Europeans, turf runners & synthetic lovers.....questions abound!

The 2009 Breeder’s Cup pre-entries were released this past Wednesday afternoon and 166horses were pre-entered for the 14 championship races next Friday and Saturday. Six races will be contested on Friday afternoon with five of them for the filly and mares. The eight races on Saturday will make up the rest of this tough racing event on the synthetic “pro-ride” surface at Santa Anita Park. With the success of the European contingent last year, especially in the Breeder’s Cup Classic, 36 horses from “across the pond” will be pointing for the races this year. It’s the second straight year of the event being held at Santa Anita, so this year should be a bit easier to gauge on this new racing surface. A strong statistic from last year’s races here was the number of successful dirt horses winning over the pro-ride surface. The total was zero, although a decent amount did fill out the exotic positions. With that said, it should be no surprise that the horses that should be strongly looked at in the year’s races are the ones with synthetic track victories.

Here’s a list of the main track horses that have NEVER raced on any type of an synthetic track; Cloudy’s Knight (marathon) Sara Louise (F&M sprint) Seventh Street (F&M sprint) Devil May Care (Juvenile fillies) Ms Vanenzza (Juvenile fillies) Girolamo (Classic) Mambo Meister (Dirt mile) Quality Road (Classic) Sweet Hearth (Dirt mile) Alfred Nobel (Juvenile) Aspire (Juvenile) Beethoven (Juvenile) D’Funnybone (Juvenile) Radiohead (Juvenile) Vale of York (Juvenile) Eskendereya (Juvenile) Fleeting Spirit (Sprint) Rip Van Winkle (Classic) Summer Bird (Classic) Twice Over (Classic).

Of these twenty listed runners who have never raced over this type surface, the two that will get the most attention will be Quality Road and Summer Bird. Both have been top quality three year old runners on natural dirt, but are an unknown quality on pro-ride. Most likely, Summer Bird will be one of the top three choices in the wagering going in the Classic. Quality Road may also take money because of his connections and past record. So, what is the price you would want on these two horses on the tote board?

The same could be said with the two first time stateside European runners also. Both Rip Van Winkle and Twice Over will try to duplicate what Raven’s Pass and Henry the Navigator did in last year’s Classic running one / two , first time on the pro-ride surface. Will the price on these two horses be considerably lower than their European counterparts last year?

In an ordinary year on a traditional dirt track, both the well known American runners would be strong favorites. On class alone, they would merit this. But, this is Santa Anita and pro-ride which may favor the two European runners, may be a better price on the board. Then you have to also include the turf horses that on a regular Breeder’s Cup venue with natural dirt would stay on the grass surface. Gio Ponti comes to mind in the Classic. It looked like he did not enjoy the mile & a half distance on the turf in his last start (which is the Turf distance in the Breeder’s Cup). Now, he also opted for the Classic race at a slightly shorter distance. These are questions that will be answered in one week and until then, you may to study the past performances over and over until the wagering begins.