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The 27th Breeders’ Cup World Championships will be held at the home of the Kentucky Derby on November 5-6, 2010, the seventh time horse racing’s biggest event will be held at Churchill Downs and the first time since the Breeders’ Cup expanded to 2 days of racing in 2007.
Breeders’ Cup chairman William Farish said Churchill Downs’s popularity with both horsemen and horse racing fans played an important part in the decision to return the Breeders’ Cup to the track. Six of the seven biggest crowds in Breeders’ Cup history have been at Churchill Downs.
The 2008 and 2009 Breeders’ Cups will be held at Santa Anita in California.
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By GREG MELIKOV
Santa Anita’s main track has encountered a bumpy road since a synthetic surface replaced dirt last summer. It has become an up-and-down soap opera for a year.
High Hopes: Cushion Track that cost $11 million was installed at Santa Anita before the Oak Tree meeting began 13 months ago in September. The change met the California Horse Racing Board mandate requiring most major tracks to install synthetic surfaces by the end of ‘07 to reduce fatalities among horses. So far it has.
How Sweet It Is: Oak Tree lassoed the 25th Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Aug. 22, 2007 — the first time some races will be staged on a surface other than dirt. Since the richest event in United States racing debuted at Hollywood Park, it’s only fitting a Southern California track will serve as host for the seventh time — Oak Tree’s fourth.
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2007 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and Horse of the Year Curlin ran a half-mile in 52.80 seconds Monday in his first official workout on Santa Anita Park’s synthetic surface with race horse trainer Steve Asmussen watching.
It was the first timed workout for the race horse Curlin since he won the Jockey Club Gold Cup at New York’s Belmont Park on September 27 and became thoroughbred racing’s all-time money winning horse with more than $10 million.
Curlin, who was shipped to the southern California track on September 28, is under consideration to defend his title in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on October 25 at Santa Anita, depending on how he adapts to the new Pro-Ride surface.
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The last big weekend of horse betting racing before the Breeders’ Cup on October 24th and October 25th saw Zarkava win the $5.5 million dollar Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris. He upset a couple of horses that were expected to head to the Breeders’ Cup in Soldier of Fortune and Duke of Marmalade. Youmzain finished second in the race while Soldier of Fortune and Its Gino dead-heated for third and fourth. Duke of Marmalade finished seventh. Zarkava become the first filly to win the Arc since Urban Sea won in 1993. “We had no worries,” said trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre. “She is certainly the best horse I have ever trained.” Zarkava is not expected to race again this year.
Bittel Road Wins Bourbon Stakes - Heads to Breeders Cup
Elsewhere, Bittel Road is looking good heading into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf after winning the Grade 3, $200,000 Woodford Reserve Bourbon Stakes. Bittel Road is now three for three in victories and could be a serious contender in the BC Juvenile Turf. The horse went off at even money in horse betting in the Bourbon and won by a head under Rajiv Maragh, who substituted for John Velazquez who was hurt on Friday.
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By GREG MELIKOV
Bill Allen was asked a quarter-century ago why he was putting up 12 percent of the $3 million purse to supplement his Wild Again in the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Classic at Hollywood Park when the thoroughbred had no chance.
Allen, who organized and led Black Chip Stables, promptly predicted his horse was going to win and he was betting on it, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Wild Again went off at more than 31-1. The son of Icecapade led from the half-mile marker and won by a head in a rough-and-tumble race that prompted a stewards’ inquiry. Runner-up Gate Dancer was disqualified to third for interferring with favored Slew O’ Gold during the final furlong while the latter was advanced to second.
Allen, from Clarendon, TX, has been involved in horse racing for four decades. He is among four Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductees that will be enshrined on Oct. 4.
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Curlin passed Cigar to become the all-time leading money winner in North America horse racing betting on Saturday after he won the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park. Curlin rallied past Wanderin Boy to win by almost a length as the 2-5 horse betting favorite. The victory pushed Curlin past the $10 million dollar mark in earnings to $10.2 million, surpassing Cigar who was just under $10 million.
