Breeders' Cup Diary Mile

BREEDERS' CUP DIARY

MILE

by Jennifer Caldwell

This week we'll analyze the top three races from each division of the

Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships. The following races are strong

indicators of how the Mile (G1) should develop.

Frank E. Kilroe Mile H. (G1) - LEROIDESANIMAUX (Brz) (Candy Stripes)

earned a front-running victory in Santa Anita's Frank E. Kilroe Mile on March 5

and stamped himself as a possible favorite for the Breeders' Cup Mile early

in the season. Challenged from the onset by SWEET RETURN (GB) (Elmaamul), the

five-year-old chestnut held on by a length at the wire over Buckland Manor (Bien

Bien), who came with a game late run after being trapped on the rail in deep

stretch. Sweet Return was another length back in third while Meteor Storm (GB) (Bigstone

[Ire]) finished a neck behind in fourth.

Leroidesanimaux notched a 106 BRIS Speed rating for the Kilroe and received a

110 Speed figure for his last prep, a 7 3/4-length score in the Atto Mile

(Can-G1), guaranteeing a short price for his many supporters on October 29.

Unbeaten from three starts this season, the Bobby Frankel trainee owns terrific

cruising speed on the front end and will attempt to emulate two-time Breeders'

Cup hero Lure, the only wire-to-wire winner in Mile history.

Kelso Breeders' Cup Mile H. (G2) - The October 2 Kelso at Belmont

turned into a fight to the wire between FUNFAIR (GB) (Singspiel [Ire]) and ARTIE

SCHILLER (El Prado [Ire]). Funfair saved ground along the inside before finding

a hole on the rail in the stretch and starting his run. Artie Schiller was never

far back from the pacesetting Keep the Faith (Aus) (Sunday Silence) and managed

to overtake that rival but found Funfair's rally too much to withstand. Funfair

managed to get his head down at the wire to take the firm turf test while Keep

the Faith was three parts of a length back in third behind Artie Schiller.

A listed winner in England, Funfair has won all three starts since making his

U.S. bow in July and received triple-digit Speed ratings each time, including a

106 for the Kelso. The Graham Motion trainee owns four wins at a mile and is

perfect so far at Belmont. Four-time Grade 2 victor Artie Schiller also likes

the course (7-4-2-1 at Belmont), including two stakes wins in Elmont, New York.

Oak Tree Breeders' Cup Mile (G2) - SINGLETARY (Sultry Song) captured

the Mile last year and won his final prep for the race when taking the October 8

Oak Tree Breeders' Cup Mile by 1 1/2 lengths at Santa Anita. Borrowing a page

from Megahertz's (GB) (Pivotal) book, the five-year-old settled in last before

starting his run around the final turn. Coming three wide into the stretch, he

easily overtook Designed for Luck (Rahy), who had inherited the lead from Wild

Buddy (Line in the Sand) when that one began to tire, and pulled off the easy

score.

Singletary will make his first start at Belmont in his final career

performance, but the Don Chatlos charge brought his course with him to Lone Star

Park 12 months ago, earning a 109 Speed rating. He's also proved himself over

any kind of ground, winning last year's Mile over yielding conditions and

excelling on firm turf in California.