How to Trade the Breeders' Cup: Pay attention and be patient at Keeneland

• Saturday's Breeders' Cup is trading opportunity
• Establish long-term position and watch the weather
• Hope for no bizarre hiccups like last year

US Racing doesn't generally produce huge markets on the Betfair Exchange, but now and again we get some fantastic racing that is worth a good look and the Breeders' Cup is one of those events.

I have traditionally done well on this market and the amount of money matched means it's worth putting in the effort to do some research, whether you are betting or trading.

The Breeders cup isn't at a specific racecourse and tends to move around the US. This year it is being hosted at Keeneland and next year Santa Anita. Last year it was in Del Mar.

Twenty-four hour punting people

I've recently talked positively about Australian racing and in fact it's the time of year where I'll be putting in a lot of hours thanks to the overseas racing.

If you are active in the UK, the racing schedule over here will run into the US racing, especially when it's on the East coast. As soon as that has finished, you can roll straight into the Australian racing. If you fancy 24 hours without any sleep, there you have it!

Saturday card is the focus

At the Breeders' Cup you get a big card on the Friday and then a massive one on the Saturday. So, I tend to mainly work on the Saturday card.

Because the Breeders Cup features horses from all over the world, this is a betting market that I find difficult to assess and find value on. Therefore, I will defer to the horse racing form specialists on this race. There will plenty of specific advice available for you to read from specialists on this type of conundrum.

However, I always trade it and have done well at it for several years.

Be patient and let your position mature

Because there are not many other races of note elsewhere on either day, activity in the market is very focused on key races. Money tends to arrive for one race after another and very smoothly over a long period of time.

This contrasts with what you would typically expect on UK racing. This sort of activity lends itself to taking a longer-term position in the market and waiting for it to mature.

Always check the weather

When trading horse racing you should always keep an eye on the weather, as any change can produce big moves. We saw this at the Melbourne Cup recently when heavy rain arrived during the meeting and helped pushed Deauville Legend's odds out.

The weather in Lexington - KY, looks like it will be changeable over the weekend, but no rain is forecast at the moment. But it does look like it could be windy on Saturday, which could rattle the starting stalls a bit.

Hope for a more straightforward race this year

I mention this, as in 2021, we were treated to a truly bizarre incident when Albahr got upset in the stalls before the Juvenile Turf. The handlers opened the gate for Modern Games to avoid injury but the horse was inadvertently scratched.

This was despite the horse not actually being officially withdrawn. So, Modern Games was allowed to run in the race, but was removed from the betting market. Of course, it won and inevitably everybody appeared to have picked it as a winner!

It was one of the most bizarre incidents I've seen in all my years in horse racing. But it produced a great opportunity for layers as confusion beset the market and odds shifted around dramatically while people were trying to decide what they should be doing and at what price.

Strange moments aside, the Breeders' Cup meeting is worth your attention as it's one of the bigger races of the year and one of the few US race meetings that I will definitely be trading.