Ed Chamberlin: Breeders' Cup Diary including gossip and tips ahead of Del Mar 2021

Day Two

As touched upon in my first diary, I think this is going to be a really difficult assignment for the European horses at the Breeders' Cup, for a number of reasons.

One of the main ones which people often overlook is that it does come at the end of a long season, but we're also in America's back yard - it's like a really difficult away fixture for a football team. Just about everything is in the Americans' favour, and this track really does take some knowing.

A lot of the European hopes are going to go up in smoke right from the start, I suspect, because this place is completely unique. I do wonder if we might see a few stewards' enquiries thrown into the mix as well. So that gate speed is going to be so, so important - I can't emphasise that enough.

We've been with lots of the European connections this morning and there is plenty of confidence behind the horses - Walton Street looked particularly well this morning and I know my colleague and friend Johnny Murtagh is keen on his chances in the Breeders' Cup Turf.

It's great to see people like David Loughnane here, I'd love to see his horses run very well as he's done such a great job in rising up the training ladder.

In terms of the challenge facing ITV Racing, this is very much a first for us. The task for us is to try and pitch it right, especially when you consider so few Saturday evening ITV viewers won't know much at all about American racing or Del Mar. So we'll need to try and get the tone right for those people at home watching.

When I started at ITV, never in a million years did I think we'd have horse racing on a Saturday night. Saturday night on ITV is all about entertainment, Ant and Dec obviously the kings, and here's horse racing on that platform. It's really exciting but the approach we take will be very important. Hopefully people find it enjoyable.

Don't forget we'll have come off the live action from Wincanton, Aintree and Doncaster on the afternoon - what a contrast. But that shows the commitment from ITV to the sport, that amount of hours shown throughout the day and night on a Saturday.

But the biggest thing of all is to try and find a few winners and I've got a couple of fancies across the two days.

The first selection is one I mentioned yesterday and that is Loves Only You in the Filly & Mare Turf. It's brilliant to see the Japanese fans here in force this week and - a bit like the Arc - they're clearly embracing the whole experience.

I think it will be fantastic for the event to have a Japanese winner on Saturday night and again it's a race where Europe appears to have a strong hand, which I'm hoping will make the market. I think Loves Only You's form is good - she was third behind Mishriff earlier in the year - and we know she can handle international travel.

The best bet on Future Stars Friday is Averley Jane in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint for Wesley Ward.

We interviewed legendary American jockey Jerry Bailey yesterday and he described her performance in the Indian Summer at Keeneland as the best prep he'd been in the build-up to the Breeders' Cup. He was so impressed by her and she's clearly just an absolute speedball.

You'll hear more from Jerry Bailey as he's done a piece with Johnny Murtagh on the challenges of riding around Del Mar which is very entertaining.

I'm also going to put forward Modern Games in the Juvenile Turf on the Friday.

Charlie Appleby has such a good strike-rate when travelling to American and this horse looks to have everything. He's got natural speed, he can sit comfortably on the lead or just behind some of the even quicker ones, but I do think the mile around here will be absolutely perfect.

When you see him in the flesh he's not a big two-year-old by any means but he'll handle this track better than most and I thought he won with loads to spare at Newmarket when we last saw him. He's also been kept fresh since so there's very little not to like about Modern Games.

Day One

We arrived late last night in the dark and came straight to the track at 5.30am this morning - still in the dark - and then as light came I was excited to see 'where the surf meets the turf' but in pea soup weather that we've got here currently, I haven't seen the surf or the turf really! I can barely see anything.

But it's such a buzz to watch the horses in the morning, everyone is out early and all the Americans are out. Charlie Appleby exercised his horses and we've just seen all the Ballydoyle crew out too.

The access you get here is just incredible and they've given us at ITV the most extraordinary position to present from, it's a real honour to be here and the Breeders' Cup are really embracing the fact that their 38th edition is on terrestrial television in the UK. It's the most extensive coverage we've had on terrestrial TV ever.

For the first time we've got both days, we've got nine hours of coverage all told and 13 live races. I really hope everyone enjoys it and we can bring all the colour and flavour of Del Mar to your screens.

It's a very special place and I'm sure it's going to be absolutely jumping come Friday and Saturday, but it is a curious venue to stage the Breeders' Cup having arrived here for the very first time. I walked around with Johnny Murtagh and he explained the intricacies and difficulties of what it'll be like riding the turf track in particular. It makes Chester look like a relatively galloping track.

There are going to be plenty of bad luck stories over the two days at the weekend and you have to think those horses drawn wide are going to have a really tough time. And that includes quite a few of Europe's big hopes - the likes of Tarnawa and Audarya.

Any horse with a double-figure draw is going to have a real problem. I came here thinking Dubawi Legend was going to be my Nap of the meeting for Hugo Palmer in the Juvenile Turf, but he's going to have his work cut out from that draw (14).

The other thing that's very apparent - and we've seen lost of horses sampling it this morning including Mise En Scene - is the gate speed. It is always so important when racing in America but even more so at Del Mar. There are going to be horses that you may back, particularly European runners, who will be gone from the start if they miss the kick. It can be over very quickly, and that applies to all the races up to a mile and a half.

There will be races where our horses will not see which way they've gone.

Not just the horses, but some of the experienced Del Mar jockeys are going to hold an advantage too, they are really tough competitors and it might just be a bit of a culture shock for some of our riders tasting the track for the first time.

I've not been here long but in typical Breeders' Cup fashion there is a real buzz about one or two names already and they include the Japanese hope Loves Only You in the Filly & Mare Turf on Saturday. Hopes are quite high by the sound of things.

In the Distaff, I'll be keeping a close eye on Todd Pletcher's Malathaat for the Shadwell team, that's another one I'm hearing positive noises about going into the weekend.

Stay tuned to the Sporting Life social media channels over the next couple of days and I'll continue to try and bring a flavour of this incredible place.

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