UNDER THE BIG TENT OF THE BREEDERS CUP CLASSIC: LET’S LOOK AT SOME SIDE SHOWS
10-28-2016
BY DAN MASON
TWITTER @DANMASONSPORTS
EMAIL: danmasonsports@aol.com
FIRST LET ME SAY I’M EXCITED TO BE JOING THE TEAM AT HRRN. I AM A PROUD HORSE OWNER FOR OVER 30 YEARS, A FORMER SMALL FARM OWNER IN MARYLAND, A RADIO BROADCASTER BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY A DIE HARD RACING FAN….BEEN GOING TO THE TRACK SINCE I WAS 4 YEARS OLD. I WAS THE KID WHO USED TO FOLLOW BETTORS AROUND AND PICK UP HUNDEREDS OF TICKETS OFF THE GROUND AND HEAD TO THE TOP OF THE STANDS TO CHECK THEM AGAINST MY PROGRAM ONE BY ONE. SO BEING IN THE HOUSE AT HRRN WITH ALL OF YOU FEELS LIKE HOME TO ME.
AS WE APPROACH THE CLASSIC, LET’S STEP BACK A MOMENT AND LOOK AT THE RACE AS A BIG TENT FOR NOW. WE ARE STILL A WEEK OUT. IT ISN’T TIME TO FOCUS ON X’S AND O’S. WE’LL GET TO THAT LATER WITH THE DRAW COME. FOR NOW, LET’S JUST TAKE A LOOK AT THE STORIES INSIDE THE TENT. I FOUND SIX. FOUR BIG ONES AND TWO SMALLER ONES.
1. CALIFORNIA CHROME IS KING. WE MUST GIVE HIM HIS DUE. HE’S THE LEADING MONEY EARNER IN THE HISTORY OF THE SPORT. AT $13.4 MILLION, NO ONE IS WITHIN A FEW MILLION. CHROME HAS BEATEN SOME OF THE BEST HORSES IN THE WORLD WITH HIS WIN IN DUBAI. HE IS A PROVEN 5-YEAR-OLD AND DOES THIS OVER AND OVER. IF HE COULD TALK, I COULD HEAR HIM SAYING, “BRING EM ON.” RACING WITH TOTAL CONFIDENCE, HE IS IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT. HOWEVER, IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN SPORTS, UPSETS DO HAPPEN, IN AND OUT OF RACING. NOTHING IS A LOCK. REMEMBER MIRACLE ON ICE IN 1980, USA 4..USSR 3. THEN THERE WAS BUSTER DOUGLAS IN 1990, KNOCKING OUT THE KING OF BOXING AT THE TIME MIKE TYSON BY TKO IN THE 10TH ROUND. AND WHO COULD EVER FORGET ONE PASSIONATE JIM VALVANO STREAKING DOWN THE FLOOR AS NC STATE UPSET WHAT APPEARED TO BE AN UNBEATABLE HOUSTON TEAM LED BY HAKEEM OLAJUWON. NOTHING IS A LOCK.
2.ARROGATE NO DOUBT RAN AN ELECTRIFYING TRAVERS THAT STUNNED THE SARATOGA CROWD AS HE ROMPED HOME BY 13 LENGTHS ON A TOUGH TRACK NICKNAMED “THE GRAVEYARD OF CHAMPIONS.” THAT GOES ALL THE WAY BACK TO 1930 WHEN JIM DANDY AT 100-1 DEFEATED GALLANT FOX, A TRIPLE CROWN WINNER. SANTA ANITA, HOWEVER, IS KNOWN AS A SPEED TRACK AND NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS ARROGRATE WILL GO TO THE FRONT. THAT’S HIS FASTBALL. IF ARROGATE REPEATS THAT BRILLIANT PERFORMACE WE SAW IN THE TRAVERS, WE WILL HAVE WITNESSED SOMETHING SPECIAL….SOMETHING VERY SPECIAL. AT THAT POINT, ARROGATE WOULD BE IN A CLASS ALL OF HIS OWN.
3.FROSTED CAN NEVER BE COUNTED OUT OF ANY RACE, ESPECIALLY IF A SPEED DUAL BREAKS OUT ON THE FRONT WITH ARROGRATE. SHOULD THAT HAPPEN, FROSTED WILL BE 5 OR 6 LENGTHS OFF THE LEADERS DOWN THE BACK SIDE PATIENTLY WAITING HIS OPENING FOR THE STRETCH DRIVE. HE IS AN EXPERIENCED RACE HORSE WITH NEARLY 4 MILLION IN EARNINGS RACING WITH THE BEST OF THEM.
4.MELATONIN HAS AN BEEN ON AN AMAZING JOURNEY THAT READS LIKE A STORY BOOK. IF IT WEREN’T FOR PERSEVERACE, A BIG HEART AND PROBABLY AN ALL-STAR VET TEAM, HE WOULD NOT BE HERE. SHORTLY AFTER HIS MAIDEN WIN IN 2014, MELATONIN CONTRACTED THE DISEASE EQUINE PROTOZOL MYELEONCEPALITIS (EPM) RESULTING IN A SERIOUS NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER. STATISTICS AT PUDUE UNIVERSITY SHOW THAT ONLY 25% OF HORSES EVER RETURN TO THEIR ORIGINAL FUNCTION BUT MELATONIN HAS BEATEN THE ODDS. IF YOU ARE A HORSE RACING FAN AND YOU WATCH HIS RACE IN THE GOLD CUP LAST JUNE, YOU WANT TO START HIS OWN FACEBOOK FACE AND RECRUIT THOUSANDS OF FANS FOR HIM. NOW HE RUNS THE BIGGEST RACE OF HIS LIFE. WHETHER HE WINS OR NOT..IT DOESN’T MATTER TO ME. I’M BUYING A TICKET FOR SENTIMENTAL REASONS.
5.NOW TO A FEW OF THE SMALLER STAGES. IT IS INTRIGUNG TO ME HOW EUROPEAN HORSES CARRY WEIGHTS OF 133 POUNDS AS AN EVERYDAY FACT OF LIFE. THAT IS WHAT FOUND CARRIED AS THE POST TIME FAVORITE IN THE DARLEY YORKSHIRE OAKS, A GROUP 1 RACE. I’VE NEVER BEEN A BIG WEIGHT HANDICAPPER, BUT IF FOUND RUNS IN THE CLASSIC, SHE GOES AT 123 POUNDS. IN MY OPINION, CARRYING 10 POUNDS LESS IS WHAT YOU’D CALL A MATERIAL CHANGE. IT IS HARD TO IMAGINE SHE’D WIN WITH HER GRASS PEDIGREE BUT A EUROPEAN HORSE DID JUST THAT IN THE 1993 CLASSIC WHEN ARCANGUES CAME HOME ON THE SANTA ANITA DIRT AT ODDS OF 133-1.
6.FINALLY, THE LAST POINT ON THE WAY OUT. SOMETHING TO KEEP IN MY THIS WEEK: THE CLASSIC HAS BEEN RUN AT SANTA ANITA 8 TIMES. OF THOSE RACES, ONLY ONE TIME HAS THE POST TIME FAVORITE REACHED THE WINNER’S CIRCLE. FIVE OF THE OTHER VICTORS CAME IN AT 9-1 OR HIGHER. JUST SAYIN.