Breeders Cup Thoughts
Coolmore's record is the Breeders Cup is quite poor - winning only 34% of the races that they should have. With favorites, they are even worst - 1 for 12. They may win a race over the two days but I have to look suspiciously on all of their favorites - from Lillie Langtry in the Juve Filly Turf to Rip Van Winkle in the Classic. Other habitual overbet horses come from Juddmonte (with the exception of the F&M Turf) and the barns of Todd Pletcher and Christophe Clement.
I'm going to concentrate on local SoCal trainers/runners - from Black Astor in the Marathon to Richard's Kid and Einstein in the Classic. I think the wild card is Godolphin - they have underperformed to date at Breeders but they have been very hot since the Saratoga meeting and are primed for a big effort this weekend.
Andy Beyer can still produce the fresh goods - his take on the BC Sprint in his preview column is a very contrarian look at this race http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/05/AR2009110502549.html
Best stories would be Bobby Frankel winning any race, Bob Holthus training Pure Clan to victory in the F&M Turf, Presious Passion in the Turf and of course, Zenyatta in the Classic.
Friday's card looks to be a lot more chalky than Saturday - ending with an impressive victory by either Music Note or Careless Jewel or a great duel to the wire.