HOME PAGE
Superfecta Sweepstakes
The Breeders' Cup (Day One)
michaelingram@blackathlete.com •
View all articles by Michael-Louis Ingram, BASN Staff Reporter
POSTED: Nov 6, 2009
Email • Print • Discuss • Digg this story! •
 |
As in last year’s event, the venue is Santa Anita
Race Track, a blessing for fans, but a potential curse for many handicappers
since the switch to Pro Ride, a synthetic surface which, in my humble opinion,
doesn’t offer any pattern of consistency in charting and handicapping a horse’s
progress from one race to the next.
The fact that this venue sports an artificial
surface is the sole reason for the quirkiest of quirks – the front runner for
Horse of the Year will sit out the event because of the plastic track.
Her Royal Highness,
Rachel Alexandra,
Dominatrix of Dirt and Warrior Queen of all Thoroughbreds, has forced the hand
of her greatest rival. “Lady Z” aka
Zenyatta
, has decided to bypass the Ladies Classic and run against the boys
in an attempt to wrest the title from Queen Rachel.
Zenyatta
has run an amazing 13 for 13 in her career to
tie the great
Personal Ensign; if she were to prevail in the Classic against
the “Bird Brothers” (Kentucky Derby winner
Mine That Bird and Belmont Stakes
winner
Summer Bird), well – many would say, “Let the debate for Horse
of the Year
begin.”
New
Format
The format for this Cup has been expanded from
previous events. Now there are 14 feature races spread out over an entire
weekend.
Friday has been designated as “Ladies Day,” with six
Cup races filling out the day’s card. Saturday brings the males (and the ladies
that would dare run against them) for eight races, with the finale being the BC
Classic.
The betting will be hot and heavy, and ticket
prices were scaled down to insure a good gate; apparently someone was paying
attention to the economy…
In addition to the punters’ new best friend, the
ten – cent superfecta box, there is separate betting on which jockey will score
the most victories, another chance to place a couple of bucks on who will be the
best of the best astride the Noble Beast this weekend.
So, without further ado…
It
is now Post Time!
As stated in a previous column, I did not do
sufficient study to warrant anyone spending their hard – earned cash on any
harebrained ideas I had, so I opted to not bet at all last year, due mostly to
the synthetic track. But now, we have a strategy; and thanks to the ten – cent
superfecta, we might get a chance to create a few aftershocks to the bank
account – OW!
What we say is what we play – so if we’re
jingling, baby – so, hopefully are you. Anyway, good hunting to all, and awaaay
we go…
We will handicap Friday’s card for this column,
and the balance of races will be featured on Saturday:
Breeders' Cup
Marathon
$500,000 Three-Year-Olds and Up
1 3/4 Miles (ESPN2, 3:35 p.m. ET)
|
PP
|
Horse
|
Jockey
|
Odds
|
|
1
|
12-1
|
||
|
2
|
Muhannak
(IRE)
|
12-1
|
|
|
3
|
4-1
|
||
|
4
|
Rosemary
Homeister, Jr.
|
8-1
|
|
|
5
|
Father
Time
(GB)
|
3-1
|
|
|
6
|
Mastery
(GB)
|
Lanfranco
Dettori
|
9-5
|
|
7
|
20-1
|
||
|
8
|
30-1
|
||
|
9
|
John
Murtagh
|
8-1
|
|
|
10
|
30-1
|
(The Play: The debut
race for the Ladies, the Marathon is event I feel will favor the European
contingent. Muhannak, Father Time and Mastery have all run and won at higher
weights than the 126 pounds assigned all the entrants, so they all go in the
box. The freshest horse – meaning most recent to run, is Cloudy Knight, with
Rosemary Homeister, Jr. in the irons. I will include Nite Light & Man of
Iron to fill the box. A ten – cent superfecta box #2#3#4#5#6#9 = $36.00.).
