Superfectablog v3.0 » Honey Ryder

Who Says They Don’t Have Christmas in Kentucky? *

admin — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:40:00 +0000

Given Our Flourishing Economy, it seems that every horse who has ever looked through a bridle is for sale. Need a budget stallion prospect? How about Great Hunter?

Or perhaps you are in the market for a good racemare who’s moved into the breeding game? Well, you’re in luck – there are loads!

Blushing Ogygian (in foal to Half Ours)
Honey Ryder (in foal to Giant’s Causeway)
Kathleen’s Reel
Kettleoneup(in foal to Bernardini)
Lady of Venice
Lear’s Princess
Madcap Escapade (in foal to A.P. Indy)
Memorette (possibly in foal to Empire Maker)
Oprah Winney (possibly in foal to Ghostzapper)
Panty Raid
Point Ashley (possibly in foal to Distorted Humor)
Sindy With An S
Zoftig (possibly in foal to Hard Spun)

While we know you really want to breed them, we’ll at least pretend the following might also be racing prospects:

Or why not just retire and breed the 2-year-old? After all, as her page notes, ‘…she’s got her G1!’ I would invite that special buyer to check out Stardom Bound.

And, of course, there’s Better Than Honour. I understand she’s produced a few nice foals in her time.

The abundance of top mares on the block makes me recall the classic line from Better Off Dead:

“Now that’s a real shame when folks be throwin’ away a perfectly good white boy like that.”

That’s not unlike how I feel about seeing Intangaroo, Pure Clan or Zaftig (not to mention Stardom Bound, although in her case I am giving everyone the benefit of the doubt and assuming she is a legitimate racing prospect) heading off to retirement – but hey, they’ll all go cheap, right? Someone has to make this ‘downturn’ work for them!

^* Phil Ochs, in case you didn’t know…

Playing Catch-up

admin — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:57:00 +0000

Although I’m in the midst of an extremely busy week at work, I have been keeping up with my Task Force co-authors in Las Vegas via their regular Twitter updates which are aggregated at Raceday 360 Wire along with all the other racing news that’s fit to scrape – if you have not been yet, do check it out.

If you have been keeping up, you’ll know that Perfect Drift has been retired, but I’m glad they decided to at least try him out to see if he wanted to race another season; obviously he told his connections ‘not so much’ but it’s nice to see that they did right by the horse on both counts. You also know that Commentator rocked the MassCap – check out Teresa’s coverage of the day here.

It’s still auction season, despite the tanking economy, and quite a number of top racemares are now on the block as broodmares: Honey Ryder, currently in foal to Giant’s Causeway and I was a little dismayed to see Intangaroo up as a ‘racing and/or broodmare’ prospect. Pure Clan is also up for sale only a short while after her American Oaks victory; last year’s winner of the same race, Panty Raid, is also in the sale — I would hope that Intangaroo and Pure Clan stay around a while longer as racehorses, but it seems unlikely. They are saving the last spot in the auction for über-broodmare Better Than Honour; she’s not in foal this year, but one imagines that she will boost the bottom line.

Curlin is ready to go for the Jockey Club Gold Cup (and we will have more on that and the many other stakes races that will not be televised beyond TVG/HRTV later this week), but perhaps the most exciting racing news this week continues to be Weekend Hussler in Australia. He began his season with a solid second on August 16th and has won his three races since then; clearly his Horse of the Year honor is not weighing him down at all. He has now won seven Group 1 races and is on target for the Caulfield Cup as a prelude to the Melbourne Cup. The bay gelding’s bandwagon is well worth jumping on, if you are not on board already. And as an added bonus, there’s a lot less waiting around in between races to see him compared to North American stars.

Check back later this week for more on Curlin and Mambo in Seattle…

Live Longshots

admin — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:14:00 +0000

After yesterday’s musical interlude, you’re no doubt waiting expectantly for a full race-by-race analysis. Well, with today being my last day at Penn Vet, you’ll have to wait a little bit longer. But don’t despair, today brings you some of my (hopefully) live longshots for each race.

Filly & Mare Sprint
With La Traviata in this race, it makes it a very interesting betting race since she’s such a prohibitive favorite. It means that Wild Gams (who we already know loves Monmouth) and Baroness Thatcher could both go off at long odds — at least considerably longer odds than they might otherwise.

Juvenile Turf
Old Man Buck is now pointed to the Juvenile rather than the Juvenile Turf, otherwise I would happily pick him in this category. I generally avoid Todd Pletcher’s horses in the Breeders’ Cup, but I’ll pick The Leopard as my longshot (and no, not just because Leopard comes out the same day).

