Free Live Odds - Scores and Odds - Sports News - Sports Information - Live Scores - Sports Statistics - Sports Articles - Sports Standings - Live Scor

Breeders' Cup Sprint - A Study of Past Performances

Mon 1st, November 2010

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - The Breeders' Cup Sprint is a race rich with a history of excitement, rapid fractions and fast final times, as well as winners with pure talent. This year, the race returns for the seventh time in 27 runnings to Churchill Downs, site of victories by brilliant performers such as Gulch (1988), Cherokee Run (1994), and Kona Gold (2000), who raced to victory in the second fastest (1:07 3/5) BC Sprint after sitting relatively close through 20 4/5, 43 2/5, 55 1/5 internal fractions.

The average winning Beyer Speed Figure for the BC Sprint over the last 12 years has been a touch more than 114, and Midnight Lute notwithstanding, the general theme for winners seems to include current sharpness, an ability to stay in touch with the pace, and a race or races where a horse has already proven he's capable of running very fast for six furlongs.

Midnight Lute, a repeat winner in 2007-08, proved the exception to all rules at one time or another, but should probably be viewed as the rare freakishly talented exception rather than the norm. In his first victory, he had tipped his hand in winning his seven-furlong Forego "prep" with a 124 Beyer, and had no problem rallying from 10 lengths back early on to dominate the BC Sprint over a sloppy Monmouth course. A proficiency at seven furlongs - see prior winners such as Artax and Speightstown - doesn't seem to hurt, but a deep closer or seven-furlong specialist is usually relegated to minor awards in the BC Sprint. Don't be afraid to try and round out exotics with closers, but demand a price.

In 2008, Midnight Lute defied most logic once again as his only start all year had been a 10th-place finish in Del Mar's Pat O'Brien in August. No sharpness, no early speed, no six-furlong prep = no problem. Midnight Lute rallied from well back off a slow break to win going away, but that year the Santa Anita version was run over a synthetic track and with only eight participants.

In most years, the BC Sprint will feature a breakneck pace and sometimes it is as simple as betting the fastest of the fast.

In the last 12 runnings, eight winners came off sharp victories in their prior start. Squirtle Squirt (2001) and Thor's Echo (2006) finished second beaten a length or less in their preps; Speightstown finished third at odds-on in the Vosburgh, his only loss in an otherwise perfect 2004 campaign; and, well, Midnight Lute, as discussed earlier, took the Pat O'Brien before flaunting his considerable talents in the 2008 renewal.

Value can also be had in this race and on horses that run very fast in their final start before the BC Sprint. Those thoroughbreds usually come right back to their number on racing's big day. In other words, don't be afraid to go for the obvious. Reraise ($9.60, CD, 1998) dominated the Kentucky Cup Sprint with a 12-length win and 119 Beyer. Artax ($9.40, 1999) entered the BC Sprint off a pair of dominating scores and a 123 Beyer in his prior start. Even upset winners such as Cajun Beat ($47.60, 2003) and Thor's Echo ($33.20, 2006) earned respective 113 and 116 Beyers in their prior starts.

There have been six winning favorites in the race to date, and the average payoff is $22.06.

With the history of the race behind us, it's on to the tough part of finding this year's winner.

Majesticperfection, winner of his last five straight starts by an average margin of nearly five lengths and fresh off a romp in the Grade 1 Vanderbilt at Saratoga, has hung up figures his opponents would be extremely envious of. Unfortunately, he was recently retired due to injury. Beyond Majesticperfection, this year's group of suspects might not be as fast as prior years on the whole, so don't be as stringent in looking strictly at figures.

Right now, Big Drama is the most likely winner of the 2010 BC Sprint. He is four-for-five at six furlongs with his only loss a second-place finish to the aforementioned Majesticperfection. He is a 4-year-old son of Montbrook out of a Notebook mare, and as his speed-on-speed pedigree suggests he comes to run from start to finish but doesn't necessarily need the lead. He showed considerable talent as a 3-year-old and his connections fell for the temptation to see if he'd stretch out. Big Drama did run a creditable fifth after battling early in the Preakness, but was beaten at odds-on in the West Virginia Derby while running off on the pace. By year's end, his connections seemed to have a tired horse.

Big Drama in 2010 didn't make his first start until June, and has been kept fresh. He easily lived up to favored billing with a pair of sprint stake scores at Calder, then placed in both the Vanderbilt and Forego at Saratoga. He led in the stretch of the Forego, but was pushed to the limit by the seven-furlong distance and settled for a game second. Trainer David Fawkes has already taken the colt back to his Calder base where the horse should thrive in his preparation for the BC Sprint and enter the race a fresh danger. He has never run at Churchill Downs, but the fact he's already won over several different dirt surfaces indicates he does not take his racetrack with him.

Horses we'd tend to stay away from include Here Comes Ben, a winner of four in a row and Big Drama's conqueror most recently, but a late-running colt unproven at six furlongs. (Once again, that type of runner has traditionally vied for minor awards here.); Vineyard Haven, a talented colt with a pound-the-ground style that has obviously resulted in some infirmities and Crown of Thorns, a talented yet lightly raced 5-year-old, who has never raced outside of California;

Live Odds provided by :

Live Odds provided by :

Where the players come to play and STAY.

Sportsbook & Sports Betting at SBG Global

Sports Sites

Sports Contests – Think you know the game?

Sports Information you need to win BIG.

Contact Us | Help | Site Map| Sport Links

Sportsbook Directory | Casinos Directory | Poker Room Directory | Racebook Directory | Partners Directory