A turning point?

Racing stands at the brink of greatness again with an 12th bid for the Triple Crown, the first one in 34 years if I'll Have Another is successful.  At this point the failed bids since the last sweep at the throne now exceed the number of champions who climbed the peak.  Averaged out, there has been one try every three years for this title for a horse no to do this at this point is abnormal.  As a weathered racing fan once said, “Anything is possible and probable.”  Could this year’s challenger do it?  He stands just as good a chance as his last ten peers who attempted the feat.  Racing needs more than one champion to spur a revival in the sport though.

Competition lends to the sport; the past two races in the series were close finishes between two top tier runners for their generation that sparked debate and strong opinions among the fans.  More of the same throughout the rest of the year in the other important races would be unreal.  The elite of horse racing needs to meet up more that two or three times in the year.  Top horses vying for the big prizes sparks interest and increased handle on the big days.  We had a taste of this in 2007 when Street Sense, Curlin, Hard Spun, and Rags to Riches met up in the spring and later on the first two mentioned had a rematch in the Classic with Horse of the Year on the line.  Unfortunately, Hard Spun and Street Sense were whisked away to stud leaving Curlin all alone to do the entire heavy lifting the following year.  More competition at the top is better for the product, people like seeing the best of any sport going head to head frequently.  Thus more incentive should be put up to see elite meet up more often.

There are other divisions than the three-year-old colts; it is hard to believe that from the coverage racing receives beyond the Belmont Stakes.  The second half of the racing season has taken up bigger importance now that the top horses are on a lighter schedule.  Every race in each division takes on a playoff feel as the season progresses.  Now that NBC Sports has picked coverage of the important races in the summer and fall one would hope that this takes place.  The more coverage that horse racing receives, the better it is for all involved.  More casual fans could show up and increased wagering volume is a positive byproduct that could be seen from this.

All the tools are there for thoroughbred racing to make a decent comeback.  Last time this sport was in a position to move forward was 2008, NBC had 2/3 of the Triple Crown and ESPN had rights to most of the major races from June on.  ESPN did little with their resources, minimized their coverage, and racing remained stagnant from the point that Big Brown pulled up on the far turn at Belmont.  NBC Sports and horse racing are sitting on a gold mine win, lose, or draw on the afternoon of June 9th.  It is all about the utilization of the tools at their disposal.

The Elusive Triple Crown

Since Affirmed crossed the finish line ahead of Alydar back in 1978 there hasn’t been a sweep of the Triple Crown. That may have been the pinnacle of this treasured series. The year after there was Spectacular Bid who was presumed to have no peers able to defeat him. A safety pin, a bad ride, or a combination of both did in the infallible Spectacular Bid. There have been great thoroughbreds that have fallen short of the grand prize since then; Alysheba, Sunday Silence, and Silver Charm come to mind.

Another Triple Crown may just not be in cards. There has been numerous horses who have won two out of three in the series only to fall short in one of the legs based either on a bad trip in the Derby or losing a close finish in the Preakness. The Kentucky this year will be a 20-horse mess as it has been for the last decade or so. The Preakness usually exposes a weak Derby winner or vindication for a Derby favorite that endured a poor trip and the Belmont is a dirt marathon that trainers have forgotten how to train for.

From 1997 to 1999 there were three chances at racing’s crown jewel; Silver Charm, Real Quiet, and Charismatic fell a combined 2 ¼ lengths short in the Belmont. Not counting the 2004 bid of Smarty Jones or the 2008 attempt by Big Brown, this time period of the drought was probably the best chance at seeing the sweep.

In 1997 Silver Charm was in a thirteen horse Derby field, which by 2011 standards seems like a small field for this race. Silver Charm had all but one of his main rivals in his crosshairs for the first mile of this race and passed them by the eighth pole and held off a hard charging Captain Bodgit. The Preakness that year was one for the ages, a three-horse charge to the line with Silver Charm digging in and defeating his southern California rival Free House and gamely denying Captain Bodgit. Touch Gold had a rough start and an overall bad trip, but finished a solid fourth not far behind the top three. The last leg was the one that did Silver Charm in. After battling Free House throughout the whole series he put away the rival gray and could not hold off the late charge of Touch Gold, who had an incident free trip around the Belmont oval.

Real Quiet was the lesser known half of the Baffert duo that made their way to Louisville in 1998, Indian Charlie was the favorite off his prosperous winter in California. Real Quiet put away his better known counterpart by mid stretch and held off Victory Gallop. The Preakness changed shape with the scratch of Coronado’s Quest, a talented but temperamental colt that skipped the Derby to avoid the circus atmosphere of the big race. Coronado’s Quest was the morning line favorite for the Preakness. Real Quiet won the race by two lengths over Victory Gallop, they both moved at the same time leaving the backstretch and going into the final turn. The 1998 Belmont is one of the better known renewals of this race. Desormeaux moved Real Quiet early and at one point Desormeaux had the colt in front by six lengths. Victory Gallop, piloted by Gary Stevens waited a little bit longer to make a bid for the win and it paid off with one of the closest finishes seen to decide the Triple Crown since the 1978 series.

