Breeders' Cup 2014 Entries: Lineup Odds and Predictions for Friday Races
Horse racing certainly has legions of fans and can be entertaining to watch and follow on its own, but let’s call a spade a spade here—much of the sport’s appeal comes from betting on the outcome.
That is no different than football, but betting seems to be the overarching theme for much of horse racing, and that will once again be the case at the 2014 Breeders’ Cup.
While the Breeders’ Cup Classic is not until Saturday, the action gets underway on Friday with four races. Here is a look at the broadcast information, courtesy of BreedersCup.com, for all four races.
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| Juvenile Turf | 5:25 p.m. | NBC Sports | 1 mile | $1 million |
| Dirt Mile | 6:05 p.m. | NBC Sports | 1 mile | $1 million |
| Juvenile Fillies Turf | 6:50 p.m. | NBC Sports | 1 mile | $1 million |
| Longines Distaff | 7:35 p.m. | NBC Sports | 1 1/8 mile | $ 2 million |
As mentioned, betting is an important element of the action, and there are four races to watch on Friday. The betting odds for the Juvenile Turf, Dirt Mile, Juvenile Fillies Turf and Longines Distaff can all be found on the individual races page of BreedersCup.com.
| 1 | Wet Sail | 15-1 |
| 2 | Daddy D T | 15-1 |
| 3 | Luck of the Kitten | 8-1 |
| 4 | Commemorative | 8-1 |
| 5 | Hootenanny | 3-1 |
| 6 | Conquest Typhoon | 12-1 |
| 7 | War Envoy | 9-2 |
| 8 | Offering Plan | 20-1 |
| 9 | Aktabantay | 12-1 |
| 10 | Startup Nation | 12-1 |
| 11 | Imperia | 6-1 |
| 12 | International Star | 15-1 |
| 13 | Lawn Ranger | 20-1 |
| 14 | Danny Boy | 20-1 |
| AE | Faithful Creek | 20-1 |
| AE | Papacoolpapacool | 30-1 |
| 1 | Goldencents | 6-5 |
| 2 | Carve | 15-1 |
| 3 | Vicar's in Trouble | 12-1 |
| 4 | Pants On Fire | 6-1 |
| 5 | Handsome Mike | SCR |
| 6 | Golden Ticket | 15-1 |
| 7 | Bronzo | 12-1 |
| 8 | Fed Biz | 7-2 |
| 9 | Tapiture | 6-1 |
| 10 | Big Bane Theory | 15-1 |
| 1 | Partisan Politics | 15-1 |
| 2 | Osaila | 5-1 |
| 3 | Sunset Glow | 7-2 |
| 4 | Lady Eli | 6-1 |
| 5 | Isabella Sings | 12-1 |
| 6 | Sivoliere | 12-1 |
| 7 | Rainha Da Bateria | 12-1 |
| 8 | Nicky's Brown Miss | 20-1 |
| 9 | Lady Zuzu | 15-1 |
| 10 | Quality Rocks | 20-1 |
| 11 | Conquest Harlanate | 10-1 |
| 12 | Tammy the Torpedo | 12-1 |
| 13 | Prize Exhibit | 20-1 |
| 14 | Qualify | 5-1 |
| AE | Flying Tipat | 20-1 |
| AE | War Alert | 20-1 |
| 1 | L'Amour de Ma Vie | 15-1 |
| 2 | Tiz Midnight | 10-1 |
| 3 | Iotapa | 6-1 |
| 4 | Belle Gallantey | 6-1 |
| 5 | Unbridled Forever | 20-1 |
| 6 | Stanwyck | 20-1 |
| 7 | Don't Tell Sophia | 5-1 |
| 8 | Valiant Emilia | 20-1 |
| 9 | Ria Antonia | 15-1 |
| 10 | Untapable | 5-2 |
| 11 | Close Hatches | 3-1 |
Predictions
Juvenile Turf
The pairing of jockey Javier Castellano and horse Imperia is one to watch at the Juvenile Turf race on Friday.
