Blind Luck leads deep field in Ladies' Classic

LOUISVILLE, Ky (AP):

Who needs Zenyatta to have a good time?

The Breeders' Cup kicks off with Ladies Day today at Churchill Downs, where a group of talented fillies and mares will try to nudge their way into the spotlight held by racing's leading lady.

It's a stage Zenyatta used to vault into superstardom. Her romp in the Ladies' Classic at Santa Anita two years ago catapulted her into the national conversation and made her the face of the sport.

While the 6-year-old mare rests in her stall tonight preparing to defend her title against the boys in the Classic and end her career a perfect 20-0, contenders to inherit Zenyatta's sizeable throne will run under the lights at the Twin Spires.

Compelling racing

Kentucky Oaks winner Blind Luck will start from the 10th post as the 9-5 favourite in the $2 million Ladies Classic, part of a six-race Cup card that could provide some compelling racing, even with arguably the best horse in the world taking the night off.

"I don't know if (not having Zenyatta) takes anything away from the Ladies' Classic, but it probably makes it a more open race and a more exciting race in some regards," said trainer Todd Pletcher, who will send out Life At Ten and Malibu Prayer in the 1 1/8-mile contest.

Blind Luck - whose deep closing style could best be described as Zenyatta-lite - nipped Evening Jewel at the wire to win the female version of the Kentucky Derby in May.

Unlike Zenyatta, however, Blind Luck has not always been able to chase down the leader in the final yards. She finished second to Havre de Grace in the Fitz Dixon Cotillion in Philadelphia in her last start, though trainer Jerry Hollendorfer was hardly angry at the result.

"We used her race in Philly as a prep and we have no excuses," Hollendorfer said. "It was longer between races than she's used to, and she carried more weight, but we got done what we had to do."

Generational battle

The Ladies' Classic will feature a battle between generations. Blind Luck and Havre de Grace are the leaders of a deep 3-year-old crop, while blossoming Life At Ten is the top of a a solid group of older females.

The 5-year-old chestnut mare didn't win a graded stakes until April, when she triumphed in the Sixty Sails Handicap. She's backed it up with a pair of Grade One victories, including a solid performance in the Beldame Stakes at Belmont in her last start a month ago.

Pletcher would love to point to improved training as the reason behind Life At Ten's recent run, but the truth is it simply took too long for her connections to realise she was not a huge fan of racing on synthetic tracks.

"We spent too much time running her on synthetic tracks," Pletcher said. "She's just improved on the dirt."