Sports news from racingfigures.com / cup

Here's one Euro possible for a synthetic Breeders' Cup: Henrythenavigator, at 4-11, just held off Raven's Pass in the Sussex Stakes, adding to his impressive record. "He won't be beaten this year," declared rider Johnny Murtagh after, to which Chris McGrath responds in the Telegraph: That acquired the look of a very bold assertion when John Magnier, his owner, included the Breeders' Cup Classic among the colt's potential targets. The Coolmore boss reasoned that the race's transfer to a new, synthetic surface this year made it even more tempting than when O'Brien had tried his luck with Giant's Causeway, second...

Can be bad for ratings. I rarely come across anything in Sports Business Journal that I'd call fascinating, but this week's cover story qualifies -- it's a solid piece of reporting on the criticism ESPN faces from rival networks and...

More than 130 racing fans have signed the Take Back the Race petition, including Barry Irwin, who found time after celebrating Visionaire's Gotham Stakes victory to add his name. (Thanks, Mr. Irwin, and congratulations!) And over on Post Parade, Sue...

Done with complaining about the Breeders' Cup changes announced last month, a few of us decided to "put our money where our mouth is," as Dana writes so well on Green But Game, and draft a petition requesting the BC...

"Princess Rooney, Lady's Secret, Personal Ensign, Bayakoa, Paseana, Hollywood Wildcat, Inside Information, Azeri, and Ashado" (DRF+). 3/3/08 Update: Breeders' Cup officials have responded to the reaction the changes have stirred up -- check out this Blood-Horse story for the company...

Superfecta takes a step back from the Breeders' Cup brouhaha and comes up with some superb suggestions for improvements. I agree with her that a panel of fans, reflecting the racing audience's true diversity, could help avoid uproars like this...

To the Breeders' Cup announcement that the event will feature an all-female day of racing on Friday, that the Breeders' Cup Distaff will be renamed the Ladies' Classic, and that the Breeders' Cup will be partnering with organizations to host...

Intrigued by Steven Crist's post comparing the Beyer figures Breeders' Cup runners earned over the rain-soaked Monmouth surfaces on Saturday to their previous efforts, which included a chart showing that only 20 of 77 (26%) equaled or surpassed their last figure, I took a look at the 2006 and 2005...

- One of the can't-miss stories of the Breeders' Cup was the dominance of New York-prepped and based horses in every race. As Mike Watchmaker points out: Nine of the 11 Breeders' Cup race winners -- Maryfield, Corinthian, Indian Blessing, War Pass, Lahudood, Midnight Lute, Ginger Punch, English Channel, and...

- For American racing fans, the Breeders' Cup peaked with Curlin's dazzling display of speed and heart as he ran down Hard Spun in the Monmouth stretch, drawing past to win the Classic by 4 1/2 lengths. Final time for the race was 2:00.59, a Monmouth track record, with Curlin...

Blame it on the rain, say Breeders' Cup officials: This year's handle declined 20% (16-17% after international pools are factored in this week) from last year's record wagering on the BC at Churchill Downs (Blood-Horse). The attendance of 41,781 was also the lowest since the 1995 Breeders' Cup at Belmont,...

- I'm leaving for Monmouth early Friday, joining Alan in the auxiliary press box to live blog the Breeders' Cup. - Odds and ends: Forefathers has been scratched from the Dirt Mile. He'll run in the Sprint on Saturday instead ... Aidan O'Brien plans to send All My Loving out...

Courtesy of the Breeders' Cup Notes Team, a daily update on the activity of every BC contender. See who schooled in the paddock or the gate, jogged over dirt or cantered over turf, is still in quarantine or expected in the morning. Updated with October 26 notes. Quiet morning for...

Breeders' Cup contenders worked out at tracks across the country this morning, putting in their final preps for next weekend's Championship races. According to Pletcher, Baffert, Violette, et al., there's not much to report, everyone's doing fine, every work went as expected. The exception was Discreet Cat, who breezed a...

Time this evening that I should have spent poring over the lifetime past performances of every Breeders' Cup pre-entry has instead gone to investigating the tight turns of Monmouth meme floating around right now, popping up in all sorts of articles and early analysis of the first World Championships...

[Updated 10/17, 10:05: The complete pre-entries for the Breeders' Cup are now posted below. Note: Pre-entries aren't sorted by order of preference. Visit DRF for that.] Breeders' Cup pre-entries were taken today, but won't be released until 10:00 a.m. Wednesday morning. The BC persists in the quaint practice of embargo,...

Steven Crist has posted the early Breeders' Cup odds offered by British bookmaker William Hill over on his blog, and the Classic comes up a four-way at 5-1 apiece on Any Given Saturday, Curlin, Lawyer Ron, and Street Sense, which says much about the depth of the expected field. Lots...

- Steve Davidowitz recommends keeping distance notes for your Breeders' Cup handicapping (DRF+); he'd probably recommend trip notes as well. You'll want to refer to those when considering Greg's Gold's chances in the Sprint. Here's a horse whose credentials trumped those of the other four starters in yesterday's Ancient Title...

- Did anyone else find Saturday's first Breeders' Cup Challenge day as much a yawn as I did? Three of the four horses who won at Saratoga were probably headed to the Breeders' Cup anyway, although Lawyer Ron was being considered for the Mile, a race perhaps more suited to...

Thoroughbred Daily News has asked Breeders' Cup board candidates what they think is the biggest issue facing the Breeders' Cup and have kindly allowed Patrick of Pulling Hair & Betting Horses to reprint their answers. Interesting stuff -- promotion and growing the fan base are recurring themes, with Barry Weisbord...