Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance

De Francis Memory: A Huevo

Blood-Horse Staff — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:46:00 GMT

By Frank Vespe, That's Amore Stable

Once upon a time, there was a trainer widely considered to be “mad” and also a “genius.” His name was Michael Dickinson.

Most often, the words “mad” and “genius” were combined; most people thought of him as a mad genius, tinkering with exotic approaches to the hidebound game of horse racing and achieving racing feats seldom, if ever, witnessed previously.

First five finishers in the Cheltenham Gold Cup? Sure, no problem.

Bring Da Hoss to the Breeders’ Cup off a two-year layoff and win? You got it.

Occasionally, some people chose not to use the word “genius.” They thought that “mad” pretty much covered it. But they were in the minority.

Michael Dickinson was English, and so he was most often associated with turf racing. He also had a rather well-known desire to win the Kentucky Derby, and in this way, he was exactly like every other horse trainer in America. Shortly after our story, he would pursue that dream with a horse named Tapit, who won the Laurel Futurity and the Wood Memorial; that dream, alas, would not be fulfilled.

What Michael Dickinson was mostly not associated with, however, was dirt sprints, which in a way was too bad, because one of the three most important races contested in Maryland, the state in which he lived and trained, was the De Francis Dash (G1) — a six furlong contest on the dirt, or, as the Yanks liked to call it, the main track.

The De Francis Dash had its own interesting history. Inaugurated in 1990, the race memorializes Frank De Francis, who owned the Maryland Jockey Club until his untimely death in 1989. Typically placed a few weeks after the Breeders’ Cup, it provides one last opportunity for sprinters to make their case for Eclipse Awards; and four horses — Housebuster, Cherokee Run, Smoke Glacken, and Thor’s Echo — have successfully done so.

In 2003, a series of misfortunes visited on one horse — A Huevo — brought Dickinson and the De Francis together.

A Huevo was a talented, West Virginia-bred son of Cool Joe (who?) out of the Baldski mare Verabald. He had reeled off victories in his first four starts, including a track record in the West Virginia Breeders Classic (from which he was disqualified because of the presence of clenbuterol in his system).

What made A Huevo an intriguing horse in the De Francis was that the race was his third start off a layoff — a layoff of four years. After his win in the West Virginia race, A Huevo had suffered various injuries. Dickinson gave him two years off to recover but was dissatisfied. So he gave him another year. Still not ready. One more year? Yup, that does the trick.

The hot favorite in that year’s De Francis was former claimer Shake You Down, winner of four prior graded stakes that year, third-place finisher in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, and owner of eight consecutive 100+ Beyers entering the race, with figures ranging up to 121. Shake You Down was sent to the post at odds of 4-5.

When the gates opened, Shake You Down, with good early speed, went forward to press the pace set by Crossing Point.

A Huevo, with no early speed, went directly to the back of the pack, and for a while, seemed to be going backwards.

But Shake You Down was getting quite a fight up front. Crossing Point led him through a quarter mile in 21 4/5 seconds and a half in 44 2/5. The pair was pushed along by a couple of others, and when Crossing Point finally backed out, local favorite Gators and Bears and Way to the Top continued to push Shake You Down.

Meanwhile, out in the middle of the racetrack, A Huevo was getting revved up. The bay came rolling up outside of the leaders, motored on by, and cruised to a nearly two-length win in 1:08 4/5. “Another Michael Dickinson miracle,” called track announcer Dave Rodman.

Others agreed. Owner Mark Hopkins told The Blood-Horse, “This might just be Michael Dickinson’s greatest achievement. It is mind-boggling what we went through with this horse. I have no idea what we’ll do with him but hopefully it will be half as spectacular as this was.”

The ending of our tale is a mixed bag.

Unfortunately, A Huevo’s subsequent efforts were nowhere near as spectacular as his De Francis. Even worse, a couple of years after the De Francis, he suffered injuries necessitating his euthanization. He won six of 12 career starts.

Michael Dickinson no longer trains horses. He is the godfather of synthetic surfaces in the United States, which means that the “mad genius” label continues to stick to him, although many horseplayers would probably lean more towards the “mad” side these days.

Shake You Down, who held on for second in the De Francis, raced for three more years, earned more than $1.4 million, and was retired sound and healthy. “He’s a grand looking son of a gun,” says John Evans, of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. “He looks like you could run him tomorrow.”

But probably not off a four-year layoff.

Will the Breeders' Cup Be Able to See Beyond Sea the Stars?

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 23:08:00 GMT

By Rob Fundter, The Amateur Capper

After winning the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe for his undefeated, six race G.1 2009 campaign, the Irish “Horse of the World” may skip the Breeders’ Cup; the new star of the “World Thoroughbred Championship” weekend…it’s locally based LOOKIN AT LUCKY!

The Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships may have to endure another major defection of a 3 y.o. with uncommon ability. RACHEL ALEXANDRA has been shut down for the year…old news. After a dazzling Arc win, SEA THE STARS is more unlikely to ship to Santa Anita than his connections led the media to believe in the weeks leading into the storied race at Longchamp. The absence of both horses will be disappointing, no doubt. Fret not, horse racing fans…as Yoda from the Star Wars series once predicted when Anakin Skywalker was lost to the dark side, “There is another…”

LOOKIN AT LUCKY made the G.1 Norfolk S. look deceptively easy. For just over ¾ of the race, the professionalism that he showed in three prior wins was on display from the young son of SMART STRIKE.
He usually breaks well and rates kindly until GARRETT GOMEZ gives him the cue to “go”. Even when he broke from the rail in the G.1 Del Mar Futurity, he waited patiently at the rear until GOMEZ decided to chance a rail run or sweep around horses on the backside and turn. LOOKIN AT LUCKY runs inside, between horses, and can sweep around his competition. He has a magnificent stride, effortless and simple. LOOKIN AT LUCKY exudes class in every race he runs. His dominance of the Southern California juvenile crop was emphasized in the Norfolk S. stretch run.

The 1 ¾ length margin of victory was a testament to the immense talent of the BOB BAFFERT trainee. It sure wasn’t because he was giving 100% the entire length of the stretch. Once he hit the lead, LOOKIN AT LUCKY pricked his ears and started to pull himself up. After all, that was about the distance he’d run when he won the Del Mar Futurity. He’d passed his competition and saw nothing but empty track ahead…LUCKY thought the race was over.

The HRTV isolation picked up the detail beautifully. GOMEZ spanked the colt a few times and reminded him of his unfinished businesses with his signature, emphatic crosses. LOOKIN AT LUCKY twitched his left ear back as if to say “Oh, do you want me to care about that plucky little colt on the rail that I’d already passed? I’m sorry, I thought he was done. I hear TREVOR DENMAN saying he’s trying hard to come back so I’ll turn on the afterburners and put him farther in the rear view mirror, okay?”

LUCKY proceeded to pin both ears back, stuck his neck out and lengthened his stride while widening to a comfortable lead in a matter of 100 yards. I had to laugh out loud at what I’d just seen on the replay which stirred interest from my children, who at this point in their lives put up with my love of the sport more than they share the passion. I replayed what I’d seen three times, pointing out how professional LOOKIN AT LUCKY was through the running of the first 7 furlongs of the race. Then I showed them how “green” the colt still was despite apparently having learned his lessons. I paralleled their young lives and experiences to LOOKIN AT LUCKY’s Norfolk run. Sports, human or equine, have always been terrific teachers in my lifetime and I use them whenever I can to guide my children’s development.

LUCKY, not unlike the developing human child, will need to learn how to compete at the top of this game through failure. He’s that talented grade school athlete who runs over and around his less proficient classmates. You remember the kind, built like an athlete already with muscles showing where the other boys still have baby fat. There may even be a bit of facial hair to intimidate his competition a little more. He’s a nice kid, not demoralizing his competition because he just doesn’t know he’s that much better than his friends.

Then, it happens…some of the others develop out of that awkward stage and begin to challenge the status quo. A terrific equine example is the 2007 3y.o. crop. STREET SENSE was the upset, daylight winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Champion 2y.o. of 2006, and became the first horse to break the BC Juvenile/Kentucky Derby jinx. He left a troubled CURLIN, who entered the Derby undefeated and untested, in his wake.

But CURLIN learned from his Derby run to snatch victory from the hands of defeat. Two weeks later, STREET SENSE was on the verge of competing for the elusive Triple Crown when he stormed past CURLIN in upper stretch to open up by more than a length. Then the competitive light bulb clicked in and CURLIN surged back on the outside to win the Preakness by a nose.

