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The Guardian - UK
Sport
Greg Wood

Gun Runner wins Breeders' Cup Classic 2017: day two – as it happened

Gun Runner, right, ridden by Florent Geroux, defeats Collected, left.
Gun Runner, right, ridden by Florent Geroux, defeats Collected, left. Photograph: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

Report from Del Mar:

That was a fine race to round off a fine meeting at Del Mar, which has handled the Breeders’ Cup really well. So well, in fact, that it would be great to see the Cup return here in the future.

I hope you enjoyed the action and found a winner or two more than I did. Thanks again for joining me, and I hope we can do it all again in Kentucky in 12 months’ time. This is Greg Wood, signing off at Del Mar.

Arrogate eventually finished in a dead-heat for fifth place. Gun Runner was a very narrow second favourite, returning $6.80 to a $2 stake.

A brilliant duel between Gun Runner and Collected, who had the race between themselves by the time the left the back, although West Coast ran on well in the stretch to finish third.

Gun Runner had been on the lead from the off, and Collected was the first to crack about halfway down the stretch, allowing Gun Runner to stay on to win by two-and-a-quarter lengths.

Arrogate, meanwhile, was very disappointing on his final start. He was slowly away from stall one and never threatened to return to the form which won him this race 12 months ago.

Mike Smith, his jockey, suggested afterwards that the Del Mar surface may have played a role in the defeat, but this was essentially a poorer version of the form that Arrogate has been showing since he returned to action in the summer after his big win in Dubai.

CLASSIC RESULT: 1. Gun Runner

2. Collected 3. West Coast 4. War Story

Now a duel between Gun Runner and Collected

Collected and West Coast bang there, turning in now.

Gun Runner leads, Churchill fourth heading into the back. Arrogate well back.

OFF AND RUNNING IN THE CLASSIC!

Finally, they are at the gate.

Both Arrogate and Gun Runner are now showing as 2-1 chances on the PMU, but there is slightly more money riding on Arrogate according to the main board.

A premature post that last one, hit the wrong button. In fact, they have yet to reach the stalls even though the race is already nearly 10 minutes late.

Any second now ...

One minute to post time, and it promises to be a classic Classic ...

The fanfare sounds and here they come, led by Arrogate who will start from stall one.

And now a Del Mar tradition - the singing of Where The Turf Meets The Surf (originally recorded, I think, by Bing Crosby, whose role in the founding of Del Mar got a mention what seems like days ago now).

Gun Runner was the narrow morning-line favourite, but Arrogate is currently heading the PMU market for the Classic at 2-1 with Gun Runner showing at 5-2. West Coast is 4-1, Collected is a 6-1 chance and Churchill is 17-1 to give Aidan O’Brien what would be one of the most satisfying wins of his career after near misses with Giant’s Causeway, Declaration Of War and Henrythenavigator and the awful loss of George Washington at Monmouth.

And finally the three-year-old West Coast, winning the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx:

Here’s Collected winning the Pacific Classic last time out with Arrogate in second:

The other three members of what is seen as the “big four” for this race over here are Gun Runner - the runner-up to Arrogate in Dubai - and two more runners from the Bob Baffert stable, West Coast and Collected.

Here’s Gun Runner winning the Woodward last time out:

This will be the last race of Arrogate’s career, so here’s a chance to relive his success in the Dubai World Cup back in March, which ranks as one of the most astonishing I’ve seen live. I’ve just watched it again and I still can’t quite believe it.

A big moment for Mickael Barzalona, who showed no hint of his Breeders’ Cup inexperience as he steered Talismanic to an impressive success at 14-1. Europe now has three winners on the board and Churchill’s run in the Classic is coming up next.

Joe Osborne is down on the podium for the second time today to pick up a prize for Godolphin. Big day for the royal blue.

Here’s the replay:

British and Irish stables are already on the board at this year’s Breeders’ Cup and now France has a winner too as Talismanic - trained by Andre Fabre for Godolphin - gives the master trainer the fifth Breeders’ Cup winner of his career.

