Nov. 4 and 5 saw the world’s best horses step onto the historic Churchill Downs track for two days’ worth of racing in a showcase of talent and rivalries.
From Australia to the United States and everywhere in between, horses and horsemen flew to the center of the horseracing universe to match against each other for bragging rights and millions of dollars of purse money. But every one of the 15 races has a unique story that will forever etch it in Breeders’ Cup history.
The first Breeders’ Cup race of the weekend was Friday’s Juvenile Sprint, a new race to the card that stirred up controversy for those that felt the card is already too big.However, the race would show once again how good Bob Baffert is when it comes to sprints. His horse, Secret Circle, flashed under the wire first with Brian Meehan-trained Shumoos a length back in second. Holdin’ Bullets finished four-and-a-half lengths back in third.
Secret Circle is a colt by Eddington out of the multi-stakes winner Ragtime Hope. The colt is three-for-three and it is possible he could be on the Kentucky Derby trail next year.
“When he got out to lead by himself, he was drifting all over on him, looking for company,” Trainer Bob Baffert said. “He’s still a young horse. He’s green, but he’s just extremely gifted and talented. I think it’s a kind of horse that I’m going to ‑‑ eventually we’re going to try to stretch him out.”
The second race saw the babies return to the track with fillies running on the grass. The Juvenile Fillies Turf saw a full field of 14 with two other eligible horses in the race. But it would be all Stephanie’s Kitten at the wire as she flew up from midpack to ruin Stopshoppingmaria’s chance at a Breeders’ Cup win.
Stephanie’s Kitten is by Kitten’s Joy out of Unfold the Rose and owned and trained by the Ramseys’. Incidentally, Kitten’s Joy also had the third place horse in Sweet Cat who finished 1 1/4 lengths back.
Stephanie’s Kitten is more strongly bred to run on the turf, but dirt could be in her future.
“We’ll leave the options open for dirt,” Stephanie’s Kitten’s trainer Wayne Catalano said. “If there’s good grass races all day, she’ll probably run on grass. If the race is poly, we’d have to think about it. Since it’s dirt or grass, no‑brainer.”
After the two juvenile races, the older mares got a chance to shine as they stepped on to the track for the Filly and Mare Sprint. For the second year in a row, Switch found herself in second place as William Kaplan’s Musical Romance won the race by a length and a quarter after sitting just off the leaders for the whole race.
Musical Romance made her move late in the stretch but last year’s second place runner came barreling up behind her, rapidly closing the distance during the final strides of the race. Her Smile had the same luck as Switch, getting up from 11th at the 1/4 pole to third at the wire, only a head behind Switch.
