Breeders’ Cup 2017: Matt Brocklebank's best bets for the feature action at Del Mar on Friday
Matt Brocklebank is keen on the chances of Chad Brown's Rushing Fall on the opening night of the 2017 Breeders' Cup in Del Mar.
Recommended bets: Breeders’ Cup Friday
1pt win Rushing Fall in Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at 4/1
2pts win Masar in Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at 11/2
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The waiting is almost over with the Breeders’ Cup Distaff taking top billing on the opening night at Del Mar on Friday, with $2million to the winner.
Last year’s heart-pumping finish between Beholder and Songbird was a race for the ages and although that pair aren’t involved this time around, Beholder’s Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella does have a key protagonist once again in the lightly-raced three-year-old Paradise Woods.
It’s been a mixed bag for her this year but Mandella has done a "lot of schooling" to get her back on track after she appeared to lose her way in the middle of the campaign.
A look at the Zenyatta Stakes in September shows Mandella has worked his magic and got her back, though it’s probably significant she’s 3-3 at Santa Anita and 0-2 elsewhere. If we’d been at ‘The Great Race Place’ 100 miles up the coast then she’d be top of the list, but there has to be reservations here.
She’s got a turn of foot and may be suited to the tight turns of Del Mar, but it can’t be guaranteed and Bill Mott’s strong-travelling Elate would be the pick of the youngsters to overturn five-year-old market rivals Stellar Wind and Forever Unbridled.
The trainer has won more Distaffs than anyone and Elate plots a similar path to four of the five having won the Beldame Stakes in ready fashion.
It could be a good night for Mott, whose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies contender Capla Temptress will be a familiar name for European punters having won three from four for Marco Botti, including a Grade One at Woodbine when last seen.
She’s come in for support since Monday’s draw having been handed stall seven but there looks to have been an over-reaction towards the head of the market with RUSHING FALL drifting to a general 4/1.
Her handler Chad Brown has come a long way in a short space of time and has developed a real reputation with fillies.
Rushing Fall has looked the next potential star for Stacelita’s trainer in her short career and came away from her rivals in really good style in the Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland last month.
She's done it on soft ground and she’s done it on fast, but most importantly she’s been dropped in on both occasions, which is almost unavoidable from stall 11 on Friday.
Javier Castellano will need to be at his brilliant best to weave a path to glory, but the filly looks capable of providing east coast raider Brown with a fourth victory in the race, perhaps at the main expense of stablemate Significant Form and Aidan O’Brien’s Happily, who’s had a busy past few months.
Sharp Azteca and Mor Spirit renew rivalry in the Dirt Mile and the latter looks a meaner miler than when there were six lengths between them in the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont in the summer.
Jorge Navarro's Godolphin Mile third gave Mor Spirit 2lb that day and could be hard to catch if allowed to lead at his leisure.
The bet of the night is MASAR in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, who looks to give trainer Charlie Appleby his second win in the race.
He’s not sent a horse to the Breeders' Cup since winning with Outstrip in 2013 but is full of confidence Masar will be perfectly suited to the return to a quick surface after his third to Happily on an easy surface in the Jean-Luc Lagardere.
He’ll be sick of the sight of fillies - O'Brien’s in particular - having also been third in the Chesham Stakes behind September and Nyaleti, but he’s performed admirably on both occasions conceding weight.
There hasn’t been a better trainer of two-year-olds in Britain than Appleby this year, with 41 winners from 111 outings at a strike-rate of 37%, and Masar should prove to be one of his best long-term prospects.
Posted at 0120 BST on 03/11/17.