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Happy Canada Day for all our Canadian friends to the north!
Two weeks to Del Mar and three weeks to Toga and summer racing. Now that we've reached the midpoint of the 2008 racing year I've listed MY five best and worst moments in horse racing for the first half of 2008.
Best Moments in Racing - YTD 2008
1 – Big Brown Wins Kentucky Derby from Post #20
A ton of doubt existed if he could do it from the far post, and when trainer Dutrow grabbed it with glee at the Post Position Draw on 4th Street in Louisville, it was exactly where he wanted to be. A stunning performance by the big fellah was easily the best moment for me so far this year.
2 – Curlin Wins Dubai World Cup in Romp
The world champion lived up to expectations in overpowering an international field of horses in the world's richest race ($6M). His record setting 7 3/4 length victory at the Nad was not only after a five month layoff since his BC Classic win at Monmouth, but was drug-free to boot.
3 – Tiago Outduels Heatseeker at wire in Oaklawn Handicap
In maybe the year's best race between two terrific rivals, Tiago nipped Heatseeker by a head in the Oaklawn Handicap. They would duel again later in early June with Heatseeker avenging the loss. Unfortunately, Heatseeker has suffered a career ending injury and will be retired.
4 – Pyro’s visually stunning victory in the Louisiana Derby
At the time, one of the leading Derby contenders, Pyro, made a visually impressive move late to win the La Derby at the Fair Grounds by three lengths. In all kinds of traffic, Pyro, ridden by Shaun Bridgmohan, navigated the victory to put him over the $1M mark in career earnings. He recently won the Northern Dancer (G2) on Stephen Foster Day at Churchill. Unfortunately he disappointed his fans on Derby Day, but his performance on that day in early March, makes my top five.
5 – Proud Spell Upsets Indian Blessing in Louisiana Oaks
On the same day as Pyro's La Derby win, Proud Spell shocked BC Juvenile Filly champ Indian Blessing in the La Oaks (G2), with a time that was actually better than Pyro's in the La Derby. It was the second loss for Indian Blessing to Proud Spell, and a rematch in the Kentucky Oaks loomed. Unfortanately, Blessing was rested until Belmont Day and the rematch has still not occurred. Proud Spell went on to win the Ky Oaks, after flirting with entry in the Derby.
Honorable Mention: Big Brown's Florida Derby win from post 12, Student Council's Pimlico Special win in the slop, Sweet Vendetta's win in the Black-Eyed Susan for breeder David Cassidy.
Five Worst Moments in Horse Racing - 2008 YTD
1 – Eight Belles breaks down in gallop out after placing in Derby
Not much more needs to be said here.
2 – Congressional Hearings on June 19, 2008
The sport takes its shots on Capitol Hill with threats of governmental intervention if issues such as steroids/drug use, breakdowns, excessive whip use and centralization are not addressed. Worst moment #1 above, a big driver of the feds getting involved.
3 – Big Brown falters in Triple Crown bid
Whether it was the heat, the loose shoe, the bad ride, the faulty bathroom facilities, the starter or the quarter crack, the Triple Crown has still not been won in 30 years. While it drove up interest in the sport for a few weeks, it also showed the world the ugliness of the connections and the difficulty of the Test of the Champion in front of a huge NY crowd.
4 – Santa Anita track problems due to excessive SoCal rains early in year.
The $11M Cushion Track installed at Santa Anita last summer suffered major drainage problems in January and February, wherein 11 racing days and numerous revenues were lost. Just last week the track announced another overhaul of the surface to start this month with the Australian-based Pro-Ride surface replacing the current surface. With the Breeders' Cup scheduled for October, the installation schedule is very tight and they could be pushing the envelope with the timing.
5 – Jeremy Rose suspended for six month for abusive whip use at Delaware Park
With PETA already on the doorstep after the death of Eight Belles, comes an unfortunate incident wherein Rose struck his mount in the eye. Delaware Park officials immediately suspended Rose for six months. Another black eye.
Honorable Mention: Breeders' Cup moves all five ladies events to Friday and renames the Distaff, Einstein's owners fail to obtain NY license for Manhattan on Belmont Day, Preakness field weakest in years, Mother Goose gains only four runners, Pletcher finishes last in Derby for third straight year, Buffalo CPA starts racing blog :)
I'm sure I missed something feel free to chime in!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Mid Year Bests and Worsts
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Dutrow to be Suspended
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Add another blemish to the Dutrow legend. ESPN is reporting this morning that Trainer Richard Dutrow will be suspended for fifteen days for exceeding the limit (doubled) on an approved medication called Clenbuterol on Salute the Count, a horse who placed second in an $100K Oaks Day stakes race at Churchill Downs. The purse money of $20,000 will also have to be returned. He has been suspended for drugs ("doping issues") for nine consecutive years now. "Clenbuterol is an approved medication in horses. The bronchodilator increases lung capacity, though it has steroidal properties. It is illegal to administer it on race day, but states vary on the length of time beforehand that it can be administered. In New York, for example, it cannot be administered within 96 hours of race day. In Kentucky, the length of time is 72 hours." Tough to teach an old dog new tricks I guess.
