This weekend’s Florida Derby looks a little easier with Eskenderya’s removal to the Wood Memorial; in his absence, Rule is the deserving favorite as the only horse in the field with a US graded stakes win.  Handicappers quite rightly don’t like betting horses at such short prices, but they may get [...]]]>

¡Bienvenida a Florida, Bambera!

This weekend’s Florida Derby looks a little easier with Eskenderya’s removal to the Wood Memorial; in his absence, Rule is the deserving favorite as the only horse in the field with a US graded stakes win.  Handicappers quite rightly don’t like betting horses at such short prices, but they may get a break – come post time, Barbaro’s brother, Lentenor, could well be the favorite (even though it’s his first start on dirt).  It’s true that Radiohead won the G2 Norfolk Stakes at Ascot as a 2-year-old, and he looked good in an allowance race on dirt, but does he really want to go much further than a mile?  I suspect not at present, but I Might Be Wrong.

Things are a little more exciting in the distaff ranks (again) with Christine Daae finally stepping up to stakes competition.  She’ll take on the talented Amen Hallelujah in the Bonnie Miss – perhaps they will kick off a rivalry.  Many eyes will be on much-touted Venezuelan import Bambera in the Rampart Stakes; a good effort here will send her to take on Zenyatta in the Apple Blossom – but she’ll have a jinx (plus more weight than she’s ever carried) to overcome.  Nevertheless, it’s a good opportunity to get a first look at her in this country – hopefully she will prove to be a star here as well.

Those disappointed by the NTRA’s epic fail last weekend can give them another shot (or enjoy yet more failure) for the Florida Derby, which they are also attempting to webcast.  I’d advise outsourcing the webcast, since there seems to be too little investment in real technology (and techies) to make it happen – why not just give Randy Moss his podcast back?  That should be easy enough to accomplish, and living up to limited expectations would at least be a start…

We’re rather overcommitted here at Superfecta HQ this week, so updates are short and snappy (in theory).

The Breeders’ Cup is still toying with the asinine idea of holding the event at Santa Anita (or perhaps somewhere else, but they really want Santa Anita) forever and ever, amen. I would probably be [...]]]>

Come get some.

We’re rather overcommitted here at Superfecta HQ this week, so updates are short and snappy (in theory).

The Breeders’ Cup is still toying with the asinine idea of holding the event at Santa Anita (or perhaps somewhere else, but they really want Santa Anita) forever and ever, amen. I would probably be excited about this if I still lived on the left coast, but as I don’t and certainly cannot afford to travel that far to said event, I hate the concept from both a business perspective as well as from a person convenience one.

Flanders, who famously beat Serena’s Song despite a broken leg, was put down as the result of a paddock accident. Oddly, it seems to have happened a few weeks ago, but the news only got out a few days ago. As ever, it’s hard to keep track of great racemares once they head to the farm (can’t someone in Kentucky make a sweep every few weeks, taking photos of Miesque, Personal Ensign and the like, so that we know what they are up to – even those who have been pensioned?), but it’s unfortunate that no one thought to let her fans know about her fate until several weeks later.

Bill Finley would like Blind Luck to follow the Winning Colors path to the Santa Anita Derby, and perhaps the one in Kentucky. So would I. She’s third on the graded earnings list – take the shot!

One distaffer definitely going against the boys will be Life Is Sweet – she will get to take a step out of stablemate Zenyatta’s shadow by running in the Dubai World Cup. You may recall she has run well in mixed company before, finishing a creditable third (especially given the traffic trouble) in the Hollywood Gold Cup last year. The last horse she finished second to, St Trinians, is also still aiming to take on the boys, but without the long trip to Dubai – she’s on track for the Santa Anita Handicap, despite ‘her curious, crab-like action‘ and uncommercial bloodlines. Both mares are set for good storylines – and, of course, Japanese star Vodka does that sort of thing all the time.

But back to the 3-year-olds – it’s hard to see how Christine Daae will pick up any graded earnings by winning allowance races, but she could meet up with Amen Hallelujah, the impressive winner of the Davona Dale, in the Bonnie Miss. It’s certainly an interesting possibility.

