Carol Cedeño at Belmont (~ RAYMOND)
Now that I’m slowly starting to pay attention to racing again, I noticed that Carol Cedeño hasn’t been on the Belmont card recently and doesn’t have any mounts coming up.
I also checked Philadelphia Park and it doesn’t look like she’s riding there either. Did I miss something? Is she injured? On vacation? Does anyone know?
Notional w/Joe Bravo up comes back with an upset in the Salvatore Mile at Monmouth (Sarah K. Andrew)
Today was the kind of day that reminds me why I fell in love with racing almost 2 years ago. Swifty and I planned on heading out to Belmont today come rain or shine, and while we didn’t get much shine we also didn’t get any rain. A few friends were planning to meet up at Monmouth for the United Nations and Salvatore Mile, but I really just wanted to have a nice quiet day at my beloved Belmont.
Swifty was hanging out with his 12 year old nephew Ted this weekend, or as I like to call him, the Future Handicappers of America. He joined us last year for Swifty’s birthday outing and proved to be a bit precocious picking Dance Away Capote in the Duda Stakes.
Since it had been raining for two days, all but one of the turf races were on the dirt and there were a bunch of scratches. I only lightly handicapped so I wasn’t planning on playing very heavily to begin with. We got there not too long before the 3rd. My pick, Akin, had scratched so I took a pass. In the 4th I put Paris Winds over Them There Eyes for a couple bucks to no avail. In fact, I didn’t cash a ticket all day (again) but it started to get interesting in the 5th race.
I usually don’t like to play maiden races. I don’t have an affinity for using breeding in handicapping, although it’s on my list to work on, so I just throw a couple of bucks on a long shot here and there. The 5th was a Maiden Special Weight and no different for me… except no one was at long odds. In the paddock #9, Discreet Treasure was really acting up. There was no audio to speak of in the grandstand so we couldn’t hear what Jason Blewitt or Jan Rushton were saying, but Discreet Treasure was pretty worked up.
It was a 7F turf race that moved to the dirt. Quickly looking over the entrants I noticed that Discreet Treasure, a first time starter, was only showing one work on turf, and not even the last one! As they came out for the parade he looked great, perhaps too great. Did he leave his race in the paddock? Number 10, Counterspy, looked good too so I boxed them.
I’ll just let you watch the race for yourself… he’s the grey. A very big thanks to Party Manners for posting it!!
As it turns out, he’s a half to Discreet Cat, not that I knew that until I got home and watched Throughbred Action. And as great as it is on the replay it was even more thrilling in person. I can’t wait to see more of him!
The next race was also fantastic. It was a state bred allowance for non-winners of two. You may remember the name Overextended from the very beginning Derby Trail. He ran primarily on the west coast in all the big preps as a 2yo and even placed to Colonel John in the Real Quiet. I didn’t incorporate him into my losing trifecta key with Dr. W on top of the 4 long shots but his race was great nonetheless.
Just like Discreet Treasure he sat way off the pace, and talk about procrastinating, he still wasn’t in the race at the 1/16th pole! Then out of nowhere he closed like freight train… all I can say is welcome to New York! Previously trained by Doug O’Neill and now trained by Mark Henig, I’m sure we’ll be seeing him round these parts more often!
I liked the undefeated By The Light in the Prioress although I knew Indian Blessing would be tough at the distance on a muddy track. I was hoping it would have been Indian Blessing pressing Secret Gypsy with By The Light sitting off the pace but Indian Blessing has finally shown she can rate.
It was great to see Indian Blessing back and I thought By The Light was impressive given this was her first graded race! I had the 2 of them in a tri-box with Secret Gypsy but Indian Way spoiled that on the wire.
We busted out there right after the race and I got home in time to see the United Nations. I would have liked to have seen the Salvatore Mile, especially given that Notional pulled an upset! This really made my day… I loved him in the Risen Star was bummed when he had to drop off the Derby Trail with an injury. His 4 yo campaign has had an Evening Attire-like start, so to see him come back with a nice win that puts him in the BC was yet another excellent moment in a very satisfying race day. You can see it here, if it shows up on YouTube I’ll post it here as well.
