Saturday, October 16, 2021

Early Breeders' Cup Betting Previews for the Juvenile & Classic

 The following post was reprinted with permission from ScoresandStats.com

An Early Betting Preview of the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile & Classic

This year’s Breeders’ Cup will be held at Del Mar Race Track in Southern California. The first five events featuring some of horse racing’s top juvenile colts and fillies will be held on Friday, Nov. 5. This includes the $2 million TVG Juvenile for the top two-year old colts in this year’s class. The total prize money on the line in those first five races is $7 million.

Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup race card at Del Mar is filled with another nine major graded events. The total prize money up for grabs across those nine races is another $21 million. The top event during the two days of racing is the annual Breeders’ Cup Classic for the ‘best of the best’ in Thoroughbred horse racing.

The Longines Classic is open to Thoroughbreds three and older. It covers 1 ¼ miles in total length on the dirt track at Del Mar. The total prize money for this year’s Classic is $6 million.

For anyone looking to place a few fixed odds bets on this year’s Breeders’ Cup, most of the top-rated online sportsbooks have posted futures odds for most of the 14 events. While the actual field for each of these 14 races is still a work in progress, here is an early look at the favorites to win Friday’s BC Juvenile and Saturday’s BC Classic.

Friday, Nov. 5- Breeders’ Cup Juvenile

The BC Juvenile covers 1 1/16 miles on the dirt. At the top of the futures board to win this race is Jack Christopher at +275 fixed betting odds. He is followed by Cornish (+300) and Major General (+400) in what should be a very competitive race among the class of this field.

Rattle N Roll is on the board at +500 odds with Pinehurst (+600) rounding out the top five. You could add in Rockerfeller at +800 odds to compete the list of the early contenders expected to dominate the 2022 Kentucky Derby Trail.

Jack Christopher is trained by Chad Brown. The son of Munnings has already put together an impressive racing resume as a two year old. This is highlighted by a victory in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont on Oct. 2. He covered the mile on dirt in 1:37.31 past Commandperformance and Wit.

If Brown decides to run him in the BC Juvenile, look for this Kentucky-bred colt to open as the morning line favorite.

Cornish would be another solid pick to finish in the money in this race. Trained by Bob Baffert, he recently took first place in the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita Park on Oct. 1. Against a strong field, he covered the 1 1/16 miles distance on dirt in 1:44.75.

Saturday, Nov. 6- Breeders’ Cup Classic

Essential Quality won last year’s BC Juvenile at Keeneland on his way to becoming the favorite to win the 2021 Kentucky Derby. He came up short in that race with a fourth-place finish. However, since the Derby, the son of Tapit has won three-straight major graded events.

Trained by Brian Cox, he has been opened as a +350 co-favorite to keep that streak alive by winning the BC Classic.

The other favorite on the futures board for this race is Knicks Go. Also trained by Cox, the son of Paynter recently turned some heads by winning the Grade 3 Lukas Classic Stakes at Churchill Downs on Oct. 2.

As a veteran five-year old horse bred in Maryland, Knicks Go won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. His current winning streak in major graded events this year also stands at three.

The value pick on the early board could be Hot Rod Charlie at +750 odds. Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit is an interesting play at +1000 odds.

 


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