With names like Game On Dude, Mucho Macho Man and Shanghai Bobby, how could the Breeder's Cup not be entertaining? This years Breeders'Cup equaled any other star-studded Hollywood show with Saturday's crowd of 55,123 well-dressed people enjoying good weather as Fort Larned won the Classic and $3 Million plus the affection of racing fans.
Santa Anita - Breeders' Cup winners and losers
Trainer John Sadler said that Capo Bastone and Monument, third and last, respectively, in Saturday's Breeders' Cup Juvenile, bled, and Trainer Mark Casse said that Spring in the Air, who finished fifth in Friday's Juvenile Fillies, also bled.
All in all, it was a very busy weekend filled with surprises and entertainment for racing fans in attendance at the Santa Anita track.
Controversy again arose because of the Lasix ban. According to the Paulick Report, at least three 2-year-olds who participated in Breeders’ Cup races this past weekend at Santa Anita bled, according to their connections.
This information contradicted a statement put out by the equine director of the California Horse Racing Board, according to an article in the Daily Racing Form.
Trainer John Sadler told the DRF that both Capo Bastone and Monument, third and last, respectively, in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, bled. Trainer Mark Casse said that Spring in the Air, who finished fifth in Friday’s Juvenile Fillies, also bled.
Sadler said an endoscopic examination revealed that Capo Bastone bled a 3 on a scale of 1 to 5. He said Monument, who finished last in the Juvenile, bled a 1 on that same scale.
What frustrated Sadler even more was an article in the Los Angeles Times that quoted Rick Arthur, the equine director of the CHRB, as saying 'No 2-year-olds bled visibly on the track or at the receiving barns following their Breeders’ Cup races.'
Sadler added that the Breeders’ Cup should have performed an endoscopic examination on every 2-year-old who raced on Friday and Saturday.
“They wouldn’t do that on a dare because it wouldn’t match up their pre-determined conclusions,” Sadler sai
Upsets dominated three of the first five races on the second day of the Breeders' Cup, with Tapizar pulling off the biggest surprise at 15-1 odds in the $1 million Dirt Mile.
Rosie Napravnik joined Julie Krone as the only women jockeys to win a Breeders' Cup race when she guided 6-5 favorite Shanghai Bobby to a head victory over He's Had Enough in the $2 million Juvenile.
A day earlier, Royal Delta defended her title in the $2 million Ladies' Classic, the only favorite to win in six races on opening day.