Imperia took home the Pilgrim Stakes in his last race and nearly won at the Saratoga Race Course before that in his debut. What’s more, Castellano is a former Preakness Stakes winner and knows how to win on the big stage. That should help Imperia as an up-and-coming horse with momentum.
Luck of the Kitten is also a threat after winning the Zuma Beach Stakes at Santa Anita. Luck of the Kitten’s trainer is Wesley Ward, but Ward also has Hootenanny in the field as well as a potential winner.
Part of what makes Hootenanny so dangerous in this race is jockey Frankie Dettori, who has 10 Breeders’ Cup victories, which is tied for sixth all time. Hootenanny drew post No. 5 and has wins in two of the last three races.
The combination of a favorable post, fast horse and experienced jockey with a storied history at the Breeders’ Cup will be too much for the rest of the field.
Prediction: Hootenanny wins.
Dirt Mile
Friday’s Dirt Mile race will feature a defending champion in the field.
Goldencents has done nothing but finish in first or second place in all four starts this season and won this event a year ago. Goldencents set a track record at the Aug. 24 Pat O’Brien Handicap at Del Mar, and has been more than impressive in every race this season.
Pants On Fire, Tapiture and Vicar’s in Trouble are also contenders, and some of them will start from the middle posts.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will enter Fed Biz into the field. Fed Biz finished in sixth place in the 2013 Dirt Mile and eighth place in the 2012 version, so at least there is experience with the race track there.
The only real concern for Goldencents is the fact that it drew the No. 1 post, but this is only a one-mile race. The opportunity is there to get a good start from the inside position and cut off much of the field. Goldencents has been on a roll lately, and that will continue on Friday.
Look for the fast start and a wire-to-wire victory.
Prediction: Goldencents wins.
Juvenile Fillies Turf
The story to watch at the Juvenile Fillies Turf race is trainer Chad Brown.
Brown entered four fillies into the field, but Lady Eli is the clear favorite of the foursome. Lady Eli is fresh off a dominating win at the Miss Grillo Stakes and is undefeated. Brown also has Tammy the Torpedo and Partisan Politics, who finished in third and fourth place, respectively, at the Miss Grillo Stakes.
His fourth horse is Sivoliere.
There is a deep field of contenders for Lady Eli and the rest of Brown’s horses to deal with on Friday. Sunset Glow has some momentum after she finished in second place in the Group 3 Albany Stakes and won the Sorrento Stakes and Del Mar Debutante.
Then there is Osaila, who won three of the last four starts, and Qualify, who won the CL and MF Weld Park Stakes in her last start.
Osaila may be at something of a disadvantage, though, with the No. 14 posting. It will be important that she gets out to a fast start from the gates, as At The Races noted:
While Osaila may get out of the gates quickly, Lady Eli is undefeated and has a favorable No. 4 posting. That combination will prove to be too much for the rest of the field.
Prediction: Lady Eli wins.
Longines Distaff
It’s not every race that the trainer overshadows the horses, but Bill Mott has more Distaff victories than any other trainer in history and will try to add a sixth on Friday.
Mott has arguably the best horse in the field in Close Hatches. While Close Hatches won four races in a row earlier in the season, she struggled in her last race at the Spinster Stakes on Oct. 5 and finished in fourth place.
Mott commented on that performance, according to BloodHorse.com, via ESPN.com:
"I don't know if she didn't like the track. We thought that could have had something to do with it. I certainly thought she went into the Spinster in great shape, aside from having a fast work the week before, but everything else went well up to the race. It was a little bit of a head scratcher. I'm hoping she can come back to California and show her best.
"
Close Hatches has experience in this race after finishing in second place a year ago.
Among the challengers are Don’t Tell Sophia, Belle Gallantey and Iotapa, but Untapable may be the biggest threat. Untapable has three Grade 1 wins this year against three-year-old fillies and just won the Cotillion Stakes in impressive fashion.
Still, one bad race does not make a horse. You have to trust the larger sample size here with Close Hatches, considering her five career Grade 1 victories before the fourth-place finish.
That dominating horse we saw earlier in the season will make a timely return on Friday.
Prediction: Close Hatches wins.
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