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THOROUGHBRED BEAT NOVEMBER 2, 2005 Breeders' Cup recap by James Scully Classic - SAINT LIAM (Saint Ballado) sat the perfect stalking trip before pouncing at the top of the lane in the main event, collaring Flower Alley (Distorted Humor) and edging clear in the final furlong for a one-length triumph. The Richard Dutrow Jr. trainee capped a fantastic five-year-old season, adding the Classic (G1) to scores this year in the Woodward S. (G1), Stephen Foster H. (G1) and Donn H. (G1), and he'll head to stud with more than $4.4 million in earnings from a 20-9-6-1 record. Saint Liam was a surprising second choice to Borrego (El Prado [Ire]) until just minutes before post time and left the starting gate as the 2.40-1 choice under Jerry Bailey, who had been winless on the undercard. The Hall of Fame jockey sat in fourth approaching the far turn and patiently waited to strike while racing well off the rail. Saint Liam clearly looked the part of a winner turning for home. Flower Alley, who passed Sun King (Charismatic) and Suave (A.P. Indy) to assume a brief lead at the head of the stretch, dug down when asked for his best by John Velazquez and raced gamely to the wire, but he proved no match for his older rival while easily second best. Horse of the Year honors await the winner, who finished 1 1/4 miles in a commendable 2:01 2/5 and received a 116 BRIS Speed rating. Flower Alley bounced back strong from a dreadful showing in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) and will only continue to improve at four if he remains healthy. He lacked inexperience earlier this year when competing in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and continued to shows signs of greeness this fall, but his Classic showing was a real positive to build upon for next year. We could see some highly anticipated match-ups between him and Afleet Alex (Northern Afleet). Turf - SHIROCCO (Ger) (Monsun) delivered a smashing win as the Europeans dominated the Turf (G1), finishing 1-2-3-4. English Channel (Smart Strike) finished best among the humbled American contingent in fifth, trailing fourth placer Bago (Fr) (Nashwan) by 5 3/4 lengths at the wire. An Italian Group 1 winner in his final 2004 appearance, Shirocco didn't make his 2005 debut until September, taking third in a French Group 2 event, and then stepped up with a much-improved fourth in his final Breeders' Cup prep, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1), finishing only 4 1/4 lengths back of Hurricane Run (Montjeu [Ire]). No Arc winner has ever captured the Turf, but Shirocco became the sixth Euro shipper to succeed after falling short in the French classic. Shirocco, who gave conditioner Andre Fabre his fourth Breeders' Cup race winner, sat a perfect trip in second as the pacesetting rabbit Shake the Bank (Sandpit [Brz]) winged it all by himself on the front end. The four-year-old colt moved sharply on the far turn to grab a clear lead by the top of the stretch, but Ace (Ire) (Danehill), Azamour (Ire) (Night Shift) and Bago were all steadily advancing behind him. Ace looked like he might keep coming with a serious challenge when cutting to the inside of Shirocco in midstretch, but jockey Christophe Soumillon found another gear aboard the winner and re-surged to win going away by 1 3/4 lengths. Azamour closed late to just miss second by a head. Shirocco earned a 121 BRIS Speed rating, the best figure on the Breeders' Cup program, for his U.S. bow. Distaff - PLEASANT HOME (Seeking the Gold) produced the biggest upset at 30-1 and surprised even track announcer Tom Durkin, who didn't call her name in the final half-mile until she exploded past the leaders for a one-length advantage. Last of 13 after the opening quarter and 11th with only three furlongs left to run, the four-year-old filly unleashed an awesome rally midway on the far turn and sealed the outcome in practically the blink of an eye at the top of the stretch, quickly opening up by daylight over Ashado (Saint Ballado) and Society Selection (Coronado's Quest) and extending her margin to 9 1/4 lengths at the wire. She earned a 118 BRIS Speed rating for the spectacular victory. Winner of the Bed o' Roses Breeders' Cup H. (G3) in late April, the four-year-old filly was freshened for most of the summer and returned to the races at Saratoga with no fanfare. Nobody would have ranked Pleasant Home among the 10 best in her division at any point this year prior to October. Trainer Shug McGaughey prepped her in the Ballerina S. (G1) and