What a Saturday

Turf, dirt it doesn't matter what the surface is. This is a fantastic weekend of racing. Arlington's big turf races, the Alabama and the Del Mar Oaks are this weekend. Here is this weekend's preview:

Starting at Saratoga:

10th (5:48)
BetFair TVG Alabama S. (G1)
1 1/4 Miles | Fillies | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $500,000
Prg. # PP Horse Jockey Trainer Wt. Claim $ Equip. Med. ML
1 1 Acting Happy Lezcano J Dutrow, Jr. R E 121 L 12-1
2 2 Devil May Care Velazquez J R Pletcher Todd A 121 L 7-5
3 3 Tizahit Prado E S Weaver George 121 L 20-1
4 4 Blind Luck Rosario J Hollendorfer Jerry 121 L 8-5
5 5 Connie and Michael Maragh R Schettino Dominick A 121 L 10-1
6 6 Havre de Grace Rose J Dutrow Anthony W 121 L 4-1

Yes all eyes will be on Devil May Care, and Blind Luck and they should be. However, the four other horses in this race all have just as good chances to win as those two (some may disagree on that, but I personally think the race is more wide open on second glance). Devil May Care is coming off her win in the CCA Oaks and Blind Luck a nose victory in the Delaware Oaks. This will be the longest Blind Luck has ever gone while DMC finished 10th in the KY Derby at the same distance. If there was any time for a horse to possibly upset these two, now it's that time. I'm going to try to do that with Havre de Grace, 2nd in her stakes debut the Go For Wand, and 2nd by a nose behind Blind Luck in the DE Oaks. She's by Saint Liam out of a Carson City mare, if it rains she moves up even more (and that's saying alot considering DMC and BL have wins in the slop as well). Connie and Michael is another horse who I think has a shot, she almost upset Devil May Care in the Mother Goose. Tizahit and Acting Happy have outside shots as well, but I don't think as much as the two I perviously mentioned. So my top three are: Havre de Grace, Connie and Michael, Blind Luck.

At Arlington:

8th (3:37)
Secretariat S. (G1)
1 1/4 Miles (Turf) | Open | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $400,000
Prg. # PP Horse Jockey Trainer Wt. Claim $ Equip. Med. ML
1 1 Paddy O'Prado Desormeaux K J Romans Dale 126 L 1-1
2 2 Mister Marti Gras Perez E E Block Chris M 123 L 10-1
3 3 Cherokee Lord Felix J E Livesay Charlie 119 L 30-1
4 4 Wigmore Hall (IRE) Spencer J P Bell Michael L 123 FTL 5-1
5 5 Dean's Kitten Leparoux J R Maker Michael J 123 L 8-1
6 6 Two Notch Road Baze M C Thompson Glenn R 119 L 12-1 scratched
7 7 Workin for Hops Torres F C Stidham Michael 123 L 5-2

Two Notch Road came down with a fever I believe and has been scratched. This is Paddy O' Prado's race to lose. Workin for Hops is going for the Mid-American Triple, however if Paddy loses I think it will be to Dean's Kitten. Top Three: Paddy O' Prado, Dean's Kitten, Workin for Hops.

9th (4:24)
Beverly D. S. (G1)
1 3/16 Miles (Turf) | Fillies and Mares | 3 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $750,000
Prg. # PP Horse Jockey Trainer Wt. Claim $ Equip. Med. ML
1 1 Pachattack Fallon K Butler Gerard A 123 FTL 8-1
2 2 Hot Cha Cha Graham J Sims Phillip A 123 L 6-1
3 3 Acoma Castanon J L Carroll David 123 L 8-1
4 4 Gypsy's Warning (SAF) Buick W Motion H Graham 123 L 10-1
5 5 Rainbow View Leparoux J R Sheppard Jonathan E 123 L 4-1 scratched
6 6 Eclair de Lune (GER) Alvarado J McAnally Ronald 123 L 5-1
7 7 Biased (GB) Benoist G Delzangles Mikel 123 20-1
8 8 Romacaca Baze M C Canani Nick 123 L 20-1
9 9 Treat Gently (GB) Desormeaux K J Mott William I 123 L 9-2
10 10 Ave (GB) Dominguez R A Attfield Roger L 123 L 5-1

An injury to Rainbow View will keep her out of the race. Even before her scratch this was a wide open race with the death to Tuscan Evening who would have been the overwhelming favorite for the race. I'm going with the horse who just finished behind Tuscan in her last race Eclair de Lune and Treat Gently who I saw win the Dick Memorial last time out. Ave has a good shot, but I don't know alot about her and Acoma's best days maybe behind her. Top three: 1. Treat Gently/Eclair de Lune 2. Which ever of the first two horses doesn't win 3. Ave.