So, who will be LOOKIN AT LUCKY’s foil? Will he become the next SILVER CHARM, a true competitor who will beat most top class horses if given the ability to eyeball them home. At this stage, it appears that we’ll have to wait until the Triple Crown trail to find out who will emerge from this crop as the legitimate challenger. Will it be DUBLIN? How about BACKTALK? Can HOT DIXIE CHICK become 2010’s RACHEL ALEXANDRA?

The only relative certainty will be that LOOKIN AT LUCKY is the most likely Breeders’ Cup race winner. If he succeeds as expected, he will become the 2009 Eclipse Award winner for Juveniles and becomes the early Kentucky Derby favorite.

Is there yet another? At this point it appears that LOOKIN AT LUCKY is THE ONLY ONE!

Breeders' Cup is Half Full

cdawahare — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:48:00 GMT

By Rob Fundter, The Amateur Capper

In every division, there will be many compelling vignettes on both days of the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships. The cream is rising to the top as we are a little more than eight weeks out from a weekend of thrilling competition. Eliminate all negative thoughts of what could have been if certain horses would travel to Santa Anita in early November. There are too many good horses and stories to waste time on what could have been.

CLASSIC

RACHEL is obviously the compelling story in this race division and deserves mention as the leading candidate for the Eclipse Award honoring the Horse of the Year. However, if you encounter a fringe racing fan who asks you why she's not running, don't go into a diatribe extolling her virtues and how she's "done enough".

Instead, pump up the horses that have performed in top races in this division. Start off with the essence of a racehorse, recent Pacific Classic runner-up and Santa Anita Handicap winner EINSTEIN who was recently purchased by Santa Anita Park's owner FRANK STRONACH. He wants a house horse with a great shot at winning the big prize at his famous racetrack. RAIL TRIP validated his Hollywood Gold Cup win with another solid race in a 1 ¼ mile G.1 event, finishing 3^rd in the Pacific Classic. Mention also that MACHO AGAIN, the Woodward Stakes runner-up who also won the G.1 Stephen Foster H., has earned nearly $1 million this year alone but stands to win over three times that amount with a Classic win.

Inform them that last year's Eclipse-winning Older Female ZENYATTA could take on the boys, instead of defending her Ladies Classic title, while trying to stamp her would-be perfect 14 race career with a BC Classic exclamation point.

Then warn them that the United States contingent should be prepared for a foreign invasion considering that European based runners finished 1-2 in the Classic last year at this same track. From Ireland comes a beast named SEA THE STARS, considered internationally as the best horse in the world. All he's done is win five G.1 races in five tries this year, all on the grass. It's considered common knowledge that if SEA THE STARS comes to the Breeders' Cup, he will contest the Classic for which English bookmaker William Hill has already made him the 2-1 favorite.

JUVENILE

D. WAYNE LUKAS is back in the national spotlight with Hopeful S. winner DUBLIN, the Hall of Fame trainer's first G.1 win since FOLKLORE took the BC Juvenile Fillies in 2005. It was also his first Hopeful S. win since 2000, a race he's now posed for pictures six times.

Then tell them that LUKAS' successor in Triple Crown race success in the 1990's to early 2000's, BOB BAFFERT, has now won the Del Mar Futurity a record nine times!!! LOOKIN AT LUCKY will try to emulate BAFFERT's champion juvenile of last year, MIDSHIPMAN, who scored in the Juvenile after using the Del Mar Futurity as a stepping stone.

From the Midwest comes Arlington-Washington Futurity winner DIXIE BAND, a runner that Southern California-based jockey DAVID FLORES auditioned for WAYNE CATALANO as a potential Juvenile mount.

Then remind them there is one more major prep race in every circuit which will further narrow the field of juveniles. Juveniles, like human children, seemingly mature overnight. What's the hot stock today, may bottom out 2 months from now while a relatively inexperienced competitor takes the market by storm.

Remind them also that the Juvenile could produce a Kentucky Derby winner, even in defeat. MINE THAT BIRD finished dead last in the Juvenile in '08 but scored a 50-1 shocker on Derby day. In 2007 STREET SENSE became the first Juvenile winner to capture the Derby since the Breeders' Cup started back in 1984.

JUVENILE FILLIES

This could turn into the most exciting race of all. From New York comes Spinaway winner HOT DIXIE CHICK; from the Midwest, emphatic Arlington-Washington Lassie winner SHE BE WILD gave trainer WAYNE CATALANO two terrific hands to play at Santa Anita...oh, by the way, she ran the equivalent of four lengths faster than her male stable mate on the same card! MI SUENO still hasn't figured out how to stay focused through the whole race, but the SOUTHERN EQUINE STABLE runner recovered in enough time to capture the Darley Debutante for her second consecutive graded stakes win.

These are but three interesting races that will be part of an exciting weekend. Enjoy the final prep races throughout the world. It's a great time to be a thoroughbred racing fan!

P.S. Mr. JESS JACKSON: If you and Mr. STEVE ASMUSSEN want to bring RACHEL to join in the fun, you're more than welcome. I'm sure that CHIP WOOLLEY would understand if CALVIN dumped MINE THAT BIRD again to partner with RACHEL in the Classic.

Horses Americans Should Know VII - Sea the Stars

cdawahare — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:13:00 GMT

By Lisa Grimm, Superfectablog.com

While the US racing world waits for news of where Rachel Alexandra will appear next after another effortless bullet work, European racing fans got a chance to see their all-conquering hero again today when Sea the Stars set a track record at York in the Juddmonte International. The 3-year-old colt had scared off most of the competition long before he took to the track - only Ballydoyle was able to muster up three horses to face him. For those on this side of the pond who might not have been paying attention, here's how we arrived at this point.

Sea the Stars is nothing if not regally-bred; he is the latest Group 1 winner out of Kentucky-bred Arc winner Urban Sea, who died earlier this year from foaling complications. Her other star offspring include Black Sam Bellamy, My Typhoon and world-beating racehorse (and now top sire) Galileo. Even on his sire's side, there is a tradition of strong female performances - Sea the Stars is by Cape Cross (also the sire of Ouija Board), whose own dam was a champion.

But a fantastic bloodline doesn't necessarily translate into a great racehorse - indeed, a number of Sea the Stars' siblings are unraced - and his first start at two wasn't hugely inspiring (although certainly not discouraging); he finished a close fourth in a seven-furlong maiden race at the Curragh that also featured recent US immigrant Black Bear Island getting up for second. Moving to Leopardstown a few weeks later, Sea the Stars won and hasn't looked back since.

He finished 2008 with a win in the Group 2 Beresford Stakes and made his 2009 debut in the 2000 Guineas, defeating a field that included Rip Van Winkle and Mastercraftsman, the former 2-year-old champion. His win came despite a loss of training time earlier in the spring due to illness, but trainer John Oxx had no worries. The form of that race has certainly held up - Rip Van Winkle went on to convincingly beat his elders in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood last month - but it's clear he doesn't enjoy running against Sea the Stars.

Their next meeting, at Epsom in the Derby, was no more successful for Rip Van Winkle; he finished a well-beaten forth to victor Sea the Stars, who matched his elder half-brother Galileo in winning the race. The two horses met again in the Eclipse, which included talented older horses such as Breeders' Cup Turf winner Conduit and Cima de Triomphe (last seen finishing fourth in the Arlington Million). But even a bit of traffic trouble did not bother Sea the Stars - he ran right past Rip Van Winkle, who hung on for second this time. With the win, Sea the Stars became the first horse to win the 2000 Guineas/Derby/Eclipse treble since 1989.

It seems that the English Triple Crown is not among the goals for Sea the Stars, however - the St. Leger distance is predicted to be a bit longer than he would want to run. His future plans are said to include the Irish Champion Stakes - and perhaps the Arc or Breeders' Cup Classic; it's unlikely we'll see him race as a 4-year-old, which is rather a shame. At of this writing, he has a 6-race winning streak - it would be interesting to see how long (and how internationally) he could stretch it, given more time. It is not often we get to hold up the American horse as the more seasoned competitor, but it works in our favor in this instance - Rachel Alexandra has 10 wins from 13 starts and is on an 8-race winning streak, while Sea the Stars has won 6 out of 7.

We are lucky enough to be enjoying a year in which the two best 3-year-olds the US and Europe are already being hailed as all-time greats; wouldn't it be exciting to see them face each other (someday, somewhere, on some neutral surface)? Granted, it's a remote wish - but it would be quite a sight to behold. Here's hoping against hope that both are in training next year.

For other horses profiled in this series, including last year's Breeders' Cup Classic winner Raven's Pass, check out Horses Americans Should Know.

Louisville Floods & Racing History

cdawahare — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:42:00 GMT

By Lisa Grimm, Superfectablog.com

It's typically an extremely rare occurrence when my worlds collide - oddly, this is the second time it has happened this year.