Charismatic was a rags to riches story, available for a claim twice and won the first of many crowded Derby fields that had 19 horses with a clean trip while his counterparts had rough trips and lots of excuses going to Baltimore. Charismatic’s 31-1 upset did little to scare off the competition with a full field signed on to challenge with one notable scratch. Silverbulletday was entered and withdrawn after getting the wide 13 post, she won the Black Eyed Susan a day before the main event. Charismatic won by 1 ½ lengths over Menifee who was second to Charismatic in the Derby as well. With nine starts to that point in the year, a total of 16 races in his short career, and a stamina pedigree it seemed like he stood just as good a chance as the last two to win it all. Silverbulletday was entered in the Belmont Stakes and was the pace setter with Charismatic a close second before assuming the lead on the far turn and failing to hold off the charge of a pair of longshots, Lemon Drop Kid and Vision and Verse.

A triple crown winner has been sought after since the glory days of the 70’s when there were three in one decade, those three are still revered as the some of the greatest to ever set foot on a racetrack. The desire to see a horse pull the hat trick has caused the public and media to latch onto horses that for some reason or another just couldn’t pull the feat off. Big Brown had a bad hoof going into the Triple Crown and it was exposed at the wrong time, Smarty Jones was a victim of his success with jockeys putting a big bull’s eye on Stewart Elliot’s back, and Funny Cide had to deal with a rejuvenated Empire Maker.

The chances of seeing a Triple Crown winner ranks up there with losing with a straight flush in poker. Trainers have a different mindset from their counterparts from thirty to forty years ago and horses have less stamina in their pedigree than three decades ago thanks to farms breeding for speed and juvenile brilliance. If a horse does sweep these races in the near future it may be a bigger accomplishment than it was 33 years ago because of the last two statements, although the chances of it actually happening are slim.

Wood Memorial Trip Report

Yet another great day at the Big-A. While others choose to waste hundreds of dollars to go to taxpayer park A & B($1.8 Billion in public debt)the smart discretionary money was at the Big-A. Free to admission, free parking and free to scream your lungs off. The weather was a brisk 55F and the forecast winds gusting to 35 knots out of the southwest were blocked by the massive grandstand. The track was very fair to closers and speed, so perhaps Todd Pletcher must be kicking himself for not entering Dunkirk in the Wood who likely could have given a favorable account of himself on a fair surface.

The crowd was boisterous at the Big-A. There were random chats of Tala-mo throughout the day from the third floor grandstand. One side of the grandstand would randomly and loudly chant "tala!" and the other side would return chant "mo!". This went on for most of the day and foreshadowed the Wood heroics. No PA system required to tell the fans what to do as the life was bubbling out of them, no PA system puppet strings required. For a modest sized crowd it was loud and the stakes winners all received rounds of applause when they returned to be unsaddled. It was sort of like a mini-Belmont Stakes day in an edgy environment.


It was was a very interesting card and the track was fair with speed, stalkers or closers all claiming wins on the day. Almost every year a obscene longshot wins one of the undercard races (2005 Livelyupyourself 48-1, etc etc) and this year that tradition was upheld by All Bets Off at 20-1 in race 2. Race 6 winner Montecore is a horse to watch as he won with complete ease. The winner of the Bay Shore Capt Candyman Can looked tremendous in the paddock and ran to his looks. Giant Moon continued his successful return to the races with improving form third off the layoff. He claimed the Excelsior Handicap while pressing a slow pace, his 13-1 price spiced up the exotic vertical wagers surrounding the Wood Memorial. A game Kodiak Kowboy gallantly ran down Fabulous Strike to annex the Grade I Carter, making it graded stakes wins at all three NYRA tracks and wins in over the last three seasons.


The Wood Memorial was touted as I Want Revenge and Imperial Council versus the rest. Only these two were bet with the rest of the horses cold on the board. After looking closer at the race I picked up a few solid knocks on Imperial Council. A generous poster on paceadvanatge.com pointed out that Imperial Council's action was paddle wheel-like. After watching a few head-on replays of Imperial Council's races I agreed, horses with inefficient action tire going long. Imperial Council was a power toss. When Imperial Council made a complete mess of the paddock I felt confident that he would be off the board and I was able to really get involved in the horizontal wagers. With two power opinions in the Wood, (I Want Revenge was a lock / Imperial Council would be off the board) I was able to obliterate the race vertically and horizontally. (sorry for the redboard) Imperial Council's future is in running at sprint distances. His inefficient action will keep him at distances less than 8 furlongs. As Soon as Shug figures this out the better. For my sake I hope he runs long all year.