Dirt Mile
Lewis Michael is my official longshot for this race; Corinthian could be back in form as well, but he won’t be at nearly as long a price. If the bettors all go off Discreet Cat, it’s entirely possible he’d be worth some investm ent as well.

Juvenile Fillies
A to the Croft will have blinkers for the first time and I like her a lot; I think there’s been so much buzz about Smarty Deb and her feel-good story that she won’t be quite the same value (but should not be overlooked).

Juvenile
Old Man Buck should be in here at a good price; he may not win, but I can easily see him hitting the board behind Tale of Ekati. Salute the Sarge (a half-brother to Chelokee) could offer some value as well. And if you want to know how Tale of Ekati got his name, check out Diamond: The History of a Cold-Blooded Love Affair. It gets complicated!

Filly & Mare Turf
This should be a great race with some solid favorites in Nashoba’s Key and Precious Kitten; given her inconsistency of late, Honey Ryder could have long odds. If it does indeed rain Saturday, I may give an edge to the Europeans — I might consider Timarwa if it comes up soft.

Sprint
Idiot Proof has set a record at Monmouth already; Kelly’s Landing won the Dubai Golden Shaheen and has been quiet since, but he clearly loves this distance. The long layoff should translate to longer odds.

Mile
Purim is my longshot, but this is a great field; if Silent Name and/or Remarkable News come up with silly odds too, I’ll be putting a bit in those buckets as well.

Distaff
I think Unbridled Belle is going to be overlooked and a good value (despite her good record of late); Teammate still needs a G1 win and could get it here.

Turf
I have just one sentimental longshot on the day — Better Talk Now. He’s updated his MySpace page to let us know he’s rested and ready.

Classic
Tiago is flying completely under the radar and seems to be improving. Don’t count him out. Of course, if you want to put money on George Washington in this race, be my guest!

Check back starting tomorrow for a full analysis of each race now that the post positions are set…

We’re Off To See The Tin Man

admin — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 19:52:00 +0000

While it’s a shame we won’t be seeing Better Talk Now this weekend in the Sword Dancer (which, really, should make it a walkover for English Channel if he’s in good form), we do have an exciting Arlington Million to look forward to. It’s hard not to root for The Tin Man (and I’m not even going to try not to) but there is plenty of buzz around After Market as well. On something of a down note, there’s an article in the Chicago Sun-Times lamenting that the Arlington Million is not quite as much of a draw as it once was:

Added British racing writer Paul Haigh in The Guardian: ”This weekend, we have an American reminder of how the status of races change. When the Arlington Million was first run … the concept of a $1M race dropped jaws. Now the calendar is full of races worth far more, many of them in countries whose racing we took no notice of … back in the days when the Million provided the model for the Breeders’ Cup.”

…

In 2000, when the downward drift of the Million became powerfully evident, management upped the purse to $2 million. The one-year experiment resulted in a seven-horse starting field — still the lowest in race history — and endless outcries from local horsemen about the diminishment of their daily purse account. The pot has held at $1 million ever since, a sum now roughly equal to $665,000 in 1981 dollars.

Yet, as Richard Mandella said after his The Tin Man wired nine challengers last August to win Million XXIV: ”There’s not a trainer on the planet who wouldn’t relish winning any one of the three Arlington classics. The lure remains enormous.”

I would argue that if The Tin Man can pull it off again (at age nine, just like John Henry did), that would be a story to add some luster back to the race. And hey, Chicagoist picked up that it’s happening!

The Secretariat Stakes has a well-named headliner in Red Giant, but there’s always the possibility that Love Dubai could get it together (and at a great price) and pull an upset.

Speaking of walkovers, there’s a lot of talk that the Beverly D. will be one for Citronnade (who is rightly feared), but I still have my money on Honey Ryder. She might not be back at her best right now, but I think she can certainly get back there.

In some sad news, Hennessy has died in Argentina, where he was shuttling. Feel free to discuss the possibility of how breeding to hundreds of mares in two hemispheres every year could potentially bring about an early heart attack…

Finally, don’t forget to tune in to the ABC broadcast — there will be another installment of Dr. Dean Richardson’s horse health segments, as well as the public service announcement he filmed a while back (although it’s not clear where exactly in the broadcast that will air). Set your TiVos — and come on, The Tin Man! I’m off to see Crowded House in the meantime…

Long Weekend Preview

admin — Fri, 25 May 2007 18:26:00 +0000

Street Sense is back to ‘possible‘ for the Belmont, Nobiz Like Shobiz is not likely and Slew’s Tizzy is on his way, but there’s plenty to look forward to in the meantime. The Hanshin Cup at Arlington Park features favorite Lewis Michael (pictured) facing Purim and Barbican (who has never quite reached his potential, in my opinion). Gouldings Green is in the pictures as well and should make it an interesting race. Some of you may recall Lewis Michael finished a creditable third in the Tropical Park Derby last year (defeated by another horse whose name started with ‘Barb’ — although I don’t predict this will be Barbican’s day to win, he may well hit the board) and he is a full brother to Dreaming of Anna. There’s a lot to like.

