The True North should be interesting, with Fabulous Strike and Kodiak Kowboy taking on Disco’s Son and Per Incanto. It definitely has the makings of an interesting betting race.

I’ll wait to see the final entries for the Just a Game, but I like Forever Together; I may also go for my Belmont fallback position of ‘Alan Garcia’s horse’ which seems to pay off not infrequently.

The year’s Acorn is a little lacking in star power (and out of all the races on Belmont day, it has probably had the most storied list of winners: Gallorette, Shuvee, Susan’s Girl, Chris Evert, Ruffian et al.) but Justwhistledixie will likely be the deserving favorite, with Just Jenda and Doremifasollatido getting some action as well.

Perhaps the toughest race on the card will be the Woody Stephens – Like Jessica, I’m not sure what to make of Hello Broadway at this point, but Hull is very interesting and I’m intrigued to see Regal Ransom as a possible starter. This Ones For Phil should like the distance.

In the Manhattan Handicap, 10-year-old Better Talk Now will be making his 50th start and it will have one of the most interesting lineups on the card – Court Vision and Cowboy Cal have both come into their own since moving to the turf, and Grand Couturier and Gio Ponti are always dangerous. While I don’t think this will be Better Talk Now’s year to grab a second victory in the race, Brass Hat’s recent resurgence demonstrates that it’s a bad idea to discount the old guys out of hand.

And as for the big race – well, you’ll have to check back tomorrow (and the rest of the week) for that. But I’m certainly hoping to see Calvin Borel win his own personal Triple Crown on Mine That Bird – he’s going to be a busy man this week, what with ringing The Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday and making various media appearances around town.

I’ll just be happy to be back on my old stomping grounds – a real bagel before heading to the track and a Nathan’s Famous hot dog with (hopefully) a Brooklyn Lager will be in order once I arrive…

First, the good news; Zenyatta’s delayed 5-year-old debut showed that the big mare has not lost any conditioning – she’s still doing her own little dressage competition in the post parade and then dawdling at the back of the pack before blowing by the field. It seems that every race really is the same for the undefeated champ. As impressive and effortless as her acceleration is, it would be so much more interesting to see her hook up with a true peer. Despite some encouraging comments after the race that she could face some stiffer competition, it seem that she will rather be pointed toward (to put it in ‘American Idol’ parlance) safe places.

Like Dana, I’m hoping to see something a little more unexpected in the long run – more people deserve to know who Zenyatta is, but beating up on SoCal mares isn’t the way to achieve wider recognition. A Breeders’ Cup showdown with Rachel Alexandra could be great indeed, but it would be even better to see them meet up on neutral ground first. Certainly new owner Jess Jackson wasn’t particularly interested in taking Rachel Alexandra to Santa Anita (given Curlin’s lackluster effort on Pro-Ride) unless it meant a crack at Einstein, Well Armed and the other big boys. (And I must confess that if Rachel Alexandra were to pull a Zarkava and beat older males, I’d be forever in awe).

Speaking of Rachel Alexandra, there’s still no word as to whether or not she will be Belmont-bound; given the way she is working it sounds as though she wants to go. Some have argued that in recent years a Belmont victory spells career doom, although I would argue that there’s a world of difference between a horse like Rachel Alexandra and, say, Sarava or Da’Tara. Afleet Alex was likely injured in the Preakness yet won the Belmont anyway and Empire Maker was rushed off to stud after the Jim Dandy (although you could probably also make the ‘rush to the breeding shed after minor injury’ argument about Afleet Alex, Smarty Jones – even Rags to Riches). Jazil had the breeding, but he probably still falls into the ‘freak longshot win’ category. While it’s true in recent years that Belmont winners have not, on the whole, done much beyond perhaps participating in the Travers, that seems to be due to a combination of two factors – early retirement when the horse is at its perceived peak financial value (these are, usually, stallions we are speaking about, after all) and fewer legitimate winners with distance pedigrees. Whether Rachel Alexandra goes or not, we can at least take heart that Mine That Bird won’t be shipping directly from Belmont to a stud farm.

