Favorite Players Had Rough BC Weekend
Wednesday, November 9, 2016

    Wonder if Trump has a program to help bail out the die-hard favorite players who lost almost all the electoral votes over two days at the Breeders' Cup?  And that's why I love the event so passionately; the possibilities for all kinds of major scores in all the exotics are endless. 

    Of course, I never got to watch the BC to take advantage of those possibilities for the first time since its inception in 1984. I was involved in a weekend golf event (planned a long time ago) at a famed resort in Palm Harbor, and guess what. The famed resort, whose name I won't mention but they play the Valspar there, uses the magnificent cable system called Brighthouse, which doesn't carry NBC Sports Network or the two TVG channels. So, after each round, I was forced to sit in the restaurant and eat, drink and make merry with the guys. Who would believe that a major resort a straight 20-minute drive from Tampa Bay Downs wouldn't carry racing?

    Back to the BC. The Juvenile Fillies got the longshot players off with a bang Saturday when Champagne Room popped home at $69.20. She was followed by Queen's Trust ($18) in the F&M Turf, Drefong ($9.80 third choice) in the Sprint, and Obviously, who was the $9.60 favorite in the Turf Sprint, a race which featured four 6-1 shots.

    Classic Empire ($11) was the second choice in the Juvenile, and Highland Reel ($9.60) was third choice in the Turf. The latter lulled them to sleep on the front end, walking to a seven-length lead on the backstretch, then holding on to win by 1 3/4. He was ridden by Seamus Heffeman, a household name only in his own household.

    Finest City ($19.40) then captured the F&M Sprint, followed by Tourist in the Mile at $26.80. Even Arrogate's payoff of $5.40 was only second choice in the Classic behind Chromie in an epic battle. 

    Nine races, one $9.60 favorite.

    It had been no different on Friday, when Oscar Performance ($15.20) won the Juvenile Turf, and Tamarkuz ($25.80) the Dirt Mile as 7/10 Dortmund and Runhappy ran each other into the ground with fractions of :22.45 and :45.37. New Money Honey ($15) took the Juvenile Fillies Turf and the other epic battle ended with third choice Beholder ($8.60) winning the Distaff by a whisker over no-longer-unbeaten Songbird.

    To put an exclamation point on the proceedings, Frank Conversation won the last race on the program, the Twilight Derby, and paid $75.80. It may have been on omen.

    And finally, to prove once again that people no longer care about racing, Friday's attendance at Santa Anita was 45,763; Saturday's was 72,811. Friday's on-track handle was $7,178,966, off-track was $50,935,934. On Saturday, on-track reached $13,854,721 and off-track $95,201,176. Not too shabby, considering that the younger generation is off somewhere playing games on their phones and tablets and ipads, or whatever it is they're called.

    BIG BUCKS FOR BROODMARES - Bridlewood Farm continues to add expensive horseflesh to its broodmare band, haltering the Distorted Humor mare Baffled, in foal to Tapit, for $3.5 million at the Keeneland November sale. Glen Hill Farm took the Tapit mare Cassatt, in foal to Curlin, for $2.5 million.   

     

    

     

    

    

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