Breeders Cup Classic

PP Horse Trainer Jockey Record Earnings Last race Comment Odds 1...Orientate..D. Wayne Lukas..Pat Day..7: 3-2-0..$257,540..1st Indiana Derby Outranked in experience and accomplishment, a rank outsider.. 30-1 2..Guided Tour.. Niall O'Callaghan..Larry Melancon.. 29: 12-8-1..$1,884,253 ..1st Ky. Cup Classic..Consistent, gritty, but has never won a Grade I stakes.. 15-1 3..Black Minnaloushe.. Aidan O'Brien.. John Murtaugh..10: 4-1-1..$489,871 ..4th Juddmonte..Buzz is that Ireland-based son of Storm Cat will run big 20-1 4..Include.

When the American Thoroughbred Horse of the Year for 2011 is announced in Los Angeles Monday night, the winner will most likely have been chosen for his or her consistency - a survivor in a year when there was no clear-cut star to emerge on the track and, in the words of the owner of the favorite to win the award, "a lot of upsets. " The connections of Havre de Grace, the now 5-year-old mare named after the Harford County city and its old race track, are hoping to hear her name called, and they certainly have reason to be confident.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Breeders' Cup VIII got some surprise alterations to its master plan yesterday.A record 91 prospective starters were assigned post positions for Saturday's seven-race, $10 million program at Churchill Downs in the wake of these developments:* Bruce Jackson, trainer of leading Horse of the Year candidate In Excess, entered his star colt in the Mile, not the Classic.* Farma Way, the leading point earner in the American Championship Series, was withdrawn from the Classic because of injury.

— There are 167 of the finest thoroughbred horses in the world who will compete as afterthoughts here the next two days. They are warm-up acts to No. 168, a mare named Zenyatta. It is amazing to behold. Not only do other owners and trainers of horses entered in this year's Breeders' Cup, where $26 million in purses will be won, not resent her dominance of the scene. They welcome it. Renowned California trainer John Sadler, who has four entrants in this annual prestigious showcase of horse racing's finest, estimates he has seen the magical Zenyatta run in 15 of her 19 races — all 19 victories, of course.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario -- A bit of the old American West visited Canada yesterday when trainers Bill Mott and Richard Mandella shared an interview table at Woodbine."

Grover G. `Bud' Delp and H. Graham Motion train horses at barns near one another in a far corner of Laurel Park racetrack. Tonight, they meet at the Meadowlands in New Jersey in a supreme test for their pair of talented 4-year-olds. Delp will saddle Include, and Motion will send out Broken Vow in the Grade II $500,000 Meadowlands Cup, a 1 1/8 -mile race under the lights set for a 10:14 p.m. start. Despite a field of six, including the gutsy Gander, the Meadowlands Cup could be a two-horse race.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Smarty Jones, despite his name's having a Texas ring to it, is nowhere to be found in the Lone Star State. But his presence is strongly felt as the Breeders' Cup unveils its 21st edition today at Lone Star Park near Dallas. Smarty Jones' spectacular popularity - as he sizzled through the Kentucky Derby and Preakness only to burn out in the Belmont - dominated racing as well as captured the fancy of non-racing fans. When he was retired this summer and sent to Kentucky for a career as a stallion, racing deflated with the disappointment of losing another star.

Colonial Affair, the favorite in the $3 million Breeders' Cup Classic, broke a bone in his right hind leg by kicking the wall of his stall at Churchill Downs, ending his racing career.The injury, which isn't life-threatening, was announced by Scotty Schulhofer, the trainer of the 4-year-old colt.Colonial Affair helped make racing history last year when he won the Belmont Stakes with Julie Krone on his back; she was the first woman to ride the winner of any of the Triple Crown races. He also won the Jockey Gold Cup in October.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Robert E. Meyerhoff says that Include is possibly the best horse he has bred, maybe even better than Concern. Better than Concern, who won the Breeders' Cup Classic seven years ago at Churchill Downs? "I think he's possibly better, at least as good," Meyerhoff said. "Of course, he hasn't won a Breeders' Cup Classic." On Saturday at Belmont Park, Maryland's Meyerhoff could become the first owner to win the Classic twice. Include, his homebred son of the famed Broad Brush, will race against the best horses in the world in the $4 million race.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The benchmark is the Preakness. Robin Smullen, exercise rider of Funny Cide, said the New York-bred gelding who won two-thirds of the Triple Crown is poised to run a race equal to his Preakness effort in the Breeders' Cup Classic tomorrow at Santa Anita Park. "Is that good enough to win? I don't know," Smullen said. "I get on his back every day, and he's as fit now as he's ever been. He's put on weight. He's dappled out. He's healthy. He's happy. He's as good as we can get him without having a race."

