Breeders' Cup preview: All eyes on Arrogate, Gun Runner in Classic
How to watch: Friday, NBCSN, 5 p.m. ET; Saturday, NBCSN, 1:30 p.m.; NBC, 8 p.m.
The highlight of the horse-racing season kicks off Friday as Del Mar racetrack plays host to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
Now in its 34th year, the Breeders’ Cup has become the culminating event of international horse racing, where East meets West, Europe takes on America, and yearlong scores between horses, trainers, and jockeys are settled.
Thirteen races will be staged Friday and Saturday, with $28 million in prize money and awards doled out. This is the first year the Breeders’ Cup has visited the storied oceanside track near San Diego, which once made its name as a summertime retreat for stars like Bing Crosby and Oliver Hardy.
Headlining the festival is Saturday evening’s $6-million Classic. Arrogate, the richest horse in North American history, will try to defend his Breeders’ Cup title.
The imposing gray looked unbeatable earlier this season when decimating his competition in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational and the Dubai World Cup, but suffered losses in his two most recent races - leaving many, including trainer and Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, to wonder whether or not the Arrogate of last year will show up Saturday.
In addition to Arrogate, Baffert will send out West Coast, Collected, and Mubtaahij in the big race.
The biggest threat to Arrogate’s repeat is Gun Runner, the morning-line favorite (9-5). The two colts have faced each other twice before, with Arrogate besting Gun Runner both times. But as Arrogate’s form has diminished, Gun Runner has only improved, and all reports from the ground at Del Mar say Gun Runner is ready to give Arrogate a run for his money.
Interesting entrants in the Classic are Ireland-based Churchill and War Decree, two of 14 horses entered for legendary trainer Aidan O’Brien.
The pair’s owners include the powerful Coolmore group, also of the Emerald Isle, which has had its sights set on winning the Classic since the race’s beginnings in 1984. Churchill has never run on dirt (the Classic is a 1 1/4 mile over Del Mar’s dirt course), but that shouldn't slow Coolmore or O’Brien in their quest to win one of the world’s most important races.
The O’Brien/Coolmore string also includes popular globetrotter Highland Reel, who will attempt to win back-to-back Breeders’ Cup Turfs; Roly Poly, a filly running against the boys in the Breeders’ Cup Mile; and Rhododendron who will compete in the Filly and Mare Turf.
One of the best stories of the Breeders’ Cup is Lady Eli, who will also compete in the Filly and Mare Turf, perhaps the final race of her career.
In July 2015, Lady Eli, already crowned a superstar in the making, had just won her sixth race in a row when she stepped on a nail on the barn area of Belmont Park racetrack and went lame. Her lameness developed into an illness called laminitis, which is often fatal for horses. Many in her camp were unsure if she’d even survive, let alone return to competition.
One year later, she was racing again, finishing second in her first start after nearly dying; she was again beaten by a nose to Queen’s Trust in last year’s Filly and Mare Turf. Both horses will be at at Del Mar, and this time Lady Eli hopes to turn the tables as a triumphant exclamation point in her turbulent life.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)