Handicapping: Chance to Build Holiday Bankrolls

Horseplayers are dealing with the inevitable post-Breeders' Cup letdown right about now, but there is stakes action across North America Nov. 13. Now is the time to start building up those holiday shopping bankrolls.

The two richest races, the Dream Supreme and the Bessarabian Stakes (G2), are for female sprinters. 

The $300,000 Dream Supreme Stakes at Churchill Downs involves yet another clash between Bell's the One  and Sconsin , who finished third and fourth in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1). The six-furlong dash also includes Frank's Rockette , wide and well beaten in the 2020 BC Sprint (G1). Club Car , beaten a neck by Bell's the One in the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes (G2) last out, picks up Joel Rosario, who in 2021 has racked up 48 graded stakes victories and more than $30 million in earnings, capped by Knicks Go  's romp in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) last week.

The CA$175,000 Bessarabian Stakes at Woodbine is headed by Our Secret Agent , third in last year's renewal, and Lady Speightspeare , who has won all three of her starts on turf and now tries the synthetic stuff after acting up in the gate and being scratched from the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes Presented By Dixiana (G1T).

Fillies and mares are also spotlighted in Woodbine's CA$150,000 Maple Leaf Stakes (G3) at 1 1/4 miles, also on Tapeta.

It's also opening weekend at Aqueduct Racetrack, where the $150,000 Artie Schiller Stakes will be contested on rain-softened turf, if indeed it remains on the inner course.

At Laurel Park, the Smart Halo Stakes, James F. Lewis III Stakes, and Thirty Eight Go Go Stakes are linked in an all-stakes pick three.

Here are our three best potential price plays in chronological order:

Artie Schiller (Aqu, race 9, 3:43 ET): With over an inch of rain expected Nov. 12 and more potentially on the way Saturday afternoon, we're combing the records of the 10 turf-meant runners for past prowess on non-firm going.

Fitting the bill nicely are Flavius  (1) and Tell Your Daddy  (6), who will likely vie for favoritism, and Rinaldi  (3), the probable pacesetter, who led to deep stretch in this race a year ago.

Flavius, a Juddmonte homebred by War Front  , came off the bench to win the restricted Lure Stakes at Saratoga Race Course with a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure, then regressed a month later in the WinStar Mint Million Stakes (G3T) at Kentucky Downs Sept. 6. He's been off since then, so it's noteworthy all four of his career wins have come when fresh, beginning with a win over soft turf as a first-time starter in Ireland and including a win on yielding turf there as well.

Rinaldi was deep-fried setting a fast and pressured pace when last seen in the West Point against fellow New York-breds at Saratoga, where he won stakes on good turf the two previous summers.

Tell Your Daddy was a $40,000 claim by Tom Morley in January, and has since banked over $300,000 highlighted by a front-running win in the Bernard Baruch Handicap (G2T) on yielding turf.

Worth considering at 12-1 on the morning line is Olympic Runner  (2), who was off poorly and finished fastest of all when third in the six-furlong Nearctic Stakes (G2T) on yielding turf last out.

A - 1, 3

B - 2, 6

Maple Leaf (WO, race 7, 3:56 ET): Merveilleux  (1) gets some significant class relief after running against grade 1 and grade 2 company through most of the season, and is a three-time winner on Woodbine's synthetic surface. Throw out her last race in the E.P. Taylor Stakes (G1T) run over a bog.

We'll try to link up the class dropper with four contenders who may also appreciate the surface switch: Sister Otoole  (4), a half sister to a synthetic winner; La Lune  (5), whose sire Champs Elysees  finished in the money in consecutive runnings of the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) when it was run on synthetic in 2008-09; Broadway Lady  (7), whose dam was grade 2-placed on synthetic; and Lake Lucerne  (10), who returns to the all-weather for the first time since a maiden win in Great Britain.

A - 1

B - 4, 5, 7, 10

Thirty Eight Go Go (Lrl, race 8, 4:09 ET): There is some early speed in this 1 1/16-mile route that features a short run to the first turn, but Sosua  (1) has inside position from the rail and her form has been dirtied up nicely.

After starting her career with three straight wins at three tracks, Sosua wound up dueling through insanely fast fractions in the Love Sign Stakes at Colonial Downs and followed that up by chasing in a seven-furlong turf sprint at Belmont Park against high-end optional claimers. A couple of recent bullet works suggest she may be tough up front here if able to discourage the poorly-drawn Artful Splatter  (9) early.

Josie  (7) and Miss Leslie  (5), third and fourth in the Sept. 18 Twixt Stakes around one turn, are the backups. Josie will be favored as she gets back to her preferred two turns. Miss Leslie goes two turns at Laurel for the first time since winning the Anne Arundel County Stakes from off the pace late last year.

A - 1, 7

B - 5