Weekend Stakes Races - Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup and more
Race-day: 10/17/2009
Race-time: Queen Elizabeth at 5:05 pm EST and Ken Maddy at 7:00 pm EST
The Breeders’ Cup prep races are pretty much in the books, but both Keeneland Racecourse and the Oak Tree Meet at Santa Anita are still offering terrific graded race action this weekend.
Racebook betting fans should be shoring up their handicapping skills in anticipation of the 2009 Breeders’ Cup. That means concentrating on races and picking winners.
Let’s try to do that with the two races below.
Keeneland – Race 9
Grade I Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup
$500,000
For Fillies, Three Years Old
1 1/8 miles on turf
Miss World has won three in a row and has garnered speed ratings close to 6/5 shot Gozzip Girl’s. Miss World has a lot of room to improve and trainer Christophe Clement is just he guy to do it. Some handicappers might believe she bounces off of her terrific last race victory, but I believe it was a turning point win and that, if anything, she gets better in this. She’s the one to beat.
Gozzip Girl just didn’t have it in her last when losing to Miss World in a Grade I at Belmont Park. The ground was soft that day and Girl’s terrible performance could be attributed to that, but she had never run badly over a wet turf surface before. Still, she’s so talented that a return to the winner’s circle in this is not out of the question.
Lady Shakespeare deserves a long shot’s chance in this. The Roger Attfield trained miss has won four in a row and is 5 out of 7 overall. She has speed and comes all the way from Woodbine for this race meaning that she’s well meant.
1. Miss World
2. Gozzip Girl
3. Lady Shakespeare
Oak Tree at Santa Anita – Race 8
Grade III Senator Ken Maddy Handicap
$100,000
For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
6 ½ furlongs downhill turf
The downhill turf course at Santa Anita can be intimidating for a lot of horses. If a horse isn’t used to the patch of dirt before the stretch, sometimes they can bolt away from the field. That shouldn’t happen to Queen Ofthe Catsle who is 1 and 1 out of 2 races down the hill. Queen Ofthe Catsle has another advantage in this race as there appears to be a lot of speed. She can lay off about 4 lengths before making a serious run in the stretch.
Tuscan Evening has 2 victories out of 3 races down the hill and should be considered for a win horse bet but she’s coming off of the bench and her style, get to the lead and run as fast as you can, might hurt her in this. There’s a lot of other speed in this race.
Gotta Have Her is 4-1-2 out of 8 races down the hill. She is coming off of a Grade II victory in the Palomar Handicap in her last but that was at 1 1/16th miles. The turn back could hurt her.
1. Queen Ofthe Catsle
2. Tuscan Evening
3. Gotta Have Her
