Top Ten Reasons Zenyatta Won’t Come East

Tweet With all due apologies to David Letterman…..

10. Doesn’t wear watch, trouble dealing with time zone change.

9. Figures Rachel will run in the Zenyatta Stakes if she comes east (just to spite her).

8. NYRA won’t print Go Zenyatta banners without government subsidy.

7. Moss doesn’t know Manny, can't get any love in the Turf Terrace.

6. Miffed there’s no Zenyatta giveaway day at the Spa.

5. Thinks detention barn is for the birds.

4. Can’t get a table at Siro’s.

3. Figures she’ll be there in a few years anyway (Hall of Fame Ceremony)

2. Has a Dodger autograph session scheduled on Woodward Day.

1. Prefers Kimmel to Letterman.

Fort Erie: Trying to Make a Splash on Tuesdays

Tweet I made my initial visit across the border to Ft. Erie Race Track on Tuesday afternoon to take in the races amid the thunderstorms that were passing through our area. Interestingly enough, in today's Buffalo News, Bob Summers (the Happy Handicapper) announced the track "is planning to switch to a 4 p.m. post time on the five Tuesdays in August. Publicity director Darryl Wells Jr. said the move is part of an attempt to improve attendance and boost simulcast wagering on a normally slow day."

I'd say that is pretty out of the box thinking. Last year the track moved back first post to 1:30pm to try and catch the later races of the afternoon as the only simulcast going. By going to the twilight August cards they will be one of the only shows in town mid-card. I give them credit for trying to shake things up. I'd like to see them market it a little more in Buffalo to the young crowd to come over for the twilight happy hour or something like that.

It was a sloppy track on Tuesday and I took a few shots for your viewing pleasure. I'd like to report some fantastic handicapping angles I discovered, but when you're playing $5K claimers anything can happen. It was mostly a day to relax make a few small wagers and have a couple lagers and enjoy being at the track. One of the unique races on the card was a 2 furlong quarter horse sprint that was fun to handicap and watch them cruise down the muddy strip.

Woman's Bay (8-1) holds off odds on Girl in the City in the third for the victory.












Bombs Away: A Fleets Escape (18-1) romps home by 2 1/2 over Daryl Ezra trained Fionn to complete a $130 exactor.











Watcha lookin' at Space Dude?



















There was plenty of room at the rail, I estimated about 250 or so souls who braved the weather.






Your 10-1 winner in the 7th, Perigree Silence ($23.50) with jockey Garcia up.












Jockey Christopher Griffith coming off the track after Race 7 on Cypress Point. Griffith currently trails only Krista Carignan on the jockey leader board at the Fort.










Here's Smart Bullet making his maiden debut for Stronach Stables after finishing 25 lengths back.











Now it's time to plot out the afternoon. The Saratoga Resident is in town and a rendezvous at a local watering hole is on the agenda for the big USA soccer game today. Let's hope the red, white and blue keep it rolling....enjoy the weekend.

Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

Tweet So how do you think the year is shaping up so far for the sport of thoroughbred horse racing? Do you think the glass is half empty or half full? It's time for my annual half year inspection of the Bests and Worst of thoroughbred racing. You can see the mid year reports for 2009 and 2008 in the archives (always fun to look back at where my head was at). We seem to be at a crossroads in so many different areas. There's lots of positives and enough negatives to go around. So here goes the halfway there edition for 2010.....

Best Moments in Racing - midpoint 2010

1 - Zenyatta remains the queen of racing through early 2010. No east coast sour grapes here, she's continues her winning streak with wins in California (2) and Arkansas (1) to raise her consecutive win streak to 17. The defending Breeders' Cup Classic champ looms large to defend her title in Louisville in November. Should be fun to watch.

2 - Monmouth Park's Elite Summer Meet. Innovative. Less is More. Fabulous Purses. Weekend Race Dates. Big name trainers. The experiment is working and is sure to be copied. Handle is up. Attendance is up. Looking forward to a summer trip in August to take it all in.

