I’ve been at both of Forever Together’s winning Diana’s and both were impressive. Moronic planning is keeping me from personally attending this year’s rendition, but I’ll watching and rooting (but playing a win a bet on Shared Account, who I think really has a shot… see, one can be a gambler and a fan!).
It should be noted in the work prior to last year’s victory Forever Together worked a gaudy 57H! Looking at her current works makes me think that today is the day she’ll break her losing snap (and yes, I’ll also have a sizable exacta of Forever Together over Shared Account… see Kevin’s excellent post on Playing Favorites at Hello Race Fans!).
Here’s the champ (I’ll always call her that, even if she’s not a reigning a champ this year) after last year’s Diana. I love how pleased her groom was and the crowd really cheered as she walked by, it was a great moment.
And now the replays…
2009 Diana Stakes Replay
2008 Diana Stakes Replay
Even though we’re not together this year, I hope the champ gets her third Diana, a race I will always think of as hers.
Update:Forever Together put in her usual classy effort but got third in a head bob to Proviso and Shared Account.
Found this little gem while watching an interesting 2-year-old maiden replay from Belmont today (Tim Ice trainee, second place finisher was impressive too).
After yesterday’s bloodbath I’ve rebounded a little today picking Sheryl’s Melody. I also liked winner Zimmer but played him with the incorrectly named Win It. So far, with the exception of Zimmer (with Bo-rail aboard), winners have been a little wide on the track but when asked about no one is saying it’s because the rail is dead. Needless to say I’ll be keeping an eye on it. Also interesting is that it’s been all front runners and stalkers so far… closers haven’t been able to get there yet.
With no dime supers I feel a little bit like my super power (har har) has been stripped away. I was on a super streak at Gulfstream a few weeks that put me considerably up for the year. Not something I get to say often! If things keep heading in the same direction that won’t be the case by the end of the day… such is life!
And feast your eyes on the genius of Blind Luck and Evening Jewel… what a race:
Best of luck to everyone today, and let’s hope everyone stays safe. Don’t forget to check those Kentucky Derby Odds!
I don’t have enough time to do Flanders justice with a well researched post but I encountered her when I did my 1994 series. She easily made her way to the top of my “favorite horses I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing” (also including Landaluce, Cigar, and Pebbles to name a few).
Here are all of her replays from YouTube… enjoy her brief but brilliant career:
1994 Maiden Race:
1994 Spinaway:
1994 Matron:
1994 Frizette:
1994 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies:
Rest in peace, and here’s hoping we see that Bernadini colt.
Buddy’s Saint, potential star and confirmed New York hype horse! (Melissa Wirth)
While it was a great long weekend of racing of every kind, I decided to pay more attention to 2yo racing than normal. Thanks to Val of Foolish Pleasure / Fillies First for alerting me to the Stars of Tomorrow card on closing day of Churchill, there were definitely some notable performances there.
In my opinion it’s too early to hop on any bandwagons for Kentucky Derby 2010 but it’s never to soon to put a horse in your watch list! Here’s what caught my eye this weekend generally speaking, not necessarily just from a Derby perspective.
Carrington Village - Debut Winner at Churchill 11/26th, 8th race:
This gets my vote for most impressive effort overall and most impressive win. He pulls an Evening Attire out of the gate (#5), and remains unhurried down the backstretch. Coming very wide into the stretch he made up ground quickly and once he cleared the leaders Desormeaux stopped asking and he kept right on going. I’m looking forward to seeing what this McPeek trainee does next out.
Down with Dixie - 3rd in a MSW at Churchill on 11/28th, 7th race:
Watch gate 11, Down with Dixie stumbles and then gets squeezed out. He drops in at the back of the pack and you’ll see him start his run on the outside going into the far turn (white hat). Fly Down’s effort should be noted too, but I thought Down with Dixie was the more impressive. However, both showed that they can deal with traffic and that they have heart. While that was Down With Dixie’s 5th start it’s only his 2nd start on dirt, a surface he definitely seems to like more than than synth. It was Fly Down’s second start and first time with blinkers.
Sassy Image - Golden Rod at Churchill
Sassy Image sat off a solid pace and came wide to duel with a game Decelerator but had enough left to kick at the end and look great doing it. She’s owned by Dale Roman’s brother, who was advised by Roman’s precocious son Jake to shot a with her.
Super Saver - Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill
If it wasn’t for Williams Kitten putting in a decent run himself you’d think the rest of the field was just falling off but Super Saver, who was getting leg weary going into the stretch, kicked again after setting solid fractions. I think this Winstar colt’s win was more impressive than American’s Lion Hollywood Prevue.
Buddy’s Saint - Remsen at Aqueduct
While Buddy’s Saint was nothing to sneeze at, I think Super Saver’s performance was more impressive. Buddy’s Saint sat behind a dawdling pace and was the beneficiary of a front end hook up between Homeboykris (who should definitely learn to rate!) and Citrus Kid. Yes, Buddy’s Saint did it insanely easily, but I’d like to see him overcome adversity before I get super jazzed… the good news is that there’s plenty of time for that!
Tizahit - Demoiselle at Aqueduct
Similar to Buddy’s Saint, Tizahit was the recipient of a very patient ride and a pace meltdown up front, this time courtesy of Oh Diane. What was more impressive about Tizahit’s win was 1) the pace was faster than in the Remsen and 2) she held off closing rivals in Protesting and Fuzzy Britches. And not to pick too much on American Lion but in my opinion Tizahit was the more impressive Tiznow offspring of the two of them this time out.
It was also interesting to note the difference in coverage between Super Saver and Buddy’s Saint. I thought the Super Saver article at DRF seemed almost too understated compared to the Buddy’s Saint article which was lavishly entitled “Buddy’s Saint sure looks like a Derby Contender”. Within the same article the sub-head for Tizahit was “Tizahit gets dream trip”… and Buddy’s Saint didn’t? It’s interesting to note the difference in reporting both between reporters and even between very similar races by the same reporter.
Update: Here’s another you can file under ‘it’s only just begun’, The Saint Makes a Heavenly Statement. I’d have to do a little research before I named what I thought was the best performance by 2yo male all year but I’d take Carrington Village’s debut win of the ones I have listed here!
The Demoiselle was slow-early/fast-late while the Remsen was the reverse. Buddy’s Saint was not under pressure winning the Remsen but any enthusiasm for his 4 3/4-length victory has to be tempered by his unimpressive final furlong of 13.49 and final three-eighths in about 39.50.
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