Breeders’ Cup Betting - No Commentator Means Well Armed Might Be Lone Speed

Trainer Nick Zito has decided to keep Commentator, the seven year old winner of the Grade I Whitney Stakes at Saratoga over this past summer, on the bench and away from Breeders’ Cup Classic on October 25th.

The reason that online racebook fans have been awarded with online profits when betting on the seven year old Commentator this season is because Zito is a master at placing his horses. He knows that Commentator’s style, running up front, might not be conducive to winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic this year. Why? Because of the expected pace duel between the expected front runners in the Classic.

How will the lack of Commentator affect the Breeders’ Cup Classic? For online racebook betting fans, Commentator would have provided the type of horse able to take on Curlin and Big Brown in the big race. Commentator has won a number of Grade I races. That would have made him a contender to upset the apple cart in the Classic.

In any case he would have provided online racebook fans with another horse to think about in regards to the pace in the Classic. Of course, the lack of Commentator may provide online racebook fans with a reason to think about another horse in the Classic in regards to the pace of the race.

That horse is Well Armed. How good has Well Armed been lately? He almost beat Go Between, an artificial surface specialist, in the Grade I Pacific Classic on Polytrack. Then in his last race, the Grade I Goodwood Stakes, Well Armed led the field gate to wire on the Santa Anita Pro-Ride surface.

Because he is a son of Tiznow, distance is not a problem. Well Armed’s ability to stick close to the pace or to take the lead in a race will serve him well in the Breeder’s Cup Classic. Even though on paper it appears that there is a lot of speed, the speed from the other online racebook contenders in the Classic isn’t the same as Well Armed’s.

Big Brown, the likeliest contender in the Classic to take it to Well Armed early, has never seen speed like the son of Tiznow’s. Well Armed has that beat you down and bury you type speed. Big Brown will have a dilemma in the Classic without Commentator. Does he go after Well Armed? Or does he hold back? Big Brown’s decision will go a long way in determining Well Armed’s true chances at winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

If nobody pressures the front running Well Armed, then what can he do on the front end? He could wire the Breeders’ Cup Classic at what figure to be huge online betting odds. That’s how good this horse can be when left to his own devices.

In fact, there is an eerily similar pattern to Well Armed and his daddy, Tiznow, leading up to the Breeders’ Cup.

Like his daddy, Well Armed finished second in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar before winning the Goodwood Handicap in his prep before the Breeders’ Cup.

That was Tiznow’s first Breeders’ Cup Classic victory in 2000. Like Tiznow facing Giant’s Causeway, Well Armed will be facing one of the best horses in the world in Curlin.