Closing One Chapter, Opens Another

Tweet I can't tell you how many times in my life I've been asked if I'm related to Uncle Don (I'm not, different spelling), but I do remember his late night Rock Concerts during my youth. He unfortunately passed away yesterday at age 76 due to heart failure. It seems like a lot of folks from my childhood have been passing away in the past few months, we're just getting older I guess...and when one chapter closes, another opens.

We finally can close the Zenyatta chapter (she got the quan), the mare who has dominated the racing scene over the past two years. She really was not a factor in 2008, as Big Brown and Curlin were the horses grabbing the main headlines. Which goes to show you that another horse will step up in the next nine or ten months to grab our fancy......

Some thoughts and notes on last night's affair and whatnot....

- I'll apologize ahead of time, and I'll probably be skewered for this, but Marylou Whitney didn't impress me to the extent that others seem to be gushing all over her. To be honest, she reminded me of Lovey Howell who just finished her tea and crumpets. Ok, she said some nice things about the backstretch workers and taking care of the horses, I get it, but something just rubbed me the wrong way about her....maybe it's the blueblood, political connectivity thing....oh well, you know what they say about opinions.

- Now Omar Moreno did impress me. When he said "this is the best day of my life" I thought it was coming from the heart and I felt good for the kid. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders.

- Can we dump Kenny Rice as emcee (I called the brutal jokes, by the way)? Here's a vote for Jeannine Edwards or even Jerry Bailey to emcee next year's Awards. Some of his comments were waaaay out of line and completely sexist.

- Kudos to Big Drama for winning the Male Sprinter category. I've always been a Drama fan and although he lost at Saratoga to his main competition Majesticperfection, I'm glad he won the Award. Based on his 4 5 year old debut, a track record performance Saturday at Gulfstream, it looks like he's full steam ahead for 2011.

- Another way to put the HoY debate behind us would be a Triple Crown chance in June at Belmont Park. Wouldn't that be sweet?

- Interesting that the DRF voting bloc favored Blame by a pretty wide margin, 38-21.

- No Such Word got a vote denying Blind Luck from being a unanimous selection. Can I get some of the drugs that voter was on?

- Lots of mentions about "the fans" all night long in just about every speech. I'm not a supporter for the fans to vote on these awards. I say leave it to those who cover the sport day in and day out all year long. The NTRA should be trying to recruit new bettors, not fans. The business side of me says that's what pays the bills. Maybe it's time for a leadership change.

- They need to put a time limit on speeches. Maybe they could play Fugue for Tinhorns as the "hook music."

- No mention by the Handicapper of the Year about takeout or boycotts?

- Mike Repole could have been played by a young Al Pacino, no?

Ok, here's our Don Kirshner tribute.....have a good week.

Total Eclipse of the...

Tweet Top 10 Things That Won’t Happen Monday Night

Pletcher! Zenyatta! Blame! Claiborne Farm! It’s the Eclipse Awards from the Fountainebleau Miami Beach Hotel! The excitement is killing me! Ok….it’s time for one of my Top Ten Lists for things that definitely won’t happen Monday night, but we wish they would so it would liven up the annual yawner that is the Eclipse Awards….

10 – LeBron James accidently stops by looking for his 2010 MVP award, even though Kobe beat him by a nose. Take your talents to a different awards ceremony LBJ….

9 – The PlayersBoycott.org group pickets the event, racing press asks…”and who are you again?”

8 – Calvin Borel storms the stage looking for Castellano….he’s informed that Javier is not a finalist and bursts a vein in his forehead.

7 – DRF/NTRA Handicapper of the Year and Canadian Brian Troop steals the show, thanks Andy Beyer for all he knows about handicapping (this one actually may happen).

6 – Dominguez rides six winners at the Big A and catches last minute flight from JFK to collect his Eclipse for Outstanding Jockey.

5 – Todd Pletcher wins his fifth Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer and thanks his fake twitter account for his new found popularity.

4 – Emcee Kenny Rice tells a number of really funny jokes.

3 – Jess Jackson shows up tipsy and mentions the phrase “always a bridesmaid, eh Jerry?” to Moss causing a free-for-all in the Fountainebleau lobby. Seth Hancock comes to Moss' defense.

2 – Mike Repole announces Uncle Mo’s retirement saying he’s way too valuable at stud to run in the Kentucky Derby……and finally the #1 thing that definitely won’t happen on Monday night….

1 – Blame wins Horse of the Year and a nation rejoices…TVG cuts to Ruidoso Downs.

D'oh: Belated Recap

Tweet Who am I?

