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Alan Shuback's Friday BC analysis | Saturday BC analysis

Queen Anne Stakes
June 15, 2010 - Royal Ascot

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hail, hail, the gang’s all here. The best mare, and most popular horse, in the country in Zenyatta. The top three older dirt horses: Blame, Haynesfield, and Quality Road. The best 3-year-old male, Lookin At Lucky. They are the leading candidates for 2010 Horse of the Year, and they will all meet for the first time in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The connections of Gio Ponti made the Breeders’ Cup Classic their first preference over the Breeders’ Cup Mile when pre-entries for the races were taken last week. Their decision to run in the Mile gives racing fans their first preference: Gio Ponti versus Goldikova.

Gio Ponti’s presence means that if Goldikova is to become the first three-time Breeders’ Cup winner, she must beat the best horse she has faced in the United States.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. − A year ago, Girolamo was ambitiously placed in the Breeders’ Cup Classic over a synthetic surface at Santa Anita that obviously was not to his liking. He finished 12th and last at 25-1 behind Zenyatta. On Saturday, Girolamo returns in the Breeders’ Cup, this time in a more suitable spot − over a conventional dirt course and as the 7-2 morning-line favorite in the $2 million Sprint.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – If the horses running in Saturday’s Grade 2, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf were merely the ones who competed in the Grade 3 Pilgrim Stakes at Belmont last month, Kiaran McLaughlin, the trainer of Pilgrim runner-up Soldat, said he could feel good about his horse’s chances.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The racing pages are rife this week with a juicy fact that hits at the heart of the Breeders’ Cup Turf: All five winners of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe who raced in the BC Turf lost.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. − Approximately four hours before Zenyatta takes her final steps on a racetrack in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, the sport’s heir apparent star will most likely be crowned in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Each year, the Juvenile carries with it the sport’s future hopes, and the winner is often anointed the leading contender for next spring’s Kentucky Derby, which, like this year’s Juvenile, will be run at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Saturday marks the fourth running of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, but it’s actually the first one run at a mile on dirt. In 2007, it was run at a mile and 70 yards around two turns in the slop at Monmouth Park. The two subsequent years it was run over Santa Anita’s synthetic Pro-Ride surface.

This year’s $1 million Dirt Mile drew the best field it ever has with the 13 horses assembled making it one of the more contentious and compelling races on Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup program at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It might be argued that every inch, every maneuver, and every decision in any given race are critical to the outcome. But when it comes to a race like the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, the margins for error are so small that the winner not only will have to run his eyeballs out but also is likely to have been particularly fortunate in all those other respects.

The Breeders’ Cup once again will offer several special wagers and guaranteed pools, as well as a standard betting menu. Here is a list of the available bets:

* The BC Jockey Bet, which is a win-only wager ($2 minimum) on the jockey with the most BC wins over the two-day period. In case of a tie for most wins, the pool will be split as if it were a place pool (two-way tie), show pool (three-way tie), etc.