2006 Breeders Cup Classic

I know I am not a huge fan of the Breeders Cup concept (especially when it comes to older horses), but this years running looks to be good.

Eletrocutionist
Flower Alley
Invasor
Bernardini
Bluegrass Cat
Lava Man
Sun King
Perfect Drift

I am sure I am missing a couple of horses but this will be one excellent field.

[slotdirt]

What? Haven't you heard? The classic division is worthless this year!

Originally Posted by slotdirt

What? Haven't you heard? The classic division is worthless this year!

No I havent heard--please fill me in.

[slotdirt]

Every race out there gets panned because of the so-called pitiful fields. That was said tongue in cheek, as kev likes to say.

Originally Posted by slotdirt

Every race out there gets panned because of the so-called pitiful fields. That was said tongue in cheek, as kev likes to say.

Oh I bash the fields. I get frustrated with the lack of quality in the fields. The Whitney had a good field. Other than that, the fields have been marginal at best. I have accepted this and this is why I dislike the BC. Every trainer of a good older horse points to one race. This way the get to duck each other until the big one. But The Whitney was a good field.

[slotdirt]

Good field? Whitney was a flat out brilliant field. Best of the year.

Originally Posted by slotdirt

Good field? Whitney was a flat out brilliant field. Best of the year.

Three or four of the horses are going to the classic so I guess it was indeed a great field.

[Habersham000]

Originally Posted by eurobounce

Oh I bash the fields. I get frustrated with the lack of quality in the fields. The Whitney had a good field. Other than that, the fields have been marginal at best. I have accepted this and this is why I dislike the BC. Every trainer of a good older horse points to one race. This way the get to duck each other until the big one. But The Whitney was a good field.

I would think a trainer would point his horse to the classic with a purse of 5 million....the whitney this year was a great finish but left a lot of questions with how will flower alley come back his next race and is Wanderin Boy an 8-9 furlong horse or can he get the classic distance?

[jpops757]

Originally Posted by eurobounce

Oh I bash the fields. I get frustrated with the lack of quality in the fields. The Whitney had a good field. Other than that, the fields have been marginal at best. I have accepted this and this is why I dislike the BC. Every trainer of a good older horse points to one race. This way the get to duck each other until the big one. But The Whitney was a good field.

I love the BC. Even if some of the graded stakes races seem diluted, they also bring other horses into contention. Very few if any BC horses dont deserve to be there. Even without the BC, some of the graded stakes races will be void of some of the outstanding prospects due to injury,timing,location or just flat out avoiding some of the compition. The same reason you have a dislike for the BC is the same reason you should embrace it. It brings the best together . Some take different or varrying routes to get there,thus spreading the talent accross the country.

Originally Posted by jpops757

I love the BC. Even if some of the graded stakes races seem diluted, they also bring other horses into contention. Very few if any BC horses dont deserve to be there. Even without the BC, some of the graded stakes races will be void of some of the outstanding prospects due to injury,timing,location or just flat out avoiding some of the compition. The same reason you have a dislike for the BC is the same reason you should embrace it. It brings the best together . Some take different or varrying routes to get there,thus spreading the talent accross the country.

I understand what you are saying. But if we didnt have 1 big race at the end of the year then races like the Donn Handicapp would get better fields. We would get to see older horses race more often, we would get to see better fields in my opinion. There are only so many Grade I's for older horses to go around. Also trainers would not use a Grade I as a prep for another Grade I - that is silly. Not having the BCC would force trainers to race their horses more often and against better fields.

[jpops757]

Originally Posted by eurobounce

I understand what you are saying. But if we didnt have 1 big race at the end of the year then races like the Donn Handicapp would get better fields. We would get to see older horses race more often, we would get to see better fields in my opinion. There are only so many Grade I's for older horses to go around. Also trainers would not use a Grade I as a prep for another Grade I - that is silly. Not having the BCC would force trainers to race their horses more often and against better fields.

The BC has the best fields and brings all of the active top ones. So that is what you are looking for and compain because its there. A lot of the to horses will still bypass some of the gr1s due to fittnes timing or location. Most all of the top ones pont to the race called the BC thus getting what you want. Complain but do it for the right reasons. The BC was initiated to get what you want, THE BEST.

[brockguy]

Originally Posted by eurobounce

I know I am not a huge fan of the Breeders Cup concept (especially when it comes to older horses), but this years running looks to be good.

