Handicapping Roundtable: BC Dirt Mile

Two retired high school baseball players. Two talented writers with a roughly equivalent passion for The Fordham Observer. Two quirky people with their fair share of misadventures. One Big Ass horse race. Buckle in folks.

Race 6

Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) for Three-Year-Olds and Upward, One Mile on the Dirt

George McKnight

Hi all. It’s been quite some time since my last feature on the Paddy’s Picks blog. I’m glad to be back covering the Breeder’s Cup. I’m analyzing the Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile. Not the greatest name, but what can you do? Anyway, the post time of this race is 4:19 on Saturday, Nov. 6. Eight horses three years and older are posted to compete for a million dollar purse. 

Obviously I have to talk about the far-and-away favorite first. Life is Good is owned by WinStar Farm and trained by Todd Pletcher, whose horses have won multiple Triple Crown races. This colt might be one of the best dirt-track horses I’ve seen. He’s in his prime, having won four of his five races and finished in second place once. Life is Good is an undoubtable winner in the Dirt Mile based on his track record and youth. 

Now if I were a betting man (which I am), I’d say that the best way to get a nice payout in this race would be to place an exacta pairing Life is Good with another viable contender. This is my go-to betting style when I visit the track, and it’s worked for me in the past. For the Dirt Mile, I’d place my trust in Silver State to compete alongside the favorite. The 4-year-old colt has had an excellent last 7 races that included 5 straight victories. With 14 graded Stakes points to his name in 2021, Silver State is a promising talent in this one. 

So there you have it – an exacta box with Life is Good and Silver State. Take my advice, or don’t. George out. 

Owen Roche

Big ass rivalry, big ass stakes, and big ass drama — Big Ass Fans couldn’t have sponsored a more fitting race. 

The 2021 Breeder’s Cup Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile (BCBAFDM) was shaping up to be a tough toe-to-toe tussle ’twixt two titan trainers ’til tragedy toppled the tie. Todd Pletcher and Steve Asmussen, hall of fame horse hockers with 1,500+ wins and one PETA animal cruelty controversy combined, brought two horses each to the Dirty Downs — Mind Control and Life is Good for Pletcher, and Silver State and Snapper Sinclair for Asmussen. 

We had a tag team match for the ages on our hands. Hulk Hogan and Randy “Macho Man” Savage vs. The Undertaker and Kane. The Black Keys vs. the White Stripes. Simon and Garfunkel vs. Garfunkel and Oates. Snap and Crackle vs. the Froot Loop toucan and one of his nephews, or whatever. But with horses.

Unfortunately, a shocking and highly suspect development denied us the spectacle: On November 1, Mind Control ran a fever and was scrubbed from the starting gate. Five short days before the showdown, someone got the horse sick. 

Racing fans cried foul. How could this have happened so close to race day? Who coughed on Mind Control? What walking bioweapon frenched the September 2021 Parx Dirt Mile winner? Several eyewitnesses report Snapper Sinclair covertly fought a runny nose during a recent workout, and many more allege Silver State arrived at yesterday’s press conference with flushed cheeks, bloodshot eyes and a long face.

Pletcher is now down a horse in the BCBAFDM, and with one career Dirt Mile win apiece, Pletcher and Asmussen will decide the rubber match under far dirtier circumstances than anyone could have predicted. 

The specter of sabotage hangs low over Del Mar, California. A million dollar purse and decisive bragging rights are on the line. A Big Ass investigation is not out of the question. 

Yes, folks — we’re in for eight filthy, filthy furlongs.

Ginobili by three lengths.