Curlin beating Lawyer Ron in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont (Charles Pravata)

It’s looking like that’s what Curlin will be next Saturday in the Man o’War! The licensing issues are still not totally worked out, but inching closer with the expectation of it being finalized in the beginning of the week.

The licensing issues could be resolved at the beginning of the week when a Kentucky civil-court judge is expected to formally transfer the assets of two Kentucky attorneys who own a minor interest in Curlin to those who won a civil-case judgment against them.

Not only does it look like we’ll see him in New York, but it seems to be shaping up to be a turf war, so to speak, with Breeders’ Cup turf champions Red Rocks and Better Talk Now also expected to run.

And in other good news on the turf, my boy Thorn Song , back at his best distance of a mile, beat the impressive Einstein by about a length and half in the Firecracker at Churchill today, not that I could wager on it with my TWINSPIRES account (ludicrous!).

Happy 4th y’all!

Posted by dana on Jul 04 2008    
Filed Under: 2008, Steve Asmussen, Twinspires, Signal Wars, Einstein, Thorn Song, :), Belmont, Fans, Curlin, Turf, Charles Pravata, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Share This

No Comments »

I had fully intended to play the Stephen Foster card at Churchill today. I assumed I would be able to do so by using Twinspires. Not the case. I then moved on to my YouBet account. Again, no luck.

Truth be told it’s probably for the best, I haven’t exactly been on fire at the windows. The good news is that I can watch the card using the pretty snazzy beta of Twinspires TV (I wish their race replays used the same interface, which would make them larger and easier to see). The other bit of good luck is that I’ll be able to watch the Stephen Foster on the aforementioned Channel 71 as the race day will be over at Belmont.

Naturally I didn’t discover this until I had gotten pretty far into my handicapping. I was uninspired by the 6th (Hysterical Lady just crushed) but here are my thoughts on the Regret and Northern Dancer.

In the Regret I’m not convinced by Pure Clan as the favorite. CJ’s Leelee, Zee Zee and Magical Theater is where I would be looking and given the current odds I might focus on Magical Theater.

As for the Northern Dancer, we all know I love Pyro and the pace looks to be right up his alley. I’m bummed that Tiz Now Tiz Then scratched as I think he might have helped to tire out Recapturetheglory. That being said, if I had access to some wagering I would probably take a shot with Pyro over Unbridled Vicar. Unbridled Vicar had a nice confidence builder last out and can close off a slow pace. I’m not convinced Visionaire and Texas Wildcatter will like the pace.

Ok, they’re loading in the gate for the Regret. Good luck to all!

Update: my inability to access wagering is already working out for the best as Pure Clan just won the Regret! CJ’s Lee Lee and Zee Zee placed and showed respectively.

Posted by dana on Jun 14 2008    
Filed Under: 2008, Twinspires, Picks, Signal Wars, Churchill Downs, Technology, Handicapping, OTB, Simulcasting, Pyro, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Share This

8 Comments »

Churchill Downs (blake seely)

ESPN2 has the oaks under card! I had no idea, mind you, I can only wager on the Oaks online.

The weather is hideous at Churchill! I missed the Louisville Stakes, but they replayed the stretch run which featured winner Ginger Punch hopping over a puddle… impressive!

I didn’t handicap the Oaks (or much of anything yet), but I’ll be placing a little sloppy track exacta of Bsharpsonata & Little Belle.

Posted by dana on May 02 2008    
Filed Under: Hunch Bet, I'm Procrastinating, Signal Wars, 2008, Kentucky Oaks, TV, Churchill Downs, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Share This

2 Comments »

Mr. Umphrey and Divine Park in the Westchester, opening day at Belmont (~ RAYMOND)

Pardon my lack of posting today, because you know, this is the week when all bloggers are posting at least 6 posts a day… wait till Friday, I’ll be a posting machine!

Brief thoughts:

Belmont, yay!

Loving the ML odds of the Derby.

Love the parrot story, thanks SF!

Speaking of SF, look for Brooklyn Backstretch at Superfecta while SF is out of town and BB works out annoyance with blogger.

I heart Pyro.

Churchill Downs has the best sweet corn muffins.

I love my friend Joan and talking horses with her, she says “Tale of Ekati — I have this thing against Tale of the Cat offspring. I have this problem with the sire and cats in general.”

Looks like anyone wishing to play the Derby/Oaks under cards can do so at bricks-and-mortar simulcast facilities. (Phew, and thanks Jessica!).

Take a look at Big Brown’s feet for yourself.

David shares non-derby related a view from the inside.

And Franks shares some favorite Derby memories… glad to hear Pyro works for the “the system”.

Special Railbird correspondent “Blinkers Off” wins the best report from Churchill… even Ray Paulick thinks so!

Posted by dana on Apr 30 2008    
Filed Under: Signal Wars, Raymond Haddad, 2008, Pyro, Belmont, Derby Trail, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Share This

2 Comments »

Churchill Downs (blake seely)

Note to self, “if you had more PTO you could theoretically take the week prior to the Derby off just to read all the reports coming out of Louisville”.

A few things caught my eye as I bounced around the internet today.

Cheers to glimmerglass for an excellent comment on fellow TBA-er Alan’s Rail Piece that speculates on the potential brouhaha if Eight Belles scratches.

Eight Belles is 4-0 this year; if one of the boys possibly “bumped” by her has accomplished that and earned as much graded money as she has, then they wouldn’t be on the outside looking in.

There are more then a couple colts going who haven’t a prayer but no complaints exists when they are still being entered.

And a special nod goes to commenter Joe for noting that there are already about 6 too many horses running anyway.

Over at fellow TBA-er Thoroughblog I noticed this quote from Asmussen about Pyro:

I’m not looking to run him on a synthetic track again.

Read no Breeders’ Cup for Pyro.

Steve Davidowitz reminds us to not overlook the Derby under card [DRF+]. That is, if we’ll be able to play it if we’re not literally at Churchill Downs.

Posted by dana on Apr 28 2008    
Filed Under: Churchill Downs, Internet, 2008, Signal Wars, TBA, Pyro, Derby Trail, 3yo, Steve Davidowitz, Racing

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Share This

5 Comments »