Breeders Cup Chat : Midnight Lute

Top 10 Performances of 2008

jshandler — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:56:00 GMT

Although the Eclipse Awards are six weeks away and the best horses in each division will be decided then, I thought it would be a fun to do some voting of our own.

Since I still haven't decided on some of the divisions and I don't expect you guys/gals to do all that research, we'll keep this simple. This is a vote for the Top 10 Performances of 2008. It can be for any division, in any single race.

Obviously, there are many to choose from, that's what makes this so tough and fun. After reading mine, I'd love to see what everyone agrees and disagrees with. Feel free to post your own Top 10.

10. Commentator, Whitney Handicap - This was the highlight of the remarkable gelding's fabulous year. He not only won the event for the second straight year by nearly five lengths, but posted a 120 Beyer, which was by far the highest number of any dirt horse going more than a mile this season. Of course, he also recorded the best Beyer at less than a mile in 2008 as well. Not a bad year for a 7-year-old.

9. Benny The Bull, Dubai Golden Shaheen - All four of Benny's wins came in spectacular, come-from-behind fashion, so it was tough to choose between them. I nearly picked the True North Handicap at Belmont because it looked like he had no chance to win in deep stretch but somehow got up with a devastating late charge. However, you can't overlook his performance in Dubai, which was against better. It was breathtaking.

8. Proud Spell, Kentucky Oaks - The Larry Jones trainee not only beat a solid field of 3-year-old fillies, she destroyed them. The five-length victory gives her the edge over Music Note for divisional championship honors.

7. Red Giant, Clement Hirsch Turf Championship - Not only did the 4-year-old colt show grit in edging Out of Control by a head, but he set a new North American 1 1/4-mile turf record in 1:57.16, breaking a mark that had stood since 1977. That's impressive. Out of Control's effort should not be overlooked either.

6. Curlin, Dubai World Cup - His 7 3/4-length romp wasn't against the best of fields, but it was still a tremendous effort. It also solidified him as one of the best horses since the turn of the century.

5. Goldikova, Breeders' Cup Mile - The French invader knocked off a talented group of boys, including last year's winner Kip Deville, in spectacular fashion. Her turn of foot in the final sixteenth was eye-popping, and a highlight of the weekend.

4. Midnight Lute, Breeders' Cup Sprint - Speaking of BC highlights, the 5-year-old Real Quiet horse may have provided the weekend's best performance with his amazing 1 3/4-length score, in which he set the BC record of 1:07.77 for six furlongs. It was his second straight BC Sprint win and amazingly, came in only his second start of the year.

3. Stardom Bound, Oak Leaf - Her BC Juvenile Fillies win was great too, but the Oak Leaf was even more dazzling. The Tapit filly rallied from the clouds to mow down rivals in the stretch in a scintillating 3 1/2-length score, doing it in a time of 1:42.44.

2. Zenyatta, Apple Blossom Handicap - It's difficult to choose her best performance of the year since she went undefeated. Obviously, her Ladies Classic triumph was special and locked up divisional honors. But the Apple Blossom was scary good. The 4 1/2-length victory was against a very good group, including champion Ginger Punch, and it proved she was just as good on dirt as synthetics, if not better.

1. Big Brown, Kentucky Derby - Many of us have gone on record as saying Big Brown was not our favorite horse, but you cannot discount what he did in the Derby. It was one of the best performances since Secretariat, considering he did it from the 20-post and in only his fourth career start, and it was so dominating. It may be a long time before we see a 3-year-old do that again under those circumstances.

Some of the great performances I reluctantly left out of my Top 10 were Old Fashioned in the Remsen, Pyro in the Risen Star, Big Brown in the Florida Derby and Preakness, Da' Tara in the Belmont, Raven's Pass in the BC Classic and Eight Belles in the Derby.

Let the debating begin!!

Curlin Retirement Leaves a Huge Void For 2009

jshandler — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:06:00 GMT

The announcement earlier this week that Curlin would not race in 2009 was not a surprise, but the reality of it made me come to one disappointing realization:

Other than Zenyatta, there really aren't many top-tier older horses I am looking forward to watching next year.

