Horse Handicapping

Past Breeders Cup Winners

Racing luck is one of the most important factors in all pari-mutuel events, especially the BC Mile. The fields are always fully subscribed, the course can be an iffy situation as far as wet or dry condition right up to post time, and you have horses coming from around the world trying to get paid.

Only the ultra-talented Miesque was able to win this race by more than three lengths but he could quite not go as fast as Val Royal did in 2001 when clocked in 1:32.05.

Where do you want to be positioned in this race? Well, although Miesque won his second Mile from seven back and although War Chant came from second-to-last, to be in the clear and have a chance to get an unobstructed run when the real racing starts is the key to victory. In other works, positional speed works.

Those that like the filly Gorella this year can take solace in the fact the inaugural winner Royal Heroine and Ridgewood Pearl both were of the softer side.

In recent years, isolating a winner has not been a case of rolling out the Form and looking for the logical runner. Only two chalks have won in the last nine years and one paid 7-2, and only seven favorites have been successful in this race total.

The average winning price in the last eight seasons has been over $22 but a far cry from the highest-priced Mile winner in the third running when Last Tycoon paid $73.80.

If you want to have a shot at a life changer, the Superfecta is the ticket. The chalk ran second last year and the dollar bet came back over $3,500.

And Chicago Bears fans that bet Singletary in 2004 were well on their way to season tickets for the family. He keyed a $2 Superfecta that changed lives at $107,388.00.