I’m running out the door to the “The Office” but here are my quickie selections for today… I’ll do a follow-up post later with more details/thoughts etc.

Tiffany Lass:

Tizaqueena looks for real to me, I also like Jolie The Cat, Diamondaire and Highest Class as a longer shot play. Not sure how to play it but I really think Tizaqueena is just that in here.

LeComte:

I’m gonna go with He’s Eze. At 12-1 in the morning line, he beat Hucheson winner Smooth Air and last out which was also at a comparable distance. The usual suspects have too many questions marks for me at the price + I love He’s Eze’s trainer lines for form cycle (29%) and sprint/route (33%).

San Rafael:

I’m going against the speedy fav Massive Drama and with El Gato Malo, but I’ll probably play him with Talk of a Cat and Overbid… and perhaps a bit of Indian Sun, the cut back could be good for him.

San Pasqual:

I think Heatseeker looked better than 30-1 last out and feel like he’s got momentum. Molengao is clearly a good horse but coming off a layoff. Thousand Words looks interesting to me as a total wild card as does Well Armed as the lone speed. It’s worth noting no closers won at Santa Anita yesterday.

San Fernando:

I think Tiago will win it, but he’ll be too short for me + I’m a bit concerned about the no closers bias from yesterday. I love Ravel and hope he’s ready to step up in his second off but also think Mozante looks potentially interesting in the mix. I would have really liked Monterey Jazz but he’s scratched. I may play some combo of those 3. I’d love to see Great Hunter step up in his second off, or at least improve greatly and I don’t think Johnny Eves will get the distance.

Good luck everyone!

I was mistaken on Saturday, not only when I didn’t bother to check the condition of the track before wagering on the Hucheson, but that I thought my stomach flu had passed with what turned out to be “the cramps” portion of the illness.

I was probably conscious for only 7 or so hours over three days, but fortunately I woke up in time to watch the Hal’s Hope… and man did Chatain look strong in the stretch!

Catching up on the goings-ons… as Patrick at Handride pointed out, not only is the official Derby Site up, but they’ve ventured into the realm of social networking via Facebook and MySpace. On Facebook, they’ve started a Group and a Fan Page.

At first there wasn’t much action but it looks like the admin has posted “hey, come check us out” posts on other horse racing groups. More people have joined and the chatter has finally started. Miss Superfecta has already joined in the fray as well, discussing her early thoughts on the discussion board! Good fun.

Jessica at Railbird has been following the fillies from a 2yo Maiden Special Weight, the 10th at Belmont on 10/14/07. 5 of the 10 fillies from that race have won or have been stakes placed since then.

Last, but certainly not least, 10 year old Evening Attire fired off a bullet in his fist work of the year… it’s great to be back in the land of the conscious!

[DRF – log-in required]

Of course I didn’t bother to check the track condition before I placed my wagers, which where:

Big Truck boxed with Smooth Air, Notgivinmyloveaway & Golden Spikes

WPS on Notgivinmyloveaway

Dime Super on Big Truck, Smooth Air, Notgivinmyloveaway & Golden Spikes

I had a note on Smooth Air for sloppy track (he broke his maiden first out on a sloppy track at Calder)… damn!

It looked like Big Truck came in dead last (update: 5th)… it was hard to tell what was was going on without the split screen. I’d hate to dismiss him to state bred company without one more shot on a non-sloppy track.

Oh well, I guess now is as good a time as any to start that spreadsheet to track my winnings/losings in 2008!

Well, dear readers, I started my day with what I can only conclude was a stomach virus. Thankfully it was not even of the 24 hour variety. I did not let it keep me from handicapping the Hutcheson this morning, waves of stomach cramps and all.

I passed out not too long after finishing and just now woke up in time A) post my selections and B) watch and wager!

I like value as a rule and this race is no different for me. There’s also a lot of speed of in this race so I’m looking for someone who can rate. After the Remsen Rodeo I think many have written off Big Truck as best suited for state bred company, but I’m willing to give him one more shot, particularly on a cutback, freshening and jock change. I also like his work pattern, building up is speed and then putting in some endurance and improving as well.

