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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I’ve been keeping an eye on the NYRA Facebook page ever since I posted a question over there. No “continuous dialogue between racetrack executives and the racing public” just yet, but a quick twirl over to Raceday360 Wire uncovered yet a new foray for NYRA into “web 2.0″… YouTube!

What they published tonight was a series of videos of jockeys, billed as Video Jockey Cards. They feature several NY jocks answering a standard set of questions set to kind of funny music and definitely funny editing (John Hennegan, did you have anything to do with that editing?). I blew through a bag of popcorn and watched them all… totally enjoyable.

While I’m glad too see them creating fun content, I seriously hope they interact with their fans over at the Facebook group, I’m not the only who posted a question on their wall! Until then…

Mike Luzzi:

Javier Castellano:

Rajiv Maragh:

Eibar Coa:

John Velazquez:

Channing Hill:

Richard Migliore:

Posted by dana on Nov 10 2008    
Filed Under: NYRA, Alan Garcia, YouTube, Channing Hill, Javier Castellano, John Velazquez, Jocks, Eibar Coa, Marketing, Racing

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Pays to Dream on the outside lives up to his name (Bud Morton)

They’re retired with an injury!

Pays to Dream, the long shot that came on to surprise in the Dixie and then ran a game third in the Manhattan was retired with a fracture. Ugh is all I can say to that, and of course, get well soon!

Here’s his eye popping run in the Dixie on the Preakness Card:

And his game effort in the Manhattan:

Posted by dana on Jun 09 2008    
Filed Under: Turf, :(, YouTube, Get Well Soon, Bud Morton, 2008, Injury, Javier Castellano, Belmont, Retirement, Race Replay, Pimlico, Edgar Prado, Racing

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Casino Drive works American style at Belmont (Sarah K Andrew)

I was just perusing flickr and found this note by Sarah interesting…

The Japanese connections of Casino Drive have a very cool way of working with their horses. Every morning, Casino Drive is tacked up around 5:30am. He and two other stable mates walk around the entire backside, picking up speed throughout their 45 minute walk until they are doing a verrry strong power-walk.

Then they walk the horses to the paddock to get them used to it for race day. Then they jog or gallop on track, depending on their training for the day. When they are done, they go back to the stable area and walk for another 45 minutes… first briskly, then they slow them down.

I’m no horsewoman, but who are we to think that only our way of working horses is appropriate? Clearly they’re doing something right!

I’m also intrigued by the maiden entry, Guadalcanal. You can’t do much better than Javier Castellano right now either. He’s currently 21% at Belmont and giving great rides to long shots all over the place, most notably Brookhaven’s Money this past Sunday in the 3rd, the Spectacular Bid in the NY Stallion Series.

I like owner/trainer Fred Seitz’s attitude:

He was bred for a route, he trains like he will want a route, and there are not many opportunities to race against 3-year-olds at 1 ½ miles. If we are on the board, we will be happy.

He’s got a point regarding mile and half opportunities!

Denis of Cork, Take of Ekati, Anak Nakal, Icabad Crane and Ready’s Echo are all of interest to me too, mind you, I haven’t really looked too closely yet.

Ah yes, and in case you were wondering about the Big Brown One, you can always look here for Big Brown’s Belmont Odds!

Posted by dana on Jun 04 2008    
Filed Under: 2008, Sarah K. Andrew, Big Brown, Casino Drive, Anak Nakal, Denis of Cork, Workouts, Maiden, Triple Crown, Belmont, Belmont Stakes, International Racing, Javier Castellano, Racing

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Carol Cedeño at Belmont (~ RAYMOND)

Jock night started off like any other night… I was over at flickr, looking photos from my contacts, commenting on some photos from the Preakness and looking at some amazing jockey portraits going on over at Raymond’s.

Then I was over at fellow TBA-er Superfecta’s, reading about how there’s still more work to be done before any grand proclamations should be made. The topic of Casino Drive came up, natch, and more specifically the topic of his jock.
At first it seemed like he would get Japanese superstar Yutaka Take, but then another report indicated that they’d actually prefer an American jock.

Nobutaka Tada, the representative for Yamamoto, said he was leaning toward an American-based rider.

“A mile and a half, you need to understand the pace,” Tada said. “American jockeys have an advantage here.”

This made me start to think about who’d I’d like to see on Casino Drive, or on any of them, for that matter. Kent D, who had the mount last out, is clearly spoken for and Denis of Cork is switching from Borel to Albarado.

Denis of Cork, owned by William Warren, worked five furlongs in 1:01 on Monday at Churchill Downs. In the Belmont, he will be ridden by Robby Albarado, replacing Calvin Borel, who rode Denis of Cork to a third-place finish in the Derby.

“I have no issue with Calvin - he has two wins on him and a third in the Kentucky Derby,” said David Carroll, who trains Denis of Cork. “Mr. Warren felt like Robby Albarado’s success at Belmont Park and winning nine Grade 1s there is the way he wanted to go. He wants to give [Denis of Cork] every opportunity and was very adamant that if Robby was available, then that was the way he wanted to go.”

Here’s a run down of the last rider for each of the other known contenders:

Macho Again - Leparoux
Tale of Ekati - Coa / Prado
Anak Nakal - Bejarano
Tomcito - Cornelio
Behindathebar - David Flores
Ready’s Echo - Johnny V
Spark Candle - Chavez

Also from the article:

Top riders yet to commit to a Belmont mount include Garrett Gomez, Edgar Prado, and John Velazquez.

So I guess Ready’s Echo is not spoken for and maybe Coa is on Tale of Ekati.

In no particular order my fav riders are Albarado, Prado, Bejarano, Cornelio, Castellano, Coa, Alan Garcia, Channing Hill and Carol Cedeño. It’s tough to pick one, I can’t get Castellano’s ride on Pays to Dream in the Dixie out of my head but I also loved Prado’s ride on Tale of Ekati in the Wood, which is closer to Casino Drive’s running style.

Damn, is it too early to make a new poll? Who would you like see on Casino Drive?

Update: for the current jock assignments, check DRF.

Posted by dana on May 19 2008    
Filed Under: Robby Albarado, Alan Garcia, Javier Castellano, Carol Cedeno, TBA, Raymond Haddad, 2008, Channing Hill, John Velazquez, Edgar Prado, Rafael Bejarano, Triple Crown, Belmont, Calvin Borel, Cornelio Velazquez, Kent Desormeaux, International Racing, Belmont Stakes, Racing

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