One Breeders' Cup race will be decided a week before the Oct. 26 main event at Arlington Park. The Breeders' Cup Steeplechase will be run Oct. 19 at Far Hills Races in Far Hills, N.J. Fourteen horses were nominated Tuesday for the $250,000, grade I race. The winners of the last two runnings of the 2 5/8-mile race, Quel Senor and All Gong, are among the nominees.
"Any time you can get the last two winners of a race and grade I winners like It's A Giggle together, you've got an interesting race," said Bill Gallo, director of racing for the National Steeplechase Association. "The foreign interests of Zabenz, who just beat some of our best horses at Saratoga, and the English horse Indalo really help add to the potential."
Also among the potential runners is It's A Giggle, who leads the 2002 earnings among steeplechasers with $172,620. After winning four stakes races earlier this year, including the Royal Chase for the Sport of Kings, NSA-I. at Keeneland, It's A Giggle spent the summer at Saratoga where he won the A.P. Smithwick Memorial, NSA-II. for trainer Jonathan Sheppard. Also nominated from his barn is Double Leaf.
Following is the list of all horses nominated to the Breeders' Cup Steeplechase as of Sept. 25. Entries close Oct. 15:
Horse, owner, trainerAll Gong, Calvin Houghland, Bruce Miller.
Anofferucantrefuse, Fox Ridge Farm, Tom Voss.
Double Leaf, Timber Bay Farm, Jonathan Sheppard.
Feeling So Pretty, Lee McKinney, Lee McKinney.
Flat Top, Nancy Gerry, Janet Elliot.
Indalo, R.O.A. Arkle Partnership, Venetia Williams.
It's A Giggle, Bill Pape, Jonathan Sheppard.
Najjm, Gillian Johnston, Bruce Miller.
Pelagos, Michael Hoffman, Bruce Miller.
Quel Senor, Coppertree Farm, Tom Voss.
Shamrock Isle, Edie Dixon, Jack Fisher.
Tres Touche, Contrarian Stable, Ricky Hendriks.
Turkish Corner, Kay Jeffords, Bruce Miller.
Zabenz, Michael Watt, Robert Smerdon.