I also like Notgivinmyloveaway. While his Beyers are subpar for the group, he can rate and his last out he won from the 9th post position… experience that will serve him well today breaking from 8. He also gets a big jock upgrade to Prado. And who doesn’t love a trainer who shows chickens? He also won the Pennsylvania Nursery last out, a race that Hard Spun won last year.

I’ll definitely box them and perhaps do a win on each as well. We’ll see what the odds do… if Gulfstream has dime supers I’ll definitely do a dime super box and include Golden Spikes & Smooth Air, two interesting locals.

Best of luck to all.

One of my favs, Thorn Song, runs tomorrow at Gulfstream in the Canadian Turf Handicap. [NTRA]

You may remember that Thorn Song beat Cosmonaut last time out in the River City Handicap.

Close readers of GbG might also remember that, in addition to holding him close to my heart because I really liked him before he blossomed, he taught me a valuable lesson about handicapping/note making and the importance of a game plan (that’s flexible!).

Go Thorn Song!

Finally! It was neck and neck there for awhile between DRF & Bris Ultimate but DRF pulled away in the stretch getting 16 votes to Bris Ultimate’s 11.

I’ve been thinking about Empire Maker filly’s lately… we all know Mushka & Country Star, but what about that cute Miss Red Delicious and her crazy fuzzy ears? She broke her maiden impressively [Thoroughbred Times] but didn’t fare too well in the Matron. [NTRA] And we’re about to find out more about Turn Away [DRF].

At least one of my respected colleagues has a wait and see approach to Empire Maker offspring (and was berated by someone who didn’t really bother to read her comment!), while yet another respected colleague likes what she sees.

What do you think?

Street Sense, Imawildandcrazyguy & Tiago bring up the rear in the 2007 Derby (Kentucky Derby)

I’ve been procrastinating a wrap-up post that I intend to do tomorrow (I’m hoping for the buzzy kind of hangover!)… until then, I hope your 2007 was as spectacular as the 2007 crop of 3 year olds!

Big thanks to one of my bestest pals, West Coast D, for sending me this spot. Two thumbs up for a fun, inventive spot that speaks to a wide audience… here’s to seeing more of this approach in 2008!

Johnny Eves and David Flores winning the Malibu (Charles Pravata)

I’m a little bummed that I didn’t handicap the Malibu [DRF], not that I would have hit anything. This was just the kind the kind of race I love to play… a decent sized field with only a couple of favorites and a lot of potential at nice odds. These types of fields are more typical of allowance or claiming races, rarely graded stakes, let alone a G1… let’s hope there’s more of this in 2008!

I threw a little sentimental bet on Great Hunter, I’ll have to watch the replay to see his performance. It looked like he was either a little bottled up or hesitant about pushing his way through, hard to tell. Either way I’m glad he’s back.

I thought Cobalt Blue looked good in the parade and I noticed Johnny Eves ($24) in the parade as well. I was also happy to see Hurry Up Austin get up for 4th, I’ve always liked him for whatever reason.

I love to see a horse step up the way Johnny Eves did. Jay Robbins, his trainer, said in the post race interview that he trains like good horse… good to see him proof it. And let’s hear it for geldings! David Flores is also off with a bang winning 4 on the card.

If you were lucky enough to have the $1 Super, you had a 120,856.50 payday. If you had the $1 trifecta, you had a $8,831.50 payday!

In other payout news, even with 3 races paying out more than $20 per winner, the Pick 6 was hit at Aqueduct!

The results are as follows:

  4th: Wild Garden ($3.50)

  5th: Cherna ($40.40)

  6th: Hunsley Bunsley ($8.70

  7th: Dance Gal Dance ($23.40)

  8th: Beau Dare ($8.10)

  9th: Unbreelievable ($20.40)

$2 Payout: $91,252… congrats to all who hit that ticket! Definitely Ubreelievable.

Malibu race replay at NTRA.

Into Mischief and Victor Espinoza (orange cap) win the Cash Call Futurity (Charles Pravata)

Into Mischief ($29.60) gave his connections a much needed payday in the CashCall Futurity [NTRA].

He sat right off the pace throughout and took the lead by a couple of lengths at the top of the stretch. He held off the fast closing Colonel John & Massive Drama to win a by a length… and he looked good doing it to!