Advertiser Disclosure
Sadly 1994 was the last time the Breeders’ Cup meeting was staged in Canada, at Woodbine Racecourse. The 14 Breeders’ Cup betting races will be held at Churchill Downs in 2018 but once again it will feature the cream of the world’s thoroughbreds with Canadian runners aplenty and Europe sure to bring a battalion of challengers to Kentucky all hoping to claim some of the $30 million nets in prize purses.
Breeders’ Cup betting is sure to surpass half-a-billion dollars in 2018. $25,181,317 was wagered on-course last year (staged in Del Mar in 2017) and that can be expected to exceed $30 million this year.
Las Vegas sportsbooks could dwarf that handle and then there is the newly liberated US States which now allow legal betting not to mention the world wide web which will see bets placed from every part of the globe.
Thanks to online sportsbooks, betting exchanges and spread betting sites Canadian citizens have no end of ways to place wagers on the outcome of these unofficial ‘world championship’ horse races.
The shortest of all the Breeders’ Cup betting favourites is the British trained Enable. She recently won her second Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Europe’s richest race) for trainer John Gosden who began his career training in the USA. He knows what it takes to win Breeders’ Cup races and he is the only European trainer to have handled a Breeders’ Cup Classic winner: Ravens Pass in 2008.
With a $6 million purse and a lot of prestige, every trainer and owner wants to win the headline act, the Breeders’ Cup Classic. And the early favourite for the 2018 Classic is the John Sadler-trained Accelerate, a five-year-old who has landed four Grade 1 races this season. He’s the current +350 Breeders’ Cup betting favourite. If the horse was representing a higher-profile trainer he would probably be a lot shorter in the Breeders Cup betting odds.
Therein market rival, Mckinzie, who won the Pennsylvania Derby for trainer Bob Baffert may be a little under-priced. Catholic Boy, who is on a winning streak of three, most recently taking the Grade 1 Belmont Derby and Travers Stakes is our fancy. He can be backed at +600 but that price will surely disappear as the race draws closer.
The biggest priced winner in any Breeders’ Cup betting race ever came in this race in 1993 when Arcangues scored for France at +13300. It’s unlikely any such horse will go to post in the race this year.
As with any big race meeting, the top online sportsbooks will roll out plenty of Breeders’ Cup free bets and Breeders’ Cup betting offers.
Typically many online bookmakers will give you an enhanced price on the big race favourites, money back offers if your selection is beaten by a short margin and Breeders Cup free bets on the following race if you place a successful win bet on a selection priced 4/1 or more. Check back to BestSportsbooks.ca nearer the event for the latest special offers.
All major online sportsbooks bookmakers will be offering a range of Breeders’ Cup betting free bets and offers as the race meeting draws closer.
This will be in addition to the current sign-up bonuses that most online sportsbooks offer. Should you keep your powder dry and take all these Breeders’ Cup betting free bet opportunities simultaneously there is an outstanding chance you can manipulate the offers to cover most of the field and/or guarantee a profitable race.
There will also be a number of ‘Special Breeders’ Cup Betting’ markets which can help with this cause, such as the ‘number of European trained winners’ and/or individual races to be won by an ‘international’ trained runner.