As many in the archival world know, I write about horse racing. And some in the horse racing world have a vague idea that I'm an archivist, but people in both spheres are probably a little unclear about what happens in the other one.

Here's the short version for each group - first, for the archivists: horses run around a track and I comment on it. American horse racing has a long and storied history that could be more (and here I'm dropping in a professional buzzword) accessible - but more on that later. For the racing folk: archivists preserve documents, photographs, ephemera, etc. from the past so that people (and not just historians) can learn about (and from) that shared past. We also do a lot of complicated things with digitization and metadata - while the usual adjectives employed to describe our profession are 'dusty' or 'musty,' that's only a small part of what we do.

Quite often, the archives (and the archivists who work there) are located in the basement - and that becomes a major issue in, say, a flood. The Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs just completed a renovation to their basement (where the storage and, as ever, archives are), including new shelving, when they were hit by a flash flood yesterday.

New shelving to an archivist is a precious commodity - we are rarely lucky enough to get shelving that is truly designed for archival use and it is difficult to raise money for it (as we have been doing in our archives for many a long day) because it's not immediately apparent to someone outside the profession how much the right shelves help protect and maintain the collection.

But of course, even the best compact shelving cannot save the collections from the archivist's second-greatest fear - water. At least one of the comments on the Courier-Journal article by Jennie Rees is wondering why the historical collections were stored in the basement, where they would be subject to flooding - and while that may seem unusual to the public, that's essentially standard practice; except for the few institutions that have successfully implemented a visible storage project, cultural institutions cannot take up exhibit space with shelves and processing space - and you need a large open space for most useful shelving systems. Best practices may seek to get the archives and artifact storage above the flood line, but it rarely happens - indeed, when our archives moves into our new building, we will again be in the basement. (It may come as something of a surprise to some to discover that water damage happens even when collections are stored on higher levels - leaky pipes are a constant source of worry in the archival world).

Regardless of how the water gets in, archivists usually respond in just the way the Derby Museum staff did - by creating a human chain to get the materials and artifacts to higher ground. To add insult to injury, several museum employees lost their cars to the floodwaters while working to save the collections - but the good news is that it seems nothing was lost - just made very wet. Conserving wet materials is not as easy as just letting them dry off - the most effective approach is to have them freeze-dried and dealt with by a disaster mitigation firm. Obviously, that's not cheap, but some organizations are lucky enough to have insurance to cover those costs - I don't know whether that's true of the Museum, but I hope they are able to get their collections back to the pre-flood state I enjoyed when visiting the Museum only last month.

Public libraries are rarely that fortunate - and the Louisville Public Library sustained very serious damage to both the physical plant and the books and computers (as did several of the branch libraries). In their case, a fund has been set up and donations are being accepted; keeping libraries running can be a challenge under the best circumstances, but the combination of a down economy and a major disaster is one that no library director wants to face - it's a worthy cause.

I mentioned accessibility above and the lack of accessibility to horse racing history was, rather serendipitously, the topic of Teresa Genaro's article in The Saratogian today (a note to the archivists reading - Teresa writes the rather wonderful Brooklyn Backstrech blog and was one of my co-bloggers for BelmontStakes.com this year). She noted how difficult it was to authoritatively establish basic facts not only from the more distant past, but even statistics from recent years - and as someone on both sides of that fence, I couldn't agree more with her conclusions. American racing history is fairly widely dispersed - there's the Keeneland Library, the currently-damp Kentucky Derby Museum, the International Museum of the Horse, the National Museum of Racing and the National Sporting Library and while there is some crossover, for the most part, each has a different collection policy and research goals.

That list does not even begin to take into account an individual racetrack's holdings (and who knows what happens when they close - where are the records of Ak-Sar-Ben? Who will take on those of Hollywood Park?) including their film and video storage. Other sources of racing history, like the Daily Racing Form or Equibase, tend to be considerably more proprietary about their information. Unlike the aforementioned libraries and museums, making their information accessible is not the goal - and while that makes a certain amount of sense in their business models, it would be nice if they turned their data over to one of the aforementioned institutions or had a records management policy that involved making that data available online (with a preservation copy elsewhere) after a certain time period - I'd be happy to recommend a number of Kentucky-based archivists for the job.

It's difficult enough for researchers to find the information they are looking for under normal conditions; dealing with a disaster like the flooding in Kentucky makes the archivist's goal of preserving the past and providing access that much more difficult. The only potential upside is that the spotlight these cultural institutions unwittingly find themselves in brings in some much-needed funds for repairs and, hopefully, future improvements that serve both the collections and the public.

Racinos: Delivering the Big Horse for the Little Guy?

Blood-Horse Staff — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:50:00 GMT

Courtesy Quinella Queen of Turf Luck

Fresh off a trip up I-35 to Canterbury Park's fine presentation of the Claiming Crown, where the kind and courteous Ted Grevelis took time from his preparations for live blogging of the day to show a few out-of-towners the best seats in the house, I'm trying to catch up on the racing world news I missed while dodging deadlines at work.

As far as I can tell, the only things worth mentioning this week are: Saratoga, Rachel Alexandra, Saratoga, Del Mar, some podunk race in WV, Saratoga, racing is dying, Saratoga, Rachel Alexandra, never-ending NYRA saga, Rachel, Saratoga, Rachel, Saratoga...

This glut of East Coast-centric coverage is mildly irksome since out here in the Iowa cornfields, we are far, far from the likes of Rachel Alexandra or the Saratoga crowd of big-name trainers, owners, and jockeys. I'll not get a chance to visit the Spa this year, and every bit of Saratoga coverage serves to remind me that trying to follow along from home is vastly inferior to being there. (You might recall William Murray has an apt metaphor for viewing races on a screen.)

To add to my chagrin, quite a bit of the racing world seems to fault Mine That Bird's connections for depriving the racing public of a showdown at the Monmouth Corral. It seems like every journalist on earth is now asking Chip Woolley, "Why West Virginia?" Bloggers whine that a win in the WV Derby means nothing, and that the move detracts from the Kentucky Derby winner's already dubious stature. An underlying tone in much of the Mine That Bird coverage seems to imply that running in a G-2 at a racino with slots-inflated purses is not really racing.

To which, I say: Pshaw! Or, in modern terms: Give me a break! Mine That Bird's visit to West Virginia might be the best thing that could happen to the racing industry this year.

While the Internet, advance deposit wagering, and off-track betting parlors have allowed track handle to defy geography, I suspect that true fans -- committed, wagering fans -- are most often created at the track, where the oft-majestic presence of the horses, the roaring cheers of the crowd as the runners head down the stretch, the high-fives of victory and even the crumpled tickets of defeat result in an impression that lasts much longer than the experience of listening to a tinny race call on a laptop or clicking the TV remote.

While Saratoga and Del Mar (and, yes, Keeneland) are heaven on earth for a racing fan, those of us living far away from such divine tracks often have little choice but to frequent racing's limbo land of racino racing. Limbo land covers some pretty big acreage in horse racing nation, and many of these second and third tier tracks are located near substantial metropolitan areas.

While the racing industry bemoans its continued irrelevancy to the general public and longtime horseplayers focus on relatively obscure issues of little interest to the man on the street, it's been purses at racinos that have actually helped to draw big-name horses to the small-time venues. And big horses at little tracks get attention. The mainstream media comes to call. Folks learn that something special might be happening over at that strange oval off Route 2. They mosey over on race day, they place a wager, they catch the fever.

And it's easy to return to a racino: no admission charges or parking fees stand in the way of a return visit. There's much I dislike about racinos, and there's certainly much to criticize about how seldom racino management pays attention to its racing product, but one must admit they offer a largely untapped opportunity for the growth of the sport. A Kentucky Derby winner who barnstorms the racinos of the land just might attract the fans, attention, and handle the industry so desperately needs.

Meanwhile, this Saturday, race fans in western Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, and the West Virginia panhandle can rejoice in the gift those slot machines have wrought: a big horse is in town!

Giant's Causeway and Tiznow

cdawahare — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:13:00 GMT

Courtesy of Rob Fundter, The Amateur Capper

TOP STALLIONS THROUGH MID-2009 WERE CONDITIONED BY FAMOUS AIDAN O'BRIEN AND UNDERRATED JAY ROBBINS TO FINISH A NECK APART IN 2000 BC CLASSIC

GIANT'S CAUSEWAY has earned his sire's place atop the North American sire standings from his home at ASHFORD STUD. The son of legendary OVERBROOK stallion STORM CAT is a product of AIDAN O'BRIEN's prolific yard in Ireland. TIZNOW stands at WINSTAR FARM and his progeny are showing the potential to make his sire career as legendary as his back-to-back Breeders' Cup Classic wins. This may not have been possible if TIZNOW, who at age four became the equine version of Allen Iverson ("Practice; we talkin' ‘bout practice?), were handled by anyone other than patient JAY ROBBINS.

