Horse Racing Fantasy Community

It was a busy weekend on the Triple Crown Trail, but there wasn't much going on the Road to the Breeders' Cup. I didn't see any more than two races with Breeders' Cup implications.

The Shakertown

You can see the race by going to the link below. I couldn't find it on Youtube.

http://racing.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=44584

Mr. Nightlinger went off at 21-1, but went right to the lead and never looked back. He set quick fractions, was challenged by the heavy favorite in the stretch, turned back that challenge and kicked on to the wire to win by almost two lengths. This was easily his best performance. It could've been because he enjoyed the turf course labeled as "good." Or maybe because he was never seriously challenged until Smart Enough came to him in the stretch. Either way, he seems to be improving and I hope to see him run in the Aegon on Derby Day. Smart Enough ran a good race off a lengthy layoff, despite getting into trouble on the turn. He might have been closer to the winner without getting into traffic trouble, but I don't think he would have caught Mr. Nightlinger.

Strength of Field: Average
Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint Impact: Below Average, but it's tough to say since this is the first year this race will be run. The top two should be able to make it into the starting gate.
Predictions:
Mr. Nightlinger - Turf Sprint Contender
Smart Enough - Turf Sprint Contender

The Commonwealth

Same as the Shakertown...

http://racing.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=44570

I really don't think this race is going to have much of an impact on the Breeders' Cup, but it's a sprint race on Synthetic, so I probably should talk about it. Rebellion ran eighth in the BC Mile last year. He has run well in sprint races on Synthetic in the past, so his performance here wasn't really surprising. He closed well into some fairly quick fractions set by the second place finisher, but I don't put him in the same category as Greg's Gold or Benny the Bull.

Strength of Field: Below Average
Breeders' Cup Sprint Impact: Well Below Average, but it's tough to say since this is the first year this race will be run. The top two should be able to make it into the starting gate.
Predictions:
Rebellion - Sprint Pretender

Good luck and thanks for reading.