A) Trainer Michelle Nihei after the Marathon

B) Everyone who wagered on Life at Ten

C) Trevor Denman ready to make a lifetime signature call

D) The gate crew in the Juvenile Fillies Turf

E) Jaycito's connections after watching the turn into the backstretch

F) Me, after Shared Account nipped Midday at the wire = totally wrecking my Pick-3.

G) All of the Above

Man, was that quite a weekend. My serious recap for The Buffalo News is here. My not-so-serious recap is here. As in, right here.

I've taken a few days to reflect on the events that occurred in Louisville, Kentucky this past weekend. I was sitting in my neighborhood bar this evening to pick up a couple steak sammys for the Space Gal and I, and overheard not one, but two conversations talking about the Classic and the terrific race that was. Not only did the ratings triple versus the 2009 edition, but people continue to talk about that awesome stretch run by the great Zenyatta. It truly was a thing of beauty. I actually said to the Space Gal..."holy sh!t she's gonna win," during her dramatic drive to reach the wire ahead of the solid and steady Blame. As Patrick eloquently stated in yesterday's Paulick-worthy post, we saw a gear we've never seen before....and what a gear it was.

Horse of the Year, you say is the next debate. Quibble away pundits....I'll go back to reading the latest AJ Jacobs novel (hilarious, by the way) I really couldn't be bothered. Then again, MLB's Golden Gloves were awarded yesterday and I ignored those, too. I'd rather get excited about the Cigar Mile and the Clark Handicap, thank you very much.

One thing that's kind of been lost through this whole, Queen Z thingy, is that one Garret Gomez, got the monkey off his back. Well, maybe not the Derby monkey, but a large chimpanzee. He won a big one, and he beat back Martin Garcia and Lookin at Lucky in the stretch, the mount he was taken off of after the Run for the Roses. I say big congrats to GoGo...it must feel great. A few weeks prior he was feuding with trainer Michael Maker when he refused to mount a horse that just didn't seem right. I obviously don't know all of the facts, but I have new found respect for Gomez, and am really happy he finally got that big W. I've always been a GoGo fan back to my first Derby visit in 2006....a TC race is next....

Wonder if Workforce had a nice flight home? Hope he didn't pay for the expedited passport...

I'd rather peeps (and tweeps) would start talking about her trying Dubai in March (on the synth!)...now that would be a decent discussion. No retirement announcement yet....I can see Jerry do a little globetrottin' with the Big Z...you'd turn the Middle East upside down....

C'mon J-Moss....turn on the red light...

Little Bit o' This, Little Bit o' That

Tweet They say bad things happen in threes and it hasn't been a real good week for the horsey set. First, Tuscan Evening collapses on Sunday and then Odysseus was euthanized yesterday after a bout with laminitis. Let's hope the next shoe doesn't drop tomorrow.

I don't remember reading anything about Odysseus suffering, so that one caught me by surprise...

We all know it's part of the game, but man, it sure sucks when a promising horse's health starts to fail or encounters a sudden or unexpected death. It's never easy and I can't imagine how the connections of these horses must feel....

Let's try and change the topic to a more positive one, such as my second Spa visit of the meet! We're heading down 90 tomorrow and gunning for a sub 4:00 trip to the Saratoga Resident's residence. The only issues I've encountered is the nasty construction around Exits 39 and 40 and the track traffic once you get on Rt. 50 in the Springs. We'll see if we can do it tomorrow, with G-Money as my co-pilot. We'll be on the Porch tomorrow and in the backyard with the masses on Thursday (really looking forward to that).

Salvaged a weekend betting disaster by nailing a few Pick 3's at the Spa on Sunday, but really blew it when I left off Pletcher firster Summer Laugh off a backup ticket that included the 25-1 Too Big to Fail in the middle leg. Talk about a major blunder....luckily I rallied later in the card. Speaking of Pletcher firsters, I was also impressed by Hysterical Cat who broke his maiden winning by 3 1/2 lengths going away in the 5 furlong sprint in Sunday's 2nd.

Zenyatta is rolling right down the course I expected, pointing directly at the BC Classic and making sure nothing too difficult gets in her way.

I'm still a little bewildered by Quality Road's performance on Saturday, but am willing to give him a pass. He's earned it with some of his past efforts. Something tells me he'll be back and Pletcher will have him ready when it counts. Look for him to rebound in the Woodward.

