THE ASPIRING HORSEPLAYER

Moving right along with our race-by-race coverage of the Breeders’ Cup races, it’s time to look towards one of the bigger races of the day in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.  According to the advance entries, we’ve got a contentious field of 10 that might do battle here in what should be a very interesting race between the better North American female turf runners and those from Europe.

Dar Re Mi has several Breeders’ Cup races in her sights.

The entries are as follows:

• Dar Re Mi
• Dynaforce
• Forever Together
• Magical Fantasy
• Maram
• Midday
• Pure Clan
• Rainbow View
• Rutherienne
• Visit

Let’s just come right out with the obvious.  From top to bottom, this might be the most impressive field on all of “Ladies’ Friday” (or whatever the hell we’re supposed to call it – seems like every conceivably usable nomenclature for the day is bound to offend a few good folks).

In the North American corner, we’ve come out swinging with several of our biggest guns; namely FOREVER TOGETHER (last year’s champion), RUTHERIENNE, PURE CLAN, DYNAFORCE and local hero MAGICAL FANTASY.

The Euros have countered with the 3-year-old sensations RAINBOW VIEW and MIDDAY along with the extremely dangerous 4-year-old filly DAR RE MI.

Oh yes, and then there’s VISIT, who has one hoof in both camps by virtue of being bred in Great Britain, yet a familiar face around the California racing circuit.  And Maram – the Juvenile Fillies Turf champion from 2008 who appears to have stepped squarely into the deep end by attempting to take on these ladies.

The tendency is to develop  a bit of a Euro-fetish whenever grass is involved, and I readily admit I’m 100% guilty of doing so – not only in my Breeders’ Cup selections but practically any top level turf race at any track throughout the year.  I’m not sure why that is?  Just like I don’t advocate betting against SEC teams in College Football, so have I developed a healthy fear and respect for the best the Europeans send our way for major grass stakes. 

RAINBOW VIEW, MIDDAY, and DAR RE MI are a formidable trio, assuming all run here.  RAINBOW VIEW could be headed to the Ladies Classic, depending on where Zenyatta runs, and DAR RE MI might be taking on the boys in the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Saturday.

If either of these horses runs here against their own sex, I think they would be quite formidable.  It’s not just that there Europeans.  If it were only that easy, then we would’ve nailed this race by a longshot last year.  Don’t forget, as our fearless TBA leader Handride points out in his latest post for the NTRA, we let FOREVER TOGETHER go off at 5/1 last year.

What makes this European crop so special begins with a turf runner like Sea the Stars – who while not entered here becomes a bit of a barometer from which to measure the ability of other horses.  Friends from Europe who follow racing insist to me that Sea the Stars is one of the all time greats – not just a great horse for 2009.  If true (and judging from the video evidence, I certainly see what they mean), then consider that DAR RE MI was only 3 1/4 lengths behind that runner in the Prix de l’ Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp  last month.  Also note that in 2008, this was a filly who finished just 2 lengths behind Zarkava (2008 Arc de Triomphe champion).  In between she’s taken on and defeated a filly I’m extremely fond of named Sariska, as well as Stacelita.

RAINBOW VIEW has faced off against slightly lesser competition, most likely by virtue of only being a 3-year-old filly (after this year, will we ever be able to say “only” a 3-year-old filly again? Probably not).  Of course, in this case “slightly lesser” equates to 2008 BC Mile champion Goldikova and the aforementioned Sariska, among others.  Ditto for MIDDAY (at least as far as Sariska) is concerned.

If you like the European crop, then there’s much to like about these horses.  Of course one must see them on the track in order to finalize an appreciation, no matter how much one fawns over them on paper.  Coming thousands of miles across continents isn’t easy even for people, let alone race horses that are expected to deboard and then run lights out against top level competition. 

Turning back to our local contenders, FOREVER TOGETHER still makes a lot of sense.  She’s faced some challenges this year, most notably from Diamondrella who simply may have her number on softer footing, but is still a classy defending champion that will make the others earn it in the stretch if they are to prevail.

MAGICAL FANTASY is a horse with many angles to consider.  The daughter of Diesis is coming off of 4 consecutive victories, with 3 of them being Grade 1 turf efforts. She loves the local surroundings and seems to run a fairly consistent race each time she’s sent to post.  Whether that will be enough to prevail against this field remains the question, but you know she’ll give an honest account of herself.

What about RUTHERIENNE?  Might she be the forgotten lady at the betting windows?  The daughter of Pulpit has turned in a 2009 campaign that I think folks would have to say exceeded their expectations.  In 2008 she was more of a consistent “underneath” play in the exotics, but now she’s shown she can run with the big girls, although typically she winds up just behind FOREVER TOGETHER.

As for the rest of the field, I’m not a big DYNAFORCE guy as I was admittedly burned quite badly on Preakness day when this runner flopped in the Galorrette (Grade 3).  Perhaps I should be more forgiving as that was her first start of the year?  It just seems like the others in this field are superior. In fact, between her and PURE CLAN (a horse she’s banged heads with on multiple occasions), I prefer PURE CLAN. 

MARAM and VISIT could wind up hitting the board, but I’ll be surprised if one of them finds the winner’s circle on Friday.  Doubly so for MARAM. 

I’ll be using DAR RE MI for the win here if she runs.  If not, I’ll probably turn to one of the remaining Euros in either RAINBOW VIEW or MIDDAY.  I prefer FOREVER TOGETHER from the North American flock, although I think both RUTHERIENNE and MAGICAL FANTASY warrant some serious respect here as well.  I made MAGICAL FANTASY the official 3rd selection below in the hopes that she’d be a slightly better price than FOREVER TOGETHER.  Truth be told, if both DAR RE MI and RAINBOW VIEW were to scratch, I’d probably play FOREVER TOGETHER or MAGICAL FANTASY on top – just keep that in mind as this field may be shaken up quite a bit before race day arrives. 

Selections:

• Dar Re Mi
• Rainbow View
• Magical Fantasy

Have fun – this should be one of the better races of the weekend.