You can read or listen to all the Breeders’ Cup takeaways you like. You can only get the Pick 6 King’s real ones here!
A fast track doesn’t make it a biased track! There was no bias on the main track for Breeders’ Cup 2020. It was lightning fast. If you believe there was a bias, we hope you are a big bettor and last in the game. You may want to read this.To B or not to B
People including analysts and members of the media have no clue when a track is playing a certain way hence the televised comments;
“how this track is playing, you have to be on the lead, you can’t come from behind, there is a strong speed bias, etc etc etc”
Rocketry, Vequist, Essential Quality, Sleepy Eyes Todd, Merneith, Whitmore, and even Monomoy Girl to a degree didn’t listen to all the speed bias gibberish, and they all won. Those horses don’t win on what we would call a true speed biased track.
The NBC camera angle is horrible. No bettor or fan should be forced to watch races from that angle. Ever.
The Keeneland track-feed coverage was excellent and also had great race calls and an excellent camera angle, once you adjusted to the drone of course. That is how it’s done.
The worst kept secret in racing was that no fans would be allowed. The “VIP” guests who received confidential invites told many who told many who told many. Empty paddocks and stands would have been a surprise not seeing fans. Was it fair to all, no, but Breeders’ Cup tried in an unprecedented year of craziness. Could they have handles it better? Maybe. Who cares?
Every year there is almost always one horse who you just can’t use without the “all” button. Remember that in 2021. In 2020 it was Order of Australia.
Ken McPeek and Christophe Clement lead the list of trainers with a lot of Breeders’ Cup starters with no wins. Dermot Weld is off that list.
Aidan O’ Brien is neither a toss out or ice cold in Breeders’ Cup races. News flash, he never really was.
Chad can train, turf or dirt even if he got shut out this year in the Breeders’ Cup.
On big days, especially the biggest of days, Bob Baffert always comes to run. Always.
Luis Saez is no longer winless in Breeders’ Cup races.
Umberto Rispoli made an acrobatic Breeders’ Cup debut. He lost his irons into the first turn aboard Abarta following some bumping and miraculously was able to stay on the colt and actually recover to finish the race. Who knows what might have been?
The Tiz the Law flop had absolutely zero to do with Manny Franco’s ride. Nothing. The horse was a good two-year old. He went right on the Derby trail in Florida. A crazy schedule spaced the races out. He danced most of them. He never had a break since he was two. How many horses can go that hard that long without tailing off? He tailed off. Plain and simple. I called it before the Kentucky Derby. Barclay Tagg is wrong to publicly criticize Franco. Trainers see their horses like parents see their kids. Now they march right to the Pegasus. Maybe Johnny V will ride and some of you will get and see the irony and back story. Some of you won’t.
Golden Pal is a rocket just like momma was. She was a Calder bullet.
Mike Maker is deadly when he gets bet and when he doesn’t. He and his horses don’t care. Fire at Will dead on the board ran like the chalk. Ricardo Santana Jr. is as good as it gets right now. Top shelf jock.
Reid did a great job with Vequist. He has been doing that a long time and manages to stay somewhat under the radar.
Aunt Pearl is very good. Bot great. Not yet anyway. Trip just worked out perfectly. There may be some better fillies that were behind her on Friday. Stay tuned.
Essential Quality is very good. We called him special right here at Past the Wire after he broke his maiden. We also liked Jackie’s Warrior except for his name. He looks like a sprinter now. Essential Quality looks like anything but a sprinter and is the early Kentucky Derby favorite. That means nothing in November.
Gamine is a beast. She’s very fast. She was not positive for an “illegal” drug as is thrown around. She had a minuscule overage of a legal drug. That’s the fact. Serengeti Empress is fast, Gamine is faster. Venetian Harbor is not in that league. Johnny V showed why you always need a plan B when riding a racehorse. When Gamine couldn’t make the lead comfortably from the inside he eased back smooth as ice, tipped out, stalked and won.
Glass Slippers ran huge but Imprimis might have been best.
Knicks Go went and went and went. He might still be going.
Audarya was awesome and hinted at what Tarnawa could do later. It was all their for the taking especially considering Tommy Hammer Massis said on our Gate to Wire podcast Tarnawa was a 50K win bet if he was in position at that point.
P. C. Boudot can flat out ride even if he looks awkward doing it.
Ron Moquett quietly did as good a job as any trainer this year with Whitmore. This old war horse came through in a big way. Too bad Chance Moquett wasn’t on site as he would have given some of the best “rooters” a run for their money. The Hammer and the Pick 6 King liked this one. A must use.
Yaupon was chilly on the board and ran like it. This was especially true considering how Nashville won the first race on the card. Yes we know the final odds. He was chilly.
Aidan O’ Brien has often won with the other horse. He runs so many that is bound to happen. Now Aidan has won with the other other horse Order of Australia. For good measure and in case anyone brought up this horse might be a ringer, you know like Mother Earth and Snowfall, Aidan ran second and third also with Lope Y Fernandez and Circus Maximus. An Aidan O’ Brien triple in the Breeders’ Cup in an order nobody could come up with.
Monomoy Girl was perfect. Word has it she will get to try for an encore for Spendthrift Farm who just bought her for 9.5.
Tarnawa outclassed them all with a brilliant burst of speed down the stretch. Colin Keane was a good fill in for Christophe Soumillion who was named on no less than three winners but a positive on track Covid test sent him back to his hotel to watch on that horrible NBC angle. At least with that angle he probably couldn’t tell how loaded his horses were until they won. Imagine losing three Breeders’ Cup winners to Covid after flying in from France. Dermot Weld is now in addition to all else he’s won, a Breeders’ Cup winner.
The Breeders’ Cup Classic was over into the first turn when Authentic cleared the field. Who was going to catch an improving Bob Baffert three-year old clear on the lead in the Breeders’ Cup Classic? Exactly, nobody. Unfortunately I did not bet Authentic. I tore my tickets up at the half mile. It was already over.
If Bob Baffert says he can run 1,2,3 in the Classic there is a pretty good chance he runs 1,2.
Next year we get to do it all again. I’m already looking forward to it.
Photo: Umberto Rispoli, Breeders’ Cup, Bob Baffert and Authentic, a fan who was not allowed in, anonymous…..
