Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Betting Tips

It’s not often that you see an American two-year-old contender looming as the betting favourite for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Nine times out of ten, it’s a hotshot European shipper who ran well at Glorious Goodwood or somewhere at the Doncaster meeting that ships in to a significant amount of fanfare. 

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These are always very tricky situations as two-year-olds from across the pond often struggle with their American counterparts who tend to be much larger at an earlier stage in their life cycles. 

This year, we have the unique prospect of an American-trained colt entering as the Juvenile Turf favourite after having taken a significant scalp at Royal Ascot this summer. Trainer Wesley Ward often sends a few contenders over there to take a shot at one of Europe’s big money race meetings and he came away successful this time around for the second year on the bounce. Hootenanny, a well-monikered colt with a vicious late kick, is looming as the 5/2 favourite in a very competitive - and extremely tricky - Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf field. 

Following Hootenanny, we have the second place contender War Envoy who has plenty of interesting possibilities here. By lightning-hot sire War Front, this colt has a great chance to pull off a victory here for his connections. Look for War Envoy at an enticing price of 11/2 right now with European bookmakers. 

Imperia is trading as the 8/1 shout and looming as the third favourite. It will be very interesting to see how the prices on the European shippers vary between the European books and the American tote board at Santa Anita Park. 

Commemorative is a 9/1 shout here and could definitely be a factor while Ken Ramsey’s Luck Of The Kitten is priced out at a 10/1 margin right now. Startup Nation will definitely be the choice of Silicon Valley-based punters and his 14/1 price tag is an enticing one. Both Wet Sail and Aktabantay also trade at an identical price. 

The 2yo turf races are always lotteries and you can expect Hootenanny to go off at a cheaper price in the USA than he is floated at in Europe. Watch out for War Envoy - who looks to be the key spoiler.