Breeders' Cup 2018 profiles: Matt Brocklebank looks at the star names in the home team
Matt Brocklebank profiles some of the star names among the home team heading for the 35th Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs this weekend.
Newspaperofrecord - Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf
Trainer: Chad Brown
Sky Bet odds: 6/4
Chad Brown winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf has become a recurring theme.
Granted, he went five years without landing it after taking out the inaugural running with Maram in 2008, but he’s won three of the last four.
The pick of the bunch was 2014 scorer Lady Eli, who went on to become a true darling of American racing with four subsequent top-class victories, so it’s clearly significant that comparisons have been made between her and the new sensation, Newspaperofrecord.
Both won a Maiden Special Weight first time out at Saratoga in August and both followed up in the Grade Two Miss Grillo Stakes at Belmont at the end of September, Lady Eli by three lengths and Newspaperofrecord by six and a half.
The latter, bought out of Tattersalls Book 1 for 200,000 guineas last October, represents a pedigree that has had a strong year already, Latrobe winning the Irish Derby and Listed scorer Classical Times being snapped up by Juddmonte ahead of a visit to Frankel.
Newspaperofrecord has tons of natural speed, a huge engine, and seemingly a massive chance of following in the hoofprints of her illustrious stablemates.
Newspaperofrecord with @iradortiz cruise to victory in the (G2) Miss Grillo Stakes at #BelmontPark! pic.twitter.com/ZuT1jsxrH6
— NYRA (@TheNYRA) September 30, 2018
Bellafina - Juvenile Fillies
Trainer: Simon Callaghan
Sky Bet: 5/2
Three victories, two Group Ones and an aggregate winning distance of 15 lengths all adds up to Bellafina topping the market for the big dirt race for two-year-old fillies.
You get the impression that were she trained by Bob Baffert then her price would have completely collapsed already, but that’s not to take anything away from Simon Callaghan.
He was in a similar position with Moonshine Memories 12 months ago and the filly didn’t quite come up to scratch at Del Mar just down from his west coast barn, while shipping across country to Kentucky this year will obviously pose a new challenge this time around.
Bellafina's form on the west side is certainly strong enough, having beaten up Baffert’s subsequent Rags To Riches winner Mother Mother in the Debutante Stakes last month, but there’s a whole host of local potential to take on including the Thomas Amoss-trained Serengeti Empress, whose second outing yielded a 19 and a half-length victory in the Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill.
Abel Tasman - Breeders' Cup Distaff
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Sky Bet: 3/1
Two out of two for Simon Callaghan as a juvenile, Abel Tasman switched barns to that of Bob Baffert and, after a disappointing start, it didn't take long for her to get back on the road to stardom.
The fitting of blinkers for the first time did the trick in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill last May and she added two more top-level triumphs to her record before running second in the Cotillion and last year's Distaff at Del Mar, when beaten half a length by Forever Unbridled.
This season has seen her return to her Jekyll and Hyde ways, bombing out on comeback before two summer successes in Grade Ones, then reverting to type with a very flat effort in the Zenyatta Stakes when last seen.
It was decided there that she'd be trained up to the Distaff without another spin, so it's hardly the ideal preparation going into a championship race but Baffert knows the filly inside out and there were reports of a bug in the yard around the time of her Santa Anita flop.
History shows shipping across country won't pose any problems, while plenty of punters are bound to put faith in the Hall of Fame trainer having his ace female on song come the big night.
The Distaff remains an elusive prize for Baffert and he'll be keen to rectify that glaring omission. In Abel Tasman he has one of the most talented fillies on dirt, but which one will turn up this weekend?
Game Winner - Breeders' Cup Juvenile
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Sky Bet: 13/8
With 14 Breeders' Cup winners already on the resume, it's no surprise that Bob Baffert dominates a feature such as this and Game Winner could quite conceivably be on the Triple Crown trail early next year.
He's chewed up and spat out all before him on the west coast, winning over six and seven furlongs at Del Mar and the extended mile at Santa Anita last time out in the American Pharoah Stakes.
A huge, heavy-topped dirt performer who looks certain to progress with racing, it's testament to Baffert's brilliance that the son of Candy Ride goes into the Juvenile unbeaten and while this race is likely to be billed as a match between Game Winner and Chad Brown's Complexity, the former's greater experience looks to sway things in his favour with little between them on the bare figures.
