Quality Road holds off Musket Man in the 2010 Met Mile (Jason Moran)

In an unusual and welcome turn of events, we’re having a year that’s not dominated by the 3-year-olds. Shy of Blind Luck, Evening Jewel and Lookin’ at Lucky you’d be hard pressed to find a consensus of fans jazzed about the youngins (sidebar: I’m still interested in Tapitsfly, Bickersons and Maximus Ruler). Too bad all the purse money is still showered on the 3-year-olds.

This is the first time since I’ve started paying attention (mid-2006) where the real interest, both with fans and the media, is with older horses. Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra, Quality Road, Blame, Rail Trip, General Quarters, Life at Ten, St. Trinians, Goldikova, Gio Ponti, Musket Man, Warrior’s Reward and Bribon are currently running and in good form (and health!). I Want Revenge, Mine That Bird and Careless Jewel look likely to get back to business in the near future. And Arson Squad, Bullsbay, Macho Again and Munnings could all get back to form at any moment.

That’s a helluva lot of nice horses and I feel like I’m missing a few! While I’m not entirely sure how it happened, I hope this trend of nice older horses staying in training is not a fluke.

Posted by dana on Jun 14 2010    
Filed Under: I Want Revenge, General Quarters, Mine That Bird, 2010, Rachel Alexandra, Quality Road, Let Horses Race, :), Zenyatta, Jason Moran, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

4 Comments »

Whether you geek out or not, here’s hoping you cash a ticket or two (KumamotoMark)

It’s that time of year… time to geek out! There are a million angles and data points to obsess over and consider when selecting your Derby date, and the fun is just beginning!

Over at DRF Crist puts together a couple of interesting Google docs comparing last year’s crop to this years in terms of number of repeat wins and BSFs. Kennedy has been looking at speed and home court advantage. DRF has compiled a fantastic resource for all things Derby Prep (thanks Kevin!), and these are just a few instances of stuff to geek out on!

No time to obsess over data or compile that giant spreadsheet? I think I can help.

I made a smart ass tweet about my inner 12yo wanting Parade Clown to win the Derby, which elicited this reply from Miss Railbird.

The inner 12YO trifecta: Parade Clown, Desert Party, Chocolate Candy. All that’s needed is a hot dog to make day complete.

Naturally, this took me down the rabbit hole of silly name combos:

Spiteful Diva Exacta Box:
Big Drama / I Want Revenge
(ok, Big Drama is pointed to the Preakness, you may have to hold that one for a few weeks)

Military Heritage Exacta Box:
Musket Man / General Quarters

Booty Call Exacta Box (NSFW):
Mr. Hot Stuff / Giant Oak

Air Force One Exacta Box:
Flying Private / General Quarters

Too Hot to Handle Exacta Box:
Friesan Fire / Mr. Hotstuff

Daddy was a Landscaper Exacta Box:
Papa Clem / Giant Oak

Neighborhoodies Exacta Box:
Quality Road / West Side Bernie

WWII Exacta Box:
General Quarters / Dunkirk

Oompa-Loompa Exacta Box:
Win Willy / Chocolate Candy

Royal Bondage Exacta Box:
Regal Ransom / Hold Me Back

Vegas Frat Boy Exacta Box:
Desert Party / General Quarters

Around the Way Degenerates Exacta Box:
Papa Clem / West Side Bernie

No doubt there are plenty of other possibilities, especially as the field of 2009 Kentucky Derby contenders comes into focus!

Posted by dana on Apr 17 2009    
Filed Under: Desert Party, Dunkirk, Quality Road, I Want Revenge, General Quarters, Papa Clem, Twitter, Giant Oak, Kentucky Derby, Derby Trail, Exacta, Churchill Downs, Friesan Fire, 2009, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

16 Comments »

I Want Revenge’s seemingly disastrous start in the Wood (Sarah K. Andrew)

With just under 3 weeks left and most of the major preps out of the way, it seems like one should have their Derby horse picked out by now. However, I haven’t really seen a lot, if any, of people bangin’ the Derby drum for one horse or another.

I think this sentiment shared by Kevin of Colin’s Ghost over at the horse player teen party chat line (Twitter) sums it up:

Really looking forward to this years Derby. No clear favorite - should be a good one.

As for my Derby pick, I agree with o_crunk when he says the winner is likely to come from Friesan Fire, Quality Road or I Want Revenge. Three colts I like a lot, have rated 1-2-3 over at PDI and just like last week, I’m not willing to pick any of them as “the one” just yet.

After this weekend though I think Papa Clem looks he might have a shot too after showing off a new trick (sitting further off the pace) and definitely stepping up his game. While I loved General Quarters in the Blue Grass, I think he might do his best running over the fake stuff, although he’s no slouch on the dirt and if he looks anything like he did in the parade for the Bluegrass, look out!

And then there’s Dunkirk and PoTN… I’m with Kevin on this one too when he hopes they take a ton of money!

But who what do you think, do you have your Derby date picked out yet?

