Every day is ladies day

Fillies stole the show both days of this year’s Breeders’ Cup.

That was no surprise on Friday, since only fillies and mares were invited to the party.  It was somewhat more of a surprise — though not much of one, since she was the fave — on Saturday, however, when European invader Goldikova knocked off defending champ Kip Deville in the Mile (the turf kind, not to be mistaken for the dirt one, which was not actually run on real dirt but on… oh, never mind).

And then the focus turned back to the fillies after the Classic.  Defending champ, reigning Horse of the Year, and real-dirt king Curlin appeared to struggle with the poly-going, made a sweeping move while wide on the turn, stuck his head in front, but sputtered down the lane, winding up behind a pair of Euro invaders and the otherwise kinda so-so Tiago.

Which, appropriately enough for a weekend which began with nothing but fillies, turned all eyes back to the fairer sex, namely Zenyatta, the undefeated filly who suddenly has a realistic shot at Horse of the Year honors.

Zenyatta — deservedly — received the lion’s share of pre-Cup attention afforded to fillies. And she delivered impressively, winning the you-knew-it-as-the Distaff in handy fashion over a solid group that included the largely forgotten defending champ Ginger Punch (thoughts on that, here).  Her seven-for-seven season is one of the great recent racing seasons, and her running style — in which she spots the field open lengths in every race before inhaling them — makes her accomplishments all the more astounding.  She’ll receive every vote for filly of the year.

For all that, her case for Horse of the Year before yesterday was marginal at best.  She’s never faced open company, and defending champ Curlin had accomplished everything asked of him, winning a steady string of Grade I contests, with his one, relatively narrow defeat having occurred on the lawn.  His second defeat, yesterday, however, opens the door, and Zenyatta may just kick it in.

Nonetheless, my vote for the most impressive performance of the weekend — or, at least, most memorable — is for Goldikova’s win in the Mile.  Parked behind a wall of horses in the lane, she had absolutely nowhere to go; when a narrow hole opened in front of her, her sudden burst of accelaration left the rest of the high class field wondering where she’d gone.  Most horses, even good ones, would not likely have managed to squeeze through; Goldikova, on the other hand, was through and gone before anyone knew what had happened.

The other filly who captured my eye this weekend was Ventura, who scored in the weekend’s first race, the Filly and Mare Sprint.  Yes, she received a perfect setup, but she sure made the most of it, powering past Indian Blessing to win by a mile in a ridiculously fast time of 1:19 and 4/5 for the seven-eighths distance.

Of course, a number of the boys left more than favorable impressions.  Foremost among them was Conduit, the Irish-bred three year-old who won impressively in the Turf.  That quirkily run, 12-furlong race — in which the field covered the mile in a blazing 1:33 4/5, ever-so-slightly faster than the time for the Mile — provided the European invaders with a 1-2-4 finish, with only longshot Dancing Forever in the mix for the American side.

One issue with the Turf: Red Rock Canyon, who finished sixth at 66-1 as the pacesetter for the disappointing favorite Soldier of Fortune, had no more business being in that race than I do.  It’s time — past time, actually — for the Breeder’s Cup to restrict entrance to stake winners only.  The presence of a maiden in one of the most important, valuable, and prestigious turf races in the world — and the best in this country — is a joke and a sham perpetrated on the betting public.

Other than that, no complaints.  We were up for the weekend, though we did give away some of Erin’s big Friday winnings on Saturday.  Still, a score here and a score there allowed us to perform an orderly retreat, rather than a rout.