And I also very much hope that you will join me again tomorrow night for the Saturday card, and tell all your friends to come along too. This is Greg Wood at Santa Anita, signing off for now.
Still breathless after that incredible finish to the Distaff, one of the finest horse races you could ever hope to see. And this is only the start: there are nine more Breeders’ Cup races tomorrow, including what will probably the final start for another outstanding female, the Arc winner Found.
Hope most of you enjoyed tonight’s live blog a bit more than this contributor did:
And here is the winner’s reaction (well, kinda).
Here is the link to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on the official Twitter feed. Watch, enjoy, marvel.
Beholder now retires to the paddocks as one of the outstanding American racemares of recent decades.
That was one of the great races in Breeders’ Cup history and neither horse deserved to lose.
They have just flashed up the official photo finish on the big screen here, and it was greeted by gasps of astonishment from the stands. It really was nothing more than a flared nostril between Beholder and Songbird at the line, but it was enough to end the three-year-old’s winning streak at 11 races.
Breeders’ Cup Distaff result: 1. Beholder, 2. Songbird, 3. Forever Unbridled, 4. Stellar Wind.
What. A. Race. A classic stretch duel, first it looked as though Beholder was getting the better of it, but Songbird drove her all the way to the wire and no-one here can be sure who has won.
Beholder getting on top, but Songbird fights back ... coming to the wire ... PHOTO! THAT’S REALLY CLOSE!
Leaving the back stretch, Songbird still leads by a length and a quarter. Beholder is third.
Songbird leads them into the first turn.
Off and running in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff!
Songbird is a shade of odds-on on the PMU at 4-5. Stellar Wind is a 5-2 chance and it is 3-1 about Beholder. They will be going into the stalls very soon.
Here is the video of the closing stages in the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf, it isn’t pleasant viewing for backers of the big-name Europeans:
The runners are coming out onto the track for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, about six minutes to the off!
And Stellar Wind then backs up the form in the Zenyatta Stakes back at Santa Anita:
Here’s Stellar Wind turning the tables in the Clement Hirsch at Del Mar:
Beholder and Stellar Wind can be bracketed together, as they have raced against each other in their last three starts with the score currently standing at 2-1 in favour of Stellar Wind.
This is the Vanity Mile Stakes at Santa Anita:
And finally for Songbird, here’s the Coaching Club Stakes (G1) at Saratoga.
Here she is again in the Santa Anita Oaks:
Here is Songbird winning her most recent start in an 11-race unbeaten career, the Cotillion Stakes at Parx.
One more Breeders’ Cup race to go on the opening day of this year’s meet, and it is, as far as the local fans are concerned, the Big One. Songbird vs Stellar Wind vs Beholder in the Distaff, with the status of America’s top dirt female at stake.
Video form follows via YouTube.
Currently waiting for the search parties to report back on official finishing positions of the fancied European runners in the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf.
Report now in: Hydrangea dropped out to finish last, Roly Poly was ninth, and Intricately only 11th, with Spain Burg 10th. Disappointing.
That is a real let-down for the visitors. New Money Honey was a convincing winner for Javier Castellano and trainer Chad Brown, with Christophe Ferland’s Cavale Doree sneaking into the frame, as @lone_speed suggested she might on my Twitter timeline yesterday.
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf result: 1. New Money Honey, 2. Coasted, 3. Cavale Doree. A no-show for the European team.
Off and running in the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf, Roly Poly and Hydrangea both well placed as they go into the first turn.
Approaching the gates now for the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf, about a minute to post time.
The two fillies in the widest stalls, Roly Poly and La Coronel, are now joint-favourites on the local tote at 4-1. Intricately, meanwhile, has been drifting markedly for most of the day with British books and can now be backed at 7-1, and is currently showing at 10-1 on the PMU here.
And this is Roly Poly winning a Group Three at The Curragh in June:
Here is Intricately denying Hydrangea in the Moyglare Stud Stakes:
This is La Coronel’s win in the Jessamine:
About a quarter of an hour to go before the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf, the race in which the field includes two runners for Aidan O’Brien - Roly Poly and Hydrangea - and one for his sons Joseph and Donnacha, the trainer and jockey respectively for Intricately.
The fillies lined up against them include Spain Burg, who took the Rockfel Stakes at Newmarket earlier this season but has since moved to join Kathy Ritvo in the States. The narrow favourite on the local machine at the moment though is Mark Casse’s La Coronel, the winner of the Jessamine Stakes last time out. She will start from the widest stall of all in 14, with Roly Poly just on her inside. Intricately will break from seven, while Spain Burg and Frankie Dettori go from stall four.
Here’s the closing stages of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile:
Snippet number two is that a run at Royal Ascot is at least being considered for Oscar Performance, and it seems that Nick Smith, Ascot’s globetrotting horse-recruiter-in-chief, may have already had a quiet word with John Amerman.
Someone came up to me, forgive me but I didn’t catch his name, but a wonderful, nice man, he said, are you going to come to Ascot in the summer? I said, well, talk to me after the race. We’d love to, but it’s a long ways off. I hope it works, but who knows?
A couple of snippets from the interview room after the Juvenile Turf. Oscar Performance raced without Lasix and John Amerman, one of his owners, suggested that while they will never say never, they see no need to use raceday medication on their horse at the moment.