The Louisville Handicap will be showcasing grass specialists; I like Ramazutti and am intrigued by longshots Royal Assault and Louve Des Reves. In less pleasing turf news, Showing Up is out for the time being with a torn suspensory ligament; here’s hoping he recovers soon.

Rather than end on a downer for the turf fans, let’s look forward to Honey Ryder’s return in the Sheepshead Bay this weekend. She looks to be the class of the race, but it won’t be a walkover.

There is still no word from Todd Pletcher on Rags to Riches’ possible next start (*cough* Belmont *cough*)…

See you at the Fair Hill Races!

A Message From A Muse?

admin — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 16:20:00 +0000

My iPod keeps coming back to Honey Ryder by Cinerama (or The Wedding Present, depending on which name you prefer to use — either way it’s David Gedge) — clearly it’s a sign that she’s in it to win the Dubai Sheema Classic today.

When Euterpe speaks, I listen…

(I also stumbled over an Ian Fleming book earlier, but as it was not one featuring the character in question, I’ll assume that was not a message from a competing entity).

I should add I’ve banned myself from any horse-racing-related internet goodness until after the ABC broadcast this afternoon…

Dubai World Cup Weekend

admin — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 17:02:00 +0000

There’s plenty of British and Irish coverage of the Dubai World Cup (and I can fully appreciate that English sportswriters are looking for something to cover besides England’s wildly lackluster win over Andorra (Andorra!) in Euro 2008 qualifying following so rapidly on the heels of their draw with Israel) — it would be nice if we had as much in the US mainstream media.

In a rare show of agreement (albeit with a modified vocabulary), the Guardian and the Mirror both seem to be backing Invasor while the Belfast Telegraph and Setanta both go for Discreet Cat.

Lest we think it’s a two-horse race, there are some fantastic odds on everyone else and some fair ones on Premium Tap who seems to be flying under the radar. I’ll go on record as picking Invasor.

Lava Man’s trip to compete in the Dubai Duty Free has not gone unnoticed by the foreign press either — by all accounts, he looks like he’s happy to be there. I’d love to see a one-two finish for Lava Man and Miesque’s Approval. Trainer Doug O’Neill stayed stateside to look after his Derby hopefuls, including Notional who runs in the Florida Derby this Saturday. (In said race, I also like Chelokee, who seems to be improving, and Stormello — I know Scat Daddy is good but he’s never grabbed me for some reason).

Finally, my complete picks for Dubai World Cup day:

Godolphin Mile:
I’ll pick Vortex.

UAE Derby
I’d love to see Folk do well, as per my usual filly-takes-on-the-boys bias, but Asiatic Boy is looking good too. I’ll take a pass on Day Pass.

Dubai Golden Shaheen
Is Bishop Court Hill due? How about Harvard Avenue or Nightmare Affair? I may just stick with Thor’s Echo.

Dubai Sheema Classic
Collier Hill should hit the board — I like the old guy. But I love Honey Ryder — and no grey or mare has ever run the race, so I think it’s time.

Dubai Duty Free
Go Lava Man!

Dubai World Cup
Invasor…he is, after all, the best.

Breeders’ Cup Wrap-Up

admin — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 18:44:00 +0000

Well, another Breeders’ Cup is over, but at least I’m only down $40. Here are my thoughts on each race:

Juvenile Fillies
Dreaming of Anna lived up to her pre-race hype; I’d be most interested to see her mature into a turf miler, though, rather than heading toward the Oaks next year.

Juvenile
Well, it was certainly impressive to see Street Sense’s 10-length victory; whether we’ve just seen his career-best will remain to be seen, but Circular Quay did better than I expected and Great Hunter was in the mix as well. I still think we’ll start to see next year’s real Triple Crown contenders over the next few weeks, but it was a much better showing than I anticipated.

Filly & Mare Turf
More brilliance from Ouija Board, of course, and fine efforts by Film Maker and Honey Ryder. Hitting the board in this race three times (particularly behind Ouija Board) as Film Maker has is nothing to be ashamed of. She also proved (again) she’s as game as they come. Wait a While was a bit disappointing, but I am looking forward to seeing her come back next year for another shot.