Imperial Council's Antics

As anyone can see I Want Revenge was very impressive. He had to overcome breaking five lengths behind the field, running into a trap, running in to a jackpot, he got knocked sideways and had to split horses on two occasions. Even with all these obstacles blocking his access tot he wire he won clear as much the best. I Want Revenge's Wood trip is so eventful that you have to wonder if it took something out of him. My gut says he will be okay. Previous class horses to have nightmares trips like this were Invasor in the 2007 Donn, and Alfeet Alex in the 2005 Derby and Preakness. Both horses came back to win their next starts. Class horses and class people thrive on adversity.









I Want Revenge a picture of composure in the post parade









A poor break for I Want Revenge









Jackpot city for I Want Revenge









I Want Revenge powers through the wall of horses









I Want Revenge clear at the wire









A triumphant return for the most valiant of winners

All pics courtesy of Keith & Tara

IEAH & Team Big Brown Donating Part Of Purse To Injured Police Officer On Long Island

From NYRA Press Office

The owners of Triple Crown hopeful Big Brown Friday announced they would donate a portion of the colt’s earnings from the $1 million Belmont Stakes on June 7 to help a establish a scholarship fund for the young son of a Nassau County police officer who was critically injured in the line of duty.

On May 18, a drunken driver with a suspended license slammed into Kenneth Baribault’s police car during a traffic stop the Long Island Expressway. Baribault had pulled over a sport utility vehicle on suspicion of drunken driving when the driver of a silver Mercedes, whom police said was drunk, plowed into the back of the police cruiser,. The impact pushed the police car into the SUV and lifted it six feet off the ground, according to witnesses.

Baribault remains in a coma at Nassau County Medical Center, having undergone surgery to relieve swelling to his brain.

In a news conference at Belmont Park, IEAH Stable owners Michael Iavarone and Richard Schiavo, both of Long Island, pledged to donate a substantial portion of whatever Big Brown earns in the final leg of racing’s Triple Crown toward college expenses for Baribault’s six-year-old son, Chris.

“In time like this it is imperative we come together,” said Iavarone. “We want to stand up and make something good happen. It’s not just a financial thing – we want to be there for the family.”

Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi and Police Commissioner Lawrence W. Mulvey, both of whom spoke in front of the statue of 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat in Belmont Park’s paddock, praised the owners for their generosity.

“We are all pulling for Big Brown in the Belmont here on Long Island, but we are also pulling for Big Blue -- Kenny Baribault,” said Suozzi. “This means the family has one less thing to worry about as he recovers. It’s one less burden in his family’s life.”

Big Brown, an impressive winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, is the big favorite to win the 1 ½-mile Belmont Stakes and become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed swept all three races in 1978. He will be ridden in the race by Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux, who suffered a skull fracture in 1990 when he was kicked in the head by a trailing horse following a spill.

“This is very close to home,” said Desormeaux. “I was five seconds away from being in an induced coma when I was trampled by a horse. My prayers are with the family.”

Big Brown’s trainer, Richard Dutrow Jr., said the officer’s family has a standing invitation to come visit Big Brown in his barn at Belmont Park.

“No one has asked that I know of, but they are welcome,” he said.

Big Brown went to the track at 5:30 a.m. Friday and galloped for a mile and a half, said his regular exercise rider, Michelle Nevin.

“He went for a walk through the paddock – it’s beautiful day for horses,” she said.

The colt, undefeated in his first five races, is scheduled to breeze a week from Saturday, weather permitting.

Welcoming The Japanese And Betting On Them

The Japanese racing fans are on their way to Belmont to see Casino Drive raid an American Classic. Thousands of them will arrive at JFK with their cameras, their hope and bags of yen to wager on Casino Drive. Their presence at Belmont is welcome and I hope the Japanese have a wonderful time in New York at Belmont Park. It is always nice to see interesting new faces at the championship track, where on a day to day basis it is the same die-hards over and over again. While the Japanese will likely feel welcome at Belmont, I doubt NYRA will be able to pull off hiring some Japanese tellers as this animal just does not exist in the local job market. At this point NYRA is lucky to get English speaking tellers. So the Japanese will have to make due with the tellers we deal with on a daily basis, perhaps they could figure out the SAM machines. The Japanese will have to deal with a communication gap.

