JC / Railbird

Racing Archive

2012 Breeders’ Cup Links

11/2/12: Mike Welsch’s Breeders’ Cup Clocker Saturday report card

10/31/12: Official programs with full PPs for Friday (PDF) and Saturday (PDF) / Hello Race Fans cheat sheets for the Ladies’ Classic and Classic / Mike Welsch’s Breeders’ Cup Clocker Friday report card

10/30/12: Breeders’ Cup entries, with morning line / Breeders’ Cup stats site / Breeders’ Cup Challenge race replays

10/24/12: Breeders’ Cup pre-entries (PDF) / BC Friday pre-entry PPs (PDF) / BC Saturday pre-entry PPs (PDF) / Steven Crist’s pre-entry cheat sheet

Posted in Racing on October 24, 2012 / Tagged #BC12, Breeders' Cup, Entries, Handicapping, PPs, Pre-Entries, Reference

A Great Year

Gary West on the 1988 Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs:

I remember being so overcome with the experience of that 1988 Breeders’ Cup, so moved and dazzled by the proximity of greatness that I collapsed into a chair when it was all over and sat there for several moments before I could even begin to think of writing.

Less great: “… about 38 percent fewer horses are on the track than 24 years ago, but they have 114 percent more Breeders’ Cup races to run in.” (See also.)

Posted in Racing on October 22, 2012 / Tagged 1988, Breeders' Cup, Churchill Downs, Nostalgia, Stakes Inflation, Stakes Racing

No Equal

As good as Frankel’s offspring may be, they’ll likely never be as good as him:

Curiously, Frankel appears doomed not to produce a son or daughter who is superior to him. The Racing Post’s bloodstock expert, Tony Morris, writes: “No horse rated 138 has ever sired a horse rated 138 or above. Frankel may well get plenty of good runners, and I hope he does, but I can guarantee he will never sire his equal; he is the ceiling, and regression to the mean dictates that all his stock will be inferior to him.”

This is probably also true of Beyer speed figures. Has a horse who has peaked at 120 or above ever sired an equal? Ghostzapper topped out at 128 (in the 2004 Iselin Handicap at Monmouth Park); Contested and Hunters Bay, two of his best progeny, certainly haven’t come close to such a number.

Re: Ghostzapper, his 2004 Breeders’ Cup Classic win is remembered as part of the Hello Race Fans’ Three Great Moments BC series.

Posted in Racing on October 21, 2012 / Tagged Breeding, Frankel, Ghostzapper, Great Horses, International, Speed Figures, UK