Third Installment of Breeders' Cup Analysis: The Breeder's Cup Ladies Classic (formerly The Distaff)

(pictured is 2004 Distaff Champion, Ashado. Did I win the exacta when she won? Well, yes, but who's counting? Oh yeah. Me.)

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com


The Ladies Classic

The last 6 winning Beyer Speed Figures for this bad boy (or girl, I guess) are: 104, 100,107,102,101, and 111. This race begins and ends with the undefeated Zenyatta. As you may recall, while I wrote for another website, I said on August 4th that Zenyatta Aint Nothing to Eff With. That is still the case. Exhibit A: This is the AppleBlossom from April 5th of this year at Oaklawn Park, the only race were Zenyatta was not the favorite. Why wasn't she the favorite? Because she was going up against the winner of last year's BC Ladies Classic/Distaff, and all-around badass Ginger Punch. So this was the ballyhooed matchup between the old guard and the up-and-comer. Zenyatta humiliated her. Watch the race and her happy feet at the end.



Told ya. As I mentioned yesterday, the come-from-behind style she displayed in the above clip is the ideal running style for Santa Anita's surface. So dominant is Zenyatta, that only 7 horses elected to compete against her on Friday. That's the ultimate sign of respect.

So that's Zenyatta. I like Ginger Punch to finish second. She's an outstanding Mare with over $3 million in lifetime earnings and is one of the most talented female horses in the world, and has absolutely everything going for her, except for opposing Zenyatta. She was however, beaten last time out by another talented horse in Friday's field, Cocoa Beach (Chi).

While Ginger Punch didn't get an ideal trip and didn't much care for Belmont's sloppy track that day, Cocoa Beach has impressively won both of her American races, and boasts an impressive 8 wins in 10 lifetime starts (with a second and a third). She always seems to fire and should expected to do so again on Friday.

Another major player in this race is Hystericalady. Perhaps no other horse in the Breeder's Cup will be more adversely affected by the synthetic surface than her. If this race were being held on any other track, she would be a major factor, but this surface gives her fits. She is 11-for-18 away from Santa Anita and 0-for-4 at Santa Anita. She figures to go off as the third favorite, and take plenty of money from the bettor's, but will be a sucker-bet to me. She may be able to clunk up for third if she catches a break or two, but I can't endorse her to win.

The picks:

1. Zenyatta- I'm no modern-day male version of Catherine the Great, but I really love this horse. She's the best bet of the Breeder's Cup, and may be remembered as the best chick horse since Ruffian.

2. Ginger Punch- I'm willing to forgive her last race, and expect her to finish second here. If Zenyatta is at only 85 or 90%, Ginger Punch is the horse with the best chance to beat her. I am very excited to see these two going head to head again.

3. Cocoa Beach (Chi)- Another talented Godolphin horse with a deep well of talent. I gave her the nod over Hystericalady due to the great work she had on Saturday at Santa Anita.


For the latest information on this race click here.