubscription, counting on the fact that everybody does not need the service simultaneously. . CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Bernardini has won six straight races, including the Preakness in May. Jamie Squire/Getty Images Box: BREEDERS' CUP PRE-ENTRIES |
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