Keeneland's Spinster S. (G1), and Pleasant Home finished a non-threatening second both times. However, she was rounding into top form for her Hall of Fame conditioner, who delivers with fillies and mares on the last weekend in October, and turned in by far her best performance in her final career start. McGaughey is now the second-leading trainer of Breeders' Cup race winners with nine, including three scores and five runner-up finishes in the Distaff. He's saddled the two biggest winners in the history of the race, Inside Information (13 1/2 lengths in 1995) and Pleasant Home. Mile - ARTIE SCHILLER (El Prado [Ire]) made up for a disappointing performance as the favorite in last year's Mile (G1), charging between rivals to reach the lead with less than a furlong left and drawing clear to win easily by three parts of a length. The four-year-old likes Belmont's turf and has always been a high-class individual, but he reached a new plateau with his first Grade 1 win on Saturday and has now earned more than $2 million from a 19-10-4-2 line. Jockey Garrett Gomez earned the first of two Breeders' Cup wins aboard the colt, who will be one of the leading turf horses entering 2006. Leroidesanimaux (Brz) (Candy Stripes) gained the lead in upper stretch of his final career start and was able to stave off the French filly Gorella (Fr) (Grape Tree Road [GB]) by a nose for second despite his sore feet. He has to be commended for such a game performance, but the announcement that he would be racing with two aluminum pads wasn't made until late Saturday morning, leaving Friday's betting public and those who wagered early Saturday morning in the dark about the condition of the favorite. It was another black eye for a sport that gives plenty of lip service to integrity. Trainer Bobby Frankel said the five-year-old would have been lame had the shoes been taken off beforehand, and a lot of money was burned on the 6-5 choice. Leroidesanimaux was best North American turf horse prior to the Breeders' Cup, earning BRIS Speed ratings of 110 and 106 while dominating his competition in every start. Artie Schiller earned a 99 Speed figure on Saturday, needing almost 25 seconds for the final quarter and completing the Mile in 1:36. A sound Leroidesanimaux would've likely run better in the Breeders' Cup. Sprint - The Sprint (G1) featured a wicked speed duel through the opening half-mile in :44 2/5 between 3-5 favorite Lost in the Fog (Lost Soldier), Attila's Storm (Forest Wildcat), Wildcat Heir (Forest Wildcat) and Battle Won (Honour and Glory), but the front runners would all tire by the final sixteenth of a mile. SILVER TRAIN (Old Trieste) bided his time behind the front pack in fifth until being given his cue by Edgar Prado nearing the end of the far turn, and the three-year-old colt responded with a four-wide move into the stretch to quickly catch Lost in the Fog and open up by a couple of lengths briefly inside the final furlong. He had to bravely to withstand the last-gasp efforts of Taste of Paradise (Conquistador Cielo) by a head at the wire, finishing six furlongs in 1:08 4/5 and earning a 113 BRIS Speed rating. It was a hard-luck second for the connections of Taste of Paradise, who broke from a poor rail post and dropped back early before advancing along the inside at the top of the stretch. The rail was blocked and a slight gap between Lost in the Fog and Silver Train appeared momentarily, but Lost in the Fog was drifting out slightly while tiring and the space closed, leaving Taste of Paradise with no where to run as Gomez checked sharply. The Vosburgh S. (G1) winner swung out in midstretch and quickly regained his momentum to go after Silver Train, but he ran out of room at the wire. A five-length winner of the Jerome H. (G2) in his previous outing, Silver Train improved his overall record to 11-4-2-3 and will return to the races next season for Dutrow. Lost in the Fog didn't break cleanly and caught the worst of it while dueling four wide around the far turn, but trainer Greg Gilchrist showed his class by making no excuses for the seventh-place finish while his critics celebrated in the opposite manner. The Grade 1-winning colt couldn't capture every start of his career, but he can bounce back next season and make amends for the one afternoon in 2005 that he didn't show up with his best. Filly & Mare Turf - INTERCONTINENTAL (GB) (Danehill) orchestrated a theft in the Filly & Mare Turf (G1). The 15-1 shot did not break well from her outside post, but jockey Rafael Bejarano performed a masterful job in getting the