Breeders’ Cup workers were busy at Santa Anita and it will only get more hectic as the days dwindle down to the main event. In these final adjustments to the racers, horseracing fans have to monitor how the runners perform in the mornings and how they come out of the drills.
Upsets happen in horseracing because of conditions and forethought and some Breeders’ Cup workers have a surprise on the agenda for some of the best horses in the world.
Enter trainer David Hofmans runner Melatonin. This racer will be trying to pull off a gigantic shocker in the Breeders’ Cup Classic but he has the credentials that must be addressed. It took him a few races to figure it out and after he finally graduated, he had to be rested. The gelded son of Kodiak Kowboy made his seasonal debut last year a winning one and he did the same thing in February of this year.
A winner of 5 of 13 of his career races, Melatonin has won 3 of his 4 starts this year, including a pair of Grade 1s, and he has been working well since his last race in June.
In his last race, Melatonin sat just off the pace in the mile and a quarter Hollywood Gold Cup, inched away late, to record a winning 109 Beyer Speed Figure. This racer has speed but doesn’t need the lead to win and he worked a solid maintenance mile at Santa Anita on October 22.
One of Melatonin’s best assets is his trainer. Hofmans knows what to do with a good horse. He has won the Belmont Stakes, the Breeders’ Cup Distaff with a 40-1 shot and the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint with 36-1 Desert Code. One of his greatest training jobs is when he saddled 19-1 Alphabet Soup to beat the sensational Cigar in the 1996 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Melatonin was not the only one of the busy Breeders’ Cup workers in action. Union Strike is preparing for the Breeders’ Cup Fillies and she did something that is not easy to do. She broke her maiden in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante and she drilled October 23 at Santa Anita in a sharp 1:27 4/5.
Hunt will be a legit factor in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. As one of the Breeders’ Cup workers last Sunday, he stretched his legs with a slow training track work. The edge this runner will have is that he is a course specialist on the Santa Anita hillside layout. He has run six times on this hillside, has won four times and he needed his last race badly in his section of the Eddie D.
Gun Runner was one of the Breeders’ Cup workers that was locked and loaded in his 1:00 2/5 spin on October 23. This colt is pointing for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and he has the credentials to be very dangerous. He has won a pair of Grade 2s this year, was a good third to Nyquist in the Kentucky Derby and he can be placed anywhere and still perform well.
The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf will be an absolute scramble but Bowies Hero is pointing for that race and he was one of the honest Breeders’ Cup workers on October 23. He was basically out for a gallop on the training track at Santa Anita but he has revenge as a motive. After winning his first 2 races, he was a wide beaten chalk in his last race. He will be out to atone for that flop.
John Sadler trains Stellar Wind, a major threat in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, and he was happy with the racer’s breeze on October 21. She is generally just a ‘so-so’ worker but she went 5 furlongs in 1:00 2/5, which was the fifth fastest at the distance. Stellar Wind will be trying to win three in a row and the last 2 wins came against the champion Beholder.
Other Breeders’ Cup workers that were on the tab at Santa Anita that must be followed include Breeders’ Cup Sprint likely favorite Masochistic. He went the best of the morning 1:11 3/5 for 6 furlongs. Lady Shipman kept her legs moving, speedball What a View drilled in 1:13 flat and Zuma Beach Stakes winner Big Score went a soft 4 furlongs.
When watching these final tune-ups bettors should try to pay attention to negative signs rather than positive ones.