3 - Pletcher wins his first Kentucky Derby. Super Saver helped the Toddster smash the goose eggs next to his Derby record winning over a hard closing Ice Box by 2 1/2 lengths on a sloppy track under the Twin Spires.

4 - Quality Road emerges as best older male horse. The quality has shone through with major wins in the Donn at Gulfstream and the venerable Metropolitan Mile at Belmont Park. A big showdown looms in Kentucky at the Breeders' Cup. Stay tuned, this one could be tremendous.

5 - Glen Fullerton's 15 minutes of fame. The 40 year old plunked down $100K in a CNBC contest on Super Saver and won $900K and bounced up and down on the NBC broadcast like a Mexican jumping bean. Why this is not a commercial for the NTRA on the joys of racing is beyond me.

Honorable Mention - Lookin at Lucky's Preakness win; Drosselmeyer's Belmont victory; Beulah Park's new Fortune Six wager; Odysseus' Tampa Bay Derby photo finish wire win; Canadian filly Biofuel making noise; Blind Luck wins Oaks at the wire.

Worst moments in horse racing - midpoint 2010

1 - Eskendereya injured weekend before the Derby. The horse that dominated the Fountain of Youth and Wood Memorial Derby prep races and likely post-time favorite was out of the Derby even before the draw. Subsequently retired and partially purchased by Jess Jackson, this horse had the pedigree and stamina to be a legitimate Triple Crown challenger. Maybe next year....

2 - The Apple Blossom Showdown. The Great Race that wasn't. After negotiating a race date change and hyping the showdown between Zenyatta and 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, owner Jess Jackson pulled the plug saying RA wasn't ready to roll.

3 - NTRA rolls out streaming video, it fails. I shouldn't pick on the NTRA, but rolling out a new product after touting it for weeks without testing it for the volume, well you know what happened. They seem to have it straightened out, based on King Alex' latest post, applauding the IT company that now has it's shiznit together. That post, by the way, has a whole 7 comments.

4 - Aqueduct Slots Debacle. See Left at the Gate who covers it better than anyone. Maybe in my lifetime. Maybe not. This is a half empty endeavor, folks.

5 - Churchill Downs pulls out of NTRA. Ouch. Even the subsequent commentary that their internal testing program is way more intensive than the NTRA's Safety and Integrity initiative. Many are sure to follow Churchill's lead.

Honorable Mention - Jockey fight on Dubai Cup card; Difficulty filling fields in California; The Mig is injured and forced to retire; Jockeys reality show cancelled by Animal Planet; NYCOTB bankruptcy issues mount.

So how do you think thoroughbred racing is doing half way through 2010, is the glass half full or half empty? What did I miss?

Channeling Ward Cleaver

Tweet Was there a better TV dad than Ward Cleaver? Don't even think about Mike Brady. I'll give ya Fred Sanford, but not Tom Bradford. Ward was all about discipline. Wally and Beav couldn't get away with anything without going through Ward. Dad's are pretty cool. Mine taught me how to make a bank shot off the square, take a lead off first base and hit a sand shot. He taught me how to love sports and how to run a down and out. I wouldn't know how to play a hand of pinochle or tie a knot without him. Some of my most memorable sports events I've attended were with my dad. They're almost too lengthy to mention. He showed up to every single college hoop game I ever played (even when I rode the pine my freshman year). They don't make dad's like that anymore. I hope I can be remembered as half the dad he is. I hope you get to celebrate yours today.


- Interesting poll on the right sidebar (a collaborative effort between the TBA and The Knight Sky Racing Blog) which asks if/when the Big Race will happen. After 123 votes, 63% say we won't see it happen this year, I tend to agree. Norm at TKS continues to put out quality polls, you can see the results of past polls at this link over at the TBA site.


- The TBA sponsored Handicappers' Corner over at ThoroFan has been a success so far based on feedback from the ThoroFan powers that be. The weekly race of the week handicapped by a different TBA blogger each week has been a lot of fun to follow and you can even learn a thing or two from fellow handicappers. This week, the Michigan-Bred Claimer nailed his second consecutive HC winner with Lady Shakespeare. Next week the Quinella Queen will tackle the quinella possibilities in the Iowa Derby at her new home track.

- As for my handicapping forays, I had been in a deep funk. I can't tell you how many times I've been live in the last leg of a Pick 3 or Pick 4 only to finish second or get nipped at the wire. It happened again yesterday as I was live (on a $4 ticket) in a Pick 3 into Go Go Pink at Monmouth on to be beat in the stretch and out the $200 will pay. But my hoops background (and my dad) always told me "sometimes you have to shoot yourself out of it." So I took a shot at the MTH Late Pick 4 and nailed it with Rose Catherine singled in the third leg and a late insertion of Afleet Express in the Pegasus. I was live to two nice paying tickets in the finale with Riley Jayde and Kat's Mystery, who finished 1-2 (ding dong the slump is dead).

- Speaking of Afleet Express, I'm looking forward to seeing both him and Golden Itiz , winner of yesterday's Affirmed at Hollyrock, this summer. The late blooming 3 year olds are always fun to watch.

- Saw the Secretariat trailer last night at the movies. It seems the movie's focus is going to be mainly on Ms. Chenery based on what I viewed last night. Any movie with John Malkovich has my attention, let alone a horse racing themed movie. I'm looking forward to it and with the Disney juggernaut involved, I imagine the marketing for it will be top notch.

- Upcoming Space Invasions: 1) a Tuesday afternoon at Fort Erie with the good folks from the University at Buffalo athletic department; 2) Queen's Plate on the 4th of July; 3) Jim Dandy weekend at the Spa and; (4) my inaugural Finger Lakes appearance (yes, this year I think it may actually happen)

Have a great father's day to all the dads out there...

What's Appening...

Tweet Does anyone miss the old What's Happening? show. Yeah, me neither. But that Rerun fellah sure was funny.



So I've been messing around with the Apple ipad that showed up a few weeks ago after my fortunate selection in the HRN Derby contest. A PC user all my life, only my graphic artist friends (i should say friend) use Macs and most of us bean counter types have been schooled on Windows PC, so it took some time to get used to the Apple way.....but I'm starting to get the hang of it. I don't own an iPhone (the iPad is basically an oversized iPhone without the phone application, a giant iPod Touch if you will) so the transition wasn't as smooth as someone with past Apple experience. We're getting their however. I've been creaming the Angry Birds application (app), but that's a story for another day. So why is any of this relevant? Well, because it does have some cool applications for a horseplayer to utilize in plying his trade.



Here's a review of a couple of the apps I've downloaded and used.



DRF TicketMaker. Cost: Free. Build your Pick-3,4 and 6 tickets a la Steve Crist using the Daily Racing Form's application which let's you determine your A, B, C and X selections by track. A review written by our pal Ian Lozada at the Apple site states the following:

"While not as intuitive as the version of Ticketmaker found on DRF's Formulator, this compact version allows you to keep the same basic functionality and gives you a visual feel for the ticket you're crafting. There are more steps involved, but at the same time, you don't have to put up with having the window of the web-based version blocking key handicapping info on your screen.More importantly, you get the chance to use Ticketmaker with the print version of DRF, other tools like Brisnet or Thorograph, or even for harness wagers."

iTote Wager Calculator. Cost: $0.99. Not a math wiz? Want to be able to calculate what a certain 2x4x6x9 trifecta will cost for $1 play? This colorful and very user friendly calculator can help you when you're building some bigger plays. Only downside was it didn't have a wheel for $0.50 which now comes in play with certain multi race wagers at some tracks...of course, I'm not so bad with math and can divide by 2 pretty easily. One of the reviewers of this app commented:

"Thank you for creating this awesome app! Finally! I can go to the track and not have to ask for help before I get to the window! This app calculates everything for me, without confusion! What a breeze!! Now I can even impressively entertain clients and colleagues at the track! Thank you!"

Horse Racing Calculator. Cost $0.99. This app is basically the same platform as the iTote with some different graphics. I've used this product online at Horsehats.com and although it's not the most user friendly at their website, this one is basically the same as the iTote, but I'll give it equal love to the iTote calculator.

From a horseplayer standpoint, that's about it for wagering help (at least, that I've been able to find). If anyone else has found something else that would be useful to a fellow horseplayer please leave a comment. From the horse racing news front, the only app I've found is the following:

iHorseRacing. Cost: Free. This app picks up the most recent feeds from the BBC, Yahoo!, Bloodhorse. It would be great if some of the other sites such as Thoroughbred Times or the DRF were part of it as a one stop shop for racing news. The most positive review stated:

"I am a huge horse racing fan and this app is worth every penny. This is the BEST iPhone app on Horse Racing."

I've also found that the GoodReader app (hat tip to Mr. Lozada) is very good for reading downloaded PP's, whether they are DRF or BRIS.

Please chime in if I'm missing anything.

Space Tribute: Flag Day Edition

Tweet Old Glory was flying strong in Belmont's backyard last Saturday and I thought it would be apropos to recognize this holiday (technically, tomorrow is Flag Day in the USA) here in this tiny speck deep in the interwebs. With the US and A soccer team trying to capture the nation's fancy over the next month (and they're off to a darn good start), we should always remember those who have fought for our freedom and those who are currently overseas protecting that freedom.

I'm thinking of keeping a RIP list (yes, I think I will) of all of the horses that pass on to the big oval in the sky between Flag days. A new SpaceProject that we'll unveil next Flag Day weekend to honor and recognize those horses that have run for our enjoyment in the past who are no longer with us.
Honoring Old Glory always tugs at my heart. I love when the United Center (and before that venerable Chicago Stadium) rocks during the singing of the National Anthem. And who can forget Kate Smith rolling out a God Bless America (unfortunately, the fat lady sang this week for the Flyers). And who hasn't woken up during a nightly network station sign-off to hear that ole' Francis Scott Key tune as the last thing you hear for the day.

Betsy Ross, this Bud's for you.

Bananas Foster

Tweet So I'm commingling a couple of my favorite topics tonight. We've got the Stephen Foster, the biggest race not including Rachel Alexandra (she's on the Churchill undercard - that's kinda like Smokin' Joe Frazier being on the undercard) or Zenyatta tomorrow and Top Chef DC getting ready to kick off next Wednesday. So let's cover the racing first, the foodies will have to wait....


The $600K Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at 9 furlongs (free past performances here) has attracted some serious horse flesh as 11 starters, some with an eye towards a repeat date back under the Twin Spires in November in the Breeders' Cup Classic. The current buzz horse, Blame, drew the 11 hole with Gomez in the irons and is currently the 3-1 second choice. The morning line favorite is Battle Plan, who has the Pletcher/Castellano connections at 5-2 and will be breaking out of the #2 gate. We last saw Blame at Pimlico on the Preakness undercard in the William Donald Schaefer as an easy single who handled six others rather handily. While those two will be taking a lot of money at the windows, a couple other horses strike my fancy. Duke of Mischief (#4, 6-1) is coming off a really nice workout and a nice outing winning the Oaklawn Handicap. Arson Squad (#5, 8-1) is 3 for 7 at the distance and trainer Dutrow is 31% coming in after winning his last race. Lastly, last year Derby trail horse General Quarters (#6, 4-1) comes in after winning his first turf race to try and claim the second Grade 1 of his 19 race career. So I'm going to take a shot with Arson Squad and Duke of Mischief with exactas wheeling Battle Plan with both of them and GQ.

Fellow TBA'er Zipse has his thoughts up over at ThoroFan's Handicappers' Corner sponsored by the TBA, make sure you check out his thoughts.


I find it funny that I am on 33 Twitter lists, and believe it or not, 2 of them are for Top Chef (LOL), which makes me wonder if the people that follow them really enjoy some of my horse related tweets on the off season. So Season 7 is ready to roll on Bravo and the location this year is DC (how Stephen Strasberg of them). I know a few of you racing peeps are closet TC watchers, so don't be afraid to chime in with who I should go with in this year's gambling pool. Oh, you can bet your vuvuzela that there is gambling involved. After perusing their pedigrees (those with engineering degrees get tossed), the two that have caught my eye so far are Stephen (Vegas, baby) and Lynne (culinary professor y'all). I will also be keeping my eye on Kenny (looks versatile), Ed (looks to be cocky/confident type) and Kelly (valedictorian), but everyone knows the race isn't run on paper. So we'll have a couple weeks to weed out the also-rans and look who the front runners should be.....off to the Downs under the lights for a few hours.....have a great weekend.

So What Did We Learn?

Tweet Another triple crown season is in the books and the count is now at 32 consecutive years without a horse taking down the three race series.

So what did we learn?

1) The best horse during the Derby prep season, Eskendereya, never made it to the gate of a triple crown race. Eerily similar to last year's best horse in training prior to the first Saturday in May, I Want Revenge who scratched the morning of the Derby. I think I jinxed Esky by buying a Zayat shirt the week before the Derby....note to self...buy the shirt after the first leg.

2) The Preakness appears to once again produce perhaps the best 3yo. The last six winners of the Preakness are Lookin at Lucky, Rachel Alexandra, Big Brown, Curlin, Bernardini and Afleet Alex. Not a bad crew.

3) The Belmont continues to be one of the most difficult races to handicap for me. The added distance, the unknown of how the pace scenario will unfold and the addition of new blood to the series all can humble the best handicappers. Kudos to Paul Daley of the Lowell Sun who nailed the win, exacta and trifecta in his pre-race selections.

4) Folks continue to complain about the major networks not showing the race before the big event (Woodford, Dixie and Manhattan) on all three telecasts. It hasn't happened in the past few years, and I wouldn't expect this to change. The TV coverage is for the event only and not horse racing purists. We need to deal with this. Hardcore racing fans have difficulty understanding this, the networks shouldn't pull/block the simulcast feed though, this is what we should be yelling about. If we can't watch it on NBC/ABC, let us watch it on the simulcast feed. Blocking it only makes us angry and write nasty things about you.

5) The momentum we gained in 2009 with Rachel Alexandra's super season that drove national interest in the sport to recent highs, seems to have waned. It's tough sledding when a pre-race song gets more play in the media (and racing blogs) then the race itself. Ugh.

So what do we have to look forward to in the coming months here in our little niche of a sport?

- With the 3yo division wide open (some would say in disarray) going into the summer, it should set up some great racing in races such as the Haskell, the Jim Dandy and the Travers on the East Coast.

- Is Rachel Alexandra ready to step up her game after a couple of second place finishes against older fillies and mares or will her connections say uncle?

- Zenyatta. Quality Road. Breeders' Cup Classic for the ages?

- 40 days of racing at the Spa. While some of the racing may be watered down, the Stakes races are second to none.

- Keeping an eye on the Monmouth experiment. So far, so good.

- The Canadian Triple Crown. (psst....the Queen is coming!)

- The return of the aforementioned, I Want Revenge.

What are you looking forward to?

Belmont Day in Pictures: Halloween in June

Tweet The only thing I took home (besides the Space Gal) yesterday was the nice red "Fly Emirates" cap that one of these young ladies gave me. We had a great time, but the gambling was Michael Meyers scary. A bloodbath of sorts. As Steve Crist said in his article today, chalk it up and move on. I'll share a few of the gory details: Live to five horses in the 5th race on a $15 early Pick 4 ticket, the 9 horse (also known as the $#%$ 9 horse Hoppsey) closed late on one of my five horses, Cherokee Speed and the table was set for a horror show of a betting day. The only ticket I cashed was a $5 place bet on Discreetly Mine in the Woody Stephens. Even Alan H's son scored more than I did yesterday (2 goals!). The late P4 where we went 3x3x3x4 had four straight seconds and no winners. Never, ever happened to me. Shell shock city. Oh well, we had fun all day nonetheless enjoying New York's big day and enjoying many different vantage points while sampling some BBQ and taking in some backyard funk.

As far as the big race goes, wouldn't have had the Nutcracker repair man if I re-read the PP's another hundred times. I really liked Fly Down and he ran a good race. I had my train tied to FD and Make Music for Me, who finished a non-threatening tenth. We were down at the finish line behind the ESPN camera guy. The Space Gal could have pinched his arse and screwed up a couple live national TV shots, but she thought better of it. Not the best way to make Sports Center.

Here's our day in pictures....

Rajeev on Tapaline who won the second race as my single in the early Pick 4. I also singled Trappe Shot, who was very impressive in the 4th and we should see this summer at the Spa (and hopefully in the Jim Dandy (my next planned big race weekend).




The goods.












Funk Filharmonic was funking up the backyard. We hung out here for some of the afternoon to catch a nice breeze that was blowing through the picnic area, some brews and some great music. I can report that some folks were having a really good time.








D'Funnybone crosses the wire in the Woody Stephens in front of Discreetly Mine (I cashed a ticket!!). This is always my favorite race of the day (outside of the Belmont).










Edgar on D'Funnybone in the winners' circle.















"Hey Babe, nice win...wanna bite of my pretzel?"












The HRTV gang was in the house....the Red Bulls were flowin'.....












Gotta give the World Wide Leader equal time on the Space blog....da da da da da da.











GoGo on Cherokee Queen in the paddock before the Just a Game Stakes where he finished fourth.












Proviso (GB) surges to win the Just a Game, just as the guy in front of me decides to do his rendition of YMCA.











Me: I like Top It on top.
Barber: Take a little off the top?
Me: Cut me, Mick.
Barber: I'm charging you extra.
Me: Don't you know who I am?
Barber: No.
Me: Ok, Take a little off the top, then.







The Call to Post for the Belmont!













"Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today......"

Oops....hopefully not coming back either...










And they're off in the Belmont Stakes!














That's a wrap on another triple crown series and it's on to summer racing and the Haskell, Travers and BC Classic for this unassuming group of three year olds....

Augie's Big Adventure

Tweet

As famous Augie's go, August Belmont, Jr. ranks right up their with Mr. Busch, Augie Doggie, August Coppola (Nic Cage's pop) and of course, Sr. (the financier who sported a fine pair of mutton chops). The builder of big ole Belmont Park in 1905, was a three time winner of the Belmont Stakes (named in honor of his father) winning in 1902 (Masterman) and in back to back years of 1916 (Friar Rock) and 1917 (Hourless).

His obituary published in TIME Magazine stated that he was "credited with having saved thoroughbred racing when it was at its lowest ebb in the East, after the repeal of the racing law in New York State. He was Chairman of the Jockey Club, founder of Belmont Park (famed Long Island track), owner of many celebrated horses—Rock Sand, Norman III, Tracery, Man o' War, and Ladkin. These swift beasts wore his famed colors—scarlet, maroon sleeves, black cap—to victory. His greatest regret was that he sold Man o' War to S. D. Riddle, under whose ownership he developed into the "fastest horse since Pegasus."

Interesting stuff to delve into and I bet he had a nice pocket watch, too. But current events have us focused on Elmont, New York and the annual renewal of the running of his old man's race. Augie's Big Adventure is on our doorstep and it's time to take a peek at the contenders with some fleeting thoughts on each....

#1 Dave in Dixie (20-1). In Dixie Land I'll make my stand to live and die in Dixie. Song's in your head now, isn't it. Augie's Big Adventure is in the Big Apple and Dave's in Dixie. Pass.