Beach Patrol made the first move leaving the home turn and it looked like being a winning one until Mickael Barzalona conjured a storming finish from the 14-1 chance Talismanic. Highland Reel, who won from the front last year, was a close-up third for much of the race and could only stay on to maintain his third place to the line.

TURF RESULT: 1. Talismanic

2. Beach Patrol, 3. Highland Reel.

Two minutes to post time for the Turf, Highland Reel is the 6-5 favourite.

Beach Patrol, meanwhile, is the shortest price of the US-trained runners at 9-2. This is his win in the Joe Hirsh Classic at Belmont Park:

Two races left at Breeders’ Cup 2017, and it’s the two biggest purses of the meeting. First up, the $4m Turf, sadly sans Ulysses but with Andre Fabre’s Talismanic backing up the Aidan O’Brien team of Highland Reel, last year’s winner, Cliffs Of Moher and Seventh Heaven, and Decorated Knight attempting to go out on a high for Roger Charlton.

For me, Charlton is one of the smartest and shrewdest trainers in the business, and it would be a fine result if he could get a Breeders’ Cup winner onto his record. Here’s Decorated Knight’s win at a big price in the Irish Champion Stakes:

Thanks to everyone reading, following and tweeting by the way: this is most-read item on Sport this evening!

The replay of the Juvenile is here:

All was going well for U S Navy Flag through the first part of the race, as Ryan Moore got him out quickly after a brief delay when Golden Dragon burst out of the stalls. Moore fired him up to the lead alongside Solomini going out into the back stretch and he was still there and travelling well enough until the turn for home, but he faded rapidly as Good Magic and Jose Ortiz pressed on for the wire.

Good Magic surged past Solomini at the top of the stretch, but the runner-up stayed on to beat Bolt D’Oro into third with the field well strung out. U S Navy Flag came home in his own time.

JUVENILE RESULT: 1. Good Magic

2. Solomini, 3. Bolt D’Oro

Two minutes to post, U S Navy Flag’s fate may well be decided within a second of the start as he will need to get out quickly from stall one. They are approaching the gates.

Bolt D’Oro is 4-5 for the Juvenile, while U S Navy Flag is a 6-1 chance. There is also plenty of support for Free Drop Billy, the winner of the Grade One Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity:

William Buick talks to At The Races after Ribchester’s last race ended in defeat:

Mark Casse is in the interview room to talk about World Approval:

You can’t train greatness. You can just kind of make sure that you don’t get in the way.

Coming up next on the card here: the Juvenile, when Aidan O’Brien will attempt to repeat his win in the same race with Johannesburg in 2001. That was his first winner at the Breeders’ Cup, and remains his only success at the meeting off the turf (if you don’t count the Marathon with Man Of Iron in 2009, which was on the Pro-Ride at Santa Anita in any case).

On his turf rating having won the Dewhurst Stakes and the Middle Park in recent weeks, Johannesburg has a decent chance. First time up on dirt, though, is another thing entirely, and Bolt D’Oro, who is trained by Mick Ruis, looks a very strong opponent. Here he is winning the FrontRunner at Santa Anita:

World Approval is the fourth foal out of his dam Win Approval to earn $1m in prize money. Good genes.

World Approval beats off the European challenge under John Velazquez, and Mark Casse’s five-year-old was a ready and worthy winner.

Ribchester was never dangerous after heading into the first turn towards the rear of the field, though he did make some late ground to finish fifth. Roly Poly and Ryan Moore raced even further back in the early stages, but Aidan O’Brien’s second-string, Lancaster Bomber, ran a brave race to finish second without threatening to lay a glove on the winner.

Suedois also ran well to finish fourth. Here’s the race replay:

MILE RESULT: 1. World Approval

2. Lancaster Bomber 3. Blackjackcat

Suedois also goes in the Mile for David O’Meara, and his groom has just won the best-turned out award. Home Of The Brave, Lancaster Bomber, Zelzal and Karar complete a huge team from across the pond. My each-way tip Midnight Storm, incidentally, is 23-1 on the PMU, so the locals fancy it only marginally more than the British bookies do.

