was the Breeders Cup Classic before there was a Breeders Cup

MACOMB, Ill. -- Sean McGuire threw for 329 yards and two touchdowns, Steve McShane ran in two more, and Western Illinois cruised to a 34-20 win over Northern Arizona on Saturday.Tied at 13 apiece midway through the third quarter, Western Illinois (2-0) got the go-ahead touchdown on a 62-yard run from McShane, who finished with 155 yards on 24 carries. He also had a 4-yard TD just before the half. Isaiah Lesure hauled in a 26-yard touchdown pass from McGuire on the Leathernecks next possession and Lance Lenoir, who finished with a career-high 231 yards on 11 receptions, sealed the win with a 10-yard TD grab in the fourth quarter.Nathan Knuffman had two first-half field goals for the Leathernecks. McGuire hit 21 of his 30 passes with no interceptions.Northern Arizona (0-2) was led by Case Cookus, who finished 26 of 33 for 263 yards passing and two touchdowns. Jerian Grant Jersey . 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American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. Saratoga and Del Mar are over, and that means the American Thoroughbred racing community now turns its focus to the Breeders Cup, our version of the Super Bowl, which will be run at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, on Nov. 4 and 5.I am aware that some folks actually like all of the action in the numerous prep races conducted coast to coast for the Breeders Cup as much as if not more than the Breeders Cup itself. In one sense, I get where they are coming from.I personally find the divisional and conference championship rounds of the NFL playoffs more entertaining than the Super Bowl they are meant to serve. But Thoroughbred racing is, of course, a very different game, and it doesnt enjoy the NFLs depth of quality.There can be as many as five or six key prep races for many corresponding Breeders Cup events. So in some years, and in some instances, there are more prep races than there are legitimately good horses to populate them, an issue that has been exacerbated in recent years with declining foal crops creating a shallower pool of good horses. And that manifests itself on the track in the form of some pretty thin competition in some pretty significant Breeders Cup preps.If you were loose in your standards, you could make the case that a Breeders Cup prep race of some sort will be run each of the next six weekends, starting this Saturday. But if you wanted to be selective about it, you could pay close attention on just three upcoming Saturdays and have a pretty good idea of the stakes in play come the Breeders Cup.The first of those Saturdays is Sept. 24. On that day, Parx Racing will offer the Pennsylvania Derby for 3-year-olds, an ostensible prep for the Breeders Cup Classic, and the Cotillion Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, a serviceable springboard to the Breeders Cup Distaff. Now, some purists feel that, by the end of September, 3-year-olds should be racing against older horses. But there can be no disputing the level of talent these two races have drawn since they found this spot on the calendar, and this year promises to be no exception.The brilliant and undefeated Songbird is targeting the Cotillion, and she will be opposed by Cathryn Sophia, who won the Kentucky Oaks in the absence of an ailing Songbird and who regained top form with a romp in a local prelude to the Cotillion this past Saturday.Although the Pennsylvania Derby will not have jaw-dropping Travers winner Arrogate -- he will train up to the BC Classic -- it is scheduled to have Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, and Preakness and Haskell winner Exaggerator. So with two of the three candidates for the 3-year-old championship set to line up, the Pennsylvania Derby is important from an Eclipse Award standpoint, too.One week later, on Oct. 1, the doings at Santa Anita and Belmont Park should command your attention. There will be five Grade 1 races at Santa Anita that day, and, even beyond the obvious value of Breeders Cup preps run over the same track on which the Breeders Cup races will be run, at least two of these races promise to be especially critical.The Awesome Again Stakes, Southern Californias prep for the BC Classic, will have California Chrome, monstrous winner of last months Pacific Classic and thee clear favorite for the BC Classic.ddddddddddddThe Zenyatta Stakes, a direct prep for the BC Distaff, is scheduled to renew the rivalry between Beholder, the three-time champion who was a game second to California Chrome in the Pacific Classic, and Stellar Wind, who beat Beholder on the square on the Clement L. Hirsch in July. As sensational as Songbird is, if Beholder were to win this race, it might make her the favorite for what is shaping up to be a tremendous BC Distaff.There will also be two important preps for 2-year-olds that day at Santa Anita -- the FrontRunner and the Chandelier. But since the juveniles are still in the initial stages of sorting themselves out, its best to leave discussion on them to a later date.At Belmont, the big Grade 1 preps on Oct. 1 are the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (for the Breeders Cup Turf), the Beldame (for the BC Distaff) and the Vosburgh (for the Breeders Cup Sprint). Without question, Flintshire, who will be a prohibitive favorite in the Joe Hirsch off another dominating win in the recent Sword Dancer, is the main attraction here.We dont yet know which horses the Europeans will send for the Breeders Cup turf events; we only know that they will send good ones. But before he settled in this country, Flintshire was a top-class international performer, and he is so handily the best of the U.S. turf males this season its silly.The third day worth carving out racing time for is Oct. 8, when major preps will take place at Santa Anita, Belmont and Keeneland.Santa Anita has but one major Breeders Cup prep this day, but the Santa Anita Sprint Championship will likely be targeted by Lord Nelson and Masochistic, and I consider them to be this seasons top two active male sprinters to date. So if these two both go in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship, that would make it the definitive prep for the BC Sprint.At Belmont, beyond two Grade 1 events for 2-year-olds, the Jockey Club Gold Cup and the Flower Bowl are the marquee races. The Jockey Club Gold Cup was the Breeders Cup Classic before there was a Breeders Cup Classic. But it is now a strangely out of favor steppingstone to the BC Classic, I presume because its odd start on the first turn means it is not a true two-turn race.The Flower Bowl, however, is usually an impactful prep for the Breeders Cup Filly & Mare Turf, and it might well be again with such probable starters as Sea Calisi, winner of the Beverly D., and Lady Eli, a breathtaking performer who recently returned from a very serious health issue to finish a game and promising second.Turf will be in the forefront at Keeneland that day, too, with the Shadwell Turf Mile and the First Lady Stakes being viable preps for the Breeders Cup Mile. Yes, the First Lady is for females, but that didnt stop Tepin from parlaying a runaway score in it into a romp in the BC Mile and a divisional title last year. And one would think Tepin, who, on Sept. 17, is to make her first start since her historic Group 1 victory at Royal Ascot in June in the Woodbine Mile, could choose either of these Keeneland preps and be equally imposing. ' ' '