The path to the 2017 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Del Mar on Nov. 3-4 is a road with plenty of ups and downs as talented racehorses vie for a spot in one of 13 championship races.
This blog provides a capsule look at three horses who are heating up on the Road to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships and three horses whose Breeders’ Cup chances are not quite as strong as they were a week ago.
1. Pure Silver
This week’s three heating-up spots were the hardest for me to pare down so far this season with so many horses stepping up in a big way last weekend, but the one that was easy was Pure Silver. She made the jump from a stakes win in a race restricted to New York-breds up to the Grade 2 Adirondack Stakes on Aug. 12 and not only held her own but actually improved significantly. She won the Lynbrook Stakes by 1 ½ lengths on July 16 and earned a 90 Equibase Speed Figure before turning the Adirondack into a 9 ½-length runaway despite facing early pressure for the lead. Her 98 Equibase Speed Figure was the best this year for a 2-year-old filly in a graded race (albeit limited sample size). Pure Silver’s dam (mother), Jehan, was a stakes-winning sprinter, but she placed in stakes at one mile on both the main track and turf. From the second crop of 2010 Louisiana Derby winner Mission Impazible, I don’t think Pure Silver profiles as a Kentucky Oaks type. But I think she has a good shot to be able to stretch out to the 1 1/16 miles of the 14 Hands Winery Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar, where her speed and precocity will be valuable assets.
August 16th, 2017 BY Mike Curry
