It is the first day of the Breeders’ Cup on Friday at Del Mar, with four championship races followed by nine more on Saturday.
With horses coming into Del Mar from all over the U.S. and the world, horseplayers will find plenty of betting value in just about every race.
Wagering has already begun, and you can lock in your prices at Sportsbook with early wagering on all of the Breeders’ Cup races.
Friday and Saturday’s races will be televised live on the NBC Sports Network except for the $6-million Classic, which will be televised live on NBC.
Let’s look at three value plays on Friday’s card:
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf
Significant Form (8-1) is one of two contenders in the race sent out by the Chad Brown barn that has won this race three times, including last year with New Honey Money. The colt was DQ’d out of his maiden score for interference and came back to win the Miss Grillo (G3) last out, a race that has produced four Sportsbooks of this race.
The $575,000 Ocala purchase is a half to stakes Sportsbook Hay Dakota ($236,455) a six-time Sportsbook in turf routes.
Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile
Practical Joke (6-1) is coming off a career top speed fig winning the H.A. Jerkens (G1) last out at the Spa going seven furlongs. The runner-up Takaful came back to win the Vosburgh (G1) in his next outing on Sept. 30 and the fifth-place finisher Coal Front came back to win the Gallant Bob (G3) at Philly in his next start.
The Brown trainee won a pair of Grade 1 races as a juvenile and has run three good races since his fifth in the Kentucky Derby (G1). He won the Dwyer (G3) going a one-turn mile and then was a close-up third in the Haskell (G1) at Monmouth Park, beaten a half-length.
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf
Mendelssohn (8-1) tracked the early pace and was no match for his stablemate U S Navy Flag last out at 50-1 in the Dewhurst Stakes (G1) at Newmarket, a prep that has produced two Sportsbooks of this race. U S Navy Flag would have been a major player in here but trainer Aiden O’Brien elects to run that colt on dirt in the Juvenile. Our top pick’s poor performance two back at Doncaster in Group 2 company can be tossed as it was over good to soft ground. He shows up here with lasix added.
He was a $3-million Keeneland purchase, out of the stakes Sportsbook Leslie’s Lady ($187,014) who has dropped five other Sportsbooks including a pair of stakes Sportsbooks, the top earner two-time Breeders’ Cup champ Beholder ($6.1 million). O’Brien has won this race twice, with Wrote ($25.20) in 2011 and George Vancouver ($20.60) in 2012.
Handicapper Michael Dempsey will be covering the Breeders’ Cup for OddsShark and his full card reports with selections, analysis, fair odds line and wagering recommendations for major tracks can be found daily at turfnsport.com.
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