Posted by dana on Apr 12 2009    
Filed Under: Quality Road, Dunkirk, I Want Revenge, Papa Clem, Pioneerof the Nile, General Quarters, Friesan Fire, 2009, Kentucky Derby, Derby Trail, 3yo, Sarah K. Andrew, Poll, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

11 Comments »

Giant Moon winning the Excelsior, my day only got worse from here (Sarah K. Andrew)

My day started down hill rather quickly as Giant Moon took me out of the Pick 4. It got worse as my dreamy beloved threw a clunker in the Ashland. I only had $2 across the board on Boleyn at 62-1 but I was profoundly bummed to see Stardom Bound turn in such a lackluster performance. Why does Keeneland kill the things I love? (Think Pyro, my last year’s dreamy beloved… who’s reportedly galloping at Keeneland these days, go figure.)

Also a bummer that my pick of the day, Kodiak Kowboy, got hammered down to 8-5, so I took a wagering pass. This was just one several bad wagering decisions made in the flurry of back to back races on different channels with no chance to watch the parade, or in the case of Hawthorne, only showing Musket Man in the parade. Seriously, what’s the point of that? At least I got to see the races! Then again, perhaps not wagering on them would have been a good thing. Comparing this year’s Wood to last year’s, perhaps I’m more like my dreamy beloved than I want to let on!

On the bright side, the Derby is shaping up to have one fine field! I Want Revenge, who’s now on Twitter along with Joe Talamo, moves up to my “like like” list. Freisan Fire, Quality Road and I Want Revenge will be top 3 over at PDI but I’m not sure how I’ll rank them at this point as I’m not favoring one over the other. Swifty is sticking with Freisan Fire because of Larry Jones. I can make a case for each of them and find at least one knock for each of them. And it’s not like the Derby is tomorrow so things can change. At this point my top three won’t really imply that I like any of them more than the others.

Imperial Council, also on now on Twitter, and my dreamy beloved (I’ll still always love you!) will be moving on to the Broken Up With list. I’m bad at break-ups so I’m trying to stay upbeat and looking for Rachel Alexandra and Just Jenda to turn in nice performances today. I need to rebound with someone hot! And there’s always this week’s Pool Party / Buycott to cheer myself up with… who doesn’t love a Pick 3 Pool Party at Tampa Bay Downs?

Update: run, don’t walk over Ernie Munick’s to watch his stellar video recap of Wood Day at the Big A. It’s right up there with I Want Revenge’s fleet of foot.

Posted by dana on Apr 05 2009    
Filed Under: Joe Talamo, Just Jenda, Friesan Fire, Twitter, Quality Road, I Want Revenge, Rachel Alexandra, Stardom Bound, 2009, Pick 4, Derby Trail, Sarah K. Andrew, Pyro, Keeneland, Aqueduct, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

8 Comments »

Channing Hill at Santa Anita (yausser)

Since I was smart enough to DVR the Florida Derby this week I have now have added a screen capture of the DRF Formulator ad showing two women with the text overlay “for every skill level”, you know, in case you didn’t believe me or thought I might be exaggerating (who, me?).

I’m finding it a touch odd that folks have waited until now to make the many & valid points being raised re: the new British automatic berth. All of these issues were apparent when it was announced, right? As a friend pointed out, “no one complained last week when it knocked Beethoven off the list”. Indeed.

Reminder, the first HANA Pool Party is tomorrow, WRD R6. Check out the HANA blog for free PPs and more. I’ll be playing a $1 exacta box of 1,2,3,6,10,11 with a couple of bucks of on 2 & 6 to win.

After this weekend Quality Road has moved on to my “like like” list, and how! Over at PDI I rated him #2 behind Freisan Fire but in all reality I can’t make a strong case of why one should be over the other so I’m just leaving Freisan Fire in #1 for now. I’m not really buying the LA Derby as non-legit path to winning the Derby. Sure the numbers are daunting but that didn’t stop Street Sense from proving the numbers wrong about Juvenile winners.

Guess I really oughta come up with a new poll now that it’s official that IEAH bought 50% of I Want Revenge. Way to go, those who voted for “Buy Another Derby Prospect”, perhaps you should apply to work at IEAH!

And speaking of that poll, as much as I’d love to see Stardom Bound in the Derby, the more I see the depth in the 3yo filly division the more I want them all to run in the Oaks against each other. Rachel Alexandra vs. Stardom Bound could be the rivalry of the year. And when War Echo comes back later in the year, look out! Check out this eyewitness account of Stardom Bound working at Keeneland.

It should also be noted that several fillies ran with colts this weekend on dirt and they didn’t break down! Please people, let’s move on from fear-based assumption that fillies and colts don’t mix. Just ask Indian Blessing, who picked a very nice check for solid effort against her male colleagues!

Posted by dana on Mar 30 2009    
Filed Under: Stardom Bound, 2009, Indian Blessing, Iavarone, Quality Road, I Want Revenge, Rachel Alexandra, Kentucky Oaks, Channing Hill, Kentucky Derby, Derby Trail, You Can Help, 3yo, Santa Anita, Exacta, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

1 Comment »