The Bottom Line
Pros
- Very in-depth statistical analysis of the Breeders' Cup World Championships
- Useful information on 5-time host Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California
- Excellent tool for veteran and novice horseplayers alike
Cons
- May not be of interest to horse racing fans who do not handicap or bet.
Description
- The first chapter describes last year's Cup, listing in detail their bets, how they came up with them, wins and losses.
- Unlike other publications, they don't just brag about their successes and not admit their failures.
- Examines Santa Anita Park's biases at Cup distances in great detail, useful both on Cup day and the rest of the year.
- Each of the eight original Breeders' Cup World Championship races is featured in its own chapter; new races get a summary
- Some races feature more winning favorites, some favor late ralliers, while others may favor a certain prep race.
- Each winning angle is accompanied by a chart showing which past winners satisfied the requirement.
- They also examine angles which point out horses most likely to finish 2nd, 3rd, or 4th for intrarace exotics players.
- With increasing foreign participation even on the dirt races, Euro-shipper angles are prominently featured.
- Each chapter ends with the DRF past performance charts of past winners of the subject race, so that trends can be seen.
- Mazur and Mallett have done their homework, drawn from 18 years of Breeders' Cup experience. A job well done.
Guide Review - Crushing the Cup 2009
The Breeders' Cup traditionally has been held at a different track every year, but this year is the exception as Santa Anita hosted last year's running as well as 2009, giving us recent data to work with, particularly since the main track races are on the synthetic Pro-Ride surface. Mazur and Mallett spend an entire chapter on this issue, discussing what the facility looks like, and the track's biases at each of the Cup race distances.Each of the 14 World Thoroughbred Championship races is featured in its own chapter which begins with a chart listing the past winners of the race, the winning trainer and jockey, the running style used, age, post position, win payoff, and exacta payoff. Trends can be seen right away, and following pages examine some of these is detail. A password which can be used on the Progressive Handicapping website is included, allowing you to download the appendix which includes additional charts left off the print version for space considerations.
To accompany Crushing The Cup, Progressive Handicapping releases The Crushing Zone one week before Championship day. This newsletter-sized publication of about 30 pages length sorts the pre-entrants for each race into the three categories of Contenders, Gray Zone, and Pretenders, based on the factors detailed in Crushing The Cup. You purchase a password from Progressive Handicapping which allows you to download the Zone, which is updated daily through Friday based on any last minute changes such as late scratches, good or bad morning workouts, or weather.
Crushing The Cup 2009 has a cover price of $29.95 and is available from Progressive Handicapping Inc. There are package deals available which include combinations of some or all of their Breeders' Cup products (Crushing the Cup, Crushing Zone, Oak Tree meet updates, and Breeders' Cup selections).
