Captain Candyman & Vineyard Haven duke it out in the stretch of the King’s Bishop (Adam Mooshian)

This break in Breeders’ Cup content is brought to you by the De Francis Dash and Vineyard Haven!

The De Francis Dash is back this Saturday at Laurel after a brief hiatus.

The 57-day schedule is highlighted by the return of Laurel’s marquee race, the $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (G1), which was not carded in 2008 due to a purse account shortfall, on October 24.

Many were entered, including Fabulous Strike and Kodiak Kowboy but the recently returned Vineyard Haven is the only marquee name for this years event.

You may remember his stunning return in the King’s Bishop a couple of months ago at Saratoga where he ran huge coming off an 8 month layoff but was rightfully DQ’d for pilot error.

(partymanners)

He’s been working great and had a nice blow out today so it’s probably safe to assume that he’ll be sharp on Saturday. But let’s not forget the second choice in the morning line odds, Fleet Valid, son of 1993 De Francis Dash winner Montbrook.

In fact, Vineyard Haven has some family ties to the DeFrancis dash as his half brother On the Vineyard is by the 1996 De Francis Dash winner Lite the Fuse. Who are the previous De Francis Dash winners? Several have turned out to be champion sprinters (from Brisnet):

Introduced in 1990, the De Francis Dash is one of the elite six-furlong sprints in the country with four of the 18 winners — Housebuster (1991), Cherokee Run (1994), Smoke Glacken (1997) and Thor’s Echo (2006) — earning Eclipse Award honors for champion sprinter.

Update: As it turns out current entrant Peace Chant also has ties to the De Francis Dash! This was brought to my attention this morning in the comments by Val of Foolish Pleasure and Fillies First (thank you!):

Don’t forget that the mare Safely Kept, who was left in the gate and came from dead last to finish third in that 1991 De Francis (and had won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in 1990) is the dam of Peace Chant who drew post 6. He wasn’t bad for six furlongs in the G1 Forego last out.

Vineyard Haven won’t become this year’s champion sprinter but that doesn’t mean a strong win wouldn’t be impressive and probably a giant relief for whoever made all those Godophin purchases that are finally paying off! And perhaps this is a prep for the Cigar Mile at the Big A.

While I couldn’t dig up Thor’s Echo’s rendition, here are the rest of the champions mentioned above + Montbrook & Lite the Fuse’s (i.e., everything over at YouTube).

1997 - Smoke Glacken:

(partymanners)

1996 - Lite the Fuse:

(partymanners)

1994 - Cherokee Run:

(partymanners)

1993 - Montbrook:

(partymanners)

1991 - Housebuster - WARNING: there is a breakdown in the stretch.

(partymanners)

It should also be noted that GbG and Brooklyn Backstretch fav Saratoga Russell is entered as well. Good luck to all!

Posted by dana on Oct 21 2009    
Filed Under: Saratoga Russell, 2009, De Francis Dash, Laurel, Sprint, Fabulous Strike, Thor's Echo, Race Replay, YouTube, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

9 Comments »

Thor’s Echo before the 2006 Ancient Title at Santa Anita (Charles Pravata)

Besides being generally excited about what promises to be an exciting day at my most favorite track and the potential of witnessing a Triple Crown, I think I’m most excited to see Thor’s Echo return!

As mentioned before, Thor’s Echo has a sentimental place in my racing history. The 2006 Breeders’ Cup was my first real foray into handicapping in a serious way… it was clear to me at this point that my interest in racing was way beyond the casual “hey, let’s go to the track”.

Swifty and I had gone to Belmont for the 3rd time a few weeks before the Breeders’ Cup. It was the running of the Frizette and Jamaica. I had Sutra in the Frizette, which was great because she went off at 12-1, but nuttin’ in the Jamaica.

As we were leaving the track that day I had the feeling I always used to have back in my clubbing days when the lights would come on and it was time go home… I couldn’t believe it was over and more importantly when was I gonna do it again.

Enter the 2006 BC. I had started to grow tired of handicapping at the track, feeling like I could probably make better decisions if I had more time to analyze the data. I didn’t even realize at that point that I could actually get the past performances ahead of time! Our pal Joan sent sent us the BC past performances on that that Thursday and the rest was history!

Thor’s Echo and Miesque’s Approval were my two picks of the day, both long shots. Swifty has bragging rights to Invasor. I think the best part was that we spent the day at the Yankee Clipper sitting with a large table of investment bankers who were college pals of one of our friends. Swifty and I, the two newbies kicked their a$$es on the day… not to mention that they seemed a bit crestfallen to be outdone by a Lady.

