Breeders' Cup Contenders

If you want to attend the Breeders Cup then tickets are still available for this event through one of the leading ticket websites Vivid Seats.

2011 Breeders Cup Tickets Louisville 11/4/11 2011 Breeders Cup tickets at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY on 11/4/2011 at 11:59 PM

2011 Breeders Cup Tickets Louisville 11/5/11 2011 Breeders Cup tickets at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY on 11/5/2011 at 10:30 AM

Pre-entries were released on Wednesday, October 26, with a total of 193 horses entered for the 15 races. Some are entered with a second preference in another race, but these are the only horses who can run in the championship races now. Final entries will be taken on Monday, October 31, and post positions drawn then. Jockey assignments will not be official until after the entries are taken.

This year, the Breeders’ Cup will have a total of 15 races spread over two days of racing with $26 million in purse money on the line. Friday November 4th will have six races including the new Juvenile Sprint and all the distaff divisions, headlined by the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic (formerly the Breeders’ Cup Distaff) worth $2 million. Saturday November 5th will have nine races headlined by the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at 1 1/4 miles.

This year the Breeders’ Cup will be televised on ESPN and ESPN2 with the schedule so far being:
Friday, November 4, 4:00-7:00 ET on ESPN2
Saturday, November 5, 2:00-7:30 ET on ESPN and ABC

Below is the list of races with conditions, purses, and post times for both days. The official race order and post times have been set and should not change again when the post positions are drawn. Click the race names to get links for info specific to that race plus a list of the top contenders for it. Each contender’s name will link to a full profile with a photo and lots of info about that horse.
(info from horse-racing.net)

Okay, so is there really any value in this field, is Zenyatta a shoe in? We’ve seen a few examples fall at the final hurdle when going for the Triple Crown, but that is going for 3 out of 3 not twenty out twenty. And there can’t be many racing fans who don’t want to see it happen today. Sports fans love to see these moments in history. and I for one want to say I saw Zenyatta win back to back Classics and finish her career unbeaten.

Many bookmakers will be offering the field without Zenyatta, and if you place a $20 dollar bet with Bodog against Zenyatta, and Zenyatta wins, you get your money back.

Others are offering wagers on who will come last in the Classic, and you can also bet on the length Zenyatta will win by.

Let’s take the great lady out of the equation here at Breeders Cup Contenders, and look at the pretenders to the throne who could spoil the party in Kentucky today.

Blame

Blame runs a clever race in this years’ Whitney against a strong field!

9/2 11/2 9/2

Looking at Lucky

This class act won the Grade I Haskell earlier this year!

4/1 7/1 6/1

Quality Road isn’t far away but we are talking about beating Zenyatta here, so there aren’t too many that really make the grade on that score. For the record, the Supreme Zenyatta is currently being quoted at:

+125 5/2 8/5

The betting for this one suggests we have quite an open race on our hands in the Juvenile Fillies. As with many of the big races over the next two days, these fillies have crossed each other’s paths before, and form as we all know is temporary. But hand in hand with that, class is permanent.

And the money is being wagered on A Z Warrior less than eight hours before they take to the starting gates.

A Z Warrior

A Z Warrior shows a field containing R Heat Lightning and Joyful Vicotory its hooves in this years’ Frizette.

3/1 9/2 7/2

TVG are offering a $60 giveaway during the two days of Breeders’ Cup action. They are offering three months access to their service free for any new sign-ups. TVG have live video on their site of all the races, live trackside comment, race replays and a lot lot more. They have a Breeders’ Cup toolkit on offer too, to help you get the maximum from your wagers over the two days. It only comes around once a year so get over to TVG to enhance your two days of pure racing joy.

Watch Zenyatta’s history making run with TVG!

BetUS are offering a free $50 play when you bet on any of their horse matchup lines for the Breeders’ Cup. They are advertising this as a limited time offer, so even if you don’t place your stake, it is a good idea to get signed up before tomorrow (5 November). Sign up with BetUS and get a free $50 bet.

I don’t know about you guys but it’s Thursday 4 November, and I am getting very excited. Seems to be a lot of money put down on Prince Will I Am for the Marathon in recent days. Shame, I was waiting until closer to race day as really fancy him, but the odds have really shortened. Still some value there though.

It’s time to look at the field for the Filly and Mare Sprint which is set to go at 5:30pm Eastern on Friday 5 November. BetUS are quoting odds on a Top Two finsih for this one so let’s look at what value there is in that.

As you can appreciate, with a top two finish bet your odds are shortened but your chance of a payout is greater when betting on what is a large and a competitive field.

My Jen

Watch My Jen pull it out the bag in this years’ Grade 2 Gallant Bloom. With a finish like that you would be forgiven for betting on a top two finish. Both My Jen and third placed Sara Louise are being quoted for a top two finish at 5/1. But a horse that may be real good value is Moontune Missy who was pipped on the line. At the time of writing this you can get 8/1 on Moontune Missy for a top two finish in this Sprint.

My Jen (top two finish)

5/1 N/A N/A

Moontune Missy (top two finish)

8/1 N/A N/A

Sara Louise (top two finish)

5/1 N/A N/A

As the name suggests, this one will be ran on the turf at Louisville this coming Friday. And with just 8 furlongs to cover, it should be all to play for in this Grade II race for the two year old fillies taking part. The race itself is also just two years old and gets its first outing in 2010 as a Grade II classified race.

You can visit our live odds information for a full list of contenders for this one, but as the race draws nearer, we are concentrating on the one to watch for the Juvenile Fillies Turf this November. We opened up by saying this one should be all to play for, but to be honest, this one should be won by Winter Memories. This class act of a juvenile has shown how she has too much in the tank and an abundance of pace in short distance races in 2010.

Winter Memories

Winter Memories shows her class in a recent win over a short distance.

2/1 3/1 2/1

Current 5/4 favorite Winter Memories shows again why she is considered to be the pick of this young field with her win in the 2010 Miss Grillo Stakes.

2/1 3/1 2/1

Can anyone hold a candle to Winter memories. well according to the ante-post odds Together is the horse most likely to beat the favorite. Together has finished in the top four in her last eight races with two firsts and a second place amongst those finishes. In her last run out she came third in a very close finish at Newmarket. Together was just a short head and a neck behind both Masaya and Tale Untold in a 20 strong field in a 2 year old race in October at Newmarket.

Together

5/1 6/1 5/1

If you like an each way bet then the horse who pipped Together to take second place last time out at Newmarket Tale Untold comes in to your reckoning. The filly has finished second in her last two, and is a real newcomer with only four first class races behind her. You can get 10s to 14s across the board on Tale Untold at present, odds to definitley make you sit up and think.

Tale Untold

15/1 16/1 15/1