I love that Mary Hartmann, Mary Hartmann and Precious Passion won the United Nations! I don’t know too much about her, except that I loved her sunglasses and Randy Moss (or someone) said that she started off as a hot walker some 20 years ago. But seriously, it’s always great to see one of the many non-high profile, hard working trainers win a big race and when it’s a woman it’s even more special. It goes without saying that there’s that extra level of “it ain’t easy” for women who work in a business that’s male dominated such a sports, or in my case, technology. So, good for her!
And to top it all off, Zenyatta stayed undefeated holding off an impressively closing Tough Tiz’s Sis in the Vanity Handicap. 6 for 6… is she looking more interesting for the Classic to you yet?
Curlin beating Lawyer Ron in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont (Charles Pravata)
It’s looking like that’s what Curlin will be next Saturday in the Man o’War! The licensing issues are still not totally worked out, but inching closer with the expectation of it being finalized in the beginning of the week.
The licensing issues could be resolved at the beginning of the week when a Kentucky civil-court judge is expected to formally transfer the assets of two Kentucky attorneys who own a minor interest in Curlin to those who won a civil-case judgment against them.
Not only does it look like we’ll see him in New York, but it seems to be shaping up to be a turf war, so to speak, with Breeders’ Cup turf champions Red Rocks and Better Talk Now also expected to run.
And in other good news on the turf, my boy Thorn Song , back at his best distance of a mile, beat the impressive Einstein by about a length and half in the Firecracker at Churchill today, not that I could wager on it with my TWINSPIRES account (ludicrous!).
Happy 4th y’all!
First off, thanks to everyone who voted in the Jeremy Rose suspension poll, everyone had an opinion about it, and a good discussion was had by all!
No surprise that that results were close as votes just kept pouring in… Not Enough won out by a nose at 27 over Too Much at 26 while Just Right saw a decent amount of action with 21.
Turning to something positive, regular reader/commenter and west coast photog extroadinare Charles Pravata brought up an intriguing idea here that maybe Zenyatta should run in the Classic. Regular reader/commenter and east coast guitar playing, odds making phenom Ernie Munick noted that while it was something he hadn’t thought of that it was certainly intriguing… she is, after all, big as if not bigger than many of her male counterparts.
Since Curlin aced his first turf test it’s pretty safe to assume we won’t be seeing him in the Classic. And with Heatseeker retired the pickins are getting slimmer and slimmer. But it’s not just about the lack of competitiveness in the handicap division, it’s also about Zenyatta not having any real competition yet.
She’s undefeated with 5 starts and she made short work of champion Ginger Punch in the Apple Blossom. In her most recent start in the Milady, she had a rocky beginning getting pinched back out of the gate but came on strong to over the take the field in an effortless looking stretch run. She’s also closed off of both slow and fast paces, won on dirt and several synthetic tracks… one them being Santa Anita, host of the Classic.
Her next start is this Saturday in Vanity at Hollywood Park where she faces the solid Tough Tiz’s Sis and Canadian Sealy Hill.
Have a look for yourself…
Milady Handicap:
Apple Blossom:
I think the prospect of Zenyatta in the Classic is one of the most exciting things I’ve heard in a while (in addition to the problematic 20% of Curlin being transferred to a court-appointed receiver, putting him one step closer to running at Belmont next weekend)!
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, let’s just get through this weekend, shall we? In the meantime, go Zenyatta!
Larry Jones’ pick-up! (Hen Bros)
Trainer Larry Jones has been tampered with AGAIN. Less than a month ago Jones and Jim Squires had a positive drug test (which Squires is appealing) and now someone has been turning horses out at his barn!
The latest episode lead to an employee being fired and according to the article “Jones is confident he is not the target of other horsemen or activists”. To make it worse, not only did the culprit(s) turn out the horses, his stable pony, Pal, had blisters in mouth that were not the results of cuts… what the hell kind of message is that?
It took me a while to come around to Larry Jones. Swifty and I swung back and forth thinking he was an idiot to thinking he was a genius several times during our beloved Hard Spun’s 3yo campaign. I think ultimately his last 3 races and in particular his incredible finish in the last year’s Classic sold me. I thought, incorrectly, that Hard Spun should have gone in the Dirt Mile because he wouldn’t get the distance and while he didn’t win, he did turn in another strong performance.