Unfortunately there’s a dearth of Thor’s Echo replays on YouTube, the BC sprint is there but it’s really choppy and pretty much unwatchable so I’ll point you to his few replays on NTRA.

The BC Sprint was followed by a win in the De Francis Dash, which locked up his win of the 2006 Eclipse Sprinter of the Year award.

According to NTRA:

2006 Eclipse Award winner for Outstanding Sprinter. Purchased privately by the Maktoum family for an undisclosed price at the beginning of the year. After two losing efforts in Dubai, he returned to Doug O’Neill’s Hollywood Park barn in May. Following surgery in August to remove a bone chip in a hind ankle, will be given time off and will point toward an ‘08 campaign.

So here he is, back for his 2008 campaign in the True North on the Belmont under card. His works have been solid, and although they’ve been over the cushion track at Hollywood, he’s beyond proven on conventional dirt.

Welcome back Thor’s Echo, what a nice surprise!

Posted by dana on Jun 04 2008    
Filed Under: :), Charles Pravata, Geldings, 2008, De Francis Dash, Sprint, Come Back, Belmont, Fans, Invasor, Thor's Echo, Breeders' Cup, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

2 Comments »

Court Vision & Eibar Coa win the Rodeo Remsen. (Sarah K. Andrew)

It was great to be back at “the office”, where Swifty and I spend the Aqueduct winter meet. I handicapped the 4th - 9th races + the De Francis Dash while Swifty had done races 8, 9 & 11 at Churchill + the Cigar Mile.

I was taken out of the Pick 6 immediately by Regal Prince, a first time starter in a state bred MSW. However my best play of the day followed shortly after with the trifecta of Now a Victor, Shopton Lane & Dr. V’s Magic in the G3 Discovery.

I wasn’t sold on Helsinki or Buffalo Man and could make a case for each of my trifecta picks. I really liked Shopton Lane as a front runner with some endurance works poised to make a jump up. Now a Victor was a deserving favorite and Dr. V’s Magic had a nice last race at the distance and two really nice last works. In addition to my tri-box I had Shopton Lane to win, and he almost did. I also have give props to Maggi Moss and her team as this time last year Shopton Lane was running as a claimer. They’ve done a great job bringing out his talent, prior to this race was 4 for 4 on the year and this was his stakes debut. I’m looking forward to seeing more of him.

The most impressive runs of the day belonged to the youngins in the Demoiselle and the Remsen.

Empire Maker filly Mushka was incredibly impressive in the Demoiselle, she broke so slow that I thought she got pulled up. She sat really far back as if she wasn’t even gonna try and then came on with a giant run going about 4-5 wide around the field to blow by everyone and win by 4 1/2 lengths. Like all great horses, she made it look so easy and she definitely didn’t look like she was only running in her 3rd start. I didn’t have her in any of my combos but I did like her, specifically that she was the only one that had shown that she could sit off the pace and win, albeit not the 10 or lengths she sat today! Elusive Lady has to also get a nod here as she ran wide on both turns up close to the pace and held on well to place.

The Remsen was a like bumper car ride! Tide Dancer led about half of the way while heavily favored Court Vision was bottled up on the rail surrounded by Springs Road & Big Truck. Attoned was racing close but clipped heals on the first turn and fell back a bit while Trust N Dustan was pulling a Muska sitting way way back. Attoned got his run going and took over the lead going into the stretch just as Trust N Dustan came on wide, again almost replicating Muska’s run. Court Vision was squeezed while Trust N Dustan was banging into him going into the stretch. At this point Attoned was pulling away but Court Vision broke free and poured it on to catch him at the wire. What a tough bunch! I’m looking forward to seeing all them again!

I suppose Daaher was no surprise given that he went off at 2-1, and he looked great too. I felt bad for Midnight Lute struggling in the stretch. Speaking of BC sprinters, Benny the Bull finally had his day in the De Francis Dash. I had him over Miraculous Miss and Miraculous Miss to win but that pesky Talent Search put in a nice run and held on to place! I thought all three of them ran well and was kicking myself a bit for not playing that as a tri box.

I also ended up hitting the low paying late Pick 3 with the win of Premier Perfection in the 9th. While not a great day at the windows it was a great day to catch a glimpse of the excitement and talent coming our way.

