TRACKMASTER'S COUNTDOWN TO THE BREEDER'S CUP

Part 4 in a six part series from trackmaster.com
This part is written by Tom Brohamer.

Tom Brohamer on the Breeders' Cup Distaff

I doubt the following analysis will come as any surprise, but I love Ribolletta in this year’s B.C. Distaff. It was unfortunate that she was entered in the Beldame since that race only proved her superiority in the distaff division. Jim Quinn and I were discussing the race and both of us lamented the fact that the Beldame could only hurt her price in the November race. A win bet is probably out of the question but Pick-3 and Pick- 6 betting seem to be a simple proposition – single her in both bets.

The possible negative is a concern that her connections may not supplement her to the Distaff. The buzz is that they feel she has already earned the Eclipse Award and may not want to risk her status as the head of her class. I hope they do not decide to pass this opportunity. It would be a shame to deprive the public of the best Distaff possible.

Ribolletta’s Beldame figures were pretty much routine for her and rival the males that will be squaring off in the Classic. Barring a downturn in her current condition her usual figures would win nearly every Distaff run in the past ten years. She’s a very good one and Eduardo Inda has made no mistakes with her. As to the exacta, let’s just go with the Beldame results and play her with Beautiful Pleasure.

Beautiful Pleasure, the 1999 winner of the race, set a pace that would probably gain the lead in the Classic so there’s no reason to believe she won’t be on the lead in the Distaff. She’s dead game and will hang around a long time. Price permitting, I intend to play this exacta strongly with Ribolletta on top of most tickets.

Plenty Of Light won the Spinster with a solid number but the presence of Spain in the second hole doesn’t say a whole lot about the race. Spain is a nice filly but hasn’t been able to handle the top three year olds, and these are much tougher. I will probably use this filly in the second hole in some smaller tickets.

Heritage Of Gold will get a lot of play but her race in the Spinster only confirmed what appeared to be a decline in form. Assuming she goes on November 6^th, I’ll play strongly against her.

In conclusion, The Distaff appears a bit "cut and dried" but it never hurts to have a strong opinion in the middle of a series of gimmick races. Anything other than the top two would come as a major surprise and I’ll bet the race with that mind-set.

All articles in the series:

• Part 1 - Steve Davidowitz (Distaff, Juvenile Fillies, Mile and Sprint)
• Part 2 - James Quinn (Classic)
• Part 3 - Steve Davidowitz (F/M Turf, Juvenile, Turf, and Classic)
• Part 4 - Tom Brohamer (Distaff)
• Part 5 - James Quinn (Turf)
• Part 6 - James Quinn (Mile)
• Part 7 - Tom Brohamer (Juvenile)

Article courtesy of Trackmaster.com. Breeders' Cup logo courtesy of the Breeders' Cup Limited.

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