This poll has actually been up a few days and I’m happy to see people have been voting. You may have noticed the up tick in posts and commentary on the various issues surrounding the Breeders’ Cup so why not vote on it?

Need some refreshers on the issues? There’s Crist’s column on Ladies Day, the TBA point/counter point on Ladies Day (with interesting ongoing comments), John’s excellent recent post “What’s in a Name” and Kennedy’s observations about various inconsistencies, just to name a few.

Is your biggest complaint that there’s two days instead of one? Is Ladies Day not your cup of tea or are you just bothered by the name Ladies Classic (and hey, why didn’t the change the Juvenile and Turf Fillies too? Little Ladies, Little Ladies Turf and Ladies Turf)? Is running the championship on a new surface your biggest complaint or do you just wish they’d use standard saddle cloths to help a horse player out? And for the indecisive and/or equally bothered, there’s always All of the Above.

In our last poll Zenyatta was leading prior to the races but afterwards Curlin started to pull ahead. I thought Zenyatta’s win was more impressive but no doubt some of you were swayed by the record breaking earnings, or was it the repeat of the JCGC?

The voting worked out to be 37 for Curlin, 25 for Zenyatta and 20 for Big Brown. As always, thanks for voting!

Posted by dana on Oct 06 2008    
Filed Under: Big Brown, Zenyatta, Poll, 2008, Curlin, Breeders' Cup, Racing

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Lava Man in the Eddie Reade (Charles Pravata)

Lava Man will lead the parade to the post for today’s Cal Cup Classic at Santa Anita.

Post time is 4:30 PST if you have access to view Oak Tree and would like to get one last look at Lava Man on the track!

Posted by dana on Oct 05 2008    
Filed Under: Charles Pravata, Geldings, 2008, Santa Anita, Lava Man, Fans, Retirement, Racing

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Zarkava at Longchamp last October (kanzebu)

Zarkava made short work of the impressive Arc field today, which prompted Raceday360 to declare the this the “Year of the Chick“.

TRNY member and pal Carol also noted that the “Z” girls really have it this year. Indeed, now if they would just run our “Z” girl in the Classic.

Gloat note: I had the exacta in the Arc… those payouts were nice! Ah, money in the pools.

Now in English thanks to E’s head’s up! It includes the parade as well, the race starts at around 3:40.

Posted by dana on Oct 05 2008    
Filed Under: Sportsmanship, Exacta, 2008, Zenyatta, Impressive, YouTube, Turf, Breeders' Cup, Race Replay, International Racing, Inspirational, Racing

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Arson Squad in the paddock at Del Mar (stolenbikini)

I remember the formidable Arson Squad of the 2007 Strub. This was not too long after I had become obsessed with racing. I liked Spring at Last, who placed, but it was Arson Squad who made a big impression on me.

After this impressive win he took a break and came back at Del Mar to run in the San Diego Handicap. This race started a string of 7 lackluster synthetic performances.

Owned by JMS, the 5yo is now in training with Babe here in the land of the dirt track and was entered in tonight’s Meadowland Cup Handicap. Babe has an impressive 28% first time with team record and an also excellent 26% sprint/route (his last was 7f).

I didn’t catch too much of a glimpse of him in the parade but GbG fav Anak Nakal looked great. I also liked Pass the Point who’s works have been improving since his impressive performance placing to Curlin (I had the exacta). My only concern about him was the impending front end speed duel with Timber Reserve (who held on for show). Anak Nakal is closer and Arson Squad is a stalker so I wasn’t that concerned about them. In fact, the hot pace was good for both of them.

As it turned out, Pass the Point couldn’t hold on after pretty wicked speed duel and Arson Squad made an emphatic return to dirt. Anak Nakal was no slouch either getting up for place after being pinched back at the start and going wide into the turn + I believe this is his first outing against older horses.

Congrats Arson Squad, can’t wait to see you in the Clark, babe!

Posted by dana on Oct 03 2008    
Filed Under: 2008, Anak Nakal, YouTube, Race Replay, Curlin, Racing

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Wanderin’ Boy is a GbG fav and the equivalent of a big foot sighting in racing as a 7yo HORSE. I always wondered about that and now feel enlightened thanks to an excellent post by Steve Haskin over at his Bloodhorse blog.

It’s always refreshing to see big fancy deep pocket owners keep their horses in training, particularly when fate provided so many opportunities for retirement! Wanderin’ Boy really made big bad Curlin work for his win in the JCGC. Go on with your bad Wanderin’ self (and stay sound and healthy while you’re doin’ it)!

Also from the “right on” department, Crist has a fantastic column this week about the BC gender division tom foolery entitled “If you must fix what ain’t broken…”

Proponents of a Filly Friday and a Studly Saturday are difficult to locate outside the Breeders’ Cup offices, and most fans and pundits seem to hate the idea. The most frequent criticisms are that it is inherently sexist (and renaming the Distaff the Ladies’ Classic sure didn’t help) and that it marginalizes half of the racehorse population by relegating it to second-class status and a much smaller television audience. Shouldn’t racing be showcasing the likes of Lady’s Secret, Personal Ensign, and Azeri on its biggest day rather than on a Friday afternoon?

He goes on to propose some viable, and less alienating ways to divvy up the races over two days. Hear, hear.

Posted by dana on Oct 01 2008    
Filed Under: 2008, Take Back the Race, Impressive, Steve Haskin, Wanderin' Boy, Breeders' Cup, Injury, You Tell 'em!, Racing

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