Battlefield Breeders Crown: The Cavalcade Of Freshmen and Sophomores
At the other blog, we present the older divisions in the
classic series, while the two- and three-year-old events are covered below. And
follow us on Twitter -- @FrankCotolo and @RayCotolo, as we report live on the
Woodbine program.
Shuffle your attention once more to be abreast of all the
coverage, available exclusively at TwinSpires in cooperation with the Hambletonian Society. Here are our
comments and suggested contenders in the order of the frosh or soph event on
Saturday, Oct. 27.
Two-Year-Old Filly Pace
Off of a striking win at The Red Mile, Parlee Beach comes to
this affair fresh and strong. She qualified at Mohawk to prep and should be
ready to pounce on the top choice, I Luv The Nitelife and top the exacta with
that one. You may want to add Love Canal for a trifecta. She was our choice in
the elim and was a strong second at 13-1 with Somewherovrarainbow, who is bound
to be sharp again but may have to settle for a smaller share with these.
Three-Year-Old Filly Pace
We are ready to support what could be a major upset in this
mile with Apogee Hanover.
This race could wind up with a shuffling speed duel that
will give our choice a clear path to take advantage of a closing kick that
impressed us greatly in last week’s elim, won by Romantic Moment. That won will
have to contend with American Jewel and Economy Terror and the three could
cancel each other out.
In fact, using Shelliscape for the exacta with Apogee
Hanover is a wise move that could produce great results if the speed we expect
is not at a surplus. This is a wonderful scenario for an explosive wagering
strike.
Two-Year-Old Filly Trot
We have been fans of frosh-fillies sired by Kadabra since we delivered readers Poof She’s Gone in the Mistletoe Shalee at 6-1. When Bee A Magician began the season we were all over her nine wins from 11 starts. She comes into this event poised to beat To Dream On (she is the only filly to defeat that one) and if she lives up to her 3-1 morning line she is a super overlay.
Royal Assets could play a role in an exotic combo, having a
propensity to follow winners. She is in a great spot to lay low and sneak into
the picture late at a great price.
Three-Year-Old Filly Trot
Check Me Out can come close to being the first soph-filly
trotter to get a bundle of votes for Horse of the Year since CR Kay Suzie
earned that honor—but she has to win this event convincingly. We think she will
do that and that only some strange misstep that gets her galloping will stop
her. Toss out her loss at The Red Mile since she made two wide moves. From the
rail here she should command this affair.
What may make for a juicy exotic is the inclusion of Bluff.
We thought Bluff would be the one to beat Check Me Out in the Kentucky Filly
Futurity but she never got started in that mile. We will excuse her for that
and bank on her getting a good spot early, possibly sucking along to Check Me
Out and saving enough ground to get second or third while others fade from
giving chase.
Two-Year-Old Colt Pace
Three words describe this race: Captaintreacherous,
Captaintreacherous and Captaintreacherous (photo right). It has become hard to be anything
but cute when talking about a race with this monstrous freshman. He will be
1-10 and there will be little you can do with him. He may race to another world
record here as he faces the same types he has been beating regularly. No one
knows if he has raced his best and as his third birthday looms we can only
watch and try to muster more awe.
Rockin Amadeus may be on his tail for second, though even at
20-1 the exacta will be slim.
Two-Year-Old Colt Trot
Pine Chip scratched from this final but that is hardly
consequential since his chances of beating Wheeling N Dealin were slim to none.
In fact, who among this group can hand “Wheeling” his first defeat? It is
difficult to make as strong a case for any other colt here but Wheeling.
Last week we took a 60-1 shot, Caveat Emptor, who finished
fourth. He may sit in a good spot this time around, leaving as we thought he
would in the final, and be up to making this a whopper of an exacta. For a
trifecta with some price to it, put the probable second choice, Dontyouforgetit
for third.
This will be the first time all season that we support Sweet
Lou. We beat him throughout the year and rightfully so—except at The Red Mile.
That was an impressive race against the best of this mediocre crop. Along with
Mel Mara, a perfect late-season star, Sweet Lou should handle the likes of the
lesser talent involved.
This rag-tag field is what is left of the crop: Michaels
Power, Bettors Edge, Escape The News, Heston Blue Chip, Panther Hanover, Dapper
Dude, Thinking Out Loud and Hillbilly Hanover were all second- and
third-stringers in the division this year.
The fact that Michaels Power will get money only helps our
duo. Bettors Edge won his elim with everyone on top of him but he will attract
money. Thinking Out Loud is a hometown favorite that has one big credit to his
season and it was in Canada, Hillybilly Hanover is thriving late but was
nowhere most of the season and Dapper Dan brings very little to the table with
his resume.
Sweet Lou stunned the crowd here last year as the frosh-colt
pacing hero but at three he was disappointing, though productive by most
measures. In class and condition, our pair of picks are the best.
Three-Year-Old Colt Trot
Supplement, shmupplement [sic], Market Share is the utter best of this division and how he lost last week to Intimidate qualifies as a freaky moment that should become an asterisk in the history books.
It’s true that we backed Little Brown Fox through the year
and thought he could have won the Hambletonian had he not jumped in his elim to
be disqualified, that was then and this is now—and now, Market Share is
undeniably the best. He won’t be worth much to win and the exotics promise to
be puny, so we leave this one up to you
For the events with older divisions of this year’s Breeders
Crown, click here.
Ray Cotolo
contributed to this edition.
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