Majestic Warrior schooling in the paddock at Saratoga (Jessie Holmes)

I may have to sneak over the office this weekend to play the extremely enticing Saturday Fairgrounds card. In addition to a full card, this weekend is also Pool 2 in the Futures wagers.

The Louisana Derby is the debut for several very promising 3 year olds…

There’s Majestic Warrior (pictured above - Hopeful):

Tale of Ekati (Futurity Stakes):

The field also includes undefeated west coast shipper Yankee Bravo, undefeated Zayat Stables J Be K, and a host of youngins that could be teetering on a breakout race such as Unbridled Vicar (my fav second stringer), Blackberry Road, local My Pal Charlie and the extremely fully loaded combo of LaPenta/Zito’s Stevil.

There’s someone else though… who is it? Hmmm, I know there was someone else.

Ah yes, Pyro:

It looks like there might actually be some pace in this race with J Be K, although his prior two were sprints so we’ll see. Is it just me or is War Pass the only confirmed speed horse of the whole lot?

At any rate, looks like a fun weekend… I better get back to work if I have a hope in hell of handicapping later in the week!

Posted by dana on Mar 04 2008    
Filed Under: Pyro, Fairgrounds, 2008, Jessie Holmes, Majestic Warrior, Nick Zito, Derby Trail, Race Replay, 3yo, YouTube, Racing

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A spate of posts, comments and Facebook wall post conversations about Pyro, “bandwagons” and the time of year have brought up some interesting things (for me at least).

It started this morning with some comments I received on my Pyro = Real Deal post. The post itself was rather vague and had only 2 sentences:

I think a bandwagon just pulled up in front of my apartment… holy crap I can’t wait to watch that replay again. That was one serious win!

When online pal and frequent reader Dave shared a “it’s kind of early sentiment” I was a little surprised… had I just broadcasted that Pyro would win the Derby? Does bandwagon have more a “blind follower” connotation that I realized?

The same sort of thing happened at the TBA Facebook Group when I posted a similar vague and enthusiastic pro-Pyro thing. It sort of felt that unless I had a wait a see approach that it meant that I unequivocally thought that Pyro would the Derby. Odd.

Here’s part of my reply there:

I think Pyro dispelled the myth that he’s a bridesmaid… he clearly wants to win, which is important. And, he can get around horses and excel on queue. All I can say for certain is that I think he’s got a legit a shot and I couldn’t say that before this weekend.

[snip]

At any rate, at least I feel more engaged than I did prior to the weekend, I’m still waiting to see Court Vision, War Pass and Majestic Warrior… the others that I’m expecting to be real contenders and am excited to see who else emerges. (Editors note: I forgot to list National Pride, I’m also waiting to see him, if he’s even in the States).

There are many things I love about horse racing. I love handicapping, the analytical challenge and life long learning opportunity was what drew me in. I love the races themselves, they’re thrilling and a great reminder that it’s not over till it’s over. But probably the biggest surprise to me is that I love being a fan, something I’ve never been, or at least let myself be… ever.

I deplore hype, at the faintest whiff of hype I will find as many reasons as possible to dismiss the hyped object. It’s different with the ponies, for whatever reason I let myself get jazzed about a horse or horses. It’s fun for me, almost like walking on the wild side or seeing how the other half lives. “So this how people who get excited about things are… fascinating” (and really pretty fun!).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m still analytical… and while I am jazzed I also know it’s early. I guess that’s the other thing, just because I’m jazzed about Pyro doesn’t mean I won’t be jazzed about others along the way (while still being jazzed about him).

Last year I liked Hard Spun & No Biz going into the Derby and was definitely a fan of both throughout the year. But I also came around to Curlin without feeling any less of a fan of the other two. I guess I’m the multiple bandwagon type, or maybe I’m just willing to at least try to be a fan and horseplayer… not necessarily the most natural fit.

Posted by dana on Feb 11 2008    
Filed Under: War Pass, Pyro, Court Vision, 2008, Majestic Warrior, Derby Trail, Fans, Hard Spun, Curlin, Nobiz Like Shobiz, Racing

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Annoyingly I started to come down with a nasty head cold yesterday, sitting at work sniffling and sneezing, I knew it meant I was gonna be scratched from any action this weekend. Normally Friday night is handicapping night at GbG manor, but not last night. I’ve been passed out in front of the idiot box all day today, occasionally waking up to catch a race at Belmont.

As luck would have it, I woke up just in time to catch the Champagne Stakes… War Pass ($11.20) took the field wire to wire winning by about a length and half over a closing Pyro ($19.60) while 35-1 long shot Z Humor ($10.80) held on well for show after stalking War Pass the whole way! As Tom Durkin put it “Majestic Warrior and Ready’s Image nowhere today”. Actually, the replay is on now, Pyro came from last to place… nice! Good for Nick Zito… and those payouts were reminiscent of Saratoga!

The Champagne is somewhat sentimental for me, last year the second time I went to the track ever was it was the running of the Champagne. Back then Swifty & I couldn’t tell a prep race from a claiming race. Later on during the Derby Trail whenever the Champagne was mentioned we would laugh knowing that A) we were there and B) we had no idea what we were witnessing. Our trouble line would have been, Stumbled, greenly.

No Biz and Scat Daddy were the two favs, both at very low prices. I liked No Biz but went with a longer shot Pegasus Wind across the board. Pegasus Wind did show, I wonder what happened to him, I’ll have to do a little research. But No Biz has remained one of my favs, “a big old love bug in the barn” as quoted by one of Barclay Tagg’s team in a New York Times article prior the derby.

He’s running in the Jamaica today going for his third win on turf, and I will be rooting for him. I haven’t looked at the past performances, but he’s definitely got some competition in Shamdinan and Red Giant… and possibly others. Go No Biz!

Posted by dana on Oct 06 2007    
Filed Under: Jamaica Handicap, Champagne Stakes, War Pass, Pyro, Shamdinan, Pegasus Wind, Majestic Warrior, Nick Zito, Barclay Tagg, Nobiz Like Shobiz, 2007, Tom Durkin, 3yo, 2yo, Belmont

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