Posted by dana on Nov 24 2007    
Filed Under: Mushka, Benny the Bull, Court Vision, Demoiselle, De Francis Dash, Remsen, Aqueduct, Midnight Lute, Handicapping, Gambling, 2007, 2yo, Wrap Up, Sarah K. Andrew, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

No Comments »

Today is my first full day of playing since the BC, I’ve played a few hunches here and there but no concerted handicapping efforts. I’m going to play the 4th through the 9th at Aqueduct and the De Francis Dash. I’m also going to watch the baby races at Churchill and if I get a chance to really look them over I’ll play them as well.

Unlike the Cigar Mile, The De Francis Dash is a pretty well matched competitive field. While I think Talent Search will do better in this company than he has his last few starts, I think the pace scenario will favor closers. Benny the Bull is the natural pick here, I liked him at Saratoga and thought he did ok in the BC but I’m also really interested in Miraculous Miss. I thought she had one of the more impressive non-winning runs of the BC. This pace could be hot enough for her and if Benny the Bull isn’t on his game or doesn’t get a good trip I think she can do it. I’ll using both Benny the Bull & Miraculous Miss in a box and Miraculous Miss to win.

While I singled Midnight Lute in the Pick 6, I think Daaher has a reasonable chance. However, my fun wise guy play is Sir Greeley! He’s got a good record at the distance, loves to place, a decent last work and solid times at the distance. Do I think he can win? Not really, but anything is possible. Do I think he can place? Most definitely. I’ll be fooling around with combinations of those 3.

Good luck everyone!

Posted by dana on Nov 24 2007    
Filed Under: Aqueduct, Benny the Bull, De Francis Dash, Midnight Lute, Pick 6, Handicapping, 2007, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

No Comments »

Sophie’s Salad at Saratoga, can also be found on the menu at Mesa Grill! (Sarah K. Andrew)

The minute I don’t post for a day or two all kinds of things come up that I want to point out, or how to turn several small posts turn into one really long post.

Back in Action:
NTRA has several items of note on those who are back in action, of one kind or another. Great Hunter & Spring at Last are back in training and Rags to Riches is preparing to start training in Cali.

You’ll have one more time to ask yourself “Will He Shine?” as he will retire after his next start in the De Francis Dash.

In a Back in Action two-fer, or perhaps a Back in Action one-fer and a Back in Cali one-fer, one of my favorite turfers, Obrigado, is set come back after a few months off on Saturday at Hollywood Park with Patrick Valenzuela up.

Following-up:
Slew’s Tizzy showed in Commonwealth Turf Stakes. He seemed to like to surface and started to come on in the end. If it were me I would probably run him on the turf again or perhaps send him out to Cali to see how handles the various synthetic tracks.

Around the blogosphere:
Speaking of synthetic tracks, Teresa at Brooklyn Backstretch, one of the only folks I’ve seen to consistently raise this worthy issue, has a post on the “big toxic waste dump” factor.

John at The Race is Not to the Swift has a couple of posts of note. One has two interesting videos of Aqueduct… one that documents some shuddered off areas and one that’s a bit of profile and/or ‘whatever happened to’ as told by those who are there. This post generated some discussion about NYRA that’s worth checking and perhaps chiming in if you’re interested.

His other post that has several video clips of sires being shown off at stallion tours. The one of Giacomo, no doubt preparing for his work day, is somewhat alarming (perhaps impressive?) yet also giggle worthy with ridiculous background music and angle of the video. All in a days work!

Valerie at Foolish Pleasure has a nice homage to Octave, a horse that no doubt didn’t get the respect she deserved being R2R’s stable mate.

This also generated some interesting discussion about how the current graded stakes system fails to recognize horses like Octave, among other things. If you’d like to see the American Graded Stakes Committee do something about that, and I know you would, go here and leave a comment.

I Rarely Disagree:
A few opinion pieces and interviews from 2 folks I rarely disagree with… Steve Haskin does not disappoint in his Talkin’ Horses transcript that’s full of great insight and commentary.

Dan Liebman has 2 nice editorials of note, one suggesting that there are plenty of ways in which tracks can work together to better each other and one that discusses a new heartening direction in marketing for the BC.

Finally, I had a business lunch today at Mesa Grill, owned by noneotherthan Celebrity Grill Master and Horse Owner extroadinare, Bobby Flay. Sophie’s Salad was on the menu but no Catmosphere burger… probably not a bad thing.

Posted by dana on Nov 14 2007    
Filed Under: Dan Liebman, You Can Help, You Tell 'em!, Sarah K. Andrew, De Francis Dash, Steve Haskin, NYRA, Marketing, Rags to Riches, Retirement, Slew's Tizzy, Great Hunter, 2007, Octave, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

2 Comments »