It may have been a pokey Belmont, but it was nice to see Bill Mott add a Triple Crown win to his resume, and we’ve got summer and fall racing to look forward to.  WinStar farm will have to decide how to manage their two classic winners, Super [...]]]>

You should know who these men are

It may have been a pokey Belmont, but it was nice to see Bill Mott add a Triple Crown win to his resume, and we’ve got summer and fall racing to look forward to.  WinStar farm will have to decide how to manage their two classic winners, Super Saver and Drosselmeyer, over the next few months, but it’s certainly a good problem to have – even if the idea of either one competing with Zenyatta in the Breeders’ Cup Classic seems rather beyond the realm of possibility.  One does hope that Uptowncharlybrown, who finished fifth, gets another chance to prove his talent (as well as earn some money for his connections), after his odd disqualification to last in the race after losing a weight pad.  Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin explained how it happened, and blames himself – it’s definitely not a fun way to lose $30,000.

And Zenyatta does not seem too concerned about possible rivals – she had an easy workout this week for her shot at a threepeat in the Vanity, which would give her win number 17.  The big mare’s presence in the race has limited the field – St Trinians is the only horse in the field likely to give Zenyatta much of a workout, although she’s coming into the race off a poor effort last time out, in the Big Cap – still, someone has to be second.

And while we know that Rachel Alexandra will be racing somewhere on Saturday, which race her connections plan to go for is still up in the air.  The Stephen Foster is coming up a tough race – Blame is on fire, and General Quarters seems to be getting into a good rhythm.  Arson Squad, Macho Again and Giant Oak are also good horses, and while I believe we will see Rachel return to her best, that may still be a little bit down the road.   However, she would get an attractive weight break in the race, so that’s no doubt a consideration.

Of course, as we have previously mentioned, just about everything else happening on Saturday is eclipsed by the US taking on England in the World Cup; regardless of what the British press might suggest, we’re actually reasonably evenly-matched – the two teams have similar difficulties in defense (although at least we have Tim Howard in goal), and a tendency to rely one one or two key players up front.  I’d say the odds of both teams finishing the game with ten men are higher than a runaway score either way, but I’d love to see us pull out a win – and continue in that spirit well beyond the group stage.

With the World Cup, a new job and a variety of other side projects taking over, posting will be lighter than usual for a while – but follow along on Twitter for the latest commentary.

Come on, the US!