Didn’t think I’d be using this photo again anytime soon! (Charles Pravata)

I love Lava Man. I have the above shot of him by Charles Pravata (from the 2008 DRF Calendar) up in my office where I can stare at it at length. If hard pressed, my answer to the question “who is your all time favorite horse” might be Lava Man as I arrived on the scene just as he was at his height. And to be honest my initial thought when I saw the crazy news about him was “heck yeah!”.

Like everyone else I went to the initial post (dated September 21st) and there weren’t a lot of details (that have since been added), which lead to speculation on the worst… the worst motives, the worst outcome, the worst everything. But then reports starting pouring out with details about crazy things like stem cell therapy and donating winnings to retirement funds.

From the Thoroughbred Times:

“He had to continue training at Magali as part of the stem cell treatments,” O’Neill said. “They found they were able to actually grow back cartilage. No one knew that was possible, so it’s exciting that this treatment may be able to help other equine athletes in the future.

“He really took to the treatment and it has done wonders for him. The doctor said that he is and will be the strongest horse in my barn. I couldn’t put into words how good he looks and how happy he seems to be back in training.”

If and when he runs, all of the trainer earnings will be donated to CARMA (California Retirement Management Account) so people don’t think this is all about greed.

And then there was his crazy first reported work out. Maybe there is something to this stem cell business or as a friend emailed to me upon reading the initial news “That poor horse. His ankles are like glass and he is DONE being a racehorse”.

So, what do you think, is it cool or alarming… or a little of both? I come down somewhere between “Concerned but hopeful” and “Stem cells? Very Cool!”. Of course, if it ends like it did for Gorgeous George there will be plenty of anger and hate to go around. They do seem to love him and want him to be happy so let’s just all keep our fingers crossed that Lava Man has an enjoyable and SAFE stay at fantasy camp.

For some back story on the story, namely how the heck does a horse like Lava Man go under the radar with something like this, check out Ed DeRosa’s account at his Big Event Blog. And on a Jockey’s note, Corey Nakatani must be happy with this news!

And finally, in our last poll, Fav Summer Racing, our east coast bias was showing!

I was too lazy to type all that out, but thanks as always for participating!

Posted by dana on Sep 24 2009    
Filed Under: Poll, Corey Nakatani, Doug O'Neill, Claimer, 2009, Omnisurface Stars, Jockeys TV Show, Geldings, George Washington, Retirement, Wooo!, Lava Man, Injury, Charles Pravata, Come Back, Racing

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Pyro and Kodiak Kowboy in the Forego (Adam Mooshian)

Yours truly has been under the weather the past few days, and is now playing a little catch up. What did I miss? Stuff you already know and possibly even forgot about such as the fabulous come backs of Ventura, Regal Ransom and Theregoesjojo(?). There was also a timely reminder about not getting carried away plus the return of one of my favorite tweeters!

Filed under “not more of the same”, Breeders’ Cup 360 launched late last week, a site designed and developed by Jessica of Raceday 360. Congrats to the BC and Jessica on the launch and be sure to check out the stats section!

While no doubt folks can still find things to grouse about re: the Breeders’ Cup, they’ve been making a nice effort this year to not only include fans and players in the feedback process, but to cater to them with things like evening out the two days a bit and creating two all BC Pick 6s, creating a site specifically for players and announcing a Friday TweetUp (or Tweeters Cup as Ernie calls it). While I still hold out hope that by this time next year the Ladies Classic will be renamed the Filly & Mare Classic, I’ll also give them props for listening and starting to make changes.

The R2 Collective, brain child of Dean from Pull the Pocket, quietly launched last week. Dean’s idea is to have a specific place to discuss marketing, technology and new media as it pertains (or doesn’t yet!) to racing. I have a few ideas for posts kicking around but Dean is on fire, check him out!

Also notable, pals and former colleagues from the TBA have taken up over at the NTRA to cover the Breeders Cup. Val of Foolish Pleasure & Fillies First wins the best author photo!

And finally, War Echo returns! The stunning 3yo 3/4 sib to my beloved Pyro (a.k.a. the new Kodiak Kowboy) made a triumphant debut as a 3yo in the Silverbulletday (who was inducted in the Hall of Fame this year). Shortly after she was sidelined with an injury. She jumped out at me in the parade and looked a lot like Pyro in that long Fairground stretch.

Back before Rachel Alexandra unleashed her torrent of kick ass on the racing world War Echo seemed like a promising up and comer. Will she be able to put it together in time to get to the 2009 Breeders’ Cup? Check her out in the 3rd at Belmont tomorrow and then stay tuned!

Posted by dana on Sep 22 2009    
Filed Under: 2009, Fairgrounds, War Echo, Twitter, Rachel Alexandra, Pyro, YouTube, Belmont, Breeders' Cup, Race Replay, Come Back, Racing

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Summer Bird enjoying a celebratory post Travers carrot from owner Dr. Jayaraman (Sarah K. Andrew)

In addition to the already mentioned inter-generational two-peat, Travers Day 2009 was also a day of come backs and other notables.

Wow. Vineyard Haven might come down but Godolphin is cashing all those supposed clunkers in today!

Indeed, Godolphin owned Sara Louise, Vineyard Haven and Music Note all had fabulous comebacks, but they weren’t alone. Bob Baffert finally got a win on the card with 2yo Bulldogger in the 8th.

