On Wednesday morning the post positions were drawn for the 20th Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships to be run at Santa Anita Park on Saturday. As expected, competitive fields will assemble in each event, and with the declaration of Azeri on Monday, this cemented Sightseek as the favorite in the $2 milion Distaff. Along with the post positions and morning line odds, the Head To Head matchups for each race were announced. Like last year, this bet involves choosing which horse will finish ahead of the other, regardless of whether either wins the race.
The Juvenile Fillies draw created a buzz in the room when overwhelming favorite Halfbridled and jockey Julie Krone drew the far outside. However, based on her performances so far she is still much the best and so the oddsmaker did not adjust her odds. Also, Mambo Train was fortunate to draw into the Juvenile, albeit as a longest shot on the board, when highly regarded European horse Old Deuteronomy was scratched by trainer Aidan O'Brien.
The eight race series will be televised live on NBC from 1:00 to 6:00pm Eastern time and the audio portion will also be broadcast live on the internet via Real Audio. Here are the horses entered for each race. Just click the race name below to see the horses in post position order with links to a full profile with a photo and lots of info about each.
Breeders' Cup Friday Works - It was a smokey morning at Santa Anita as a huge cloud of smoke from the wildfires raging to the east of town. Here are photos and details for 18 of the Breeders' Cup contenders who were on the track today. NEW!
Breeders' Cup Thursday Works - It was another busy morning at Santa Anita with lots of horses on the track. Here are photos and details for 21 of the Breeders' Cup contenders. NEW!
Breeders' Cup Wednesday Works - Even more horses were on the track Wednesday morning at Santa Anita as many of the European horses cleared quarantine. Here are photos and details for 20 of the Breeders' Cup contenders. NEW!
Breeders' Cup Tuesday Works - Lots of horses were on the track Tuesday morning at Santa Anita. Here are photos and details for 11 of the Breeders' Cup contenders. NEW!
The Breeders' Cup Championship Day - The official page for the Breeders' Cup championship races. Just about anything you need to know about it: results, video clips, and race calls for past years, and eventually nominations, entries, and results. New Flash section for this year's running now available.
Free past performances for all the races from Equibase and Breeders' Cup. Click each race for the link to its file.
Pre-entry Analysis - each of the 101 pre-entered horses gets a quick analysis by Ellis Starr of Equibase/TrackMaster
Breeders' Cup Video Preview - online video of all the 2003 prep races leading up to the Breeders' Cup will be available starting October 12. Requires you sign up for a free userid and password to access this.
Review: Crushing the Cup 2003 - by Jim Mazur and Peter Mallett. An essential tool for anyone trying to handicap the Breeders' Cup races. Includes statistics, trends, local track info, and more to help you handicap the Breeders' Cup.
Points Standings - from the Breeders' Cup with supplements and injuries indicated
Breeders' Cup Hotels and Travel - Need a room? Here is a list of the hotels closest to the track that still have rooms available plus links to sources for discount airfares.
Breeders' Cup Weather - What will the weather be like at Santa Anita on October 25th? Here are lots of places to find out!
TV Schedule - for all the preps and other programming leading up to the big day
Breeders' Cup Postcards - Breeders' Cup theme virtual postcards to send your friends now updated with Santa Anita postcards and all last year's winners.
