MISTAKE TO TAKE PREP AS TUNE-UP.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Horse Racing ARCADIA - Santa Anita will host a weekend of stakes designed as preps for the Breeders' Cup races in late October at Lone Star Park Lone Star Park is a horse racing track located in Grand Prairie, Texas. History Lone Star Park opened in 1997. The track offers separate meets for Thoroughbred racing and Quarter Horse racing. In October of 2002, Magna Entertainment Corp. near Dallas, and after each finish Saturday and Sunday, you can count on a losing trainer saying the following. ``I'm happy with the way my horse ran. I mean, we would have liked to win the race. But I really didn't tighten the screws for this one. The important thing was to get a good, solid race into him before the Breeders' Cup. This should set him up nicely for the race we're really shooting for.'' Everybody in earshot will nod in agreement. Unfortunately, history says this kind of thinking usually leads to disappointment. Horses generally do not lose their Breeders' Cup preps and then improve their results in the tougher Breeders' Cup races. Here are the numbers. In the Breeders' Cup card's two decades of existence as a kind of thoroughbred Olympics, 29 races have been won by horses who prepped at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meet. Of the 29, no fewer than 21 (72.4 percent) came off victories in their Santa Anita preps. Four came out of second- place finishes, three out of third-place finishes, one out of a fourth- place finish. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , although winning at Santa Anita is no guarantee of success at the Breeders' Cup, winning at Santa Anita gives you about a three-times-better chance of success at the sport's championship event than not winning here. Six horses have prepped at Oak Tree and won the 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 1ΒΌ 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. , the $4 million highlight of the Breeders' Cup card. Four of them - Ferdinand, Alphabet Soup, Tiznow and Pleasantly Perfect - came out of a win in the Goodwood Handicap. What this means is that while handicappers should be as watchful as ever for horses hindered by trouble in this weekend's six Breeders' Cup preps and mindful that some horses will be using the Santa Anita races as paid workouts for the Oct. 30 Breeders' Cup, results matter more than anything else. Here's a quick look at this weekend's preps. Santa Anita hosts two more next weekend. --Goodwood Handicap (a prep for the Breeders' Cup Classic):Saturday's Goodwood drew six entrants. Total Impact (Mike Smith riding) vaulted to popularity by winning the 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. before running third to Pleasantly Perfect in the Pacific Classic. Supah Blitz (Corey Nakatani) could be the ``now'' horse after the 4-year-old's photo-finish victory in the Del Mar Breeders' Cup Handicap in his first start for trainer Doug O'Neill. --Yellow Ribbon (Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf): Saturday's Grade I race is a test Amorama can win. The 3-year-old filly, facing Katdogawn and Light Jig among nine elders, improved after a layoff to win the Del Mar Oaks The Del Mar Oaks is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies. The race carries a purse of $400,000 and is a Grade I event at a distance of one and one-eighth miles (9 furlongs) on the turf at the Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. at 19-1 odds for trainer Julio Canani. --Oak Leaf (Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies is a 1 1/16-mile thoroughbred horse race on dirt (although the distance has varied, depending on the configuration of the host track) for two-year-old fillies run annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part ): Bob Baffert, who has trained five of the past seven Oak Leaf winners, needs Seeking the Heat and No Bull Baby to improve in Saturday's meeting of nine 2-year-old fillies. It could be Canani's day with Sweet Catomine coming in after overcoming trouble to win the Del Mar Debutante. --Lady's Secret (Breeders' Cup Distaff The Breeders' Cup Distaff is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, 3 years old and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. It is sponsored by the airline Emirates. ): Entries will be drawn today for Sunday's races. In what shapes up as a competitive Lady's Secret, we'll take Summer Wind Dancer (Victor Espinoza) to sit behind speedier contenders Elloluv, Dream of Summer and Royally Chosen and a rusty Island Fashion and surge to the win as she has in recent races at Hollywood Park and Delaware Park. --Hirsch Memorial Turf Championship (Breeders' Cup Turf The Breeders' Cup Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for three-year-olds and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. The race's current title sponsor is John Deere. ): It could be a huge weekend for Canani, who sends Bayamo (David Flores Flores, town, Guatemala Flores (flōrəs), town (1990 est. pop. 2,200), capital of Petén department, N Guatemala. Flores was built on an island in the southern part of Lake Petén Itzá and on the site of the ) into Sunday's Hirsch off a strong-finishing second in the Eddie Read Handicap The Eddie Read Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and up and is raced at a distance of one and one-eighth miles on the turf. The Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California hosts the $400,000, Grade I event, which is an important prep to the Breeders' at Del Mar. Sarafan and front-running Star of the Bay are part of the predicted seven-horse field. --Norfolk (Breeders' Cup Juvenile The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. ): As of Thursday, only three 2-year- olds were in line for Sunday's Norfolk, which has sent four of its winners (and two of its losers) on to Juvenile victories. Baffert-trained Roman Ruler (Nakatani) is the standout after two wins and a slow-starting second to the idle Declans Moon in the Del Mar Futurity The Del Mar Futurity is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. Beginning in the racing season of 2007, this race has been upgraded by the American Graded Stakes Committee from a Grade II event to a Grade I. . --Elsewhere: The 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 , New York's major Breeders' Cup Classic prep, lost Peace Rules and Sarava to injury-forced retirements and drew a field of seven that includes Evening Attire and Funny Cide. Funny Cide will make his fourth attempt to win at Belmont Park, where the gelding's loss in the 2003 Belmont Stakes cost him the Triple Crown. The Jockey Club lineup, from the rail out: The Cliff's Edge (Gary Stevens riding), Love of Money (Robby Albarado), Domestic Dispute (John Velazquez), Evening Attire (Cornelio Velasquez), Bowman's Band (Ramon Dominguez), Newfoundland (Edgar Prado) and Funny Cide (Jose Santos). CAPTION(S): box Box: OUT OF THE GATE |
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