BC Notes

- Kip Deville is one Breeders' Cup winner who will not be retired, though he apparently will not go the Hong Kong, where he'd be eligible for a (mere) $1 million bonus in the Cathay Pacific Mile.

Though Garrett Gomez was a deserving winner of the Shoemaker award for the top jockey of the day, remember that Cornelio Velasquez won two races too, and his ride on Kip Deville was a masterpiece. He maneuvered to the inside by the first turn from his eight post, and saved ground from there until coming out midstretch for his winning drive. In the meantime, Excellent Art was hung wide turning for home from the 13 post, and appeared to bear in a bit in the stretch before launching his late bid for second. I certainly wouldn't argue with anyone who thought he was the best horse in the race.

Nobiz Like Shobiz was the surprising second betting choice, and a strong one at that, at 7-2. He made a big five wide move around the turn....or at least he did according to Trevor Denman if you were watching on ESPN. You heard Denman's description of the move, as well as the fact his jockey was wearing a white cap. But you didn't see the horse until they turned for home, and he was already flattening out. Some readers here have commented in the past how TV producers, and not only on ESPN, tend to cut to the close-up shot as the field is rounding that final turn, thus missing some of the key action of the race.

And what the hell happened to that "rail view" camera???

F&M Turf winner Lahudood will be retired; her breeding plans have not yet been announced. But assuming that she'll be mated with a Sheikh stallion, how about Bernardini?
Just throwing a name out, and I've really no idea of their physical compatibility; but that mating would give the foal some nice balanced inbreeding to Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector, and linebreeding to important influences such as Somethingroyal and Herbager.

Alan Garcia won his first BC race on this filly, and he's been getting some well-deserved attention of late. So I'm not intending in any way to denigrate his ride to say that he may have caught a big time break when Simply Perfect bore out on the second of three turns, and took Arravale and Precious Kitten with her. Lahudood was in what looked like a tight spot early, buried inside with a lot of equine flesh in front and outside of her; Trevor Denman even took note of her plight early on. But when those three horses checked out, Garcia suddenly found himself in perfect position, with only Argentina in front of him.

I'd say that of every horse on the program, I found the betting on Argentina to be the most surprising. I had her as a 'first glance throwout;' a horse who simply and plainly on paper appeared to not be suited for the mile and three-eighths distance. I even considered her 12-1 morning line to be a little light, and I was rather shocked to see her go off as the 7-1 4th choice. I dunno, maybe there was a large contingent of Argentinians there, or at a track/betting parlor somewhere. But Lahudood make quick work of her on her way to victory. Honey Ryder, just 3/4's back of the winner, was widest of all turning for home, and perhaps was best in what was also her final career race, too bad.

Passage of Time, third as the 5-2 favorite, and trainer Henry Cecil was unhappy with the turf. "To me the ground was unsatisfactory and she has never raced on ground like that....She wants it soft but couldn't quicken on it - it was just false ground." [Sporting Life] Nashoba's Key was 4th after being trapped on the rail for most of the race. "It was probably six inches deep on that rail," said Joe Talamo. Didn't seem to bother Kip Deville though, and the F&M Turf was run before the Mile.

By the way, for the absolute best internet replays of the race, I direct you once again to the Breeders' Cup site. You can see all the races (use the dropdown menu to select) as seen on ESPN, on a very big screen as far as these things go, a crystal clear picture, and, of course, Trevor Denman's calls. Having listened to them several times now, I don't really have a single criticism of Denman's work on Saturday. I was concerned after he had a pretty shaky start on Friday, but I think he pulled himself together and "ran a big one," as he's apt to say.

- Selected posts from this blog will now be featured on Horserace Insider.com. They're making me submit a photo too. Man, I ignored the Breeders' Cup's request for one when I saw that no one else had their mug up there, but these guys are insisting, damn...