On track, GIANT'S CAUSEWAY was 2000 champion 3y.o. in England and Ireland as well as European Horse of the Year. He won eight graded stakes in 13 starts and culminated his career with a "tough beat" to TIZNOW in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Rival TIZNOW won seven graded stakes in 15 career starts was named American Horse of the Year and Champion 3y.o. of 2000, and Champion Older Horse of 2001. His stirring stretch runs winning back-to-back Breeders' Cup Classics, including "TIZNOW wins it for America" post "9-11" at Belmont Park in devastated New York gave the California bred a legitimate shot at a "second career".

GIANT'S CAUSEWAY has a slight edge thus far in the breeding shed. He has sired many good horses including European champion 2y.o/England champion 3y.o. SHAMARDAL in his first crop; there was also HEATSEEKER (G.1 Santa Anita H., multiple G.2's) and dual juvenile G.1 winner FIRST SAMURAI. GIANT'S CAUSEWAY has also been good with his daughters like $1.3 million earner MY TYPHOON (G.1 Diana S., multiple G.2) and last year's G.1 Spinster S. winner CARRIAGE TRAIL. Most recently, SWIFT TEMPER became a millionaire when she captured the G.2 Delaware H.

While TIZNOW was represented by champion 2y.o. filly FOLKLORE in his first crop, his sons have had more top-class success of late. WELL ARMED won the G.1 Dubai World Cup this year as decisively as he was beaten by CURLIN in the 2008 edition. COLONEL JOHN was second favorite in the 2008 Kentucky Derby (troubled 6^th) on the strength of his G.1 Santa Anita Derby win and proved he could win on dirt with a hard-fought G.1 Travers S. win. DA' TARA upset the '08 Belmont S., denying a troubled/spent BIG BROWN the Triple Crown. TIZNOW also sired two solid, if unspectacular 3y.o. fillies of 2007 in TOUGH TIZ'S SIS (G.1 Ruffian, G.1 Lady's Secret) and G.2 winner BEAR NOW ($1.08 million earnings). It was their misfortune to be born the same year as RAGS TO RICHES.

Young trainer AIDAN O'BRIEN will always be heard from; thus far in 2009, he is the leading trainer in Ireland and ranks second in Great Britain. His connection to the COOLMORE group led by JOHN MAGNIER assures this brilliant conditioner will always be well stocked with talented horses. This year alone, he's represented by top 3y.o.'s: Irish Derby winner FAME AND GLORY, St. James' Palace Stakes victor MASTERCRAFTSMAN, and Coral Eclipse runner-up RIP VAN WINKLE. He's also training venerable 8y.o. marthoner YEATS, most recently a winner of his fourth Ascot Gold Cup. Oh, by the way, he's also bringing along undefeated CAPE BLANCO; the son of GALILEO took the G.3 Tyros S. on July 23 and may return in the G.2 Futurity S. August 22 as a prep for the Stanjames.com 2000 Guineas. He's also trying to get 2,000 Guineas future book favorite STEINBECK back to the races. You get the picture...he's always loaded!

On the other hand, veteran conditioner JAY ROBBINS toils in relative anonymity with a very small stable in Southern California. In a recent interview with Pasadena Star-News' Art Wilson, his father DR. JACK ROBBINS said this about his son: "Jay's only problem is he can't take owners that tell him what to do." DR. ROBBINS added, "He's fired more good opportunities than he's preserved over the years." Through the end of the Santa Anita winter meeting, JAY ROBBINS had a record of 14-1-2-2 for a mere $130,380. That is a far cry from the TIZNOW years when his patient hand conditioned the 2000 Horse of the Year to a record of 15-8-4-3 in 2000-1 with earnings in excess of $6.4 million.

TIZNOW and JAY ROBBINS teamed up for their first Breeders' Cup Classic win in 2000, surviving a heart-pounding stretch battle with Europe's top hope GIANT'S CAUSEWAY for AIDAN O'BRIEN. The battle on the track won by TIZNOW rages on in the breeding shed for the equine warriors. As for the trainers, they were two ships that passed in the glorious Breeders Cup Classic night at Churchill Downs.

Boule d'Or - A New Beginning for an Old Friend

cdawahare — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:52:00 GMT

By Keith McCalmont, Triple Dead Heat

Great things can happen when a community comes together. Over the weekend, I was witness to an efficient, generous and well-intentioned quest carried forth by one horse rescuer, one bed-and-breakfast proprietor, one charitable horse owner for one lucky turfer by the name of Boule d'Or.

On July 6th, I wrote a post entitled Boule d'Or - An Old Friend I Hope Will Make It To Old Friends, on my blog Triple Dead Heat, detailing the life and times of an eight year-old horse who had just finished dead last in a $8K claiming race at Pleasanton. It was not the first time I had written about this remarkable long distance turf specialist. Previously I had covered his splendid front-running victory in the GII San Luis Rey Handicap at Santa Anita which boosted his lifetime earnings close to $600,000. Unfortunately, following that win on March 22, 2008, Boule d'Or seemed to lose his tactical speed and began to spiral down the claiming ranks switching barns twice along the way.

As Boule d'Or stock plummeted, I would handicap his races and donate my winnings (or a minimum of $20, if I lost) to the LongRun Thoroughbred Retirement Society. At the very least, I thought this racetrack veteran with 9 wins in close to 60 starts at tracks across the globe, might be able to raise some awareness for his fellow breed.

Boule d'Or has suffered through tough times before. He famously raced 29 consecutive starts without a victory, though he often managed to pick up some of the pieces. This most recent loss at Pleasanton had me worried as failing to bring home some feed money in a basement-level claimer marks the beginning of the end for a racehorse. For the past year I've kept an eye on my virtual stable hoping for Boule d'Or to show some signs of life - but it was becoming clear the horse was slowing down. In a July 6th blog post, I asked myself the gut-wrenching question, "...what will become of Boule d'Or if he cannot win at the $8K claiming level?"

Fortunately for Boule d'Or, Gail Hirt, a volunteer for Canter - Michigan, was reading and decided to take action. Hirt provides a home for no less than five Off Track Thoroughbreds (OTTBs) including the infamous Top Bunk whose story prompted the Top Bunk List which tracks horses that have earned more than $500,000 but are racing for less than $5,000.

On Saturday July 11th, I received the following email from Hirt.

***
Dear Keith,

I belong to a thoroughbred rescue called CANTER (Communication Alliance to Network Thoroughbred Ex-Racehorses) in Michigan. Mary Overman, a CANTER volunteer, the director of CANTER California and myself, along with the Friends of Barbaro on Alex Brown Racing message boards, watch these horses that are on or belong on the Top Bunk list. I actually now own the one and only "Top Bunk". We have been monitoring Boule d'Or's downward trend and are concerned for his welfare. Last week he ran at Pleasanton in California, which runs 11 days during the fair. He place last in his race. We are trying to find out where he is going from there. Mary has left messages for his owner I have a connection with Michael Blowen at "Old Friends" and will call him today to tell him the situation with "Boule d'Or" and see if there is anything he can do with this horse. Boule deserves to be retired somewhere where he will be safe. I just wanted you to know that, as you are, we are also concerned for this horses welfare. I will let you know what we find out. If you would like to call me, please feel free to contact me at the number below.

Sincerely,

Gail Hirt

***

Ten minutes later I received a follow-up email from Gail advising she had spoken with Michael Blowen at Old Friends and could I please call her. Blowen is the proprietor of Old Friends Equine which is a retirement facility for ex-racehorses. The facility is also home to a comfy bed and breakfast.

At the same time, posts were appearing on the Alex Brown Racing message boards advising that the group of racing fans that congregate there, known collectively as the Fans of Barbaro, may need to raise some money to claim Boule d'Or off the track.

***

In Kentucky, the ebullient Michael Blowen was busying himself with phone calls to California trying to locate a horse that handicappers in Pleasanton were trying to forget. Fortunately, Blowen is friends with Pleasanton track announcer Frank Mirahmadi who was able to put Blowen in contact with the Treasure family, who train Boule d'Or for owner Robert Gray. Oddly, Mirahmadi and Boule d'Or have a history together as our equine hero featured in the Hasta La Vista Handicap at Turf Paradise which Miramahdi famously called using 24 different voices including Marv Albert, Marlon Brando and Andy Rooney to name a few.

