Saturday Aqueduct, Race 8, Local Post Time 3:48pm EST The G2 Jerome Handicap By Douglas Salvatore It's very rare to see a Grade 2 stakes race in which no horse in the entire field has ever won so much as an ungraded stakes race. Moreover, the 7/2 second choice on the morning line, Scotland, is still a maiden and has never even competed at a route distance. • FREE TimeformUS PPs for the Jerome Handicap...
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Although wagering on horse racing with any seriousness is better viewed as one, long grind versus a day-to-day/week-to-week/month-to-month/year-to-year venture, there's just something about turning the page that makes us want to check the scoreboard. And to be honest, I'm getting blown out this year. To finish in the black for 2013 would require a comeback on par with Auburn's field goal return against...
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Saturday Gulfstream Park, Race 9, Local Post Time 4:33pm EST The G3 Mr. Prospector Stakes , 6F, 3YO & up, Dirt By Douglas Salvatore Star Harbor (5/2 morning line) is a rare case of a "quad figure standout." In his last four starts, all of his speed figures are 110 or better. No other horse in this field has a single speed figure that fast in any of his last four starts. Not only does Star Harbor...
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Before jumping into analysis of this weekend's top stakes races, we asked TimeformUS contributor Bob Barry to reflect on the closing of Hollywood Park. The Hollywood Park Swan Song By Bob Barry What can you say about a seventy-five-year-old racetrack that died? That she was young and beautiful back when “Old Hollywood” was still just “Hollywood”; that she remained beautiful years later, even as the...
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Saturday Betfair Hollywood Park, Race 9, Local Post Time 4:35pm PT The G1 CashCall Futurity , 1 and 1/16 Miles, 2YO, Synth By Justin Finch The Grade 1 Cash Call Futurity will be run against a poignant backdrop as Betfair Hollywood Park approaches its end. And one should add that it approaches it with some style, as this is a very interesting edition of the Cash Call Futurity. • FREE TimeformUS PPs...
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Personally, I enjoy playing the inner meet. Horses more easily find their right conditions, and the form holds up....
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I posed this question on Twitter , on "At The Races" w/ Steve Byk, and in the Brisnet.com weekend preview, and still have not received a definitive answer: Does this weekend (it's happening Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) mark the first time that Calder Race Course, Guflstream Park, and Tampa Bay Downs are conducting racing at the same time? If anyone knows, drop a comment, or at the very least drop...
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Saturday Betfair Hollywood Park, Race 6, Local Post Time 3:04pm PT The G1 Hollywood Starlet Stakes , 1 and 1/16 Miles, Fillies, 2YO, Synth By Justin Finch The Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet has eight two-year-old fillies and almost as many question marks. There have been stronger editions of this race, to be sure, but this edition, the final one, stands tall in the puzzle department, and that provides some...
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Tampa Bay Downs has (rightfully) earned its reputation as one of the more player-friendly tracks racing, and we at Brisnet.com and TwinSpires.com always welcome its return, which this year is Wednesday, December 4. Daily Selections full-card analysis with best bets will be available all meeting long. This is a great tool for Tampa players in part because the multiple-race wagers at the track are so...
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Sunday Betfair Hollywood Park, Race 8, Local Post Time 4:07pm PT The G1 Matriarch Stakes , 1 Mile, Fillies and Mares, 3+, Turf By Justin Finch The final Matriarch, like so many before it, will be a good one. The nine-horse field contains four Grade 1 winners and is loaded with accomplished fillies and mares. At time of writing, the forecast is that the rain that has been falling on Hollywood Park will...
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Aqueduct cancelled today (Wednesday, November 27), which is good news for all the other tracks running because some of the $6-million in handle Aqueduct would have done today (based on last year's Thanksgiving Eve total) will end up in other pools. That includes my money, as a $2,990 Pick 4 carryover at Portland Meadows and a five-stakes program at Zia Park featuring the $300,000 Zia Oaks & $200...
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Saturday Delta Downs, Race 7, Local Post Time 4:15 pm CST The G3 Delta Downs Jackpot , 1 and 1/16 Miles, 2YO, Dirt By Douglas Salvatore After many years of disappointing editions, everything finally clicked for the Delta Jackpot last year. The 2012 edition of this race was won in brilliant front-running fashion by Goldencents. He defeated a very respectable field that included Itsmyluckyday and Mylute...
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Saturday Aqueduct, Race 7, Local Post Time 3:14 pm ET The G3 Red Smith , 1 and 3/8 Miles, 3YO+, Turf By Douglas Salvatore With a field of 13 horses assembled, the Red Smith Handicap is an extremely attractive betting race. The 11-furlong distance means that this race will be contested around three turns, with a fairly short run into the first turn, which means post positions are far more important...
