Breeders' Cup: Lynchy's Friday journal

There are 'Win And You're In' races and there are 'In And You're Stuck' places such as the seating plan in the press section at Santa Anita. Not quite sardines in a tin, but think economy class on a plane, the Timeform way of travelling, and it presents a problem if, like me, you're not very good at either sitting still or ignoring a nicotine habit. Then there's the draw. In row F, I'm in stall 8, and in gates 9 and 10 are Mr and Mrs McCririck. 

On my inside are serious US analysts, with Timeform-style jobs but more rounded lives, then beyond them a barrier just high enough to prevent any sort of graceful exit, meaning the only way out of the pen is right, past the McCririck camp. 

There are only so many times you can say 'can I just get past please' to any man, and McCririck isn't just any man. On words associated with John McCririck, 'tolerance' is a Pointless answer. No dramas so far, but we'll see as the afternoon goes on. 

London Bridge has just won the Breeders' Cup Marathon. A missed opportunity for a winning coincidence bet, because there used to be a horse, not long ago, running in Britain that had the same name, though he was only a handicapper. A story that only the Breeders' Cup could produce, or a nail in the coffin of a race that doesn't fit the brand? Betfair goes 4.7 'story' and 1.28 'nail'. 

Fortunately, the race didn't seem so long in running thanks to the extravagent Argentinian commentary two rows back by the younger brother of the man in the non-annoying Ladbrokes adverts. It put a smile on most faces. Most. As his pitch increased, John M's tolerance reduced, not to snapping point, but I left it a good 15 minutes before number 19 in the 'can I just get past please' series, on my way for a look at the turfing juveniles. 

I've struck three proper bets at the Breeders' Cup. Bets tend to be struck only in print, never in normal conversation. Anyway, the three struck bets were The Fugue, Dank and Giovanni Boldini.   

The bet went from struck to stricken in the last 100 yds. I blame Javier Castellano, as did Bobby's Kitten trainer Chad Brown - 'He's only a two-year-old and going out that fast is ridiculous' - because if Bobby's Kitten had been more controlled, then Giovanni could have waited that bit longer, and the pair wouldn't have inadvertently teed things up for Outstrip. 

I lost on the race, but at least my 'effing balls' weren't killed as one local vociferously claimed. However, the second-most heard phrase on the track, behind 'can I just get past please', is 'Go Baby'. Americans love a 'Go Baby'. There's the occasional 'That's The Horse Right There', but mostly it's an orgasm of Go Babies; and it sounds spectacular. 

With a view to Saturday, this speed bias towards front runners on the dirt track is getting a bit out of hand. It's not as if Goldencents winning the Dirt Mile was illogical, but the way he did it almost was. To go so hard, so soon, from so wide, and still win comfortably, was extraordinary, further proof of something afoot after the all-the-way wins of 47/1 and 37/1 shots on the undercard. 

I'm starting to like Verrazano. In humans, we celebrate character, yet horses who show it are invariably vilified. That's because there's a gentlemen's agreement between punter and horse, a pact is struck as a bet is struck, carrying our trust by carrying our money, but that's the top and bottom of the relationship. Verrazano's having none of that, always doing things on his terms, at times taking your breath away and at others killing your balls, and today he didn't fancy it. He was every bit as obliging as John McCririck has been to me when various horses asked Verrazano if they could please get past. 

McCririck, by the way, like the Breeders' Cup itself, still has great pulling power on the international stage, despite demising reports. Whatever the reason, the South Americans especially are drawn to him as a moth to the light, and John patiently poses for photos and humours their attempt at banter, if letting them know when they've outstayed their welcome. And still, approaching the penultimate race of the day, he couldn't be kinder to me as my chair-shuffling demands continue. 

I'm playing a theory in the Juvenile Fillies Turf: there's going to be an upset. I don't fancy the Euro trio, least of all Chriselliam, and my friends at Timeform US promised me that theoretical home favourite, My Conquestadory, couldn't win, so I'm backing the Chad Brown pair of Ready To Act and, primarily, Testa Rossi. 

Rarely at the Breeders' Cup has a winner been identifiable so far out as Chriselliam was. 

In a post-race interview Richard Hughes says he now can't wait to ride Olympic Glory given that Jamie Lynch fancies that one even less than he did Chriselliam.  

Betting is brilliant when things work out as you anticipate, and sometimes racing is brilliant when they don't. Save for guessers or liars, everybody believed that the Distaff was going to be a burn up between Beholder and Royal Delta and that the rest was down to fate. A jockeys race, was the American term, meaning that the result would turn on jockeys as much as the horse. Well it did, and come the hour, come a legendary jockey, as Gary Stevens rode Beholder with intuitive patience, relatively speaking, tracking rather than forcing the pace.

Not since Chriselliam has a Breeders' Cup winner been identifiable so far out. 

Royal Delta, beaten a long way out, albeit not so far out as Princess of Sylmar, was clapped off the course just as she'd been clapped onto it. Their fallen star was appreciated nearly as much as their new wonderwoman, the three-year-old Beholder, 47 years the junior of her rider.
 
For world-class jockeys, there's no such thing as age discrimination. Speaking of which, John McCririck, defying the morning line odds, proved to be the perfect benchmate right through the afternoon. If John McCririck, or Verrazano for that matter, needs a character witness, I'm the man.

My Saturday preview, and a bit besides, has been up for a few days now and can be found here, but I've got one more thing to add that should help to get some Breeders' Cup ammo. In the third at Santa Anita on Saturday, at 18.25, the race just before the Breeders' Cup programme, Ultrasonic makes her US debut for Bob Baffert. The unified transatlantic Timeform ratings work equally as well for small races as the bigger ones, and the ratings suggest that Ultrasonic has loads in hand. Lasix is a potential positive, as is the 6½f trip, remembering the GB version of Ultrasonic, who was often too headstrong for 7f but not quite quick enough for 6f, and we'll see how Mr and Mrs McCririck react when, at 18.26 on Saturday, I stand up on my economy chair and shout those two words: Go Baby!

Timeform's Breeders' Cup Special, feat. previews & ratings for all 14 BC races - Out Now. Get it today!