The Japanese fans are here for one reason and they will bet the sashimi off Casino drive depressing his odds similar to Deep Impact at the Arc . Can you say 50,000 yen to win on number one? However the foreign pari-mutuel raiders will focus on the win pool exclusively as there is no teller in the house that will understand the Japanese words for pick 4 or pick 3, nor will the Japanese will be able to work such a complicated wager with unknown horses at a foreign place. Exploit this communication gap and go exotic if you want to play the exotic horse. If you want to bet Casino Drive focus on the exotics like the pick 3 and pick 4, he will be a better price in those pools than the win pool. Value will be your friend and value at the track is better than honour.

Belmont Frenzy On Ebay

Sometimes the Belmont is sort of a ho-hum event on the New York social calender. For most New Yorkers without the racing obsession, an organic food festival in Soho is more of a draw than a non-triple crown Belmont. However, with the triple crown on the line and the hyped Big Brown the star attraction, the Belmont Stakes hype has shifted into overdrive. You can get a pulse on the hype by checking out eBay. Tickets with a $100 face value are going for up to $600 each. There are dozens of listings for $2 win tickets on Brownie, some marked up to $15.

Perhaps the best listing is a guaranteed triple crown from this ebayer. I love his spirit and how his listing is a gamble on to itself. If Big Brown loses you get your money back on the tickets, talk about a confident listing, only in racing could you see something like this. Not sure how this listing fits into ebays policy but in the spirit of Rick Dutrow, screw ebay policy do it your own way.

The worst listing ranges all the way down to complete rip off. This guy is selling the unlimited $10 general admissions for $69. Anyone can walk up to the Belmont gates and get in for $10. Belmont is an expansive, beautiful place and the place almost can not sell out. There is no reason to get ripped off and pay some scoundrel $69 for what is $10, caveat emptor.

It is good to see the frenzy for the big day at Belmont, for me there is nothing like a triple crown attempt at Belmont Park, it is the most special sporting event in the world.

Big Brown Will Have To Earn The Crown From The Ruling Family

The way the triple crown sets up this year is strait from a storybook. The drama has been unfolding around us in between the lines of the racing form. The undefeated winner of the Kentucky Derby demolished the field, in fact his nearest competitor suffered mortal injuries chasing him home. If he was a boxer would you want to face him if his last competitor died in his last bout? One one from the Derby dared to face him in the Preakness. His win from the twenty spot was a complete validation of his undefeated form and established Big Brown as a rising force.


The Preakness was a pure runway, it was the easiest of winners "as the rider pleased", nobody even coming close to the Brownster. Perhaps giving him the easy race he needs to pull off what has not been completed in thirty years.

Standing in his way is the ruling family of Belmont, blood is thicker than water and the Better Than Honour family has been assigned the role of protecting the integrity of the triple crown. There will be no walkover in Elmont as Casino Drive is representing the Better Than Honour Dynasty. Casino Drive's role is to make sure Big Brown receives a proper test before the triple crown title is issued for the first time in thirty years. If Big Brown is not up to the twelve furlong test of a champion, the Better Than Honour Dynasty will rule for at least another 365 rotations of the earth. The meeting in the Belmont paddock looms.

Big Brown Wins As The Rider Pleased In The Preakness

Big Brown toyed with this field like a Grade one winner would toy with a field of Charles Town non winner of two lifetime claimers. Big Browns romp was a draw dropping performance. There can only be two reactions to this type of race. Absolute awe in his breathtaking efficiency of motion or complete rejection of the horse and everything he stands for. These is no "he is okay", this horse and his connections are polarizers and that type of emotion is good for the game.

The Belmont is shaping up to be a major event, perhaps the sporting event of the year. Between the looming hope of a triple crown winner and the international presence from Japan the attendance record of 124K in 2004 may be in jeopardy.

More Riding On The Preakness Than The Purse

My most prominent wish for the Preakness is that all the horses return to their barns ambulatory and safe. Never before have a felt like this before a horse race. It is like the game of racing is carrying a Ming vase while crossing a tight rope, fighting a strong crosswind with a huge crowd watching every move. If racing breaks the Vase public opinion may damn the game to exile, like fringe sports such as dog racing or Jai-Alai. Despite the promises of many not to watch racing, I am sure the Preakness will garner a huge TV audience, fueled by the headlines of Eight Belles breakdown, people will be very curious to see what happens in the Preakness. Should tragedy strike once again, it would be like racing broke the Ming vase they promised to carry to safety, the uproar will be deafening and certainly understandable. The public is losing patience with horses breaking down on TV.

