Breeder's Cup Day Two - In the Books

The day didn’t start much better than yesterday and, for some, ended in extreme heartbreak. Let’s recap.

Betting overview

Six Races (one choice was a late scratch)
Two wins

That's it! Go big or go home. I like to think of myself as picking winners at a 33% rate rather than failing miserably!! Thankfully I did have the exacta in the Classic keying Zenyatta under my choice (Haynesfield) and Blame. Helped save the day.

Juvenile Turf

Apparently we couldn’t start the day without SOME kind of drama. In the 1st Cup race of the day, Rosie Napravnik’s mount, the aptly named Rough Sailing, slid heading into the first turn dumping Rosie and taking him out of the race. Horse and rider bounced right up, but Rough Sailing was vanned off. Reportedly he had some swelling in the right front and was taken back to the barn for a radiograph where it was discovered he fractured his shoulder in the fall. He was later euthanized. A terrible start to Breeder’s Cup Day Two.

As far as the racing goes, underdog Pluck, in a rerun of the Summer Stakes, tracked the pace and, again, “swept by furlong out” in what looked like a really easy win. Soldat and Willcox Inn rounded out the tri. I ignored the home team at my own peril with my choice, European Master of Hounds, well placed heading into the stretch had no real run through the lane finishing 6th.

Pluck
Soldat
Willcox Inn

Sprint

No drama with Big Drama. As I mentioned in the show and in the preview, Big Drama could have been four for four in 2010 with better starts in his last two. A clean start and a rough one from the other speed in the race, Pashito the Che, all added up to a wire to wire win in the Sprint. Long shot Hamazing Destiny, who prepped for this race in a $65,000 Optional Claiming race, was up for place while Synthetic specialist Smiling Tiger finished third.

Once again the equine ambulance was out as Atta Boy Roy pulled up after the finish line. Calvin Borel bolted off the horse and got the ambulance over in a hurry where he was vanned off for radiographs. Early indications were a suspensory ligament issue but turned out to be just a superficial cut. Thank goodness, we could not handle two breakdowns in a row on national television.

Big Drama (Choice)
Hamazing Destiny
Smiling Tiger

Turf Sprint

Thankfully there were no incidents in the running of the Turf Sprint. There was also no win for me, either. Favored Silver Timber (my choice) was well placed but had no oomph at all in the lane finishing out of the money. Chamberlain Bridge was much the best as he was placed well and made a very strong move in the stretch to take all the marbles. My second choice, Center City, was second best while the filly, Unzip Me, finished third.

After this race we were to be switched to ESPN. However the Breeder’s Cup coverage was in limbo for a while waiting for the fabulous OT battle between crappy has-been Michigan and never-was Illinois to be decided. Great day for racing. Thankfully we all got to see Michigan rise to 2-3 in the Big 10.

Chamberlain Bridge
Center City
Unzip Me

Juvenile

Let the Derby hype begin! An absolute ass-kicking by Uncle Mo. I had said it was his to lose and it was all Uncle Mo at Churchill today. Johnny Velasquez confidently rode him the entire way looking very much like he knew he had it from the break. It wasn’t s huge exacta, but I’ll take it as Boys at Tuscanova finished second with pacesetter Rogue Romance holding on for 3rd. The question, as asked by the ESPN staff, is can the Indian Charlie colt get a mile and a quarter. Until then, wow, what a performance.

Uncle Mo (Choice)
Boys at Tuscanova
Rogue Romance

Mile

The Goldikova Breeder’s Cup Mile. Fabulous race by a fabulous mare. She was sitting sixth heading into the stretch and then Goldikova exploded through the stretch to draw off to an easy win. My choice, Sidney’s Candy, led most of the way around but faded in deep stretch to finish out of the money. He just couldn’t ration his speed throughout the race and had nothing left in the tank. Goldikova's jockey Olivier Plesier was asked if he was concerned at any point in the race and matter-of-factly said no, which was obvious by the confident way he rode her. Hats off to a wonderful champion. Gotta feel for Gio Ponti, meeting once in a lifetime mares two years in a row. Helluva job all the way around.

Goldikova
Gio Ponti
The Usual Q.T.

Dirt Mile

The closest finish of the weekend and 36-1 shot Dakota Phone prevails over Morning Line with old warrior Gayego picking up the third. Favorite and my choice Here Comes Ben was well positioned throughout and just had nothing in the tank in the stretch. I never saw this one coming, but then judging by the payouts, no one else did either!

Sad footnote: Mine That Bird finishes 10th and will be thankfully retired. Reaching around to pat myself on the back, here is a quote from my day after the Derby blog:

“It's my opinion that other than going back to Sunland and winning some local stakes races, Mine That Bird will not take the racing world by storm.”

