BreezeFigs Quick-Pix for Saturday, June 28 by Bob Fierro and Jay Kilgore

First an apology—we listed our 3-year-old Pick last week as being at Woodbine, but it was at Delaware Park. Editing issues on our part. No matter—those three horses embarrassed us anyway. The 2-year-old Pick was not quite up to our expectations either though one, Blazing Truth, was probably too green. Five of the maiden 2-year-old races last week that had BreezeFigs horses entered were won by one of those horses—two at Gulfstream, one each at Charles Town, Indiana, and Santa Anita. In addition, there were four stakes races for 2-year-old: The Santa Anita Juvenile wound up as a $278 BreezeFigs trifecta, and the Landaluce at the same track returned a more modest $4.80 BreezeFigs exacta. BreezeFigs 2-year-olds were second in the Victoria at Woodbine and second and third in the Debutante at Churchill. The babies are off to a terrific start. Half a dozen BreezeFigs 3-year-olds broke their maidens as well last week, at Arlington, Calder, Monmouth, Penn National, Presque Isle and Santa Anita. Both cards today are rich in opportunity, but we’re going to focus on one that’s likely to be a harbinger of things to come, 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:
2-Year-Olds: Churchill Downs, 3rd Race, Maiden Special Weight, 6 Furlongs (Dirt)
Every year at the 2-year-old sales there are one or two Freshman Sires (those with their first crops) who start a buzz with the number of babies they have out there and how they perform. This year it’s Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver who was all over the place. Three of the four BreezeFigs horses in this race are by him, and they represent a good cross-section of how his runners performed at the sale. Tops in this race is Hashtag Bourbon, who popped an eye-catching seven-over-Par Group 1 profile at OBSMAR with a 24.65 foot stride length that was 1.38 feet longer than average for colts that day at a furlong. The Schwan looked good at OBSAPR with a three-over-Par Group 2 performance that featured a 24.35 foot SL on the same track, about a third of a foot longer than average that day for colts at a furlong. A Bit Quick, however, was very modest at OBSMAR where his five-under-Par Group 3 profile was hurt by a 23.04 foot SL, about a quarter foot shorter than average that day for colts at a furlong. In between we have Louisiana Brown, a son of Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown, whose quarter mile breeze at OBSAPR resulted in a one-under-Par Group 3 profile that was really compromised by a 23.06 foot SL, more than three-quarters of a foot shorter than average for colts that day as a quarter. This could be a Super Saver exacta, but you never know with the babies. Good luck!