Can Street Sense Win Breeders’ Cup Classic Before Retiring?
Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and Preakness Stakes winner Curlin are among the favorites to win the 1 1/4 miles Breeders’ Cup Classic. The Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds is all set on October 27 at Monmouth Park in New Jersey.
In preparation for next week’s $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic the 2007 Kentucky Derby winner, Street Sense had a strong workout at Churchill Downs on Monday. Street Sense clocked 1:00.80 over five furlongs with jockey Calvin Borel.
Street Sense the son of 2002 Dubai World Cup winner Street Cry, won the $1 million Travers Stakes in August before being beaten by Hards Spun in last month’s Kentucky Cup Classic.
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How Monmouth Played in 2007 Dirt, Turf Routes
By GREG MELIKOV
Nine of the 11 Breeders’ Cup races during the two-day $23 million spectacular that begins Oct. 26 at Monmouth Park are routes, including four on the turf.
During this year’s regular 62nd meeting, the longer contests weren’t dominated by speed like sprints, but front-runners did well.
In 80 races at one mile, victorious wire-to-wire horses numbered 25 percent. Winners leading at every call of 78 contests at a mile and 70 yards did better — 35 percent.
“I don’t know how much the summer condition plays in October because we have never run this late on this strip in a year,” said Paul Grimm, editor of the Oceanport Racing Report (www.oceanportracingreport.com). “I’m not aware whether the track management will alter the main track to add dirt or not.
“If the track becomes deeper I would have to think that would negate some speed, but we will have to wait and see. The earlier cards (Wednesday and Thursday) during the special four-day meet (Oct. 24-27) before Friday and Saturday should give us an indication.”
As for the turf course, “it was redone in ’06,” Grimm pointed out. “A new drainage system and base with new sod was installed along with a new innovative five-furlong turf chute. Depending on who you talk to the grass does or doesn’t drain any better, but the strip is seven furlongs and the turns are tight.”
More inside information: “I have been through all the charts for 2007,” he said. “In mile grass races, outside posts are at a big disadvantage. There were a couple of new course records at this meet (including 1 3/8 miles, the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf distance on Oct. 27), but most were broken last year as the new grass was faster than the old surface.
“Although when they run the Monmouth meet the heat can tend to bake the course. It gets very firm if we don’t get rain, but will play more honest than the dirt as far as speed is concerned.
“The grass held up extremely well and stayed green all summer. They managed to use the entire course with the portable rail so it did not get abused and was actually in very good condition at the end of the meet although we did finish a few weeks earlier this year.”
Grimm ought to know. “I have worked on this course when I was a college student so I have a pretty good feel for its condition.”
During this year’s meeting, only 17 percent of winners in 108 turf routes led from start to finish. The best place to be: inside.
“English Channel and Better Talk Now have been successful over this course and the American contingent will probably have an advantage here especially if the turf is firm,” Grimm said.
On July 7, English Channel won the Grade 1 United Nations at 1 3/8 miles on the grass by a length over Honey Ryder while Better Talk Now finished third another two lengths back in third.
Honey Ryder most likely will go in the BC Filly & Turf. Top contenders in the 1 ½-mile BC Turf are English Channel, 2 for 2 at Monmouth, and Better Talk Now, 1-1-1 in 4 outings at the track.
Two other likely contenders have hit the board on the Monmouth grass: Red Giant, winner by a nose in the one-mile Restoration Stakes on June 17, and 9-year-old The Tin Man, second in a race several years back.
“Monmouth will use the one mile dirt course and the seven-eighths grass course for Breeders’ Cup racing,” he added. “I don’t expect to see the five-furlong turf chute used on BC days, but maybe on Wednesday and Thursday.”
There were only 21 sprints on the grass during the regular meeting, with 33 percent of winners leading all the way.
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Greg Melikov has been handicapping and writing about horses for decades. His articles and columns appear in print and on the Internet around the world. Greg is a retired newspaperman who became a racing fan at 13 when he saw 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation, his favorite horse, whip 20 older horses at old Arlington Park.
Tags: Breeders’ Cup, Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, Monmouth Park
Hard Spun And Street Sense To Meet At The Kentucky Cup Classic
Street Sense trainer, Carl Nafzger, announced that Street Sense have his fina prep for the 2007 Breeders’ Cup in the Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Park. Hard Spun and Street Sense will meet again at the Grade 2 Kentucky Cup Classic this Saturday.
