Breeders' Cup 2015: Post Position Info, Vegas Odds for All Horses on Friday
Louisville, Kentucky, captures the attention of the globe Friday as the 2015 Breeders' Cup gets underway with $6 million total up for grabs.
Four races act as the opening salvos for the year's last top thoroughbred event. The attention fixates on the Classic on Saturday afternoon featuring Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and much more, but Friday's events offer a bit of something for everyone, including bettors on the hunt to make some coin.
Below, let's take a look at each of the four races, the official starting order and how Las Vegas feels about each participant, per Daily Racing Form. Each event is available on NBC Sports Network.
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Juvenile Turf
| 1. Dressed in Hermes | 20-1 |
| 2. Azar | 12-1 |
| 3. Manhattan Dan | 20-1 |
| 4. Shogun | 15-1 |
| 5. Highland Sky | 30-1 |
| 6. Birchwood | 8-1 |
| 7. Ray's the Bar | 15-1 |
| 8. Airoforce | 9-2 |
| 9. Sky Marshal | 15-1 |
| 10. Conquest Daddyo | 10-1 |
| 11. Hollywood Don | 10-1 |
| 12. Camelot Kitten | 12-1 |
| 13. Cymric | 4-1 |
| 14. Hit It a Bomb | 15-1 |
| Also Eligible: 15. Sheikh of Sheikhs | 20-1 |
The 3:30 p.m. ET event starts with a bang thanks to the favorite, Cymric.
While the Juvenile Turf is always a hard event to figure out due to the mixture of Europeans with North American horses, Cymric looks like a sure thing out of the 13th slot.
Unlucky spot or not, trainer John Gosden has won this event twice, and TVG's Rich Perloff offered some interesting perspective:
The biggest competition would be local Airoforce, trained by Aidan P. O'Brien. The Kentucky product already has a win at Keeneland this month, per HorseRacingNation.com, hence the great odds.
Dirt Mile
| 1. Red Vine | 6-1 |
| 2. Bradester | 12-1 |
| 3. Liam's Map | 1-1 |
| 4. Mr. Z | 20-1 |
| 5. Lea | 5-1 |
| 6. Street Strategy | 20-1 |
| 7. War Envoy | 30-1 |
| 8. Wicked Strong | 8-1 |
| 9. Tapiture | 15-1 |
| 10. Valid | 12-1 |
| 11. War Story | 30-1 |
It's a farewell event for Las Vegas favorite Liam's Map in the 4:10 p.m. ET start.
Liam's Map has won five of seven races on dirt, with the last an impressive romp at the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes last month. Already the favorite because of these factors, Jonathan Lintner of the Courier-Journal revealed Friday that Liam's Map will retire after the event.
The biggest threat to spoil the goodbye is the William I. Mott-trained Lea, who enters off a second-place finish at the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile last month.
Regardless, the short distance here means little reason to bet against the favorite.
Juvenile Fillies Turf
| 1. Tin Type Gal | Scratched |
| 2. Thrilled | 10-1 |
| 3. Alice Springs | 6-1 |
| 4. Catch a Glimpse | 5-1 |
| 5. Ruby Notion | 20-1 |
| 6. Andreya's Reward | 30-1 |
| 7. Sapphire Kitten | 8-1 |
| 8. Harmonize | 7-2 |
| 9. Nemoralia | 12-1 |
| 10. Illuminate | 4-1 |
| 11. Pricedtoperfection | 20-1 |
| 12. Gliding By | 30-1 |
| 13. Mirage | 30-1 |
| 14. Last Waltz | 12-1 |
| Also Eligible: 15. Time and Motion | 20-1 |
Las Vegas touts Mott's Harmonize as a favorite in the 4:50 p.m. ET start.
It's not hard to see why, with the Filly coming off a first-place finish in the Grade 3 Jessamine Stakes in early October.
Yet this one might be the hardest race to predict on the day.
Illuminate looks like a major threat having won three of four events this year—the lone non-win a second-place finish in the Grade 1 Cheveley Park Stakes last month. But so does Catch a Glimpse, a winner of two straight and sitting in an ideal post position.
There's no wrong answer, but the odds look convoluted for good reason.
Distaff
| 1. I'm a Chatterbox | 8-1 |
| 2. Frivolous | 20-1 |
| 3. Salama | 30-1 |
| 4. Stopchargingmaria | 15-1 |
| 5. Calamity Kate | 30-1 |
| 6. My Sweet Addiction | 30-1 |
| 7. Wedding Toast | 4-1 |
| 8. Curalina | 10-1 |
| 9. Stellar Wind | 15-1 |
| 10. Yahilwa | 12-1 |
| 11. Untapable | Scratched |
| 12. Got Lucky | 6-1 |
| 13. Warren's Veneda | 30-1 |
| 14. Sheer Drama | 7-2 |
| 15. Peace and War | 30-1 |
The 5:35 p.m. ET event worth $2 million compared to the $1 million apiece for the three prior races boasts several major contenders.
Thank elite trainer Todd Pletcher, of course, who gets three shots at seizing the victory, considering he trots out Curalina, Got Lucky and Stopchargingmaria—all contenders who have won Grade 1 events in the past.
Still, it looks like tough sledding for Pletcher. Wedding Toast boasts a three-race winning streak entering Friday. Got Lucky features three wins over her last four, but, well, she didn't get so lucky with the post position.
There's also Sheer Drama to keep an eye on, as the David Fawkes-trained horse has won a pair of Grade 1 events in a row, including August's Personal Ensign, besting both Got Lucky and Untapable in the process.
Info courtesy of BreedersCup.com and HorseRacingNation.com unless otherwise specified.
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