Betty's Critters - & History Views

 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...

 The 40th annual Breeders Cup World Championship races will start on Friday, 3 November 2023, at Santa Anita Race Track in Arcadia, California.  There are five juvenile races on "Future Stars Friday" which I described in my previous blog.  There have been 4 scratches in the Juvenile races so far, and those are noted in that blog posting.    Today I'm writing about the 9 races being run Saturday, all for equines 3 years of age and older.  The races begin at 2:30 EDT (11:30 PDT), and there is television coverage on USA, Fan Duel Racing, NBC and Peacock.  Check your local listings for viewing times and availability.  The purse money in each of the 9 races varies from $1 million to $6 million.    There have been 6 scratches in Saturday's races since the post positions were drawn: in the first Breeders Cup race of the day, the Dirt Mile, there is one scratch, #7, Algiers (IRE), due to heat in his right foreleg on 1 November; the entry of #2, ...

 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...