Eletrocutionist
Flower Alley
Invasor
Bernardini
Bluegrass Cat
Lava Man
Sun King
Perfect Drift

I am sure I am missing a couple of horses but this will be one excellent field.

you can add David Junior to the list also.. untried on dirt but 10f ideal distance!

[Gander]

I played Wanderin Boy in the Whitney and yes I absolutely think he is an at most 8-9 furlong horse. He had an absolute dream trip off the flank off Siphon City and when it was time to take control, he didnt have that punch he would have at a lesser distance. I dont see him as a classic contender at all. Yes that Whitney was a great field, lets hope the Jockey Club is even better.

[Betsy]

Originally Posted by Gander

I played Wanderin Boy in the Whitney and yes I absolutely think he is an at most 8-9 furlong horse. He had an absolute dream trip off the flank off Siphon City and when it was time to take control, he didnt have that punch he would have at a lesser distance. I dont see him as a classic contender at all. Yes that Whitney was a great field, lets hope the Jockey Club is even better.

It looks like Invasor will run only in the Woodward (as will Suave), but Bernardini has the Gold Cup on his schedule so that makes the race interesting already. I don't think Todd has thought that far ahead for Bluegrass Cat. I can't imagine Lava Man coming out East again except for the BC...if Flower Alley is still around, I'd imagine he would run.

Originally Posted by jpops757

The BC has the best fields and brings all of the active top ones. So that is what you are looking for and compain because its there. A lot of the to horses will still bypass some of the gr1s due to fittnes timing or location. Most all of the top ones pont to the race called the BC thus getting what you want. Complain but do it for the right reasons. The BC was initiated to get what you want, THE BEST.

It gives us the best for one day. I dont want just one race a year with the best for that division. Give me 3-5 races a year with 3 of the top horses in that division anyday of the week. Give me 5 races a year with a field like we had in the Whitney all year long. I dont think horses would bypass each other if we didnt have the Breeders Cup. Older horses would point to the Donn, Stephen Foster, Whitney, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Pacific Classic etc etc. The owners would be forced to race their horses in order to get the Grade I win and to get the money. The BCC has duluted the competition in the early Grade I races for older horses in the spring and early summer.

[slotdirt]

I don't have a problem with a lot of the GI fields this year. The Pimlico Special wasn't half bad in retrospect, the Whitney was downright stellar, heck, even the New Orleans Handicap didn't turn out to be that bad a race despite the mountains of criticism heaped on it at the time.

We can't have St. Liam's and Pleasantly Perfects running ever year; sometimes we just have to settle for Invasor and Lava Man.

Might need to take Flower Alley out of that group. To me he looked in good physical condition before the race from the glimpses I got. He really looked big and filled out. Possibly too filled out? I dont know. But that was really a clunker of a race. And you just know some others will pop in. Thats what I would be interested to see. Brockguy mentioned one. Anybody got a horse they think is on the fringe of making this group a bit off the radar but might come into the picture with big recent wins?

Invasor had to work very hard to get that win. He does not need another race that tough again before the BC. I see no mention of Sun KIng. This horse is clearly capable of picking up the pieces of a destroyed field at 10f. You gotta run him if he is healthy.

SUN KING IS MENTIONED MY BAD...

other horses up and coming off the radar?

[Pedigree Ann]

Will Invasor be supplemented? I suppose it is not a matter of money with Shadwell owning him now, but still...,

The Breeders' Cup (emphasis on the first word) was created for high-end North American and Euro-bred (mostly GB and IRE) horses, so that owners would have an incentive to keep them in training instead of sending them off to stud after a Derby win. Most of the big purses were to come from owners of stallions and breeders of foals in nomination fees. It was NOT created to be a year-ending championship race; otherwise, there would not be the onerous fees for Southern Hemisphere-bred or unfashionably-bred NA/Euros. It is profoundly undemocratic, unlike the previous championship races (the Woodward at 10f and the Jockey Club Gold Cup at 16f or 12f) , for which the track took ordinary nominations and entries; all comers welcomed to a level playing field.

[cal828]

I predict Flower Alley will be back. He ran awful in the Jockey Club last year and then returned to run big in the BC. The two speedsters Wanderin Boy and Siphon City made most of them running close to the pace want to throw in the towel except for the real deal (Invasor) and the two late runners. I'm not giving up on Flower Alley yet. Seems like they always run big just when you give up on 'em. I imagine a lot of folks gave up on Sun King too, but he looks lilke a different horse with a change in tactics. Not to say that Pletcher can do that with FA. Just don't think it was his day, but I think there will be others.