With Big Brown and Curlin now out of the mix, we now have the two most popular, and arguably, the two best North American-based dirt horses retired. And that's just the beginning of it.

Some of the notable older horses who have either already been retired or will likely be retired after 2008 are Student Council, Ginger Punch, Hystericalady, Benny the Bull, Midnight Lute, Red Rocks, Evening Attire, Zanjero, Perfect Drift, Lava Man, Red Giant, Tough Tiz's Sis, Zaftig, Alwajeeha, Sealy Hill, Lewis Michael, Dreaming of Anna, Mauralakana, Heatseeker, as well as European stars Zarkava, Raven's Pass and Henrythenavigator. There is also probably a decent chance that Commentator and/or Kip Deville will be gone after their final races this year.

Kind of depressing, isn't it?

At least we have the top 3-year-olds to look forward to. Well, some of them anyway. That's because two of the top Kentucky Derby hopefuls, Vineyard Haven and Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Midshipman will winter in Dubai for Sheikh Mohammed, as well as BC Juvenile Turf winner Donativum likely going to England for Princess Haya.

Again, thank our lucky stars for Zenyatta.

Before I paint too bleak of a picture, there are still some exciting horses that should return in 2009, most of them females - Ventura, Cocoa Beach, Music Note, Proud Spell, Forever Together and Indian Blessing (Baffert's long range goal for her is the Dubai World Cup Sprint) to name a few. And, of course, there is Stardom Bound, who should only get better as a 3-year-old.

As far as the males, 3-year-olds like Colonel John, Mambo in Seattle and Denis of Cork should improve, and sprinter Fatal Bullet looks like he'll be a force. Perhaps the one older horse I am looking forward to seeing more than any other is BC Dirt Mile winner Albertus Maximus, who is set up for a big 5-year-old campaign.

l should also point out that this year is not unlike any other. The reality of horse racing today is that this is time of year when horses retire. It's the nature of the sport and we have to accept it. It's time for the new stars to make their mark.

However, it doesn't take away from the fact that the departure of Curlin, Big Brown and many of our other favorites leaves a huge void for 2009.

Sprint Championship Could Be a Bunch of Bull

jshandler — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:41:00 GMT

As we have seen during our heated debates regarding Horse of the Year and 3-year-old filly champion, the Eclipse Awards voting certainly brings out some strong opinions in all of us. On this blog especially, people voice their opinions loud and clear, and without much consensus. It's the same way in the Blood-Horse office, as even us writers have vastly differing outlooks on many of the upcoming awards.

Take the Sprint championship for example. To me, there is only one deserving winner of this award: Benny the Bull. The 5-year-old was spectacular is all four of his races this season, including the Dubai Golden Shaheen in which he beat a deep field of world-class sprinters. Although his season and career were ultimately cut short due to injury and he was forced to miss the Breeders' Cup, I strongly believe his four stakes wins (three of them graded) were more than enough to earn the award.

To my surprise, when discussing this division with my co-workers Lenny Shulman and Evan Hammonds, they had vastly different opinions. The conversation went something like this:

JS: At least, we can all agree that Benny wins the sprint championship, right?

LS: No way. It has to go to Midnight Lute. Did you not see the Breeders' Cup? He ran six furlongs in 1:07!

JS: Yeah, but he only raced twice this year and only won once!

LS: It doesn't matter. He is the defending champion and somebody had to knock him off in the Breeders' Cup to take it away.

JS: Evan, please be the voice of reason here. Tell him Benny wins it. You can't give a horse an award based on ONE win!

EH: What about Ventura? She deserves strong consideration too. She won three graded stakes this year, including the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, and she beat Kip Deville and all but one of the boys in the Woodbine Mile.

JS: C'mon guys. Look at the entire body of work for the year, not just the last couple months. Benny won three graded stakes and probably beat the deepest sprint field this year.

LS: Midnight Lute, hands down. He's been the best for the last two years. You can't take it away from him. His Breeders' Cup was phenomenal.

