Breeders' Cup- Winners and Losers

When thinking about what to write my Breeders' Cup recap, I thought this would be the best thing to do. So here are the winners and losers for the 2010 Breeders' Cup.

Winner: Al Stall and Garrett Gomez- Stall is becoming a star trainer. Not only did he train BC Classic winner Blame, but he has up and coming Apart (I'm going ahead and saying is the favorite for next year's Classic) and one of the early favorites for next year's Oaks in Aide. Gomez who was booted from Lookin at Lucky earlier this year not only beats his former mount, but the great Zenyatta. Not the first time he's done this, he could not take off Hard Spun in the 2007 Belmont only to watch his former mount Rags to Riches win. The very next race he rode Any Given Saturday to win over Hard Spun (with his regular rider Mario Pino back in the irons) and Curlin in the Haskell.

Winner: Zenyatta- In defeat she ran possibly her greatest race ever. Not to take away anything from Blame, but theres a reason why she and Rachel Alexandra will go down as two of the greatest fillies of all time on dirt and synthetic. It's a shame the way her winning streak ended, but she ran an awesome race on a track that was playing towards those near the front all day. As I said before I like Z, but don't love her. However, I would have loved to see her pull out and show everyone that she is the greatest filly/mare of all time.

Loser: Mine That Bird- It's time for him to retire, he threw yet another clunker. Maybe he can star in a movie as himself for his next start. I'll be the first in line to not go see it. What a flukey horse.

Winners: Kris S. and Danzig- What banner day for these two late great sires. First they team up when War Chant's (By Danzig out of a Kris S. mare) son Chamberlain Bridge won the Turf Sprint and then Arch's (Kris S. out of a Danzig mare) Blame wins the Classic, PLUS Kris S.' granddaughter Zenyatta runs second. A Danzig grandaughter Acoma (ironicly a 1/2 sister to Arch) ran fifth in the Ladies Classic.

Loser: D. Wayne Lukas- Why was Mine That Bird in the Mile? That is all.

Winner and Loser: Todd Pletcher- Dispite his wins with Pluck, More Than Real and Uncle Mo, he had some scrutney this Breeders' Cup as well. His two Aces' in the Hole, Life at Ten and Quality Road both ran poorly. Quality Road just of his own undoing, but Life at Ten should not have in the Ladies Classic. She did not warm up well and ran last all the way around. It was learned that she had tied up, but will be okay.

Winner: More Than Ready, War Chant, Pleasantly Perfect and Arch- More Than Ready swept both the Juvenile Turf races, add in his success in Australia he is becoming the premier turf sire in the US. Not bad for a horse who never ran on the grass in his life. As for Arch of course he had Blame winning, but he also got a win as a broodmare sire with Uncle Mo. War Chant and Pleasanly Perfect joined the group to win a BC race then sire a BC winner. War Chant went one step further, his son Chamberlain Bridge joined his dad and grandma Hollywood Wildcat as the third three generation BC winners (Personal Ensign, My Flag and Storm Flag Flying and Unbridled, Unbridled's Song and Unbridled Elaine/Unriveled Belle being the other two).

Loser: Europe- Yes they got two wins in the Mile with Goldikova and the Turf with Dangerous Midge, but the rest of their horses ran poorly.

Winner: Goldikova- She did something that Lure could not, win 3 in a row. I haven't watched the replay yet (I missed the race due to being at work, but was able to see the last half mile of the Classic on my phone), so I can't comment much on her until I watch the race. I will have a longer post on her and Zenyatta in the upcoming weeks.

Winner: New blood- To be more excat Bobby Flay and Kevin Plank. Both of them had their success in different careers (restraunts and Food Network for Flay, Under Armor for Plank). They got their first wins in the BC with More Than Real and Shared Account, both of them upsets with the favorites finishing in second in each race.

Winner: Graham Motion and Diane Alvarado- After being so close for three years in row with Film Maker, Motion finally gets a win in the F/M Turf in with Shared Account. Alvarado becomes the third female trainer to win a BC race with Eldaafer in the Marathon.

Loser: California- With the exception of Z, Blind Luck and Dakota Phone; they did horrible this year. They should be able to regroup and come back with a vengence once SA finishes it's conversion back to dirt.

Loser: Javier Castallano and Calvin Borel aka the Jockey Fight- Really? Really? If you want to fight do in the jocks room. Not in the winners circle while the winning connections where trying to celebrate. I hope the both of them get days especially to the person who threw the first punch (who ever that was, I heard it was Castallano, but replays are inconclusive).

Winner and Loser: Churchill- Attendence was up both days, of course that was because of going Prime Time and Zenyatta. However, the first two races where marred by the breakdown and subquent euthanzion of Rough Sailing in the Juvenile Turf and Atta Boy Roy being pulled up in the Sprint. That somewhat marred my enthusisim for the rest of the day.

So that's it! I will be taking the next days off, but the blog will be returning back to normal with Weekend Previews on Friday. Until then!