2014 Breeders’ Cup Turf: USA vs. Europe
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Photo:
Don August
In the Breeders’ Cup, the turf races are where the World Championships
actually get most of their international flavor. It is on the grass where the Europeans
come in force and it is there that the rivalry between the European and
American runners gets heated.
You might be surprised to see [in the chart to the left] that in
the first fifteen runnings of the Turf that the Americans were victorious nine
times, with the Euros taking five, and Chief Bearhart won in 1997, the only time a horse from Canada has taken the race.
However, in 1999, the tide turned when the Europeans began a
run of five wins in a row. Of the most recent 16 winners, 12 have come from
overseas. Please keep in mind that in total there are already 31 winners of the
Turf because of the dead heat in 2003 between High Chaparral and Johar.
In 2014 eight out of 12 of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge
Series races, which provide a “Win and You’re In” spot in the Turf, take place
at race tracks outside of the United States. American “WAYI” qualifiers get
$10,000 toward their travel expenses while the International winners get
$40,000. Since the inception of the WAYI series in 2007, it has become much
easier monetarily for the Europeans to come and contest the BC Turf. In the
WAYI era, the Euros have 5 wins and the Americans have just 2.
Here is the overall scoreboard for the Turf, which since its
inception has been run at the same distance of a mile and a half.
As we get closer to the November 1st running of the this year’s TURF there will be much more information about the contenders, but at this point a couple of transplanted Europeans seem to have a very good chance of getting a win for the USA. Graham Motion has done a fantastic job preparing Main Sequence for the Turf. This year for Motion, Main Sequence has run twice and won twice. First, in the United Nations at Monmouth Park, they secured a WAYI spot for the Turf and then they impressively won the Sword Dancer at Saratoga.
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