There will be 14 Breeders' Cup races in 2008. There will be six on Friday and eight on Saturday. The total purse money will be $25.5 million.
Three new races will be run next year. They are:
1. One million-dollar Turf Sprint
2. One miilion-dollar juvenile fillies Turf and
3. 500,000-dollar Dirt marathon over 2,400 metres.
Greg Avioli of BC Limited explained the rationale for the expansion. "Our aggressive expansion of the Breeders' Cup makes it the pre-eminent international sports and entertainment event for fans, sponsors and TV viewers. The new races will provide enhanced opportunities for horsemen to compete at the highest level."
The Breeders' Cup races in 2008 will be run at Santa Anita, California on October 24 and 25.
Stephen Pasquier is the new champion jockey in France. He is winning the title for the first time. Pasquier rides for Andre Fabre. He won the Arc with Rail Link in 2006. He partnered Manduro to victory in the Prince of Wales at Royal Ascot in June 2007. Manduro did not race in the Arc because of injury.
Jockey Ioritz Mendizabal was ten winners behind Pasquier and closing when he incurred the wrath of the authorities and will begin a 14-day ban beginning on Friday. Pasquier has 182 winners. Mendizabal was seeking his second riding title. Mendizabal said, "I had some hope but now I can go on vacation."
Miss Andretti's connections have not come up with a reason for her poor showing in the Hong Kong Sprint last Sunday. A wide draw has been offered as the primary cause. Plans are in place to take Miss Andretti to Royal Ascot next year. Miss Andretti won the King's Stand Stakes in 2007 on opening day.
Southwell, a racetrack in England, suffered serious damage in early June because of flooding. On Tuesday, racing resumed at Southwell. It is an all-weather racecourse. A crowd, better than anticipated, turned out. Jockey Dean Mckeown was optimistic. "It is slow at the moment. It is pretty deep but the weather will obviously take its toll and the racecourse will get better as it gets going."
Kenvin Ryan, a trainer, praised the rebuilding effort. "They have done a marvellous job to get it up and running. The surface is going to take a little bit of time to settle but that is to be expected."
David Badel. Does the name ring a bell? Badel who rode in India, won a Listed race in Abu Dhabi last Sunday. He won the 1,600-metre feature with Emirates Gold. Badel was ecstatic. "I am happy I rode Emirates Gold in a big race. Things worked out well and it is a career highlight for me."
Jockey Jorge Ricardo has 9,954 winners. Russell Baze has 9,940 winners. These are the numbers as of December 10, 2007
The decision by the Hong Kong stewards to let Ramonti keep the race after an inquiry for interference to second-placed Viva Pataca has raised questions about the need for uniform rules in major racing jurisdictions. Rob de Kock, a South African official, addressed the issue. "I am not sure if Ramonti would have been allowed to keep the race in other countries. There are two camps. One allows a winner on merit to stand. The other does not because of the belief that the winner has to be placed behind the horse suffering interference even if the perpetrator has not improved position as a result."
The Arc inquiry in October brought this question to the surface. Whether the suffering horse would have won if there had been no interference is the basis on which most jurisdictions function. An act of interference, irrespective of consequences, is reason for punitive action is the belief that the other side subscribes to.
Newmarket will hold a 'definitive' conference next July when it is hoped that a consensus would finally emerge.
I am counting the days as my trip to India looms large. I am looking forward to being at big race meetings.
Sources: Racing Post, France-Galop and others
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