The 2016 edition of the Breeders’ Cup returns this Saturday to Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California for the eighth time in the history of the event.
A homegrown thoroughbred appropriately named California Chrome leads the field of the Breeders’ Cup Classic race, but which other participants are also worth keeping tabs on for our horse-racing betting needs? Let’s find out the key names of the other contenders in this week’s grand spectacle below.
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With a bounce-back year for the ages, California Chrome definitely deserves the distinction of being the odds-on favorite to win the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
As the winner of the 2014 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, California Chrome had a forgettable 2015 that followed. But then came a resurgent 2016 campaign, which saw the standout stallion return to form. He’s won all six of his starts this year and is now the all-time leader in race earnings amongst North American thoroughbreds ($13.4 million).
Having said that, it’s really tough to bet against the top-ranked equine in the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings this Saturday in Santa Anita.
Like death and taxes, a Grade 1 race wouldn’t be complete without a Bob Baffert-raised thoroughbred in the mix.
After finding tremendous success with Triple-Crown winner American Pharoah last year, Baffert’s team is now banking on young Arrogate to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic and provide a nice outlook for a 2017 bid for the Triple Crown. The Juddmonte Farms-owned stallion just broke Saratoga’s 37-year-old track record for a 1 1/4 mile race earlier this August at the Travers Stakes with a final time of 1:59.36.
Not only that, but Arrogate also got his maiden victory on Santa Anita Park itself this past June by two-and-a-half lengths, and this before he was upgraded to the Grade 1 class for the race in Saratoga. Even though the sample size of success for Arrogate is relatively small right now, there appears to be no closer contender to California Chrome this week in Arcadia other than this surprising three-year-old colt.
No longer merely settling for what his amazing name entails, Hoppertunity is turning his opportunities into actual wins this 2016.
As another standout product of Bob Baffert, the five-year-old colt poses as another tantalizing pick this week if you’re not as high on Arrogate’s blazing start to his career. Since his fifth-place debut in January of 2014, Hoppertunity has finished no worse than fourth in his 21 starts since. That includes a recent win at the Jockey Club Gold Cup just this past month, giving him plenty of momentum heading into Santa Anita.
For the year, Hoppertunity has two wins and four podium finishes in six races, which makes him a viable dark horse entry indeed (pun unintended) in Saturday’s main event.
Northern Afleet-sired War Story has not penned an encouraging tale about his career thus far, as the four-year-old gelding has failed to post a victory in all eight of his graded races lifetime. And when you only take Grade 1 races into consideration, it looks even worse: War Story finished a distant 16th at the Kentucky Derby last year and ended up a disappointing eighth in last year’s running of the Breeders’ Cup (and just on the mile-long dirt track of the event at that).
With this Saturday’s Classic as the only other 1 1/4 mile race other than his Kentucky Derby outing for his entire career, don’t count on War Story to pull off a massive upset over the stacked field of proven winners that are more accustomed to this week’s lengthier course.
Writer’s Prediction
There’s no stopping California Chrome (-140) from remaining undefeated this year and winning the 2016 Breeders’ Cup title along with its extravagant $3.3 million purse for a first-place finish.