Several major factors surrounding the Kentucky Cup Classic betting seem to favor Hard Spun, and the colt’s trainer, Larry Jones, is keenly aware of them.
Turfway Park features a Polytrack surface on which Street Sense is yet to win a race. This does not worry Nafzger as Street Sense’s two biggest victories – in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Kentucky Derby – came after his two Polytrack starts.
Hard Spun was impressive in his March 24 Lane’s End triumph on Polytrack.
This has been an outstanding year for Hard Spun. A resounding victory in the Lane’s End Stakes at Turfway Park marked him as a major contender for the Kentucky Derby, in which he ran a huge race to finish second. And after running third the Preakness, fourth in the Belmont, and second in the Haskell, the colt returned last month to win the first Grade 1 race of his career, the Aug. 25 King’s Bishop Stakes at Saratoga.
And there’s more. With Hard Spun coming off a seven-furlong win, and Street Sense winning the 1 1/4-mile Travers, the 1 1/8-mile distance of the KC Classic would seem better suited to Hard Spun and his speed. And perhaps most notable is this: Carl Nafzger, the trainer of Street Sense, is famous for using a race such as this toward a more important goal, which happens to be the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 27 at Monmouth Park.
Odds To Win 2007 Breeders’ Cup Classic
Any Given Saturday 6/1
Curlin 8/1
Lawyer Ron 7/2
Premium Tap 7/1
Street Sense 6/1
Nobiz Like Shobiz 25/1
Discreet Cat 20/1
Grasshopper 30/1
Hard Spun 40/1
Lava Man 40/1
Bodog Breeders’ Cup Classic Odds and Futures
Tags: Hard Spun, Street Sense, Breeders’ Cup Classic, Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Cup Classic, Turfway Park, Saratoga
2007 Breeders’ Cup Odds and Future Bets @ Bodog Racebook
The best of the best in thoroughbred racing is now here. Bodog racebook has released the latest horse racing odds to win the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Classic on October 26-27 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey. This year the Breeders’ Cup has been expanded to two days and includes three new races, bringing the 11-race purse total to $23 million.
2007 Breeders’ Cup Odds, Horse Racing Future Bets at Bodog Racebook
Here are some horse racing notes:
On Sept 16, it was announced by trainer Todd Pletcher that Belmont Winner Rags to Riches suffered a hairline fracture to her right front pastern while racing in the Gazelle Stakes.
Pletcher said that if Rags to Riches were a colt, “she probably would be retired. She is a filly. As of now, she is going to run in 2008 assuming that everything heals properly and she comes back and trains satisfactory.”
When Any Given Saturday won the Haskell at Monmouth Park last month over Hard Spun and Curlin, he looked as if he could have beaten both Street Sense and the newly emerging Grasshopper who ran so well in the Travers on August 25th.
From the second crop of young sire Albert the Great, fourth-place finisher in the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Classic and a multiple G2 winner, Nobiz Like Shobiz has won two straight graded stakes on turf for veteran trainer Barclay Tagg.
Breeders’ Cup Horse Racing Handicapping Tips and Betting Picks
In addition to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, futures odds were also released for the other races including the three new Breeders’ Cup races:
2007 Breeders’ Cup Schedule: Friday, October 26, 2007
Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile
Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf
2007 Breeders’ Cup Schedule: Saturday, October 27, 2007
Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies
Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile
Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf
TVG Breeders’ Cup Sprint
NetJets Breeders’ Cup Mile
Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Distaff
John Deere Breeders’ Cup Turf
Breeders’ Cup Classic – Powered by Dodge
There’s another new event this year at Bodog, The Breeders’ Cup Challenge. The winners of 24 challenge races get to bypass the established points system that determines who runs in Breeders’ Cup races. Go to Bodog.com now for the schedule and winner information.
Horses that will miss the 2007 Breeder’s Cup
The 2007 Breeder’s Cup World Thoroughbred Championships is on October 26-27.
However, with the latest horse racing warfare merely a few weeks away, it seems there are quite a few horses who will miss horse racing’s biggest event yet.