Breeders' Cup
Juvenile Fillies Turf
$1,000,000 Two-Year-Old Fillies
1 Mile (Turf) (ESPN2, 4:08 p.m. ET)
|
PP
|
Horse
|
Jockey
|
Odds
|
|
1
|
John
Velazquez
|
20-1
|
|
|
2
|
Elusive
Galaxy
(IRE)
|
Rafael
Bejarano
|
12-1
|
|
3
|
8-1
|
||
|
4
|
Rose
Catherine
|
8-1
|
|
|
5
|
20-1
|
||
|
6
|
15-1
|
||
|
7
|
Michael
Luzzi
|
4-1
|
|
|
8
|
Lillie
Langtry
(IRE)
|
John
Murtagh
|
3-1
|
|
9
|
10-1
|
||
|
10
|
8-1
|
||
|
11
|
Junia
Tepzia
(IRE)
|
8-1
|
|
|
12
|
12-1
|
||
|
13ae
|
Dad's
Crazy
|
15-1
|
|
|
14ae
|
In
the Slips
|
12-1
|
(The Play: Again the Europeans love
the turf, and are usually loaded for bear when coming for BC cash; which means
Elusive Galaxy, Lillie Langtry & Junia Tepzia are in. Potosina comes in the
freshest of these two-year-old fillies, having raced less than 15 days, an
angle I’ve always used.
I like how Rose
Catherine came in after breaking her maiden, and how Jungle Tale closed running
up in Canada at Woodbine. A ten cent super box with #1,#2,#4, #6, #8, & #11
= $36.00).
Grey Goose Breeders'
Cup Juvenile Fillies (Grade I)
$2,000,000 Two-Year-Old Fillies
1 1/16 Miles (ESPN2, 4:45 p.m. ET)
|
PP
|
Horse
|
Jockey
|
Odds
|
|
1
|
Jeremy
Rose
|
30-1
|
|
|
2
|
Joseph
Rocco, Jr.
|
30-1
|
|
|
3
|
3-1
|
||
|
4
|
Robby
Albarado
|
6-1
|
|
|
5
|
Joel
Rosario
|
20-1
|
|
|
6
|
Kent
Desormeaux
|
4-1
|
|
|
7
|
John
Velazquez
|
8-1
|
|
|
8
|
Julien
Leparoux
|
8-1
|
|
|
9
|
Martin
Garcia
|
50-1
|
|
|
10
|
6-1
|
||
|
11
|
Garrett
Gomez
|
6-1
|
|
|
12
|
Eurico
Da Silva
|
15-1
|
(The Play: This race
is the first clear indicator of my search for consistency on the synthetic
track. Connie and Michael is the freshest horse, and she cruised at Keeneland;
her Devil’s Bag bloodline insists she has speed to spare. Biofuel comes down
from Woodbine with some Canadian muscle in Eurico Rosa Da Silva. Champagne
D’Oro is a beautifully bred filly out of Medaglia d’Oro with another speedball
thread via Saratoga Six; she was a DQ’d winner at Del Mar and got the squeeze
play when stepping up to a Grade I stake race. She doesn’t know she’s 50-1!
Negligee with Rajiv Maragh could be the post-time favorite – I like her a lot.
She Be Wild will likely be on the lead and
Julien “The Werewolf” Leparoux stays in front if he gets away clean. I’ll add
Blind Luck – because I may need some for this box. A ten cent super box with
#3, #6,#8, #9, #10 & #12 = $36.00).
Emirates Airline
Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (Grade I)
$2,000,000 Fillies and Mares, Three-Year-Olds and Up
1 1/4 Miles (Turf) (ESPN2 5:23 p.m. ET)
|
PP
|
Horse
|
Jockey
|
Odds
|
|
1
|
Visit
(GB)
|
John
Velazquez
|
10-1
|
|
2
|
Julien
Leparoux
|
5-2
|
|
|
3
|
Alan
Garcia
|
8-1
|
|
|
4
|
Alex
Solis
|
3-1
|
|
|
5
|
Garrett
Gomez
|
5-1
|
|
|
6
|
Midday
(GB)
|
Thomas
Queally
|
4-1
|
|
7
|
Kent
Desormeaux
|
8-1
|
|
|
8
|
15-1
|
(The Play: A little different
strategy due to the smaller field. I’m going to go against the British
Invasion, and use Forever Together, Rutherienne & Magical Fantasy to front
my superfecta partial: $.10 superfecta wheel 2,3,4 with 2,3,4 with 2,3,4 with
All = $3; $.10 superfecta wheel 2,3,4 with 2,3,4 with All with 2,3,4 = $3; $.10
superfecta wheel 2,3,4 with All with 2,3,4 with 2,3,4 = $3; $.10 superfecta
wheel All with 2,3,4 with 2,3,4 with 2,3,4 = $3 for a total of $12.00; plus a
$.10 superfecta partial with #4 {Magical Fantasy is the freshest horse} with
2,3,5, with 2,3,5, with all for $4.00; and the same with #3 Rutherienne on top
of 2,4,5, with 2,4,5 with all for $4.00 – total investment = $20.00).
Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (Grade I)
$1,000,000 Fillies and Mares, Three-Year-Olds and Up
7 Furlongs (ESPN2 6:02 p.m. ET)
|
PP
|
Horse
|
Jockey
|
Odds
|
|
1
|
Mike
Smith
|
50-1
|
|
|
2
|
Lanfranco
Dettori
|
9-2
|
|
|
3
|
10-1
|
||
|
4
|
Only
Green
(IRE)
|
20-1
|
|
|
5
|
Alex
Solis
|
30-1
|
|
|
6
|
Joel
Rosario
|
20-1
|
|
|
7
|
Julien
Leparoux
|
5-2
|
|
|
8
|
Rajiv
Maragh
|
4-1
|
|
|
9
|
Garrett
Gomez
|
8-5
|
(The Play: Only Green
is the freshest horse, so she’s in. I’ll add the favorite and the longest shot
on the board; Ventura is a stone killer when it comes to racing in the money,
and Free Flying Soul won at this track, albeit at a far lower level - would be
nice if she snuck into the superfecta. Sara Louise, Informed Decision and
Silver Swallow round out my box; a $.10 superfecta box with #1, 2, 4, 5, 7,
& 9 = $36.00.
Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic (Grade I)
$2,000,000 Fillies and Mares, Three-Year-Olds and Up
1 1/8 Miles
(ESPN2, 6:45 p.m. ET)
|
PP
|
Horse
|
Jockey
|
Odds
|
|
1
|
2-1
|
||
|
2
|
Garrett
Gomez
|
8-1
|
|
|
3
|
Kent
Desormeaux
|
12-1
|
|
|
4
|
Alex
Solis
|
20-1
|
|
|
5
|
Proviso
(GB)
|
John
Velazquez
|
8-1
|
|
6
|
Cocoa
Beach
(CHI)
|
8-1
|
|
|
7
|
Rajiv
Maragh
|
9-5
|
|
|
8
|
Julien
Leparoux
|
6-1
|
(The Play: This race was
supposed to be Zenyatta’s walkover, but thanks to Rachel Alexandra, Lady Z had
to take on the boys; how amazing is that when 14 – 0 in an undefeated career
lifetime would not be sufficient because of the level of competition? So out of
the rest we opt for the superfecta partial: $.10 superfecta wheel 1,4,8 with
1,4,8 with 1,4,8 with All = $3; $.10 superfecta wheel 1,4,8 with 1,4,8 with All
with 1,4,,8 = $3; $.10 superfecta wheel 1,4,8 with All with 1,4,8 with 1,4,8 =
$3; $.10 superfecta wheel All with 1,4,8 with 1,4,8 with 1,4,8 = $3 for a total
of $12.00; plus a $.10 superfecta partial with #8 {Rainbow View is the freshest
horse} with 1,2,4, with 1,2,4, with all for $4.00; and the same with #1
Careless Jewel
on top of 2,4,8, with
2,4,8 with all for $4.00 – total investment = $20.00).
Next Time: Saturday’s
Card – and the BC Classic. Can Zenyatta out diva the Warrior Queen, Rachel
Alexandra?
Until then, when you
see your hoss running her oats off to hang on deep stretch, help get her home
in time and scream…
Michael-Louis Ingram
is the sports editor for Suavv Magazine in Philadelphia and associate
editor for Black Athlete Sports Network. He has finished his first book
project and is currently doing research on his next project, a work of
science fiction. Email • Print • Discuss • Digg this story!•
