ON RACING'S BIG DAY, YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE BAD WITH THE GOOD.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI It was a good day for all you California fans, because five of the seven Breeders' Cup races were won by horses who have raced here. It was a bad day for all you European fans, because the fearsome foreign forces failed to win a single Breeders' Cup race for the first time in a long time. That's how it goes in the parimutuel world of the racetrack, whether it's Churchill Downs or Santa Anita, whether it's a multimillion-dollar Saturday or a quiet weekday: If it's a good day for somebody, it's got to be a bad day for somebody else. It was a good day for friendly young California trainer Craig Dollase, whose first major victory with front-running Reraise in the Breeders' Cup Sprint The Breeders' Cup Sprint is an American Weight for Age Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for three year olds & up. Run on dirt over a distance of 6 Furlongs (3/4 mile), the race has been held annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the earned him a place alongside Bob Baffert, Bill Mott, Patrick Byrne and Michael Dickinson, acknowledged masters of the trade who also won races on the big day. It was a bad day for kindly old New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of trainer Sonny Hine, who watched the retiring Skip Away finish out of the money in 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 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. and fail to earn a place in history as racing's first $10 million horse. It was a good day for Santa Anita management, as fans in Arcadia and the satellites bet $20.2 million on the Breeders' Cup simulcasts and seven live races, the sixth highest single-day handle in track history. It was a bad day for Hollywood Park management, as track chairman R.D. Hubbard put up $800,000 to make Gentlemen a supplemental entry in the Breeders' Cup Classic only to watch the horse finish an eased-up last and fail to collect a penny. It was a good race-watching day early, when four of the first five races were undecided until the final strides. It was a bad race-watching day late, when Awesome Again's victory spoiled the Skip Away-Silver Charm showdown and made this a disappointing Breeders' Cup Classic. It was a good day for John Franks, the Louisiana horse owner who has won the annual Eclipse Award four times but hadn't won a Breeders' Cup race until Answer Lively captured the 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. . It was a bad day for Bobby Frankel, the Hall of Fame trainer who is 0 for 29 in Breeders' Cups after a couple more near-misses, and Alex Solis, the leading Santa Anita jockey who is 0 for 27 after riding Hawksley Hill to a photo-finish loss to Da Hoss in the Breeders' Cup Mile. It was a good day for former quarterhorse trainers Baffert, whose Silverbulletday won the 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 , and Bobby Barnett, whose Answer Lively won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. It was a bad day for former quarterhorse trainer D. Wayne Lukas Darrell Wayne Lukas (born September 2, 1935 in Antigo, Wisconsin) is a former educator who became one of the most successful horse trainers in American Thoroughbred horse racing history and a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee. , who entered five horses in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and hit the board with one of them. It was a good day for Breeders' Cup Ltd., which guaranteed a $5 million pool for the pick-six and, against widespread pessimism, watched fans across the country wager a whopping $6.4 million. It was a bad day for NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. , whose Breeders' Cup telecast featured even more pointless commentary, jarring visual cuts and audio glitches than usual. It was a good day for jockey Gary Stevens, whose victories aboard Silverbulletday in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and Escena in the 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. made him the afternoon's only multiple winner. It was a bad day for jockey Frankie Dettori, whose failure to switch his whip to the right hand allowed Swain to drift so far out approaching the finish of the Breeders' Cup Classic that the English horse posed a greater threat to rail-hugging fans than to the winner. It was a good day if you love a star search, because after Answer Lively's photo-finish victory over the 76-1 long shot in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, it appears the next Kentucky Derby winner is still waiting to be discovered. It was a bad day if you love a star, because the Breeders' Cup Juvenile really could have used Worldly Manner, 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. winner who headed overseas after being sold for $5 million to an Arab sheikh sheikh or shaykh Among Arabic-speaking tribes, especially Bedouin, the male head of the family, as well as of each successively larger social unit making up the tribal structure. The sheikh is generally assisted by an informal tribal council of male elders. . It was a good day for Steve Klein, who was the only one of the Daily Racing Form's dozen handicappers to pick Reraise in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, and Jay Privman, who was the only one to pick Buck's Boy in the 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 was a bad day for Joe Hirsch, who proved that experience is of limited value, being the only Racing Form handicapper hand·i·cap·per n. Sports & Games 1. One who assigns handicaps. 2. One who predicts the winners in a horserace, especially one who publishes such predictions as a guide for bettors. Noun 1. to fail to pick a winner despite recently celebrating 50 years of covering racing. That's how it was on a lively morning and afternoon at the track. It was a good day to be part of. It was a bad day to miss. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color) Jockey Pat Day celebrates his surprising victory aboard Awesome Again in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Louisville, Ky. Cliff Schiappa/Associated Press |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion