201 Horses Pre-Entered for Breeders' Cup

As always, each of the marquee Breeders’ Cup races are starting to develop their own storylines.  Beginning with the Classic, much of the betting public is likely to dismiss the older horses to concentrate on seemingly stronger three year-old contenders such as the undefeated Shared Belief, the freaky fast Bayern, and Belmont/Jockey Gold Cup winner Tonalist.  The three year-olds are also represented by Wood Memorial/Jim Dandy winner Wicked Strong and Travers winner V.E. Day.

Belle Gallantey Looks Live in Distaff

In the Distaff, the scratch of 2013 winner Beholder essentially guarantees that bettors will lock in on two horses:  Untapable and Close Hatches.  As talented as those two fillies are, it is worth noting that Close Hatches will be entering the race off one of the worst performances of her career – a non-threatening fourth in the Spinster at Keeneland, and Untapable has appeared to regress on the Beyer Speed Figure scale late in the year.  That leaves the possibility of a serious underlay on the New York shipper Belle Gallantey, who will benefit from the scratch of Beholder as a main pace rival.

Top Two Strong in BC Juvenile 

In the Juvenile, two year-old colts Carpe Diem and American Pharoah not only look like the best horses in their division, they are also trained by leading two year-old trainers Todd Pletcher and Bob Baffert respectively.  It would be more than a mild surprise if one of the top two doesn’t find the winner’s circle.