Betty's Critters - & History Views

 I did not  post a preview of the Breeders Cup races this year, as my roommate and I are both fighting cancer, and I did not have the time to do my usual research and write my usual two columns.  Having spent this afternoon at the Cancer Center, I have just finished watching films of the Juvenile Breeders Cup races, and will write my usual report.    The Breeders Cup is being run at Del Mar Racetrack in California this year and next year.     The first Breeders Cup race of the day was the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint , run at 5 furlongs (5/8 mile).  All the entries this year were colts, and they all carried 122 pounds; the guaranteed purse was $1 million.  There was a full field of 12 runners; Out On Bail was scratched due to a knee chip, and Pali's Kitten drew in.  Half of the field were bred in the US; 5 were bred in Ireland; and one in Great Britain.    Magnum Force (IRE) won the 5 furlong race in 56.36 seconds....

 No injuries or accidents were reported about the participants in today's Breeders Cup Races.  Only one injury occurred yesterday during the five 2-year-old races: an un-displaced condylar fracture/crack in the foreleg of Mountain Bear (IRE), who finished in second place in Friday's Turf race for colts.  At the end of the race, the jockey pulled up and dismounted, and the colt was taken off track in an ambulance. A series of x-rays were taken, he was placed in a cast, and the vets expect him to be able to resume training in 4 weeks.    Todays races were for horses aged 3 years and up, and the 9 Breeders Cup races today showcased 93 horses representing the breeders from 8 countries (11 countries if you count the breeding places of sires and dams).      I realize that I kept referring to descendants of Sunday Silence in my listings of runners in the races for today.   I was a big fan of Sunday Silence in 1988 and 1989, his 2 years of ...

 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...