BreezeFigs Quick-Pix, Saturday, October 24th

Two close-but-no-cigar results last weekend, though the one we thought we would win at Santa Anita, Via Verde, did come home on top at a paltry $3.00. Too bad our second choice, Boulder Creek, just missed completing the exacta by finishing third in a four-horse blanket. As for the Keeneland race, our hot firster, Lyrique, got fried in the pace but our second choice, Star Recruit, completed a nice $38 gimmick. This week's card is loaded with maiden races, one of which has a couple of intriguing first-timers see below. Good luck!

Before we get to the business of Pix, we remember we've changed our format for the 2-year-old sheet. The 2009 sales sheet has a major addition in the SALE column: It's now labeled SALE & HIP, the HIP referring 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 2009 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: 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 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 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, 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 .

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: .

Here's our Pick for today. Good luck!

Santa Anita, , Maiden Special Weight, 5 1/2 Furlongs (Synthetic)

Loaded with first timers of all stripes, as well as the usual suspects, this race has a solid BreezeFigs contender in El Gran Matador, who finished third in our spotlight race two weeks ago at 54-to-1. That surprised even us it was a key race filled with BreezeFigs horses who finished 1-2-3. This one might be a bit too soon back for him, and if you think so, you can look to the other two BreezeFigs horses here, Mesa Thunder and Majestic Afleet, each of which has a sneaky good chance of winning or getting up in the gimmick. Neither had a top profile at the sales, and each had a below-average SL, but not by much, and look as good on paper, relatively speaking, as El Gran Matador. The latter came out of EASMAY on the dirt with a one-over-Par Group 2 profile and 23.25 foot SL just above average. Mesa Thunder came out of the pricier OBSFEB sale on synthetic with an even-par Group 2 profile and 24.34 SL not bad for the first sale of the year even though he was more than half-foot under average in SL. Majestic Afleet, who was a 100k RNA at BARMAR, was one-under-Par Group 3 at that sale, on the dirt, with a 25.53 SL that was a hair under average. Both of them could clunk up to surprise, but they look like better gimmick plays to us along with El Gran Matador. Good luck!