Bobby Frankel and Stardom Bound (Marcie Heacox)
Just a quick note to pay respects and mention the passing of Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel. Condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. Even when you know it’s coming, it doesn’t make it any easier.
I’ll resume semi-regular posting soon(ish!).
Posted by dana on Nov 16 2009
Filed Under: 2009, Farewell, :(, Bobby Frankel, Racing
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Happy First Saturday in May! To be honest, I’m a having a little trouble getting jazzed about today with the late scratch of I Want Revenge after all the other defections and breathtaking splendor of Rachel Alexandra being wasted on connections that see the Triple Crown only as a function of showcasing stallions. Talk about a bring down, at least they’re out and proud about it and not trying to pretend that it determines the best 3yo in training… I’ll give them that.
Moving on, another reason why I’m having a hard time getting jazzed is that I felt there was more value apparent in the Oaks card, such as my picks of Miss Isella and Bullsbay, than I can find today. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to try!
Kodiak Kowboy looks tough to beat in the Churchill Down, this is his distance and if the track is still sloppy or off I might single him in any multi-race wagers. An acception to that would be Accredit who should benefit from the added distance… leave him off at your own risk. The Roundhouse is an interesting long shot to me as he’s improving and has placed to Kodiak Kowboy in the past (although he was the fav in the race).
Update: Accredit for the win! Still alive in the Pick 6 and Pick 3. The Roundhouse got up for the 3rd, was really hoping he could get place as I had a little exacta box of the two. Kodiak Kowboy was hard ridden half way through, not his day.
The Eight Belles (nee La Troienne) is a little tough. I’ll go with Just Jenda here but will throw in Warrior Maid and Lady’s Laughter for some fun. Warrior Maid is cutting back to a distance that suits her and has done well on the second off and Lady’s Laughter is more of hunch play than anything. She’s won at a mile on the dirt and placed by a neck to Stone Legacy, who was only 20 or so lengths behind the 2009 Triple Crown winner yesterday. I’m having trouble getting jazzed about Four Gifts as the favorite but the distance should suit her and she’s reunited with her winning jockey, Shaun Bridgmohan, which is always something to take note of.
Update: Ugh, Four Gifts beats Just Jenda and leaves me playing for 5 of 6 in the Pick 6. Warrior Maid gets third. Oh, I’m also out of the Pick 3 now too, damn. Time to order pizza!
I really liked Ballymore Lady in the Distaff Turf Mile (look, a race that’s still called Distaff!! ok, maybe my mood is lifting) but I’ll use Elusive Lady, Visit and Lemon Chiffon. I do like Tizaquenna but wonder if she needs to sets the slow pace to win on the turf? I’m not sure that’s going to happen with Rasierra in the race so I’ll stick with my other 3.
Update: Guess that answers that question about Tizaqueena, she can sit off the pace and win! Dawn After Dawn, who looked ready to rock in the parade, hung tough for second while Lemon Chiffon was third. It looked to me like Smith struck Elusive Lady with his whip in the stretch when as he passed with Lemon Chiffon. Elusive Lady, my pick, definitely stopped.
I’m looking forward to betting against Informed Decision in the Humana Distaff, but will not leave her off any multi-race tickets. She hasn’t fared as well switching from synthetic to dirt and Secret Gypsy and Game Face look tough.
Update: I only played a small exacta of Royal Michelle over a few horses because she looked really good in the parade but Informed Decision blew by the rest of the field in the stretch. Naturally I left her off my desperation Pick 3. I think my frat boy neighbors are having a Derby party, maybe I should ask them who they like, ugh!
Before I handicapped the Woodford Reserve I thought I might single Einstein, but regardless of the fact that that Einstein loves the distance and surface combo, Proudinsky and Zambezi Sun are interesting and should do well on the softer turf. Proudinsky is on a roll and training well for Bobby Frankel while Zambezi Sun should finally show what European turf class is about after running on concrete turf and then poly out in Cali. This one should be interesting. After just watching the first turf race of the day, the outside post should also be helpful to Zambezi Sun and Einstein.
Update: As it turns out, I could have singled Einstein. What a race! Very thrilling stretch battle with Einstein getting up in time to beat a very game Cowboy Cal. At least I’m alive in the double. It’s now confirmed that my neighbors are having a Derby party, they’re all dressed up and when their door opened I heard someone explaining what Quinella is.
And now for the big one, the breeding showcase, the Stallion Derby! Like many a player my pick to win is Friesan Fire. I took me until now to really settle on that as my official pick. I almost, ALMOST went with Desert Party.
My A-Team, top 3 are: Friesan Fire / Desert Party / Papa Clem. I would not be surprised to see any of those three win. I will definitely have tri and exact boxes of those three + win bets on Desert Party and Papa Clem (Friesan Fire’s odds will probably be too low for me for a win bet… but if he looks good, who knows!).
I’ll also use Musket Man and Summer Bird. I may do a $1 3/5/all ticket ($204) but am not entirely sure yet. I also ready have some interesting live futuracta tickets with Friesan Fire on top so I’ll wait to see the parade and spend the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out how to construct my tickets.
Good luck, let’s get them all home safe and may the best stallion win!
Update: I had a brutal day at the windows but as it turns out, the only gelding in the field won… take that “Stallion Derby”!
Posted by dana on May 02 2009
Filed Under: 2009, Einstein, Picks, Shaun Bridgmohan, Friesan Fire, Desert Party, Pick 3, I Want Revenge, Rachel Alexandra, Churchill Downs, Trifecta, Bobby Frankel, Handicapping, Derby Trail, That's Why They Call it Gambling, Larry Jones, Kentucky Derby, Exacta, Pick 6, Pick 4, Racing
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Stardom Bound and Mike Smith in the parade prior to the SA Oaks (Charles Pravata)
During the conversation last week regarding Stardom Bound, I asked “I wonder if Patena turns out to be a stinker if they’ll get reinvested in SB in the Derby?”…. Val wonders the same thing.