And thus back to my favorite hard-knocking gelding – Brass Hat finally proved that he can win on turf (with a little help from the seemingly ever-present Calvin Borel). Unlike many of the horses mentioned above who were spirited off to retirement with injuries that would have earned them a little rest and a subsequent return in the past, Brass Hat continues to demonstrate that it takes more than a few potentially life-threatening injuries to keep him down. Just think – when Brass Hat was foaled in 2001, Rachel Alexandra’s sire, Megaglia d’Oro had yet to make his 2-year-old debut – and Mine That Bird’s sire, Birdstone, had just been born a week earlier. In horse racing career lifespan terms, Brass Hat practically has his own TARDIS – he’s even got a year on fellow time traveler Einstein. Long may he continue.

There was still more high-quality racing over the weekend – Bribon won the Met Mile at Belmont and Thorn Song took the Shoemaker Mile in California, but a pall was cast over events by the injury to veteran jockey Rene Douglas. This article explains the accident in some detail, while this somewhat unfortunately-titled Thoroughbred Times article, ‘Theriot suspended, Born to Be euthanized’ fills in the blanks about the filly involved.

I recommend a read of the Paulick Report commentary about the role of the stewards in these sorts of incidents; it’s an overdue discussion in my opinion and while it acknowledges the part played by jockey Jamie Theriot in the accident, it’s evident there is plenty of blame to go around elsewhere. One hopes something positive may come out of that.

While those efforts are not going to help Rene Douglas walk again, you can get involved in a number of activities being organized to assist his family via a Facebook group or you might consider a donation to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. Hopefully Douglas will not be joining their ranks, but it’s certainly a worthy cause.

1) Local Certified Drug-free Races
In a pilot project, one track would modify their condition book to create races restricted to horses running entirely on hay, oats and water (or hay, oats, water and Guinness, if you prefer). Best practices for drug testing and initial incentives for owners and breeders would be developed at this time. Such incentives could be structured like something akin to a state-bred bonus system – beyond the official series of drug-free races, purses in other races could be augmented for ‘certified drug-free’ (or ’100% organic’ if you require a catchy marketing name) horses.

2) Expansion of Incentives
After working out any initial kinks on the local level, the drug-free series could be rolled out to other tracks and with a larger pool of participants, incentives for breeders would also be built into the system. In addition to the cachet of having a stallion or mare who could be marketed as a success on the track without drugs, reduced stud fees could be offered to participating mares – with a higher rate for mares who did not take part in the program.

3) International Options
As the program continues to expand, closer links with other racing jurisdictions could be forged by creating win-and-you’re-in races for major races in Europe, the UAE, Japan – perhaps even Australia and New Zealand – places where drug-free racing is already the norm. High profile international horses could also be lured over for the drug-free race offerings, so that the US racing public could get a chance to see some of those stars outside the Breeders’ Cup.

4) Full Co-operation
The long-term goal is that the Breeders’ Cup and Triple Crown series would adopt the drug-free system, with the further intent that daily racing throughout the the US would follow the same guidelines. Given the lack of centralized control in American races, a piecemeal approach seems to be the only way to get such a system in place.

There is plenty of scope for revision and modification within this proposal and it is expected that there would be problems at the beginning as well as Brass Hat-style drug positives from previous therapeutic treatments (and drug withdrawal times for such treatments would need to be standardized to avoid such issues wherever possible), but it’s clear that the current system of vague, inconsistent penalties for illegal drugs doesn’t deter their use – the notion getting rid of currently-legal drugs like Lasix doesn’t have a chance in that climate. But it can be done – enough administrators, trainers, breeders and owners need to decide they want to make it happen.

Who wants to take the first step?

But back to the Derby Trial for a moment – while Silver City with Julien Leparoux will be the likely favorite, the race is also notable for featuring Gato Go Win, the horse at the center of the Jeff Mullins/Air Power controversy. One imagines things will be a little tighter around the detention barn this time around. I also like Tintim Por Tintim.

The Withers is also this weekend; while the race is now essentially a Preakness prep, check out Teresa’s great article on its history. This year’s Withers does have an interesting field, however; This One’s For Phil is coming into the race with a good record, but I will have my eye on Gone Astray. You never know who may show up to be a threat in Maryland, even if recent history does not smile upon new shooters in the Preakness.