Sistercharlie - Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf
Trainer: Chad Brown
Sky Bet: 3/1
From double-Baffert back to Brown and, unsurprisingly given his record in recent seasons, it's a turf horse in the spotlight when it comes to the New Yorker.
Brown has won the Filly & Mare Turf three times in the last six years and has another strong hand, in terms of both quality and quantity, heading to Churchill this year.
The betting is dominated by the Europeans, with Wild Illusion looking a standout candidate for Godolphin, but Sistercharlie - trained in France at two and three - has raised her form to another level as a four-year-old with Grade One scores at Keeneland, Saratoga and Arlington Park.
On the face of it, they aren't as deep as the races Wild Illusion has been winning at Goodwood and Longchamp, but she's been doing her best work at the finish and promises to be perfectly suited by a more demanding distance stepping up to 1m3f for the first time this weekend.
The half-length Beverly D victory over Fourstar Crook in August has been given a boost, with the second winning the Flower Bowl at Belmont, so perhaps the biggest issue for Sistercharlie could be the prospect of more rain in Kentucky as she's obviously thrived on quick turf this year.
She's coming for @ChurchillDowns. Take a look at this top #BC18 contender...
— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) October 27, 2018
Sistercharlie, @MakersMark Filly & Mare Turf → https://t.co/vBQn2bKNGp
📸: @EclipseSports pic.twitter.com/U1xgA72BIg
City Of Light - Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile
Trainer: Michael McCarthy
Sky Bet: 5/2
City Of Light was given the option of the Classic as well as the Dirt Mile and, having beaten Accelerate at Oaklawn back in April, few could begrudge Mick McCarthy a shot at the big one had that been the decision.
McCarthy, formerly assistant to the legendary Todd Pletcher, only started saddling his own runners in January 2014 and his five scheduled starters this weekend are mainly outsiders. However, in City Of Light he looks to have an outstanding chance of breaking into the big-time himself, especially as the Dirt Mile has been nominated as the first preference.
He's won three of his six completed starts, ranging from seven to nine furlongs, and dropped back to the shorter distance for his prep run at Saratoga at the end of August.
He put in a highly creditable effort to finish second behind solid Sprint hope Whitmore in the Forego there, sticking to his task admirably in defeat.
Yet to race at a mile, City Of Light's win over Accelerate earlier this year came over nine furlongs and he looks certain to be suited by the distance, while his prominent racing style should ensure he stays out of trouble, something this race has a habit of producing no matter where it's held.
Imperial Hint - Breeders’ Cup Sprint
Trainer: Luis Carvajal Jr
Sky Bet: 11/8
Heaven knows what price Imperial Hint would be if his Churchill record was any good.
The speedball has raced under the Twin Spires on two occasions in the past and hasn't done better than sixth.
Otherwise, the five-year-old's record stands up to the closest scrutiny and he looks to have improved again this time around, having just missed out when collared by Roy H in the closing stages of last year's Sprint at Del Mar.
He's 4-5 since then and he's had the perfect prep with odds-on wins at Saratoga and in the Vosburgh at Belmont last month.
Roy H is seemingly circling back to his peak form just in time for a repeat bid but it appears he'll face up to a stronger Imperial Hint and on the face of it this looks like a rematch to really savour.
McKinzie - Breeders’ Cup Classic
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Sky Bet: 5/1
"If you had asked me on January 1, I would have told you we were going to win the Kentucky Derby with that horse." - Bob Baffert on McKinzie, 23/09/18.
Three from three as a two-year-old, McKinzie was the buzz horse for the Triple Crown long before stablemate Justify came along to blow the rest out of the water this year.
McKinzie's comeback was delayed slightly and having eventually returned in the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita in May, he was only awarded the race after passing the post second following a protracted duel with the subsequently disappointing Bolt D'Oro.
He picked up an injury that day and missed the bulk of the campaign but Baffert brought him back fit and ready with a taking success in the Pennsylvania Derby towards the end of September.
That was a huge effort following such a layoff and it's no surprise to see him heading for the Classic as the shortest-priced three-year-old and second only to thriving five-year-old Accelerate in the antepost market.
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