LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In 2008, trainer Chad Brown came to the Breeders’ Cup with one horse. Maram, an 11-1 shot, nosed out Heart Shaped, a 10-1 shot, to win the inaugural $1 million Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita.

“It’s funny how things turn out,” Brown reminisced in a recent interview. “Who did we beat in a photo? It was Aidan O’Brien, who was much more established at that point than me. I guess it was a sign of what was to come in the years ahead where we race against each other, particularly in these turf races every year. Some I’ve won, some he’s won.”

The expansion of the Breeders’ Cup 2-year-old program to include the $1 million Juvenile Turf Sprint for the first time this year has understandably led to a larger team of foreign runners at Churchill Downs.

This year, for the first time since the Breeders’ Cup went to a two-day format in 2007, all five of the 2-year-olds races are being held on Friday. The three $1 million turf races, including the Juvenile Turf and Juvenile Fillies Turf, both run at a mile, will have widespread foreign participation, with runners from England, France, and Ireland.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Brad Cox was down, but not out. It was August 2012, and Cox was virtually empty-handed after 30 horses had been removed from his Churchill Downs stable by his main client at the time, Midwest Thoroughbreds.

“I never thought about doing something else with my life,” Cox recalled recently. “I’m a horse trainer. Quitting never crossed my mind.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The longshot Hunt will be withdrawn from Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile, a Breeders’ Cup racing official confirmed Tuesday afternoon.

Hunt’s trainer, Phil d’Amato, did not return a text message regarding the defection and calls to his mobile phone went directly to voicemail, suggesting he might have been traveling from California.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It is a van ride of a little less than 75 miles from Keeneland, where trainer Wesley Ward is based, to Churchill Downs, where on Friday stablemates Chelsea Cloisters, Moonlight Romance, and Stillwater Cove will contest the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Child’s play.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For most his adult life, Bill Parcells was immersed in football, reaching the pinnacle of his coaching profession by guiding the New York Giants to a pair of Super Bowl victories in five years.

To fill the void left by leaving coaching, Parcells has immersed himself in horse racing, a hobby that has turned into a passion.

“I’m one of those kind of guys – I need action,” said Parcells, 77. “At my age, I got to have something to think about.”

CHURCHILL DOWNS
Weather: Cloudy
Temperature: 45
Track: Fast
Turf: Good

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Highlighted by the success of millionaires Da Big Hoss and Bigger Picture in recent years, Mike Maker has developed a reputation for being a trainer adept at developing claimed horses and turning them into successful turf stayers. Apparently he can train speed into a claimer, too.

For the second straight year, Maker will have a starter in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint with a horse he claimed when Hembree goes in Saturday’s $1 million race. His participation comes a year after Hogy ran 11th at Del Mar in the Turf Sprint for him.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The National Football League has the New England Patriots. Thoroughbred horse racing has Aidan O’Brien.

Year after year there is no down year for the Patriots, nor for O’Brien. Each season the horses pass through the O’Brien system like the lineage of receivers plugged into the New England offense, talented inherently, honed by the enterprise that envelops and develops them.

Aidan O’Brien might as well be Bill Belichick, the craggy Patriots coach.

From working for their father in their youth to working for the Brunetti family for about 25 years, racing has always been a family affair for brothers Gregg and Rick Sacco.