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| Space Man meets Zenyatta |
SOMEWHERE OVER THE MIDWEST - It was a
whirlwind trip to beautiful Santa Anita Park and two days of championship
racing with big wins by rising racing stars such as Groupie Doll, Shanghai
Bobby and Wise Dan, not to mention the big Classic win by Fort Larned.
While the track was speed favoring
all weekend (some pundits I was with were calling it a conveyor belt on
Saturday evening), I’m in concurrence with PTP’s comments that you just have to
adjust your handicapping to the bias of the day. Was it unfair for horses to
make their Eclipse statements on such a speed favoring track? Great horses win
races no matter the circumstances, trainers who win the big races know how to
adjust running styles based on the current track or turf conditions.
One of the downsides of prime time
television was the tight time frame between filing deadlines and the end of the
race, which was sometime around 8:45 p.m. ET. It was a new experience putting
something together in a short time frame. Here’s my post race/Breeders Cup recap for The Buffalo News.
I live blogged the day over at the
Sports, Ink blog, which is always fun, and spent the day running back and forth
to the paddock. I did get a chance to visit with a number of folks throughout
the two days and met some folks who I only knew virtually in the
twitterverse/blogosphere. It’s funny when you introduce yourself these days at
the track by your twitter handle.
One interesting twist to the weekend,
was one of my pals back home in Buffalo gave me $100 to bet over the weekend.
The catch was it had to be $2 across the board on the 4 horse in all of the
Breeders’ Cup races. The 4 horse had better luck on Friday where he won $69 on
$36 worth of bets. Saturday only wins by Shanghai Bobby and Fort Larned
returned $49 on $60 of bets. So he came out ahead by $18 on the weekend, not
too shabby. Scientific handicapping at it’s best.
I struggled to put three races
together in the multi-race wagering, but managed a few good win bets on George
Vancouver and Tapizar and the Wise Dan/Animal Kingdom exacta which had a fair
return.
My thoughts on the two days of
racing…
Most impressive performance – Groupie
Doll
Gutsiest performance – Shanghai Bobby
Worst performance – Game on Dude
Most impressive female – Royal Delta
Statement race – Wise Dan
Most famous winner – Jim Rome
(Mizdirection)
Best ride – Christophe Lemaire on
Flotilla
Best second place finishes – Animal
Kingdom, Mucho Macho Man (tie)
Worst second place finishes – Merit
Man, Executiveprivilege (tie)
Wildest victory celebration – The Argentineans
(hands down) with Calidoscopio
Most surprising win – Hightail
Well, another Breeders’ Cup in the
books, time to start looking forward to the Cigar Mile on Thanksgiving weekend.
Here is BC Saturday in Pictures….hope you enjoy them.
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| Santa Anita decked out in purple and gold |
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| Groupie Doll |
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Shackleford fractious in the paddock
before the Dirt Mile |
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Tapizar - BC Dirt Mile Champ
|
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Christina Oliveras interviewing
Jim Rome in the paddock
|
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Jungle Racing's Mizdirection - BC Turf Sprint Champ
|
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Rosie Napravnik aboard Shanghai Bobby
|
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| Rough day for Bob Baffert |
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Shanghai Bobby heads to
the winners' circle |
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Little Mike takes the BC Turf
in a mild upset
|
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Trinninberg - BC Sprint Champ
|
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| Trinniberg wins the BC Sprint |
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| Wise Dan |
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| Animal Kingdom |
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Wise Dan holds off late
charging Animal Kingdom |
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| Wise Dan heads to the Winners' Circle |
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| Tony Bennett |
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| Jerry Bailey |
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| Mark Casse |
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| Fort Larned |
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| Mucho Macho Man |
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| Capacity Crowd at Santa Anita |
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| Around clubhouse turn in the Classic |
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| Stretch duel between Fort Larned and MMM |
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| BC 12 Champ Fort Larned |