Curlin took home the $450,000 first place prize and become just the ninth horse to win the Jockey Club Gold Cup two straight years. Curlin was held back early in the race by jockey Robby Albarado because he didn’t want Curlin going too wide. Curlin split horses entering the far turn and was third but still had to go five wide. He was able to get past Wanderin Boy at the eighth pole and came home in 2:01.93. Curlin paid $2.80 to win for the horse betting gamblers that backed him. “I had to sacrifice some position and suck on in to be able to save ground before I got to the turn, and it worked out beautiful for me,” Albarado said. “Curlin put in his patented run around the outside, and I got that same feeling every time.” Wanderin Boy finished second for the second time in three years in the Jockey Club Gold Cup while Merchant Marine finished third.
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By GREG MELIKOV
Curlin will attempt to do what no horse has done since the Jockey Club Gold Cup was inaugurated a year after World War I ended - win as a 3-year-old and repeat at 4.
The son of Smart Strike also is aiming to hit pay dirt for another reason: victory on Saturday would make him No. 1 in all-time earnings. The $450,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup winner’s share of the $750,000 purse would boost his bankroll to $10,246,000, supplanting Cigar’s $9,9796,800.
The Gold Cup has figured prominently in determining Horse of the Year, especially before the Breeders’ Cup began in ‘84. Four Triple Crown winners triumphed: Gallant Fox, ‘30, and Citation, ‘48, as 3-year-olds, and Whirlaway, ‘42, and Affirmed, ‘79, as 4-year-olds.
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With the Breeders’ Cup just a month away, Bodoglife.com has announced it will be taking a financial position against Big Brown winning the country’s richest horse race, the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Having won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, Big Brown is considered the best three-year-old in the country. Expected to face off against 10 rivals, including 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin, Big Brown will be the favorite amongst fans to win the Classic everywhere except Bodoglife.com.
Bodoglife.com believes Big Brown is a vulnerable favorite in the race and is giving horse players the chance to prove otherwise. Place a bet to win on any horse other than Big Brown in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and if your horse wins, you’ll win. If Big Brown wins, you’ll have your bet refunded.
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Horses worth watching, a list of runners compiled by handicapper/turf writer Greg Melikov that should do well or improve significantly next time out, won 10 races, ran second six times and finished third twice since Aug. 2. These thoroughbreds are worth considering no matter your betting choice or preferred racebook.
It’s Tiffin Time: Raced sixth more than 7 1/2 lengths behind after a half-mile, advanced to fourth in stretch, closed with a rush five wide to make up 6 1/4 lengths and finished second beaten three-quarters of a length at 1 1/16 miles on Sept. 13.
Pure Clan: Raced more than 7 1/2 lengths behind in fifth after a half-mile, launched mild midway on far turn, blocked behind a wall of horses nearing quarter pole, angled out in sixth for room at three-sixteenth pole, split rivals in mid-stretch, made up more than 1 1/2 lengths and finished second beaten a half-length at 1 1/8 miles on a yielding turf course Sept. 6.
Storm Heat: Broke 10th and last, advanced to seventh more than seven lengths behind after a half-mile, encountered traffic in stretch…
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Curlin will get his chance to become thoroughbred racing’s richest horse when he races in the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park in New York on September 27.
The 2007 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and Horse of the Year, fresh from a victory in the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga in upstate New York, has earned $9,796,800 with 10 wins in 13 career starts. The record of $9,999,815 is held by Cigar.
Curlin’s next start was announced Thursday by Stonestreet Stables, owned by Jess Jackson.
Belmont Park’s Jockey Club Gold Cup has a winner’s purse of $450,000. The 4-year-old Curlin won last year’s edition and would be the first to win the race in consecutive years since Skip Away in 1996-97.
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