BREEDERS’ CUP PRE-ENTRIES
Press Release from the Breeders’ Cup…
CURLIN, CASINO DRIVE, ZENYATTA, DUKE OF MARMALADE LEAD LARGEST INTERNATIONAL CAST PRE-ENTERED FOR
BREEDERS’ CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, OCT. 24-25
AT SANTA ANITA PARK
Seven Former Champions to Compete
Click here for the list of pre-entered horses.
ARCADIA, Calif. (October 16, 2008) – Led by reigning Horse of the Year Curlin, Japanese sensation Casino Drive, the undefeated super filly Zenyatta, Irish standout Duke of Marmalade, and seven former or defending champions, a record 180 horses, including stars from Ireland, Great Britain, France, United Arab Emirates, Japan and Argentina, have been pre-entered for the 25th Breeders’ Cup World Championships, to be held on Friday, October 24 and Saturday, October 25 at Santa Anita Park.
The Breeders’ Cup, Thoroughbred racing’s most prestigious global event, consists of 14 races held over two days, with purses totaling $25.5 million, making this year’s event the richest prize money event in sports worldwide. This year’s Championships, held during Santa Anita’s Oak Tree Racing Association meeting, features the first ever all-female program of five Breeders’ Cup races. The Breeders’ Cup will be televised live with an unprecedented nine hours of live coverage on ABC and ESPN, and to more than 130 foreign countries.
The 4-year-old Curlin, will try to add to his legacy as one of the greatest horses of this generation by winning his second consecutive $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, at 1 ¼ miles. He will face some of the world’s brightest stars including Casino Drive from Japan, Duke of Marmalade and Henrythenavigator from Ireland, and Raven’s Pass from Great Britain. Owned in partnership by Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stables, and trained by Steve Asmussen, Curlin has won 11 of 15 lifetime starts, and is unbeaten this year on the main track, including victories in the Dubai World Cup, Stephen Foster, Woodward and Jockey Club Gold Cup. A Classic victory would make Curlin the first back-to-back Classic winner since Tiznow in 2000-’01 and likely the first consecutive Horse of the Year winner since Cigar in 1995 and 1996. Curlin was one of 38 horses to earn an automatic starting position in a Championship race through a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series.
Among Curlin’s challengers in this year’s Classic is the 3-year-old Casino Drive, who is undefeated in three starts, including the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park; Colonel John, winner of the Santa Anita Derby and the Travers Stakes and Go Between, winner of the Pacific Classic; from Europe, trainer Aidan O’Brien, who has pre-entered 10 horses to this year’s event, has Henrythenavigator, winner of four starts this year in England and Ireland, and Duke of Marmalade (IRE), who captured five consecutive group 1 races in Europe this year, including the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes. The 3-year-old Raven’s Pass from Great Britain, owned by Princess Haya of Jordan, defeated Henry the Navigator in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in his most recent start.
This year’s Breeders’ Cup also features a record seven defending or former Breeders’ Cup Champions: In addition to defending Classic winner Curlin, Midnight Lute (2007 Sprint); Kip Deville (2007 Mile); Indian Blessing (2007 Juvenile Fillies); Ginger Punch (2007 Distaff, now named Ladies’ Classic); Better Talk Now (2004 Turf) and Red Rocks (IRE) (2006 Turf) are all back.
The $2 million Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic at 1 1/8 miles on Championship Friday showcases one of its most talented fields in recent years, headlined by the undefeated Zenyatta, owned by record impresario Jerry Moss and his wife, Ann, and trained by John Shirreffs. The 4-year-old filly has won all eight of her career starts, including three grade 1 events, the Apple Blossom, Vanity and the Lady’s Secret three weeks ago at Santa Anita. She will be challenged by defending Ladies’ Classic champion Ginger Punch of Stronach Stables, and trainer Bobby Frankel. Ginger Punch has won 5 of 7 starts this year and seeks to become the first back-to-back Ladies’ Classic winner since Bayakoa in 1989-‘90. Among the other standouts in the Ladies’ Classic are the Chilean-bred Cocoa Beach, who defeated Ginger Punch in her last start, the Beldame in New York; the 3-year-old Music Note, winner of three grade 1 races in 2008, including an 8 1/2-length romp in the Gazelle Stakes at Belmont; and the 5-year-old mare Hystericalady, who has four wins this year, and was recently second to Zenyatta in the Lady’s Secret.
