The race lineups announced Monday for the two Breeders' Cup cards Nov. 6 and 7 include a couple of pleasing tweaks to last year's schedule:
*The BC Marathon has been moved from Saturday to the otherwise all-filly Friday, which provides slightly better balance between the two cards. Last year there were 5 BC races on Friday and 9 on Saturday, while this year it will be 6 and 8. Last year, betting suddenly and dramatically tailed off towards the end of the Saturday card in comparison to years in which there has been eight BC races on Saturday.
The 6/8 alignment also allows for an all-BC Friday pick-6. Last year, the Las Palmas Handicap was the last leg of the Friday pick-6, detracting from the focus of the day. The rearranged Saturday lineup is a more pleasing one, with the BC Juvenile Turf properly demoted to an earlier slot on the card whereas last year it was the fourth race from the end. This year, the last six Saturday Cup races are the six Grade 1 events, following the G2 Juvenile Turf and ungraded Turf Sprint, and the last five Cup races are all from the Original Seven: the Juvenile, Mile, Sprint, Turf and Classic.
The lineups were posted with a "subject to change" disclaimer. Friday's card, when first post is 11:15 a.m., will have nine races, with the six Cup events preceded by two allowance races and followed by the Las Palmas. Saturday's 10-race card will begin with the Damascus Stakes at 10:05 a.m., and the eight Cup races will be followed by the G2 Oak Tree Derby.
