There is no sporting event that offers the kind of wagering opportunities and Value that you can find at the Breeders’ Cup — dare we say, not even the Super Bowl.
It’s common for a mere $2 wager in the Breeders’ Cup to turn into a payout in the tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
What kind of wild prop-filled parlay would you have to hit to cash that kind of ticket on a football game?
According to Captain Obvious the key component to any big score on Breeders’ Cup weekend is finding a longshot.
But before cashing with them, you first have to identify horses who are coming into a big effort at odds that are going to be inflated because each race features the best horses from around the globe.
These longshots don’t always have to Win for you to make bank. Utilizing an overlooked horse in your Exacta or Trifecta wagers can result in a huge score — as could betting them to Place or Show.
Here are two horses (one for Friday, one for Saturday) who can shake things up at big prices at Keeneland this weekend.
FRIDAY Race Six, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (Post Time 3:00)
#6 PERSIAN FORCE (Morning Line Odds: 15-1) This horse ships in from Europe where he Won the Group 1 Close Brothers July Stakes at Newmarket earlier this year. He’s lost three races since then and for that reason he’ll most likely be overlooked by most bettors. If you take a closer look at the competition he’s been running with in Europe, you’ll see he finished behind horses named BLACKBEARD and LITTLE BIG BEAR. Those are two horses that would’ve likely been well supported in the wagering for this race had they not both been sidelined by injury (and retired, in the case of BLACKBEARD).
In watching replays of his races, PERSIAN FORCE seems to do better as a hunter, rather than the hunted. Given the abundance of speed signed on for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (including deserving favorite LOVE REIGNS), PERSIAN FORCE should benefit from sitting behind the horses in front of him battling amongst themselves. Lastly, PERSIAN FORCE should also gain a bit of an edge over firm ground (Friday’s forecast is sunny and dry) and a slight cutback to 5 1/2 furlongs.
SATURDAY Race 3, Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (Post Time 11:50)
#6 CHAIN OF LOVE (Morning Line Odds: 20-1) Another closer who’ll be flying late a big price. We’re gravitating toward horses that could rally (and at least hit the board) in races that seem loaded with early speed. The Filly & Mare Sprint is no different as it features speedsters like ECHO ZULU, HOT PEPPERS, SLAMMED and LADY ROCKET. CHAIN OF LOVE is a horse that could really benefit from all of that speed up front burning itself out.
She comes off a Win in a Stakes race going this distance on a muddy track in Japan. But it’s really the races where she didn’t Win that are most impressive. When finishing 3rd in the Saudia Riyadh Dirt Sprint earlier in the year, she traveled pretty wide and still kicked on pretty impressively late to finish ahead of a number of classy horses. In the Dubai Golden Shaheen, she was almost off the screen turning for home and again made an impressive wide rally to finish within a length of 2nd place there.
We’ll use CHAIN OF LOVE on tickets along with #8 GOODNIGHT OLIVE (a Winner of five straight races) and the 2021 Winner of this race #4 CE CE.
Seems a lot people are asking about the Breeders’ Cup television itinerary. Wonder no more.
WEEKEND TELEVISION SCHEDULE
Friday, Nov. 4: 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on FS2; 2-6 p.m. on USA Network; post time varies on FanDuel TV
Saturday, Nov. 5: 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on FS2; 1-3:30 p.m. on USA Network; 3:30-6 p.m. on NBC; post time varies on FanDuel TV
