JC / Railbird

Breeders’ Cup

All In Fun

Tim Wilkin:

The Breeders’ Cup Classic is going to be the race of the year. Zenyatta vs. Quality Road. I like the female horses. I am a fan of Rachel Alexandra and I respect the heck out of Zenyatta. But, sorry, ladies. I am taking the boy in the Classic. Quality Road is the best horse in the country.

Based on the :13.34 final furlong he ran in the 1 1/8 mile Woodward against modest competition? I hope there are a lot of bettors like Wilkin playing this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic. That means a price on Zenyatta, who will win.

3:00 PM Addendum: Quality Road “got a straightforward Beyer Speed Figure of 106” for the Woodward, the lowest since Saint Liam’s in 2005.

Posted in Racing on September 5, 2010 / Tagged All-In, Breeders' Cup, Breeders' Cup Classic, Quality Road, Rivalries, Zenyatta

Euro Take

On the news that the Santa Anita track will return to dirt:

“I’m disappointed because the European horses won’t be as effective in the BC and I can’t win as much money on backing them through the Yankie [sic] Tote.” — TiltEngine88, United Kingdom / 09:52pm – 19 Aug 10

With the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs, that would have been the case this year and next anyway, TiltEngine88! And don’t forget, you still have the Turf.

Rich Eng makes a very sensible point regarding the surface change:

I don’t think this will be the game changer that many others expect it to be. The problems in California racing run a lot deeper.

Also, horsemen and horseplayers: “it’s put-up-or-shut-up time.”

Elsewhere: I haven’t done a links post in several weeks, but the bookmarking never stopped. If you liked those posts, you may like my Delicious account, to which I’ve recently saved more reactions to Santa Anita’s return to dirt, a flashback to racing at the 2001 Brockton fair, a guide to HTML5 for journalists, a summer cocktail recipe, an interview with novelist Gary Shteyngart …

Posted in Racing on August 20, 2010 / Tagged Breeders' Cup, Churchill Downs, Dirt, Euro Perspective, Santa Anita, Synthetic Surfaces

A Lucky Classic?

Well, I suppose it’s possible:

A defeat for dirt leader Quality Road and a sub-par success for all-weather leader Zenyatta were two further indications that Bob Baffert may be about to get lucky in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

The first clue came last week, when his stable star ran away with the Haskell Invitational, posting the best performance by an American three-year-old this year.

But with the leading older horses having the chinks in their armour exposed on the weekend, it now looks increasingly likely that the elite division could be set for a changing of the guards in November.

Although, I’m not sure what chink is being referred to re: Zenyatta. The sub :24 final quarter? Or maybe the final sixteenth in :5.94?

Related: Eight reasons Pull the Pocket likes Zenyatta. Point #2, right on.

Posted in Racing on August 9, 2010 / Tagged Breeders' Cup, Breeders' Cup Classic, Churchill Downs, Farfetched, Lookin at Lucky, Quality Road, Racing Post, Speed, Speed Ratings, When Figures Obfuscate, Zenyatta