Moments after the LA Derby I asked the tweet-o-sphere:
The results were mixed…
either that or they’ll buy their way in with some other horse.
Regardless of whether you think Stardom Bound should be on the Kentucky Derby trail or not (I do), what do you think IEAH will do? Will they lay low and then announce that Stardom Bound is back on the Derby Trail if she performs well in the Ashland? Will they give Patena another shot given the slop or will they just buy another Derby hopeful (Win Willy?? Musket Man?)?
Apologies to the 8 of you who voted in my Bravo poll, it wasn’t the most well crafted poll… if the person who thinks there’s not a single good about the Oaks being on Bravo concedes that any coverage is better than no coverage then I suppose there really isn’t much use in asking!
Posted by dana on Mar 15 2009
Filed Under: Stardom Bound, Richard Dutrow, Iavarone, Twitter, 2009, Kentucky Oaks, Derby Trail, Bobby Frankel, Kentucky Derby, Charles Pravata, Racing
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...I’m a little perturbed with all the spin about Stardom Bound being “barely best” beating an “unheralded” field and that her connections should face the “sobering reality”.
I couldn’t sum it up any better than Alan at LATG when he says:
Expecting to read the praises of the gritty win by Stardom Bound in the SA Oaks, I was surprised, and rather disappointed, to instead see it being framed in disappointment.
As Frankel put it, “She only ran 10 lengths farther than anybody else in the race”. Call me crazy, but I think having to overcome a wide, hideous, bumpy trip and still gutting it out to win is a plus, not a minus. But when one gets away on an easy lead with no challenge and wins by several lengths, well that’s impressive.
She’s staying put in my top 10 list for the PDI Index, I liked what I saw. (update: I removed her from my list after they announced she was off the trail. If she were still on the trail she would have remained at #2). Would I rather she had an effortless 6 length win? Sure, but what would she get out of that? The Oaks was probably the kind of race she needed if she wants to step up in to open company, and I hope she does!
But what do you think? Do you agree with Iavarone’s oversimplified (whoops, sorry!) assessment that she could “barely beat the girls” or do think she’s shown she can still get the job done even under adverse circumstances?
As for the last poll, it should come as no surprise that Chantal Sutherland was your favorite jock on Jockeys, Win or Die Trying. But, just like Stardom Bound in the Oaks, it wasn’t a runaway and she had to gut it out for the win! In the beginning it was a battle between Talamo & Gryder, but it didn’t take long for Sutherland & Smith to take over and battle for the lead. All the while Kayla Stra was in the mix and for several days she was on top!
There were a whopping 191 votes, that’s almost double the last most voted on poll (your biggest issue with the Breeders’ Cup) and I didn’t even promote this one! The final tally was 45 for Sutherland, 43 for Smith, 42 for Stra, 27 for Talamo, 26 for Gryder and 8 for Court.
As always, thanks for voting, even if you did you show up from a Google search for “pictures of Chantal Sutherland”!
Posted by dana on Mar 08 2009
Filed Under: Kayla Stra, Jockeys TV Show, Iavarone, Aaron Gryder, Joe Talamo, I Want Revenge, Jon Court, Mike Smith, Stardom Bound, Chantal Sutherland, Derby Trail, Grrrr, Bobby Frankel, Poll, 2009, Impressive, Racing
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Ginger Punch prepping at Belmont for the 2008 Beldame (Jason Moran)
As usual, Frank is right. In a passage about Ginger Punch he points out:
But in the media or around the blogosphere, there was virtually no discussion of or appreciation for Stronach’s decision to bring the champ back or the horse’s consistent excellence.
Today it was announced that the champion 5yo mare with 6 G1 wins who was in the money in 20 of 21 starts (12/6/2) was retired. Annoying that there’s only a tiny article on DRF with nothing that I could find at the Bloodhorse or Thoroughbred Times.
The best race I saw live this year hands down was Ginger Punch’s win in the Go For Wand where she was completely boxed in and had a make a hole in the stretch. After the race I was standing by fence hoping to get a good photo of her as they took her back to the barn. As she walked by, the crowd really cheered for her. A man with a very professional looking camera was also on hand. He yelled the most sincere and gushing “you’re the best Ginger Punch, a real champion!” as she walked by. I’ve been lucky enough to see her run many times in person, and even when she didn’t win, she never disappointed.
In the clip of last year’s Go For Wand (below), Moss and Bailey (presumably) tell the story about how owner Frank Stronach wanted to retire her to the shed after her 3yo campaign in 2006. It took her 4 tries to break her maiden and then she won 1 mid level allowance and placed in one. Her trainer Bobby Frankel told Stronach that if he brought her back the following year that he promised he could get her a G1. How about 3, including the Breeders’ Cup Distaff AND the overwhelming winner of 2007 Eclipse award for Older Female!
Many thanks to Stronach, Frankel and most of all, Ginger Punch!
2008 Personal Ensign:
2008 Go For Wand:
2008 Ogden Phipps:
2008 Louisville Stakes:
2008 Sunshine Millions Distaff:
2007 BC Distaff:
2007 Go For Wand:
2007 Allowance (on Derby Day at Churchill):
Posted by dana on Oct 27 2008
Filed Under: Ginger Punch, Farewell, 2008, Jason Moran, YouTube, Bobby Frankel, Fans, Let Horses Race, Retirement, Race Replay, Racing
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