In actual Derby news, you’ve likely heard about Quality Road’s second quarter crack by now as it’s all over the Twitterverse; all systems are reported to be go at this point, but it’s certainly a worry. It was also announced that Alan Garcia will retain the mount on Regal Ransom with Ramon Dominguez taking Desert Party. Only eight more days…

Also yesterday, Evita Argentina beat the boys in the San Vincente in great style. She reminded me very much of Megahertz in her last-to-first move – I’d love to see her follow a similar career path (although as an aside, I wonder why Megahertz is being bred to stallions who are nearly a good two hands taller than she is – she’s already living proof that a tiny horse can be a strong, solid winner – but I digress). Evita Argentina was the first filly to win the race since 1947 – I’m hoping to see her in more sprints down the line, although it sounds as though her next start, possibly in the Fair Grounds Oaks, would aim for more distance.

Over the weekend, Chocolate Candy had no real trouble in the El Camino Real; the Jenny Craig-owned (and bred) son of Candy Ride will likely head to Santa Anita next, and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer seems to be taking a pleasingly old-school approach with him:

“We want to run in the Santa Anita Derby but we’ll also look at the San Felipe Stakes,” said Hollendorfer. “There are different approaches to the Kentucky Derby, but I think the fitter the horse, the better his chance to win. A lot of people go in there with fewer races but most horses that do well have a foundation under them.”

Chocolate Candy’s win earned him a Beyer of 90 (so he’s got a ways to go to get into the Old Fashioned eschelon), but that was encouraging, given that now-4-year-old El Gato Malo only managed an 85 in his win in the McCann’s Mojave on the same card.

Sticking with last weekend, Santa Teresita managed to defeat Leah’s Secret and Visit in the Santa Maria Handicap – while there was some trouble in the gate when Country Star sat down in it (she was uninjured, but scratched) which may have thrown everyone else off their game, it’s still nice to see Santa Teresita get a win in this sort of company.

Alas, the same cannot be said for poor Brass Hat, who finished eighth in the Dust Commander – perhaps it is time for retirement, but he’s bounced back from down times before. I’d like to see him take another shot first if he’s healthy and sound before heading out to pasture.

And with that, I’ll head off to continue my birthday celebrations, which chiefly include searching for a 19th-century photo that may not exist and working on other reference requests – it’s all good!

Spectacular Bid winner Notonthesamepage is aiming for the Fountain of Youth, Majormotionpicture is likely to return in the San Rafael, and poor Pioneerof the Nile is getting some buzz, but is stuck with that awful moniker. I’d like to see the Jockey Club ban run-on names before worrying about possible naughtiness – especially since they rarely seem capable of noting such things anyway.

One horse I do like is The Pamplemousse (Mary Forney has a nice photo of him on her site today) – even though I am not a fan of grapefruit in general, I do very much approve of this name, which I can only assume is a tip of the hat to the fine Divine Comedy b-side. (That’s certainly the only explanation that makes sense in my brain).

On the whole, however, many of the new 3-year-olds look awfully sprinty to me; former claimer Loch Dubh also fits that profile, although again, he’s got a name I actually like – no doubt because I watched far too much Hamish Macbeth in the 1990s. (For the uninitiated, the show starred Robert Carlyle as a pot-friendly policeman in a remote Scottish village called Lochdubh).

One wonders if Midshipman and Vineyard Haven heading to Dubai to train will be something of a useful distraction for Team Godolphin – it seems that construction on the new Meydan racecourse will be slowed, as both firms contracted to work on it have been canned. We’ll see how that goes.

I’m rather doubtful we’ve seen the best of this crop yet (unless we include Stardom Bound – I’m not holding her newish dubious owners against her, and I’m looking forward to her likely start in the Las Virgenes); if recent patterns hold, this year’s Derby winner has yet to break his (or her) maiden.

In the meantime, while these youngsters are figuring out where they belong, we’ve got the return of Brass Hat to look forward to. Here’s hoping he’s still got it.