Last but not least in the Big Race Previews Breeders Bowl Edition are the big dirt races. The Classic has drawn a deep and talented field that should provide a lot of message board talk. The Distaff features a contentious hard to pick quality field of fillies and mares. The sprint features Casterly Rock\u2019s chase for three straight in a nice group of sprinters. <\/P>
Race: 3385.0915 Breeders Bowl Classic<\/SPAN> – Grade I – $4,000,000<\/B> Ermington Pegasus leads a full field of quality runners in the Breeders Bowl Classic. Even if he does not win here he could very likely be your horse of the year. That is just how good a year Ermington Pegasus has had this year. Six wins from eight starts, five of those six wins coming at the grade one level. He won the Sand Castle Classic earlier this year but probably his most impressive race of the year was last time out in the World Cup where he posted a 118 speed figure. Prior to that he showed he was not perfect by getting beat in a couple of races. In case there might have been a doubt he erased that last time out with that impressive win and speed figure. If he runs his race it is a done deal there appears to be only a couple of horses that could threaten him. <\/P> The three year old Passing Stone appears to be one of the biggest threats to Ermington Pegasus. Unlike many three year olds at this point in the year Passing Stone is still lightly raced and will be making just his twelfth start of his career. Now he has made all those starts in less than a year. He was undefeated going into the Bluegrass Derby and lost that race by a head. I think at that point he was tired and did not respond well in the next two legs of the triple crown. He took a few extra weeks off before hitting the track again and in his last three races he has really grown up. His win in the Travelers was impressive and he ran a solid second to Ermington last time out in the World Cup. He can improve in this race and he will need to in order to beat Ermington Pegasus. \u00a0<\/SPAN><\/P> Solar Song is a crafty veteran who had a great year last year much like Ermington Pegasus year this year. He won the Awesome Force is a bit of a long shot here at fifteen to one. He took the Middle Jewel and the New Yorker two legs of the triple crown. He has been raced a lot as a two and three year old and will be making his eighteenth career start. He has yet to face older horses and usually when a horse of this class faces his older rivals his picks up his game a bit. I suspect he is capable of the 110+ speed figure that it will take to win this race but his deep closing style does put him at a disadvantage. <\/P> Gracepointe Prayer has really come along this summer. He burst onto the scene with a grade two win in July and a grade one win in August. He has followed that up with a pair of solid on the board finishes in graded races. He was third last time out to Ermington Pegasus and Passing Stone. The thing I potentially like about him here is that there is not much pace in this race. I think he will sit closer to the pace here more like he did in taking his grade one race. The lack of pace could mean he holds up better in the stretch and he is no stranger to the 110+ speed figure. <\/P> Otto History is the slight favorite in a contentious field of fillies and mares. She will be the pace of the race and that makes her dangerous. She is not the most experienced at this distance and in fact she does seem a bit vulnerable at this distance. Her best distance seems to be at one mile. She does have a very nice run in the slop at the Go for Gold stakes which she won earning a 113 speed figure at this distance. The surface here though will be fast and she will likely receive some pressure. She was forth here last year and if she is allowed to get loose early look out. <\/P> Arawaza is a filly that had found a good level of consistency this year until her last start. I am not sure what to make of her last when she finished eighth and just never seemed to get into the race. The speed figure was still pretty good despite the finish. Her consistency leads me to believe she will rebound. I like the fact she will be poised to stalk the early pace of Otto History but she too seems a bit vulnerable at the distance. <\/P> Katherineofaragorn might be the best of the three year olds in the race. She has two grade one wins at this distance this year including the Black Middle Flower on of the triple tiara for the fillies. She is coming in off a nice win in the grade two Cotton Handicap where she earned a 110 speed figure. She is an absolute bargain at fourteen to one. She will sit off the pace but will not be too far back. She can handle the distance and run top speed figures so it would be no surprise to see her in the winners circle. <\/P> All the Richies is another of the three year olds to keep an eye on. She was second in the Bluegrass Oaks and ran a very impressive third against the boys in the Eddie Haskell Stakes. Last time out she was a game runner up in the World Cup at this distance with a very nice speed figure. The only thing not to like is she has not won in a while. She is hitting the board in big races but has not been able to finish. I think she can get better and her last race really showed she is maturing. <\/P> Sweet Sister Mercy is a closer that can take advantage of what appears to be a race with plenty of speed and runner that might not get the distance. She is rolling into the race off back to back wins. One during the Delpenn Saratoga Mirror meet in a restricted stakes and she banged out a 111 speed figure last time out in the grade one super filly. She is headed in the right direction form wise and should be in the mix of things late. <\/P> Race: 3385.0911 Breeders Bowl Sprint<\/SPAN> – Grade I – $1,000,000<\/B> The old veterans are favored in this race with six year old Skanonymous getting the nod as the morning line favorite. This six year old is in great form right now winning his last three races in a row and four of his last five. His last three have all been grade two races his last at the one mile distance. He is versatile and I like the cut back in distance angle he will have this Saturday. His speed figures are very good with 113,109 and 112 in his last three races. He will come from well off the pace look for him flying late<\/P> Is three in a row possible for Casterly Rock? Unlike his previous Breeders Bowl Sprint races he is not coming into this race off a win. In his previous two wins he has come into the race off of wins in top form this year his last two starts have not been up to his standards. He does not run very many bad races especially in a row so you have to think he will improve off his last two runs. Maybe his run in the Smackdown where he ran a 115 speed figure took a little out of him and he will get that back this week. He looks to still be a threat and what a story three in a row would make. <\/P> Ketch is one of the three year olds to watch in this race. He is rolling into this race off back to back wins and wins in four of his last five his only defeat by a head. He has been running in longer sprints and that might be a problem. He is a mid pack runner and could be one of those that needs that extra furlong or half furlong to really get going. I am not convinced that is the case however he should have plenty turn of foot to get going at this distance. <\/P> Kaif has an outstanding looking three year old sprinter in Tired Wings. Tired Wings has won eight of his eleven starts and his last two races have been top notch. He has posted a 110 and a 113 speed figure while winning a grade two and a grade one. He has shown a new dimension. Prior to his last two race he was an on the pace horse. He is now showing the ability to stalk the pace and run better than he was before. He is a huge danger to his older rivals and one to keep an eye on. <\/P> A third three year old looks great too in Western Romp Ted. He has really developed over the summer as he has won three of his last four races. His last race was a very impressive win in the grade one Ermington Pegasus, Casterly Rock, and Otto History Head Respective Fields<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":255,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/255"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5000\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Track:
Restrictions: All horses, 3 years old and up
Distance: A mile and one quarter on the Dirt<\/P>
Race: 3385.0913 Breeders Bowl Distaff<\/SPAN> – Grade I – $2,000,000
<\/B>Track:
Restrictions: Fillies and mares, 3 years old and up
Distance: A mile and one eighth on the Dirt<\/P>
Track:
Restrictions: All horses, 3 years old and up
Distance: Six furlongs on the Dirt
<\/P>