Philadelphia Park (~ RAYMOND)

I had the feeling that I might return to blogging tonight as I crabbed to someone in an email that I’m already sick of hearing all the droning about Curlin vs. Big Brown for horse of the year. It’s about as interesting as incessantly following who’s up in the presidential polls.

I’m somewhat surprised (and somewhat not) that no one has seemed to mention Zenyatta in the same breath as HOY (disclaimer, if you have, I may have missed it as I’ve not been keeping up with reading!).

Undefeated? Check. Won on multiple surfaces? Check. Beat an impressive reining champion? Check. Beat the impressive reining champion while making first start on new surface? Check.

Let’s face it, the Filly & Mare Classic division is making a mockery of the boys this year. I loooove Curlin and think Big Brown is pretty great but Zenyatta has been turning in consistently impressive performances all year. And her nemesis Tough Tiz’s Sis demolishing the field in the Ruffian also speaks volumes about her talent.

Speaking of the Breeders’ Cup, Kennedy has an excellent set of observations about inconsistencies with the BC. Just when I thought I had heard it all!

I’ve been too busy to compile the August SAFC reports just yet, which might be a good thing because we got a fab submission today (or possibly sometime in the past few days… I’ve been really out of it!) that has many, many great ideas/issues. One of them, which I want to point out while we’re still on the subject of the BC, is the damn saddle cloths. They’re a serious scourge for those who actually want to be able to tell which horse is which without memorizing hat and silk colors. Please, go to SAFC and complain about this one!

A juicy blind item was revealed over at Moran’s today when he finally got to tell us which NYRA official said ‘Fuck the Horseplayers’. Now I’m sort of wishing I had a done a poll when the original item came out.

GbG horse of interest National Pride won his 3rd race today at Belmont in the third, a $50k OC N2X. He had Coa aboard for the first time and caught a strong On Board Again at the wire. I also thought Goldsville was impressive for the show. He had some traffic trouble in the stretch and had to swing wide but came on nicely as well. As always, looking forward to National Pride’s next start.

And if you’re still reading, I should remind that you the deadline for the SAFC DIY Marketing Presentation Contest has been extended to this Saturday at 7pm EST. So stop farting around reading blogs and get your presentation together! We’ve already gotten a handful of great ones and are expecting a few more… c’mon surprise us with your great ideas or clever harangues! Need some ideas? Start here.

Posted by dana on Sep 17 2008    
Filed Under: Raymond Haddad, 4yo, 2008, Big Brown, Rivalry, Tough Tiz's Sis, Zenyatta, National Pride, Ginger Punch, Breeders' Cup, Curlin, Race Replay, Eibar Coa, 3yo, NYRA, Racing

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Ginger Punch & Rafael Bejarano crushing the field in 2008 Go For Wand (Sarah K. Andrew)

Ginger Punch just head bobbed an impressive Lemon Drop Mom out of an upset (and the crowd went wild, natch!).

Congrats and thanks to the champ & Lemon Drop Mom for a super exciting race. And hear, hear for connections challenging their horses!

Posted by dana on Aug 22 2008    
Filed Under: 2008, Impressive, Ginger Punch, Rafael Bejarano, Saratoga, Racing

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First off, thanks to everyone who voted in the Jeremy Rose suspension poll, everyone had an opinion about it, and a good discussion was had by all!

No surprise that that results were close as votes just kept pouring in… Not Enough won out by a nose at 27 over Too Much at 26 while Just Right saw a decent amount of action with 21.

Turning to something positive, regular reader/commenter and west coast photog extroadinare Charles Pravata brought up an intriguing idea here that maybe Zenyatta should run in the Classic. Regular reader/commenter and east coast guitar playing, odds making phenom Ernie Munick noted that while it was something he hadn’t thought of that it was certainly intriguing… she is, after all, big as if not bigger than many of her male counterparts.

Since Curlin aced his first turf test it’s pretty safe to assume we won’t be seeing him in the Classic. And with Heatseeker retired the pickins are getting slimmer and slimmer. But it’s not just about the lack of competitiveness in the handicap division, it’s also about Zenyatta not having any real competition yet.

She’s undefeated with 5 starts and she made short work of champion Ginger Punch in the Apple Blossom. In her most recent start in the Milady, she had a rocky beginning getting pinched back out of the gate but came on strong to over the take the field in an effortless looking stretch run. She’s also closed off of both slow and fast paces, won on dirt and several synthetic tracks… one them being Santa Anita, host of the Classic.

Her next start is this Saturday in Vanity at Hollywood Park where she faces the solid Tough Tiz’s Sis and Canadian Sealy Hill.

Have a look for yourself…

Milady Handicap:

Apple Blossom:

I think the prospect of Zenyatta in the Classic is one of the most exciting things I’ve heard in a while (in addition to the problematic 20% of Curlin being transferred to a court-appointed receiver, putting him one step closer to running at Belmont next weekend)!

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, let’s just get through this weekend, shall we? In the meantime, go Zenyatta!

Posted by dana on Jul 03 2008    
Filed Under: Charles Pravata, BC Classic, 2008, Poll, Zenyatta, Ginger Punch, YouTube, Curlin, Retirement, Breeders' Cup, Race Replay, Turf, Racing

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Curlin in the beginning of the Stephen Foster (creepy_coyote)

Asmussen said he would work Curlin on the turf and find a grass race for him in North America on the weekend of July 12-13. He did not say if he had a particular race in mind. He would prefer a race over an international style course, such as those at Arlington Park, Belmont Park or Woodbine. Major turf races for older horses scheduled that weekend include the $500,000 Man O’ War (gr. IT) at 1 3/8 miles at Belmont Park and the Arlington Handicap (gr. III) at 1 1/4 miles at Arlington Park.

That is, if he works well on the turf… fingers crossed!

Here’s a fun fact, in yesterday’s extremely satisfying chalk fest, favorites (with the exception of Pyro, who was a close second favorite) won by 35 1/4 lengths total!!

Fleur De Lis - Hysterical Lady - 7 lengths
Regret - Pure Clan - 2 3/4 lengths
Northern Dancer - Pyro - 1 3/4 lengths
Jefferson - Tizdejavu - 4 lengths
Stephen Foster - Curlin - 4 1/2 lengths
Mint Julep - Dreaming of Anna - 2 1/2 lengths
Obeah - Unbridled Belle - 5 lengths
Ogden Phipps - Ginger Punch - 7 3/4 lengths

I’m looking forward to seeing some races where there are actual stretch battles and one can find some betting value, but after the past few weeks I think we all deserved to see what real favorites and champions look like (even if they rarely compete against each other).

Posted by dana on Jun 15 2008    
Filed Under: Pyro, Ginger Punch, Steve Asmussen, 2008, 4yo, Unbridled Belle, Turf, Fans, Belmont, Curlin, Hysterical Lady, Racing

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Ginger Punch and Rafael Bejarano in the Ruffian at Belmont (Sarah K. Andrew)

The weekend Beyers are up at Formblog and Ginger Punch posted an impressive 109 in the Sunshine Millions Distaff. This is her highest Beyer to date. Previously she had turned in a 104 in the BC Distaff and the G2 First Flight at Belmont.

Bob Black Jack also posted a 109 in the Dash.

The top honors go to Benny the Bull who posted a 115 in the Sprint. This was his second highest Beyer to date, with 119 as his highest fig in the Forego.

Posted by dana on Jan 29 2008    
Filed Under: 2008, Benny the Bull, Sarah K. Andrew, Ginger Punch, Racing

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