Breeders Cup Results (2005)

From a betting point of view, all didn’t go asplanned for our group at the 2005 Breeders’ Cup World ThoroughbredChampionships. This was surprising, considering the results wereactually quite predictable.

Only two favorites won, but our second and thirdchoices won or finished in the money often enough to allow usto make a 25 percent profit playing against the toughest handicappersin the world. But what we really wanted, like everyone else, wasa piece of the Ultra Pick 6.

Here’s where we hit and missed and why.

Race 3 – Alberto VO5 Breeders’ Cup JuvenileFillies

In the Juvenile Fillies we took a stand againstFolklore, who had galloped away from a short-priced stopper inher prep, the Grade 1 Matron at Belmont. We thought she was avulnerable underlay at $2.35-1 and went looking for value elsewhere.We found it – sort of.

Wild Fit was our first choice to upset at 7-1.We thought she might rebound back to the form that had won herthe Del Mar Debutante two starts back, after coming up flat inher final prep race, the Grade 2 Oak Leaf at Santa Anita. OriginalSpin was our second choice at 4-1. She had been working well andwas coming into the race off a big win in the Grade 3 Arlington-WashingtonLassie at Arlington Park. She was also getting first-time Lasixand a big rider switch to Jerry Bailey.

Folklore vied for the lead as expected, but shenever did get the serious pressure we had been hoping for fromAdieu in the stretch. With no competition in the drive, Folkloreshould have romped home by five. Instead, at least one of ourhorses made it close – despite all kinds of trouble.

Wild Fit broke outwards, dropped back early,advanced into traffic on the turn, steadied, came out wide forthe drive and finally gave it a gallant effort to finish within1 1/4 lengths of the winner. She was the winner with a good trip.

Our other horse, Original Spin, was bumped atthe start but managed to get a decent trip to finish third 4 3/4lengths back of Wild Fit. She just wasn’t good enough.

Folklore paid $6.70, $4.20, $2.70 across theboard and topped a 1-10 Exacta that paid $54.50, a 1-10-2 Trifectathat returned $181.50, and a 1-10-2-9 Superfecta of $1,762 withEx Caelis fourth. We, of course, had none of the aforementionedexotics. Folklore had also knocked us out of the Pick 3 and earlyPick 4.

We were in a hole already.

Race 4 – Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile

The Juvenile was supposed to be the coronationof the undefeated First Samurai. At even money we thought he washorrible value, so we used a couple of others instead.

We liked Stevie Wonderboy at 9/2 off his impressiveDel Mar Futurity romp and his good works at Belmont leading upto Breeders’ Cup Day; Private Vow at 10-1, off his Belmont Futuritywin and his stamina pedigree; and Sorcerer’s Stone at 7-1, basedon his Arlington Washington Futurity score and his trainer’s Breeders’Cup record. We also liked Henny Hughes a little at 9-1, basedon his speed and heart.

We hit the Exacta when Stevie Wonderboy overcamea rough start and showed good courage down the stretch to putaway a tough Henny Hughes in the drive with a late dig-in effort,finally drawing out to win by 1 1/4 lengths. It was a furthertwo lengths back to First Samurai, who made a bid in the stretchbefore tiring to finish third. Brother Derek completed the Superfecta,finishing 5 1/4 lengths behind First Samurai after making a mildbid.

We might have run 1-2 if it had not been forthe fact that Private Vow’s left rein broke down the backstretch,forcing him out of contention. Sorcerer’s Stone had no excuse.Henny Hughes ran a huge race.

Stevie Wonderboy paid $11.00, $5.90, $3.80 acrossthe board and helped us get a little of our money back, toppinga 12-10 Exacta of $105.50 and a 12-10-9 Trifecta of $229. TheSuperfecta 12-10-9-13 paid $7,051, the Daily Double of 1-12 returned$45.60 and the Pick 3 of 6-1-12 paid off at $252.

A minor comeback but a start.

Race 5 – Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Fillyand Mare Turf

If there was one race that killed us on the dayit was the Filly and Mare Turf. It knocked us out of the UltraPick 6 in the first leg.

We thought favorite Ouija Board was an underlayat $2.30-1 and went looking elsewhere for value. But we lookedtoo hard and missed the obvious when lone speed Intercontinentalwent wire to wire. We thought she’d get pressure. We thought shedidn’t have the class. We thought the softer turf would get thebest of her in the drive.

We also forgot the most important thing – thatlone speed is dangerous – always. And we weren’t the only oneswho missed it – Intercontinental went off at 15-1.

Intercontinental led the whole way and endedup holding on to win by 1 1/4 lengths over a hard-trying OuijaBoard, who finished a neck in front of a rallying Film Maker,who had clipped heels and steadied early in the race.