The Preakness axis of attention centers around Big Brown. He is of course a prohibitive favorite to win. I will be rooting for him to win to set up a huge showdown at Belmont. Racing needs redemption and Big Brown and his connections can redeem the game with a few more wins and doing the right thing with the horse and his campaign. IEAH has taken a beating in the media but it is not justified. So far they have been nothing but successful in a very tough game. Perhaps they are victims of racetrack jealousy, and having names that end in vowels. Hopefully they do right for the game.

Like Washington Irving would, I will be making a few bets on the New York Bred Icabad Crane. Hopefully he can figure out a way to finish off the exacta as Big Brown romps to a commanding victory. Mostly I hope they all come back safe.

Big Brown Retirement Looms

In the tradition started by Secretariat, and repeated with Point Given, War Emblem, Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex, and Street Sense, Big Brown triple crown race winner is going to be retired during or after his three year old season.

For the fans this is no surprise but it is yet another bummer for the game. While Secretariat had the decency to finish his three year old season, it would not be much of a surprise if Big Brown retires after the Preakness if he loses the race. However I am suspicious that he may retire after the Belmont regardless of the outcome as he has built up his reputation to gargantuan scale, why soil it by exposing his lack of foundation. The way horses are typically campaigned these days is sort of like building the facade of a beautiful castle, a castle so grand and exquisite that it elicits ewes and ahhs from all that see it. However the foundation is non-existent and the interior is barren, so why invite the smitten crowd in to see the interior of your castles facade? Sell it while the crowd is in mid ahh and the stock is at its paramount. While most of us can see through this charade and would surely want to take a look inside before investing, why is the breeding and auction industry so smitten with these facades?

My question is why do horses like this do well at stud? Their form is so thin and such an insult to the game, it is almost like a mirage, without any foundation or soundness. This is like buying a car that could go zero to sixty in 3 seconds but is likely to completely stop running a mile from the dealer. Sort of like a 1986 Yugo with a Ferrari V12 engine. Yet these completely unsound "cars" are what are in vogue in the horse auction business. This proves that money and long term smart thinking does not necessarily go hand and hand. Are the managers, owners and buyers of horses really this foolish to breed to horses with known confirmation/soundness issues? Hopefully we will soon cycle out of this short term thinking as a new generation emerges to take stewardship of the game.

Are the masses really this dumb?

Since the Eight Belles tragedy a whole lot of people have come out of the wood work to comment about racing. Now that we have heard what they have to say it is a bit laughable how the complexities and vague questions associated with racing stump the average sports writer. The sportswriters are better than the internet commentators who are woefully misinformed. While the temporary presence of the masses may be helpful to initiate much needed change their constant presence would be annoying. (maybe good for the parimutuel pools though) Here are the top three articles representing the clueless. However the most laughable comments are available in the comments section of many articles.

1. Is racing barbaric?

2. The Cancer of Sports

3. This article was soiled with condiments

Realistic Change Is Quite Simple For Racing

In the wake of the Eight Belles tragedy, there has been a tremendous amount of talk about the safety of racing. Some of the talk has been moronic, uninformed while some has been on-point. It is important that some changes are made at this time while the spotlight is on racing and the game has tremendous public opinion leverage. The changes must be realistic and directly effect the results while not causing any undue economic harm to people that are struggling to make ends meet within the industry. Over at Paul Moran's blog Mr. Moran posted a letter from a fan that was completely on-point and I would like to echo that fans sentiments here. Ross A. Fowler really got it right and I hope his letter becomes the axis of change in the industry. The focus in the wake of the Eight Belles death should be on banning all raceday medications and a focus on safer dirt tracks. These are workable areas where the industry can affect real change.

Safe dirt surfaces exist. This wheel does not need to be re-invented. At Saratoga the cushion is deep and it is rare to see a scene like the one we witnessed in the Kentucky Derby 134. If dirt tracks are maintained like Saratoga with a deep cushion and not compressed hard as a rock every time it rained, a safer surface would be a result. We all know it rained hard the day before the Derby and the morning of. The track maintenance crew was out there sealing Churchill's dirt track down to a hard super-highway to make it impervious to the rains. When horses run over this hard super-highway we get Eight Belles type incidents. If Churchill had the most modern drainage system there would be no need to seal the surface every time it rained. The focus should be on, optimum drainage and a deep cushion. A sound surface is well engineered from top to bottom. We do not need slow synthetic surfaces with drugged up unsound horses toiling from wire to wire, in a unformful poly-procession. Dirt form has been established as the form of American racing and safe dirt surfaces are available if tracks have the knowledge and ability to install and maintain them. Poorly maintained surfaces like the old dirt at Santa Anita, Del Mar and Arlington should have been engineered with Saratoga as a model. They did not need to be scrapped for the poly-track band-aid cure with its empty promises of no maintenance and fewer injuries. Adding safer, deep dirt surfaces to existing tracks will protect the integrity of the horses legs while protecting the interest in the game.

