Odds & Ends

Hillside Turf course at Santa Anita (Charles Pravata)

News of the Pyro deal prompted some excellent posting by a couple of my esteemed colleagues. Jen at the Down The Stretch takes a look at racing to the breeding shed while Superfecta compares and contrasts the early retirement ages of race horses in different countries.

Kevin at The Aspiring Horseplayer is featuring a “best of the TBA” that includes a nice collection of posts. One of the posts I contributed was along the same lines as Jen & Superfecta’s.

You can count on Alan at Left at the Gate to have all the latest about the Spitzer “situation”. The comment thread on the current post is stellar, as always. Everyone I’ve encountered (at the deli and my laundromat) was laughing about what an idiot he is, but clearly there are racing implications too (not just poking fun at elected officials).

The Breeders’ Cup has just announced a new sponsor, Sentient, a private aviation company (not the hottest name, when did being sentient become a differentiator in the aviation space?).

Sentient will also provide Breeders’ Cup with a variety of customized private travel programs for its constituents.

Does this mean they’re going be making more enticing arrangements for overseas horses? I hope so!

In thinking about Indian Blessing potentially missing the Oaks I had a couple of thoughts…

1) was it me or did Gomez give her the same kind of ride he gave Hard Spun in the Belmont (i.e., not working with her natural speed) and 2) not a bad move really. Unlike the colts with the Derby she probably doesn’t “need” the Oaks as much to up her value (I feel gross even typing that) + it’s nice to see someone not feel like they “have to” run in an event if it doesn’t feel right for the horse.

Speaking of 3yo colts, I’m not ready to throw in the towel on Majestic Warrior and Tale of Ekati just yet, particularly Majestic Warrior. He had come to come 3-4 wide in both turns, I bet he improves off the effort. Also, J Be K wasn’t allowed to harness his early speed, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s got a longer distance as well.

I leave you with the very foggy Gotham, well done to race caller John Imbriale… “when last seen Saratoga Russell was leading…”