Monday Afternoon Quarterback

Tweet When I saw Commentator set the track record at Gulfstream Park last January in an allowance race, destroying the field by double digit (14!) lengths, I turned to the Space Gal and said, "wow, look out for him in 2008." That day he broke the track record and had a monstrous 119 beyer, a number that still stands as the highest beyer of the year for up to a mile (as listed in the DRF inside cover page). Who knew we would be seeing such an outstanding performance on a weekday afternoon at GP? He racked up another 14 length win on Saturday to take the G2 Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs on Saturday. Now that he has qualified for the Classic, will he partake? Zito has been very outspoken regarding the synthetic surfaces and may take a pass. If he does, look for an appearance in the Cigar Mile on Thanksgiving weekend (one of my favorite races) at Belmont.

And it looks like Proud Spell is done for the year, so we won't be seeing a rematch against Music Note in the Ladies' Classic on 24Oct at Oak Tree. She was raced quite often this calendar year and it showed on Saturday where she lost the Cotillion Stakes at Philly Park to Seattle Smooth. Still no word on whether she will be retired from racing. She ran every month from February to September, so she is probably one tired filly at this point. I'll never forget that stretch duel in the Alabama where she dug in to hang on against her main rival.

I wonder if Curlin will attract a crowd this weekend in the Big Apple for the Jockey Gold Cup on Saturday? I'm going to guess maybe 10,000 show up this weekend to see the best horse in the world? You know with all the posters they put up to attract a big crowd and all.

I let out a big cheer yesterday at the joint formerly known as Rich Stadium while me and 71,235 others were watching the FIRST PLACE Bills come from behind to shock the Raiders with 17 4th quarter points (i knew we were in trouble with the whole pirate holiday weekend thing). It happened during a break in the action (during the comeback) and I had the whole section staring at me wondering what in the world I was celebrating. Well, my seat was positioned perfectly to look into the HSBC box, which had the Ryder Cup on NBC, when Hunter Mahan hit that 60 footer on No. 17 at Valhalla, and since I am a proud American, what else could I do but celebrate? Good laughs...who knew I could multi-task during a sporting event? By the way, did I mention that the Bills are in FIRST PLACE?

I really enjoyed playing Fairplex and following some of the jockeys/trainers/horses, especially when I was in Vegas two weeks ago. They have some tight turns and it was interesting watching most of the jockeys handle them with ease, but some of the younger horses definitely missed a turn or two while I was watching. That would be one meet I'd like to attend one of these days. It's definitely on the list.

Photo courtesy: Associated Press