(Breeders' Cup) Bits and Pieces according to ZATT

Treve lost the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe yesterday, and frankly, I was not too surprised that the heavily favored mare did not win. I come to praise Treve, though, not to bury her. A remarkable racehorse to be sure, I think we sometimes lose sight of just how hard it is to be at the very top of anything for too long, and that is especially the case in thoroughbred horse racing. There is good reason that no horse, in the nearly 100 years of history, has been able to win the Arc three times. The fact that this wonderful French mare became the first horse in nearly 40 years to win two in a row speaks volumes of her class and ability. Much like Goldikova had done in her attempt to win a fourth consecutive Breeders’ Cup Mile, I thought Treve ran a very admirable race, while finishing fourth, and in close proximity of Flintshire and New Bay. I have always considered the Arc the best turf race in all the world, and yesterday’s edition was no different. Call it a changing of the guard if you will, but the winner was a most deserving one. He was the best horse at Longchamp, just as Treve had been the past two years. So let me say that opening sentence in a more correct way … Golden Horn won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe yesterday.

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Some big doings went down in advance of several Breeders’ Cup turf races at Keeneland. First off, how impressive was our favorite Illinois-bred in defeat on Saturday? If you doubted the ability of The Pizza Man to carry his excellent turf form away from Arlington Park, you just received your wake up call. Still tenth just outside the eighth pole in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile, the big English Channel gelding unleashed a forceful late rally that carried him just one jump short of winning the race against some of America’s best milers. He hadn’t run that short of a race in more than three years. Add in the fact that this race was not the end goal for the season, and you can see why I am so impressed with the performance. With the potential presence of some of the best turf horses in the world arriving for the Breeders’ Cup Turf, The Pizza Man will need to be at his very best to defend his nation’s honor. On Saturday at Keeneland, he declared his readiness for the challenge.

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While The Pizza Man demonstrated his ability to take on all comers in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, the Breeders’ Cup Mile also got a big boost on Saturday from an unexpected source. Clearly Tepin has been one of the breakout performers of 2015. In each of her three wins this year going into Keeneland’s Grade 1 First Lady, the daughter of Bernstein had looked like the genuine article. Even in her two losses, it was hard to see her as anything but one of the finest turf mares in the land. On Saturday, though, she took things up to a whole new unexpected level. Her performance over the soft turf was nothing short of awesome. Leaving good turf mares in her considerable wake, Tepin looked the part of a true champion galloping down the lane. It also set her up perfectly for a run at the Breeders’ Cup in four weeks time, and there in comes the surprise. Trainer Mark Casse announced immediately after the race that Tepin will not try to attempt the same double pulled off by Dayatthespa last year, but rather will take on the boys at her preferred distance in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. A similar performance to the one she threw down on Saturday, puts her in with a big shot.

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Lest I forget, Grand Arch was the actual winner of the Shadwell Turf Mile on Saturday, and has now strung consecutive big wins together, in preparation of the BC Mile. The Brian Lynch trainee may not carry the pizazz of some, but he clearly should not be underestimated in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

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Switching from the turf to the main track -- the Kelso, featuring Honor Code struck me as a ‘draw line through it’ kind of race. Not for the front-running winner, Appealing Tale, because he was great, but rather for the heavy favorite, who came home in third. If ever a graded stakes race could be called just a prep, such was the case for Honor Code in the Kelso. Even the fact that he rallied up for third is of little consequence to me. The only thing that really matters is if the Kelso was indeed a good prep for the horse. If it was, Honor Code remains a real threat, if things set up for him well in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. If you liked him before the Kelso, don't jump ship because of the this one.

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Heading into Super Saturday at Belmont, it was fair to be asking the question, wherefore art thou, dear Tonalist? On his favorite track, and at a suitable distance for him, the son of Tapit answered the question in a big way, romping to his second consecutive Jockey Club Gold Cup victory. At the distance and with the expected strong early pace, I’ve long considered Tonalist a viable threat in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic. While his easy win in the historic Gold Cup only worked towards strengthening that belief, I also wonder how much we really learned. Yes, it was at the same ten furlong distance of the Classic, but the sloppy, sealed track at Belmont will have little in common with what we see at Keeneland on Halloween, and while the popular Wicked Strong ran a nice race, American Pharoah and Beholder, he is not. Still winning the Jockey Club Gold Cup twice in a row is a worthy accomplishment in its own right, and it should serve Tonalist well in his ability to improve upon last year’s 5th place finish in the Classic.

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I love this time of the year for obvious reasons, but one of the main ones is that the inexorable march to the following year’s Kentucky Derby has begun. A pair of colts broke from the pack of relative unknowns to become, not only major players for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in four weeks, but also horses to watch for the first Saturday in May. In their third respective races, and both on off tracks, Brody’s Cause and Greenpointcrusader both continued their rapid ascent up the divisional ladder with impressive wins in Saturday’s two big races for the juvenile males. While neither has made it up to the top of my personal two-year-old list -- much more to come on that in a future article -- both the Champagne winner and the Breeders’ Futurity winner are progressing colts, bred to develop, and would come as no surprise if either ended up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner’s circle.

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Not to be outdone, the young fillies also had their time this weekend. Much like their male counterparts, Nickname, in the Frizette, and Gomo, in the Darley Alcibiades, relished the wet going, and proved clearly best in their respective Grade 1 affairs. Despite this, I still see the division leader, Songbird, as a dominant force in the division, as we move ever closer to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. It may be another filly who ran this weekend, though, that can really be the one to test her down the road. Purchased by LNJ Foxwoods for $1.9 million earlier this year, it is safe to say that Inheritance carries a fair amount of hype. After a sharp second place finish in her debut at Saratoga, the daughter of Tapit started to make good on that pricetag yesterday at Belmont. The 16-length maiden score going a flat mile will likely move her to stakes racing sooner than later, and at this point, only the sky would seem to be the limit.

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OK, I admit it -- I take pride in having featured Runhappy in an article immediately following his debut win this winter at Turfway Park. This horse is a crazy talent, and his best, may well be, yet to come.