2009 Breeder's Cup Brings World's Finest Thoroughbreds To Santa Anita

Sports News - November 6th, 2009 - Written by John

To this point, it's been simple. Win and you're in.

Now, it's just win.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge season finally comes to a close this weekend when the two-day, 14-race, $25.5 million World Championship at Oak Tree at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California that caps a months-long season that began in late April.

The weekend will start with a marathon division 1 3/4 mile race with a $500,000 purse, and finish with a classic division 1 1/4 mile race with a $5 million purse.

DSI Sportsbook has several betting options for the race, including head-to-head match-ups.When using DSI to wager on races, bettors are entitled to 8% cash back rebate. Promotions like these don't come around often, so be sure to take advantage. If nothing else, it is a solid back up plan. Wagers can be placed on the big race at the end, in which Colonel John is favored over Mine That Bird. A bet on Colonel John nets a payout of -155, while Mine That Bird will return +125. Overall, Zenyatta, jockeyed by Mike Smith, is the overall favorite at 5-to-2. Behind him is Rip Van Winkle at 7-to-2 and Summer Bird at 9-to-2. The biggest longshot is Awesome Gem at 30-to-1.

BetUS also allows a variety of prop bets to be placed, including options to pick the winners of every race, from filly-mare futures to turf mile futures, and as you can see this event is a big one at USA Online Sportsbooks.

The biggest favorite of the day is Ventura, racing Friday's 6:02 Filly-Mare sprint, a seven-furlong, $1 million race. He is returning a payout of -235, while Informed Decision pays at +185.

It is the third year of the event's "win, and you're in" format that allows horses to qualify in preliminary events throughout the year. The horses that win those events, qualifiy for the World Championship, with the winners taking their piece of the total purse.

It is a big change from the previous race format, which was originally founded in 1984. Until 2007, the rules were a little more ambiguous. Horses could accumulate points depending on their performance throughout the year. International judges would take a vote, and select certain horses that stood out. That's not the case anymore. In a much simpler, easy to comprehend amendment, the top performers of each race is guaranteed to move on.

There are 14 aforementioned events, six on Friday and eight on Saturday, ending with the Breeders' Cup Classic, to be run at 6:45. It boasts a purse of $5 million, nearly double any other race on the day.

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