The horse racing betting field for the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Classic is shaping up to be one that people who bet on horse racing simply will not want to miss.. (Photo credit: Breeders’ Cup Ltd.)
The horse racing betting field for the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Classic is shaping up to be one that people who bet on horse racing simply will not want to miss on the first weekend of November at Del Mar racetrack in California. Here are a few of the contenders.
Gun Runner
The Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC & Three Chimneys Farm LLC-owned colt has produced eight wins – including the Clark Handicap, the $500,000 Stephen Foster Handicap, and Louisiana Derby – and $4.6 million in earnings. Gun Runner has also lived up to his name by thriving in Arabia, where he finished second to Arrogate in the $10 million Dubai World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. As far as pedigree goes, his dam’s dam produced 2005 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and Horse of the Year Saint Liam. Gun Runner is destined to be – barring any unforeseen event – a much sought stallion when he retires to co-owner’s Three Chimneys Farm near Lexington, Kentucky.
Girvin
This is the colt that keeps on giving, and people who bet on horse racing know you don’t look a gifted horse in the mouth. The colt by Tale of Ekati earned his spot in the Breeders’ Cup Classic by virtue of winning the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational, where he defeated horse racing betting fave McCraken by a nose. Girvin nabbed a guaranteed fees-paid berth at Del Mar on November 4th, but it remains to be seen whether he’ll take it. “We’ll see how Girvin is doing before we make any plans, but the timing of the Travers is pretty good,” trainer Joe Sharp said. “The Breeders’ Cup also is in our future. The question is whether the 1 1/4 miles is good for Girvin. The way he ran today I’d have to think the Classic is within what he can do.”
Always Dreaming
The 2017 Kentucky Derby winner pulled another Preakness in the Jim Dandy Stakes, wherein he came out swinging but ran out of gas in the stretch and finish in a disappointing-for-him third place. Fans who bet on horse racing were expecting a duel between Always Dreaming and Cloud Computing but alas, it was not to be.
Arrogate
This Bob Baffert-trained colt is the stuff that Breeders’ Cup Classic dreams are made of. His rider Mike E. Smith has 25 Breeders’ Cup wins – the most of any jockey; Baffert has won the last three straight editions of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, with Bayern in 2014, with American Pharoah in 2015, and with Arrogate himself in 2016 – which means Arrie could become the first back-to-back winner of this race since Tiznow in 2000 and 2001. The colt by Unbridled’s Song (who won the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile) beat 2014 Horse of the Year California Chrome last year at Santa Anita. Arrie blew the then-horse racing betting favorite Chrome in the final 100 yards to win by a half length. “That was incredible,” Smith said at the time. “I’m at a loss for words. He’s such a young horse. He’s so talented. He’s got amazing stamina. He doesn’t quit. He’s incredible.”