The second change that needs to be made is on raceday medication. The USA should adopt European medication standards and ban all raceday medication. Now is the time while the public sentiment is huge, the leverage is there to change the game. This is a realistic change that can happen soon. Most of the world races clean of drugs, with American horses racing on a mix of lalix, bute and who know what else we are the cesspool of equine substance abuse. The time is now to stop taking shortcuts and get back to fundamental horsemanship. The long term repercussions of drug abuse in the thoroughbred are beginning to dominate American bred thoroughbreds as generation after generation of drug aided inferior stock enter the gene pool. Stop the legal drugs and everything else will fall into place.

Realistic change should focus on these two areas of concern. There is a wide range of nonsense out there concerning use of the whip, moving the triple crown to four year olds, synthetic surfaces and increasing the minimum age of racing to three year olds. These are all band-aid approach measures that ignore the core reasons of the problem. It is impossible to legislate the type of horses that people buy and mandate a market that focuses on sound stamina horses. However the NTRA and the tracks can legislate that horses run over a safe dirt surface and do so without any drugs in their system. This is real attainable change for the greatest game and it should be done now while the leverage is there.

Derby Shines The Negative Spotlight On Racing

Very few people take pleasure out of abusing animals. Our furry friends are mostly innocent, honest creatures who bring tremendous joy to our lives. When my cat died last year my family and I cried for a week and I still tear up when I look at the collage of photos we display in his honor. When a person is revealed to be an abuser of animals the immediate emotional reaction is that person is a scumbag. Racing is being called a scumbag everywhere we look today. When people lash out at those that abuse animals it is a valid reaction. However it is not a valid reaction in this case as people with little knowledge are judging racing on the merits of a extreme incident and racing is a very polarizing game where things are always at extremes, good and bad.


Larry Jones loves his horses. They receive the best of care and in return he asks for everything from his horses. Is he wrong to ask for everything? The fact of the matter is that thoroughbred racehorses receive the best of care on a daily basis. In return for asking for everything these horses receive daily baths, legs wrapped in lineament, a coat groomed and brushed to meticulous standards. There is medical care, legs are checked daily, the best food money can buy, daily rubdowns and rest when needed for top tier contenders like Eight Belles. The calls for the ban on racing are completely absurd. A closer looks reveals that the horses are like family to the connections and far from abused. It is a truthless statement is that these horses are abused on a daily basis. They are loved.

We have many people completely uneducated on the most complex of games coming out of the woodwork and pointing fingers at the connections of Eight Belles. Do these people understand the daily life of a thoroughbred and the daily life of the trainer, groom, hotwalker and owner? Greed drives these people? What a ridiculous statement. The fact of the matter is that most owners lose money and are in this for the love of the game. It is truly the greatest game in the world. The life of a trainer is a life of hardship, early mornings, late nights of worry filled with complex lingering questions with vague answers. The trainer operates on a level of passion that would burn most people out in months if not weeks. The grooms have a life of poverty and hardship so extreme that most of not all Americans have opted out of this line of work, leaving it to the only people willing to do the hard work necessary to get horses ready to race, illegal immigrants. Are these people animal abusers who take pleasure in the pain of their horses? They are not animal abusers. It is very easy for Joe Sixpack and Jane Do-gooder to use carte blanche and claim the high moral ground by pointing the finger at those involved with racing. However these accusations made at the Eight Belles connections are invalid and without truth. What happened is unquestionably horrible and unfortunate. The fact of the matter is that it was more accident than abuse.

Racing is a game where everybody gives everything. The owners risk their money on a dream and sometimes lose it all and usually lose most of it. The trainers forsake a normal life to be with the horses and do what they love. The jockeys risk their lives for the love of speed. The best horses like Eight Belles put it all on the line and they do it willingly. All for the joy of speed, the validation that comes with proving you are best, they continue with that game. Yes sometimes the horses do breakdown. Is it worth pushing these horses to extremes to extract the glory, excitement and triumph to endure a few scenes of horrible gore? I do not know. What we do know is that the racing is one of the finest strains of spectator pleasure when everything goes well. But if someone did not want to watch racing due to the small chance of witnessing a breakdown I can understand that.

The entire game is a beautiful spectacle of nature. In nature it is the best that thrives. Racing is a game that reflects nature in its truest sense. To be the best in nature one must give their all, there is no society to protect mediocrity like the protections that people enjoy. Like in nature those that take the biggest risks in racing become boss. Some want to do away with racing for the ugly risks that are inherent with horses giving there all. Leaving us with no great game to follow and just some mediocre games to follow where people wear helmets, pads, complain and there is little glory, passion or excitement. Unfortunately where there is a overabundance of passion, adrenaline, speed and emotion nature extracts a cost. The glory, excitement and triumph is not free. Unfortunately on the biggest of stages a gallant filly who truly gave her all went over the edge in a ugly, gruesome and horrible way. Nature extracted a payment while a champion basked in all his glory mere yards away.

