Golden Horn highlights field of 12 for BC Turf
It's finally here - Breeders' Cup weekend.
Anyone and everyone associated with Thoroughbred horse racing has been converging on Lexington, Ky. all week long in anticipation of the Breeders’ Cup Championships, which will be held at Keeneland for the first time.
While it has rained a lot of the week in the lead up to the Breeders' Cup races, it looks like the two days of racing, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 30 and 31, will see a break in the weather and, while it might not be perfect, it should still be a good two days of weather for the 13 races; four on Friday and nine on Saturday.
One race, the $3 million Longines Turf (G1), is looking to be one of the best races of the weekend.
With a field of 12 horses set to run in the 1-1/2mile turf race, it will be the last race run prior to the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).
Here are a few of the horses to watch in the race.
Leading the field with a morning line of 4-5 is Golden Horn (GB), a 3-year-old owned by Anthony Oppenheimer and trained by John Gosden.
Golden Horn, who is by Cape Cross (Ire)- Fleche D'Or (GB), by Dubai Destination, comes into the race off two big wins.
On Oct. 4, under his regular rider Lanfranco Dettori, he won the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr1) by two lengths at Longchamps in France.
Previous to that on Sept 12, he won the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes (Gr1) by a length at Leopardstown in Ireland.
In his career to date, Golden Horn has won seven of eight starts and has £4,092,497 ($4,490,901.59) in earnings.
According to a Keeneland press release on Oct. 21, 2015, if Golden Horn wins the Breeders’ Cup Turf he will be “the first horse to win both the Arc and the Breeders’ Cup Turf.”
Golden Horn will break from post position one.
Behind Golden Horn are three horses with morning line odds of 8-1: Slumber (GB), Big Blue Kitten and Found (Ire), who have raced each other a few times this year.
Big Blue Kitten, a 7-year old by Kitten’s Joy-Spent Gold, by Unaccounted For, is the only one of the three to come into the race off a win. In fact, he has won three of his last five races.
In his last outing on Sept. 26, with regular rider Joe Bravo aboard, Big Blue Kitten scored a three-quarter length win in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1) at Belmont Park.
Two horses Big Blue Kitten beat that day were Slumber in second and Twilight Eclipse in third. Both of those horses are scheduled to run in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
Previous to that he finished second in the Arlington Million on Aug. 15, which was won by The Pizza Man, another horse he’ll face in the BC Turf.
In addition, he won the United Nations on July 5 at Monmouth, beating Slumber (2nd) and Twilight Eclipse (3rd); finished second to Slumber in the Manhattan Stakes (G1) on June 6 at Belmont; and won the Ft. Mercy (G3) on May 2 at Belmont.
As you can see, these horses have met up a number of times this year, so there should be no surprises between them or their jockeys, which should make for a good race as they try to get position on each other.
Big Blue Kitten, is owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey and trained by Chad Brown, has 14 wins, eight seconds, four thirds and $2,636,830 in earnings in 29 career starts.
(Note: Trainer Chad Brown has three horses in this race: Big Blue Kitten, Shining Copper, and Slumber.)
Big Blue Kitten will break from post position seven.
Slumber (GB), a 7-year old by Cacique (Ire)-Sound Asleep, by Woodman, comes into the race off a second-place finish to Big Blue Kitten in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, as previously mentioned.
Prior to that he finished eighth in the Arlington Million and second in the United Nations, once again to Big Blue Kitten.
Slumber’s last win came in June in the Manhattan Stakes where he beat Big Blue Kitten by three-quarters of a length.
Slumber, who is owned by Michael Dubb, Sheep Pond Partners and Bethlehem Stables, and is trained by Chad Brown, has his work cut out for him in the race and will need to be on top of his game to get a win.
To date, Slumber has five wins, six seconds, four thirds and $1,229,662 in earnings in 24 career star
Slumber will break from post position four under his regular jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.
Found (Ire), a 3-year old by the great Galileo (GB)-Red Evie (Ire), by Intikhab, hasn’t had a win since Aug. 23, when she scored a four-length victory in the Kilfrush Stud Royal Whip Stakes (G3) under jockey James Anthony "Seamie" Heffernan at Curragh in Ireland.