The 3-year-old colt picture did not get much less murkier last weekend; Radiohead proved he can run on real dirt (feel free to insert a joke about ‘fake plastic trees’ here), but beyond that, things are still a mystery. And, quite frankly, they are not (yet) as exciting to watch as the preparations for the Apple Blossom – Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta both continue to work toward their seasonal debuts on March 13th. Let’s hope Santa Anita does not have to cancel another card for rain – we’re going to have enough drama leading up to the race in April as it is…

Sure, the Sham is this weekend, but the real race of interest as far as 3-year-olds are concerned is the Davona Dale – who needs colts? Christine Daae, she of the recent bullet-work and considerable buzz (I’m still waiting to [...]]]>

Bickersons: because sometimes you don't have time to find an image of Christine Daae

Sure, the Sham is this weekend, but the real race of interest as far as 3-year-olds are concerned is the Davona Dale – who needs colts? Christine Daae, she of the recent bullet-work and considerable buzz (I’m still waiting to see her ‘distinctive markings‘ in a still), will face off against some formidable foes at Gulfstream Park, including champion She Be Wild and speedy Bickersons. Amen Hallelujah and Sassy Image are also strong competitors – it has the makings of a great race, and we can decide whether it’s an Oaks or Derby prep at some point in the future.

Las year’s Davona Dale winner, Justwhistledixie, returns to the scene of her former triumph for a shot at the Sabin Stakes. A good effort here could snag her an invitation to the Apple Blossom – she’s one of ten runners nominated so far, eight of whom will get the call to take on Rachel Alexandra and Zenaytta (and a big check for third, if both come – or perhaps fourth, if Bambera stays true to her Latin American form).

And as for the older guys, Presious Passion is at work in the Mac Diarmida stakes, also at Gulfstream. His goal is a start in the Dubai Sheema Classic next month. There is some potential competition from Winchester and Imawildandcrazyguy (remember him from the ’07 Triple Crown trail? I believe he has yet to win a race), but I have a soft spot for the Jimmy Jerkins-trained Thou Swell – who doesn’t like a horse named after a Rogers and Hart song?

We finally had a weekend of real Derby preps!  Eskendereya put in the fine performance we expected to see last week – and then some.  His runaway win in the Fountain of Youth earned a 106 Beyer – the highest by a 3-year-old so far this season, and his [...]]]>

Eskendereya gets a paycheck for someone

We finally had a weekend of real Derby preps!  Eskendereya put in the fine performance we expected to see last week – and then some.  His runaway win in the Fountain of Youth earned a 106 Beyer – the highest by a 3-year-old so far this season, and his bandwagon seems to have picked up at least a few passengers.  Buddy’s Saint has no real chance to show off – he was bumped around considerably before the first turn, and essentially taken out of the race.  Meanwhile, the ongoing legal tussle between Fifth Third Bank and Eskendereya’s owner, Ahmed Zayat, continues apace – but it would seem that Eskendereya’s win was good for somebody, somewhere in that tangle.

While not as visually impressive, Bob Baffert’s second-stringer, Conveyance, took the Southwest in style; Lookin At Lucky is still a few weeks off from his 3-year-old debut, but Baffert should feel quite confident that, barring injury, he’s got at least one Derby horse in the barn.  Dublin was a close second in the Southwest, with blog favorite Cardiff Giant in third.  Conveyance and Cardiff Giant have finished in the top three in two Derby preps, now, and Dublin seems to be moving forward – the California contingent looks strong (at least from this late February vantage point).

Discreetly Mine also marked himself as one to watch in the Risen Star, while D’Funnybone and A Little Warm went one-two in the Hutcheson.  Like Eskendereya, Discreetly Mine is trained by Todd Pletcher, who also had a win over the weekend in the El Camino Real derby with Connemara – that’s one way to kick off a ten-day suspension!

But the 3-year-old fillies are at work as well – Christine Daae worked a bullet at Gulfstream today, and Bickersons and Amen Hallelujah are aiming to take her on in the Davona Dale on Saturday.  There is much to look forward to in their division.

Things did not go as expected in Older Horse Land – Friesan Fire and Gio Ponti both missed out on the winner’s circle.  Friesan Fire battled with General Quarters in the stretch of the Mineshaft, but both were outrun by Stonehouse, a little-heralded 6-year-old with 10 wins out of 38 starts (and another 11 finishes in the money).  General Quarters managed to hang on for second (which seems to have become his preferred finish), but Friesan Fire ended up fourth behind Giant Oak.  Things did not go as expected for Gio Ponti either – he acted up in the gate and ended up second (by a nose) to Karelian at Tampa Bay Downs.  However, as it’s his first race after a bit of a layoff, the fact that he still managed to pick up a check is encouraging – this race was more of a prep than a ‘must win’ for him.

Finally, there’s some entirely awesome news – yes, there will be Apple Blossom trading cards.  I can see some quality eBay time in my future as a result of this announcement.  For all Apple Blossom news, continue to check out the official website, but also visit the coolest horse racing tumblr site (well, OK, the only horse racing tumblr site) I’ve ever seen: RA-Zen hell blog.  It’s all good.