SCOTIA ON BREEDERS CUP WEEKEND!

Thanks for the update Barry, with the current exchange rate you should get plenty Rands!

xx

Zenyatta blows rivals away to retain unbeaten record

Zenyatta made it nine wins on the bounce when landing the Ladies Classic under Mike Smith

Report: USA, Friday

Santa Anita: Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic 1m 1f, all-weather, 3yo+ fillies and mares

ZENYATTA put in her patented last-to-first run to win the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic as the 1-2 favourite and remain unbeaten in nine starts.

When she returned to the winner's circle, a trip she knows so well by now, she got by far the loudest applause of the day - recognition well-deserved.

"I don't have anywords," said jockey Mike Smith, who earlier won the Juvenile Fillies with another last-to-first horse, Stardom Bound. "I felt good (during the race). I knew she was going to make her move."

Trainer John Shirreffs added of Zenyatta, purchased for a mere $60,000: "She's so special. We're blessed to have her. You get so excited (watching her) you forget where you are."

Certainly, watching Zenyatta pick off her rivals one by one was breathtaking and, when she found the wire well clear, she was reaching out and covering tremendous ground with each stride.

Cocoa Beach ran well too, perhaps well enough to have won several past Distaffs, as the race was formerly known, but she can be excused for not being able to account for her year-older rival.

Stablemate Music Note took third and Godolphin spokesman Simon Crisford said: "Apart from winning, we couldn't be more pleased. It was a great run by a great filly. They were beaten by a better filly on the day. She is a super star, the winner."

If Curlin puts in a more spectacular performance to win the Classic on Saturday, surely the house will come down.

AN American hero with the biggest bank balance in racing history; a pair of Irish stablemates who, between them, have achieved nine Group 1 touchdowns this year; Britain's best miler ridden by the world's best-known jockey; and, from the East, a Japanese heavyweight with the potential to stun.

It is what is says on the tin - this is truly a Breeders' Cup Classic.

Curlin, Duke Of Marmalade, Henrythenavigator, Raven's Pass and Casino Drive will burst out of Santa Anita's starting stalls at 11.45pm on Saturday night.

A first prize of over £1.35 million awaits the winner - that and the biggest bag of bragging rights the sport's international extravaganza has ever handed out.

They will come together on a surface that has until now been a stranger to the Breeders' Cup. Dug up and gone is the dirt.

In its place has arrived a synthetic track that John Gosden, trainer of the Frankie Dettori-ridden Raven's Pass, believes has added much to the prestige of the 1m2f test.

"It's incredibly exciting because the top horses from all around the world can come together and meet," he said.
"You're not going to find a dirt or a turf champion - you're going to find achampion. I think that makes it truly exciting. It's bringing together the breed really."

This, though, is not a one-race night. At 11pm, Soldier Of Fortune and Conduit lead a European assault on the Breeders' Cup Turf. And though the turf will be faster than many have ever experienced, Aidan O'Brien is not concerned.

"Soldier Of Fortune is one of those horses that ground doesn't affect," he said. "He's equally as good on soft ground as he is on fast ground because he's very natural.

"He's a horse that stays very well at a very high cruising pace. He's a very high-quality horse."

As is the Prix du Moulin heroine Goldikova, who seeks to justify favouritism in the Breeders' Cup Mile, a race her trainer Freddie Head won twice as a jockey on theastonishingly brilliant Miesque. He thinks he might be about to win it again.

"I don't say she is as good as Miesque, but she could be," said Head. He describes Goldikova as "a true champion".

On what has the potential to be a memorable night, shewill not be the only champion on show.

Eagle Mountain as short as 4/1 but still 6/1 available if you look around.

Eagle Mountain a nice 'value' e/w bet to nothing @6's - Ouzo to connections!

Once again the SA bookies are scamming the local punters. Eagle Mountain is a widely available 6-1 with the local UK bookies yet is 5-2 in SA. Curlin is around 2-1 having been 5-2 for most of the day but is now 14-10 on Bettingworld. I havent looked for other prices in SA but those bang gat bookies are a disgrace.

Lets hope MDK can do the business...

Eagle Mountain out to 11/1

Its on the drift with the all the UK bookies and on Betfair yet still 5-2 on Bettingworld, laughable...

Ryan Moore rode them to sleep, they went so fast up front Eagle Mountain did amazingly well to run 2nd...

Great run from Eagle, now the big one, then a sleep!!!

Ravans Pass to shock

Hay dave you still up