Jason Beem's Thursday Column for Nov. 2, 2023

A good Thursday morning to you all! Congrats on reading this blog entry because within this one page of words you will find all of the Breeders’ Cup winners and a million useful nuggets for Friday and Saturday’s big cards.

OK, not really, but I am excited to share some thoughts. I’ll give my picks for the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), but mostly want to just share a few random opinions and thoughts about the weekend. The scratch and subsequent retirement of Arcangelo obviously changes the Classic and removes, in my opinion, the best storyline of this year’s Breeders’ Cup with his quick rise to fame along with his trainer Jena Antonucci. I think one of the knocks of this year’s Breeders’ Cup has been the lack of interesting storylines coming in. There are still storylines, but outside of Cody’s Wish now, it doesn’t seem like there are a ton of them at the forefront.

All that said, we do still have an entire weekend filled with great races, good horses, and some amazing betting opportunities. The Breeders’ Cup is arguably the best weekend for us as horseplayers and fans. Storylines are nice but in the end, fun races and good betting is why a majority of us are here and why you’re probably reading this right now.

My Classic picks as of Thursday's publishing (these, of course, can change based on odds, scratches, surface issues, or me running out of money.)

1. Proxy
2. Zandon
3. Clapton

Yes, I clearly only handicapped for horses with one-word names. Honestly, I just think the pace might get a little toasty, and I don’t particularly like any of the frontrunners, including Arabian Knight, who will be a low price. Also, Ushba Tesoro has seemed to hate the gate and schooling this week, and he’s going to be a short price. Never want short prices with big question marks. So, those are my three for now.

Some other horses I’m kind of excited about: Search Results in the Distaff (G1) is going to be one of my stronger opinions of the weekend. I think she should sit a good trip behind what should be a very strong pace in the Distaff. I’m hoping she gets first run on Clairiere and the others, and I think she should be in the 6-1 or 7-1 neighborhood.

I loved Gina Romantica last time out at 11-1 (humble brag), and I still kind of love her this weekend. I know the Euros are doubly tough in these turf races, but she figures to be a pretty square price and with a clean trip I think she’s going to be in the mix. In Chad I trust, most of the time.

The Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) is usually one of my favorite races of the weekend, but I just don’t love this year’s edition. Goodnight Olive at 6-5 I think is a go-against, however, so I’ve got to figure out who’s going to beat her. If the track is playing to speed, then it’s probably Society, but I suppose we’ll find out more about that by Saturday.

All in all, I hope it’s a fun and safe Breeders’ Cup and a winning one for all of our TwinSpires players!