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Classic not yet a 2-horse race - VSiN Exclusive News - News
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Classic not yet a two-horse race - VSiN Exclusive News - News
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Alabama Stakes 2021: Expert picks
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If the horse racing calendar were more like the college basketball schedule in a normal year, it would be like we were about to move into the second half of conference play. Familiar opponents are getting rematches, others are meeting for the first time and serious candidates will emerge for the big dance. In this case, it would be the November madness known as the Breeders’ Cup.
Just look at what the next few weeks will offer (possible and probable starters courtesy of Horse Racing Nation):
Saturday: Grade 1 Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga. Can Whitmore find the magic at age 8 that he discovered last year in winning the Breeders’ Cup Sprint? Or does 6-year-old Firenze Fire, an 11-time winner in New York, finally score in a graded stakes at Saratoga at a 6-furlong distance that might have been meant for him all along?
After holding off Hot Rod Charlie in a signature stretch duel to win the Belmont Stakes, Essential Quality burnished his place in Brad Cox’s mind as the best 3-year-old in his barn. That would make him even better than Mandaloun, who seems destined to win his biggest races through stewards’ decisions and medication rulings.
Now, more than three months before the racing year reaches its crescendo at Del Mar, certain bettors seem to agree with Cox. Essential Quality (5-1) is the global favorite at one foreign bookmaker to win America’s richest race.
Horseplayers who scoff and believe 3-year-olds should be long shots to win the Classic have short memories. Authentic did it last year. So did Bayern, American Pharoah and Arrogate in consecutive years from 2014-16. But what do they have in common? Or, more accurately, whom? Bob Baffert trained them all. Since he is under the microscope after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s failed drug test, his status for the Br