Flatter Pod: Perfect Breeders’ Cup attendance + The Everest

Breeders’ Cup renewals past and future and the richest turf race in the world are the main topics this week on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

TV’s Amy Zimmerman and photographer Skip Dickstein are among the very few people who have been to every Breeders’ Cup since the championships began in 1984. They reminisce about the inaugural running at Hollywood Park and some of their experiences since, including how their streaks were not interrupted by COVID in 2020.

The Everest, a Group 1 sprint worth US$13 million, will be run late Friday night into Saturday morning U.S. time at Royal Randwick in Sydney. Bella Nipotina is one of the top contenders in the race. She is owned by partners led by her breeder Michael Christian. Also a media personality and Australian-rules football executive, he discusses the race and why it has been able to prosper using the template established by the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1).

Horse Racing Nation handicapper Ed DeRosa takes an early snapshot of next month’s Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar and handicaps the Raven Run (G2), Perryville (G3) and Ontario Derby (G3), the Saturday stakes at Keeneland and Woodbine.

Listener and reader feedback is focused on last week’s column about why City Of Troy will not win the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

The Ron Flatter Racing Pod via Horse Racing Nation is available via free subscription from Apple, Firefox, iHeart and Spotify as well as HorseRacingNation.com.