Not sure I'm sold on the handicap system in racing. In golf, it is made to even the playing field between competitors, but it's based on past scores and statistical analysis. I don't know enough on how they determine how much of a weight break each horse gets (which is my ignorance), but it just doesn't seem right in horse racing. If my horse is faster, he's faster and I get to take home the bacon. I'm going to dig a little deeper here and try and understand it better. People forget that Rachel had a pretty decent weight break in the Preakness last year and didn't exactly win that one going away....and there's been lots of talk that the 5 lb advantage that Blame had on Saturday was the difference. Jury's out on this one for me.

After 10 years playing in the Buffalo accountants softball league (no, we don't wear pocket protectors), and losing in the championship game the last three years going in with an undefeated record, I decided to retire this summer. I promised not to pull a Favre on my staff during the season, and showed up to the game at Canisius College last night as a spectator/fan to see my firm's squad win our first title in league history, pulling off an undefeated season. Guess I should retire more often.

Off to look at Thursday's card....have a great couple days.

Whitney Memories

Tweet My last Whitney Handicap visit at the Spa was in 2006, when the Saratoga Resident and I pulled the Whitney-Haskell double over a boys weekend. My good fortunes had me working in Albany and New Jersey on the bookends of the trip and worked into the perfect racing weekend voyage. I took this picture of the famous Spa jockeys fountain of the 2005 winner Commentator's statue that beautiful summer day in August 2006.

We saw soon to be BC Classic champ Invasor hold off Sun King by a nose, with West Virginia (at 16-1) coming in third. I mention WV only because I was three deep on a big Grand Slam ticket that day and sure would've loved to see West Virginia win it (not that I didn't cash on Invasor). But I digress. The big question is will we be seeing another foreshadowing today of this year's BC Classic champion in Quality Road or Blame (or even the ever present Musket Man) like we did in 2006?

I can't see QR getting beat today, although they don't run the races on paper and the late running style of Blame (and the weight break) is enough cause for concern. My plays for today's Whitney:

$5 Tri: Quality Road over Blame and Musket Man (3/2,6) = $10
$2 Tri: Quality Road over Blame, Musket Man over Haynesfield (3/2,6/4) = $4

Good luck to all.

The Toga Party has two points in play this weekend....the Whitney (where most contestants have selected either QR or Blame) and the Crazy Eights day....Sunday 8/8's number of winners for the 8 horse. This is where we separate the laundry and see who will be taking the lead at the half mile marker.....

Just for old times sake...here's the 2006 Whitney with it's exciting head bob finish....

Is Z's Campaign Weak Sauce?

Tweet The picture to the left was taken last fall in the packed paddock at Santa Anita Park moments before the historic Breeders' Cup Classic wherein the great Zenyatta became the first female horse to win the year end "championship" race. This week's Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance WTF topic is "Can Zenyatta gain anything by running on the West Coast again?"

While the last two years' campaigns could be considered "weak sauce" by some (sans last year's Classic - deemed by some as a home game), I'm going to defend the big mare and list my reasons why....And this coming from the author of a tongue-in-cheek entry named The Top 10 Reasons Why Big Z Won't Come East. This is why I don't disagree with the way she is being handled....

1. There's only one race that counts remaining this year. The Big Z's next two races don't really matter to anyone except a historian or two. Her connections are just trying to get her ready for The Big One on Saturday, November 6th. Basically she doesn't need to gain anything at this point. She needs to be ready for BC Classic Day, period. That will be when she'll face her stiffest competition to date (see this weekend's Whitney), so she needs to be in top condition on that day.

2. She's proven on dirt. There's no reason to ship her across the country and have her run in the heat and humidity of Saratoga, she's already won on dirt at Oaklawn and should handle it at Churchill Downs. I'd be shocked if they run her at Belmont in the Beldame next, also.

3. Rachel is no longer the target. She showed up in April for the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn, and Rachel didn't (which probably was a good thing as she obviously wasn't ready). Chances are they'll never meet (except in the Hall of Fame). I imagine Jess Jackson will run her in the Ladies Classic/Distaff and call it a day. Z's connections are focused on bigger and better targets.

4. Back to back Classics would cement her legacy. It would also dispel the notion that she beat a weak field in 2009, which is complete poppycock (I knew I could work that word into a post someday).

5. 20-0 would be pretty cool. Staying out west gives her the best chance to retire with a pretty remarkable record. And winning her last west coast appearance in a race named after her would also add to the legend.

I know my thoughts are probably in the minority, but I still think focusing on #1 above is the key -- there's only one race to get ready for, if she loses the Hirsch or her next start and wins the Classic at Churchill, who's going to remember that she lost the Hirsch, or for that matter, give a damn about it.

Not me. And certainly there are 3 million reasons why Mr. Moss won't.