BreezeFigs Quick-Pix for Saturday, August 2 by Bob Fierro and Jay Kilgore

We have a major apology for last week’s Pick: Somehow our computer program neglected to include Competitive Edge as a BreezeFigs horse, and we completely overlooked him—so, of course, he won as a heavy favorite. We probably would have included him in our gimmick selections, and as it turned out, even though our “sure thing” Pick, Aldrin, did nothing, it turned out to be a BreezeFigs exacta ($24.40 with Bayerd) and trifecta ($106.50, with Today’s Agenda). Another juvenile BreezeFigs exacta popped up at Penn National during the week when Bonnie K and Rockin Jojo combined for a $26.20 payoff. There were 10 other BreezeFigs 2-year-olds who broke their maidens last week, at Arlington (2), Delaware (3), Del Mar (2), two others at Saratoga and one at Woodbine. Four BreezeFigs 3-year-olds got off the schneid at Arlington, Ellis, Gulfstream and Penn National. Today’s cards are packed with good opportunities, let’s focus on the other coast this time, see below. Good luck!

Remember to pay attention to two changes we’ve made over the past several years. First, there have been changes in the CLASS EDGE category (at the bottom of the BreezeFigs card) because one sale was eliminated (OBSFEB) and FTFFEB is now in March (FTFMAR), and that moved OBSMAR into a higher class. Also, in the SALE & HIP column: the “HIP” refers to the catalogue number for that horse in that sale. This reference will enable you to go to the website of the sales company involved and easily find the short video of the horse’s breeze at that sale.

The web links for each sale are listed in the NOTES section of the new BreezeFigs Report and you will find all the information as to why we have done this and how you can benefit from this addition to the service by downloading the document which explains it all here: http://static.drf.com/PDFs/breezefigs/BreezeFigs2009Sales.pdf. Remember, no other handicapping service can give you the advantages you need from 2-year-old sales, So sign up for DRF-Plus on the front page of www.drf.com and get the BreezeFigs cards.

Our rules still hold about BreezeFigs “qualified” runners: You can get a good idea of what “qualified” BreezeFigs horses are by clicking on BreezeFigs Information underneath the two BreezeFigs links in the DRF-PLUS box in the right hand column on the www.drf.com home page and downloading files there. Remember, keep stride length (SL) in mind when handicapping from the BreezeFigs sheet and take advantage of all the tips that we provide on those sheets as well.

If you click here http://static.drf.com/PDFs/breezefigs/StrideLengthStudy-1.pdf you will get a document which details our latest study. The conclusion for those who like to know the bottom line fast is this: When it comes to 2-year-old racing only, horses that earned Group 1 or Group 2 BreezeFigs and had longer-than-average stride lengths at the five major 2-year-old sales of 2006-07-08-09 won more races, won earlier, and earned more black-type, than horses with shorter-than-average stride lengths, regardless of BreezeFigs Group. There’s a lot more to it than that, and a review of this document, which is the first in a series, will strengthen your hand at the windows, or, if you are a buyer, at the sales or claim box. So, download it and absorb.

Also, refer to a study we did which shows that using BreezeFigs for 3-year-old maiden races in just as viable as using them for 2-year-old maiden races. Go to the DRF PLUS box on the www.drf.com home page, click on BreezeFigs™ Information, and then download “2006 Sales Study,” or just click right here: http://www1.drf.com/breezefigs/breezefigs_010507.doc.

If you’d like to learn a little more about how we come up with BreezeFigs, take a look at our new website by clicking here: www.biodatatrack.com.

Here’s Saturday’s Pick:
Del Mar, 5th Race, Maiden Special Weight, 5 ½ Furlongs (Synthetic)
There are six BreezeFigs fillies in this race, but you only need to focus on two of them as your keys. Call to Congrats threw in a four-over-Par Group 1 effort at OBSMAR with 24.01 foot stride length on synthetic which was .63 of a foot longer than average for fillies that day at one furlong. However, she was not sold (RNA) at 190k and came back at EASMAY with a two-over-Par Group 2 effort that featured a 24.66 foot SL on dirt, more than a foot and a half longer than average that day at the same distance—and she was sold for 300k. Sandy’s Song had a two-over-Par Group 2 profile at OBSAPR with a slightly longer than average 23.58 foot SL and looks OK here. The other four in the race—Daphne’s Day, Don’t Blame Me, Ritzy Tags and Windy Forecast—all had basically the same Group 3 profiles at their sales, and either one of them could clunk up in a gimmick. But we’ll stick with the top two. Good luck!