Playing the Exotics at the Breeders’ Cup

The Breeders’ Cup has given us even more opportunity to go after the big ticket cash. In recent years, bettors have become accustomed to being able to place bets in lower wagering increments. Unfortunately, much of these ‘under a dollar bets’ have not been an option at some of our sports' biggest days like the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup. Not so this year. The floodgates have opened and bettors can now bomb away at racing’s more exotic bets. Ten-cent superfectas, along with 50-cent trifectas, pick threes, and pick fours, are now available. While dime supers were available at the last two runnings of the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita, minimums on trifectas, pick threes, and pick fours were previously $1. These new options allow bettors a greater chance to cover all the horses they like in the large Breeders’ Cup fields. With this in mind, let’s jump right in and take a look at some of my favorite exotic bets of the weekend. Pick 3 - I fully expect either Gio Ponti or Goldikova to win the Mile getting my pick 3 bet off to a good start. I will then include a number of horses in the wide open Dirt Mile, with extra emphasis on Crown of Thorns and Vineyard Haven. The key to hitting this pick 3 will then rest in the final leg where I will single Al Khali in the Turf. He will not be one of the favorites, and if he wins, not only will I cash my bet, but it should ensure a solid payoff. Pick 4 - I will look to the final four races of day 1, for a strong play in the pick 4. Evening Jewel, Awesome Feather, Midday, and Blind Luck will be my base horses, with Midday being the only single. I’ll have a variety of pick 4 tickets using my top picks the most, but I will also be sure to include Champagne D’oro, Sara Louise, Rightly So, and Gabby's Golden Gal in the Filly & Mare Sprint, Theyskens' Theory, Tell a Kelly, A Z Warrior, and Delightful Mary in the Juvenile Fillies, and Life at Ten, Havre de Grace, Acoma, and Acting Happy in the Ladies’ Classic. If Midday and at least one of my other top picks win, I will have a fighting chance at pick 4 glory. Superfecta - Al Khali is my boy in the Turf, and with some juicy odds likely on him, I am looking forward to playing him in a variety of ways, including the superfecta. My superfecta bet will be Al Khali on top, with everyone but Telling boxed for the 2-3-4 positions. If all horses run, this bet will have 120 combinations, meaning a 10-cent wager will cost only $12. Not bad if I can get the winner home as no better than the fourth choice. Trifecta - In the Breeders’ Cup Classic, I expect things to come down to the big 4 of Blame, Zenyatta, Quality Road, and Lookin at Lucky. The trifecta is an attractive play in here, because if I am right and they prove best, I can afford one of the four to have an off day and still hit the triple. No time to back down now, I like Blame to win, so I will key him over the other three favorites. The trifecta key would only cost $3 for a 50-cent wager. I might place more than 50-cents on this one.

Breeders’ Cup Singles

I am about to offer four fantastic females for the Breeders’ Cup, and Zenyatta is not one of them??? Read on … Pick 3‘s, Pick 4‘s, Pick 6‘s, not to mention trifecta and superfecta keys, it is nice to have a horse, or a few horses, that you can count on to reach the wire first at the Breeders’ Cup. Along those lines, I would like to present to you my Big 4. The four horses that I will have the most confidence in winning out of the 14 race BC smorgasbord. Oddly enough they are all females, and believe it or not, Zenyatta is nowhere to be found on this list. You all know by now that I am predicting a Blame victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, right? The four horses who I consider the closest things to locks, in order are: Midday, Goldikova, Blind Luck, and Winter Memories. Here’s why:   ***The remainder of today's column can be found on Youbet.com*** Click Here

23 Days and Counting … ZATT’s Breeders’ Cup Rankings

MARATHON 1. Bright Horizon 7-2 2. Giant Oak 6-1 3. Eldaafer 6-1 4. Alcomo 8-1 5. A.U. Miner 8-1 JUVENILE FILLIES TURF 1. Winter Memories 2-1 2. White Moonstone 3-1 3. Roxy Gap 6-1 4. New Normal 8-1 5. Together 5-1 FILLY & MARE SPRINT 1. Champagne D’oro 8-1 2. Evening Jewel 4-1 3. Rightly So 5-1 4. Sara Louise 6-1 5. Dubai Majesty 5-1 JUVENILE FILLIES 1. Tell a Kelly 4-1 2. Summer Laugh 8-1 3. Awesome Feather 8-1 4. A Z Warrior 7-2 5. R Heat Lightning 5-1 FILLY & MARE TURF 1. Midday 6-5 2. Red Desire 10-1 3. Éclair de Lune 8-1 4. Hibaayeb 6-1 5. Ave 8-1 LADIES’ CLASSIC 1. Blind Luck 5-2 2. Havre de Grace 5-1 3. Biofuel 12-1 4. Life at Ten 7-2 5. Persistently 12-1 JUVENILE TURF 1. Rogue Romance 5-2 2. Soldat 6-1 3. Formosina 8-1 4. Air Support 8-1 5. Cozy Kitten 6-1 TURF SPRINT 1. Fatal Bullet 8-1 2. Chamberlain Bridge 9-2 3. Rose Catherine 5-1 4. California Flag 4-1 5. Silver Timber 6-1 MILE DIRT 1. Tizway 6-1 2. Here Comes Ben 5-1 3. Crown of Thorns 4-1 4. Warrior’s Reward 10-1 5. Vineyard Haven 6-1 JUVENILE 1. Uncle Mo 3-2 2. Stay Thirsty 15-1* 3. Boys at Tosconova 4-1 4. Jaycito 6-1 5. Pathfork 10-1 MILE 1. Goldikova 6-5 2. Gio Ponti 4-1 3. Violon Sacre 30-1 4. Paco Boy 8-1 5. Sidney’s Candy 8-1 SPRINT 1. Big Drama 9-2 2. Wise Dan 10-1 3. Girolamo 4-1 4. Smiling Tiger 6-1 5. Atta Boy Roy 12-1 TURF 1. Paddy O’Prado 6-1 2. Workforce 3-1 3. Al Khali 12-1 4. Fame and Glory 5-1 5. Behkabad 5-1 CLASSIC 1. Blame 5-1 2. Zenyatta 8-5 3. Quality Road 5-1 4. Lookin at Lucky 4-1 5. Musket Man 20-1

