Breeders Cup Live Blog

Good afternoon everyone. Time for the biggest card of the year.

I will post before and after each race here today so be sure to refresh or check back from time to time.

Juvenile Turf: Though the Juvenile Fillies might have scared some away from the Euros I still like Pounced here over Viscount Nelson/Interactif.

BTW, no pure dirt horse (all lifetime starts on dirt) hit the board yesterday. Couple that with the dismal performance of dirt horses last year and there is more than enough reason to put the big red X over any horse that fits that profile.

Good luck everybody. Be back soon...

Update 2:15

Not a bad start. Pounced cashes a ticket and proves much the best. Interactif ran his race and its a shame he couldn't get up for second.

On to the Turf Sprint. I like Gotta Have Her for the win and will box her, Diamondrella and California Flag for the exacta.

Update 2:32

Hit Gotta Have Her on the back end for place and show and the exacta. Quite a shame Gotta Have Her ran into so much traffic trouble, she was sitting on a monster race and could have taken this down with a bit more luck.

Nice start to the day, I hope I can maintain the momentum.

Update 2:48

Alright on to the Sprint. Big fan of Fatal Bullet and playing him straight. Will box Bullet, Candyman and Gayego in the exacta.

Update 3:17

Wow, what a race and nice payout if you could possibly have handicapped that race to that conclusion.

Zensational got beat as I guessed he would. I figured he'd be run into the ground from the lead, but instead he got out kicked to lead and pinned. Fatal Bullet and Capt Candyman were complete no-shows.

Thank goodness that insanity is over... next race please!

Update 3:33

Agh, the switch to ESPN. Racing has it backwards. As the races get more important the coverage should be growing, not shrinking from network television to cable. (Though not having ESPN is really unacceptable to any self respecting sports fan)

On to the Juvenile. I'm having a really tough time with this race between Noble's Promise, Pulsion and Lookin At Lucky. As a result I'm spreading around. Noble's Promise across, Pulsion to P/S, and Promise/Pulsion over Promise/Pulsion/Lucky in the exacta. This could be brutal.

Update 3:59

Logical finish despite the Vale of York price, who I graded favorably. Cant say I'm too upset with the outcome. Its never nice to lose money, but you can live with it when your handicapping is solid in retrospect. Noble's Promise ran a winner race, Lucky was legit. Pulsion was in contention then faded.

2 for 4 on the day, time to refocus and put to bed this 2 race slide.

Update 4:19

Mile. I love Goldikova, but cant play her at 6-5. Her chief competition is Delegator and he is 7-1. I'll take him across the board. I'll box Delegator/Goldikova/CowboyCal in an exacta.

Update 4:47

Brilliant run by Goldikova. Delegator was as close to a no show as a 4th place finisher can be.

I'm cooling off after a brilliant start. Still up close to 40% on the day, thanks in large part to the turf sprint, but I'm getting the feeling that I'll need to play smart to stay out out of the red.

So, no getting cute in Dirt Mile. I'm playing Mastercraftsman straight and him over Midshipman/Bullsbay in the exacta.

Update 5:24

Mastercraftsman clearly got scared when forced to make his move on the rail. He looked ready to uncoil the winning move, then balked at running in cramped quarters. Great effort by Furthest Land, surprising.

Update 5:52

Turf. Truth be told Presious Passion is my favorite horse in training and I could not live with myself betting against him. I'm playing him across.

Give them hell boy!!!

Update 6:21

Very proud of Passion. He's such a cool horse. The fact that he can go a half in 45 and still dig in for a fight late at 12f is amazing. Congrats to Conduit.

On to the Classic.

Rip Van Winkle is 6-1 right now and to say thats attractive is an understatement. I'm playing him across the board. I'm also playing him over the top of Einstein and Richards Kid in an exacta.

Update 7:16

What an effort by Zenyatta. I've never been a huge fan of hers but I found myself screaming for her down the stretch when she split foes. She's special and that was a very touching moment for many fans.

I'm signing off for the evening. Much more tomorrow.

As for my day, it was hit or miss. I ended up pulling a 13% profit. I could play coulda, woulda, shoulda, but when you end the day up anything at all, its worth being content. It was a great day of racing and making a little never hurts.

Hope everyone enjoyed the Cup.