Breeders’ Cup Picks 2024: Expert Predictions and Betting Guide

Looking for expert Breeders’ cup picks? You’ve come to the right place. Slated for November 1st and 2nd, 2024, at Del Mar Racetrack, Where the Turf Meets the Surf, in San Diego County, California, the 14 Breeders’ Cup races include five on Friday and nine on Saturday. They’re led, of course, by the Breeders’ Cup Classic–the race that usually dictates what equine superstar will win Horse of The Year honours.

Similar parity exists among the best older dirt horses-in-training, which should spark serious interest in the Breeders’ Cup Future Odds with such a wide-open group. When it comes to horse racing odds, bettors are usually enticed by contentious betting races with large fields, and as such, Breeders’ Cup online betting has picked up.

That’s why horseplayers make their Breeders’ Cup picks; they always try to get that next edge to ensure they destroy the Del Mar live odds come race time. Hopefully, below we can help our readers make a few nice plays when the big races run.

When and Where is the Breeders’ Cup 2024?

The 2024 Breeders’ Cup World Championships will take place on November 1 and 2, 2024, at the Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. This prestigious horse racing event marks its third return to the scenic venue, known for its beautiful coastal location where “the turf meets the surf.” The weekend will feature 14 championship races with total purses exceeding $34 million, attracting top thoroughbreds and racing enthusiasts from around the globe. Additionally, a festival week leading up to the races will run from October 28 to November 3, offering various celebratory events and activities in the Del Mar area.

How does the Breeders’ Cup Work?

With 14 Breeders’ Cup races, which are contested over a two-day betting bonanza, the Breeders’ Cup Series is unlike any other wagering opportunity in horse racing. The action starts with the five juvenile contests (races for two-year-olds, or “rookies” in horse racing lingo) on Friday and leads into the nine big main events on Saturday.

It’s important to remember that the Breeders’ Cup Classic odds aren’t the only odds to pay attention to over the two days. Take a look through the Breeders’ Cup post positions and odds. When mapping out your Breeders’ Cup betting itinerary, there are plenty of great things to bet on.

Holmesy’s Picks for Breeders’ Cup 2024: Expert Analysis

Speaking about getting that extra edge, the only guy on our staff who follows horse racing (and has profited off betting on the Sport of Kings in the past) will now preview some races and give you, the most important reader, his Breeders’ Cup best bets.

Hold your horses! Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the “Expert Breeders’ Cup picks,” let’s state the obvious: The Breeders’ Cup races are probably the hardest of the year to bet on. Even the experts, like Holmesy, get their 💩 handed to them. If you’re just starting out, these are NOT the races to HAMMER, like some online sports betting personalities might suggest.

Carefully intake the information we’re discussing, do your own research, and please, for the love of all things four-legged, bet responsibly. If you do that, we can ensure you’ll enjoy watching the world’s best equine athletes duke it out at the Breeders’ Cup.

Breeders’ Cup Classic Picks

Don’t worry; we won’t throw a bunch of jargon at you. We’ll keep things simple, and if you want to dig deeper into the race later, you’ll find plenty of jargon-filled content elsewhere to clog up your reading list.

Nevertheless, this year’s field is wide open, but the headliners have a lot of advantages that some of the longer-priced horses don’t. Of course, eating chalk in what many call a “wide-open race” is never advisable, but hey, I have “sucker” written on my head, so what the hell?

City of Troy (+200)

City of Troy is a three-year-old colt that’s been on fire this year, winning huge grade-one races both in North America and abroad. He’s got a lot of hype behind him, especially with his daddy being Justify, the last horse to win the Triple Crown, including an impressive victory in the 2018 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

Now, although City of Troy is trained by the legendary Aidan O’Brien and jockeyed by the ever so-reliable Ryan Moore, we’re curious to see how he’ll take to the dirt at Del Mar. If you look at his +200 morning line on some websites that offer horse racing futures bets, it’s safe to say the bookies feel he’ll adjust well, and we wouldn’t be shocked. After all, the “turf to dirt move” used to be one of the most profitable angles to tackle in Breeders’ Cup betting. The bookies are factoring that into their price.

That said, the dirt tracks in Cali, mainly Santa Anita Park and Del Mar Racetrack, are different animals, especially with jockeys like Irad Ortiz Jr., known to get aggressive late. Of course, City of Troy is a strong finisher, even when he’s put on the lead, but man, it’s going to be tough.

Nevertheless, the horse has the pedigree and most certainly has the ability to “turn ’em all away” late. That’s why I really like his chances.

Fierceness (+400)

Fierceness is no stranger to winning at the Breeders’ Cup. Last year, he won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile quite impressively.

What catches our eye with this three-year-old colt, sired by City of Light, is that he’s super gritty. After an underwhelming performance in this year’s Kentucky Derby, he went to Saratoga Race Course and won the Jim Dandy Stakes and Travers Stakes, two of the track’s biggest races. In both those races, experts found themselves favouring closers like Sierra Leone, but in both races, Fierceness fought wholeheartedly to overcome some iffy trips.