Mark Casse’s World Approval is the PMU favourite for the Mile with about a quarter of a hour to go before the stalls crash open. Ribchester, perhaps as a result of the Godolphin/Buick success in the Filly & Mare Turf, is a 4-1 chance, which looks a bit skinny given his draw in stall 10, while Roly Poly, who is even wider in 12, is 7-1.

Here’s World Approval winning the Woodbine Mile earlier this year:

Splendid scenes as connections of Roy H cheer him home in the Sprint.

If Breeders’ Cup winners are like buses (which, admittedly, they probably aren’t) then Buick could be looking forward to a quickfire double in the Mile, the next race here, in which he will partner Richard Fahey’s Ribchester in the final race of his career.

Drefong is the fifth straight beaten favourite on today’s Breeder’s Cup card - in fact, the fifth to fail to even make the frame - but Roy H had plenty of supporters here at around 9-2.

SPRINT RESULT: 1. Roy H

2. Imperial Hint, 3. Mind Your Biscuits

It’s nine minutes to post time for the Sprint on the dirt, by the way. No European runners here as is almost always the case now, though we did win it back in the day with Sheikh Albadou while Dayjur, of course, was also a moral winner when he jumped a shadow near the line at Belmont.

Drefong is the strong favourite at 6-5, with Imperial Hint next in at 9-2. The market leader is lightly-raced and looks very hard to beat, but then the same was true of Lady Eli, Lady Aurelia and Unique Bella.

Charlie Appleby on Wuheida’s win:

I was delighted from the get-go, the fractions all looked right and William got everything spot on. She’s getting a racing head on her now, she’s becoming that professional that you’d like to see.

Charlie Appleby - who is now two from three with runners at the Breeders’ Cup - is in the interview room along with William Buick.

Buick says:

She’s a push-button ride. I could send her forward from the gate and get her into a nice rhythm, and the trip was never a concern. I was very happy throughout, and I had plenty of horse and I could go where I wanted. It was a case of don’t get too excited and don’t go too soon

That win was a big moment for the Godolphin operation too, after what has been a difficult year for the royal blue silks both on and off the track. Joe Osborne, who replaced John Ferguson as the organisation’s chief executive earlier this year after a fallout between Ferguson and trainer Saeed bin Suroor, is picking up the trophy now and will feel a lot happier heading into the winter as a result.

Here’s the replay of Wuheida’s win in the Filly & Mare Turf:

That really was a brilliantly executed ride by William Buick, whose own season has also been affected by injury following a fall at Arlington Park in August.

He made the most of a good draw in stall six, was quickly settled in third place and then quickened off the turn to put the race to bed. Rhododendron, from her wide draw, was the better part of 10 lengths behind him as they set out down the back stretch, and there was simply no way that she was ever going to retrieve a deficit like that.

A first Breeders’ Cup winner for William Buick, aboard Charlie Appleby’s Wuheida. Her season had been dogged by niggling injuries until now after her Group One win in the Marcel Boussac last year, but that is history now. Buick had her perfectly positioned to pounce at the top of the stretch, and while Ryan Moore was closing on Rhododendron, who started from stall 14, he was never getting there. A second win at the meeting for the Europeans.

FILLY & MARE TURF RESULT: 1. WUHEIDA

2. Rhododendron, 3. Cambodia

35-1 about Nezwaah now, my 10 bucks must have moved the market.

Lady Eli is the 7-5 favourite on the PMU, while Rhododendron is 7-1. My fancy Nezwaah is no less than 40-1 on the machine here, which seems like a daft price for a Group One winner who loves fast ground.

The European challenge for the Filly & Mare Turf includes Rhododendron, for Aidan O’Brien, Roger Varian’s Nezwaah and last year’s winner, Queen’s Trust. The one all have to beat, though, is Lady Eli, edged out of it on the line last year and likely to appreciate the drop back to nine furlongs this time around. Here she is winning the Grade One Diana Stakes this year:

And the Filly & Mare Sprint, which has left the backers on the floor after winners at 15-1, 31-1 and now 66-1. At this rate, they won’t have anything left to bet with by the time the Classic rolls around.

