Hall of Famer Mike Smith can join the great Bill Shoemaker as the oldest jockeys to have won a Breeders' Cup race when he climbs aboard the Bill Mott-trained Art Collector in the 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday at Del Mar. The 56-year-old Smith can join Shoemaker, who was 56 when he won the 1987 Breeders' Cup Classic aboard Ferdinand. Art Collector is an 8-1 long shot among the 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic contenders. Four-time Grade 1 winner Knicks Go is the 5-2 favorite in the 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic odds, while Belmont Stakes winner Essential Quality is 3-1 in the 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic field.
Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit and Pennsylvania Derby winner Hot Rod Charlie are 4-1. Post time is 8:40 p.m. ET. With so much to consider before Saturday's race, a little expert help can go a long way before making your 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic picks.
Shoemaker's win in the 1987 Breeders' Cup Classic remains one of the most riveting finishes in history. The race, which was held at the now-extinct Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif., featured two Kentucky Derby winners: 1986 champ Ferdinand and 1987 winner Alysheba. Ferdinand left the starting gate as the even-money favorite, while Alysheba was the 7-2 second choice in the 12-horse field.
With less than a 1/16 of a mile remaining, Ferdinand surged to the front, but Alysheba was in the midst of a furious rally. With the wire quickly approaching, the two horses crossed in a photo finish. "The two Derby winners hit the wire together," race caller Tom Durkin exclaimed. As the winning photo showed, Ferdinand put his nose down first, barely holding off his younger rival.
Given all the history, there's a method to picking which horses to focus on for exacta, trifecta and superfecta bets in a Breeders' Cup Classic like this, and SportsLine's Bob Weir knows what it is. He can help you make the best 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic picks possible.
Based in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Weir has been handicapping and following horse racing since reading Andy Beyer's landmark handicapping book "Picking Winners" in the late 1980s. Weir is highly invested in the Beyer Speed Figure, a number assigned to every race run by a horse that measures how fast the horse ran. He uses the figure as the backbone of his handicapping. In fact, thanks to his proficiency with speed figures and top-tier handicapping, he landed one of just eight spots on Beyer's figure-making team in 2017, a position he holds to this day.
Weir's methodology has produced multiple five-figure days. In 2014, he hit a $60,000 Pick 6 at Del Mar. The following year, he nailed a $31,000 Pick 6 at Gulfstream Park. In 2016 and 2017, Weir qualified for the prestigious National Horseplayers Championship in Las Vegas.
This year, he has been on fire in the three-year-old races. He hit the exacta in the Sam F. Davis Stakes, Tampa Bay Derby and Peter Pan Stakes, the trifecta in the Risen Star Stakes, Blue Grass Stakes and Pennsylvania Derby and the superfecta in the Belmont Stakes. Anyone who has followed him is up huge.
Now, he has handicapped the 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic field, made his picks and constructed his bets. See them here.
Top 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic expert picks
Here's a refresher from Weir on how to bet on the Breeders' Cup Classic 2021:
Exacta: Pick the first- and second-place finishers in the correct order. A $2 exacta returned $45.40 in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Classic with Authentic and Improbable.
Trifecta: Pick the first-, second- and third-place finishers in the correct order. A $0.50 trifecta returned $167.95 in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Classic with Authentic, Improbable and Global Campaign.
Superfecta: Pick the first-, second-, third- and fourth-place finishers in the correct order. A $0.10 superfecta returned $335.55 in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Classic with Authentic, Improbable, Global Campaign and Tacitus.
While Weir has no quibbles about the favorite status of Knicks Go (5-2), he plans to hold tickets with Essential Quality (3-1), Hot Rod Charlie (4-1), plus two massive underdogs you need to back. You can only see his picks here.
How to make 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic bets
Weir has specific recommendations for exacta, trifecta and superfecta wagers so you can cover all your bases at the Breeders' Cup Classic 2021. He's sharing them here.
So which horses do you use? And in which combinations? Visit SportsLine to get Weir's picks for exacta, trifecta and superfecta bets for the 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic, all from the insider on the Beyer figure-making team.
