With the year just getting underway, I thought I would share the 10 horses that I'm looking foward to seeing this year. In by no means these are the 10 best horses, but most of these horses are graded stakes winners. I hope you enjoy! (Note: All these horses are not by Hard Spun (whose foal blog I also run) although I'm looking foward to them as well.)
10. And Why Not (Street Cry (IRE))- Closing like a train in the Pocahontas, her pedigree says that she should handle 2 turns easily. Could turn out to be a good 1-2 punch for Michael Matz with her and Union Rags.
9. Caleb's Posse (Posse)- The possible 3yo Champion could even get better at 4. Should dominate the Dirt Mile division with some challenge from Shackleford (unless he stretches out again). I wouldn't even be suprised if he stretches out again either.
8. Hansen (Tapit)- Prob. not the likley Derby winner, but he hasn't done much wrong in his career so far. Could have a rematch with Union Rags in Florida.
7. Royal Delta (Empire Maker)- Before you say she's too low! The reason why she is ranked so low is, there are several horses in her own stable that I'm very excited about. That, and I'm not a fan of her new owner.
6. Shackleford (Forestry)- By far my favorite TC race winner from last year, he ran his heart out only to get beat by Caleb in the BC. Would be fun if they faced off at Oaklawn in the OakCap.
5. Creative Cause (Giant's Causeway)- This is a horse who is now being overshadowed a bit in his homestate. Would not be suprised if he wins the SA Derby.
4. Dullahan (Even the Score)- Sigh it's a flat out shame his brother is Mine That Bird. I really like this guy and he could turn out to be a special one. He has the right trainer to do it with.
3. To Honor and Serve (Bernardini) and Brillant Speed (Dynaformer)- Although they have the same owner, they are in two different stables. Could be a big year for Live Oak on dirt and turf if these two hold their 3yo form.
2. Now I Know (Pure Prize)- Could she suprise everyone by coming out of nowhere? It will be interesting how well she does on the Oaks trail.
1. Havre de Grace (Saint Liam)- What you where expecting someone else? It's amazing that she is coming back for her 5 year season. FHF could have easily decided to retire her (which in honestly if she had won the Classic I would have expected), but they didn't. She and her now retired rival gave the race of the year in the Delaware Handicap and then won the Woodward and beat Royal Delta in the Beldame. She is supposed to be at the Fair Grounds tomorrow getting ready for possibly a defence of her Apple Blossom title. Will be fun to see what this possible future HOY has in store for this year.
Showing posts with label Shackleford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shackleford. Show all posts
January 4, 2012
June 7, 2011
My Belmont Choices
The more I think about it, the more I have narrowed down who my pick will be for the Belmont. While I won't announce until Friday, I thought I would post some of the horses that I think have a good chance.
Nehro- The Derby runner-up was closing better then Animal Kingdom IMO. In reality I think if he had won the Derby, we might have seen a Triple Crown winner this year. His past three races where all 2nd place finishes and he was closing like a train in each race. This son of Mineshaft could give Steve Asmussen his first Belmont winner, and Ahmed Zayat who had been close with Pioneerof the Nile in the 09 Derby, his first TC race winner.
Stay Thirsty- Everyone knows that Afleet Alex won the 2005 Belmont, but what people forget is that Andromeda's Hero finished in second. This Bernardini colt is his little brother. Wouldn't it be something if Mike Repole wins after his big horse Uncle Mo well... was struck by the Juvenile curse.
Master of Hounds- Kingmambo like his great mother was a miler, however he does have stamina on his dams side. He showed that dirt will not be a problem for him. Kingmambo has already sired a Belmont winner in Lemon Drop Kid.
Brilliant Speed- Wanna talk about a horse bred for the distance. Dynaformer colt who is from the same family as Touch Gold who of course is a Belmont winner himself and With Approval who won the CAN Triple Crown. This horse could run to Antartica and back if you asked him.
Animal Kingdom- You have to wonder how much did his grinding second place finish took out of him. While his sire was a miler, he does have loads of stamina on his dam side. The Belmont track should suit the Leroidesermex (BRZ) colt well with it being a large track. My only question is does he have enough in the tank?