32 Days and Counting … ZATT’s Breeders’ Cup Rankings

MARATHON 1. Temple City 2. A.U. Miner 3. Eldaafer 4. Alcomo 5. Unusual Suspect JUVENILE FILLIES TURF 1. Winter Memories 2. White Moonstone 3. Roxy Gap 4. New Normal 5. Fancy Point FILLY & MARE SPRINT 1. Champagne D’oro 2. Evening Jewel 3. Rightly So 4. Sara Louise 5. Sweet August Moon JUVENILE FILLIES 1. Summer Laugh 2. Tell a Kelly 3. Wonderlandbynight 4. Awesome Feather 5. R Heat Lightning FILLY & MARE TURF 1. Midday 2. Red Desire 3. Éclair de Lune 4. Hibaayeb 5. Ave LADIES’ CLASSIC 1. Blind Luck 2. Havre de Grace 3. Devil May Care 4. Life at Ten 5. Biofuel JUVENILE TURF 1. Rough Sailing 2. Soldat 3. Major Gain 4. Air Support 5. Pluck TURF SPRINT 1. California Flag 2. Chamberlain Bridge 3. Rose Catherine 4. Fatal Bullet 5. Stradivinsky MILE DIRT 1. Musket Man 2. Tizway 3. Here Comes Ben 4. Crown of Thorns 5. Warrior’s Reward JUVENILE 1. Stay Thirsty 2. Boys at Tosconova 3. Uncle Mo 4. Jaycito 5. Pathfork MILE 1. Goldikova 2. Violon Sacre 3. Gio Ponti 4. Sidney’s Candy 5. Paco Boy SPRINT 1. Discreetly Mine 2. Big Drama 3. Atta Boy Roy 4. Girolamo 5. Kinsale King TURF 1. Paddy O’Prado 2. Workforce 3. Al Khali 4. Fame and Glory 5. Bourbon Bay CLASSIC 1. Blame 2. Zenyatta 3. Lookin at Lucky 4. Quality Road 5. Espoir City

If You Could Pick One Horse …

If you could pick one horse as the most likely to win on Breeders’ Cup weekend, who would it be? The obvious choices that come to mind may be Goldikova or Zenyatta, and seeing how each great mare has won in two consecutive Breeders’ Cups, it would be hard to argue with either. They do have obstacles however, in the form of the two deepest fields of the weekend. The defending Classic winner, Zenyatta, will be facing the best males in the world, and this year she will have to ship in to face them on their surface. Her greatest challenge may come from Blame, who has proven to love the Churchill strip. He is also unbeaten this year and still improving, making him a formidable road block to Zenyatta’s quest for a perfect 20. Meanwhile, Goldikova will no doubt be heavily favored to achieve an unprecedented third consecutive BC Mile victory. Coming off a loss in her latest, Goldikova is an international superstar, but things could be much tougher this time around. Top to bottom the Mile looks like the deepest field, with tigers like, Gio Ponti, Makfi, Court Vision, Sidney’s Candy, and Paco Boy, just to name a few, ready to challenge her supremacy. Last year’s Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra is the likely favorite for the Ladies’ Classic, but sophomore Blind Luck is in the midst of a sparkling season, and should give the 2010 version of Rachel a true test. Paddy O’Prado has become the now horse on American turf, but let’s face it, 12 furlongs on the grass is clearly the Europeans race to lose, whomever their top candidate may be. Discreetly Mine has been the sprinter I have been on all Summer, but the sprint is almost always a race that proves to be a wide open slugfest, rather than a spot for an easily selected winner. Possibly Boys at Tosconova in the Juvenile, or Tell a Kelly in the Juvenile Fillies, have already impressed enough where you think they will roll to victory in the Breeders’ Cup. Maybe, as these are races where the favorites are usually factors, but I would say it is too early to count on such inexperienced youngsters as singles a month and a half out. So where does that leave us? Are there any sure things this year? No sure things, and frankly that is one of the many reasons why I love this game, but there is one horse that stands out in her respective field. A filly who won at the Breeders’ Cup last year, and has improved with age to become a much better horse this year.  Her name is Midday, and I consider her the horse to beat in the BC Filly & Mare Turf by a long way.  Eleven furlongs is a perfect trip for her and Midday is currently on a group 1 roll in Europe. The Breeders’ Cup has been the race her connections have pointed her for since the beginning of her campaign. Unfortunately, some of her toughest competition like Dar Re Mi, Sariska, and the ill-fated Tuscan Evening, will not be at Churchill Downs, making her an even greater threat.  That’s my opinion for the most likely winner at least, I want to know what you think. Who is the one horse you think is most likely to win at the Breeders’ Cup?