While Championship Friday is reserved for the female competitors, the 3-year-old French-based Goldikova (IRE) will challenge the males on Championship Saturday in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile on turf. Trained by Freddie Head, who rode the brilliant Miesque to consecutive victories in the Mile in 1987-’88, Goldikova won the group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp in open company in September. Her main rival is defending champion Kip Deville of IEAH Stables, who has won twice in three starts this year. The 5-year-old mare Precious Kitten, who won the grade I Gamely in May for trainer Bobby Frankel, has also been pre-entered.
There are 35 horses from overseas pre-entered for this year’s Breeders’ Cup. The $3 million Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Turf at 1 ½ miles is loaded with international talent. In the Turf, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Susan Magnier have the 4-year-old O’Brien-trained Soldier of Fortune (IRE), winner of last year’s Irish Derby and this year’s Juddmonte Coronation Cup. Soldier of Fortune was recently third in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. The Irish-bred Conduit comes into the Turf off a three-length score in England’s oldest Classic, the St. Leger at Doncaster. The 5-year-old Red Rocks defeated Curlin in the Man o’War for trainer Brian Meehan. Of the Americans, Grand Couturier captured back to back wins in the Sword Dancer and the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic in New York. Red Giant took the Clement Hirsch at Santa Anita last month, defeating runner-up Out of Control (BRZ) by a head. The 9 year-old gelding, Better Talk Now is the oldest horse pre-entered for this year’s Breeders’ Cup. Second to Grand Couturier in the Sword Dancer, the Turf will be Better Talk Now’s 48th career start and his fifth consecutive start in this race. He would join Kona Gold (Sprint, 1998-2002) and Perfect Drift (Classic, 2002-2006) as the only horses to start in five consecutive Breeders’ Cup events.
The $2 million Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile is led by J. Paul Reddam’s Square Eddie, who arrived from Great Britain to win Keeneland’s Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity by four lengths earlier this month. Street Hero, winner of the Norfolk Stakes at Santa Anita, leads the west coast contingent, along with Del Mar Futurity winner Midshipman for trainer Bob Baffert.
Charles Cono’s Stardom Bound is the early favorite for the $2 million Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at 1 1/16 miles on Championship Friday. Trained by Christopher Paasch, Stardom Bound came from off the pace to win the Del Mar Debutante in September and followed that with a convincing
3 ½-length score in the Oak Leaf Stakes at Santa Anita.
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A maximum of 14 starters are allowed in each of the 14 Breeders’ Cup World Championships races, with the exception of the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and the TVG Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, which are limited to 12 starters. Breeders’ Cup Limited has adopted a field selection system to select runners in the event fields are oversubscribed. This system ranks horses in order of preference based on (i) Breeders’ Cup Challenge race winners, (ii) a point system, and (iii) the judgment of a panel of racing experts. The field selection system was implemented as necessary following the taking of pre-entries on Tuesday, Oct. 14, to officially rank the oversubscribed fields. The Racing Secretaries and Directors Panel (the “Panel”) will rank all the horses pre-entered in the oversubscribed races. After pre-entry, any vacancies in the fields will be filled by horses in order of panel preference. There will be up to two (2) also-eligible horses for each Championship race. The also-eligible horses will be designated in accordance with the Panel’s order of preference for each Championship race that is oversubscribed at the time of pre-entry. Scratch time for all Championships races to be contested on both Championship Friday and Championship Saturday will be 7:00 a.m. PT, Friday, Oct. 24.
Tags: Breeders' Cup, breeders' cup pre-entries, Breeders' Cup World Championships, Curlin, duke of marmalade, zenyatta
October 16th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Wow! That distaff is salty! Looking forward to that and hoping Precious Kitten jumps up and surprises the hell out of everybody in the turf mile.
I hope all the Tiznow’s are able to draw in, too.