Plenty of new choices in of B.C. future bet

New shooters will make up one-third of the horses offered this weekend in the second round of future betting on the Breeders' Cup .

Twenty-three of the 69 horses in the three pools being offered this weekend were not listed individually in the first go-round, held over the July 4 weekend. Eight of the 23 horses in the pool for the Classic are new shooters; seven are in the pool for the Distaff; and another eight are in the Sprint.

Bets will be taken for the three pools beginning on Friday at 1 p.m. Eastern; the windows will close at 7 p.m. on Labor Day Monday. Bets are win only, and no refunds will be issued. The 24th entrant in each pool is a field wager that will include all other horses that could run in the race.

The second round of future betting on the Classic, Distaff, and Sprint gives horseplayers a chance to sort through both fresh and familiar faces with a better idea of the probable fields for the three races, which will be eight weeks away when betting closes. The Breeders' Cup is being held on Oct. 26 at Arlington Park outside of Chicago.

The second round will also give players who made bets in the first round an opportunity to hedge their wagers based on how horses have performed - or failed to perform - since the first round closed.

Mike Watchmaker, national handicapper for Daily Racing Form and a member of the committee that selects the fields, has made Street Cry the morning-line favorite for the Classic at 6-1. Street Cry was the favorite in the first pool at 4-1.

Azeri, who is 8 for 9 lifetime, was made the 4-1 favorite for the Distaff. She closed at 5-2 in the first future bet, the shortest price of any horse in the future bets this year.

The field is listed as the 6-1 favorite in the Sprint, with Orientate and Squirtle Squirt, last year's Sprint winner, co-second choices at 8-1.

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