Godolphin

My friend, Pat Cummings, will be in favor of this blog post as I look at what promises to be an overwhelming number of Godolphin runners that are planning to be at the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships in two weeks. According to thoroughbredtimes.com, Godolphin is preparing FIFTEEN horses to compete at Santa Anita in a fortnight and I would expect that some of them will be fairly short odds.

Firstly, I would like to discuss Gayego, who is expected to go in the Sprint. His progress reminds me quite a bit of Artax, at least from a personal standpoint. I liked both horses quite a bit in their tries at the Kentucky Derby, and while those efforts proved fruitless, Artax did return to win the Breeders' Cup Sprint in 1999. I might be expecting Gayego to do the same this year, especially off of his win over the Santa Anita strip in the Ancient Title.

I have already blogged about how I think the St. Leger at Doncaster is a key prep for the Cup, as opposed to the Arc de Triomphe. The winner of the St. Leger this year, Mastery, is poised to run in the Breeders' Cup Marathon, the only non-ladies race on the Friday Breeders' Cup schedule. Rest assured, I will be backing my opinion on the English champion with some coin of the realm.

Next, like the aforementioned Mr. Cummings, I was at Louisiana Downs for the Super Derby this year, won by Regal Ransom. Whether Godolphin sends him in the Dirt Mile (which he wins in a walk) or the Classic (which might be a bit tougher), Regal Ransom still stands out as one of the most impressive horses I have had the pleasure to witness live.

By the way, I have yet to mention Pyro, Girolamo, Seventh Street, Sara Louise, Music Note or Cocoa Beach. It promises to be one of the biggest landslides in the history of the event, at least since Richard Mandella's four-win spree in 2003

Tune in tomorrow for more from They Are Off. For right now, I am Gone... GOODBYE!