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There are a lot of angles to use when handicapping a horse race: trainer angles, jockey angles, pedigree angles, track surface plays, shippers, bias statistics, and speed figure patterns are some of the more popular, but chances are, if it's in the past performances then someone somewhere has a betting angle for it. In many ways, that was the impetus for Gary Hall to develop his ALL-Ways software ...
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Saturday Aqueduct, Race 6, Local Post Time 2:45 pm ET The Summer Secretary S ., 1 and 1/16 Miles, 3YO Fillies, Turf By Douglas Salvatore The $100,000 Summer Secretary has attracted a strong field of 13 three-year-old fillies, and the TimeformUS Pace Projector indicates that it will be run at a fast and contested early pace. • TimeformUS PPs for the Summer Secretary • A Special Offer on Unlimited PPs...
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One of my cause célèbre is to rally against the need to PICK A WINNER in important races. Any horse is capable of winning. A handicapper's job is to pick winners, but a horse player's job is to balance the chances of a win with the odds and bankroll. But it's Breeders' Cup Saturday, and just as everyone wants to know your Kentucky Derby pick, there's definitely an onus to be able to pick one horse...
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Santa Anita Friday, Race 10, Local Post Time 4:35 pm PT The G1 Breeders' Cup Distaff , 1 and 1/8 Miles, Dirt, F&M, 3+ By Robert Finnegan Selections : 1) #4 Royal Delta 2) #5 Beholder 3) #6 Princess of Sylmar - Get Breeders' Cup PPs for $1.50 per day - For selections, analysis, and past performances for all 14 Breeders' Cup races, get the TimeformUS Breeders' Cup Package The Breeders' Cup Distaff...
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If you're a multi-race player then the most important race on Friday isn't a Breeders' Cup race but the Grade 2 Twilight Derby for three-year-olds on the turf. Carded as the fifth race of the 11-race card, the Twilight Derby ends the Pick 5, starts the Pick 6, is the third leg of the early Pick 4, is part of three rolling Pick 3s, and a pair of rolling doubles. Getting this race wrong could knock you...
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If you're playing the Stars of Tomorrow cards on Sunday at either Belmont Park or Churchill Downs then the following hyperlinked information from Brisnet.com is required for handicapping all the debut runners, surface switches, and stretch outs common among two-year-old racing: Ultimate PPs , American Produce Records (APR) Online , and Bruno With The Works . Together, they give you the clearest picture...
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Belmont, Race 8, Local Post Time 4:34 pm ET The G3 Bold Ruler H. , 7F, Dirt, 3+ By Douglas Salvatore The TimeformUS Pace Projector indicates that this race will be run at a moderate pace that should favor horses who are projected to be on or near the early lead. This bodes very well for 9/5 morning line favorite Strapping Groom and the improving three-year-old Clearly Now, who is a far more generous...
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With the release of TimeformUS Advance Breeders' Cup PPs , you can easily see which horse owns the best last-out TimeformUS speed figure in each Breeders' Cup race. We've asked TimeformUS Chief Figure Maker Craig Milkowski to describe the circumstances in which these top last-out figures were run. For Breeders’ Cup Advance Past Performances – complete with best-in-class foreign running lines and European...
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Keeneland, Race 9, Local Post Time 5:23 pm ET The G2 Raven Run , 7F, Synth, 3YO Fillies By Robert Finnegan Saturday's Grade II Raven Run at Keeneland features an overflow field of three-year-old fillies running seven furlongs on the Polytrack. The morning line 7-2 favorite is the Todd Pletcher-trained Silsita. Handicappers have no choice but to take Pletcher's horses seriously whenever they enter the...
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In a rare moment of social media accord, it was mostly agreed upon that the Breeders' Cup Classic fields from either 1998 or 2004 were the best not only for the Western Hemisphere's richest race but also in the history of the North American Turf ! I'll muddy the waters a little bit and include 2009 in the discussion because of the international flavor of that event and because the most popular horse...
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One of my absolute favorite races of all time is the 2011 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes because it showed the value of speed figures--even on turf. For past performances and selections of this year's QE2 and all the races at Keeneland, visit the Blood Horse shop . The QE2 (on this side of the pond) is a 1 1/8-mile turf race for three-year-old fillies, and Winter Memories entered the 2011...
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Keeneland, Race 9, Local Post Time 5:21 pm ET The G1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup , 1 1/8 Miles, Turf, 3YO Fillies By Douglas Salvatore It's very frustrating when the 9/5 morning line favorite in a race has no significant advantage on speed figures, but you still can't muster up the courage to oppose her. Alterite just missed twice at the Group 1 level, by margins of only a nose and a head, back...
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