It's a tough news day for racing with the well-reported Jeremy Rose suspension that is covered here and here within the TBA. Not what the sport needs right now. This will certainly be further exploited by the PETA folks and is a total black eye for the sport.
Why athletes feel the need to call out others, like the well-publicized Shaq attack on Kobe, always gets me. Don't they realize what these folks say has a bigger impact than they realize. I have always been a huge Shaq fan, but was not very happy with his performance reported on TMZ.com. I'm not a Kobe fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I hope he lays low, stays under the radar and let's the topic blow over, the damage is done and Shaq looks stupid, no reason for him to jump in. Ok, I'm off my soap box now.
Congrats to WNY-based Bella Cavello Stables on their victory Monday by Gold Marie in the 9th, a $10K claimer, at Colonial Downs. Gold Marie (by Golden Missile, out of Cherry Flambe) paid $7.40 as the second choice and won by 4 lengths. The stable has Gregson (3rd race) and Coal Valley (4th race) both running tomorrow at Monmouth Park and La Chica Rica (9th race) running on Friday night at Mountaineer. Congrats and good luck.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Ohio Derby
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The big race of the weekend is the 74th running of the $300K Ohio Derby (G2) being run at 1 1/8 miles at Magna's Thistledown outside of the greater Cleveland area.
The field for the race is as follows:
1 - Smooth Air/Manoel Cruz/Bennie Stutts, Jr./2-1
The field is fairly strong with two Derby horses, Smooth Air (who draws the rail) and Z Fortune both graded stakes winners leading the field as the top two morning line choices. Manny Cruz takes his ninth consecutive mount on the 3yo bay colt Smooth Air (11th in KD), winner of the Hutcheson Stakes at Gulfstream in January and ran 2nd to Big Brown in the Florida Derby (G1). Z Fortune won the LeComte at the Fair Grounds in early January and was the 2nd place finisher behind Gayego in the Arkansas Derby (G2). Medjool is the third choice at 7-2, and gets a new rider in Jose Caraballo. He is by 2002 Derby champion Monarchos out of Perfect Story, and has run all of his races on synthetic surfaces. Your Round has hit the board in 5 of his 7 races (only once on dirt in a N1X), but has faced decent competition. Instill has the second highest BSF (101) coming off his last race at Hawthorne, but is probably a candidate to bounce. Cherokee Artist has the red-hot Jeremy Rose aboard after breaking his maiden on Derby Day at Churchill.
I’m looking for Z Fortune to rebound under Gomez and prevail over Cherokee Artist and Smooth Air. In the exotics I will use Your Round and Medjool underneath.
In Belmont news, the undercard possibilities were released on Thursday by NYRA where there will be a guaranteed $1M Pick-6 starting in race six and a guaranteed $1M Pick-4 starting in race eight, both concluding with the Belmont Stakes.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Start Spreadin' the News....
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..... we're leaving in three weeks! The chance to see a Triple Crown will be quite exciting! It should be a terrific three weeks of hype leading up to the June 7th third leg. There should be at least one worthy new challenger on the scene (Casino Drive) as well as some Derby comebackers with 5 weeks rest (3rd place finisher Denis of Cork, 4th place finisher Tale of Ekati and maybe one or two others) to attempt to spoil the first TC since 1978. Big Brown put it into another gear with 3 furlongs to go and left his weaker rivals in the dust yesterday in Preakness 133. He was so short a price at 1-5, that the $2 exacta with 40-1 Macho Again paid a measly $36. We had it at $2 and at $1 (collecting $55) to cut the days losses to $45 with Macho ruining the tri play by getting up one spot on Ichabad Crane who was carrying the red-hot Jeremy Rose (ITM eight times including the Preakness). As projected here, Racecar Rhapsody cleaned up the super. We also picked up the Special/Preakness double for 20 beans, mistake not substituting my saver Student Council in my $10 bet when AP Arrow scratched, oh well, live and learn ("that's why they call it gambling"). I kept my Preakness exacta streak alive at four, however!
I was looking back at my 07 and 06 Belmont pictures this morning and the excitement has already started on this end. The 8 1/2 train ride from Buffalo to Penn Station should give us plenty of time to handicap on the eve of Belmont Day, get us into NYC for happy hour at the Campbell Apartment in Grand Central (cool place to grab a cocktail) and on to Balthazar for a little Bouillebaise for dinner, I'm already chomping at the bit for Belmont weekend to arrive. The competition looks like it will be a step up for this race and "The Test of a Champion" will define the greatness of Big Brown or send him like the 10 others before him since 1978 to wonder what could have been...
Photo courtesy: AP/Rob Carr
