October 2006 Archives
4:38 PM Tue, Oct 31, 2006 | Permalink
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The long week leading up to the Breeders' Cup has claimed another casualty.
Dubai Escapade has been pulled out of the Sprint by trainer Eoin Harty. The four year old filly by Awesome Again, has inflammation in a front ankle and won't make the starting gate.
Dubai Escapade jumped into the Sprint picture with a 7 furlong, Grade One win at Saratoga and had won six of eight lifetime starts.
That defection opens the door fo...
2:14 PM Tue, Oct 24, 2006 | Permalink
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The lure of the Breeders' Cup Classic has turned out to be too much for the connections of European grass star George Washington.
And so, GW will come off the turf for the first time, stretch out to a mile and a quarter and take on the best distance horses in the world.
The race already has Bernardini, Lava Man and Invasor. And now, comes one of the highest rated horses in the world, trying a dirt track for the first tim...
12:53 PM Tue, Oct 17, 2006 | Permalink
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They named him Da Hoss, and he was. He was da big hoss.
Where do you find a Breeders' Cup champion?
You take $6,000 dollars to the Keeneland September yearling sale and look for a bargain. Then you have to be a patient horse owner.
Da Hoss had lots of talent and a ton of bad luck. He set a world record for six furlongs at age two, but in the years ahead he would suffer a torn hoof and a case of mysterious lamenes...
12:48 PM Mon, Oct 16, 2006 | Permalink
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The winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile will immediately be crowned two year old champion. And it's always assumed that six months in the future that horse would be a major player in the Kentucky Deby.
But most saavy horse players will watch the Juvenile and then cross the winner off the list of Derby contenders. In 21 years, the winner of the Juvenile has never won the Derby. In horse racing, it has become the Curse of the Cup...
10:42 AM Mon, Oct 16, 2006 | Permalink
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As we are now less than 3 weeks away from the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the pressure has begun to mount on the horses connections, and the media scrutiny has increased to a level 3, on a scale of 1 to 5, on the "who cares" list.
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7:13 PM Fri, Oct 13, 2006 | Permalink
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As I've written before, I know next to nothing about horseracing. I mean, I've been around horses. I know the basics: they have four legs, a long tail, snouts and an insatiable appetite for sugar cubes.
But when it comes to the Breeders' Cup itself, I'm at a loss. In fact, it was only this morning that I learned that the apostrophe in "Breeders'" goes after the 's' instead of before it. That's just how clueless I am.
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10:46 AM Fri, Oct 13, 2006 | Permalink
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October 12--Today's date (22 days away from the Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs).
October 13--Meadowlands Breeders' Cup S.-G2 (prep race at Meadowlands for Breeders' Cup Classic).
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10:44 AM Fri, Oct 13, 2006 | Permalink
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If anyone was having doubts that the summer months were behind us, one had to look no further than Churchill Downs on a chilly Thursday morning. The early morning temperature of 39 degrees had both horses and people alike, readying them for the frigid weather that fall in Louisville can bring. Just like the postman though, activity at Churchill must go on, and there was one Breeders' Cup hopeful who worked out this morning.
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3:45 PM Wed, Oct 11, 2006 | Permalink
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On the first Saturday in May, two years ago, Giacomo made his one and only stop in Louisville to win the Kentucky Derby. He stunned the horse racing world. It was, "the talk of the town" until the Cardinal football season captured headlines in the fall.
And on November 4th, eighteen months after that fateful day in May, Giacomo and his human connections will return to Louisville for a curtain call. And the Derby winner could appe...
1:24 PM Mon, Oct 02, 2006 | Permalink
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Greetings! I am Travis K. Kircher, an assignment editor and Web reporter for WHAS-11. Over the next few weeks, I'll be joining fellow colleagues Gary Roedemeier and Chad Summers in the blogosphere as we report on the events surrounding the upcoming Breeder's Cup.
As the race nears, we'll be going behind-the-scenes, bringing you the untold stories from the backside of Churchill Downs. You'll read about the horses, the jockeys, the train...
