Asmussen Ace In Del Mar And Bristol Bags Charlie Hall
Gun Runs The Show At Del Mar
Saturday evening saw one of the richest meetings of the entire racing year take place over in California, as Del Mar racetrack played host to the 2017 Breeders’ Cup extravaganza. The big race of the night – and the richest American race of the season – was the Breeders’ Cup Classic itself.
Could Arrogate reproduce his monstrous form from last season and win back to back editions? Could the three year old West Coast continue his rapid ascent to claim the biggest prize of all? Or could a European raider such as Churchill cause an upset? In the end the answer to all of these questions was a resounding no, as the prize fell to the horse who has been the undoubted star of this year’s US racing scene.
Second to Arrogate in the Dubai World Cup, Steven Asmussen’s, Gun Runner headed into the contest on the back of wins in the Stephen Foster Handicap, Whitney Stakes and Woodward Stakes – Grade 1’s one and all – and confirmed his status as the current king of the hill with a most tenacious all the way success.
Arrogate never really threatened following a slow start, but his trainer Bob Baffert did fill the places with Collected finishing second and west Coast filling third spot.
1-2 in Charlie Hall Makes Twiston Shout
Meanwhile back in the UK, the jumps season is really beginning to find its stride, with the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby the pick of the weekend’s domestic action. Old favourites Coneygree and Cue Card were undone by a slight injury and a fall respectively, but that shouldn’t take too much gloss off what was an excellent day at the office for Nigel Twiston-Davies. His six year old Bristol De Mai has always been a talented performer, but had started to become a little frustrating.
This however marked a career best effort as he gave stablemate and former RSA winner Blaklion 6lbs and a half-length beating, with the pair well clear of the rest. The Betfair Chase looks to be next on the cards for Bristol De Mai, now making him their 4/1 second favourite for the race.
Outlander Bounces Back For Elliott
Speaking of talented but less than consistent performers, Saturday’s big race over in Ireland fell to a back to form, Outlander. Beaten 51 lengths, 42 lengths and being pulled up in his three most recent starts, it took something of a leap of faith to support the Gordon Elliott runner here.
The winner of the Lexus Chase back in December, the nine year old is undoubtedly a talented performer on his day though and he bounced right back to his best to see off fellow Gigginstown runner Road To Respect in the closing stages. Reportedly now feeling the benefit of a procedure to correct a spine problem, Outlander will be a live threat in the major staying chases to come, if able to build on this.
It’s Back To The Flat For This Weeks Highlights
Looking ahead to this week’s action, the big race takes place in Australia as the Melbourne Cup rolls into Flemington once again. With a whole host of threats from the UK and Ireland, it all kicks off at 4am on Tuesday morning and is one to set the alarm clock for. Flat handicapping action also takes centre stage at the weekend, with Saturday’s November Handicap at Doncaster the pick of the domestic action.