Blowen was able to get in contact with Paul Treasure, father of Boule d'Or conditioner Justin Treasure, and explained the idea of providing a home for a failing racehorse. The elder Treasure had never heard of Old Friends but liked the idea enough to pass on this information to Boule's owner, Robert Gray. It must be said that Gray has not had the best of luck with this poor old horse and it would be completely understandable if the gentleman wanted to continue trying to earn back a little bit of money on the erstwhile claimer. To say Blowen was surprised by Gray's response would be a major understatement.

The generous Robert Gray not only agreed to donate Boule d'Or to Old Friends free of charge, he also agreed to donate a significant amount of money to sponsor Boule's stall at his new home in the heart of Kentucky.

***

I spent my Sunday at Fort Erie watching the Prince of Wales Stakes. Arriving home after a long drive through terrible traffic I was greeted with the following email from Hirt.

Sunday July 12th, 9:39PM:

Time to start blogging....WE GOT HIM!!!!!

They are donating him and some money to Old Friends. I'll be up til 11pm. Call me when you have a few.

***

I called Hirt who relayed the story to me of how a horse that finished dead last on July 5th at Pleasanton would soon be enjoying retirement in the company of such old friends as Ogygian, Awad and Sunshine Forever. "This boy will be retired for life," exclaimed Hirt.

In little more than a week from my hopeful blog post seeking a new beginning for Boule d'Or, the hard work of Hirt, Overman and Blowen provided a hard-knocking horse a new home. I've spent the past few days talking to friends about it and I'm still overcome with joy for a horse I've only ever watched race online. Less than two weeks from today, Boule d'Or will arrive in Kentucky to the care of Blowen and Old Friends. Hirt and Overman will make the journey from Michigan to greet the old turfer. I'm hopeful of making the trip myself.

***

As an epilogue to this story, Blowen called me at work on Monday afternoon to thank me for my efforts in raising awareness about Old Friends and Boule d'Or. I advised Blowen that the whole time they were working, I was busy handicapping at The Fort and had done little more than type a few kind words. Blowen thanked me nonetheless.

It is a story which knows no end of charity. Blowen went on to proclaim that when Robert Gray found out Blowen was arranging transportation funds for Boule d'Or that the ever-so-kind owner also agreed to pay to trailer the horse from California to Kentucky. Blowen has a good deal worked out with Bob Hubbard Transportation for charitable situations like this, and it's just one more positive link in a chain of horse racing community we do not hear enough about.

Horsemen care about their horses. Good horsemen take the time to go the extra step for the benefit of the horse. Robert Gray, along with Justin and Paul Treasure, deserve a great deal of respect for the care they have shown an old racing warrior.

Old Friends is currently undergoing a bit of renovation work as Blowen looks to expand his equine retirement community. More rooms are being added to the bed-and-breakfast located on site. New water works are going into the back acres and soon there will be room for a few more horses. Canadian champions Benburb and Thornfield are on their way to Old Friends and will join Boule d'Or as star attractions.

Until the construction is complete, Boule d'Or will be stalled at Crimson King Farms on Iron Works Road, just two miles from Old Friends. Boule d'Or will have a home across the street from a top local vet and will enjoy the comfort of a pasture bordered by the top stallion farms in the state. When the time comes, Boule d'Or will make one last move down the road and settle into his retirement at Old Friends Equine.

Boule d'Or has raced in four countries at thirteen racetracks. He is a GII winner with $600,000 in lifetime earnings. He went viral on Youtube thanks to the vexing voices of Frank Mirahmadi. He holds a track record at Nad Al Sheba in Dubai which will stand forever as the track is soon to be replaced. Boule d'Or has accomplished great things in his racing career, but the lovable lad legged his most important victory last by capturing the hearts of the racing community. All it took was one horse rescuer, one bed-and-breakfast proprietor, and one charitable horse owner.

Congratulations old friend, I'll see you in Kentucky.

***

If you would like to know more about Old Friends Equine please be sure to visit their website or book a weekend at their bed and breakfast. Details can be found online at Old Friends Equine

A Beautiful Day for a Night Game

Blood-Horse Staff — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:10:00 GMT

By Frank Vespe, That's Amore Stable, LLC

“It’s a beautiful day for a night game.”

So said the Fordham Flash, baseball Hall of Famer Frankie Frisch, sometime around 1935. Which almost makes it sound as if the good Jesuits at Fordham were churning out classes of Dizzy Dean-wannabes in the early part of the last century.

Nonetheless, the reason he would have said such a slightly off-kilter thing in 1935 was because that was the year the Cincinnati Reds, in their electrified Crosley Field, played the first night baseball game, against Philadelphia. By 1941, most major league teams had begun playing night games, and though World War II prevented some clubs from hopping on the bandwagon, virtually all had by the late 1940s. (Except for the Cubs, who held out until 1988).

Playing games at night revolutionized baseball and helped cement our national love affair with the game. It allowed the working man — it was widely assumed that the fan was a man (sample grab from the New York Mets’ theme song: “Bring your kiddies and your wife, guaranteed to have the time of your life!”) — to attend games, rather than merely listening to them.

These days, the vast majority of major league games are at night. And attendance has climbed from a shade under 6,000 per game in 1935 to about 30,000 per game today.

Coincidentally — or perhaps not so — the attendance at Churchill Downs for its three recent Fridays of night racing averaged almost exactly 30,000.

Which is another way of saying that it has taken racing about 74 years to discover — and, surely, that’s the wrong word — that scheduling races at a time convenient to fans is a way to encourage more of them to come out.

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

Seventy-four years is a long time, and a lot of things have happened since then: the US population has more than doubled, as has the number of teams in Major League Baseball. Wars, technological innovations, natural disasters, and economic dislocation have all left searing marks on our world.

And, now, at long last, a major racetrack has introduced night racing.

Truly, the wheels of change oft grind slowly — but this is ridiculous.

On the other hand, it whets your appetite for what comes next. I’ve heard of this newfangled thing called a television that lets you watch actual moving pictures right inside your home. Maybe we could get some races on that…

World Series of Horse Racing?

cdawahare — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:24:00 GMT

By Gene Kershner, EquiSpace

While checking out some of John Daly's funky golf pants the other day, I started thinking about the Skins Game, a made-for-TV golf event, usually held around Thanksgiving which would bring together that year's hottest names in golf. This led me to thinking about how what kind of made for TV event could bring horse racing back into the mainstream again after the Triple Crown Season is put to rest. Also, in my thought process was how can we get Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra into the same race. Golf used to put together its four major winners into the World Series of Golf match that was a made-for-TV event, which is now the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. This got the gears (squirrels) spinning in my head even further. Using Ernie Munick's idea of a race during halftime of the Thanksgiving Day Lions game, which would be the perfect time to produce my dream event called the World Series of Horse Racing, which could be held during the fall meet at Churchill Downs. Can you think of a better time slot for promoting horse racing to the masses?

Here's how a horse would qualify:

1) Must win a Grade I over 8.5 furlongs

2) Must be at least 3 years old

3) Field limited to top 14 qualifiers based on set criteria (i.e, standings, earnings)

Based on the above criteria, here is the list of the top 20 horses through June 30^th that would qualify for the WS of Horse Racing event if we used the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance Standings based on a point system for graded wins:

1	Rachel Alexandra
2	Einstein
3	Pioneerof the Nile
4	Mine That Bird
5	Stardom Bound
6	Life is Sweet
7	Summer Bird
8	Santa Teresita
9	Quality Road
10	General Quarters
11	Seventh Street
12	Hooh Why
13	Macho Again
14	Zenyatta
15	Well Armed
16	I Want Revenge
17	Albertus Maximus
18	Seattle Smooth
19	Jonesboro
20	Magical Fantasy

That's a pretty impressive list of horses vying for the national championship of racing. You've got the Classic winners, you've got the Dubai Cup winner, you've got Zenyatta, in addition to quality 3 year olds like I Want Revenge, Quality Road and Pioneerof the Nile and quality older horses like Einstein and Macho Again. Talk about a monster race that would generate some unbelievable chatter, not only in horse racing land, but in the main stream.

Of course there are a slew of other issues to work out like weight assignments, purse money, television rights, my vig (thought I'd slip that one in there), how it affects the Breeders Cup, etc. Of course, Wayne Lukas will probably put this out there next year as his idea anyway.

Could it work?

141st Belmont Stakes

Blood-Horse Staff — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 06:30:00 GMT

Courtesy of Rob Fundter, The Amateur Capper

CHARITABLE MAN WON’T GIVE AWAY THE FINAL TRIPLE CROWN RACE OF 2009

Unfortunately, there will not be a Triple Crown winner for the 26th consecutive year. MINE THAT BIRD, the 50-1 longshot winner of the Kentucky Derby, ran bravely down the Pimlico stretch but could not catch the Amazonian filly RACHEL ALEXANDRA in the Preakness Stakes three weeks ago.