Here’s the closing stages of the Turf Sprint via the Del Mar Twitter feed:

More quotes from the Turf Sprint, where Marsha finished sixth in her final race and Lady Aurelia beat only two home. This is Wesley Ward, Lady Aurelia’s trainer:

He [John Velazquez] said he got a good trip, eased her out ready for her punch and it just wasn’t there today. Probably the long year kinda caught up to us. She’s such a great horse, she was doing everything we liked to see in the morning but when you gotta dig down deep in your soul, you need that freshness

Another complete shocker of a result here, as Bar Of Gold takes the Filly & Mare Sprint at 66-1.

FILLY & MARE SPRINT RESULT: 1. Bar Of Gold

2. Ami’s Mesa, 3. Carina Mia

The Filly & Mare Sprint on the dirt track is the next event here, coming up in about three minutes’ time. Unique Bella is another strong favourite at even money, and the punters could badly do with a trip to the payout windows.

Luke Morris on Marsha’s run in the Turf Sprint:

They went very hard from the gate, which was always on the cards, really. I got onto the tail of Lady Aurelia about half way around and that was my plan all along, but she just struggled slightly on the track. Her best form is on straight tracks and that’s always where you’ll see her at her best, but she’s run a good, honest race.

Marsha managed to beat Lady Aurelia - but still finished in mid-division as both fillies failed to fire. Stormy Liberal - another big outsider at 31-1 - got up in a close finish to edge out his stable companion Richard’s Boy.

TURF SPRINT RESULT: 1. Stormy Liberal

2. Richard’s Boy, 3. Disco Partner

Marsha is thoroughly relaxed and taking it all in her stride as they head across to the stalls for the Turf Sprint. A win for her here would be one of the all-time great achievements for a British-trained runner in the States.

Lady Aurelia is the first odds-on chance of this year’s Breeders’ Cup at the moment, showing at 3-5 on the PMU. Marsha is a 6-1 chance, while Mongolian Saturday, whose win at Keeneland two years ago led to some memorable scenes, is a 40-1 outsider this time around.

Mike Smith was wearing a camera aboard Caledonia Road, here’s the first-hand (or helmet) view of his winning ride in the Juvenile Fillies’.

Here’s the obvious piece of video form for this race, complete with Frankie Dettori’s celebration of his ... err... narrow defeat.

It is 20 minutes to post time for the Turf Sprint, and Marsha versus Lady Aurelia part two in what could yet prove to be, from a British perspective at least, the race of the meeting. And while I’m still highly dubious about whether Marsha will have enough time to close Lady Aurelia down on this short home straight, it should be pointed out that, in the supporting turf race before the Juvenile Fillies’, Ryan Moore managed do go from last to first in the straight and win a tad cosily on Aidan O’Brien’s Declarationofpeace.

The owner of Caledonia Road was just asked on the winner’s podium why his horse is called Caledonia Road. “It is,” he said, “because I live on Caledonia Road.”

The winner was a 17-1 outsider, and the “big three” in the betting all finished out of the frame.

Yet another Breeders’ Cup winner for Mike Smith as he brings Caledonia Road with a strong run down the stretch to catch Alluring Star a few strides from the line. The runner-up set a fair pace along with Moonshine Memories, but the favourite was beaten off before the home turn. Alluring Star had a healthy advantage at the top of the stretch but it was not enough to keep Caledonia Road at bay.

Juvenile Fillies' Result:

  1. Caledonia Road, 2. Alluring Star, 3. Blonde Bomber.

Heading for the gates for the Juvenile Fillies’, Moonshine Memories a solid favourite now at 2-1.

