Matt Brocklebank is our man in Santa Anita this week and he kicks off this year's Breeders' Cup diary with the five key ingredients that make it such a fantastic occasion.
So it’s goodbye to the guinea pigs, Sir Percy and King Julian. It’s goodbye to the family for a week, to the nippy British autumn weather, the incessant Brexit disquisition, and increasingly excitable jumps racing posse.
Goodbye Sam Spinner, La Bague Au Roi, Altior. Hello Shancelot, Dennis’ Moment and Code Of Honor.
To Southern California and the 36th Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita Park.
It won’t be my 36th – the Breeders’ Cup began in 1984 and, frankly, so did I – but my second time in attendance, having been to Del Mar in 2017. That was quite remarkable and the wild-eyed celebrations of Classic-winning trainer Steve Asmussen will live long in the memory.
Del Mar was dusty and dated, but delightful. I’m told Santa Anita is on another level.
'Like Cheltenham on acid' a Whatsapp message politely offered over the weekend. I do occasionally get the fear driving up the M6 through Shap, so one can only wonder what impact American racing's most famous mountain range will have.
Time will reveal all, but Terminal 2 awaits so in the meantime here are some thoughts on what I feel contribute most to making the Breeders' Cup such an extraordinary occasion.
The people...
In such shamefully divisive times, there’s a lot to celebrate in people and cultures coming together over a shared passion.
A shared passion and 30 million dollars, but a shared passion nevertheless. And let’s face it, not many true horsemen and women first get into racing to make a quick buck.
Take a snapshot of who is represented here at the 36th Breeders’ Cup: Baffert, O'Brien, Brown, Gosden, Pletcher, Appleby. In spite of the title sponsor of this year’s Dirt Mile (don’t ask), make no mistake this is, as billed, a thoroughbred world championships. Bigger and better than ever for the Americans; no longer an afterthought at the end of a long year for Europe’s elite.
There are runners from France and Germany, while having Japanese representation through Matera Sky (Sprint) and Full Flat (Juvenile), plus a South Korean entry in Blue Chipper (Dirt Mile) is another feather in the cap for organisers.
On top of the global appeal and best-in-class dirt and turf equine talent, the people play an integral part in making the Breeders' Cup what it has become.
And it's not just local LA celebs or the aforementioned stellar cast of trainers that light up the first weekend of November, though Bob Baffert and Chad Brown with respective silver hair and steely glare have their own certain charm.
There are plenty on the periphery who more than hold their own in the character stakes.
French-born, New York-based Christophe Clement, trainer of Gio Ponti and Tonalist in previous years, can hardly be classed as being on the sidelines. But he's down to earth and not one for pumping his chest in the spotlight.
He has a kind smile and a serious two-year-old colt to boot in Juvenile Turf candidate, Decorated Invader. Few would begrudge a first Breeders’ Cup triumph for the affable, experienced Clement.
If Clement is the Gérard Houllier of North American racing, then Jorge Navarro, trainer of big three-year-old Sprint hope Shancelot, fills the role of a snarling Diego Simeone. His pre and post-race interviews carry a certain je ne sais quoi.
Both fascinating people, and what a year it could be for the O’Briens.
It is a family that continues to blaze a trail in terms of setting records, but there’s one on the horizon here that may never be matched. And for once, Aidan isn’t central to the plot (though his role is implicit).
If Iridessa is successful in the Filly & Mare Turf, Aidan’s wife Anne-Marie O’Brien will be in the unique position of having ‘bred' not only a Breeders’ Cup-winning horse, but also the trainer (son, Joseph), as well as the jockey (son, Donnacha).
Impressive victory by #2 Decorated Invader in the Summer Stakes @WoodbineTB! @IradOrtiz on the mount for @ClementStable and @WestPointTbred! pic.twitter.com/5FWiZDv0zN
— TVG (@TVG) September 15, 2019
The places...
Take Britain’s big jumps fixture in March – I think you know the one - and tour it around the country each year.
A Champion Hurdle at Sandown one season, a Queen Mother Champion Chase at Newbury the next. How about the (Cheltenham) Gold Cup at Carlisle? We'd have to work on the name.
It may sound like a mad concept, but National Hunt racing in this country has become so Chelt-centric that maybe it could benefit from something radical. The idea of just adding races or, God forbid, a fifth day isn't the solution.
British Champions Day at the end of the Flat season would be a more realistic candidate for a Breeders’ Cup-style makeover, though it’s clear there would be a political hurdle at every corner were this ever to be seriously pursued.
Since its inception the Breeders’ Cup circus has rolled into 12 different towns, including a trip to Woodbine in Canada in 1996 (a Stayers’ Hurdle at Perth would be fun, wouldn’t it?).
The bottom line is: it works for them.
