• REGISTER NOW!! Why? Because you can't do much without having been registered!

    At the moment you have limited access to view all discussions - and most importantly, you haven't joined our community. What are you waiting for? Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join Join Talking Horses here!

The 2025 Breeders' Cup

Slim said:
It's a f$%^ing kip. The meeting shouldn't be held there.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't dispute either statement.

But it will be run there and we know what it's like.

I remember Alex Bird coming back from the USA after doing his dough on Dancing Brave moaning about the track.

I lost respect for him (not that he'd care) as he surely knew what the track (Santa Anita IIRC) was like before he bet.

Del Mar is a tight track and the turf will be like a road - we adapt accordingly.

Which I'm sure you know anyway - I'm just taking the opportunity to reiterate the points.
 
Tom Foolery said:
Seen plenty of people saying Gstaad has no chance now because of the draw but Henri Matisse won the same race from the same draw last year and he was no world beater.

Same goes for Precise really but when you are that much better than the field you would still expect her to win.
Click to expand...
Precise you may be right about. I have been thinking of taking Gstaad on myself, seeing that he's been beaten in his last 3 races. His draw reinforces that. I shall be having a good look at this race now.
 
Robicheaux said:
Precise you may be right about. I have been thinking of taking Gstaad on myself, seeing that he's been beaten in his last 3 races. His draw reinforces that. I shall be having a good look at this race now.
Click to expand...
He has been beaten by three very good horses though , far better than anything that he is up against on Friday . He even had Wise Approach behind him in France who then went and won the middle park despite giving away a good 4 or 5 lengths at the start of the race .
 
In the same race Journalism is on the Californian Vet's list as having had his joint injected (possibly cortisone or hyarulonic acid) on 17th October. I know they regularly inject over there but I thought I'd mention it.

IMG_9031.jpg
 
With Sovereignty fighting a fever and Journalism rumoured to have been given an injection into a joint one day before the cut-off for the 14-day withdrawal rule, if I thought Sierra Leone/Fierceness dutched at 2/1 (both 5/1 currently) the pair was fair before today's news, I see no reason to change my mind.

Sovereignty is yet to face an older horse and when Journalism did he found Fierceness too good for him in the Pacific Classic.

Maybe tough races caught up with Journalism there - or maybe these 3yos aren't quite all they're cracked up to be.

And now they have the above to contend with.

Fierceness isn't the most consistent, but he's a banging good horse on his day.

And, granted a strong pace, Sierra Leone is an even better one.

Whether Sovereignty runs or not, this is going to be a cracking Classic.
 
Last edited:
jinnyj said:
Just remember what a very tight track Del Mar is plus the turf will be quicker than most. Any horse that hasn't run around a bend before could be in trouble likewise anything that's not well balanced (big galumping long striding horses are not going to be at home here). Plus factor in those draws too.
Click to expand...
The Lion In Winter will surely find it hard going.
 
LUKE said:
The Lion In Winter will surely find it hard going.
Click to expand...
I'm always going to worry about those foot issues!

I worked at Del Mar back in the day (I think it was '92) and loved the place as it's a fun relaxed place to work. All the horses used to be shipped down there for three months in the summer from Santa Anita and Hollywood Park and we all moved down there too renting places (wasn't cheap as you still had to pay for your place up in LA!) but it was a fun time and right on the beach so after work we'd head down there. Bing Crosby was one of the Founding members of the race track.

Actually another little Del Mar story. I used to gallop a big fat backward 2yo colt called Del Mar Dennis and he was so fat and slow that the gate staff at the track used to laugh at me as I kicked him around the track trying to raise a canter. They used to shout "Pork Chop" at him. Anyway I told them he was just an ugly ducking who would have the last laugh. I always felt he had something even in the early days. I did his first piece of fast work and suddenly the penny dropped and he realised that he could run - and run fast. He ended up becoming the only horse to win the San Bernadino Handicap three times and his earnings were over $1m. Really loved that little Pork Chop and he ended up being one of the best horses I have ridden.

Del Mar Dennis - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
I lived close to the track in the early to mid nineties* and was a regular racegoer there. I used to love going, regardless of the quality or otherwise of the racecourse itself.

Unlike GB, you could bring a picnic box and beach chairs with you, without the risk of being frisked humiliatingly for an illegal ham sandwich at the entrance. Then you'd set out your spread in front of the stands, tell the kids to f*** off to the playground/carnival and come back after the finish of the second last race. By then you'd have finished off the slab of Corona you'd brought and most of the quails eggs too, then our teetotal buddy Janis would load us up in the back of her seven seater for the sing-song home along the Del Dios freeway, the red setting sun in the rear view mirror. Times.