But enough of the frippery, the serious business of the Breeders’ Cup main card is about to begin. It’s 10 minutes to post for the Juvenile Fillies, for which Moonshine Memories is currently favourite ahead of Heavenly Love and Separationofpowers. Here’s some vids of those three in action:

Del Mar also staged a famous match race between Seabiscuit and Ligaroti in 1938, which was the first horse race to be broadcast on national radio in the US (Seabiscuit won by a nose). And more recently, it has staged two more matches: a Battle of the Sexes between jockeys Pat Valenzuela and Julie Krone, and a Battle of the Exes between Mike Smith and Chantal Sutherland.

A bit of Del Mar history now. Bing Crosby was one of the track’s founder-members, and its first President. He was also at the gate to greet racegoers in person when it opened in July 1937, and one of his horses, and his horse High Strike won the track’s very first race, which does not seem to have raised any eyebrows at all in those more innocent times.

One for historians:

There’s 40 minutes yet before the first of the Breeders’ Cup races gets underway - the Juvenile Fillies’ at 7pm GMT, so here’s the view from the press room balcony to set the scene a little:

The statement from Scott Palmer also addressed the possibility of “prior concerns” over Ulysses’s wellbeing before his scratching was announced yesterday night local time.

I’m not aware of any prior concerns, but it would not surprise me. Especially in a big event like this, they want to give the horse the best opportunity to be okay and the connections a completely fair shake. We’re talking about a very important race, here.

First thing to report from here is a statement on the scratching of Ulysses from the Turf, from Dr Scott Palmer, the On-Call Veterinarian:

The decision to scratch Ulysses was made by the connections, of course, with the advice of Dr Wayne McIlwraith. The concern was that Ulysses has a small amount of inflammation in his left front fetlock. I don’t think it’s a life-threatening issue whatsoever, it’s just a bit of a concern and they wish to do the right thing by the horse and protect him.

Good morning from Del Mar in southern California, where the main card of the 2017 Breeders’ Cup will play out over the course of the next six hour or so. Europe’s biggest ever team of horses for a Breeders’ Cup picked up a win with Aidan O’Brien’s Mendelssohn in the Juvenile Turf yesterday, but there are four more events on the turf track today where the visitors have a major chance, as well as two big names running on the dirt as U S Navy Flag and Churchill line up for the Juvenile and the Classic respectively.

There was a big setback to the challenge overnight, however, as Ulysses, the narrow second-favourite for the Turf, was ruled out of the race when he was found to have heat in a fetlock. “We are all very sorry, especially for the fans,” Alan Cooper, racing manager for the Niarchos family, which owns Ulysses, said last night, “but it was in the best interest of the horse.”

In the absence of Ulysses, Highland Reel will now be a clear favourite to win the Turf for the second year running, while the other obvious highlight from a European point of view will be Marsha’s rematch with Lady Aurelia, the horse she edged out by a nose in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York in August. Frankie Dettori famously punched the air in triumph that day only to find that Luke Morris had done him on the nod, but it promises to be much more difficult for Marsha to run down Lady Aurelia on this tight track where jockeys have a very limited home stretch to deal with.

Dettori, who had been booked to ride Ulysses, has been replaced by John Velazquez aboard Lady Aurelia today, and his best chance of a winner at this year’s Breeders’ Cup now looks to be Queens Trust, last year’s winner, in the Filly & Mare Turf. Dettori has a dozen winners at this meeting to his name so far, while William Buick has yet to get off the mark but he has a great chance to break his duck when he rides Ribchester in the Mile.

I’ve gone for a big outsider in that one, and selections for all nine Breeders’ Cup races are here (though the usual warnings about the value of investments going down as well as up do of course apply). The sun is out, Del Mar is looking splendid and you could probably hear the breakers on the Pacific shoreline a few hundred yards away were it not for the buzz from a sell-out crowd.

It’s time to sound the bugle and get the main card at this year’s Breeders’ Cup underway.

Here’s wishing everyone a thrilling and rewarding evening, hopefully with a few winners for the Europeans along the way.

Greg will be here shortly. Until then, catch up with all the day one action – as it happened:

Updated

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