I also hear it from some trusted friends that Larry and his wife Cindy are two of the nicest people you could ever meet! And c’mon, look at his truck. If Swifty still had a car I’d be pimpin’ his ride Hard Spun style for his birthday!
And if anyone has any ideas for a new poll, let me know!
Declan’s Moon in the Winner’s Circle, certainly not a recent sighting (chriswwalsh)
Although, you’d only know it you happened to read the article on Heatseeker’s Hiatus… or in my case, see in Racehorse Girl’s rss feed!
His last out was a miserable 7th and his 5th consecutive loss. The poor guy has had his share of injuries, including a mysterious breathing problem.
In recent starts, Declan’s Moon has been plagued by a breathing problem, which contributed to losses in all three of his starts this year. In Thursday’s race, Declan’s Moon, 6, led to early stretch but faded to finish 10 lengths behind race winner Mostacolli Mort.
“He can’t get his air,” Ellis said. “It was only under severe stress that it happened. We tried everything and it’s not something that can be fixed.”
I suppose it’s safe to assume that if he wasn’t a gelding that he would have been swooped right off to the shed with this first injury prior to the 2005 Derby. Maybe he would have faired better as sire than a race horse or perhaps he would have passed on his issues, we’ll never know. The good news is that he’ll have a comfortable landing:
“The Siegels will find a nice place for him to live out his life in peace and quiet,” Ellis said.
Here’s his fantastic Hollywood Futurity:
Best of luck to him for an enjoyable retirement!
I’ve been elsewhere the past few days! Belmont (Aint No Joke)
My lack of posting is due, in part, to a hectic week which includes working on this so it can be ready by July 1. So far, so good!
In lieu of posting I’ve been doing a lot of commenting… mostly on the extremely active post regarding Jeremy Rose’s suspension. It’s a great, lively, civil conversation mostly (at this point) centered around how to determine if a suspension is excessive. One person’s excessive is another person’s just right is yet another person’s not enough. In my mind this begs for national standards around ALL suspensions.
Speaking of which, Val has a great post (that of course I commented on, because that’s all I do now) about the double standards in the suspensions of Asmussen and Dutrow. She also discusses that national standards are needed in drug suspensions.
Jessica posts the news of Suffolk’s new zero tolerance on slaughter (yep, I commented there too) and points to a related post that alludes to a more holistic view being needed to actually solve the problem as opposed to just applying a band-aid. (Note – I agree that Rose’s suspension is a band-aid for addressing issues around the whip, there needs to be better rules to actually address the overall problem).
And, in another great post that I commented on, Teresa uncovers a bit of of a historical precedence for the protest of sexism in the pursuit of racing marketing! Go sign the petition!
Jeremy Rose at Belmont (Sarah K. Andrew)
First off, what a day! I was away from a computer until just an hour ago… I missed quite the news filled afternoon!
In our last poll, Personal Ensign was the overwhelming favorite filly 1988 getting 20 votes, while 14 of you said that you love both Personal Ensign and Winning Colors equally and 7 of you, myself included, said Winning Colors was your favorite. I love them both but Winning Colors’ Santa Anita Derby is what made my decision.
Our current poll asks if what you make of Jeremy Rose’s suspension… is it too much, not enough or just right?
To aid you in your decision, I present this head on race replay (hat tip to partymanners for posting and Jen at Thoroughblog). The incident happens at the 1:00 mark, they’re on the rail. Be warned, you might not want to watch if you’re easily upset or squeamish:
I also present this from Dan Ilman over at his Formblog. When a poster asked if anyone felt that Rose has become “the whippingboy” for racing needing to clean up it’s act (a fair question), Ilman replied with this:
I’ve been following Delaware this meet, and this isn’t the first time that Rose’s actions have come into question. On May 12, I was co-hosting the New York City OTB program with Peter Rotundo, and we noticed Rose tearing the hide off runner-up Chief Export with 100 yards to go, and no hope of winning the race.