Intercontinental paid $32.20, $13.00, $8.40 acrossthe board and set up some excellent exotic payoffs including a10-13 Exacta of $131.50, a 10-13-2 Trifecta of $1,167, and a 10-13-2-7Superfecta that paid $5,004 with Wonder Again fourth. The Pick3 of 1-12-10 also paid well at $682.

We got nothing.

Race 6 – TVG Breeders’ Cup Sprint

The Sprint was expected to be one of the bestraces of the day and it was.

We used less than even money favorite Lost InThe Fog, but also thought the move up in class might provide enoughpressure to get him beat. We were right, but we picked the wronghorses to beat him.

Actually, we had one of the right horses, butfell victim to racing luck when our first upset choice ran intotrouble late. Taste of Paradise, a huge overlay at 12-1, ran theexact same race he ran in winning his prep, the Grade 1 Vosburghat Belmont Park, but couldn’t find room late behind winner SilverTrain, who was also 12-1. Garrett Gomez, the rider of Taste OfParadise, claimed foul against the winner, but it didn’t standup, leaving Silver Train as the official winner.

Lost In the Fog, who had a bumpy start, advancedfour wide to take over passing the quarter pole, but had nothingleft from mid stretch home. Silver Train made a good move to takeover passing the eighth pole and held on late to defeat TasteOf Paradise by a head. Lion Tamer, who stumbled at the break andwas pinched back, rallied belatedly for third, three lengths behindTaste Of Paradise and a neck in front of Attila’s Storm. LostIn The Fog faded to finish seventh.

Silver Train returned $25.80, $10.40, $8.10 acrossthe board. Those (not our group) holding the Exacta combinationof 3-1 were well rewarded with a payoff off $215.50. The Trifecta3-1-5 paid $1,593 and the Superfecta 3-1-5-2 returned an incredible$35,358. The Pick 3 of 12-10-3 returned $2,371 and the early Pick4 of 1-12-10-3 paid $13,162.

Now down to about 10 percent of what we startedwith, mainly due to bad racing luck, it was time for a come back.

Race 7 – Net Jets Breeders’ Cup Mile

We liked two horses in the Mile to defeat theheavily favored Leroidesanimaux. He was a deserving favorite at$1.35-1, but had drawn a tough outside post over a soft turf courseand we thought that might be enough to get him beat.

Our top two selections were Artie Schiller at5-1 and Funfair at 12-1. Artie Schiller had an exceptional racingrecord and was trained by one of the best young trainers in theworld in Jimmy Jerkens. He’d also been unlucky not to win hisprevious start in the Grade 2 Kelso at Belmont Park. Funfair snuckup the rail inside another horse to beat him in that race andArtie Schiller never saw him coming.

We thought Funfair, who was undefeated in NorthAmerica in three starts, might try sneak up the rail again inthe Mile. He seemed to find ways to win in his previous races.It was not to be however, as Funfair broke down on the backstretchand was pulled up.

Artie Schiller on the other hand, ran a hugerace. Guided off the inside late in the race to take the leadpassing the sixteenth pole, he dug in to put away Leroidsanimauxin the drive to the wire. The latter was game in defeat afteran outside trip and a good stretch bid, but finally succumbedto the winner by three-quarters of a length. It was only a noseback to 14-1 Gorella, who had a brutal trip but who still ralliedlate to beat troubled fourth place finisher Whipper by a head.

We bet both Funfair and Artie Schiller to win,but keyed only Funfair in our late Pick 4. So we were alreadyout of the Pick 4, but did manage to get a little of our moneyback.

Artie Schiller paid $13.20, $5.00, $3.90 acrossthe board, topping a 2-11 Exacta of $38.80. Gorella made the 2-11-8Trifecta pay $504 and Whipper helped the Superfecta of 2-11-8-3pay $7,021. The Pick 3 of 10-3-2 returned $2,974, thanks to longshotIntercontinental.

Our win money on Artie Schiller had put us onthe comeback trail.

Race 8 – Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Distaff

This was our race of the day! We liked two horsesto win – Happy Ticket at 9/2 and Pleasant Home at (and I couldn’tbelieve this) 30-1!

Happy Ticket had run a big race in her finalprep at Belmont park in the Grade 1 Beldame behind Breeders’ CupDistaff favorite Ashado, and we thought she was sitting on a bigrace. We also liked Pleasant Home for three reasons: her trainerClaude McGaughey III had a stellar record at the Breeders’ Cup;she was a legitimate rallier coming into the race off a wide tripover speed favoring track at Keeneland in the Grade 1 Spinster,and Keeneland preps had produced a very high percentage of Distaffwinners. We also thought Ashado would get pressure and set therace up for a rallier.

The only other horse we liked at all was 11-1Society Selection, who was a trainer play with Giant Killer H.Allen Jerkens at the controls.