Obviously I was wrong – he didn’t even do that!

Dakota Phone (36-1!!)
Morning Line
Gayego

Turf

I hardly know how to break this one down. I’d like to think that I didn’t care much about this one because Workforce (my choice) scratched and it was the race before the Classic. The pace was boring, the stretch run was less than stirring, all the talking heads were all over Behkabad and he was a major disappointment. He could not have asked for a better trip and he was less than impressive. Let’s just leave it at that and move on.

Dangerous Midge
Champ Pegasus
Behkabad

Classic

She didn’t do it. Maybe with a better break. Maybe if Mike Smith had hustled her a bit more. Maybe if Blame weakened just a bit in the stretch. A lot of maybes in this one, but of one thing there is no maybe: Blame is one tough racehorse. He took the lead and never relinquished it, even when the big mare was eating into his lead. When Zenyatta came up to his sights, he dug down for more and would not let he pass. As an aside, my choice, Haynesfield, ran with the lead pack and folded. Thankfully I had a boxed exacta including Blame and Zenyatta to save me a couple of shekels.

Blame
Zenyatta
Fly Down

More on the Horse of the Year debate later.

Weekend Wrap: Tabby Wins & More!

Tabby Lane (Even the Score - Keeley Chay - Rodeo) scored her first time out for the 1st 2010 Claiming Group yesterday at Tampa Bay Downs. She was the co-second choice in the betting and ran like a champ. She broke well and jockey Dean Butler kept her off a steady pace until entering the top of the lane when she angled outward, had a clear run at the leaders and just went on. As you can see above, Dean had put the whip away before the wire. Track announcer Richard Grunder called her "much the best" as she cruised to the 3 1/4 length victory in the Allowance/$16,000 Optional Claiming race.

The e-mails among the group were flying not long after the official sign went up. As exciting as it was to win, it was almost more exciting to see the excitement of the first time owners in our group. I wish I could say that it's always this easy - claim a horse, push her up in class, nail a win, next! But as any of us that watch or are involved in this game know, it's not that easy and we need to enjoy the moment and try to move forward with an objective eye. She'll move up next as we try and find her ceiling. It should be an interesting ride!

The win was a thrill, as all wins are, but it was made a bit more special because of it occurring with a full field of competitive horses including several that had been very competitive at higher levels. It really starts the dream process flowing. That said, I know how important it is to stay in check as any and every plan can change in a moment. For the next few days, though, I'm going to enjoy the win and not think of her future, only her now.

Zenyatta Wins; Rachel Loses

In the surprise of the day, Rachel Alexandra lost in her debut seemingly running out of gas in the stretch while battling the John Sherriffs trained Zardana in Louisiana. This certainly isn't the death knell for Rachel's career and one race does not a season make, but while you can point to Zardana being three for three on the dirt in Brazil, Rachel really should have whipped this field. I guess if you take her average Beyer and only give her 80% of it (that's about how close to 100% Steve Asmussen said she was, I believe), she's right in with the others - if she was truly at 80%. Certainly Borel didn't have her all out to try and win the race. He had her wrapped up pretty tight for most of the race and who knows how much energy that took out of her, but still...

Zenyatta made no bones about how great a mare she is by weaving her way through the stretch to capture the Santa Margarita at Santa Anita. A Tweet I saw last night, and I couldn't find it again this morning to attribute, basically wondered aloud if Mike Smith is gong to get her beat someday. I laughed a bit because I was thinking the same thing. But since she runs - and wins - every race is the same way, if she finally losses can you blame it on the jockey? I always think that I'd prefer to see her mid-pack to give herself less opportunity to get blocked, but she always manages to find the wire. If you recall, that was one of my strikes against picking her in the Classic last Fall. She always overcomes and always perseveres, if she doesn't once, does that then become Mike Smith's fault?

Derby Picture Any Clearer?

Not in my mind. I thought that by the time we got to this point on the Kentucky Derby trail we'd have a standout or two that really looked like they'd be the favorite at post time. The wins of Sidney's Candy, Odysseus and Lookin At Lucky didn't do much to cement them in favoritism for the Derby. The performances by Odysseus and Lookin At Lucky, especially, were thrilling to watch, but they didn't dominate their competition. You certainly can say that there cannot be any questions about Lookin At Lucky's dirt ability and it's hard not to love Odysseus's stunning performance in the Tampa Bay, but I don't think either taps them as the clear cut Derby favorite.

That begs the question: Are this year's contenders evenly matched or just not that impressive?