I turned down the offer of an (almost) gratis trip to the BC this weekend because I have vowed not to travel there while the tangerine Nazi is on the throne.

(*JinnyJ - it was me that you generously bought the pitcher of margueritas for in Hernado's Hideaway that night. Nice try)
 
an capall said:
Unlike GB, you could bring a picnic box and beach chairs with you,
Click to expand...
Many's the time I've been upset at not being able to bring a beach chair onto a British racecourse in November, lack of an actual beach at said venue notwithstanding.

I'm getting a tad tired of all these "topper" Del Mar stories - not least because they're not about me - but if you can't beat 'em....

It's a little-known fact that I am the current owner of Del Mar racecourse, I also covertly own the favourites for 13 of the 14 BC races, the exception being Sovereignty, but that's ok as no one is aware of the Covidesque "you can't run if you've had a temperature in the last month" rule I'm busy having my attorney, Wal S.W. Orth, draft as we speak.

Sadly, I won't be there on Friday or Saturday as the forecast weather temperature currently falls half a degree outside my optimum preferred range plus I'm keen to avail myself of a one-off two-for-one offer at my local Tesco back here in Blighty.

I'm currently oiling and polishing my data model which will be good to go for the 2yo banquet that opens proceedings two days hence.

To horse!
 
Returning to sanity (or what passes for sanity with me) I am reading on social media all manner of wailing over the prospect of Journalism retiring to stud at the end of this season.

Plus bizarre accusations connections ran away from competition with him.

It was Sovereignty who swerved the Preakness, not Journalism, and it was Sovereignty who swerved the Haskell too.

Yes, Journalism bypassed the Travers - but that was to take on older horses in the Pacific Classic eight days later.
 
Were you really there, AC? That's wild! I might have got up to all sorts of shenanigans had I known :LOL:
 
Last edited:
Truncheon said:
Sovereignty is out of the Breeders Cup Classic
Click to expand...
It's a shame from a purist perspective as it becomes a lesser race, but it's actually still a cracking contest.

And if you've happened to take Sovereignty on ante-post - err, dutching "The Beast From The East" (Fierceness) and Sierra Leone, for example - you're certainly better placed to put a brave face on it.
 
an capall said:
I turned down the offer of an (almost) gratis trip to the BC this weekend because I have vowed not to travel there while the tangerine Nazi is on the throne.
Click to expand...

Yes, we've been trying to plan a return trip to the States to catch up ageing family before it's too late but we're not prepared to do so while Netanyahu's buddy Orangeyahoo is in charge.
 
Exclusive to Talking Horses: Your Favourite Uncle Smart Arse's Data Model's Gigantically-Opinionated 100% Book Tissue On Tomorrow Night's Five Breeders' Cup Juvenile Contests (Nota Bene: YFUSA has a love-hate relationship with his USA Data Model. Even though he programmed it himself with all his preferred coefficients, he doesn't always agree with it, but the logical little bastard has an annoying habit of having the last laugh more often than not)....

9.45: 4/6 True Love, 4/1 Brussels & Schwarzenegger, FORGET THE REST.

10.25: 6/4 each of two Explora and Tommy Joe, 4/1 Bottle Of Rouge, FORGET THE REST.

11.05: 1/4 Precise, 4/1 Imaginationthelady, FORGET THE REST.

11.45: 1/4 Ted Noffey, 4/1 Brant, FORGET THE REST.

12.25: 1/4 Gstaad, 4/1 Outfielder, FORGET THE REST.

Make of that what you will - enjoy!
 
Is there a site for the breeders cup equivalent official ratings ??
Not on racing post ???

Very very new to the Breeders cup, watched last year and loved it.
Now want to take it a bit more seriously.

Thank you
 
Ratings have their uses (though only as a base to start from) but the most useful ratings are those that least impact the market because the fewest people see them.

The local ratings will impact the market and there will be children running around USA playgrounds who've heard of Beyer ratings etc.

If you were asking for my advice (which tbf you aren't) I'd say use the form databases that are available, reach your own conclusions on numbers and probabilities, then compare those with what the betting markets are offering, both now and approaching post time.

Good luck and enjoy!
 
Less than nine hours until the first BC25 race and if you're not ALL by now in a state of EXTREME excitement the angels will WEEP for you!
 

Recent Blog Posts

Back
Top