Derby Play of the day

My derby pick for the win bet is Court Vision. Big price, room for improvement and the Remsen was the "in traffic run of the year".

Derby win #4

21 3-3-1
strike rate 14%
cumulative return $37.00
ROI $1.76

Dutrow So Confident In Big Brown

The racing game disdains the kind of confidence that Dutrow is dealing when he speaks about Big Brown. While I admire his confidence, Dutrow is double dog daring the looming hand of racing luck to smack him and his horse down.

"Until somebody shows me the beast, this is not a tough horse race," Dutrow said in a typical recent interview. "I'm training this horse for a horse race; I don't care what the name of it is. I feel he's the best horse in the race - I feel he's going to win the race. Anything else is going to be extremely disappointing to me.

"I know there's no one going into this race as good as he is right now. If he breaks clean, it's a mismatch to me on paper."

Usually one can get away with this attitude for only so long before the game gives out a maximum dose of bad racing luck. Try going to the track with this attitude and making wagers, talk about a humbling experience. This type of talk is very polarizing, I see that Big Brown can go one of two ways. He is either going to run a fricken' hole in the wind and drop jaws or the horse is going to be up the track. If this horse does not win, he will not hit the board in the Kentucky Derby. Big Brown's performance is going to be something extraordinary or something commonly dull. When this horse gets beat it is going to be ugly.

Arkansas Derby Thoughts

There was five speed horses in the ARK Derby and Gayego won the big speed battle and the war. Not only did Gayego run a helluva race but also consider that he was first time shipping, first time dirt and had to outrun his sprint pedigree. Nice performance by Gayego, I like that he repelled Z Fortune late when it looked like he was about to be overhauled. . However this was a huge move forward at one time. The trainer is also a nice guy and I was happy for him. However could he hold that form after all that momentum in the the form cycle? This is like trying to control a kite in a hurricane, his form is too volatile and likely to crash in the next race. Rather see a slow progression rather than a huge race all at once.

One trend I have noticed is that, War Pass, RecapturetheGlory, Big Brown, Gayego are all speed horses. You gonna have all the horses under 10-1 dueling out front like maniacs, tiring themselves out and testing their sprint pedigrees to the max. Right now I am on a closer hunt looking for my final derby horse.

If this race was today my wager would be on Court Vision. This horse just keeps on coming and can run all fricken day. The horse already is a GII winner over the Churchill Strip and will be third off the layoff for the master Mott. Looks like his progression is slow and deliberate. Mott is doing the crackdown now as we speak and we should get more than 20-1 if not 30-1 on derby day.

Bluegrass thoughts

The 2008 Bluegrass was the equivalent of a red herring when trying to solve a difficult equation. As fans and handicappers we already allocate many of our idle moments to answering difficult questions with hopeful answers grasping for favorable results. The Bluegrass complicated the problem, so be prepared to increase your allocation of idle moments trying to figure out the derby equation.


Pyro scorched the Fairgrounds dirt course but could not even spark his flint at Keeneland. Visionaire saw his way through the fog so clearly in the Gotham but was blinded by the challenge of a foreign surface in the Bluegrass. Cool Coal Man did not report for duty and left us to shovel for ourselves. Faithfully was are supposed to draw a line through the non-efforts of these horses. Can we just assume it was the surface that caused the form downturn or was it the horse? Can we be sure?

The spotlight was shared by two Pletcher horses who wielded good turf form. Can that turf form translate to derby success on the dirt? I do not think so, and we draw on the same faith that we used to draw a line through Pyro's race to draw a line through Monba's and Cowboy Cal's Bluegrass. If these two turf runners show up in Louisville make sure to toss them out of your wagers like chum over the rail of a flounder boat. Keep these two in mind for the Colonial Cup or Virginia Derby on the turf later this year but they are not Kentucky Derby material. Welcome to the Polytrack era.

12APR Weekend Derby Prep Action

This week brings us the Arkansas Derby and the Bluegrass. Both top shelf preps and I suspect the derby winner is in one of these two races.