EH: I don't know who I'm voting for yet, but I will bet you anything Lenny is right; Midnight Lute will win. I've seen too many of these. That's the way the voters will go.

JS: You guys are nuts. Did you watch the Dubai race, the Tru North or the Smile Sprint? He was absolutely spectacular with that closing kick! Why does the first half of the year always seem to get forgotten about in these awards? It's like all anyone cares about is the Breeders' Cup and the rest of the year doesn't matter.

LS: You've got a lot to learn kid.

JS: You guys are getting so old that you're losing your minds...

As you can see, us bloggers are not the only ones who argue about these awards. It happens everywhere. And, as always, we never settle anything.

So, what do you say? Benny, Lute or Ventura?

Breeders' Cup Thoughts - One Day After

jshandler — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:26:00 GMT

What a great weekend of racing. We saw several outstanding performances, including three on Ladies Day Friday and many more on what will be now known as "European Saturday." Less than 24 hours after a very successful Breeders' Cup 25, here are a few thoughts and a breakdown of some of the standout races:

First of all, hopefully we haven't seen the last of Curlin, but if we did it was a disappointing way to go out. Most of the 50,000 at Santa Anita were pulling for the superstar to defend his Classic title. It wasn't meant to be. As I wrote on Friday, he had too much going against him - the lack of significant early speed and more than anything, he was just slowing down after a long campaign. Whether Curlin fans want to admit it or not, he hasn't looked all that sharp in his last two starts and after finally facing some elite competition, it caught up with him Saturday.

There should no excuses about the Pro-Ride, surface, which played fair all weekend. Curlin got beat fair and square by a couple very good Europeans. Give Raven's Pass all the credit. He is peaking at the right time while still going through a long season against the best in Europe. It was his first time on the surface as well.

By the way, I don't like kicking people when they are down, but did I tell you about Casino Drive or what? He just wasn't ready for that class. I still can't believe how low his odds were.

To reiterate about the Pro-Ride, I am one of those who was very impressed with the surface. After talking with trainers and horsemen all week, most had good things to say about it. There seemed to be no biases and most horses got over it very well. For all the complaining about having a Breeders' Cup on a synthetic surface, I think it turned out to be a success. It also played very fair from a handicapping standpoint. And most importantly, there were no breakdowns.

I thought Ladies Day Friday worked very well too. It gave horses like Ventura, Stardom Bound and Zenyatta a showcase and they shined. I know some people still don't like the idea of having the fillies and mares run on a different day, but after Friday I would say the majority of the people I talked to thought it was a success. I would still go back to ‘Distaff' instead of ‘Ladies Classic', but I give the Breeders' Cup credit for trying to be creative.

Here are thoughts on some of the races:

Filly and Mare Sprint - The first of three spectacular performances on Friday. Ventura capped a terrific 4-year-old campaign, where she won three stakes and earned more than $1.2 million for Juddmonte. Nothing less than an outstanding performance would have beaten Indian Blessing, who also ran a winning race. They are two special fillies and hopefully we wil see them next year.

Juvenile Fillies - In the week leading up to the race many people at Santa Anita thought Stardom Bound was vulnerable because of her running style. I was not one of them. What I saw in the Debutante and Oak Leaf told me that this is one freaky filly. She confirmed it in the BC with another breathtaking win. Seeing Stardom Bound make that move around the turn was one of the highlights of the weekend. I cannot wait to see where she lands as a 3-year-old and what she will accomplish. She will be one of the major stories of 2009.

Ladies Classic - What can you say about Zenyatta that hasn't already been said? She is truly spectacular. Her seemingly effort Ladies Classic win capped an exciting Friday and kept her undefeated in nine starts. We can only hope she runs next year, and who knows, maybe a year from now she will try to the boys in the Classic.

Also, there is plenty of time for this, but Horse of the Year is now going to be very interesting between Zenyatta and Curlin. Both are certainly deserving and my early guess is Curlin has the edge. But Zenyatta is going to garner a lot of votes. Let the debating begin!!

