BC ENTRIES: Classic; Distaff
 

I think if ever there was a year for multiple female runners to be considered for the Classic, this is it. I wouldn’t favor any of them over McKenzie but I’d favor a couple of them over any other male.

Memories of the Great Zenyatta winning in 2009 ten years ago and just missing in 2010 passed 17 of the 18 she faced not to mention every other foe she ever faced. What a superstar.

Blame winning was the best horse racing moment ever. Second best was Beholder beating Songbird.

Outside of Elate, are there any fillies or mares robust enough to go 10 furlongs? It's not like the Distaff division is stacked. Midnight Bisou was suspect at 9 furlongs last year, and although she's won twice at that trip this year I doubt an additional furlong will be to her advantage.

However, if you were considering some European female runners in your post, I'm on board. And considering new stallion Noble Mission's ability to get some dirt runners (eg Code of Honor), now might be the time for Coolmore to flood the Classic with a few Galileos again instead of the distance-challenged War Fronts.

Even if McKinzie deserves to be favored in the Classic, he should be in the Sprint or alternatively drop in class for the BC Dirt Mile. He also would do well with a rider change.

It isn’t so much that I think the fillies are so much better than the males. It’s more that I think the males are horrific and Midnight Bisou, maybe Elate too, would rate among the top five choices. Midnight Bisou would probably be favored after this weekend’s results. She’s got the Eclipse for her division sown up so there is nothing to gain winning the Distaff. I don’t know purses exactly but I’m sure second money is better in the Classic than winning the Distaff. If we had a Gun Runner or Justify or American Pharoah, something that was really good, I’d say differently. But the likes of Code of Honor, McKenzie, Vino Rossi, and Mongolian Barbeque.....I’m not fearing them.

You idea about the Europeans, I agree with whole heartedly but then again, I’ve always been in favor of people thinking outside of the box and going big. I would have loved to have seen Enable in the Classic instead of the Turf.

The Bisou folks are angling for HotY more than just mare division honors. If she runs in the Distaff and thumps that group (again, ho hum) and finishes the year perfect, does she have more sway for HotY than if she runs in the Classic and doesn't win? If she hits the wall at 10f and finishes less-than-a-head-second or worse, she has ruined her HotY chances. I love Bisou, but she does not have the "Zenyatta effect" and can win HotY with a loss.
She HAS to win the Distaff by open lengths to have any chance of dethroning Bricks and Mortar to have a sniff at HotY. Bricks finishing 1st or 2nd - maybe even 3rd, depending on the factors - in the Turf seals it for him.

Mike Smith off McKinzie.

Code of Honor a Classic go..

War of Will good for a CLS go..

DFR/GRENING: Preakness winner War of Will will make his next start in the $6 million Breeder’s Cup Classic, trainer Mark Casse said Saturday morning.

War of Will, most recently third in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx, worked a half mile in 50.20 seconds over Belmont Park’s main track Saturday morning. He will ship to Kentucky on Monday and then fly to Southern California on Thursday, Casse said.

Casse said the Classic “was what we were thinking all along.” Cassse trains War of Will for owner Gary Barber.

@DRFPrivman: Mongolian Groom to be nominated to Breeders' Cup for $200k

Mongolian Groom, upset winner of the Awesome Again Stakes on Sept. 28 at Santa Anita, will be nominated to the Breeders’ Cup for $200,000 in order to make him eligible to run in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita, trainer Enebish Ganbat said Tuesday.

“I think we will go to the Classic,” said Ganbat, who trains Mongolian Groom for the Mongolian Stable of owner Ganbaatar Dagvadorj. “He has to pay. There’s no other way.”

The Awesome Again is a Win and You’re In for the Classic, but because neither Mongolian Groom nor his sire, Hightail, were nominated to the series a one-time fee of $200,000 must be paid by pre-entry day, Oct. 21, to make Mongolian Groom, a 4-year-old gelding, eligible to Breeders’ Cup for the rest of his racing career. The Win and You’re In does mean that his $150,000 final entry fee for the Classic is waived.

There were suitors who came forward willing to help toward the $200,000 nomination fee, Ganbat said. “Many people were happy to pay $200,000, but they wanted to go 50-50, and the owner doesn’t want that,” Ganbat said.

Ganbat said having won a prep for the Classic at the track where Mongolian Groom trains, and where the Classic will be run this year, was a major factor in the decision.

“We have the advantage. The horse is at the track, no transportation,” he said. “He likes the track. Why not go?”

Tacitus done for the year; Will return as 4yo..

Boy! Is there really a standout with these? There all really good but they don't seem to be better than each other. Intrigued by Code of Honor's 3 win streak because a win here could give him HOY. Could be a whopper!

CLASSIC

McKinzie (Bob Baffert)
Elate (Bill Mott)
Code of Honor (Shug McGaughey)
Yoshida (Bill Mott)
Higher Power (John Sadler)
Vino Rosso (Todd Pletcher)
Mongolian Groom (Enebish Ganbat) ~ Supplementing
Seeking the Soul (Dallas Stewart)
Math Wizard (Saffie Joseph)
War of Will (Mark Casse)

Draft Pick
Mr. Money
Mucho Gusto

Thanks for crushing him and making him cry with such speed and accuracy. Like a hawk circling his prey and then............ BAM! :)

Strange reasoning....

On the BC website it lists Johny V on Midnight Bisou
Why did Smith miss her last race?
Does Johny have the mount?

Smith retains Bisou.. Johnny had a one race gig while Smith was at SA for McKinzie's Awesome Again try.

:tro:

Math Wizard will run in the Classic bringing starters to 10 (with Elate) and Owendale & Tax pending..

La Force will make her final start before being sold in the Distaff. Field stands at 9 with Wow Cat and She's a Julie decisions pending.