Mine That Dullahan

You gotta say that Mining My Own is starting to turning into a very productive dam. Sure Mine That Bird after the 2009 Preakness became a bust and Brother Bird didn't turn out to be fantastic, but Dullahan is certinally shown he's the best of the bunch. The very pretty chestnut by Even the Score was  able to run down Game on Dude to win the Pacific Classic. It was his second G1 win of the season and he was able to make admends for his debacles in the Haskell and Belmont. He becomes the first 3yo to win the race since Came Home did in 2002. Oh and it was a track record.

A few things to take out from this race:

* Game on Dude is better on dirt then he is on synthetic, but he ran lights out. Chantal just got out ridden by a better rider.

*The Bafferts won that mini duel between them and the Mora/O'Neill barn as Richard's Kid was third in the race.

*The South American's didn't show up, maybe not as good as we orginally thought?

*Bless Rail Trip, 4th while just out of the money is still great for him. He is already guarenteed a spot in the Dirt Mile, with a win in the San Diego. Wouldn't it be something if in his next race (which could be the SA race formally known as the Goodwood now known as the Awesome Again).

*The 3yo picture is now of a sudden a little clouded. While I'll Have Another does have 3 G1's they are all against 3yo's. Dullahan has 2 G1 wins, but 1 is against older. If Dullahan wins his BC race then you have to give him the Championship, Alpha also has an outside chance, but he needs to win the rest of his races. That's going to be difficult as his next two races will be most likely a rematch with his co-Travers winner Golden Ticket in the PA Derby and the BCC. Plus if she wins the Cotillion Questing could easily be re-routed to the Classic instead of the Ladies Classic. However, if Dullahan gets put away or bombs in the BC, then IHA wins.

*I wouldn't engrave it just yet because there is still plenty of time left, but Dale Romans is certainly in the lead for leading trainer. Not only in the past 2 years has he been able to avenge the losses by Kitten's Joy, but he did it again today with Dullahan as the runner up and 3rd place finishing barns where right in front of Dully in this year's Derby. Plus he has Silver Max, Shackleford and Little Mike. That's a pretty impressive lineup right there.

So. Cal racing moves to the bullring of Fairplex when DelMar closes in a week or so. After that it's back to Santa Anita for the championship meet that will lead up to the Breeders' Cup. Most of the stakes races have been renamed due to Oak Tree no longer running the Fall meet.