THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2010 For information about TDN, call 732-747-8060. Trainer Bob Baffert was railside right after the renova- FEATURE PRESENTATION • G1 BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC tion break to oversee the preparations of his Breeders= Cup team, and he was especially enthusiastic about Classic contender Lookin At Lucky (Smart Strike). AThere=s >good,= and then there=s >super good=,@ Baffert said. AI like it when it=s super good. He looks so differ- ent on dirt; he looks like he=s happier, he enjoys him- self. He moves so much smoother over the dirt than he does on synthetics. He=s doing well.@ Eye on the Prize... CLASSIC CONTENDERS LOOKING GOOD Jockey Kent Desormeaux was leaning on the rail along the backside watching the morning workouts Defending Classic champ Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}), after the break when ESPN correspondents Randy Moss who arrived from California Tuesday, galloped strongly and Jerry Bailey stopped by for a over the Churchill main track just after 9 a.m. Wednes- chat. Bailey was a man on a mis- day morning. Trainer John Shirreffs was pleased with sion, looking to get Desormeaux to his superstar. mic up for the post parade before AShe did fine,@ said a smiling Shirreffs. AShe seems the GI BC Filly and Mare Turf, so he very happy and really got over the track good. They say could interview him about Red De- that the Churchill track is a lot like the Oaklawn track. sire (Jpn) (Manhattan Cafe {Jpn}). That s what I ve heard, but I m from California. She = = = ADoes she go with a pony? I don=t seems to like it just fine.@ want to upset the apple cart, but A crowd lined the rail as the big mare stretched her she=s the horse I wanted to talk legs, with the shutters clicking away when she galloped about,@ Bailey asked. Desormeaux past them, and more came to gawk at her and take hesitated, then politely declined. Sarah K Andrew photos through the fence as she grazed on the back- AWith all due respect, she=s my fa- stretch after cooling out. vorite mount,@ he said. AShe needed her last race, and AI love seeing all the people come out to see her,@ she has a great chance to win. But you will be talking said Shirreffs. I think that s what makes her so special A = about her after the race.@ and how she will be remembered. Everyone that sees her becomes a fan. We=ve all become her fans.@ Co-number one fan, exercise rider Steve Willard, also gave a thumbs-up to Zenyatta=s training move. In pursuit of Zenyatta Reed Palmer photography TDN P HEADLINE NEWS • 11/4/10 • PAGE 2 of 15 • thoroughbreddailynews.com Breeders= Cup Bulletin cont. Espoir City Tunes Up for Classic... Jockey Tetsuzo Sato was aboard when Japan=s Espoir City (Jpn) (Gold Allure {Jpn}) worked an easy half-mile in :49 3/5 yesterday at Churchill, his final work ahead of Saturday=s GI Classic. Eschewing the Japanese style of breaking off at the wire and working around the turn, as he=d done in his prior breeze last Sunday, the dual Group 1 winner completed his four furlongs at the finish line. AToday was sort of the final touch-up,@ trainer Akio Adachi said through interpreter Mikki Tsuge, West Coast Representative Reed Palmer photo for the Japan Racing Association, who has been serving as the con- nections= liaison at Churchill Downs. AWe had the jockey on him. There were no instructions, no specific fractions requested. I just wanted the jockey to feel how the horse was.@ Ear to the Ground... The word on the backstretch early Wednesday was that G1 Prix de l=Arc de Triomphe winner Workforce (GB) (King=s Best) could still be a late defection from the GI BC Turf. AI heard a rumor that Workforce may not run if there's firm turf," said trainer Bill Mott, who will saddle Al Khali (Medaglia d=Oro) in the race. AI don't think it's that firm. It hasn't been used. It's not hard. I asked Garrett Gomez three or four days ago what he thought, and he said there's a lot of give in the ground." Workforce=s conditioner, Sir Michael Stoute, did not com- Workforce Reed Palmer pletely dispel the rumors after his charge came bouncing off the track following a tour of the course. "The track is in wonderful shape, and it has good cover," Stoute said, but added, AIt's firmer than we'd like, and there has not been enough rain. We'll monitor it each day." Stoute and Teddy Grimthorpe walked the course Wednesday morning. 