Sunny Issues – At least Snow Cone hit the boardLA Champions Sprint – Tortuga Straits did likewise.Hollywood Turf Cup – In real life, I [...]]]> So, how did we do here at Superfecta HQ in this weekend’s installment of the Winter of Our Discontent Challenge? Really shockingly badly, that’s how:

Sunny Issues – At least Snow Cone hit the board
LA Champions Sprint – Tortuga Straits did likewise.
Hollywood Turf Cup – In real life, I may have actually played the winning trifecta of Sunriver/Champs Elysees/Spring House (and hey, I did mention all three last week); I’d have definitely made some back on betting Sunriver across the board, although I still believe Champs Elysees is a better horse overall. As I’ve noted here often, I love his dam, Hasili – as do other members of the TBA.
Native Diver – I had nothing. Zero.

I also had nothing in the big Hong Kong races; neither Dylan Thomas nor Miss Andretti had their best days although local star Sacred Kingdom improved his record to 8 wins out of his last 9 starts. Not bad.

But on to today’s news – the addition of three more Friday races to the Breeders’ Cup card. (And a small aside to the Breeders’ Cup board – I’m still waiting for you to make Friday Ladies’ Day, ideally with decent beer offerings). My initial thoughts on the new races are as follows:

Turf Sprint – Is this purely to lure Miss Andretti here? Because that’s just fine with me, but we now know she doesn’t like going around right-hand turns. I think this could be a really fun category with a lot of top class international competition – if you can get the competition in question to show up, given the timing with regards to major Southern Hemisphere races.

Juvenile Fillies Turf – I’m not really convinced that a separate juvenile turf race is necessary; at this age, fillies and colts are usually quite competitive against one another, and if the entrants are European or Asian turf specialist stars of the future, they likely always will compete against one another. But as I’m always an advocate of having more turf racing in the US, I’m not entirely against the idea. (Speaking of American turf, it was good to see Showing Up back on the worktab today, even if it was over dirt – and he had a nice workout).

Dirt Marathon – I really like this in principle, but I wonder what caliber of horse will actually turn up to compete. The really great long distance horses from overseas are grass horses, and American long-distance dirt specialists are not usually household names (anymore). Still, if the object is to encourage more to contest that distance throughout their careers, I’m happy to take the long view.

So, how long will it take for these races to be graded? Can I assume Evening Attire will still be running and winning like he always does?

Sunday is the big day for Miss Andretti (pictured) as she prepares for the Hong Kong Sprint International, and she is the focus of much newsprint around the world as a result. Her most serious competition is local star Sacred Kingdom and word is that the track will be good.

There is an interesting aside that among the many drugs not allowed in Hong Kong racing is Regumate, a drug that’s used to control when mares come into heat. When they say drug free in Hong Kong, they mean drug free there.

There is an equally-interesting article on her owner, Sean Buckley (who co-owns her with Gabriela Guenzi). He’s turned down as much as $10 million for Miss Andretti – not bad for what was reputed to be a $450,000 investment on what looked like a good, but not great racehorse – upon switching to the barn of trainer Lee Freedman, she’s become a monster. Apparently Coolmore has suggested a freebie with Storm Cat (on southern hemisphere time, of course) and a start in the Breeders’ Cup, but if all goes to plan, the six-year-old mare will be running for at least another year, making stops all over the world (and she could end up booked to Redoute’s Choice anyway, which would be my preference between the two).

Dylan Thomas is also prepping for a race in Hong Kong on Sunday – the Hong Kong Vase. It’s something of a replacement for the Japan Cup which kept him out of the field due to some borderline blood test results (health-related, not drug-related). Also on the card is the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile, which features Breeders’ Cup second-place finisher Excellent Art and three-year-old filly Darjina, who is the likely favorite.

Who says it’s slow this time of year?

Buzzards Bay is another familiar name absent from the track for some time – he’s [...]]]> Great Hunter and Spring at Last (not to be confused with the 2-year-old sprinter Spring Awakening – one wonders how she has been affected by the Broadway stagehands’ strike) are both back in training with Doug O’Neill and working toward comebacks.

Buzzards Bay is another familiar name absent from the track for some time – he’s set for the All American stakes this weekend. He’ll be taking on McCann’s Mojave and Wanna Runner, among others.

Talented 4-year-old mare Criminologist (again, not to be confused with her pop culture namesake, this time from Rocky Horror) is back and aiming for a fourth straight win in the Cardinal Handicap; on paper, she’s the one to beat and seems to be coming into her own.

Back across the pond, the Cartier Awards (the European equivalent of the Eclipse Awards) were announced yesterday; and most were quite predictable:

Horse of the Year/Older Horse Dylan Thomas	Owners: Sue Magnier & Michael Tabor Trainer: Aidan O’Brien
Three-Year-Old Colt Authorized	Owners: Saleh Al Homeizi & Imad Al Sagar Trainer: Peter Chapple-Hyam
Three-Year-Old Filly Peeping Fawn	Owners: Michael Tabor & Sue Magnier Trainer: Aidan O’Brien
Stayer Yeats	Owners: Sue Magnier & Diane Nagle Trainer: Aidan O’Brien
Two Year Old Colt New Approach	Owners: Jackie Bolger & Sheikh Mohammed Trainer: Jim Bolger
Two Year Old Filly Natagora	Owner: Stefan Friborg Trainer: Pascal Bary
Sprinter Red Clubs	Owner: Ronnie Arculli Trainer: Barry Hills
Award of Merit	The Niarchos Family

It was pointed out that Dylan Thomas ran in Group I races every month from April to October and of course may yet try for the Japan Cup. The Niarchos family was given the Award of Merit (essentially a lifetime achievement recognition) for breeding and racing such greats as Nureyev, Miesque, and Kingmambo among many others. All in all, a good list.