While I respect that MINE THAT BIRD made a solid showing in the second leg, I cannot change my opinion of him as a legitimate G.1 winner. There have been many winners of Triple Crown races that succeeded because of fortunate circumstance as opposed to great skill. In my lifetime there was GATO DEL SOL in the 1983 Kentucky Derby, LIL E. TEE in the 1991 renewal, and GIACOMO in 2005. Until he proves me wrong, MINE THAT BIRD will be in that class that will never again win a G.1 race after their Derby upsets.

I’m going with CHARITABLE MAN, trained by KIARAN McLAUGHLIN who conditioned 2006 winner JAZIL. Without MINE THAT BIRD, CHARITABLE MAN would have been a heavy favorite. The $200,000 yearling purchase was a graded stakes winner at two, taking the G.2 Futurity at Belmont Park. That day he defeated eventual Louisiana Derby winner and starting Kentucky Derby favorite FRIESAN FIRE. Obviously injured, he was off until contesting the G.1 Blue Grass in April. The layoff, an outside post, and a wide trip made that effort nothing more than an afternoon workout over Keeneland’s Polytrack.

Last out in the G.2 Peter Pan, CHARITABLE MAN settled nicely behind run-off HELLO BROADWAY (entered in the G.2 Woody Stephens over 7f on the undercard). He was deftly handled by ALAN GARCIA who allowed his mount’s natural speed to put him into winning position on the wide Belmont Park far turn. A lesser horse, in only his second start of the year, would have bid for the lead and tired. Not so for the son of 1999 Belmont Stakes winner LEMON DROP KID. CHARITABLE MAN persevered while tiring at a slower rate than his competition.

He owns a tactical advantage on every Belmont Stakes contender but does not need the lead to win. The slower tempo of the 1 ½ mile test of stamina will allow CHARITABLE MAN to use his high cruising speed to be positioned on or just off the lead. He will use the stamina from his sire to get the final ½ mile to win.

There are many horses with pedigree ties to the Belmont Stakes. This will make the Triple Crown “name horse” MINE THAT BIRD, a son of 2004 Belmont Stakes winner BIRDSTONE, heavily played. Clearly he’s been the best of a depleted 3y.o. crop (I WANT REVENGE was scratched the day of the Derby and QUALITY ROAD was declared during Derby week) and has every chance to pick up another minor award on Saturday. With rain in the forecast for Friday, there is a chance there will be moisture in the track which will move MINE THAT BIRD up several lengths. Perhaps circumstances will once again smile upon the CHIP WOOLLEY trainee and CALVIN BOREL can collect a jockey Triple Crown for 2009.

Want to take a swing against the short prices or create value under them? Take your pick among CHOCOLATE CANDY (damsire SEATTLE SLEW), SUMMER BIRD (sire BIRDSTONE), LUV GOV (sire TEN MOST WANTED 2nd in ’03 Belmont S.), and MINER’S ESCAPE (grandsire A.P. INDY won ’92 Belmont S.) to outrun their double digit odds with the help of Belmont Stakes stamina in their genes.

Finally, I am confused that DUNKIRK is coming back so quickly after a terrible stumble in the Kentucky Derby. He is the short price “X-factor” in this year’s race. DUNKIRK started the Kentucky Derby as a well-supported 5-1 second choice on the strength of his fast G.1 Florida Derby second to QUALITY ROAD. After that dismal Derby result, he can bounce back and challenge CHARITABLE MAN and MINE THAT BIRD down the stretch as easily as finish off the board. I just don’t know if that stumble may have caused an injury that will manifest itself during a race. Remember that stumble TODD PLETCHER-trained RAGS TO RICHES had when she upset CURLIN in the 2007 Belmont Stakes? She raced only once more, upset by LEAR’S PRINCESS in the G.1 Gazelle, before an injury was detected. A healthy RAGS TO RICHES would have torched that Gazelle field.

I hope they all come back safe…and CHARITABLE MAN will be posing in the winner’s circle. Enjoy!

Opening Day 2009 - Canterbury Park

cdawahare — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:53:00 GMT

Courtesy of Ted L. Grevelis (Owning Racehorses)

Opening Day crowd of 7,000+ line the apron prior to the start of Race 3

While the eyes of the horse racing world are turned to the Triple Crown, there are other races to be run and less hallowed tracks than Churchill, Pimlico and Belmont have their meets just beginning. Here in Minnesota our racing season is short, but Canterbury Park makes the most of that opportunity each and every year.

Last season's opener was Derby Day and it was bright and sunny and packed to the rafters. This year was a Friday night under the threat of rain... When I got to the track about 30 minutes before first post, the parking lot looked like a typical Saturday. Decent for a Friday night, but not great for a season opener. More of the same once I got inside - a nice crowd, but nothing special. There was a glimmer of hope from the south as there was a line of clearing that looked like it wanted to come our way. Maybe if we could get some of that it could help save the night a bit?

Entering the track I went right to the paddock, located just inside the main gate to the right, for the first race. There was certainly an air of exuberance. Friends were greeting friends they haven't seen since last season and after an extended off season, everyone was happy to be back racing.

Canterbury Paddock prior to the 1^st race of the season

The first race went off as scheduled and as the final horses moved into the starting gate, the crowd started applauding and went the latch sprung and track announcer Paul Allen began the call there was whooping and hollering from the growing crowd - we were back in action!

They're Off!!! The gate springs open in the first race of the 2009 season

Dean Butler piloted the first winner of the meet, the Mac Robertson trained 3-5 favorite Mister Merz. Merz is stablemate of Rebel Stakes (G2) winner Win Willy and carries the colors of the Jer-Mar Stables. There was a sad note to the open festivities as Golden Prancer broke down in the turn for home. Jockey Adolpho Morales was unseated but thankfully unhurt as was the jockey of Erinn and Aaron, B.L. Hollingsworth. Golden Prancer was vanned off the track. The celebration of the first race of the season was a subdued one.

Fortunately the second race featured a great comeback by a big favorite in a stretch run that took up every stride to the wire. Five to one Crossing Guard tried to take the field wire to wire and built up a 10+ length lead entering the stretch. Even money favorite, Ma Barker made her move under Juan Rivera and started to chop into that big lead with every stride. As the wire got closer, so did Ma Barker. The crowd was really worked up by mid-stretch and as Crossing Guard's stride shortened, I'm sure the wire seemed like it would never come for Dylan Williams. When they finally crossed it looked like she had hung on...until the instant replay. Maybe Ma Barker DID get there? After what I'm sure was an agonizingly long wait for the photo (been there!), Ma Barker indeed got the win and the place went nuts saluting a very game filly winning her first race since her maiden at Turf Paradise. The first Daily Double of the season: $6!

The chalk parade continued in the third as Tahitian Queen romped keying a $15 pick 3! Wow... The upside for me in this race? Tahitian Queen was ridden by Jose Ferrer who is picking up the mount on Fizzy Pop in Sunday. More on that in the next post later today.

Finally, in the 4th, it was bombs away as Engaging Lover blew up the tote board at 25-1 for Harvey Berg and jockey Luis Medina. Bernell Rhone's comebacker Belicheck - off over a year until his start at Tampa a few weeks ago - combined for an exacta payout of over $300. Amazingly enough, a husband was telling his wife behind me - "I told you! I told you!" The feeling of KNOWING regarding a 25-1 shot. Rarely happens, but when it does...

Finally my stomach started to remind the rest of my body that it was dinner time. At Canterbury Park, choices abound. On the main level there are two main bars - one near the top of the stretch, the other just past the finish line. These bars bookend a snack bar, pizza and pasta and a Mexican stand as well as a small restaurant inside the card club. The fabled Canterbury Nut Lady also operates her stand as you head up to the Mezzanine.

The Legendary Canterbury Nut Lady

As you head up the escalator, there is a Famous Dave's BBQ stand, another snack bar and a shout out to the "Great Minnesota Get Together" (below) - many of you would probably call it our State Fair - where you can get fries, foot longs and, of course, Pronto Pups (corn dogs to the rest of the world)!

A taste of the Minnesota State Fair

Finally, upstairs in the Clubhouse (below) is another snack bar, the Clubhouse Buffet and the Park Restaurant. Choices for literally every taste and budget. I went for a slice of pizza which was better than any "venue" pizza you've ever had - and plenty of pizzeria's as well!