#2 Spangled Star (30-1). Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light. Val from Foolish Pleasure has this one ranked third in the Paulick Belmont Index (PBI?) and she's sneaky good at finding value (I don't miss much). Lures GoGo into the irons, wouldn't it be fitting that this unknown horse became his first TC conquest? Considering underneath.

#3 Uptowncharlybrown (10-1). Second cousin to Downtownleroybrown. Baddest man in the whole damn town. Kiaran has lots of success taking the blinkers off. Thinking hard about this one. Unraced since mid April, should be plenty fresh. Distance questions are my only hesitation.

#4 Make Music for Me (10-1). Late entry into the Derby stole 4th with late 8 wide run. Music seems to be the theme here. I'm including and liking a lot. Spent a lot of time analyzing his pedigree, there's lots of racing royalty in there. I will be including in my multirace and exotics.

#5 Fly Down (9-2). Want him to win, only so I can channel my inner 12 year old and yell "XYZ!" Have been fond of this one since watching him win the allowance race at Gulfstream on a mid February Sunday afternoon. An unfortunate trip in the Louisiana Derby kept him out of the Derby, but he came back with an impressive Dwyer showing and 99 Beyer.

#6 Ice Box (3-1). The fav had to work extra hard in the Derby to grab the placing. In the mix for sure, and I've learned my lessons in NY Racing by not playing Lezcano. Zito loves the Belmont and I'm gambling that his horse will be around at the finish.

#7 Drosselmeyer (12-1). Space Gal asked me if that was the name of the repair dude in the Nutcracker. My response: "I dunno." No thanks, passing on herr drosselmeyer.

#8 Game on Dude (10-1). Dorothy, we're not at Lone Star anymore. But ya gotta beware of the Baffert.

#9 Stately Victor (15-1). Aside from Ice Box, the only other G1 winner in the field. Of course, that was the Blue Grass (great big asterisk). Alan Garcia knows the track as well as any jock in the field. thinking this one could be live after sitting out the Preakness. Including in multirace exotics.

#10 Stay Put (20-1). That would have been good advice.

#11 First Dude (7-2). Named after Todd Palin, will definitely have to play a Baked Alaska exacta with Ice Box. Righteous. I am now 5 deep for the Pick 4.

#12 Interactif (12-1). Working well....guessing will be a terror on the turf as his career unfolds. Not so sure about here, but Pletcher wouldn't throw him to the wolves just to have one in the race, would he?

So that's my take on the Belmont field. Some great undercard races. Mostly, I look forward to seeing Tanda, Tidal Pool and Amen Hallelujah tangle in the Acorn and the speed duel that should evolve in the Woody Stephens between Eightyfiveinafifty and D'Funnybone. Good luck and may all your tickets be winners.

Revisiting Big Sandy

Tweet As many of you may know, I became obsessed with this great sport in August 2004 at the ripe age of 40, several months after watching Birdstone upend Smarty Jones's bid for the Triple Crown while on vacation with the Space Gal down in Key West. This year will mark my fifth consecutive Belmont Stakes and Belmont Day, which I feel has one of the top five cards in racing the year has to offer. So before we start our sojourn down to Big Sandy for the weekend's festivities, I thought I'd reminisce a little on my first four Belmonts and some of the memories I'll never forget.

2006: I had attended my first Derby to see Barbaro rock the racing world. Who can then forget the fateful moment at Pimlico after being reloaded after an early gate break that led to Bernardini's victory and the fate of a great colt. It was a motley crew assembled for the '06 Belmont that included the Derby runner up Bluegrass Cat and the fourth place finisher and deep closer Jazil, who stole the day for Fernando Jara's first (and currently last) Triple Crown ride. Derby show horse Steppenwolfer finished fourth and west coast stalwart Bob and John just didn't fire that day. Best memories of the day: 1) having the first bloody of the day at the Blarney Rock across for the Garden reading the Form in anticipation of a great day; 2) the Saratoga Resident had us in supreme box seats just past the finish line and with a great view of the winner's circle; 3) being way too close to the Toddster and posing in some pictures behind him for laughs and; 4) watching Gorella close like a freight train in the Just a Game

This is what too many Heineken 24 ouncers can do to a guy.












