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Tom Law 
The end of the jump racing season is closing fast with the Colonial Cup on tap for Saturday, two weeks removed from the conclusion (for the most part) of the North American flat season. Training in Saratoga comes to an end Tuesday and things are slowing down a bit in Fair Hill, too. Sure signs of winter for sure.
The Breeders’ Cup is in the books – the election, too, mercifully – and it’s time to begin the slide toward the holidays and the end of the year here at This Is Horse Racing. Thank goodness for Saturdays to shake things up a bit and we’ve got it all covered in this week’s edition of Saturday Special presented by Pin Oak Stud.
November arrived this week and it’s time for Breeders’ Cup Saturday. The action at Santa Anita Park certainly dominates the headlines and gets all the attention, but the show goes on all over the world and we’ve got it covered in this week’s Saturday Special presented by Pin Oak Stud.
They say you always remember your first.
Your first Breeders’ Cup, that is.
What was your first?
Frosted, Arrogate, Shaman Ghost. Whitney, Travers, Woodward. Those are the names and the races they won, in that order. The trio won arguably the three most prestigious races at Saratoga and amazingly none of the three is the favorite for Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park. Such is the power of California Chrome.
Masochistic holds the edge in the TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita Park for three simple reasons – he’s fast, right at home and Lord Nelson scratched Thursday – but anyone wanting a glimpse of what Saturday’s 6-furlong dash would look like should have paid attention to the 2016 Saratoga meet.
Every year the mantra seems to be the same: The Saratoga meeting brings together the best trainers, jockeys and most importantly, the best horses. It’s written and talked about so much that most take it as fact.
How is it really quantified though? Who determines the theory? Can it be proven?
Songbird looms large over a star-studded field for Friday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita Park, a 3-year-old filly taking on accomplished older rivals for the first time in the headlining event on the first day of the World Championships.
Fortunately the wait for the 2016 Breeders’ Cup World Championships is down to days. Pretty soon it will be hours, then minutes, then seconds. You get the picture, but still, we wait.
It’s almost the end of the month and the Breeders’ Cup is less than a week away so what better time than to reboot, unload and turn the page.
