The Yankees choked away a chance at another sports equinox, but fortunately, the sport of horse racing has blessed us with an opportunity to wager on the best in the world. Del Mar is hosting the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Friday and Saturday.

Before you catch all of the coverage on NBC and Peacock, allow me to share an incomplete look at the biggest storylines and wagering angles available for this year’s 14 Breeders’ Cup races.

Time for the Japanese Horses to steal the Breeders’ Cup Spotlight?

The last time the event was held at Del Mar, two Japanese horses were victorious, legitimizing the burgeoning industry from the Land of the Rising Sun. The record of eight entries last year at Santa Anita will be smashed with 19 Japanese horses entering the starting gate this weekend.

The most notable name in the field is Forever Young. Its only career loss was a third-place finish in this year’s Kentucky Derby, the best-ever finish by a Japanese horse in the event by a wide margin. Forever Young has 6-1 morning line odds and is a tantalizing choice to take home the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Aidan O’Brien Tries the Dirt

Unlike other American sports, when they say the “World Championships,” they truly mean it at the Breeders’ Cup. That can make it hard to handicap some of the turf fields, but one trainer who is pretty good at fielding winners on that surface is Aidan O’Brien, who has ten horses racing at Del Mar.

It’s not the turf that’s drawing all of the attention. O’Brien has the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, City of Troy. The horse has never raced on dirt, yet is the 5-2 top choice. O’Brien only has two career dirt races, which makes it clear that you should try to beat this horse when betting on the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

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Breeders’ Cup Winning Connections

Folks who don’t follow horse racing often ask for my picks. I’ll share a few, but rather than giving you a fish, let me teach you how to become a fisherman with a few angles I follow in the program.

Graham Motion on the Turf

Blindly betting this angle got me a 47-1 winner with Trikari on Derby Day that paid for all of my Infield beers. When making exotic wagers on these deep turf fields, do not throw out Motion’s horses.

Two Quality Sires

Bloodlines don’t mean everything, but genetics matter. Good Magic horses have a knack for outperforming their resume. He did not win the Kentucky Derby, but Justify did, and right now his progeny are the best in North American thoroughbreds.

Brad Cox Fillies

My favorite bet was retired a week before the race when Cox’s Idiomatic suffered a minor injury in training, preventing the Louisville trainer from a chance to win his third Breeders’ Cup Distaff. He does have another filly in race 7 on Friday. Immersive is the undefeated 3-1 second-choice in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’.

Best Bets

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, Friday, Race 6

The Japanese horses will make headlines and it’s going to start in the first race of the weekend. You can poke holes in the resumes of many in this race, but you can’t say that about Ecoro Sieg. The undefeated sprinter has won in a myriad of ways and might be the most dominant Japanese horse we see this weekend.

Win Bet: 8 Ecoro Sieg

Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, Saturday, Race 4

The first Breeders’ Cup race on Saturday provides plenty of opportunities for exotics. Vahva has cashed plenty of tickets for me in the past. Ways and Means hasn’t lost since Chad Brown tried her at two turns in the Kentucky Oaks. Society has the most impressive recent win in this division, but I like a longshot to hit the board. Pleasant is 3-1-0 and has improved in each start, blowing away the competition by five lengths in her most recent outing. It’s a big step up in class, but I got a hunch Bob Baffert knows what he’s doing.

Win Bet: 3 Pleasant
Trifecta: 3 Pleasant, 9 Ways and Means, 4 Vahva, 2 One Magic Philly

Breeders’ Cup Classic, Saturday, Race 8

I wouldn’t consider this a best bet, but what of guy publishes a Breeders’ Cup preview without handicapping the biggest race? Without Dornoch in the field, I’m going to make the safe bet on Fierceness to win it, while playing a few price horses underneath in an exacta. Arthur’s Ride is the one long shot worth win betting at the right price.

Exacta: 9 Fierceness over 12 Arthur’s Ride, 4 Mixto, 2 Highland Falls, and 1 Forever Young