As it turned out, Ashado ran a big race to overcometrouble on the backstretch, but Pleasant Home ran the race ofher life, making a big wide move that carried her to an open leadin the stretch. She then drew off to win by 9 ¼ lengths! SocietySelection finished gamely to take second by a neck from Ashado,who finished third, 2 1/4 lengths in front of 9/2 Stellar Jayne.

Our first choice Happy Ticket made a mild moveon the turn and flattened out, costing us the Trifecta, but wehad a little win money on Pleasant Home, who paid $63.50, $25.60,$13.40 across the board. We also hit the Exacta of 11-1, whichpaid $692. The Trifecta, of 11-1-3, which we missed, returned$3,453. The Superfecta 11-1-3-2 returned $20,363 and the Pick3 of 3-2-11 paid $8,668.

We’d missed the Pick 4 by keying Funfair insteadof Artie Schiller in the first leg, but we were alive on numerousPick 3 tickets with a 30-1 shot and a chance to get out for theday!

Race 9 – John Deere Breeders’ Cup Turf

The Turf looked like the most wide-open raceof the day. Our first choice was Better Talk Now at 8-1, basedon his proven record at the distance in Grade 1 company. We didn’tlike Shakespeare at 4-1 or English Channel at 11-1. Shakespeareappeared to lack seasoning and English Channel wouldn’t go bya horse in a morning workout, leading us to think that he wouldn’tgo by Shakespeare when the pair ran 1-2 in the Grade 1 Turf Classicrun at Belmont Park on Oct. 10.

Also, by that time we had figured out that theturf wasn’t as soft as it was said to be, but it was soft enoughto help the European contingent.

We had used three Europeans on our Pick 3 ticketalong with Better Talk Now, including 9-1 Shirroco, 7/2 favoriteAzamour, and Arc de Triomphe third place finisher Bago at 9/2.We also threw in Fourty Niner’s Son at almost 11-1.

It wasn’t close.

Shirocco, trained by master trainer Andre Fabre,took advantage of a perfect trip under jockey Christophe Soumillonto take over from Better Talk Now’s pacesetting rabbit Shake TheBank nearing the 3/8ths pole, turned back a dig-in bid from 16-1Ace in early to mid stretch, and drew out late to win by 1 3/4lengths over that one. Favored Azamour overcame trouble on theturn to rally and get within a neck of Ace at the wire. Bago alsoovercame traffic trouble on the turn, but could do no better thanfourth, 3/4 lengths behind Azamour.

The winner returned $19.60, $11.80, $4.70 acrossthe board, topping a 2-6 Exacta of $296.50 and a 2-6-5 Trifectaof $1,560. The Superfecta of 2-6-5-3 returned $4,694 and the Pick3 of 2-11-2, (which we missed and should have had) returned $4,280.

Our first choice Better Talk Now had made mildmove four wide on the turn before flattening out and costing usin the exotics – but we were still alive on our Pick 3 to fourhorses in the Classic!

Race 10 – The Breeders’ Cup Classic – Poweredby Dodge

We thought the Classic was a four-horse race.We were wrong.

We liked favorite Saint Liam based on his classyperformance in the Grade 1 Woodward, but were a little concernedabout his ability to get the distance. So we also used 8-1 Starcraftbased on his classy European form, first time Lasix and the hugerider switch to Pat Valenzuela; 9-1 Oratorio, also based on hisclassy European form; and 5/2 Borrego, who had run an unbelievablerace to win the Jockey Club Gold Cup (and that race did turn outto be unbelievable when Borrego showed nothing in the Classic).

Saint Liam took advantage of a perfect ride byJerry Bailey to stalk a forced pace and wear down 10-1 FlowerAlley in a long (heart attack) drive, finally drawing out lateto win by a length over that one. Flower Alley hung in and battledto deep stretch before succumbing the favorite, but bested 14-1rallier Perfect Drift for the place by 1 1/2 lengths. Super Frolic,at 69-1, overcame a bad stumble at the gate to rally for fourth,only a neck back of Perfect Drift, and he might have won the racewith a clean trip!

The winner paid $6.80, $5.10, $4.20 across theboard. The 13-9 Exacta paid $62 and the Trifecta 13-9-5 paid $501.Thanks to 69-1 Super Frolic, the Superfecta 13-9-5-7 returned$12,636. The late Daily Double of 2-13 returned $76. The latePick 4 of 2-11-2-13, (which we should have had) returned $17,303.

Nobody had the Ultra Pick 6 of 10-3-2-11-2-13,which paid $90,325 for five out of six winners, but guess whohad the late Pick 3 of 11-2-13, which paid $2,045? We did! Anda tidy 25 percent profit on the day!

With a little racing luck and a few mental adjustmentswe MIGHT have gotten rich.

Next year!

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