Lawyer Ron made Breeders' Cup Classic favorite

Note to readers: Horse racing fans will want to pick up Wednesday's print edition of The Trentonian, with four full pages of Breeders' Cup coverage. Also, a special section handicapping each race will be published along with Friday's editions.

OCEANPORT, N.J. (AP) _ The smiles on their faces told the story: Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense is in tiptop form for the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic.

"Awesome," a beaming jockey Calvin Borel said after Street Sense delivered a final, eye-catching workout Tuesday at Monmouth Park. "He's doing so good. I'm not worried about the rest of the field. I don't think he can be beat."

Trainer Carl Nafzger had a big grin, too, after watching his 3-year-old colt breeze five furlongs in a brisk 1:01 1/5 on a warm, sunny morning.

"He's amazing, an amazing horse," Nafzger said. "He relaxed real good with Calvin and then picked it up and finished off strong. He needed to test the track and he did."

Monmouth oddsmaker Brad Thomas was put to the test at the post position draw later, making Lawyer Ron the slight 5-2 morning-line favorite for Saturday's $5 million Classic. Street Sense and Preakness winner Curlin were co-second choices at 3-1 in a small but select field of nine.

Breeders Cup approaching fast

The Breeders’ Cup comes to Monmouth Park this weekend, but thoroughbred racing’s biggest event began paying dividends months ago. The 137-year-old horse track received a $30 million renovation from the state, and area businesses are counting on a huge payout.Hotels and restaurants in particular are expected to benefit when the race comes to town. In all, the state estimates the race will have an economic impact of at least $60 million, which includes track construction costs.

Other facts and notes from the Super Bowl of horse racing:

ODDS-ON, ODDS-OFF
Arcangues was the longest shot to win a Breeders’ Cup race when he finished first in the 1993 Classic, paying $133.60. Meadow Star was the most overwhelming favorite to win, taking the Juvenile Fillies race in 1990 and paid 20 cents.

SECOND IS NOT SO BAD
Medaglia d’Oro has the record for most career earnings without a victory, with $1.6M in earnings, with two second-place finishes the horse’s best.

STAYING WITH THE TIMES
The Breeders’ Cup helped maintain its status as a big-time sporting event in recent years by moving with the times and moving into new multi-media outlets. On Sept. 29, 2005, NTRA, BCL and Bethesda Softworks banded together to create Breeders’ Cup World Thouroughbred Championships, a racing video game for the PlayStation2 and Xbox game systems. A month later, the Breeders’ Cup was broadcast on SIRIUS satellite radio for the first time.

CLOUDY FORECAST
Monday was a delightful afternoon on the Jersey Shore with temperatures in the mid 70s and abundant sunshine, perfect weather for a Breeders' Cup.
Unfortunately, the outlook for the weekend is not as bright.
The long-range forecast Monday afternoon by weather.com called for partly cloudy skies Friday and showers Saturday with high temperatures both days in the upper 60s.

Breeders' Cup Race Order

OCEANPORT, N.J. (AP) _ The order of races and post times for the $23 million, 11-race Breeders' Cup at Monmouth Park on Oct. 26-27 was announced Tuesday.

The three new Breeders' Cup races will be run Oct. 26, the Filly & Mare Sprint, the Juvenile Turf and the Dirt Mile, each with a $1 million purse. Post time for the Filly & Mare Sprint is 4:25 p.m.

On Oct. 27, the $5 million Classic featuring Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and Preakness winner Curlin will go off at 5:35 p.m.

The $2 million Juvenile Fillies will open the Breeders' Cup portion of the program with a post time of 12:30 p.m., followed by the $2 million Juvenile (1:10 p.m.); the $2 million Filly & Mare Turf (1:55 p.m.); the $2 million Sprint (2:35 p.m.); the $2 million Mile (3:20 p.m.); the $2 million Distaff (4:05 p.m.); the $3 million Turf (4:50 p.m.); and the Classic.

Today's Fast fact

On Oct. 23, 2004, defending champion McDynamo became the second horse in history to win back-to-back runnings of the Breeders’ Cup Steeplechase, winning in 5:06 4/5 while earning $96,250.

--Check The Trentonian this week for more fast facts and Breeders' coverage.

Breeders' facts of the day

A couple of fast facts about the Breeders' Cup:

* The two oldest horses to win Breeders’ Cup race both were 7 years old. Miesque’s Approval won the 2006 Mile to match the feat of Cardmania, which won the 1993 Sprint at the same age.

* On Oct. 26, 2003, the inaugural winner of the Bill Shoemaker Award was Alex Solis, who rode Johar to a dead-heat win in the Turf and won the Classic aboard Pleasantly Perfect.

Look for Rick Lang's Philly Park picks in Saturday's edition of The Trentonian.

A look at how favorites and long shots do

Favorites have won 61 of 169 Breeders’ Cup races, a 36.1 percent rate.

The worst finish by a favorite was in the 2003 Juvenile at Santa Anita Park, when Cuvee finished 12th by 58 lengths at 3-2.

There have been 35 horses to go off at odds of 100-1 or greater, only Arcangues, winner of the 1993 Classic at 133.60, has finished in the money.

Tip for Breeders' Cup

Here’s a good tip for the Breeders’ Cup.

In the history of the Breeders', Post 2 has produced the most winners (21), followed by Post 1 (20) and Post 5 (18) in Breeders’ races.