The 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic - A Race with a Classic Pedigree

To be run on Saturday, October 27th at Monmouth Park

A Column by Steve Davidowitz
October 24, 2007

Raise $10-$20 million through stallion and foal nominating fees to conduct a single day of high-class racing? "It can't be done," the skeptics in the game said.

Get top horses from Europe to run in rich races on American dirt tracks? "A pipe dream," said the naysayers.

But Gaines had already meticulously lobbied for support from key members of the racing community and the naysayers had no chance to stop his bold stroke of genius.

Welcome to John Gaines' pipe dream 24 years into the experiment that could not happen. Welcome to a two-day Breeders' Cup experience with eleven different races worth $1-$5 million apiece, after more than two decades of European participation on dirt and turf and a compelling history of championship titles decided through some of the greatest equine performances in history.

At the first Breeders' Cup held at Hollywood Park in 1984, there were disqualifications for bad behavior in three different races, including one of the most dramatic 1 1/4-mile races ever run, the $3 million Classic won in a gut-wrenching wire-to-wire performance by longshot Wild Again as the aggressive Preakness winner Gate Dancer came over towards Wild Again in deep stretch to make a horse sandwich out of 3-year-old champion Slew o' Gold. Racing gallantly in a race he probably should not have been in, given his slow healing quarter crack, Slew o' Gold was eventually moved up from third to second by the presiding stewards, but no one will ever convince me he was not best.

I was reminded of this not only by the present Breeders' Cup proceedings at Monmouth Park this week, but also by Slew o' Gold's recent passing at the age of 27, just days after the grand old gelding John Henry, who passed on at the ripe old age of 32.

When John Henry was 9 years old he was forced to miss the Breeders' Cup due to a minor injury; nevertheless, he edged Slew o' Gold for 1984 Horse of the Year honors when the latter did not win his roughly run Classic.

Champions have been decided in this forum by victories and defeats and champions will be decided this week at Monmouth Park, certainly in the $5 million Classic. The field not only includes the top three finishers in the 2007 Kentucky Derby, but also a pair of 3-year-olds who have each won their last three graded stakes, plus the top older horse in the country, two more older horses with solid stakes form and one of the top turf milers in the world who is daring to challenge America's best on their preferred dirt surface at a distance that might be slightly beyond his best.

Just look at the field and their respective credentials:

Post position 1: Lawyer Ron

A high-powered four-year- old, winner of multiple Grade 1 stakes in fast time trained by Todd Pletcher, the trainer who set an earnings record of $26 million in purses last year despite failing to win a Breeders' Cup race from his 17 starters.

Post position 2: Street Sense

The 2006 Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and the 2007 Kentucky Derby-Travers winner trained superbly by Carl Nafzger, who won the 1991 Classic with that year's Kentucky Derby winner, Unbridled .

Post position 3: Any Given Saturday

Pletcher's emerging 3-year-old star performer, who was second by a nose to Street Sense in the Tampa Bay Derby last March and has won his last three graded stakes impressively, including the Grade 1 Haskell over Hard Spun and Curlin here at Monmouth Park on August 5th.

Post position 4: Curlin

Steve Asmussen's strongly built, hastily developed 3-year-old who suffered his first defeat in the Kentucky Derby but came back to narrowly win the Preakness over Street Sense in a thrilling performance and further came back from his third-place finish in the Haskell to defeat Lawyer Ron in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on September 30th.

Post position 5: George Washington

The adventurous European invader trained by Aidan O'Brien, whose world-class miler form on turf did not translate to a good performance in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs last year, but is coming back for another try in the same race against a stellar field, in the sporting interest of this world-class day of great races.

Post position 6: Awesome Gem

The longshot of longshots in this stellar field can nevertheless claim three straight second-place finishes in important graded stakes on the west coast and a gene or two that could help his cause. Nine years ago, Awesome Gem's sire, Awesome Again, scored an upset victory over champion Silver Charm and the top European, Swain, in the 1998 Breeders' Cup Classic.

