Breeders’ Cup Classic Betting Tips and Preview PT 2

Much was made of Espinoza’s move - which was very obviously done to take Shared Belief not just out of this race but the Classic as a whole. By being forced to track wide it would have been likely that he could have been a spent force in the big race just a month away. 

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The simple fact is that Espinoza was likely doing more to improve his chances with California Chrome in that race and that it factored heavily into his decision to race-ride Smith so prominently. Espinoza was very quickly handed a seven-day ban by the Santa Anita stewards and you had to feel for anybody who had money on Sky Kingdom as the horse was clearly not being ridden to actually win the race. That was likely the reason for the ban as opposed to what Espinoza did which was definitely not the worst instance of race-riding - simply one of the most obvious. 

Shared Belief was still able to get home by half a length and score a smashing victory despite being sent off at a very short price of 1/5 for the Awesome Again Stakes. He has been cut down to a very minuscule 6/4 for the Breeders’ Cup Classic and it appears as though his owner Jim Rome had no qualms about what happened - mentioning on his nationally-syndicated sports radio show that Bob Baffert had called him immediately after the race to insist that he had nothing to do with Espinoza’s efforts. 

California Chrome suffered a tough setback when he finished a well-beaten sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic prep the Philadelphia Derby. He had shipped across country for the 3YO only race and his loss definitely took a lot of lustre off of him but the fact remains that he had been off since losing the Belmont in early June. Espinoza likely realized that Chrome was well-beaten as they headed into the stretch at Parx and didn’t want him to potentially leave his Breeders’ Cup Classic race on the track that day. 

California Chrome remains at a 7/1 price tag right now to get the victory in the Classic and that is a far cry from the 4/1 price that he was floated at just a few weeks ago prior to losing out in his return to action in Philadelphia.