The horse really likes to live up to his name, and there’s a very good chance you could catch a nice price on him come post time. If you want to back a longer-priced “contender,” Fierceness is your horse to back.

Sierra Leone (+800)

Any time you find a horse with a late kick like Sierra Leone, you have to respect them. On paper, it’s tough to tell how fast these horses will go. The leaders won’t get anything easy, especially if City of Troy goes out to the lead. The opposing jockeys can’t afford to let Ryan Moore dictate the early fractions. Even if it costs them their late kick, some jockeys will be aggressive enough to take the chance and pressure the leader.

If that’s the setup Sierra Leone gets, and the horse can manage to hang back AND stay out of traffic, there should be a good opportunity for whoever rides the three-year-old colt to attack late. God help ’em if that’s true.

Never mind, a lot of the experts have been buying into Sierra Leone at SHORT prices. In the Breeders’ Cup Classic, you’ll get a field that’ll probably go fast early, give SL an ideal setup, and you get great odds on this roll of the dice; how can I not at least give this solid horse a mention?

Breeders’ Cup Distaff Pick

Unlike the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the Distaff is pretty much one horse’s race to win. Of course, the favourite can be upset. Heck, it happens all the time at the Breeders’ Cup. Nevertheless, there are usually one or two favourites with too much to offer.

Thorpedo Anna (-125)

Honest to goodness, if Thorpedo Anna’s connections decided to run her in the Distaff, no horse could touch her. She can run well off the pace, on the lead, and everything in between.

Trainer Kenny McPeek is a master at getting his horses ready to go, especially in big races. Hell, Thorpedo Anna, a three-year-old FILLY, almost beat the boys in the Travers Stakes.

This might age as well as sour milk, but this is one of the best horses in North America, and the Distaff should be a walk in the park for her, providing she gets a good trip. Even if the trip is meh, she should still be able to overcome most difficulties.

If McPeek and co. decide to keep her racing past this season; she could quickly become one of the best horses in the sport. If you can get -125 odds on her, grab ’em.

Breeders’ Cup Turf Picks

The turf races are the hardest to handicap when doing your Breeders’ Cup betting research. We wouldn’t say these are the best Breeders’ Cup picks, however, if you’re investigating the Breeders’ Cup Turf, look at these horses.

Rebel’s Romance (IRE) (+300)

Odds are, if you don’t follow European horse racing, you probably haven’t heard of this six-year-old gelding horse. This horse has done pretty well across the pond. He’s won multiple grade-one races and has even looked well in defeat.

He has travelled to North America to race on the turf at Saratoga Race Course in the past. He didn’t do well in the race but had a lot of excuses. That said, he did win the Breeders’ Cup Turf back in 2022 at Keeneland Race Track.

Now, he comes to Del Mar as one of the better turf horses in the world. Will he be able to get a good trip, though? That’s the question you have to ask.

Fantastic Moon (+700)

This horse is hard to gauge. He can come out and run a good race, but it’s all about how he breaks (what happens after he exits the gate). Nevertheless, if the field wasn’t so stacked, he’d probably be the favourite, so getting +700 odds feels like a gift.

Measured Time (+1400)

For whatever reason, many professional horse bettors have been talking about Measured Time. This particular horse feels like he’s ready to make “the jump” and do something special. The challenge for him will be drawing a good post position because, with his running style, he won’t want to be stuck on the inside. As these Breeders’ Cup Turf races seem to go to longer-priced horses, I’ll take a shot on him.

Breeders’ Cup Betting Strategies

We get it. Since you’re probably new to betting the ponies, you don’t know a ton of strategies, and you want to learn some. If that’s the case, we’ll give you a little something to get you started.

👶 For beginners: Start with Straight Bets

When making Breeders’ Cup picks, you’ll have a lot more success making straight bets. That means you pick a specific thing to happen instead of betting those big exotic bets. For example, you make a “Win” bet on City of Troy to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

We suggest sticking to one or two specific betting markets to make it easier to analyze your picks. See what you did right and wrong and how you can improve.

📈 Analyze past performances

The best of the best horseplayers use past performances to see how horses stack up in a race, especially when Breeders’ Cup betting. When they’re going through them, the pros look to see how a horse progresses through a race. Did they start strong and finish weakly? Does the horse like to run fast fractions and sit back a bit until later on in the race? Have there been jockey changes? If so, how has that affected the way the horse has run?

Once you learn how to analyze past performances, they’ll become invaluable tools in your tool kit, especially when making Breeders’ Cup picks.

📊 Understand odds and value

When it comes to Breeders’ Cup odds and Del Mar live odds, fractional bets are historically the most common bets in horse racing and are given in a fractional format, from 1/9 to 99/1 and higher. A $2 Win bet on a horse at 5/1 will pay $12 for the win, including the original bet. If this all sounds somewhat confusing, no worries. You can check out our full pledged horse racing guide here.

