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Consistency Makes Lawyer Ron Favorite

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By RICHARD ROSENBLATT, The Associated Press

Published: October 24, 2007

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Lawyer Ron was made the slight favorite over Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and Preakness winner Curlin on Tuesday for the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic.

Lawyer Ron, a runaway winner in the Whitney Handicap and the Woodward Stakes, finished second to Curlin in the Jockey Club Gold Cup in his last start. Tampa Bay Derby winner Street Sense, who also won the Jim Dandy and the Travers, was second to Hard Spun in the Kentucky Cup Classic.

'Lawyer Ron was made the favorite because of his consistent excellence in his last three races,' said Brad Thomas, Monmouth Park's oddsmaker who set the morning line for the 11 Breeders' Cup races to be run Friday and Saturday. 'It was very difficult to separate the first three horses.'

A nine-horse field was entered for Saturday's 1 1/4 -mile Classic, with 4-year-old Lawyer Ron the 5-2 choice and 3-year-olds Street Sense and Curlin the co-second picks at 3-1.

Tampa Bay Derby runner-up Any Given Saturday, winner of three straight, including the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth, was the 4-1 fourth choice. Also entered are Hard Spun (8-1), Tiago (12-1), Diamond Stripes (15-1), George Washington (20-1) and Awesome Gem (30-1).

Street Sense, with Calvin Borel aboard, drew the No. 2 post, while Lawyer Ron, with John Velazquez riding, will leave from the rail. Hard Spun, expected to set the pace with Lawyer Ron, drew the No. 8 post.

The favorites for Friday's three new Breeders' Cup races are Dream Rush (2-1) in the Filly & Mare Sprint, Prussian (3-1) in the Juvenile Turf and Discreet Cat (2-1) in the Dirt Mile. The other favorites for Saturday's races are Indian Blessing (3-1) in the Juvenile Fillies, War Pass (5-2 in the Juvenile, Nashoba's Key (3-1) in the Filly & Mare Turf, Midnight Lute (2-1) in the Sprint, Excellent Art (3-1) in the Mile, Indian Vale (3-1) in the Distaff and Dylan Thomas (7-5) in the Turf.

Todd Pletcher, who leads all trainers with 11 entries, and Bob Baffert both have two favorites. Pletcher trains Indian Vale and Lawyer Ron, and Baffert trains Indian Blessing and Midnight Lute.
Street Sense wowed the backstretch crowd at Monmouth Park with an impressive workout, the colt's final tuneup. With Borel aboard, Street Sense accelerated around the far turn and covered five furlongs in 1:01 1-5. He galloped out with authority, too, and was timed in 1:38 2-5 for a mile.

'He's amazing, an amazing horse,' trainer Carl Nafzger said as he made his way back to the barn following the breeze. 'He worked great, right on schedule. He relaxed real good with Calvin and then picked it up and finished off strong. He needed to test the track and he did.'

Borel was all smiles as he led Street Sense back to the barn.

'He was awesome,' Borel said. 'When I asked him for a little something, he was there. The horse is doing good. He is going very forward.'

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