JC / Railbird

Breeders’ Cup Archive

Breeders’ Cup Blogging

– I’m leaving for Monmouth early Friday, joining Alan in the auxiliary press box to live blog the Breeders’ Cup.
– Odds and ends: Forefathers has been scratched from the Dirt Mile. He’ll run in the Sprint on Saturday instead … Aidan O’Brien plans to send All My Loving out in blinkers for the Filly and Mare Turf. The last time All My Loving wore blinkers, she finished ninth as the favorite … Euro shipper Timarwa had a little colic when she arrived on Monday, but trainer John Oxx reports the filly has bounced back well. “She’s improved day by day,” he told TDN … John Shirreffs has an iPhone, and it’s giving the trainer a lousy weather forecast … Timeform rates Discreet Cat 8lbs clear of the Dirt Mile field and trainer Saeed bin Suroor is strikingly confident. “He has a brilliant chance.”

Posted in Breeders' Cup on October 25, 2007

BC Contender Quick Notes

Courtesy of the Breeders’ Cup Notes Team, a daily update on the activity of every BC contender. See who schooled in the paddock or the gate, jogged over dirt or cantered over turf, is still in quarantine or expected in the morning.
Updated with October 26 notes. Quiet morning for all, except Z Humor, who is reported to have breezed three furlongs in :36 with blinkers on.

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Posted in Breeders' Cup on October 24, 2007

Big Morning for BC Works

Breeders’ Cup contenders worked out at tracks across the country this morning, putting in their final preps for next weekend’s Championship races. According to Pletcher, Baffert, Violette, et al., there’s not much to report, everyone’s doing fine, every work went as expected. The exception was Discreet Cat, who breezed a bullet five furlongs in :57.46 at Belmont. “It was faster than I wanted, but good horses do that,” said assistant trainer Rick Mettee. “I was looking for something around 1:00” (Blood-Horse). Too quick? Or a sign that the Cigar Mile-winning monster is back, ready to run his best in Friday’s Dirt Mile?

Posted in Breeders' Cup on October 21, 2007

The Tight Turns of Monmouth

Time this evening that I should have spent poring over the lifetime past performances of every Breeders’ Cup pre-entry has instead gone to investigating the tight turns of Monmouth meme floating around right now, popping up in all sorts of articles and early analysis of the first World Championships to be held at New Jersey’s jewel box of a racetrack. Turns out, Monmouth’s sharp curves may well be as apocryphal as those of Pimlico. Below are comparisons of Monmouth to three other one-mile oval tracks.

Monmouth and Santa Anita

Left: Santa Anita. Right: Monmouth overlaying Santa Anita. Click to to view a larger image.

Monmouth and Santa Anita both have stretches of 990 feet and share a configuration of similar length turns and straights.

Monmouth and Pimlico

Left: Pimlico. Right: Monmouth overlaying Pimlico. Click to to view a larger image.

Monmouth’s turns are slightly longer than those of Pimlico, which has straights approximately 25 feet longer than those of Monmouth.

Monmouth and Churchill

Left: Churchill. Right: Monmouth overlaying Churchill. Click to to view a larger image.

Churchill has straights approximately 59 feet longer than Monmouth, making its turns shorter than those at Monmouth. Note the sharpness of the turn into Churchill’s stretch.

It’s possible Monmouth’s turns are steeply banked. Higher banks flatter speed and punish outside-running horses, which could explain the track’s reputed speed bias and Monmouth oddsmaker Brad Thomas’ contention in an interview with Dave Litfin that horses who run well on their left leads do better at the track (DRF, PDF, $). Overall, though, Monmouth’s turns seem like a minor handicapping factor. A bigger one will be the condition of the track’s surfaces in late fall, especially that of the grass. Thomas tells Litfin that he wouldn’t be surprised “if the turf is a little bit longer for the Breeders’ Cup races than it is in regular day-to-day racing during the summer,” which could be helpful to the Europeans.

Posted in Breeders' Cup on October 17, 2007