It’s also notable that Ian Wilkes got his first Grade 1 win with Capt Candyman Can in the Kings Bishop and Javier Castellano took both turf races, both of which were first time rides for him. Castellano (19) and Johnny V (20) had 3 wins a piece while Prado (19) had 2.

For the most part the meet leaders didn’t fair so well. Dominguez (36), the current leader, only had one win and current #2 Garcia (30) didn’t have any wins, however they’re both still safely ahead of the rest of the gang with Leparoux being the next closest with 23 wins. Linda Rice (14) also didn’t have any wins on the day but Pletcher’s (14) 2 wins bring him neck and neck with the queen. They both have plenty of chances to over take the other today with her 7 entries to his 6, is any wonder they’re the meet leaders?

There’s a reason why I wait until the parade to make my final picks on the first race of a pick 4 or pick 6, and Salve Germania in the Ballston Spa is the perfect example of that reason. I put that crazy, only previously so-so German invader in all of my P4 tickets and she won at 24-1. She was my parade play of the year! Music Note was the only thing that kept me from cashing what would have been the biggest ticket I had ever cashed, and I only have myself to blame to cheaping out and not including her when I had a chance to make a score a like that. On the bright side I had a nice win bet on der crazy invader and the cold exacta as I put her over Rutherienne, My Princess Jess and Captain’s Lover, too bad I didn’t think to key her in a tri as well!

Looking forward for a moment:

another glimpse of what’s to come for #BC09 re: so-so euros wiping up the turf with our runners

And lastly, a big shout out to Andy Serling on this notable call:

Maybe I’m crazy but I will try to at least get Hold Me Back in the number. I feel like the race could collapse late.

Posted by dana on Aug 30 2009    
Filed Under: Sarah K. Andrew, Alan Garcia, Pick 6, Wrap Up, Rutherienne, Travers, Twitter, 2009, Pick 4, Turf, Todd Pletcher, Saratoga, That's Why They Call it Gambling, Ramon Dominguez, Edgar Prado, Come Back, Javier Castellano, John Velazquez, Racing

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Pyro returns to training for his 4yo campaign (Banamine)

While we wait around for some decent racing this weekend and the Belmont jockey announcements a few things caught my eye.

My beloved Pyro is back on the work tab! I had heard that he’s been galloping at Keeneland for awhile but nothing official until now. As if the news of the Belmont Special service being restored wasn’t enough, Pyro will be based in New York with Rick Mettee! Perhaps we’ll get a chance to see him at Belmont before the end of spring-summer meet.

This week’s HANA pool party takes place this Saturday at Canterbury Park, race 8. If you’re not familiar with Canterbury Park, check out Ted’s excellent recap of opening day!

I’m not sure about you but I’ve been enjoying Equidaily’s hilarious new editorial graphic trend… well done!

Are the now seemingly repetitive tote failures the side effect of Mercury Retrograde? We should probably be so lucky as Mercury Retrograde ends on June 14th.

Kennedy has a nice look at some of the current 3yo sprinters who are overshadowed by the Triple Crown while Ghostnapper has an interesting take on how team Zenyatta really needs to step it up.

And finally, buried at the bottom of a DRF post about something else, it looks Channing Hill is heading back east to Monmouth for the summer:

Two jockeys who found California a tough circuit to crack have left for greener pastures. Channing Hill won just two races from 53 mounts in Southern California and has left for Monmouth; Jesus Rios won 13 races from 163 mounts and left for Calder.

Be sure to say hi to Channing while you attend the ReRun 3rd annual Day at the Races Fundraiser at Monmouth on June 13th!

Posted by dana on May 21 2009    
Filed Under: 4yo, Channing Hill, Zenyatta, 2009, HANA, Technology, Pyro, Belmont, Come Back, 3yo, Sprint, Racing

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News of super Ladies has been pouring in all day, some good and some not.

Several folks have nice tributes to Genuine Risk, formerly the oldest living Derby winner. I first learned of the “big beautiful chestnut filly” here, when Val did the timely piece that the mainstream media missed (again) by doing a tie in to Rags to Riches’ Belmont win. Rest in peace Genuine Risk.

For those who may have missed it, check out Jessica’s excellent account of the post Alabama scene in the winner’s circle. Great stuff. She also has a nice day after post and Geno has a nice set of shots from what looks to be the perfect Saratoga weekend.

Country Star made her triumphant return with an allowance win on the Turf at the Spa.

And in crazy news, my jaw dropped when my phone buzzed and I read this!

Anyone who pays even moderate attention to racing in New York knows that Linda Rice is the queen of turf sprints but this is almost unbelievable… and it’s not like it was a small field!

And what makes it even more super that you can’t tell from the chart is that the first, second and forth place finishers were fillies and the 3rd place finisher was a colt. Seriously super all the way around. Does anyone know how often a trainer sweeps a super?

And just because I haven’t posted anything since Saturday’s races, GbG horse of interest National Pride showed up and won the 1st on Saturday holding off a hard closing and impressive looking Posse Cat. Thanks to his unfortunate stumble out of the gate last out he paid $8.10, which is you guessed it, super!

Posted by dana on Aug 18 2008    
Filed Under: Superfecta, Country Star, 2008, Proud Spell, Impressive, National Pride, Farewell, Saratoga, Come Back, Turf, Legend, Racing

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