There are more lucrative stops on the Breeders’ Cup Challenge schedule than the $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes (G1) but the Sept. 30 test that awards a “Win and You’re In” slot in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) does offer the advantage of getting a start on the Santa Anita Park surface five weeks before it hosts the World Championships.
The 1 1/8-mile race has drawn nine entries, including morning-line favorite and defending winner Defunded (2-1) and second-choice Slow Down Andy (5-2). Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman’s Defunded boasts an impressive 5-2-1 record from nine starts on the Santa Anita dirt while Slow Down Andy carries a 1-0-1 record from two starts at the track.
Should one of them earn the Challenge victory Saturday, their connections would pick up optimism off the recent win on the surface as well as their horse’s overall winning record at Santa Anita. How much optimism is warranted? Let’s find how many Breeders’ Cup Classic winners entered off a start at the same track as the World Championships.
Steppingstones
At first impression, prepping at the site of the Breeders’ Cup does not appear to be a major advantage for Classic horses. Only seven winners from the first 39 editions of the Classic prepped at the same track as the Breeders’ Cup. But the numbers look a bit more favorable when you keep in mind that many of the host tracks over the years did not offer a major prep race in the weeks ahead of the World Championships.
The seven horses to start on the Breeders’ Cup host track immediately ahead of the Classic before winning the Classic are 1985 winner Proud Truth at Aqueduct, 1986 winner Skywalker at Santa Anita, 1995 winner Cigar at Belmont Park, 2003 victor Pleasantly Perfect at Santa Anita, 2005 winner Saint Liam at Belmont, 2009 winner Zenyatta at Santa Anita, and 2013 winner Mucho Macho Man at Santa Anita.
In listing those winners it does catch the eye that a majority of them—four—won the Classic at Santa Anita off of preps there. That would be four of the 10 times that the Breeders’ Cup has been held at Santa Anita the winner prepped locally.
Skywalker finished third to Lord At War in the 1985 Goodwood Handicap (G3) before winning the Classic. Lord at War did not start in the Breeders’ Cup. (The Goodwood would see its grade eventually move to the top level, its name changed to the Awesome Again, and its conditions changed from handicap to stakes.)
Pleasantly Perfect gave trainer Richard Mandella his fourth Breeders’ Cup win on the day in the 2003 Classic. Three weeks earlier Pleasantly Perfect captured the Goodwood, then a grade 2 handicap. Zenyatta defeated other fillies and mares in the Lady’s Secret Stakes (G1) before becoming the first female to win the Classic four weeks later.
While those three horses were based in Southern California, trainer Kathy Ritvo shipped Mucho Macho Man west to compete in the 2013 Awesome Again. He won that race by 4 1/4 lengths before edging Will Take Charge by a nose in the Classic.
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