Turf Sprint - Great race, great finish. I wasn't one of those who had $75 winner Desert Code, but it would have been nice to have the biggest score of the weekend. Anyone have it? Just goes to show that toteboards can light up when you have ridiculous early fractions.

Dirt Mile - I wound up playing Albertus Maximus after A) seeing his nice odds compared to Well Armed and B) watching how good he looked in the paddock. I am usually not one of those with an astute eye for picking out horses who look good before the race, but when I saw Albertus Maximus 10 minutes before post I ran to the window. This is one of the most physically impressive colts I have seen in a long time and he proved it on the track. Great job by cutting-edge trainer Vladimir Cerin, who turned this horse around after taking over for Gary Mandella. One of his secrets? Using a hyperbaric chamber to help him recover faster. Very cool. I am looking forward to seeing Albertus Maximus race as a 5-year-old. He has a lot of upside. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the 2009 Classic.

Mile - Wow. Goldikova's turn of foot in the final sixteenth was breathtaking. It was definitely a weekend highlight. Kip Deville ran a winning type race, but was no match for this freaky 3-year-old filly. Not sure what the future holds for either, but it certainly was a memorable race.

Sprint - The most disappointing race of the week for me. I touted Fabulous Strike, but he just didn't fire. Not sure what happened to him, but even at his best he probably wouldn't have beaten Midnight Lute or Fatal Bullet, who ran a huge race. What a job Bob Baffert has done with Midnight Lute, who in the early part of the season didn't even look like he would make it back to the track. Winning two consecutive BC Sprint's is a tremendous accomplishment. Hats off.

Sprint Division Becomes Wide-Open

jshandler — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:01:00 GMT

With so many divisions seemingly wide-open for the Breeders' Cup, there was at least one that we thought we had a pretty good grasp on. The Sprint.

Not anymore.

In the last seven days the Sprint went from being a division with two clear-cut favorites, to one with more questions than perhaps any other division.

First, defending champ Midnight Lute's comeback was derailed last weekend at Del Mar, as he finished a disappointing 10^th in the Pat O'Brien Handicap. It left serious questions as to whether he is the same horse who won the 2007 BC Sprint and Eclipse Award, and if he is suited for running well on synthetics. Stay tuned there.

More stunningly, we learned on Wednesday that Benny the Bull has been retired. We were all looking forward to watching him in the Forego and pointing towards the Breeders' Cup, where he was going to attend to some unfinished business. But now the best sprinter in the world, who had won five straight, is no longer in the mix and it has left a gaping hole in the division.

So where does this leave the sprint division? Well, I guess the new favorite becomes Street Boss, who has also won five straight and is a synthetic specialist. His closing style is very much like Benny the Bull's and now the Bruce Headley trainee looks to have the edge on the rest.

Lucky Island also becomes a major contender. The Argentine-bred has won four in a row, including two in graded company and may have more talent than Street Boss. But will he like the surface? Same goes for the undefeated Bustin Stones, who has gone gate-to-wire in all five dirt starts. But he hasn't run since April.

One horse it would be wise not to forget about is Fabulous Strike, who when healthy, might be faster than any of these. I talked to trainer Todd Beattie about the 5-year-old Smart Strike gelding today, and he said all systems are go.

Fabulous Strike, who has won 10 of 15 starts but has raced just once this year, has been scratched from his last two starts, including the Vanderbilt. Beattie said Fabulous Strike had a bad foot bruise that required work and some rest, but he is now on target for the Sept. 27 Vosburgh, a race that he won by nearly six lengths last year. The Breeders' Cup is definitely the goal.

"He's training fantastic," said Beattie, who is based out of Pennsylvania and has Fabulous Strike stabled at Presque Isle Downs. "He's right on schedule for the Vosburgh. We've had some bumps in the road, but the good news is that we'll have a real fresh horse for the Breeders' Cup. I have a lot of confidence in him and now it seems like the division is open to anybody."

One other we must not forget is J Be K. The 3-year-old faltered in the King's Bishop but he is still a force with his electric speed.

It should be an interesting two months.