The 2007 Breeder’s Cup World Thoroughbred Championships will be at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey to hold a new two-day event for the very first time. As always, the two-day event will be concluded by the 2007 Breeder’s Cup Classic with a $5 million purse at stake. It will feature the top three-year-old thoroughbreds from all over the world.
One of which that will miss the 2007 Breeder’s Cup is Maimonides, the $4.6 million son of Vindication. Maimonides finished third in the Grade I Hopeful at Saratoga before coming out with bucked shins.
”He’ll definitely miss the Breeder’s Cup, but he can still get some 2-year-old action,” racing manager Sobhy Sonbol said. ”He’ll need three to four weeks to get over his shins and start back training and get ready for the winter.”
Another colt who’ll be staying home on October 26 and 27 is the impressive winner of the $400,000 Del Mar Mile, Crossing the Line. The colt still needs to be supplemented to the Breeder’s Cup program for $300,000.
Who will win the 2007 Breeder’s Cup Classic? Bodog has the odds.
Lawyer Ron 7/2
Rags to Riches 20/1
Street Sense 4/1
Visit OddsHQ for more horse race betting odds and the best lines in some of the biggest sporting events today.
2007 Breeder’s Cup Classic Monmouth Park
Pacific Classic Field at Del Mar Features Lava Man, The King of California Tracks
By GREG MELIKOV
Lava Man has gone where no horse has gone before on the Left Coast. Last year he became the first thoroughbred to win the Golden State’s Big 3 stakes in the same year.
This year the son of Slew City Slew is attempting to record his own version of Can You Top This – the popular radio show (1940-54) where three funny men attempted to top jokes offered on a variety of subjects from the studio audience.
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Arlington Million 2007: Is There a Silver Lining for Tin Man at Arlington Park?
By GREG MELIKOV
The Tin Man is primed to defend his Arlington Million title and become the only horse to record back-to-back victories in the 25-year history of Arlington Park‘s premiere stakes race.
The 9-year-old gelding, who gets better with age, is one of the last siblings of ’78 Triple Crown champ Affirmed, who passed away in ’01.
Even the great John Henry, enjoying retirement at 32, didn’t accomplish that feat. But he also got better as he got older winning the first of two Arlington Millions at 6.
Read full story: "Arlington Million 2007: Is There a Silver Lining for Tin Man at Arlington Park?"...
Greg Melikov’s Horses to Watch
Horses worth watching, a list of runners compiled by handicapper/turf writer Greg Melikov that should do well next time out or improve considerably, won four races, finished second six times and ran third three times since June 13.
I Like Ike: Raced eighth more than six lengths behind after a half-mile, angled out for drive, rallied from fifth to make up more than 6 ¾ lengths in stretch and finished second beaten three-quarters of a length at 1 1/16 miles on a yielding turf course July 21.
Dubuque: Raced sixth early, dropped to seventh 3 ½ lengths behind after a half-mile, angled out for drive, rallied from fifth in stretch to make up more than 3 ¼ lengths and lost by a nose and 1 ¼ lengths at 1 1/16 miles on the turf July 13.
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Calder’s Summit of Speed: Richest Day for Sprinters
By GREG MELIKOV
The nation’s richest day for thoroughbred sprinters is Saturday at Calder Race Course where the eighth Summit of Speed features eight stakes worth $2 million.
The Smile Sprint Handicap for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs is one of two stakes with $500,000 purses. Two 4-year-olds regarded as America’s leading sprinters are scheduled to meet for the first time in the 24th running of the Grade 2 race honoring the top sprinter in ’86.
Read full story: "Calder’s Summit of Speed: Richest Day for Sprinters"...
Summer Stakes to Feature Cream of Horse Racing Crop
By GREG MELIKOV
The long hot summer should be especially hot when it comes to stakes races. That’s because there is a plethora of stakes at tracks across the country worth big bucks.
For instance, Belmont Park offers the $400,000 Grade 1 Suburban for 3-year-olds and up on June 30. Invasor, 2006 Horse of the Year, hopes to become only the second thoroughbred in 121 runnings to post back-to-back victories. Crusader did in ’26 and ’27.
Read full story: "Summer Stakes to Feature Cream of Horse Racing Crop"...
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