Betty's Critters - & History Views

 Today's Breeders Cup races were for the juveniles (2-year-olds) only.  There were several late scratches in the 5 Juvenile races; 2 were made by the HISA veterinary teams during early race day check-ups:  Givemethebeatboys (IRE) in the Turf Sprint, and River Tiber (IRE) in the Colts Turf.  Both trainers of the colts disagreed with the vets' decisions.  The trainers of The Wine Steward in the Juvenile, and Grand Mo the First in the Colts Turf, also scratched their entries.    There was  one injury incurred during the races today.  Mountain Bear (IRE) finished second in the Colts Turf, and was immediately pulled up by his jockey. Thankfully Dylan Browne McMonagle felt the colt was not evenly balanced, and stopped him quickly, saving him from a worse injury.   He was removed from the track in an ambulance, and went through several sets of X-rays.  He has a non-displaced condylar fracture/crack of his foreleg; and has already been...

 The 40th set of Breeders Cup Races will be run this weekend at Santa Anita Race Track in Arcadia, California.  There will be 5 races run Friday- "Future Stars Friday" - that will feature the 2-year-olds only; and on Saturday, nine Breeders Cup races will be for 3-year-olds and up.  The races will be televised on both days.  Friday, the coverage will be on USA and on Fan Duel Racing channels.  Check your local listings for times of coverage.   The lowest guaranteed purse for this year's Breeder Cup Races is $1 million.  On Friday, the 2-years-olds will be competing for purses of either $1 million or $2 million.  The first Breeders Cup race of Friday is the Juvenile Turf Sprint, open to both fillies and colts, with the fillies receiving a 3 pound weight advantage.  The other four races are divided between the sexes, with all equines carrying 122 pounds.  The Juvenile Turf Sprint is limited to 12 entries; the other 4 races are open to 14 e...

A few years back, when the Breeders' Cup decided to run all of the Juvenile races on Friday (instead of all the female races), they came up with the name "Future Stars Friday," since the two-year-olds running are supposed to be the "Stars of Tomorrow."  Some of the juveniles will have their best races this year, and as they mature will not be as superb as they were in 2021; others will continue to excel, and will, indeed, become stars of thoroughbred racing in the next handful of years.  No one can tell what the future will bring.   This year's Breeders' Cup is at Del Mar, the track that Bing Crosby and other rich racing fans built and opened in 1937 in California.  Trevor Denman is the usual track announcer at Del Mar, but he slipped on the stairs of his deck and badly injured his back.  Larry Collmus, who calls the races for NBC for the Triple Crown, and the Breeders' Cup, will cover for Trevor for the entire season at Del Mar.    As usual, when I ...