There were a few concerns voiced over Del Mar playing host for the first time a couple of years ago, but it delivered a fantastic event and some sensational action. So much so that the BC returns to Where the Turf Meets the Surf in 2021.
Santa Anita – hosting for a record 10th time - is top class. In the shadows of the San Gabriel mountain range and just 20-odd miles from Hollywood, it has played host to some truly epic encounters: High Chaparral's Turf dead-heat, Zenyatta’s Distaff and Classic, Goldikova and Wise Dan victorious in the Mile, that Beholder versus Songbird duel.
It’s been a testing 12 months for The Great Race Place, but more great racing at this truly amazing place looks all but assured.
🚨OFFICIAL TRAILER | ALL IN: The Road to the Classic | Season 2 🚨
— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) October 2, 2019
Greatness is tested. Legends are made. Experience the passion, dedication, and resolve that goes hand-in-hand with a journey to the $6M #BreedersCup Classic.
E1 Premiere: Oct 9th at 2PM ET. #RoadtotheClassic pic.twitter.com/IthHSQ4NY6
The anticipation...
Americans must look at the opening-day schedule of Royal Ascot with complete bemusement.
The Group One Queen Anne Stakes kicks the whole week off and is followed by the Group Two Coventry Stakes, the Group One King’s Stand Stakes and the Group One St James's Palace Stakes.
What on earth are we playing at?!
It's all about the build-up here in the States, where a more tantric approach to race-planning generally results in the biggest and best events exploding into life towards the end of the day.
They’ve gone the whole hog at this meeting, Future Stars Friday acting as a tempting teaser before the main event when Saturday bubbles away beautifully towards the $6million Classic right at the conclusion of the card.
There were eyebrows raised when a second day was first introduced, the fear of watering down the quality a very real one. Thanks to further investment and increased overseas involvement, the opposite is true.
Another significant factor in aiding the sense of anticipation is that we have the full fields all declared, complete with jockeys and post positions, following the well-publicised draw on the Monday afternoon (late doors for those in the UK).
The T's are crossed and I's dotted by the Tuesday, while the majority of the horses train up to the weekend on the Santa Anita track through the mornings. What results is a true Breeders' Cup bubble which allows media access like no other race meeting on the planet.
Let us enjoy the ride together.
International competition...
Winx was probably a world-class racehorse. But in some respects we'll never really know for sure.
She beat what was put in front of her handsomely, and they included one or two nice European and Asian challengers, but there's nothing quite like travel when it comes to a true test of raw ability and mental strength.
Much like Arsenal’s 'wet Wednesday night in Stoke' conundrum, Winx was a super mare in front of her own fans, but could she really do it in the white-hot heat of a Breeders’ Cup, or Royal Ascot? Following her retirement, that question unfortunately goes unanswered.
It's a small world and global horseplayers are spoilt silly when it comes to major international meetings these days – Riyadh's King Abdulaziz the latest track to throw its hat into the ring - but the American desire to be the best and attract the best remains as strong as ever.
The addition of the Juvenile Turf Sprint for the first time last year looked a shrewd move and was rewarded by the Euros (we'll stick with that term for now...) representing half of the 12-strong field.
Meanwhile, the lure of the Classic pulled in Thunder Snow, Mendelssohn and Roaring Lion, and is clearly one of the races that Aidan O’Brien and the whole Coolmore operation would dearly still love to win, in spite of no involvement this time around.
Santa Anita was famously the scene of Britain and Ireland's only Breeders’ Cup Classic winner as Raven’s Pass struck for John Gosden in 2008, the caveat being that it was one of the two years the race was run on a Pro-Ride synthetic, rather than dirt, after which the hosts switched back to the traditional main track surface.
Nobody ever said it was going to be easy. That's precisely the point.
The drama...
This is unbelievable. This is unbelievable. This is unbelievable.
We've all said it one way or another during dramatic moments in sport. Now try saying it into a microphone, during the most prestigious race in America, in perfect harmony with the rhythmic stride of a fast-finishing, legendary racehorse.
This-is-un-be-lievable.
Trevor Denman’s Classic call 10 years ago as Zenyatta came from another zip code to collar Gio Ponti was a sensational Breeders’ Cup experience, and may only have been matched subsequently by the 2016 Distaff as Beholder eventually edged out the front-running Songbird.
"They’re noses apart! It's… Beholder!!" roared NCB commentator Larry Collmus as the two champion fillies flew passed the post.
Spine-tingling, uplifting theatre.
The very first Classic at Hollywood Park 36 years ago required a near-10 minute stewards' inquiry to finally announce the winner, and it’s basically been high-octane stuff ever since.
Granted, no Enable and no Battaash to carry the torch for Europe in 2019 is a blow, but there are plots and sub-plots at every turn and, as ever, the very best dramas generally prove impossible to predict.
It's going to be a rollercoaster. And you better believe it.
