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Tom Law 
Major questions hang over Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar. Two stand out more than the rest and focus squarely on the main contenders for the $6 million centerpiece of the two-day World Championships program.
Del Mar’s wait is over; Breeders’ Cup Weekend is here and four of the 13 World Championship races are set for Friday at the coastal course just outside San Diego.
Del Mar or Saratoga. Saratoga or Del Mar. Every year, or at least it seems like every year, the two tracks are mentioned in the same breath but only when their fans make the argument of the better summertime racing place. Friday and Saturday, when the Breeders’ Cup World Championships is run for the 34th time, the two will intersect and overlap.
Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff is the featured event on the opening card of the two-day World Championships at Del Mar and as always it carries much more significance than the $2 million purse and Grade 1 status.
I have been in Australia for nearly three months as part of the Godolphin Flying Start program. The stint could not have been timed more perfectly, as I have been privileged to see Winx run five times in part of her astonishing campaign.
Brendan Walsh finished training his string on a picture-perfect fall morning in Kentucky a week into the Keeneland meeting before taking a few minutes to discuss Proctor’s Ledge, his entrant in the upcoming Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, and a few other timely subjects.
Now it’s crunch time. Less than a week until North America’s biggest two days of racing unfold at Del Mar for the 2017 Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
A new venue did little to deter horsemen from around the world from entering horses for 2017 Breeders’ Cup World Championships as 187 horses were pre-entered for next weekend’s 13 Grade 1 stakes at Del Mar.
Jeff Bonde made a beeline for Keeneland’s winner’s circle Saturday a few minutes after the Grade 2 Lexus Raven Run Stakes. He paused when he reached the weigh out scale, checked out the scene in the winner’s circle and across the main track on the turf course and looked a touch out of sorts.
Jim DiVito watched Lovely Bernadette go from maiden winner to allowance winner to stakes winner – all in the span of 44 days last fall – and started to think about the 2017 Kentucky Oaks.