Post position 7: Diamond Stripes

An ultra-consistent, very game 4-year-old trained by Dick Dutrow Jr., who has won five of eight career starts, with three thirds. Two of those thirds were to Lawyer Ron when the latter turned in the two fastest and most impressive races of his life - the Whitney Handicap and the Woodward at Saratoga this summer.

Post position 8: Hard Spun

The strongly built 3-year-old trained by Larry Jones was a strong second to Street Sense in the Kentucky Derby, a good third to Street Sense and Curlin in the Preakness and fourth in the Belmont Stakes. In August, Hard Spun returned to win a gut wrenching speed duel with First Defence in the 7-furlong King's Bishop at Saratoga, as a prelude to a victory over Street Sense in the nine-furlong Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Park in his most recent start. While some might question his stamina for this distance, he certainly will be the one to catch in this race.

Post position 9: Tiago

A nicely managed 3-year-old who won the Santa Anita Derby with a whirlwind finish at 29-1; was only seventh in the Kentucky Derby in his fourth lifetime start but came back to run a credible third in the 12-furlong Belmont Stakes. During the second half of 2007, Tiago has clearly matured, winning the Swaps at nine furlongs and the Goodwood over older horses to prepare him for this superb test of speed, stamina and ultimate class.

In America, the Classic distance is 1 1/4 miles, not the 1 1/2 miles that is so popular for Europe's most prestigious races, all of which are contested on somewhat forgiving turf and most of which are run with a moderate early pace that usually precedes an all-out finish to the wire.

In America, while there continues to be movement towards synthetic racing surfaces to protect horses from catastrophic injuries that seem to occur more often on dirt - next year's Breeders' Cup, in fact, will be run at Santa Anita over 'Cushion Track' - the best conditioned dirt tracks still provide the most demanding forum for a championship contest.

In America, on a first-class dirt track, a Classic winner must show some speed, must be able to make at least one move for position and one more move to deal with the final furlongs. Or, he must maintain a steady front running pace every step of the way, or press such a pace and have something left for a strong late burst. Or, he must be able to sustain an elongated rally that may not be quite as fast as the final quarter mile of a European classic at 12 furlongs, but it will push the lungs, the heart and the leg power of the Thoroughbred racehorse through more than most four legged animals can endure.

I'm not sure about all the hype trumpeting this Breeders' Cup Classic as "the best, deepest BC Classic field ever". Please let us not diminish the 2001 Classic when Tiznow narrowly defeated Europe's Giant's Causeway and Captain Steve, among several other high-class horses; or 2004, when Ghostzapper defeated Roses in May and Pleasantly Perfect; or even last year's high-quality Classic won by Invasor over Bernardini with Pleasant Tap third; or, as stated earlier, the inaugural 1984 running.

I am sure, however, that the 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic will be the best balanced, most interesting race of the year. Aside from the outstanding field, it will be difficult for any player to back one single horse without fear of being defeated by a few of the others. At the bottom line, the 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic is shaping up as a superb climax to a spectacular two-day Breeders' Cup extravaganza that will also feature Excellent Art, a top European miler running where he belongs in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Mile (with a terribly difficult outer post position) and the best horse in Europe, Dylan Thomas, also running where he belongs in the $3 million Breeders' Cup Turf at the traditional 1 1/2-mile distance so familiar to European champions. Plus, there will be an amazing array of nine other tough, highly intriguing Breeders' Cup races worth $1-$2 million apiece.

Realistically, the 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic is so good, it would attract worldwide interest as a standalone event. Save for the 3-year-old filly Rags to Riches, who is recovering from injury, there is no horse missing from the lineup who deserves to be here. It is a wonderful horse race on paper with a lot of champions and a big pile of money on the line. Now we are about to find out if it can live up to the name the race carries. "The Breeders' Cup Classic," a name John Gaines christened at a Derby week luncheon 25 years ago, when the master of Gainesway Farm envisioned a world-embracing future for American racing when no one else dared.

Steve Davidowitz has written two highly acclaimed books on Thoroughbred racing---Betting Thoroughbreds and The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing. He also is a regular contributor to Daily Racing Form's Simulcast Weekly and DRF Plus and his columns appear in the Bodog Racebook each week.