Clubhouse seating at Canterbury Park

Dinner leads me in to the 'specials' that are run at Canterbury. Each racing day, from Thursday to Sunday has a theme attached to it. Friday nights are Minnesota's Finest Happy Hour with live music on the apron, 1/2 price pizza, drink specials and contests. Saturdays are Classic Saturdays with Classic Cars on display, a giveaway, other food and drink specials and a $10,000 Pick Six pool guarantee. Sundays are Pepsi Family Day which features pony rides, face painting, a petting zoo and a kids "Race the Track" after the final race. When Thursday racing returns in a few weeks it'll bring the return of buck night which is just as it implies: $1 admission, $1 hot dogs, $1 Pepsi, $1 nachos, beer specials and a "Who do you like today contest?" with the prize of a $20 win, place, show wager. Solid daily promotions, good, affordable food and exciting racing action - a definite winning recipe.

Live band grace the Canterbury apron every Friday night

There is also something else about the crowd at the Shakopee oval - it's young. There were plenty of twentysomethings and thirtysomethings around as well as families. These days this is an anomaly when you head out to the racetrack. Maybe it's because we're a summer meet? Maybe because we run in the evenings during the week? I went ahead and asked a group of younger folks sitting behind me what their reasons were for picking the racetrack. The number one answer was fun! This was followed by the excitement of wagering and, interestingly enough, the puzzle of trying to figure out a race and the feeling you get when you nail one. They all agreed as well that it was an inexpensive night out. Five dollars in, inexpensive food (if you stick with the specials) and you control your wagering budget. They can all hang out together and make a lot of noise and pit their skills against each other. It was a mighty encouraging conversation. I don't know if we're unique in Minnesota, but it would be nice to see this trend spread throughout the country.

I was fortunate enough to run into old partner Brian (of Somerset Sam and Somerset Wish fame). It was great catching up with him and a special congratulations on his engagement to longtime girlfriend Andrea! It was also fortunate as my choice for the 6th race, Henry the K, ran off the board. We got so caught up in talking, I never placed the bet. So thank you, Brian!

In the finale of the evening, a Minnesota bred Maiden Special Weight contest, partner Janet Weber (breeder of Miss Belle Express) had a homebred running, Tahkodha Bill. Bill had a bought with seconditis last year and was trying to break that streak on his return. While it didn't happen (he was placed 3rd after being interfered with in the stretch), it was great to catch up with Janet and her entourage: Linda, John and Vickie. John and Vickie also are partners with Janet in the filly Standing Rock who races Sunday in the 3rd, just before Fizzy Pop's race so we'll be there to root them on!

The final attendance figure was 7,482 which was significantly less than the 10,000 plus in attendance last year, but a chilly, overcast, very windy Friday night with the chance of rain and thundershowers I'm sure kept plenty of folks away. Again, last year was Derby Day, sunny and warm after a long cold winter and most of the Spring. It's very difficult to make any kind of fair comparison. By comparison, day 2 - Preakness Day and sunny (though still rather chilly) - drew another 9,000+ fans. A solid opening two days in our little corner of racing heaven.

For more on Canterbury's opener, see Jim Wells official Canterbury blog.

Will a Big Preakness Drama Unnerve Rachel?

cdawahare — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:07:00 GMT

Courtesy of Rob Fundter, The Amateur Capper

RACHEL ALEXANDRA has been the best horse on the track in each of her four starts this year. The compelling question in the 134^th Preakness Stakes is whether the filly is more horse than her male counterparts. Pimlico morning line maker FRANK CARULLI believes she is, installing her as the 8-5 favorite, despite the presence of the top four Kentucky Derby finishers.

Her dominance of the 3y.o. filly division in 2009 culminated with a win in the Kentucky Oaks on May 1. Her 20 ¼ length win compelled JESS JACKSON to purchase the likely champion for an undisclosed sum (believed to be in the $10 million range) just five days later. RACHEL has been supplemented to the Triple Crown series for $100,000 making her eligible for the Preakness Stakes this Saturday.

There was much controversy after her new connections confirmed RACHEL ALEXANDRA would be running in the Preakness. Connections of the Derby winner MINE THAT BIRD and runner-up PIONEEROF THE NILE were reportedly conspiring to keep the filly from running, but came to their senses before entries were taken.

RACHEL ALEXANDRA will be heavily supported on the third Saturday in May, in large part because she is the fairer of the equine genders. This sentiment could drive her starting odds even lower than listed despite her. For those enthusiasts who will be placing a wager on the Preakness Stakes, she may not hold enough value. Here are some critical points about RACHEL to consider:

1. UNDEFEATED AROUND TWO TURNS.

RACHEL is not the only entrant with that distinction: BIG DRAMA has won his two tries around two turns and enters today off a fast win in the G.2 Swale S. at Gulfstream Park.

2. UNDEFEATED WITH CALVIN BOREL

The jockey was forced to pick between the Kentucky Derby winner MINE THAT BIRD and RACHEL ALEXANDRA. Borel has been quoted as saying the filly's the best horse he's ever ridden. That's big praise considering he piloted juvenile champion STREET SENSE to '05 Champion 2y.o. and a Derby win and a narrow Preakness defeat just two years ago.

3. WINS ON FAST OR WET DIRT

Her Fair Grounds Oaks win on a sloppy/sealed track was easy, nearly on a par with Louisiana Derby hero FRIESAN FIRE, who'd completed his race in "driving" fashion.

4. HASN'T FACED SPRINTER-QUALITY SPEED

In BIG DRAMA, RACHEL will be forced to chase a pace similar to the one that sapped her late energy as a two year old.

5. DIDN'T RUN IN THE DERBY

Since 1992, only two horses have won the Preakness without starting in the Derby. BERNARDINI posted a big 12-1 upset in 2006 when BARBARO sustained a life-ending (eventually) leg injury. The other was 6-1 RED BULLET in 2000.

The weight assigned to each of these points will help you determine whether RACHEL ALEXANDRA can defeat the boys this Saturday.

Who do I like?

On a fast track, PIONEEROF THE NILE was my Derby selection and his 2^nd in the Derby did nothing to diminish his standing in my eyes. BIG DRAMA is perfectly spotted to use his ample speed to establish a lead and the tight, minimally banked Pimlico turns will help him negotiate the longest race of his career. Like eventual champion sprinter CHEROKEE RUN, I would not be surprised to see BIG DRAMA hang on for a share. PAPA CLEM can improve on his Derby 4^th.

Should the track become "off", MINE THAT BIRD and RACHEL ALEXANDRA will become major threats.

Enjoy the race.

Preakness Memory: Magic Weisner

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 12 May 2009 23:09:00 GMT

By Frank Vespe, That's Amore Stable, LLC

Most every year, there’s a local angle to the Preakness. After all, in this faded era, the Preakness stands out as the middle jewel of the Triple Crown — and, to Maryland horsemen, our middle jewel.

The Derby, of course, will always be the Derby. But to Marylanders, the Preakness is special in a different, perhaps more parochial way. More than one local horseman, if pressed to name the race they really want, would point to the race named after a horse who’d been named, in turn, after a New Jersey farm.

So, most years, a horse with local connections competes. This year, it’ll be Tone It Down, ridden by local star (and rider of Hard Spun) Mario Pino and trained by William Komlo. He most recently finished third in the $75,000 Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico, which might not, on the surface, seem like the most promising way to be entering a Grade I contest.

On the other hand, maybe it’s more promising than it seems. After all, it was just seven years ago, in 2002, that unheralded local longshot Magic Weisner, off a second place finish in the Tesio and dismissed at 45-1 odds, came within about six feet of stealing off with the money and the Woodlawn Vase.

Magic Weisner was as unlikely as any Preakness contender could be, a scion of a modest local family with modest hopes. Nancy Alberts, his breeder, owner, trainer, and sometime exercise rider, had purchased his dam, Jazema, for all of one dollar — that is not a typo — because of her terrible knees. After surgery and extensive care, Jazema ended up a useful racehorse, winning 14 races.

After retiring Jazema, Alberts decided to breed her — a decision even Alberts admitted in a 2002 story marked her as a “crazy fool.” Modestly bred fillies with bad knees do not productive broodmares make.

Except, of course, when they do. Her ‘99 mating with local sire Ameri Valay produced a son who nearly died of an infection as a foal. Only the expertise — or Magic — of the veterinarian, Alan Wisner — or Weisner — saved the youngster.

Soon enough, Alberts — who in ‘02 had a stable of just six horses — had determined that Magic Weisner could be “the horse of a lifetime.” By April of his three year-old season, he’d validated her intuition, with wins in several local stakes. After a second in the Tesio, folks at the Maryland Jockey Club encouraged Alberts to enter the horse on Preakness day — but in the $100,000 Sir Barton Stakes.

Having none of that, Alberts shot for the moon.