Zenyatta, the 6-year-old mare who tied 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation and two-time Horse of the Year Cigar with her 16th consecutive victory, in the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park, is going to travel more outside California. Her trip to Hot Springs, Ark., was just her second outside her home state. Some critics say Zenyatta's stay-at-home campaign cost her Horse of the Year honors last year, when she was runner-up to Rachel Alexandra, who won eight of eight races in six states.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin watched the Breeders' Cup races unfold one by one yesterday, and with each race on the dirt his worry increased. Race by race, the horses with the inside posts were winning. "All four dirt races were won by the 1 horse," said McLaughlin, whose Invasor was in post 11 for the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic. "Bernardini is a great horse, and he was starting in the 3-hole. And we beat him by a length." Miami@Maryland Saturday, time and TV TBA, 1300 AM, 105.7 FM Breeders' Cup Classic chart 10th race, Churchill Downs, 1 1/4 miles.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Time was running out for jockey Jerry Bailey. After failing to win aboard six of his previous mounts at Belmont Park in the $14 million Breeders' Cup yesterday, Bailey had one last shot, aboard the favored Saint Liam in the $4 million Classic, to go out a winner. The colt was racing in a field of 13 and breaking from the No. 13 post - not good omens - but, as he has throughout his Hall of Fame career and as in four previous Classics, Bailey came through. "I had been there before," said Bailey, referring to Breeders' Cup programs in which he didn't win a race until the Classic.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Smarty Jones, despite his name's having a Texas ring to it, is nowhere to be found in the Lone Star State. But his presence is strongly felt as the Breeders' Cup unveils its 21st edition today at Lone Star Park near Dallas. Smarty Jones' spectacular popularity - as he sizzled through the Kentucky Derby and Preakness only to burn out in the Belmont - dominated racing as well as captured the fancy of non-racing fans. When he was retired this summer and sent to Kentucky for a career as a stallion, racing deflated with the disappointment of losing another star.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The benchmark is the Preakness. Robin Smullen, exercise rider of Funny Cide, said the New York-bred gelding who won two-thirds of the Triple Crown is poised to run a race equal to his Preakness effort in the Breeders' Cup Classic tomorrow at Santa Anita Park. "Is that good enough to win? I don't know," Smullen said. "I get on his back every day, and he's as fit now as he's ever been. He's put on weight. He's dappled out. He's healthy. He's happy. He's as good as we can get him without having a race."

Toccet and Soto, Maryland's best 3-year-olds, missed the Triple Crown series with injuries. They returned this summer with their connections' hopes for fall campaigns in the country's biggest races. Now, Soto has been sidelined again, and Toccet, well, who knows about Toccet? Soto emerged from his hard-fought second to Ten Most Wanted in the Super Derby three weeks ago at Louisiana Downs with a torn ligament in his left foreleg. He will miss 60 to 90 days of training, his connections say. Said Michael Dickinson, who trains Soto at his Tapeta Farm in Cecil County: "I still believe Soto is a genuine Grade I, top-class horse, and he will prove it next year."

HALLANDALE, Fla. -- Skip Away may not be voted the 1997 Horse of the Year on Tuesday, and he may not even win his 1998 debut tomorrow in the Donn Handicap. But the 5-year-old racing star will be off and running into his final season with one great goal: trying to match the gold and glitter that Cigar won as the United States' premier racehorse of recent times."This will be his last hurrah," said Sonny Hine, who trains Skip Away for his wife, Carolyn, of Highlandtown. "You want him to quit on top. You wouldn't want him to become a broken-down horse hanging around racetracks, would you?"

Toccet and Soto, Maryland's best 3-year-olds, missed the Triple Crown series with injuries. They returned this summer with their connections' hopes for fall campaigns in the country's biggest races. Now, Soto has been sidelined again, and Toccet, well, who knows about Toccet? Soto emerged from his hard-fought second to Ten Most Wanted in the Super Derby three weeks ago at Louisiana Downs with a torn ligament in his left foreleg. He will miss 60 to 90 days of training, his connections say. Said Michael Dickinson, who trains Soto at his Tapeta Farm in Cecil County: "I still believe Soto is a genuine Grade I, top-class horse, and he will prove it next year."

That big inflated balloon known as Funny Cide's Triple Crown bid has begun to deflate, ever so slowly, as spring gives way to summer - and to Colonial Downs, Delaware Park, Monmouth Park and, finally, Saratoga. Funny Cide, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, is headed to the Haskell Invitational Handicap on Aug. 3 at Monmouth. Empire Maker, winner of the Belmont Stakes, is headed to the Jim Dandy Stakes the same day at Saratoga. If all goes well, they'll clash again in the Travers on Aug. 23 at Saratoga in what could be an electrifying rematch.

PP Horse Trainer Jockey Record Earnings Last race Tom Keyser's comment Odds 1 E Dubai Saeed bin Suroor Jorge Chavez 10:5-3-0 $920,800 1st Suburban 'Cap Should press War Emblem early 12-1 2 Volponi Philip Johnson Jose Santos 22:6-7-3 $668,976 2nd Meadowlands Cup Back on dirt, overmatched 50-1 3 War Emblem Bob Baffert Victor Espinoza 12:7-0-0 $3,491,000 6th Pacific Classic Must break clean, grab lead, stay sound 3-1 4 Dollar Bill Dallas Stewart Pat...