My Soapbox for Equestrian Writings
Bob Baffert and John Velasquez proved an unbeatable combination putting in winning performances in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint with Gamine and with Authentic in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Both set track records. Serengeti Empress, making her final career start, challenged Gamine early on, taking the lead. But Gamine pulled away effortlessly in […]
Read More
Vino Rosso surged to the lead to beat McKinzie by 4 1/2 lengths in the $6 Million Breeders’ Cup Classic. Higher Power was third. War of Will led the first part of the race, faded to ninth. Vino Rosso was ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr. who had an amazing Breeders’ Cup meet. An hour earlier […]
Read MoreThis year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic was billed as the rematch of the Dubai World Cup, where Arrowgate sprinted by Gun Runner in the home stretch. But this time, Gun Runner led wire to wire. Arrowgate, the defending Breeders’ Cup champion, broke poorly and never found his stride. Whether he just doesn’t like the Del Mar […]
Read MoreWhat a race! California Chrome and Arrogate battled it right to the end. I thought Chrome had it . . . was really impressed by Arrogate’s last surge. How ironic that just yesterday it was Arrogate’s Jockey, Mike Smith, who was on the losing end of the match race — he was riding Songbird, who […]
Read MoreThis year’s Breeder’s Cup Classic started with a bang. The literal banging of horses bouncing off each other. The eventual winner, Bayern, came out of the gate and immediately veered toward the rail, bumping pre-race favorite Shared Belief, who in turn bumped Moreno. Moreno was supposed to give Bayern a run for the money by […]
Read MoreThe 2013 Breeder’s Cup Classic was a nail biter! Mucho Macho Man (who was second in 2012) held onto a late challenge by Will Take Charge to win by barely a nose. Just as well for him that the finish line came up when it did. Declaration of War was a head back for third. You […]
Read MoreI almost didn’t watch the race yesterday. I didn’t want to see Zenyatta lose, or even worse, get hurt. But I’m glad I did because she put on an incredible show of speed, spirit and competitiveness. After trailing the field by up to as much as 20 lengths, Zenyatta made her run in the Breeder’s […]
Read More