💰 Manage Your Bankroll

Creating a bankroll or a budget will keep you sane when betting on the ponies. Newbies tend to get carried away with their bet sizing, especially if they just barely lose some races. The best thing to do is to look at the card and determine how much you will bet per race. Set that limit and stick to it– win or lose. That way, you can get the most out of the Breeders’ Cup betting odds without breaking the bank.

🤓 Utilize Expert Analysis

A good thing to do if you don’t know how to approach Breeders’ Cup picks 2024 is to see how others view a specific race. That doesn’t mean you have to follow their advice. In fact, you can develop an alternative opinion on that race through the way they see it and potentially find a winner that way. At the very least, experts like Andy Serling, Scott Hazelton, and Gabby Gaudet can help you read the program and analyze the said race to find a pick you like.

Breeders’ Cup Live Betting and Odds 2024

If you’re looking for Breeders’ Cup live odds, you can get in on the horse racing equivalent–pool betting. In pool betting, the price of the horse changes as the pool size changes. For example, when you’re looking at the Del Mar live odds, if a horse takes a lot of money in the “Win Pool,” that horse’s price will shorten, and vice versa.

In the simplest terms, Breeders’ Cup live betting is no different than live betting normal races, so don’t get caught up in it too much. In fact, if the public decides to key in on one horse like it probably will in the Distaff, you’ll get really good live odds on the other horses.

Best Breeder’s Cup Betting Sites

The first step to betting on horse racing in Canada is to find the right racebook for you. You should use sites that are recommended by experts, so that you know they are safe.

You can check out any of the recommended Canadian horse racing betting sites that we recommend on this page to bet on horse racing in Canada. These are the top five Breeders’ Cup betting sites we recommend looking into for your horse racing bets:

Betway

Betway is still a big sportsbook in the United Kingdom. As such, one of its main offerings is horse racing betting. Since they made the jump overseas, Betway has made a good case for being one of the best horse racing betting sites in Canada. Despite the operator’s strengthening grip on horse racing Canada, they aren’t quite all the way there yet.

Sports Interaction

When it comes to betting sites in Canada, Sports Interaction is highly regarded, and for good reason. SIA knocks it out of the park with its hockey offerings, which is why so many people use the sportsbook to begin with. That said, SIA is very versatile in its betting selection. The operator doesn’t joke around regarding its horse racing selection. Basically, if there’s a big race on the telly, you’ll be able to bet on it.

TonyBet

TonyBet has been making a name for itself as one of the better sportsbooks in Canada. The operator offers a great-looking sportsbook that’s very user-friendly. Judging from the online reviews, the operator has also been well-received by those who matter the most: the players.

BET99

BET99 Canada is also a nice option for placing horse racing bets. Although it doesn’t fully emphasize the sport, the operator has a great selection of races for players to wager on.

How to Bet on Breeders’ Cup 2024 Odds

Betting on the Breeders’ Cup picks isn’t a complicated process. Just follow these steps:

1. Sign Up at a Top Racebook

Start by selecting a horse racing site. Look for sites that:

• Are licensed and regulated in your area
• Offer competitive odds and payouts
• Have a wide selection of tracks and races
• Have positive user reviews and a solid reputation

2. Research Bet Options and Strategies

There are many types of horse racing bets available, from simple win/place/show bets to more complex exotics. Some popular options include:

• Win: Betting on a horse to finish first
• Place: Betting on a horse to finish first or second
• Show: Betting on a horse to finish in the top three
• Exacta: Picking the first and second-place finishers in order
• Trifecta: Picking the first, second, and third-place finishers in order
• Superfecta: Picking the first four finishers in order

3. Select Bets for Your Slip

Once you’ve done your handicapping and research:

• Review the race card and odds board
• Identify your top picks and contenders
• Decide which bet types fit your predictions and risk tolerance
• Add your chosen bets to your betting slip on the racebook site

4. Inputting Risk and Review Details

For each bet on your slip:

• Enter your stake/risk amount
• Review the potential payout
• Double-check race details, horse numbers, and bet type
• Ensure the total risk fits your bankroll management plan

5. Finalizing your Bet

When you’re satisfied with your selections:

• Submit the bet slip to lock in your wagers
• Save or print a bet confirmation if available
• Watch the race and check the results afterwards

Final Thoughts on Breeders’ Cup Picks

Alright, folks, you’ve made it this far, so that means you’re committed to getting the lowdown on your Breeders’ Cup picks.

Hopefully, this page will help you make some good bets. Remember to do your research, stick to straight bets, and manage your bankroll. That way, you can sit back and enjoy the best horse racing you’ll see all year.

After all, it doesn’t get much better than this—big fields for every race—nicely priced horses. Please don’t get us going about the event’s pageantry. Holy smokes, it’s all on another level.

What’s there not to love?

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