Slew’s Tizzy and Joel Rosario winning the 2008 Native Diver (Charles Pravata)

My beloved Slew’s Tizzy returns to racing today in the Cornhusker at Prairie Meadows! It sort of feels like when your pet runs away from home and comes back several months after you’ve already resigned yourself to their absence.

The last we saw of Slew’s Tizzy he was in the Doug O’Neill barn where he had won the Native Diver in December of 2008 (pictured above) after a string of decent efforts (minus the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile). He had vastly improved with O’Neill, and while enjoyable as a fan, it was also always a bit of concern given that O’Neill is no stranger to drug violations. He ended up on Dan Illman’s disabled list with a stall injury and now has magically landed in the barn of Calder trainer Terrance Oliver.

I don’t know anything about Oliver, other than his win percentage is a dismal .06, his first time with team percentage is an equally dismal .09, his +180 days percentage is a respectable .17 and his dirt percentage is .09. Dirt isn’t Slew’s Tizzy’s preferred surface either, unless it’s muddy.

He’s still racing for Joseph LaCombe, who is also his breeder, so at the very least he hasn’t been dumped somewhere unsavory. He’s also reunited with Robby Albarado, which I take to be a very good sign. Let’s just say I’m cautiously optimistic and glad to know where he is… and of course rooting for him!

Update: He started off a bit slow, got into a good position and then faded about half way through the race. I’ll keep an eye out to see if he turns up on the work tab again. I hope they put him back on synthetics!

Posted by dana on Jun 26 2010    
Filed Under: :), 2010, Charles Pravata, Robby Albarado, Slew's Tizzy, Racing

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(Jason Moran)

Eagle-eyed photo Jason Moran spotted something interesting during Sunday morning workouts at Belmont.

Some insight from the morning work outs. On the inside is the very capable Munnings. On the outside, with I believe Johnny V., is a horse that was listed as completing the 5 Furlong work in 1:00.46 Breezing. Munnings was caught in the same time but was classified as doing it Handily, (note this photo is 30 or so yards after the finish line). Here is the kicker, the outside horse is an unnamed 2 year old (AP Indy-Madcap Escapade) that was bought for a million bucks in last year’s September Keeneland Sale. Think they were trying to figure out what they have here? Look out for this one.

Hmmm, very interesting indeed. And good work Jason!

Posted by dana on Jun 21 2010    
Filed Under: Jason Moran, 2010, Workouts, 2yo, Belmont, Todd Pletcher, Racing

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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

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Player at Belmont today, looking like he just got kicked out of the P6 (Jason Moran)

You may think that the only thing I blog about these days is thanking sponsors, and you’d be right, in part. I’ll cover a few other items but not without thanking sponsors first!

NJSEA, the folks who run Monmouth and Meadowlands, have decided to continue to use the Hello Race Fans Ad Network to promote their summer activities. I’m happy to report that I’m still Surviving at the Shore (narrowly) and hope to make a trip to Monmouth this summer… and you should too! Check them out (by way of clicking on their ad) as they have a whole summers worth of cool stuff to promote.

Sam Houston loves all of Texas, and the Hello Race Fans Ad Network! They’ve widened their current geo-targeted campaign to include all of Texas, so all you fun-lovin’ Texans should check them out (by way of clicking on their ads!).

And finally, we welcome Churchill night racing to the network! They kick off their Friday night racing with a little disco. Of the many genres of music that I love, classic 70’s disco is the top of the list (I was singing Odyssey’s Native New Yorker to my dog just the other day. Inner Life’s Caught up in a One Night Love Affair (which I’m NOT having!) is also in high rotation on my ipod). Why go to some stupid bar on Friday night when you can stay home and play Churchill? Or, better yet, play Churchill from the bar, unless, of course, you’re in the Louisville area. In which case you should boogie on down to Churchill.

But seriously, many thanks to our sponsors. If you like the blogs and sites and in the Hello Race Fans Ad Network, you should occasionally click on the ads. Every click helps!

In other news, you’d be surprised how many people search for things like “how to bet horse racing” or “learn to bet on horse races”. It’s heartening to see HRF getting decent search traffic from these sorts of searches after the Triple Crown. Here a few of the search terms that led folks to Hello Race Fans! today:

learn to bet horse races
reading a tote board
how to bet on horse racing
simple tote
what to look for in horse behavior in post parade
filly triple crown
how to interpret horse racing forms
playing superfecta
horse lineage terminology
horse race lingo

Also heartening was that Rachel Alexandra going to the Fleur Di Lis was picked up by AP (via Lane Gold).

Finally, you can support your fav racing bloggers (or at least some of them!) by going to the first, presumably annual, Horse Racing Blogger Awards and voting. Voting closes June 21.

Posted by dana on Jun 09 2010    
Filed Under: Jason Moran, Twitter, 2010, Churchill Downs, Monmouth Park, Ads, You Can Help, Racing

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(Jason Moran)

I almost forgot… the complete lack of alarmist hoo-ha over a filly in the Kentucky Derby is DEFINITELY a reason to be cheerful. Thanks Rachel!

But not to worry, there’s still plenty of fail to go around!

Posted by dana on May 03 2010    
Filed Under: 2010, Jason Moran, Kentucky Derby, Derby Trail, Racing

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