If you go to calracing.com (free registration), and load up the May 12 race at Delaware, you’ll see what I mean. Chief Export is breaking from post two, and is program number three. He breaks slowly, and rushes into a tight spot on the inside turning for home. After checking and angling to the outside, he fails to run down win-machine Spooky Mulder. Rose has no chance to win in late stretch, but still gives Chief Export a good beating on his shoulder.
After the race, we called for his head on live TV, and in the wake of the Eight Belles incident, wondered how in the heck Rose could be allowed to ride in the Preakness later that week. I can understand his frustration over the bad trip, but the horse didn’t deserve the hiding.
At first, when I read the news item, I thought the punishment was enough, but after seeing the head on I’m starting to think perhaps it’s not enough… but what do you think?
Making the rounds tonight I was struck by a few items.
I noticed that 5 yo Adieu died last week at Ashford Stud, the causes are unknown (or unreported until more is known). Her racing career was just before I started to follow racing and her winning efforts were not found on YouTube but I figured that many of you were probably familiar with her.
Adieu, an El Corredor mare out of Irene’s Talkin, by At the Threshold, scored wins over eventual champion Folklore in the 2005 Astoria Stakes at Belmont Park and Spinaway Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course before winning the Frizette Stakes (G1) at Belmont.
Trained by Todd Pletcher for owners Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith, Adieu also won the 2006 Delaware Oaks (G2) as a three-year-old. She won five of ten starts and earned $907,934.
Buried in that article (grrrr) was a small note about La Traviata’s retirement to Ashford and that she’s in foal to Mr. Greeley (or as Val would type, Mr. Greenley!).
I was blown away by her performance in the Victory Ride at Saratoga last summer, see for yourself:
Rest in peace Adieu and best of luck on the new beginning to La Traviata.
Over at Owning Racehorses, fellow TBA-er Ted has a post up on behalf of a friend who’s helping an owner do the right thing and find a nice placement for their horse. Check it out and forward to anyone you know who might be able to help or even provide a nice home!
Along similar lines, there’s an account of a recent rescue over at Paul Moran’s blog that reminds us all that luck has far too much to do with whether or not a thoroughbred race horse has a happy ending.
And finally, a story I can only take as a sign that things might just really be beginning to change, Jeremy Rose was suspended for 6 months for misuse of the whip.
Jockey Jeremy Rose was suspended for six months following a stewards’ hearing the morning of June 24 for whipping his mount Appeal to the City in the face during the third race at Delaware Park June 23.
Stewards hardly ever enforce whip rules, although it’s tough to overlook a whip in the face, particularly when it causes hemorrhaging. I would love to see stewards enforce the rules of just plain old over whipping, particularly when the horse is clearly not in the race. But in the meantime, I’m willing see this action as one tiny step in the right direction.
No, this is not related to Brooklyn Backstretch’s earlier post. (SA Steve)
While it seems like it started with the hearings, it really started much earlier, at least as early as the Breeders’ Cup / Ladies Day / Take Back The Race Petition where we ask the Breeders’ Cup to “Create a fan committee representing the diversity of the racing audience to provide ideas and feedback on proposed changes and marketing plans to the Breeders’ Cup” (among other things).
Not too long after the Preakness, Jessica @ Railbird and I were enjoying some Friday afternoon hot dogs at Old Town and discussing all things racing. At one point we agreed that we should start our own damn Fan Committee because it was clear it was probably never going to happen otherwise.
Mid last week I was thinking fondly of two mid 90s pioneering sites, angry.org (the original) and kvetch.com (the one that got more attention). Both were very basic sites that allowed users vent and complain. Both also displayed complaints, which were incredibly fun to browse/read!
I printed out a bunch from angry.org and still plan on framing them! One was about the snotty sales assistants at a Calvin Klein store, another about an old lady who was a frequent annoying shopper at a grocery store. Most of them were just eh but a some of them were FANtastic.
With this in mind I registered selfappointedfancommitee.com and emailed Jessica. This also coincided with her sage observation that fans and players are not viewed as stakeholders in the industry that we support with our capital.
After a few emails, some comps and a bit of coding, we had a plan… The Self Appointed Fan Committee was born! Our working tag line is “Our only agenda is to make sure you’re heard!”.
We’ll be launching the first full version of on or around July 1st… stay tuned, and get your list of grievances together!