BreezeFigs Quick-Pix for Saturday, March 29th by Bob Fierro and Jay Kilgore

Another missed column because of travel plans to Ocala for the FTFMAR sale, which was loaded with really nice horses, many of which didn’t dell (RNA). They will start appearing on our 2-y-o cards soon, so pay attention to when these cards start getting populated with runners—there will be two cards every day, one for 2013 and one for 2014 sales; sometimes they will not have any entries, of course, but start checking them out now. Meanwhile, 15 BreezeFigs maidens from 2013 won during our hiatus, and one, Chitu, was on the card when he won the Sunland Park Derby (G3). The maiden winners were at Aqueduct (5), Santa Anita (4), Gulfstream (3), Laurel (2) and Tampa Bay (1), Today’s card has some good plays with one particularly enticing. 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:
Oaklawn Park, 8th Race, Maiden Special Weight, 6 Furlongs (Dirt)
There are two first time starters from the OBSAPR sale in here with very similar profiles but at different distances. Harbor Fog threw in a two-over-Par Group 2 profile at a quarter mile with a 25.58 foot SL, which was close to two feet longer than average that day for colts at that distance. A couple of days later, The Big Beast posted a four-over-Par Group 2 profile at an eighth of a mile utilizing a 25.77 foot SL, which was 2.72 feet longer than average for colts that day at that distance. It’s a tough call here as to which one might be the better horse, but Harbor Fog may have looked a tad better in his breeze—but both of them are so close on paper they should be considered in keys and straight plays—watch the board. Good luck!