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00:00Welcome back to the Breeders' Cup Challenge betting series here on Better
00:04Things with Joe Bianca. Last time on Better Things. I feel like I need like a
00:08little dramatic voiceover for that last time on Better Things. At Kentucky Downs
00:12I whiffed in the turf sprint unfortunately. Got a little too cute in
00:15the Kentucky Turf Cup as I was right about the winner Red Knight but I kind
00:19of underestimated the price he was gonna be. I used him on top in the try. Trying
00:23to get a bigger pop thinking he'd only be 6 or 7 to 1 only to watch him
00:27win at 12 to 1 and have a horse sneak into third to bust up my try. Yeah listen
00:32I could do a whole future episode of this show about getting too cute in my
00:36bets but the end result is we dropped $230. We're now just narrowly in the
00:40black at plus $40.45. This week we are featuring Belmont at the Big A. I never
00:47thought I'd get to see the day where their Breeders' Cup Challenge races run
00:50at Aqueduct. This is gonna be the most prestigious it's felt at Aqueduct since
00:54they used to simulcast Saratoga there in the summer. Listen the Big A is a
00:58relic and the wrecking ball is coming for it soon but it's also not without
01:02its charm and history. Secretariat ran there. The grandstand used to be teeming
01:07with 50,000 fans. There was in fact a Breeders' Cup at Aqueduct once upon a
01:11time and most importantly for decades it served as New York's blue-collar
01:15racetrack where the smaller stables and the lesser-known jockeys could have a
01:19realistic chance of winning some races if only they were able to brave the
01:23brutal Ozone Park winter filled with the winds off of Jamaica Bay. I spent
01:28more days than I'd like to admit taking the A train out to North Conduit Ave
01:32for an unglamorous day at the races that still just felt like home. So I'm glad
01:36it's getting its moment in the sun while Belmont is prepped to be the future
01:40permanent home of downstate racing in New York. It deserves to be the place to
01:44race one last time. Overall there are a full dozen Breeders' Cup Winning Year
01:49In Challenge qualifiers this weekend across the country as we get closer and
01:53closer to the Breeders' Cup. Our two races are the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes for
01:56two-year-olds going a mile on the main track, a Winning Year In Qualifier for
02:00the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and the Grade 2 Miss Grillo Stakes going a mile and a
02:05sixteenth on the turf for two-year-old Phillies Winning Year In Qualifier for
02:08the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Phillies turf. The two races can be seen on NBC from 4
02:13to 6 Eastern this Saturday, October 1st. There is some rain in the forecast but
02:18I'm gonna handicap the card as if they're gonna be on the turf. We'll start
02:21with the Miss Grillo which goes as the eighth race at 439 Eastern. Just a six
02:25horse field with 11 combined starts so there's not much established form here.
02:29These are the races where watching replays can be so crucial to forming a
02:34strong opinion. The two obvious horses are number two Free Look and number six
02:38Be Your Best who have devastating turns of foot and they looked the part on
02:42replays. Those two are tough to get past for me but I do have some interest in
02:46the New York Red number five I'm Just Kiddin'. She's a little slow on paper but
02:50you know she's got a good chance to get loose I think under Joel Rosario. There's
02:53no confirmed speed signed on. She's a daughter of Justify. Also bred to
02:58stretch out. Looked a little green too so I think she has more development to come.
03:02Number four, a luring angel can't be thrown out either. Her debut race was
03:05really impressive visually. She had some excuses when she hung a bit last time out
03:09finishing a close second and a stake at Kentucky Downs. And the Champagne which
03:13is the tenth race at 545 most likely sets up as a redemption story for number
03:18six Gulfport to me. He was considered clearly the best two-year-old in the
03:22country early on after he won his first two races by a combined 19 and a
03:26quarter lengths. Bloom came off the roads a little bit after he was a well-beaten
03:29second in his last two both times as a heavy favorite but he had excuses in
03:33those races. He got checked hard on the turn of the Saratoga Special just as he
03:37was making his move and he drifted out pretty sharply in a crucial spot coming
03:42off the turn over a mess of the track in the hopeful. Both times he re-rallied in
03:46deep stretch but he just ran into two nice horses in Damon's Mound and Forte
03:50who had simply gotten too much of a jump on him. Draws outside in here which is
03:54key with several speeds to his inside. I expect him to run much closer to those
03:58first two races with a clear trip and be best in the final furlong. He's not gonna
04:02be any great price but I think he won't be favored for the first time in his
04:05career. There's a Brad Cox horse in there number three verifying who has a lot of
04:09buzz behind him. Well publicized half-brother to Midnight
04:13Bisou. Got a big buyer in his win for his timeout. Only other horse I'm
04:17interested in the Champagne is number two Top Recruit who ran a huge race
04:20gamely winning the Ellis Park Juvenile stakes last out. Won an early speed duel
04:25and then he got hooked on the turn by Curly Jack and probably fought back the
04:29whole stretch to win that race and that effort was flattered. Curly Jack came
04:33back to win the grade three Iroquois stakes a couple weeks ago at Churchill
04:37Downs. So I'm gonna play a couple pick three tickets starting in the Miss
04:40Guerrillo closing in the Champagne with the grade three Belmont turf sprint
04:43stakes in between. We'll do a one dollar pick three number two Free Look, number
04:47four Alluring Angel, number five I'm Just Kiddin' and number six Be Your Best
04:51spreading with one two three four six seven eight twelve in the turf sprint
04:56with number two Top Recruit and number six Gulfport in the Champagne for a
05:00total of $72. The same ticket with just Free Look and Be Your Best in the first
05:05leg. Same the rest of the way for a total of $36 and one more punching those two
05:10in the first leg and Gulfport in the last leg. Same horses in the middle leg
05:14for a two dollar ticket for a total of $36. Then one last ticket spreading in
05:19the Miss Guerrillo in the Champagne. In case the horse I like most in the turf
05:22sprint number ten Dancing Buck who ran too good to lose last time at Saratoga
05:26wins the middle leg. That'll be a one dollar pick three two four five six with
05:31ten with all for a total of $24. All told this week's investment is $168.
05:37Best of luck this weekend. Don't forget to catch the two Breeders' Cup tickets
05:41punched in the Miss Guerrillo and Champagne broadcast live from Aqueduct
05:45on NBC from 4 to 6 p.m. Eastern Saturday.