2010 BREEDERS’ CUP Breeders represented by 3+ pre-entries Breeder # Juddmonte 5 Brereton C Jones 3 Darley 3 Runnymede Farm/Catesby Clay* 3 *Includes runner in partnership TDN P HEADLINE NEWS • 11/4/10 • PAGE 3 of 15 • thoroughbreddailynews.com Breeders= Cup Bulletin cont. Positive Reports on Mile Hopefuls... The camps of a couple of the favorites for the GI BC Mile were high on their hopefuls Wednesday. Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa), 6-5 on the morning line, goes for an unprecedented third consecutive Breeders= Cup victory. "She's coming into this race better than she did last year, when she lost the prep [G1 Prix de la Foret]," said trainer Freddie Head. AIn fact, this has been her best year so far. Everything is going well. It's like it's Goldikova Reed Palmer too good to be true.@ Head is unconcerned about the condition of the turf course for Saturday=s race. "I'm sure the ground here will be to her liking,@ he said. Paco Boy (GB) (Desert Style {Ire}), third choice at 6-1 after running second to Goldikova in this year=s Prix de la Foret, has also pleased his connections. Richard Hannon Jr. is overseeing the finishing touches on the five-year-old as his father, trainer Rich- ard Hannon, recovers from successful heart bypass surgery performed earlier this week. "He looks great," Hannon Jr. said. "He keeps his summer coat all year round. He's in good form. He's moving well.@ But trainer Bill Mott is looking to pull off the upset with the mare Proviso (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who bids for a fifth straight Grade I victory. Mott has been talking up his charge ahead of the race. "She's training amazing, Billy says," reported Mike Smith, who has the mount. "Not just him--I've heard that from several people that are really watching. I've been getting texts and phone calls from people saying how great she's doing." Morning Line Favorite... Trainer Nick Zito had two surprises coming to him Tuesday. The first was when the Thoroughbred Leg- ends Racing Stable partnership opted to enter Morning Line (Tiznow) in the GI BC Dirt Mile, rather than the Classic. The second was when oddsmaker Mike Battaglia made the three-year-old the 7-2 choice. AMike Battaglia is a good handicapper, but I hope he=s a really good handicapper for this race,@ Zito said. AI=m surprised he=s the favorite, but he=s doing super.@ As for the decision to go for the Dirt Mile, he re- marked, AI wanted to go for the Classic. He=d just run a mile and an eighth [winning the GII Pennsylvania Derby], and I wanted to go forward. But they thought it was too tough. They just wanted to take the more conservative route.@ TDN P HEADLINE NEWS • 11/4/10 • PAGE 4 of 15 • thoroughbreddailynews.com Breeders= Cup Bulletin cont. The Dr. Masatake Iida homebred was runner-up in an optional claimer going four turns on the main track at One in a Million... the Spa last summer. Not exactly what you=d call con- Million Seller (A.P. Indy) may be 50-1 on the morning sistent, she has three wins and a second, but has also line for the GIII BC Marathon, but trainer Graham Mo- finished off the board seven times, in her 12 starts tion thinks the 1 3/4-mile trip will be right up her alley. since. A well-beaten seventh in the Politely S. at "She's a filly who cries out for a mile and three quar- Monmouth Park, she enters the Marathon off a neck ters, and you don't have that many opportunities,@ score in the Roseanna S. going 1 1/16 miles at Dela- Motion said after watching the four-year-old filly gallop ware Park Oct. 11. Wednesday. AShe almost beat the boys going two miles It=s not the ideal run-up to a $1 million event, but at Saratoga last year. Obviously, it wasn't in nearly as Motion is undaunted. competitive of a race, but she ran a good second.@ "It's a crazy race--I couldn't resist it," he said. "It's a collection of unknowns. This isn't the craziest thing I've 2010 BREEDERS’ CUP done in my life, but I realize she'll be a price." Distaffers pre-entered against males Million Seller=s second dam is MGISW Maplejinsky Distaffer Sire Trainer Race (Nijinsky II), the dam of champion Sky Beauty (Blushing Million Seller A.P. Indy Motion Mar Groom {Fr}). The mare, in foal to A.P. Indy, was ac- Canadian Ballet City Zip Rice TS quired for $2.7 million by Japanese interests from the Rose Catherine Speightstown Pletcher TS 1994 KEENOV sale. Dam Million Gift (Jpn) (Sunday Unzip Me City Zip M Jones TS Silence) was unplaced, but she is a full-sister to Silence Waveline Stravinsky B Cecil TS Beauty (Jpn), the dam of GISW Tale of Ekati (Tale of Goldikova (Ire) Anabaa Head M the Cat).