As usual, Ernie was right. Last night I asked for ideas for a new poll and this morning this item turns up indicating that Music Note is under consideration for the Travers. Although I can’t be too hard on myself as I did I pick Music Note for the Travers in Geno’s Saratoga Contest.

My other around the way track pals have differing opinions. While we all think the Alabama will be one helluva race with Music Note, Railbird finds the prospect of Music Note in the Travers very interesting. On the other hand Brooklyn Backstretch correctly points out that a win in the Travers is no more significant or impressive than a win in the Alabama.

I commented at BB that each win comes a different set of bragging rights… to quote myself:

…the competition will be tougher in the Alabama and if she runs there it will certainly be the best race of the meet but beating a bunch of colts has it’s bragging rights too…

Here’s her Mother Goose:

Here’s her Coaching Club Oaks:

What do you think? Travers or Alabama?

In our last poll, which had a whopping 102 votes(!), 68 wanted to see Lava Man become the west coast Funny Cide by going out on an easy win and then becoming a stable pony. 15 folks wanted to see him turned out, 14 wanted to see him drop into softer competition and keep running and 4 folks wanted to see him try again at the same level. We can still keep our fingers crossed that he’ll be a stable pony!

Posted by dana on Aug 01 2008    
Filed Under: 3yo, YouTube, 2008, Poll, Funny Cide, Race Replay, Fans, Saratoga, Lava Man, Racing

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Lava Man still looking game in the Eddie Read (Charles Pravata)

The first thing I thought when Lava Man faded in the stretch was “Was that it? Is that how his career will end?” He was so damn came in the Whittingham and while he looked the part yesterday he just didn’t show up in the stretch.

Was it his time in the Detention Protection Barn? [DRF+] He does like his routine. Was the crowd too tough for him? He held his own last out in roughly the same company.

Retirement is seriously on the table for the wildly successful former claimer and fan favorite. The owners want to give it a week to see how they feel… but what you do think?

They could take the Funny Cide route by trying to find a race with a soft field that he could win and then retire him as a stable pony. They could just try him again at the same level if they thought it was a just an off day, or they can start running him in softer company if they thought he still wanted keep running but wasn’t up for G1 company (thanks Jeff!). Or, they could just turn him out.

Here’s his game effort in the Whittingham:

And his dud in the Eddie Read:

In our last poll about Curlin’s next move, 33 of you, myself included, want him to run on the turf here in the states before deciding on the the Arc, 17 of you thought he should just stick to dirt, 12 of you though he should stay on target for the Arc and 7 of you thought he should point towards the BC Turf.

Remember, the Jess Jackson’s poll is still open… and Turf is the current front runner at 52%.

As always, thanks for participating!

Posted by dana on Jul 21 2008    
Filed Under: Doug O'Neill, Charles Pravata, 2008, Poll, Claimer, YouTube, Turf, Fans, Retirement Watch, Lava Man, Race Replay, Racing

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I think Curlin ran well but his solid second wasn’t the unwavering “full speed ahead” signal we all had hoped for.

If anyone can learn quickly, it’s Curlin. I’m always blown away when I think about how much he learned between the Derby and the Preakness. The Derby was the first time he wasn’t on the pace and the first time he couldn’t easily put away a field. But he came right back in the Preakness and owned sitting off the pace and suddenly showed off his new found skill of looking an opponent in the eye and going after him.

I’m hoping he’ll be the same overachieving student after the Man o’War:

So, what would you do? Run him again on the turf in the states? Should they change the target to the BC Turf? Should he just stick to dirt OR stick to the plan for the Arc? I’m not sure how I feel about it, I’m leaning towards another turf try here in the states and then ship him for a prep race if works out well.

In the last poll, 16 of you (me included) thought Zenyatta should train for the Classic, 15 of you thought she could be interesting and 12 of you gave the whole idea a big thumbs down. Her performance in the Vanity no doubt helped in the No department but I still think at the very least she’s an interesting prospect for the Classic, particularly given the absence of Heatseeker and Curlin.

Thanks to all who participated in the last poll and I’ll so some much needed catch up posting tomorrow!

Posted by dana on Jul 12 2008    
Filed Under: 2008, BC Classic, Poll, 4yo, Zenyatta, YouTube, Turf, Fans, Curlin, Race Replay, International Racing, 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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Thanks to all for the whopping 92 votes in the last poll… and a special thanks to equidaily and the NTRA for increased traffic!

The majority of you, 34 to be exact, thought Kent D’s ride didn’t really matter one way or the other because Big Brown didn’t show up. 20 of you, myself included, had mixed feelings about the ride, 16 of you felt it was prudent and you were glad he eased him, 15 of you thought it was a bad ride all the way around and 7 of you went so far as to say the ride was unsportsmanlike.

The new poll takes a look back… 1988 has been in the air lately. I first noticed it at Brooklyn Backstretch in a post entitled Phipps and Shug. The post features 4 races of the undefeated champion Personal Ensign, including her win against Gulch in the Whitney.

Then, news of Ocean Colors, daughter of Winning of Colors, breaking her maiden prompted Patrick to curate a little Winning Colors retrospective over at TBA site.

Winning Colors was one of only 3 fillies to ever win the Kentucky Derby. As I commented over at Brooklyn Backstretch, “Seriously, Winning Colors and Personal Ensign are all anyone needs to know about why fillies CAN run against colts”.

One of my all time favorite races was Winning Colors absolute romp in the Santa Anita Derby. While you can view the Distaff either at Brooklyn Backstretch or the TBA video section, I wanted to include it here, with a reminder to sign the petition to Breeders’ Cup about the name change of the Distaff… does this look a Ladies Classic to you?

Posted by dana on Jun 16 2008    
Filed Under: Take Back the Race, Rivalry, Poll, TBA, Fans, Inspirational, Racing

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