#BC09 storylines: Ladies' days

With the successes of Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta this year, the "year of the girl" storyline is already pretty played out (and double that for the cliches surrounding those successes such as the aforementioned "year of the girl," "girl power," etc.), but such talk should reach a fevered pitch Breeders' Cup week and could break out into an all out din by the time the dust (aka attic insulation aka polygoo aka plastics residue) settles on this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships.

There are six Breeders' Cup races open to three-year-olds and up of both sexes: The Marathon on Friday and the Turf Sprint, Sprint, Mile, Turf, and Classic on Saturday. Of those races, only the Marathon does not have a top female contender. It is thus conceivable that five of the six races "for males" will be won by a female racehorse. Ironically, the one race "for males" that will not be won by the fairer sex is the one race Breeders' Cup moved to Championship Friday, or "Ladies' day."

• Fleeting Spirit and Diamondrella are both considering the Turf Sprint. If either starts, then she would likely be my pick to win the race, and either could be favored.
• Fleeting Spirit is also considering the Sprint against males (such as Zensational, Fatal Bullet, and Gayego). If her connections elect to go that route, then she would be the least likely winner of all the females taking on males, but the weight break would help, and she wouldn't be impossible.
• Goldikova and Diamondrella are both considering the Mile with Goldikova a likely overwhelming favorite to defend her title in that race.
• Dar Re Mi would likely be favored in the Filly & Mare Turf, but her connections are also considering the Turf against last year's winner Conduit, frontrunner Presious Passion, and others. Conduit is likely to go favored, but she would take money and have a big chance.
• Like Dar Re Mi, Zenyatta could go in the female counterpart to the Classic in the Ladies' Classic the previous day, but the Classic is a possibility. Also like Dar Re Mi, Zenyatta would be a heavy favorite against her own sex but would still take a lot of money in the open race with a big shot at winning.

So, a lot has to go right for females to sweep the open races for three-year-olds and up on Championship Saturday, but it's not impossible, and it would provide a thrilling coda to a yaer that already has featured spectacular runs by Rachel Alexandra in three Grade 1 races against males.

Plus, from a selfish standpoint, writing about female domination would be a far more interesting storyline than last year's "The European horses are the greatest in the world, but really it's the synthetic surface's fault that they beat us even though the Classic 1-2 finishers were both bred in Kentucky."