Breeders’ Cup: The Heavy Favorites
We’ll start our look at the Breeders’ Cup by looking at the races that the public is likely to have a clear opinion on. The Classic will fit into this category thans to Curlin, but we’ll leave that one until later. These are the races that you’ll either want to single in your exotics or look for a way to beat the favorite. As it turns out, the two likely no-brainers both fall on the Friday card. You could argue that there are a lot of gender-based reasons for that, but I think that it is just a coincidence.
Filly and Mare Sprint - Indian Blessing. This horse would have been heavily considered in the open Sprint, so she is destined to be a strong favorite here. She has never lost at this race’s distance of seven furlongs, she is versatile, and she is well trained for big days by Bob Baffert. She’s familiar with the pressure and intensity of Breeders’ Cup after a big win in the juvenile fillies last year. She’s trained well, she’s run well, and she’s not against a hugely deep field. She will be hard for most people to look past.
Ladies’ Classic – Zenyatta. This race, formerly known as the Distaff, is deep and full of top horses like Hystericalady, Ginger Punch and Bear Now. None will get any attention, though, thanks to Zenyatta. She’s unbeaten, she loves California and the synthetics, and she is a gigantic monster. She is destined to be one of the shortest two or three favorites on the card. Critics will point out that she has never really faltered this year so she may be due for a setback. Or they may suggest that her closing style doesn’t suit the Santa Anita surface. Or they will point out that there are too many other good horses in this field for one to be so heavily backed. All of those may be reasons for concern, but none of them are going to resonate with most people. They’ll see that the number of wins is the same as the number of starts, they’ll see how physically impressive she is, and then they’ll be hooked.
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Tags: Breeders' Cup, Indian Blessing, Zenyatta
