As you may have heard (and as you may be hearing again around here), the TimeformUS Breeders’ Cup Package is now on sale.  We’ve been getting some questions as to how to access the advance PPs once the package is purchased, and you can find information here.

Over the next ten days leading up to the Breeders’ Cup, we’re running a series on our partner website Horse Racing Nation called Breeders’ Cup Buzz Horses.  It will feature….as it says here: “horses we’re excited to watch run at Santa Anita this November 1-2.”

The first entry is up now, and it concerns the French-bred Vorda, scheduled to compete in Friday’s Juvenile Fillies Turf.  It’s one of the more unnecessary of the unnecessary races that have been added to the Breeders’ Cup menu in recent years.  And, up until this year, one of the most undecipherable given the plethora of horses shipping in from Europe with no domestic form.  This year however, with our TimeformUS speed figures calculated on the same scale for domestic and foreign runners in an unprecedented, and painstaking, intercontinental effort between our speed figure guys and those of the Timeform UK team, the task is far more manageable.  Understand races faster!

Vorda is a buzz horse indeed – four wins and a second in her five career starts, most recently a Group 1 win at Newmarket with a career – and field – high TFUS figure of 95.

Note that three of her five races have come against the boys, unheard of at top levels of competition over here.  (Filly and mare races are designated by the age being in pink.) The big question about Vorda is the distance, this being her first attempt beyond six furlongs.  Our exclusive detailed race commentary, direct from expert observers in the UK – and the likes of which you will not see in any other past performance provider – may provide a clue about that.  You can access the complete commentary merely by clicking on the short form as shown here.

Do that, and you get this:

And you’ll note that the writer is rather skeptical of her prospects in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.  “…everything about Vorda suggests she’s likely to prove best at sprint trips, from her looks (robust filly) to her pedigree and, most importantly of all, the enthusiastic manner in which she races.”   So there’s one informed person’s opinion, anyway.

Well, I’ll leave European pedigrees to the European experts.  But one thing I can tell you is that if Vorda’s grandsire has anything to do with it, she’ll have no problem whatsoever getting a mile.  She is by Orpen, who is a son of Lure, only one of the greatest turf milers that I’ve seen in my lifetime.  (And he won graded stakes up to 1 3/16 miles.)  Lure won the Breeders’ Cup Mile twice, setting a course record of 1:32.90 at Gulfstream in 1992, and repeating a year later at Santa Anita.  Here is his Gulfstream race, in which he set a “come and get me” half of 45 4/5 with ease.

Unfortunately, Lure had fertility issues and shot blanks at stud, managing to sire only 133 foals in nine seasons before being retired.  He was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame this past summer.

– By popular demand, here’s the information on the preferences of horses that are cross-entered in more than one BC race.

Juvenile Turf:

Dance With Fate has first preference in the Juvenile
Diamond Bachelor has first preference in the Juvenile
Smarty’s Echo has first preference in the Juvenile

Dirt Mile:

Laugh Track has second preference in the Sprint
Graydar has first preference in the Classic

Juvenile Fillies Turf:

Dancing House has second preference in the Juvenile Fillies
Ria Antonia has first preference in the Juvenile Fillies
Rosalind has first preference in the Juvenile Fillies
My Conquestadory has second preference in the Juvenile Fillies

Distaff:

Street Girl has second preference in Filly and Mare Sprint.    

Juvenile Fillies:

Dancing House has first preference in the Juvenile Fillies Turf
Ria Antonia has second preference in the Juvenile Fillies Turf
Rosalind has second preference in the Juvenile Fillies Turf
My Conquestadory has first preference in the Juvenile Fillies Turf

Filly and Mare Turf:

The Fugue (GB) has first preference in the Turf    

Filly and Mare Sprint:

Street Girl has first preference in the Distaff  

Turf Sprint:

Boat Trip has second preference in the Mile
Capo Bastone has second preference in the Sprint
Cristoforo Colombo has first preference in the Mile
Jeranimo has second preference in the Mile
Obviously (IRE) has first preference in the Mile
Reneesgotzip has second preference in the Sprint
Silver Max has first preference in the Mile

Juvenile:

Dance With Fate has second preference in the Juvenile Turf
Diamond Bachelor has second preference in the Juvenile Turf
Smarty’s Echo has second preference in the Juvenile Turf
We Miss Artie has second preference in the Juvenile Turf

Turf:

Magician (IRE) has second preference in the Mile
The Fugue (GB) has second preference in the Filly & Mare Turf

Sprint:

Capo Bastone has first preference in the Turf Sprint
Laugh Track has first preference in the Dirt Mile
Reneesgotzip has first preference in the Turf Sprint

Mile:

Boat Trip has first preference in the Turf Sprint
Cristoforo Colombo has second preference in the Turf Sprint
Jeranimo has first preference in the Turf Sprint
Silver Max has second preference in the Turf Sprint
Magician (IRE) has first preference in the Turf
Obviously (IRE) has second preference in the Turf Sprint

Classic:

Graydar has second preference in the Dirt Mile