I don’t want to get into a deep subject because there are so many different viewpoints, but if the horse is doing well, there is no ned for medication when they’re two years old. If something goes wrong, obviously it’s a different issue and we might use Lasix, but until then, we stay without it.
The winner paid $25.80 to a $2 stake on the PMU - roughly 11-1. Dortmund finished fourth, a significant setback for odds-on punters.
Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile official result: 1. Tamarkuz, 2. Gun Runner, 3. Accelerate.
Runhappy led the field into the back stretch with Dortmund travelling easily in behind and Gun Runner next, but Tamarkuz moved through to challenge with an irresistible run at the top of the stretch and was never coming back to his field from there.
Breeders Cup Dirt Mile result: 1. Tamarkuz, 2. photo.
Off and running in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile!
The closing stages of the Juvenile Turf are here.
This is Dortmund being put in his place by California Chrome in his latest race, the Awesome Again Stakes here at Santa Anita.
About 15 minutes to post time for the Mile. Dortmund, whose last victory was in a Grade 3 at Del Mar on 28 November 2015, is currently the 1-2 favourite on the PMU.
This is Gun Runner’s second-place finish in the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx last time out.
Gun Runner is also interesting for form students, as he was behind Arrogate, the main market rival to California Chrome in tomorrow’s Classic, in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga in August.
Here’s another Dirt Mile contender, Vyjack, winning a recent race at Santa Anita on what looks suspiciously like the turf course ...
Updated
Jose Ortiz is emotional after his win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.
The Dirt Mile is the next on the card, as usual there’s no European interest but Dortmund’s performance will be an interesting pointer towards California Chrome’s chances in tomorrow’s Classic, as he has been behind the 2014 Kentucky Derby winner in his last three starts.
Runhappy, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland 12 months ago, is also in the field. It looked like the moment when Maria Borell, his trainer, announced her arrival in the big time. Twelve months later, no-one knows where she is.
Juvenile Turf, final result: 1. Oscar Performance (Jose Ortiz), 2. Lancaster Bomber, 3. Good Samaritan.
The winner paid $15.20 to a $2 stake, about 13-2.
A fair bit of trouble in running in the Juvenile Turf, with Good Samaritan one of those to suffer. He still managed to run on into third place, but Oscar Performance, who had a much better trip despite starting from stall 13, was already as good as home after being sent to the front at the top of the stretch. Lancaster Bomber was second, just as he was behind Churchill in the Dewhurst, while Rodaini had no luck at all and went about 10 horses wide on the first turn.
Juvenile Turf result: 1. Oscar Performance, 2. photo
Off and running at the 2016 Breeders’ Cup!
Good Samaritan is ridden by Joel Rosario, incidentally. If he wins, I will have to search out the pic I took of him in full morning dress, on a train from Royal Ascot after he won a race there a few years back.
Just under 10 minutes to post time for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, in which Lancaster Bomber and Intelligence Cross will attempt to increase Aidan O’Brien’s Grade One tally for the year one step closer to Bobby Frankel’s all-time record of 25.
Rodaini is also in the race for racing-manager-turned-trainer Simon Crisford, who was once a Breeders’ Cup regular in his role as the main spokesman for Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation. The local punters, however, make Bill Mott’s Good Samaritan their favourite at around 2-1.
The national anthem has now been sung here at Santa Anita, an impressive rendition by a singer who shared a lift with me for about 10 seconds at the media hotel this morning. That was long enough for her to pass on the info that she was a. singing the anthem at the Breeders’ Cup, and b. extremely excited about it. And she duly nailed it.
The first thing that needs to be said before the action gets underway here is that while many thousands of spectators are preparing to enjoy some of the best racing anywhere, the mood in the British section of the press box has changed completely following the breaking news that Freddy Tylicki has suffered paralysis after his fall at Kempton Park on Monday.
Everyone is simply stunned, and thinking about Freddy, his family and the risks that jockeys take to keep the game going. He has suffered a life-changing injury doing so, and racing must now do everything it can to ensure that he always has the support he will need.
Hello from Santa Anita, the site of the 2016 Breeders’ Cup and in the opinion of plenty of racegoers – this one included – the most spectacular setting for horse racing anywhere on the planet.
Just four of the 13 Breeders’ Cup races are on today’s programme, but there is plenty to look forward to, including the fascinating father versus sons battle in the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf that pits Aidan O’Brien (Roly Poly and Hydrangea) against Joseph and Donnacha, the trainer and jockey respectively of Intricately.
That race is off at 22.50GMT, while the Juvenile Turf, in which Aidan O’Brien saddles Lancaster Bomber and Intelligence Cross, is the first of tonight’s events at 21.25. The other two Cup races are on the dirt, including the Distaff, in which the unbeaten Songbird’s run against Stellar Wind and Beholder has been almost as eagerly anticipated on this side of the water as California Chrome’s appearance in the Classic tomorrow night. Songbird is 11-from-11 so far, a record that includes last year’s Juvenile Fillies’, but untested against older fillies and mares. She may need to step up again to preserve her perfect record, but the local punters will be backing her heavily to do so.
Victory To Victory is the only scratching so far from one of today’s races, her place in the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf will be taken by Sweeping Paddy, who got in after the owners of the first reserve, Con Te Partiro, declined the option.
Selections for the first day’s Cup races are here, and news, results and more will, of course, be here all evening (and tomorrow night as well, if you’re out and about, or watching at home and doing a bit of dual-screening).
Best of luck everyone!
