- Analysis, tips and reaction to the action at Keeneland
- European challenge comes up short on opening day of Breeders’ Cup
- Any comments? You can email Greg | tweet @greg_wood_
And here’s Gamine’s astonishing 19-length all-the-way win in the Grade One Acorn Stakes, which was also a track record time.
First up this evening we have an intriguing renewal of the Filly & Mare Sprint, a race on the dirt which, perplexingly for those of us who think that sprinting stops at six furlongs, is staged over seven.
The warm favourite is Bob Baffert’s Gamine, who was first past the post in her first four starts, subsequently disqualified from the second for a positive dope test, then beaten into third stepping up to nine furlongs in the Kentucky Oaks. She led much of the way until fading in the stretch, setting such a strong pace that it was a record time for the race.
Hello racing fans, hi to all handicappers, and bonjour turfistes. It’s Breeders’ Cup liveblog time with the first of nine races on the main Saturday card now just under an hour away, and unless you are one of the very lucky few with a pass for Keeneland, we’ll all be sharing the experience remotely this time around.
The Friday card was something of a dry run for today in terms of staging one of the biggest days in American racing amid strict social distancing rules, and with no-one in the stands to generate an atmosphere. As we discovered in Britain during Royal Ascot back in June, it’s a. possible, b. necessary and c. perfectly enjoyable, while also being d. something you’d very much only want to do once. If the meeting is going to return to Keeneland in two years’ time as planned, there will need to be fans in grandstands or the whole game will likely be up.