I rather vividly recall talking with fellow handicappers about the race. War Emblem had blitzed the Derby field (topping a juicy four-figure exacta) and looked to be the star of the show. Magic Weisner, meanwhile, rated an automatic toss.

As the field turned for home, War Emblem asserted himself, gaining a multi-length lead. Proud Citizen, second in the Derby loomed a menacing presence but could not get by.

And then, on the far outside, another horse, coming along late like a freight train. He finished three-quarters of a length behind, though he was closing with every step; he simply needed more racetrack.

Who was that? A quick check of the programs, then a look of shock: Magic Weisner.

Magic Weisner went on to finish fourth in the Belmont, then win the Ohio Derby and finish second (again to War Emblem) in the Haskell. While prepping for the Pennsylvania Derby, he contracted West Nile Virus.

He survived WNV, and after a lengthy rehab, returned to racing. On the day of his return, punters crowded around the paddock to see the star, and he looked every bit the part: big, strong, and full of attitude. “I’m back, and I’m back in charge,” he seemed to say.

Until the gates opened. The nerve damage he’d suffered from the WNV left him largely unable to push off the way he needed to. He didn’t race again.

In 2005, after she’d retired Magic Weisner, Alberts said, “I am still proud of him. Even now, he knows he is special.”

That’s still true, because Magic Weisner, as much as any horse of recent vintage, showed that lightning strikes in unpredictable places and that passion and devotion and commitment can still, on occasion, trump wealth and pedigree. And so, reliably, local connections will take their shot at the Preakness each year and hope to capture some of Weisner’s magic.

2009 Kentucky Derby Prospects

cdawahare — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:45:00 GMT

Courtesy of Rob Fundter, The Amateur Capper

AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES: PART 2 – THE UNDERSTUDIES

I'm writing this on early Tuesday a.m. Eastern. The defection of G.1 Florida Derby winner QUALITY ROAD is known, narrowing my top prospect list from Part 1 to three: FRIESAN FIRE, I WANT REVENGE, and PIONEEROF THE NILE. Two of these three are the most accomplished with three graded stakes wins in 2009.

Enough has been written about them...this is about the understudies of what I term the "key" Kentucky Derby preps of 2009 and the winners of selected "important" preps throughout the world. DUNKIRK, PAPA CLEM, CHOCOLATE CANDY, and DESERT PARTY would be headliners any other year except in this very deep crop. An honorable mention will also go to SQUARE EDDIE, the top returning performer from the BC Juvenile.

DUNKIRK has developed so quickly in a short time. The gray son of UNBRIDLED'S SONG was the runner-up in the G.1 Florida Derby after putting a big scare into QUALITY ROAD's rider JOHN VELAZQUEZ. With the likely top two betting favorite declared, DUNKIRK would seem able to step right into the upper echelon of 3y.o.'s. He'll be making the same five week turnaround that was so successful for BIG BROWN last season. The differences: BIG BROWN on steroids, DUNKIRK none. Both had three career races in preparation for the Derby, but DUNKIRK ran all three at Gulfstream Park this season while last year's Derby/Preakness winner debuted at Saratoga as a 2y.o. DUNKIRK is missing a 2y.o. foundation. As a son of UNBRIDLED'S SONG, a sire that gets brilliant but injury prone progeny, the delay in his career may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. If DUNKIRK performs with the vigor many pundits are predicting, he may be the key that unlocks the secret to successfully campaigning his sire's progeny.

As for DUNKIRK's win chance, judgment should be made on whether the five weeks between races was enough to prevent a "bounce" or he repeats. It takes a wonder horse like SECRETARIAT to improve along the Triple Crown trail. That said, DUNKIRK would have been the Derby favorite if he'd won the Florida Derby over QUALITY ROAD. After all, he was 6 lengths clear of 3^rd. With the Jimmy Jerkens trainee awaiting summer 3y.o. stakes at Saratoga, DUNKIRK is primed and ready to step into his leading roll.

PAPA CLEM is a fighter!!! In the G.2 Robert B. Lewis he was the pace presser, put away his foe coming off the turn, only to be passed in early stretch by I WANT REVENGE. Coming off a maiden win vs. more experienced colts, PAPA could have tired to third and his supporters would still have been tickled with the result. Yet the son of SMART STRIKE, sire of '07 Preakness and BC Classic winner CURLIN (en route to HOY honors), battled on down the lane to regain the advantage over I WANT REVENGE but was passed in the final 100 yards by PIONEEROF THE NILE. He didn't have a great plane trip to Louisiana for the G.2 Louisiana Derby and then he didn't handle the sloppy going well down the lane. Despite tiring, he was game to hold off one-paced TERRAIN for 2^nd. Last out in the Arkansas Derby, PAPA CLEM found himself in an uncustomary positiong, chasing from mid-pack while OLD FASHIONED turned on the jets to an uncontested lead. As great horses do, PAPA found the energy to rally wide on the turn and keep fighting down the lane to notch his second career win. More importantly, he earned his way into the lineup with a win despite a less-than-ideal circumstances. Recent workout information has him doing rather poorly at Churchill Downs...if you like him, watch the next few days to see if he regains his energy.

CHOCOLATE CANDY has been victimized twice by PIONEEROF THE NILE (G.1 SA Derby, G.1 CashCall Futurity). He went up north to gain winning confidence, which he did in capturing the California Derby and G.3 El Camino Real. After a freshening, he was unable to run down his arch rival in the G.1 SA Derby but was a closing 2^nd that suggested he'd see every bit of the 1 ¼ mile Kentucky Derby distance. However, coming from the back of the pack and running wide on the turn, will be two excuses should he run poorly. First off, if he breaks as tardily to race at the back of the field, he sure had better want to eat some dirt (something most synthetic-reared runners have been loath to do). Second, he makes his sustained, sweeping move leaving the far turn which could make him some 8-10 horses wide coming into the lane. That will result in his being shuffled back for 1/16 mile until the field straigtens for the stretch run. Is he of strong enough constitution to overcome these obstacles?

At what price does CHOCOLATE CANDY become a viable "win" play? His papa, CANDY RIDE, was a freak on the dirt the only time he tried it; he blazed to a G.1 Pacific Classic win. The switch to a fast dirt track may produce the same awakening in CHOCOLATE CANDY.

From Dubai comes DESERT PARTY, a son of STREET CRY who was campaigned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in the navy blue silks of his GODOLPHIN STABLES. So envious was the Shiekh after the '07 Derby win by STREET SENSE (also by STREET CRY) that he purchased him from James Tafel and retired him to the Breeding shed.

While DESERT PARTY didn't win the G.2 UAE Derby, I believe that he stands a better chance at staying the 1 ¼ miles of the Kentucky Derby than his front-running stablemate REGAL RANSOM even with the defection of QUALITY ROAD. I heard from ALAN BENOWITZ of THORO-GRAPH sheets on JASON LEVIN's INSIDE RACING radio program, that REGAL RANSOM had gotten back to his 2y.o. top figure (2 ½) in the UAE Derby. With the winning margin just ½ length, that would put DESERT PARTY at a nice developmental pattern with around a "3" after running a then-new top of 6 and a paired 5 in his two prior '09 races. By comparison, Benowitz stated that I WANT REVENGE regressed to a 3 in his troubled Wood Memorial win after running a zero in the Gotham. The Dubai road will eventually produce a Derby winner, so would around 20-1 be fair odds to take a swing?

Lastly, SQUARE EDDIE's chances have been enhanced by the scratch of QUALITY ROAD. He doesn't need to be as far back as he was in the G.2 Lexington...in fact I envision, depending on his post position, a stalking trip in 2^nd or 3^rd just like he ran in the BC Juvenile. He really impressed me that day. Usually foreign horses regress big time 2^nd out in the U.S., particulary when shipped from different time zones. Yet this colt ran fast and was game to hold 2^nd on a day I wouldn't have held that against him. His shins were probably already sore but undetected when he was 2^nd in the G.3 San Rafael. Last out, prepping on the Polytrack considering his eventful trip was like running 1 1/8 miles on dirt. His wind should be good considering the works and race along with the underwater treadmill preparation he's been getting. The slower fractions without QUALITY ROAD will allow him to gallop and conserve his energy for the first mile, then he'll make that turn move that wins so many Kentucky Derby renewals. I'll want somewhere in the 25-1 range to take a swing. That's highly possible in this field...he sits at 30-1 on the TBA "unofficial" odds line.

However you enjoy this Kentucky Derby, please understand what a talented group this is. There are many entrants I didn't cover that could surprise me. In fact, GENERAL QUARTERS and MUSKET MAN have several times. I'll take the eight that I've featured into battle against the other 12.

Good luck.