The Arkansas Derby should be listed as a grade 1.51 this thing is as close to a grade I you can get without being a grade I. Curiously the race has a mutuel field, something we used to see at Aqueduct in 1988 when I first started looking at horse racing. Lets get down to the matter at hand, I suspect the favorite will be Z Fortune who drew an unfavorable outside post. his form has been tailing off. Anyone worth two cents has to go against him here. There seems to be five speed horses(can you name them?) which have all drawn inside so the pace will be honest here. This bodes well for one of the closers to power up late for the big share of the purse. The two I zeroed in are Liberty Bull and Blackberry road. Liberty Bull is shipping from New Mexico and I can not imagine that to be a pleasurable trip for an equine. Blackberry road finally finds a race with an honest pace and has been running at the Fairgrounds. Blackberry should benefit the most from a hot pace and is the pick to win it all.

The Bluegrass Stakes is a poly prep and last year was a real head scratcher. There was the glacial pace of 27 and 52 for the Jamie Sanders colt (Teuflesberg) who faded after setting the slowest pace this side of turtle racing. Then when they turned for home it sort of looked like a quarter horse race with anchors dragging behind the horses as there were nine horses in a line all plodding for the wire. There is little chance I can effectively handicap this race with these horrid images at the fore of my mind. The favorite will most certainly be Pyro who races first time poly, why take 3-5 on the first time poly donut horse? Medjool has raced exclusively on the all weather surfaces and and has proven that he runs well and can get the distance. Hofmans' is a conservative trainer and if he ships in he has a shot. Medjool is the pick at a profitable price.

Weekend Derby Prep Action 05APR

This is one of the big weekends with the Illinois Derby, The Santa Anita Derby and the Wood Memorial. We are four weeks out from the First Saturday in May and the most exciting sports event in North America.

Santa Anita Derby Features the rematch of Colonel John and El Gato Malo with a supporting cast of hopefuls. The most viable price looks like Yankee Bravo who ran a credible race in the LA Derby. His deep closing style has been winning over the surface and he should have no issues with being wide.

The Wood Memorial is a good betting race as the 6-5 chalk War Pass looks vulnerable. As a handicapper you have to find reasons to beat chalk and the massive clunker that War Pass ran last out is reason enough to toss him at 4-5. Court Vision looks like a viable candidate to power past late as he is 2nd off the layoff and is proven over the distance and surface. The rain has been much lighter than forecasted over the last 24 hours never increasing in intensity past light rain and it has been mostly mist. Light rain is forecasted to end at 10am with cloudy conditions all day. The track should be good to fast.

Denis Of Cork is favored to Win the Illinois Derby.

Big Brown Delivers A Big Statement -Tomcito Says Hola

On paper the Florida Derby looked like the most exciting prep yet for the Kentucky Derby. We had the Big Brown express delivery service, the Peruvian Conquistador, the Majestic Aristocrat and a supporting cast of useful colts. The race lived up to the billing. Big Brown delivered an express package arriving to the wire quickly and unscathed. Brown lived up to the hype that Dutrow and Desormeaux had been spreading all week making those two look like horseracing profits.

If Big Brown and his quarter cracks can make it to the first Saturday in May he will surely be the favorite and a formidable force on the front end. The challenge for Dutrow to keep this Big Brown blaster on edge for five long weeks. So much so soon for this Big Brown but he surely has more of that brilliant form available for delivery. There will be many people counting on him to deliver on derby day after this command performance.

The win capped off a memorable day for Dutrow, perhaps a day like that has only been trumped by Mandella's 2003 Breeders Cup quad win day. Dutrow started off the day annexing the Godolphin Mile with Diamond Stripes, moved on to Benny The Bull's Golden Shaheen, and placed himself front and center by introducing the world to the Kentucky Derby favorite. He even won the night cap at Gulfstream after the Florida Derby. Have to give him credit for one of the great days ever in racing. Dutrow like Big Brown is a polarizing figure and everyone has an strong opinion about the man one way or the other.

Tomcito made his much anticipated American debut and ran a promising race. After being outrun early he persevered for third. It was the kind of race that a horse can move forward from, and it was a positive first time experience. The connections must be pleased and hopeful for future success. If there is some massive pace melt down in the derby or Belmont Tomcito is the kind of runner that is poised to pick up the pieces. He could make an impact if the chips fall his way. He is the kind of horse with a long form cycle, he should improve and run many honest races.

The Florida derby completely changed the Derby picture. All of the internet, media and newspaper Derby lists will have to be amended to make way for Big Brown up top. Big Brown's race was like the delivery of a birthday cake with an surprise exotic dancer bursting out when you least expected it. It was thrilling, exciting and something that got the heart racing. Tomcito's race was like a new Latino neighbor coming by to drop off their flan recipe. Tomcito's race was good, you enjoyed meeting the new neighbor but the exotic dancer and the cake completely rocked your world and made the flan seem quite ordinary in every way. Keep in mind that in the future the flan recipe could prove much more useful than the exotic dancer in the cake.