REST THE BEST MEDICINE; TRAINERS AREN'T RUSHING HORSES.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI In New York this week, trainer Howie Tesher announced unexpectedly that his star grass specialist Influent in·flu·ent adj. Flowing in or into. n. 1. An inflow, especially a tributary. 2. Ecology A nondominant organism in a community that exerts an important modifying effect. will skip the $500,000 Turf Classic Invitational at Belmont Park on Saturday to remain ``fresh'' for the $2 million 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. at Hollywood Park on Nov. 8. In any other year, Tesher's decision might have been ridiculed as a singular case of overthinking, seeing that Influent was favored to win the half-million-dollar race at his home track. But this year, there's nothing singular about Tesher's strategy. More than ever, horse managers are concluding that the best prep race for the Breeders' Cup is no prep race at all. Some of these trainers are simply making sure their horses recover from physical problems before they compete again. Examples: Gentlemen, early favorite for the $4 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. , who came out of a fifth-place finish in Canada on Sept. 20 with an ulcer that impeded his breathing; and Touch Gold, the nation's most feared 3-year-old and a Classic contender, whose tender feet may have caused his last-place flop in New Jersey on the same day. But there are more examples of top horses taking leisurely routes to the seven Breeders' Cup races because their trainers are following the trend: Classic contenders Behrens, Deputy Commander and Formal Gold; Mile contenders El Angelo, Geri and Helmsman; and Sprint favorite Richter Scale all are scheduled to go into the Hollywood Park starting gate without a race in the past 40 days. Even Singspiel Singspiel: see opera. singspiel (German; “song-play”) Eighteenth-century opera in the German language, containing spoken dialogue and usually comic in tone. , the Turf favorite from Europe, will bypass his intended prep race in England on Saturday, his connections told the 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. on Tuesday. The plan: to stay ``fresh.'' ``I think it's the new philosophy of some trainers,'' said Tom Robbins, director of racing at Santa Anita. ``Maybe what they've seen is some fresh horses come into the Breeders' Cup and perform better (and they're emulating that approach).'' This is an extension of a trend that spans the 13 years the Breeders' Cup has served as a sort of thoroughbred Olympic Games. From 1984 to '87, nine Breeders' Cup winners had their final preps within two weeks of the event (including '85 Classic winner Proud Truth, who tuned up seven days prior). From '93 to '96, only one Breeders' Cup winner (Boston Harbor in the '96 Juvenile) had his prep in the last 19 days. In '95, for the first time, two Breeders' Cup winners (Desert Stormer Stormer may refer to:
The trend is inconvenient for the people who run racetracks and for those of us who wager at them. Executives like Robbins must try to promote traditional ``Breeders' Cup preps'' - typically three or four weeks before the event - with few stars. Keeneland's Spinster, which has produced seven 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. winners, was thoroughly forgettable last Sunday. Belmont's 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 , which has sent three horses on to Breeders' Cup victories in the past eight years, will be headed Saturday by Siphon and Skip Away, neither likely to run in the Breeders' Cup. And on Nov. 8, bettors will find that handicapping races like the Classic and the Mile is reduced to a guessing game by the shortage of recent form. We have an idea what to do about horses who race in blinkers blinkers 1. rigid pieces of leather fitted to a head harness at a point where they will obstruct the horse's lateral vision. 2. a more sophisticated piece of harness worn by expensive horses consisting of a canvas head-covering with holes for the ears to protrude and two or bar shoes. But cobwebs cob·web n. 1. a. The web spun by a spider to catch its prey. b. A single thread spun by a spider. 2. Something resembling the web of a spider in gauziness or flimsiness. 3. ? This weekend: The second round of Breeders' Cup preps at Santa Anita is scheduled to include: Juvenile Fillies hopefuls, including Bob Baffert's 12-length maiden winner Eastside Westside, in the $200,000 Oak Leaf on Saturday. Mile possibilities Taiki Blizzard (of Japan), Pinfloron and Fantastic Fellow in the $250,000 Oak Tree Breeders' Cup Mile on turf Saturday. Distaff hopefuls Twice the Vice, Sharp Cat, Relaxing Rhythm and Real Connection in the $175,000 Lady's Secret Breeders' Cup Handicap The Lady's Secret Breeders' Cup Handicap is a race for thoroughbred race horses run at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California during the Oak Tree Racing Association meet each year. on Sunday. Juvenile contenders Souvenir Copy and Old Topper, 1-2 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. , rematched in the $200,000 Norfolk on Sunday. Good seats available: Hollywood Park officials hope to draw 50,000 fans to the Inglewood track for the Breeders' Cup. That sounds optimistic. A crowd of 55,130 watched the '93 Breeders' Cup on a beautiful afternoon at Santa Anita, whose big days typically are bigger than Hollywood Park's. Some of the 30,000 reserved-seat tickets are still available at the Hollywood Park and Santa Anita box offices and through Ticketmaster. Grandstand seats are $35. A better buy may be the $25 seats in temporary bleachers between the 16th pole and the top of the stretch. General admission tickets ($10) will go on sale on Breeders' Cup day, and early arrivals will be able to grab bench seats near the rail. CAPTION(S): Photo, Box Photo: Gentlemen, being pointed for the Nov. 8 Breeders' Cup Classic, has not run since developing an ulcer, found after a Sept. 20 race. Associated Press Box: A WEEK AT THE RACES At The Races is a British television channel, originally co-founded with Channel 4, but now owned by a partnership between British Sky Broadcasting, Arena Leisure PLC and 28 (out of the 59) UK racecourses. (see text) |
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