There’ll Be a Battle for This Year’s Turf

One in a series of reports about the Breeders’ Cup on Oct. 25 at Santa Anita.

When it was mentioned that the Breeders’ Cup Turf might be the toughest of the eight races to win this year, trainer Neil Drysdale rolled his eyes.

It was an “and how” eye roll, saying that Drysdale couldn’t agree more. In Storming Home, Drysdale has one of the favorites for the 1 1/2-mile race -- longest of the day -- but this year, the Europeans are tougher than usual, and they’ve been tough enough in recent years.

Some handicappers are predicting that the Euros might sweep the three grass races. That’s never happened, since the Filly & Mare Turf became a third grass race on the card in 1999.

Last year, at Arlington Park in suburban Chicago, High Chaparral came from a third-place finish in the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to win the Turf; a French-trained colt, Domedriver, scored a 26-1 upset in the Mile; and Islington, except for a nightmare of a trip, might have been best instead of the third-place finisher in the Filly & Mare Turf. High Chaparral, Domedriver and Islington all are expected to race at Santa Anita.

High Chaparral is the probable second choice on Sunday in the Arc. The favorite is expected to be Dalakhani, winner of the French Derby and second to Alamshar in the Irish Derby. An Arc winner has never won the Breeders’ Cup Turf, but last year High Chaparral became the fourth Arc runner to win a Breeders’ Cup race.

Coral, the British bookmaking firm, issued this early line for the Turf: Falbrav, 2-1; Sulamani, 9-4; High Chaparral and Storming Home, both 5-1; and then a jump to Johar, at 14-1, as the co-fifth choice. On opposite sides of the Atlantic, two of those horses were impressive winners last Saturday, Falbrav winning the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in England, and Sulamani the Turf Classic at Belmont Park, his second victory in the U.S. in six weeks.

Falbrav’s owners would have to pay a supplementary fee of $180,000 to make the horse eligible for the Turf, something their trainer, Luca Cumani, is gung-ho about. “I would like to go,” Cumani said. “I think that he is probably the best horse in the world on grass from a mile to a mile and a quarter.”

But how about the Breeders’ Cup’s 1 1/2 miles?

“That’s going to be difficult for him,” Cumani said. “But at least at Santa Anita, the first part of the race is downhill. It’s a small, flat, fast oval, and I think that would give my horse a good chance.”

Storming Home and Sulamani missed a chance for a pre-Breeders’ Cup rematch when Drysdale, rather than flying his horse to New York, stayed home and won the 1 1/4-mile Clement L. Hirsch Memorial Turf at Santa Anita.

“If the Breeders’ Cup wasn’t at Santa Anita, we would have been in New York,” Drysdale said.

Before Storming Home arrived at Drysdale’s barn this year, he was trained by Barry Hills in England, where his record at 1 1/2 miles was found wanting. He won two of 11 starts at the Breeders’ Cup distance, with three seconds and two thirds.

“I’ve convinced that the mile and a half will not be a problem,” Drysdale said. “His race at Hollywood Park convinced me.”

The first time Storming Home ran for Drysdale, in May, he won the Jim Murray Memorial Handicap at the Breeders’ Cup distance.

He won the Charlie Whittingham Handicap at Hollywood Park after that, and beat Sulamani by half a length in the Arlington Million before the stewards took his number down for interference near the finish line.

That was the race in which jockey Gary Stevens fell as he tried to control Storming Home. Stevens, struck by trailing horses, suffered a collapsed lung and a broken vertebra, but he was riding again in less than a month and was aboard Storming Home again on Sunday. In a four-horse field, Stevens came from last place to beat Johar and jockey Alex Solis by half a length.

“I was loaded all the way,” Stevens said. “He came home in 22 [seconds] and change, and there aren’t many horses that can do that after already running a mile. I know Alex was impressed. He looked over at me as we pulled up, and his eyes were this big.”

The last time the Breeders’ Cup was run at Santa Anita, Richard Mandella, who trains Johar, won the Turf with Kotashaan, who was then voted horse of the year. Mandella is going to give Johar another chance to beat Storming Home on Oct. 25. Johar, running Sunday for the second time since he broke his shoulder in January, is one of those horses who thrives at Santa Anita. On his home turf, he has had four wins and a second in six tries.

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Despite his win Saturday in the Vosburgh at Belmont, where he just missed the track record, Ghostzapper won’t run in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Trainer Bobby Frankel said Santa Anita’s layout, which is tighter than Belmont’s, would not work to his colt’s advantage.

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Lure, one of five horses to win two Breeders’ Cup races, has been retired from stud at 14 after an unsuccessful breeding career. Since 1995, Lure has had fertility problems and sired only 119 foals. He is being returned to Claiborne Farm.

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The Daily Racing Form, quoting trainer Laura de Seroux, said that Azeri bled Sunday when her 11-race winning streak ended at Santa Anita. Azeri, who races with Lasix, a diuretic used to prevent bleeding, finished third, then was moved up to second after a disqualification, in the Lady’s Secret Handicap.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOB0X)

Breeders’ Cup

*--* THE FACTS

*--*

* When: Oct. 25.

* Where: Santa Anita Park.

* TV: Channel 4.

* Races: $4-million Classic, $2-million Turf, $2-million Distaff, $1.5-million Mile, $1.5-million Juvenile; $1-million Juvenile Fillies, $1-million Filly & Mare, $1-million Sprint.

*--* LEADING CONTENDERS

*--*

* Classic, 1 1/4 miles on dirt -- Mineshaft, Medaglia d’Oro, Ten Most Wanted, Congaree, Volponi.

* Distaff, 1 1/8 miles on dirt -- Azeri, Sightseek, Got Koko, x-Wild Spirit, Take Charge Lady.

* Turf, 1 1/2 miles on grass -- Dalakhani, y-Falbrav, Storming Home, Sulamani, y-Alamshar.

* Mile, 1 mile on grass -- Six Perfections, Oasis Dream, Special Ring, Kalaman, Domedriver.

* Juvenile, 1 1/16 miles on dirt -- Cuvee, Value Plus, Minister Eric, Chapel Royal, Odds On.

* Juvenile Fillies, 1 1/16 miles on dirt -- Halfbridled, Class Above, Ashado, Lokoya, Be Gentile.

* Filly & Mare Turf, 1 1/4 miles on grass -- Mezzo Soprano, Nebraska Tornado, Heat Haze, Islington, Dimitrova.

* Sprint, 6 furlongs on dirt -- Beau’s Town, Aldebaran, Gygistar, z-Shake You Down, Valid Video.

x -- $400,000 supplemental fee required; y -- $180,000 supplemental; z -- $90,000 supplemental.