five-year-old to the front and settled down. Sprinting clear and cutting over to save ground into the first turn, Intercontinental established the first quarter-mile in a respectable :24 and had caught a serious break because every other rival had been taken a hold of, allowing her to practically gallop through the next three-quarters in a pokey 1:14. The Juddmonte homebred accelerated again on the far turn, opening up by a wide margin in upper stretch, and she cruised home for a comfortable 1 1/4-length decision. Frankel paid fitting tribute by comparing Intercontinental to her full sister and champion turf mare Banks Hill (GB), who also dominated the Filly & Mare Turf at Belmont Park in 2001, and their dam, Hasili (Kahyasi), might be the best producer in the world, counting English and French highweight and 2000 Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) third placer Dansili (GB), multiple Grade 1 queen Heat Haze (GB) and Group 2 winner Cacique among her other offspring. Intercontinental notched her second Grade 1 tally and fifth graded score of 2005, increasing her career earnings over $2 million. She received a stellar 108 BRIS Speed rating. Defending champion Ouija Board (GB) (Cape Cross [Ire]) and last year's runner-up Film Maker (Dynaformer) both offered good runs for part, finishing second and third, respectively, but they needed another member of the field to put early pressure on Intercontinental and didn't get it. Juvenile - The Merv Griffin-owned STEVIE WONDERBOY (Stephen Got Even) took back at the start, racing in 12th, about 10 lengths back of pace, after the opening half-mile, and commenced his rally entering the far turn, passing horses on the outside with a terrific turn of foot to reach contention by upper stretch and powering away to an impressive 1 1/4-length victory in the final sixteenth of a mile with Gomez. Henny Hughes (Hennessy), who battled for the lead from the start through fractions of :23 and :45 3/5, seized command leaving the bend and had turned back 6-5 favorite First Samurai (Giant's Causeway) by midstretch, but he could not match strides with the winner late, settling for second in an extremely gutsy effort. After winning the Del Mar Futurity (G2) in early September, trainer Doug O'Neill elected to train Stevie Wonderboy off a 8 1/2-week layoff and the chestnut colt worked well at Belmont in preparation, drilling a half-mile in :46, co-fastest of 137 at the distance, six days prior to the race. He recorded his third straight win on Saturday, improving his overall mark to 5-3-1-1, and turned 1 1/16 miles in 1:41 3/5, good for a whopping 111 BRIS Speed rating and 2 3/5 seconds faster than the Juvenile Fillies (G1) one race earlier. Stevie Wonderboy ran a whale of a race. First Samurai was no match for the top two in third, but the previously unbeaten two-time Grade 1 winner will likely bounce back well. The stage is set for a West Coast-East Coast rivalry next spring between Stevie Wonderboy and First Samurai as they head into 2006 as the leading three-year-old Kentucky Derby prospects on opposite sides of the country. They're both bred for 10 furlongs. Henny Hughes is likely headed for the desert in Dubai. Juvenile Fillies - FOLKLORE (Tiznow) received a heady ride from Prado, who snapped a 0-for-41 Breeders' Cup mark aboard this year's best juvenile filly. Prado made the best of a bad post, sprinting to the lead from the rail as the field entered the backstretch before giving Folklore a breather after the opening half-mile, allowing Knights Templar (Exploit) to move on past while tracking in second. Folklore surged again to the front on the far turn and entered the stretch with a huge lead, which made it easy for her to withstand the late rally of runner-up Wild Fit (Wild Wonder). What was Alex Solis thinking aboard Wild Fit? The first two races on the day indicated that the track was playing fair, but Wild Fit lost contact with the rest of the field during the opening five-eighths of a mile. Solis guided the gray filly into a wall entering the far turn, forcing her to check, and by the time Wild Fit got going again, she had too many horses to pass in the stretch and no chance to catch the classy Folklore. The winner, who is bred to run all day and is a promising candidate to make a run at the Kentucky Derby for D. Wayne Lukas, earned a modest 98 BRIS Speed rating. Wild Fit, a full sister to Grade 2-winning sprinter Fusaichi Rock Star, received a 97 Speed figure. The rest of the field finished far back.
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