Before notes on the BC Marathon

Starting with it because it is the first Breeders' Cup race....don't necessarily expect comments on all 15, however.

My knowledge of racing outside this continent is woefully lacking. That the Gold Cup at Ascot is 2 1/2 miles never sunk in before. BC Marathon entrant Brigantin ran 3rd in it this year. 2 1/2 miles -- that's longer than the steeplechase races at Saratoga, which seem to be 2 1/16 miles, or 2 3/8 miles. In my mind, flat races are one category, and steeplechase are another, and necessarily longer. You would never see a steeplechase race at a mile or a mile and a quarter, for instance, would you? Yet here the categories cross.

Looking at the Gold Cup, no wonder some people make fun of the "marathon" name for the distance Breeders' Cup race. Heck, it is on dirt, so that's something. You might think of dirt racing, turf racing, and steeplechase racing as three categories, each generally getting longer in distance. The BC Marathon does have novelty appeal (yes, I know starter races in particular are sometimes run at 2 miles or longer on dirt, but the BC Marathon hardly blends in with normal races).

Baryshnikov is really the only American turf horse taking a shot in here. He could certainly like the Marathon distance, but his last 12 races have all been a mile to a mile and an eighth. It's interesting to me that none of the entrants are long-distance, American turf horses, since the purse in here is as healthy as it is.

Two of the three European animals (Brigantin and Meeznah) look strong, but at a glance, their pedigrees are a real turn-off for dirt. Maybe Churchill Downs' more turf-horse-friendly sdirt urface will save them. I'm not sure how long Team Valor has had Brigantin, but I have a certain amount of faith they would not have bought a horse with the BC Marathon in mind without some solid reason to think the horse could run on dirt.

The third European horse, Harrison's Cave, only broke his maiden on September 25. Coolmore's Man of Iron didn't have any black type before he won the Marathon two years ago, but I think he had been more impressive than Harrison's Cave. Harrison's Cave also has European breeding.

Cease was only about a month before Harrison's Cave in breaking his maiden. I liked him at Saratoga, although I thought at least one of his Beyers there was inflated. It sure appeara he ended up on the dirt by accident, as when he broke his maiden, it was in his 4th start, and in an off-the-turf event. He could have been a main-track-only entrant; he broke from the #5 post in a 6-horse field, so I can't eliminate the possibility.