THE ASPIRING HORSEPLAYER

Here’s the first in a series of closer looks we’ll take at the Breeders’ Cup championship races this weekend at Santa Anita.  As a disclosure, keep in mind that post positions and odds have yet to be set as of this writing and that all handicapping was done perusing the advance past performances released last week.  

I’ll be leaving for California right around the time the post position and morning line odds  information becomes finalized, so what follows are an extremely advanced interpretation of how things might go that is obviously subjected to substantial changes between now (Monday) and the upcoming weekend.

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Marathon, eh?  Maybe it’s just me, but when I hear the word “Marathon”, I imagine a long phalanx of Greek warriors pitching into an invading Persian host.  For most people, however,  the word invokes images of long, grueling racing action. To this end, the Breeders’ Cup marathon has been extended from a 1 1/2 mile affair in 2008 to a 1 3/4 mile affair this year. 

The field for the Breeders’ Cup Marathon sets up like this:

• Black Astor
• Cloudy’s Knight
• Eldaafer
• Father Time
• Gangbuster
• Man of Iron
• Mastery
• Muhannak
• Nite Light
• On Fire
• Sir Dave

In looking for our own 2009 version of Miltiades the Younger (victor of the famed Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C.), two European horses leap off the page to me; MASTERY and FATHER TIME. 

Miltiades the Younger - Victor of the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC

MASTERY comes in hot off a victory in the ST. Leger Stakes at Doncaster on September 12.  The son of Sulamani has been the distance before over the grass, and now must prove he’s the same quality of horse racing over the Pro Ride.  He’ll be a short price for the hot Godolphin team, so if you’re looking for a big score to kick off championship weekend, you’ll need to beat this guy to do so.

FATHER TIME could make the most sense to players looking to beat the chalk right out of the gate.  The son of Dansili has earned a victory over a synthetic surface to break his maiden almost a year ago exactly, and has battled with MASTERY in both the Great Voltiguer and St. Leger Stakes overseas.

One thing is certain – we’ll put the notion that the Santa Anita Pro Ride will favor European turf horses to test immediately in the Marathon. 

As for the rest of the field, I think MAN OF IRON makes quite a bit of sense, although he’ll probably be overbet.  I also like the looks of the 9-year-old CLOUDY’S KNIGHT and the 5-year-old NITE LIGHT.  Don’t forget last year’s champion, MUHANNAK, is also returning to defend his crown, although he doesn’t appear to be in as sharp form as he was a year ago.

It would be infinitely easier to explain a possible trifecta ticket if we had the corresponding post positions set, but suffice to say I’ll be using both MASTERY and FATHER TIME on top of my tickets, with NITE LIGHT and CLOUDY’S KNIGHT underneath.  I’ll likely be adding MAN OF IRON to the bottom of the ticket as well.

Selections:

• Mastery
• Father Time
• Nite Light 

Best of luck to all – make sure you start of your Breeders’ Cup wagers with a winner!