10th (5:14)
Arlington Million S. (G1)
1 1/4 Miles (Turf) | Open | 3 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $1,000,000
Prg. # PP Horse Jockey Trainer Wt. Claim $ Equip. Med. ML
1 1 Marsh Side Nakatani C S Drysdale Neil 126 L 12-1 scratched
2 2 Debussy (IRE) Buick W Gosden John H M 126 FTL 12-1
3 3 General Quarters Graham J McCarthy Thomas R 126 L 8-1
4 4 Just as Well Leparoux J R Sheppard Jonathan E 126 L 5-1
5 5 Quite a Handful Riggs T Hansen Andrew M 126 L 30-1
6 6 Gio Ponti Dominguez R A Clement Christophe 126 L 7-5
7 7 Rahystrada Karlsson I Hughes Byron G 126 L 10-1
8 8 Tajaaweed Baze M C Peitz Daniel C 126 L 15-1
9 9 Tazeez Hills R Gosden John H M 126 FTL 6-1
10 10 Summit Surge (IRE) Fallon K Cumani Luca M 126 FTL 10-1

I believe Marsh Side is going to a race in Canada instead. No horse has won the Arlington Million back to back years (Powerscourt was dq'ed in his first "win", John Henry won in non-consecutive years and The Tin Man (one of my personal favorite winners) finished second getting passed in the final few yards in his chance for repeat). Gio Ponti will try to become the first to do so. However, he's not the same horse he was last year after three bad beats, he defended his Man O War title. The same goes for Just as Well, but I think he has a better chance then Gio. Yes General Quarters got beat last time out, but he's won at this distance in a G1. If Rahystrada wins, his jockey Inez Karlson will become the first woman to win the Million (Estrapade became the first filly/mare to win the race in the 1980's). I'm going to go with my heart and going with the former claimer turned multiple G1 winner General Quarters. Top Three: 1. General Quarters 2. Just as Well 3. Gio Ponti

Finally at Del Mar:

9th (6:00)
Del Mar Oaks (G1)
1 1/8 Miles (Turf) | Fillies | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $300,000
Prg. # PP Horse Jockey Trainer Wt. Claim $ Equip. Med. ML
1 1 Berg Bahn (IRE) Solis A Lyons Gerard M 122 8-1
2 2 Antares World Alvarado F T Specht Steve 122 L 10-1
3 3 Perfect Shirl Sutherland C Attfield Roger L 122 L 6-1
4 4 Evening Jewel Espinoza V Cassidy James 122 L 5-2
5 5 Distinctive (GB) Blanc B Smart Bryan 122 15-1
6 6 Harmonious Smith M E Shirreffs John 122 L 3-1
7 7 It Tiz Flores D R Glatt Mark 122 L 8-1
8 8 Weekend Magic Quinonez A Cho Myung Kwon 122 L 12-1
9 9 Crisp Bejarano R Sadler John W 122 L 6-1
10 10 Warren's Jitterbug Valenzuela P A Gutierrez Jorge 122 L 20-1

Evening Jewel is now by default the best West Coast turf filly, however Perfect Shirl a half sister to Shakespeare comes in to challenge. Keep an eye on Crisp who I think could be turning things around. Top three: 1. Evening Jewel 2. Perfect Shirl 3. Crisp

And did I mention all of these races are tomorrow? What a great day of racing! There is still time to enter Week 1 of the Predict the Order Challenge even though there are scratches, everybody will begin with 3 points to be fair (1 point per scratch). Entires must be in by 9am EDT tomorrow. Even if I publish your comment after that time as long as it's in by 9 you are okay. The winner for the week, along with the running total will be announced on Monday.

Also the Live Chat this week is on Sunday instead of Monday. The same time as before though which is 7pm EDT. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and please join us on Sunday.