Lava Man (right) winning his 3rd consecutive Hollywood Gold Cup (Charles Pravata).

Lava Man ties Native Diver’s record of 3 consecutive wins of the Hollywood Gold Cup in a thrilling stretch battle with A.P. Xcellent and a fast closing long shot Big Booster (pictured on the left)!

In an interview on ESPN, one of the three owners said they would not race him outside of Cali again (we’ll see about that). A.P Xcellent stepped up nicely, perhaps we’ll see more great stuff from him. Molengao tired in the stretch, he made a nice move about half way through the back stretch and was coming on at the top of the stretch but had run 3 or 4 wide. I think Big Booster closed from pretty far back, I’ll have to watch the replay but he came on strong.

What a great way to end the racing day!

If you read one story about the Belmont and Rags to Riches, let it be this one. Fantastic recap by Steve Haskin of Bloodhorse.

Had my second week in a row of no winning tickets, albeit this week was not nearly as severe as last. I picked a lot of value plays, and value plays were doing pretty well… however, not the ones I was picking.

Flashy Bull is a perfect example, I liked him and Wanderin’ Boy as value plays in the Stephen Foster. Guess which one I picked? (hint: Flashy Bull won).

In addition to a meager win bet on Wanderin’ Boy, I had him boxed with Master Command. Turns out Magna Graduate was the pick of the Pletcher duo (he placed). Master Command finished 6th as the favorite.

Nobiz Like Shobiz & Cornelio Velaquez prepping for the Dwyer at Belmont (Sarah K. Andrew)

NoBiz Like Shobiz gets back to business at Belmont and is pointed towards the Dwyer Stakes on July 4th.

[DRF – Requires Log-in]

Just watched the last part of the 2nd race at Belmont, a Maiden Special Weight won by Stormin’ Normady ($7.70). As the winner was pulling away the call was “He pulls away greenly, but fuuuull of RUN”.

It’s hard to capture his inflection in a blog post, but trust me when I say he could a make a trip down a flight of stairs interesting.

Nice story about Shake the Bank, Better Talk Now’s rabbit, who’s getting his own shot this weekend at Monmouth. The rabbit concept bums me out a bit so I’m happy to see one getting a chance to run their own race.

Update: Shake the Bank placed!

[DRF – Requires Log-in]

This morning was as I was getting ready to for work, I turned on the TV to check the weather. Of course the OTB channel was on and they were broadcasting some show from TVG.

The discussion was about the field for the Fleur de Lis this weekend at Churchill. They highlighted this performance in the fall by Asi Siempre in the 2006 BC Distaff.

She’s the grey trying to close behind a wall of horses. She tries to get through with no luck, goes about 5 wide and still can’t through so she pushes someone out of the way to close strong for 2nd. Very impressive.

Imagine how jealous I was when I received this email from Swifty:

“I had lunch today with a friend. They recommended playwright as mtg spot! Was able to get a bet in on Monmouth’s first race and hit the trifecta!!!!”

Foolish Pleasure has a great historical post about another incredibly talented filly, Genuine Risk, that was in the money in each leg of the triple crown + the Wood Memorial.

There are also links to videos of those races.

No, not Rags to Riches… rest and relaxation for Imawildandcrazyguy. I was unaware of the bumping incident out of the starting gate with Tiago.

I have to say that I really like Bill Kaplan and am glad his plan is to restore IWCG’s confidence with an allowance win. I hope he blossoms later this year or as 4 yo. Since he’s gelding we should see him next year!

[NTRA]