Last year fans saw the pale grey Hansen become the early Kentucky Derby favorite when he won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) on a fast track at Churchill Downs in early November. In the 2010 edition of the race, it was Uncle Mo who would hold that title until an illness forced the colt to be scratched a day before Kentucky Derby 137. So, who will win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile this year and grab the title of the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby?
The 29th running of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile will be run at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California on Saturday. A field of nine colts will contest the 1 1/16 mile $2,000,000 Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) over the dirt.
Only one of the nine two-year-olds competing comes into the race undefeated and that’s Todd Pletcher’s Shanghai Bobby who is owned by Louisville’s Jack Wolf and his Starlight Racing syndicate. Shanghai Bobby was named by Wolf for his longtime friend, Bob Burton. Burton, a pilot, failed to tell his wife his scheduled flight to Shanghai had been cancelled and spent the time at Saratoga with Wolf instead which prompted him to name the colt he purchased soon after for his friend.
