Welcome and Big Weekend

Welcome to Thoroughbred Chat. On this blog, I'll talk about the Triple Crown in both the US and Canada, plus the Breeder's Cup and major international races. So let's get started.

It's a major weekend for not only Derby preps, but Dubai World Cup preps.

We start off in Florida with two stakes races, an interesting allowance and the much anticpated debut of the full brother to Barbaro.

First off in the first race at Gulfstream,

1st (Post time 1:15)
1 Mile Open 3 Year Olds Allowance Purse: $42,000
Post # Horse Jockey Weight Claim Price Equip. Med.
1 Sincero Leparoux J R 120
2 Pound Foolish Velasquez C 120 L
3 Cinnamon Road Velazquez J R 122 L
4 Well Positioned Castellano J J 120 L5 Copper Cascade Garcia Alan 122 L
6 Masala Coa E M 120 L
7 Take the Points Prado E S 120 L

Well Positioned is highley regarded and makes his 3yo debut. He's owned and trained by the same connections as last year's Derby winner Big Brown (This was before Big Brown was sold to IEAH). I will admit that I haven't seen his races, but I'll check them out on Calracing before Saturday. It will be interesting in how he does in this race. For second, I'll take Take the Points.

Top Three:
Well Positioned
Take the Points
Masala

7th (4:12)
Holy Bull S. (G3)
1 1/8 Miles Open 3 Year Olds Stakes Purse: $150,000
Post # Horse Jockey Weight Claim Price Equip. Med.
1 Bruce N Autumn Prado E S 114 L
2 Danger to Society Albarado R J 114 L
3 Bear's Rocket Desormeaux K J 114 L
4 Saratoga Sinner Leparoux J R 114 L
5 El Crespo Castellano J J 114 L
6 Rockland Lezcano J 114 L
7 Stately Character McCauley W H 120 L
8 Idol Maker Velazquez J R 114 L
9 Nowhere to Hide Garcia Alan 114 L
10 West Side Bernie Trujillo E 122 L
11 Beethoven Borel C H 122 L

With standouts like Break Water Edison and Hello Broadway opting for Friday's Hutchenson instead, and Big Drama out, this is a wide open race. Beethoven won at Churchill in a stakes race in his 2yo finale, and West Side Bernie will be tough as well. Keep an eye on the 6, Rockland. He's won two stright on dirt and turf. He's by Smarty Jones out of the Kris S. mare Wiscasset making him a half brother to last year's Haskell runner-up Coal Play (Mineshaft). This is his stakes debut and Michael Matz trains.

Top Three:
Rockland
Beethoven
West Side Bernie

Speaking of Matz and brothers. At last the much, much anticpated debut of Nicanor, Barbaro's full brother.

8th (4:43)
1 Mile Open 3 Year Olds Maiden Special Weight Purse: $40,000
Post # Horse Jockey Weight Claim Price Equip. Med.
1 Unbridled Cardinal Leparoux J R 122 L
2 Big Flirt Lopez P 122 L
3 Andiron Coa E M 122 L
4 Nicanor Prado E S 122 FTL5 Warrior's Reward Borel C H 122
6 Allrightsreserved Velazquez J R 122 L
7 Boyhood Dream Baird E T 122 FTL
8 Il Postino Velasquez C 122 L
9 Trust the Deputy Garcia Alan 122 L
10 Dubinsky Castellano J J 122 L
11 Single Malt Douglas R R 122 FTL
12 Audeamus Trujillo E 122 FTL
AE Stayonit Coa E M 122 L

Fitting that he makes his debut on the same day as the Holy Bull, which big brother won in the slop four years ago. No one is expecting for him to be like his brother. Unfortanlly, no fault of his own, younger siblings have had hard times coming out of their more famous siblings shadow (Just ask Rockcide and Homicide (Funny Cide's half sister and brother respectivley), Speedy Jones and Elusive Moment (Smarty Jones' half brother and full sister), ect) Really the only sibs that have made names for themselves lately are Sunriver (full to Ashado), Tiago (half to Giacomo), and Casino Drive (half to Jazil, 3/4 to Rags to Riches). I'll be rooting Nicanor on and hopefully he does well.

Top three:
Nicanor
Single Malt
Boyhood Dream

Gulfstream Park - January 31st, 2009 - Race 9
Donn H. - Grade: 1
Estimated Local Post Time: 5:14 PM
Race Type: Stakes
Breed: Thoroughbred
Age Restriction: Four Year Old and Upward
Purse: $500,000
Distance: One And One Eighth Miles Surface: Dirt
1 Finallymadeit Nunez E O 117 L
2 Albertus Maximus Garcia Alan 120 L
3 Anak Nakal Bravo J 117 L
4 Bullsbay Velazquez J R 114 L
5 A. P. Arrow Desormeaux K J 115 Blk-On L
6 On Board Again Coa E M 112 L
7 Arson Squad Prado E S 119 L
8 Sir Whimsey Albarado R J 116 L
9 Great Hunter Castellano J J 116 L
10 Einstein (BRZ) Leparoux J R 122 L

Ahh the big race of the day at Gulfstream, and the first G1 of the year for the males. Albertus Maximus, won the Breeder's Cup Dirt Mile last year (Although it was actually synthtic, but that is a story for another day) and is now owned by Shadwell. Finallymadeit is taking a risk after running last week in the Sunshine Millions Classic. Arson Squad is a new horse on dirt, and hopefully Great Hunter is on the rebound. My pick is Anak Nakal, who won the PA Derby last year. It will be interesting in how he does in this race. Einstein is actually turf horse, but he does have some dirt sucess. He won the Clark Handicap last time out after bobbling at the break in the Arlington Million.

Top three:
Anak Nakal
Einstein
Albertus Maximus

It's off to California and Santa Anita for the first G1 for the females and it's a good one.

7th (3:36)
Santa Monica H. (G1)
7 Furlongs (All Weather Track) Fillies and Mares 4 Year Olds And Up Stakes Purse: $300,000
Post # Horse Jockey Weight Claim Price Equip. Med.
1 Tizzy's Tune Rosario J 114 L
2 So Long Sonoma Smith M E 112 L
3 She's Cheeky Solis A 113 L
4 Indian Blessing Velazquez J R 122 L
5 Wake Up Maggie (IRE) Baze T C 115 L
6 Jibboom Bejarano R 115 L
7 Ventura Gomez G K 123 L
8 Baroness Thatcher Talamo J 115 Blk-On L

Rematch right off the bat. Breeder's Cup Filly/Mare Sprint winner Ventura vs the Female sprint Eclipse winner Indian Blessing. I gotta give the edge to Ventura, but I won't be suprised if Indian Blessing wins. Look out for Jibboom, she is an up and comer in the sprinting ranks.

Top three:
Ventura
Indian Blessing
Jibboom

Well that's it for today. I will be keeping track throughout the year, to see how many winner's I choose. A mythlogical $2 bet will go on each of them and then the day afterwards, I'll come back on and do recaps, plus have the total mythlogical earnings I have for the year. I hope you enjoy reading this blog and taking this journey with me.