October 25, 2005 -- Thanks to record rainfall in New York this month, Saturday's 22nd running of the Breeders' Cup figures to be run over the most yielding turf in Cup history, probably even softer ground than in 1995 at Belmont, when it took Ridgewood Pearl 1:43.3 to win the Mile and Northern Spur 2:42 to run a mile-and-a-half in the Turf.
"[The turf] hasn't dried out," jockey John Velazquez said after working Mile favorite Leroidesanimaux yesterday morning over the inner course. "It won't take much more water. They shouldn't run another race over it until the Breeders' Cup. Otherwise we're in trouble."
In the Turf,the best European certainly isn't Shirocco,but over really soft going he might be.
Ace wants it firm.
Alkaased prefers it good-firm
Azamour good-firm
Bago can run over it,but prefers good ground.The strong pace with the rabbit doesn't really suit his game at 12f's either IMO
As I mentioned on another thread, Shirocco is a major play for me, and that was before all this rain. He's a Group 1 winner at 1 1/2 miles in two countries (Germany and Italy) and is primed for a top effort as this is his third time out this year. He rallied last out in the Arc, and with the turf soft, he's sitting on a big race.
Steve
10-4 on Shirocco, guys. He looks like a terrific value play. His Timeform figs are roughly the same as the other Euros, who will be more heavily bet, and he was right behind Bago in the Arc. His record on soft ground makes him all the more attractive.
Doesn't hurt that Andre Fabre is his trainer. Dude knows something about springing Cup day upsets (though he's had his share of duds, too).
The other thing about Shirocco is he's tractable.The other Euro's kind of lag around at the back of the pack.This horse could be the one to get the jump on the field after the rabbit spits it.He has everything going for him in this spot if he's good enough,and best of all he'll be a bomb on the tote board.
