2009 Breeders' Cup Marathon

The Breeders' Cup Marathon will be the first Breeders Cup race to kickoff the champion weekend at Santa Anita. The distance for this year's Marathon is at 1 3/4M, 1/4M longer than last year when the race was run for the first time.

Post Horse Jockey Trainer Odds
1. Black Astor Alex Solis Lisa Lewis 12-1
2. Muhannak Ryan Moore Richard Pegum 12-1
3. Nite Light John Velazquez Todd Pletcher 4-1
4. Cloudy's Knight R. Homeister Jr. Jonathan Sheppard 8-1
5. Father Time Eddie Ahern Henry Cecil 3-1
6. Mastery Frankie Dettori Saeed bin Suroor 9-5
7. Sir Dave Joel Rosario Jack Carava 20-1
8. Eldaafer Rafael Bejarano Diane Alvarado 30-1
9. Man of Iron John Murtagh Aidan P. O'Brien 8-1
10. Gangbuster Kent Desormeaux J. Keith Desormeaux 30-1

When it comes to distance racing, the European hold a big advantage over the American. My top choice is #9 Man of Iron. Man of Iron is a half-brother of 2 Belmont stakes winners (Rag to riches and Jazil) and the Giant's Causeway colt is bred to run all day. Man of Iron had won last 2 of 3 races and all of them are on synthetic surface. The Marathon is a major class jump for him but I think he will be the one that breaks O'Brien 28-race losing streak in the Breeders Cup.

The next 2 horses that I like are the only G1 winner in the field, #6 Mastery and #4 Cloudy's Knight. Mastery won the St Leger stakes in his last race and is most likely the odd-on favorite for the Marathon. The St Leger was run at a similar distance as the Marathon and Mastery should the distance as it also owns a 3rd in the 2M Queen Vase back in June this summer.

Cloudy's Knight is a 9 years old gelding that is making his 3rd starts in the Marathon after a year off. His trainer Sheppard is a master of handle long distance turf horses. Cloudy's Knight won both of his comeback races at the 1 1/2M on turf and his Beyer shows him belong with the top contenders.

My longshot of the race is #8 Eldaafer. If you throw out his last race, he actually hasn't been that bad. He beat Nite Light in the Brooklyn back in June and fast pace should help him. I think he is more effective coming off the pace than being too close up front. At 30-1, he can light up the tote board.