Record number pre-entered for 24th Breeders' Cup

Horseracing Betting Lines

10/17/2007 - Oceanport, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and Preakness champ Curlin are two of the record 141 thoroughbreds who have been pre-entered for all 11 Breeders' Cup races scheduled for October 26 and 27 at Monmouth Park. For the first time since the Breeders' Cup began in 1984, the event will conducted over two days.

Post positions for all 11 Breeders' Cup World Championships races will be drawn on Tuesday, October 23 at Monmouth Park. There will be three new $1 million Breeders' Cup races run on Breeders' Cup Friday and eight Breeders' Cup races on Breeders' Cup Saturday.

Nine thoroughbreds have been pre-entered for the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic. In addition to Street Sense and Curlin, the other possible contenders are Any Given Saturday, Awesome Gem, Diamond Stripes, George Washington, Hard Spun, Lawyer Ron and Tiago.

The $3 million Turf has a dozen horses pre-entered including 2004 winner Better Talk Now and 2006 champ Red Rocks.

The three new Breeders' Cup races, to be conducted on Friday, October 26, helped push the total of pre-entered thoroughbreds to the 141 total.

The $1 million Dirt Mile has 11 pre-entered horses, including Met Mile winner Corinthian and veteran runners Commentator and Wanderin Boy. Five of the horses named for the Dirt Mile have also been pre-entered for other Breeders' Cup races.

The first ever $1 million Juvenile Turf race has 23 horses pre-entered, with five of them cross-entered for the two Juvenile races scheduled for Saturday, October 27.

The $1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint has attracted 12 pre-entered females for its initial running. Hystercalady, winner of the Molly Pitcher at Monmouth Park, will among the favorites.

The $2 million Juvenile Fillies and Juvenile races have each drawn 16 pre- entered two-year-olds. Last year's Juvenile champ Street Sense went on to become the first winner to capture the Kentucky Derby.

Among the pre-entered two-year-old fillies are Spinaway Stakes winner Irish Smoke and highly regarded Indian Blessing. Some of the two-year-old colts are Hopeful Stakes champ Majestic Warrior, Belmont Futurity winner Tale of Ekati and Kodiak Kowboy, winner of the Saratoga Special.

Honey Ryder, third in last year's Filly & Mare Turf, is one of 13 females to be pre-entered for the $2 million grass race. Juddmonte Spinster Stakes winner Panty Raid is also pre-entered in the Breeders' Cup Distaff.

The six-furlong $2 million Sprint has 15 horses pre-entered. Among the 15 thoroughbreds are Forego Stakes winner Midnight Lute, Smokey Stover, who has won five races this year and Smile Sprint winner Mach Ride.

The $2 million Mile has 18 pre-entered thoroughbreds. Among those pre-entered for the one-mile turf event are Del Mar Handicap winner After Market, Wood Memorial champ Nobiz Like Shobiz and multiple stakes winner Kip Deville.

The 1 1/8 mile $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff has 15 ladies pre-entered. Topping the list are Alabama Stakes winner Lady Joanne, Clement Hirsh Handicap champ Nashoba's Key and Octave, winner of the Mother Goose and Coaching Club American Oaks.

The first three Breeders' Cup races will be televised on Friday by ESPN2 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. (et). On Saturday ESPN will broadcast from 12:00-7:00 p.m. (et) with the remaining eight races.

Wwbet365 Horseracing Betting News

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.