And on we go with the rest of the racing season as Del Mar returns to normal following the 42nd Breeders’ Cup. How did bettors fare over the two-day, 14-race Breeders’ Cup grind? If you bet big bucks on favorites, you likely came out a winner.
Five favorites -- make that six if you include Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner Forever Young (3.5-1), the slightest of second choices behind Fierceness (3.4-1) -- came out on top.
Favorites in races with larger fields and more money wagered typically have higher win payouts than the usual weekend stakes race. If you bet $2 to win on the five favorites ($10 total), you more than doubled your money to $24. Add Forever Young’s $9 payout and that’s a $33 return on six $2 win bets.
In addition, three second choices came through with victories – Cy Fair ($12) in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Sprint (G1), Splendora ($7.80) in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1), and Shisospicy ($12.60) in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1).
Yes, there were some nice longshots, and to those who bet Ethical Diamond, a horse trained by renowned hurdles conditioner Willie Mullins, to win the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1), a hearty congratulations! The return on a $2 win bet was $57.40.
The winning favorites: Ted Noffey ($3.60) in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1); Gstaad in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf; Bentornato ($5.40) in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1); Notable Speech ($7.20) in the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1); and Nysos ($3.40) in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1).
The top jockeys in the nation, Irad Ortiz, Jr., and Flavien Prat, combined to win five of the 14 Breeders’ Cup races.
Ortiz won the Bill Shoemaker Award as the outstanding jockey at the Breeders’ Cup, the sixth time he’s won it. He won aboard Cy Fair, Shisospicy, and Bentornato.
Prat won aboard Splendora and Nysos. All five were either the favored or the second betting choice.
Jose D’Angelo won his first career Breeders’ Cup races and joined Hall of Famer Bob Baffert as the only trainers to win two events. D’Angelo trains Shisospicy and Bentornato.
Baffert chalked up his 20th and 21st Breeders’ Cup wins with Splendora and Nysos.
Notes: She's Quality, a stakes-winning 4-year-old filly from Europe who was pulled up along the backstretch of the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) on Saturday (Nov. 1), was euthanized Sunday (Nov. 2) due to a pelvic fracture, her trainer Jack W. Davison posted on social media.
Father and son trainers Aidan and Donnacha O’Brien, each won a Breeders’ Cup race; Donnacha had his first Breeders’ Cup win with Balantina in the Juvenile Fillies Turf; Aidan won his 21st Breeders’ Cup race with Gstaad in the Juvenile Turf (Aidan and Baffert are tied for most Breeders’ Cup wins by a trainer).
As usual, Europeans dominated the turf races winning five of six. Baffert sent out 13 starters and came away with two wins, three seconds, and two thirds. Total all-sources handle for the two-day event was $180,036,799, third best in Breeders’ Cup history, exceeding last year’s total of $179,218,631. On track handle for the two days was $18,079,169.
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
