Features

Crack. Simmer. Splash. Steam escapes from a stainless steel cauldron in the corner of the feed room. The gas burner hums. The sweet, earthy, slightly musty smell of oats cooking fills the air.

I have missed one Cheltenham Festival since my first year in 2002.

“Keep your knees together when you gallop,” D. Wayne Lukas told me, “actually, that’s a good thing for a young lady to do anyway.”

I knew we were going to get along well after that.

8:57 am. Three minutes early.

Eighteen and a half couple, voices in full cry. Foxhunter math for 37 hounds galloping in pursuit of their fox.

What more needs to be said or written about 2020? A year that we can’t wait to move past certainly produced its share of things we’ll never forget.

The 37th Breeders’ Cup World Championships will close like it always does, with the $6 million Classic billed as one of the deepest and most competitive fields ever with Horse of the Year and divisional titles on the line.

Wonder if Channel Maker will peer out from his black blinkers, survey the field for Saturday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf and wonder where his old friend and foe Sadler’s Joy might be hanging out.

Talk about a battle. Monomoy Girl, unbeaten in her 2020 season that followed a complete absence from the scene in 2019, takes on Swiss Skydiver, who left the 3-year-old filly division in tatters before upending the Kentucky Derby winner in the Preakness, in Saturday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

The European contingent for Saturday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile features classic winners, Group 1 winners and other well-traveled stars with lofty credentials. The task facing the home squad certainly will be difficult in the $2 million Mile but the home squad is far from void of talent.