She comes into the Breeders’ Cup Turf off a second-place finish in the Qipco Champion Stakes (G1) on Oct. 17 at Ascot.
Prior to that she was ninth in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and second in the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes.
Of the three horses in the Turf, Slumber, seems to have the longer road to the win. But, if the race unfolds right for her, she could be the one challenging Golden Horn at the end.
Owned by Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Mrs. John Magnier, Slumber is also trained by Aidan O'Brien. In her career, Found has three wins, five seconds, one third and £804,111 ($882,190.11).
Found will be ridden by Ryan Moore and break from post position nine.
At 10-1 on the morning line, Red Rifle could be a horse to watch.
A 5-year old by Giant’s Causeway-May Night, by Gulch, Red Rifle has a solid pedigree and a good record, with seven wins, six seconds, one third and $911,306 in earnings in 21 career starts.
Two stallions in his pedigree also ran in Breeders’ Cup races with great success; Slumber’s broodmare sire Gulch won the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, and Slumber’s sire Giant’s Causeway finished second in the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Red Rifle comes into the Breeders’ Cup Turf off a fourth-place finish under Javier Castellano in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic.
In his last two races, Red Rifle finished second under Jose Ortiz in the Sword Dancer (G1) at Saratoga on Aug. 29, which was won in a blowout by Flintshire; and he won the Bowling Green Handicap (G1) at Saratoga on Aug. 1 under Castellano.
Owned by Twin Creeks Racing Stables LLC and trained by Todd Pletcher, Red Rifle is a talented horse and one to watch for sure.
Red Rifle will break from post position 11 under Castellano.
One final horse of the 12 to watch closely is a very talented one, and a big-time fan favorite – The Pizza Man. (See side story.)
A 6-year old by English Channel-I Can Fan, by Lear Fan, The Pizza Man comes into the race with three wins and one second in 2015, all under jockey Florent Geroux, who has ridden him in his last nine races.
The Pizza Man, with a morning line of 15-1, recently finished second to Grand Arch in the Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) at Keeneland on Oct. 3. Grand Arch will be racing in the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1).
Prior to that, The Pizza Man had three straights wins.
The first was in the Arlington Million (G1) on Aug. 15 at Arlington Park, his favorite track the last two years. (He also won three straight races in 2014 at the track: the American St. Ledger on Aug. 16, 2014, the Stars and Stripes (G3) on July 12, 2014, and the Black Tie Affair on June 21, 2014. He also had three wins in allowance races at the track in 2012).
The win in this year’s Arlington Million was also a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” race, which is how he earned his ticket into the Breeder’s Cup Turf.
His second win this year was his second-consecutive win in the Stars and Stripes on July 11, and the third was in the Opening Verse at Churchill Downs on May 15.
No question, on any given day, if he is on his game, The Pizza Man can win, even against a top quality horse like Golden Horn.
Owned by Midwest Thoroughbreds, and trained by Roger Brueggemann, The Pizza Man has 15 wins, two seconds, two thirds and $1,658,537 in earnings in 24 career starts.
The Pizza Man will be ridden by Geroux and will break from post position 10.
The other horses in the race are:
* Shining Copper (20-1) PP: 2
- Owner: Ken and Sarah Ramsey
- Trainer: Chad Brown
- Jockey: Luis Saez
* Twilight Eclipse (20-1) PP: 6
- Owner: West Point Thoroughbreds
- Trainer: Thomas Albertrani
- Jockey: Joel Rosario
* Big John B (30-1) PP: 3
- Owner: Michael House
- Trainer: Phillip D’Amato
- Jockey: Rafael Bejarano
* Da Big Hoss (30-1) PP: 5
- Owner: Skychai Racing
- Trainer: Michael Maker
- Jockey: Jose Ortiz
* Cage Fighter (30-1) PP: 8
- Owner: Matthew Schera
- Trainer: JL Lawrence
- Jockey: Joshua Navarro
* Ordak Dan (Arg) (30-1) PP: 12
- Owner: Erro Saturnino Sixto
- Trainer: Juan Carlos Etchechoury
- Jockey: Jorge Ricardo
The Breeders’ Cup Turf is the next to the last race in the Breeders’ Cup. Post time is scheduled for approximately 4:50 p.m.