Sprint
I’d thrown out Bordonaro because I felt we’d seen his best in his last outing (which was very impressive), but didn’t expect Henny Hughes to be quite so lackluster. I like Thor’s Echo but I’d have never picked him. It’s nice to see his good second in the Golden Shaheen was no fluke. It didn’t exactly help my Pick Three, but it was a fun race to watch.

Mile
After I declared that Miesque’s Approval and Better Talk Now were fantastic but weren’t going to hit the board, they clearly had it in for me. Apart from Gorella’s poor showing, it was a great race. Top tip for ESPN: when you tell us that Miesque’s Approval’s ‘grandfather’ won this race as well, you get a pass for getting it wrong once. Repeating it is not cool. If you didn’t know Miesque is a mare, you might want to mark that one down for future reference. (In case you were wondering where she is now, she lives at Lane’s End, near her son Kingmambo).

Distaff
This was obviously a tough one to watch. On the one hand, Round Pond ran a great race (my only decent payoff of the day), and it was wonderful to see Michael Matz and Edgar Prado back together in the winner’s circle. Seeing two top horses go down was not part of the plan. Pine Island was never much to look at, but she was a classy runner. At least the news on Fleet Indian was more positive, although it really didn’t look good from the coverage. Another top tip for ESPN: let’s not keep showing the fatal breakdown — twice was too much. I think we’ve already been here with Go for Wand (I wonder if the Distaff statistically has more fatal breakdowns — it seems unlikely, but I’m curious). The rest of the coverage of the injuries was reasonably tasteful — letting the viewing public know what was going on was as far as it needed to go. Clearly the status of the horse is reflected in the injury coverage; when Funfair broke down in the Mile last year, mention of it was more of an afterthought. (We were at the race and saw it all too well; on television it was much harder to see what took place in that instance). Get well soon, Fleet Indian, and congrats to Round Pond. Note to the Baltimore Sun: Distaff implies female, last time I checked.

Turf
Another nice ride by Housewives’ Fav(u)orite^tm Frankie Dettori (now also the Shoemaker Award winner) got Red Rocks into the winner’s circle; as mentioned above, Better Talk Now ran a great race to get up for second — Cacique didn’t really bring his A game to this one (rather like Hurricane Run). Nice showing by English Channel, though.

Classic
Kenny Mayne called it again! Invasor was, indeed, the best. Bernardini made a move on the turn for home that looked quite impressive — and Invasor just inhaled him. If this is what happens when Bernardini finally looks an opponent in the eyes, it wasn’t much of a response. It was hardly an embarassing defeat, but I would hope it was enough to keep Bernardini in training next year. I sincerely doubt it, but there’s no harm in hoping. Premium Tap’s solid third has been somewhat overlooked, but he and Giacomo were impressive. I’ve never been a Giacomo fan, but he ran a great race too — his fouth-place finish was not unimpressive.

Conclusions: Post one was clearly the place to be; earning over two million dollars in defeat is not a terrible fate; we need more research into track safety.

Tags:
Horse Racing, Breeders’ Cup

It’s Too Much Happiness

admin — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 00:37:00 +0000

The short version of this weekend’s events, as there are just too many exciting races:

The Goodwood: Lava Man really needs an easy win here to prepare to face non-Californians in the Classic. Is Brother Derek really ready to run against his elders?

Oak Tree Mile: Cinch for Aragorn. I should probably work in something geeky about how he won’t need Anduril, Flame of the West for this one, but it seemed too much of a stretch. I suppose I also should not say it will be another proud day for the Dúnedain…

The Vosburgh: Henny Hughes and Silver Train face off. I’ll take the chestnut this time.

The Joe Hirsch Turf Classic: English Channel and Icy Atlantic meet some horses from across the pond, including some nice fillies.

The Spinster: Another one for Happy Ticket, but I also have an eye on Spun Sugar and Sharp Lisa

The Flower Bowl: Angara, Honey Ryder, Film Maker. In that order.

The Beldame: Rather than Fleet Indian/Baletto, I’m predicting Fleet Indian/Round Pond. Round Pond needed her last race and I hope to see her back in top form…although whether that top form beats Fleet Indian is debatable. It’s a good field overall – one of the highlights of a busy day.

Oh, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup – Invasor is out sick and no one else wanted to have a go? I’m looking forward to the Bernardini/Dylan Thomas matchup, but (and I mean no disrespect to Andromeda’s Hero or Wanderin Boy) some other supporting artistes would have been nice.

Tags:
Horse Racing