2007: My favorite Belmont to date. Seeing history is always special. Ranks up there with seeing a Stanley Cup celebration (even though we lost), a World Series home run (Joe Carter) and a Final Four buzzer shot (Keith Smart) to win a national championship. Rags to Riches became the first filly since 1905 to win the Belmont. Beating Horse of the Year, Curlin, made it all the more special. Again, the Saratoga Rez had us in tremendous seats (even better than 2006) down near the finish line and the place went crazy in the stretch drive. Memories from 07 include: 1) being in the box in front of the Imawildandcrazyguy owners who were having a good 'ole time; 2) seeing the Toddster's reaction four boxes over after winning his first TC race; 3) bloodies at the Blarney Rock (of course); 4) seeing Old Blackie (Better Talk Now) win the Manhattan with a powerful close; and 5) hanging in the Meat Packing District at Balthazar on Friday night with the boys ("A storm is coming")


Rags and Todd making their way from the paddock to the track. Johnny V up.












2008: Big Brown. 94,476 in the house. 95 degrees in the shade. Bathroom failures. Pregnant Space Gal. Empty bank account. But still had a whale of a time! While there was disappointment that we didn't get to see history, the card was terrific and thanks to the Toga Rez we had good seats just after the break and access to bathrooms that saved the Space Gal's day. 2008 Memories: 1) Benny the Bull winning the True North; 2) J Be K winning the Woody Stephens; 3) bringing the Space Gal to the Blarney for a Virgin Mary (do you see a pattern?); and 4) return trip to Balthazar on Friday and Da Marino on 49th for Saturday night's dinner and wine-inspired singalongs with the piano guy.

Jockey Shaq was in the house!













2009: Made the trip solo and roamed the vastness of Belmont Park all day long. Highlight of the day was meeting my pal Ernie and Dan Silver early in the morning and casually mentioning how much I liked Summer Bird. Was fortunate enough to attend the post-race press conference to see the joy of trainer Tim Ice and jockey Kent Desormeaux who achieved a tad of redemption after past Belmont failures. Memories include: 1) driving to Belmont for the first time and making it out of the war zone that was my parking lot after the day was over; 2) seeing blog comrades Alan H. and Robert from the TBA who I only see a few times each year; 3) getting my picture taken with Edgar Prado after his book signing and asking him if he reads my blog (he not too good with computer - umm, that's a negatory). 4) hanging with JB and the boys under their special tree for a few races and banging out a few show pool bets.

Bird is the word.















2010: ??????

We'll have some race thoughts up tomorrow evening before the Space Gal and I head out to Big Sandy.

Bombs Away Belmont

Tweet Keeping with our Triple Crown theme of looking at the $2 payouts (which we did for the Derby and the Preakness) we've scheduled out the payouts for the past ten Belmonts and it's Bombs Away! for the most part. The averages are somewhat skewed due to 3 large $70+ payouts of some super longshots who handled the Test of a Champion and lined a few pockets along the way....with a fairly large field of 12 probable as of today, we can expect more to come in the form of huge payouts on Saturday. Only 2 of the last 10 favorites were successful in winning the race (Afleet Alex [2005] and newly anointed Hall of Famer Point Given [2001]). Empire Maker won as the 2-1 second choice in 2003. Here's a peek at the past ten Belmont Stakes:

Note: In 2008 there was a dead heat for show, so I used the higher of the two payouts for the tri and super payouts (they were close).

The average odds of the winning horse over the past ten years is 19-1 amounting to an average $2 win payout of $40. So with no prohibitive favorite (Ice Box will be the most likely get the nod as this year's favorite) the race appears to be wide open.

More later this week, prior to the launch of the Space Shuttle down to Big Sandy for our 5th consecutive Belmont Day.... I'm half rooting for an Ice Box win so I can roll out the Ice Ice Baby video....with a Ice Double (last year = Tim Ice).