Shackleford- A couple of good things about him and bad things about him. Belmont tends to be a speed favoring track, and the pace for the Belmont tends to be slower then the other two races. However, he did set a slow pace in the Derby and faltered at the end. The other thing is, he is by Forestry so you have to wonder how far he really wants to go. The other good news is that his broodmare sire does have a Belmont winner, and one of his sisters finished second on this track as a 3yo. Although Lady Joanne's race was a one turn race. Much like Animal Kingdom, he's run in both TC races, the others listed have not. Will he have enough in the tank?
Prime Cut- Probley the lone horse who will have not started in either the Derby or Preakness. This Bernstein colt defeated Bind who had won his maiden impressively down at the Fair Grounds. He does have some stakes experience, but has yet to win one. He does get help on his dam's side through her sire of Stravinsky, in turn Stravinsky is a brother to Moscow Ballet the defending broodmare sire and the sire of one of my favorite fillies, Moscow Burning.
Others considered: Ruler on Ice and Santiva.
Nehro- The Derby runner-up was closing better then Animal Kingdom IMO. In reality I think if he had won the Derby, we might have seen a Triple Crown winner this year. His past three races where all 2nd place finishes and he was closing like a train in each race. This son of Mineshaft could give Steve Asmussen his first Belmont winner, and Ahmed Zayat who had been close with Pioneerof the Nile in the 09 Derby, his first TC race winner.
Stay Thirsty- Everyone knows that Afleet Alex won the 2005 Belmont, but what people forget is that Andromeda's Hero finished in second. This Bernardini colt is his little brother. Wouldn't it be something if Mike Repole wins after his big horse Uncle Mo well... was struck by the Juvenile curse.
Master of Hounds- Kingmambo like his great mother was a miler, however he does have stamina on his dams side. He showed that dirt will not be a problem for him. Kingmambo has already sired a Belmont winner in Lemon Drop Kid.
Brilliant Speed- Wanna talk about a horse bred for the distance. Dynaformer colt who is from the same family as Touch Gold who of course is a Belmont winner himself and With Approval who won the CAN Triple Crown. This horse could run to Antartica and back if you asked him.
Animal Kingdom- You have to wonder how much did his grinding second place finish took out of him. While his sire was a miler, he does have loads of stamina on his dam side. The Belmont track should suit the Leroidesermex (BRZ) colt well with it being a large track. My only question is does he have enough in the tank?
Shackleford- A couple of good things about him and bad things about him. Belmont tends to be a speed favoring track, and the pace for the Belmont tends to be slower then the other two races. However, he did set a slow pace in the Derby and faltered at the end. The other thing is, he is by Forestry so you have to wonder how far he really wants to go. The other good news is that his broodmare sire does have a Belmont winner, and one of his sisters finished second on this track as a 3yo. Although Lady Joanne's race was a one turn race. Much like Animal Kingdom, he's run in both TC races, the others listed have not. Will he have enough in the tank?
Prime Cut- Probley the lone horse who will have not started in either the Derby or Preakness. This Bernstein colt defeated Bind who had won his maiden impressively down at the Fair Grounds. He does have some stakes experience, but has yet to win one. He does get help on his dam's side through her sire of Stravinsky, in turn Stravinsky is a brother to Moscow Ballet the defending broodmare sire and the sire of one of my favorite fillies, Moscow Burning.
Others considered: Ruler on Ice and Santiva.
May 24, 2011
Rubber Match
Right now, it looks like that Derby winner Animal Kingdom and Preakness winner Shackleford will indeed meet up for the rubber match in the Belmont. Each has a win against each other and it's the start of what could be a great rivalry. That is if Animal Kingdom stays on dirt (which I assume for now he will). The last time there was a rubber match in the Belmont was in 2005. Derby winner Giacomo faced off against Preakness winner Afleet Alex. In the end, Alex showed why he should have been a Triple Crown winner by passing by Giacomo like well as Tom Durkin called it "like he was standing still".
Sadley he never raced again, due to an injury he most likely suffered in his imfamous "bump and run" with Scrappy T. Lets hope that doesn't happen to Shack and AK.
As you may have heard by now, two horses where retired within 24 hours of each other. Yesterday, it was announced that the top Turf horse in the US Paddy O' Prado has been retired due to a fractured sesamoid. Grade 1 winner Brass Hat also has been retired at the age of 10. Good luck to Paddy in his stud career, and Brass have fun being a horse!
Sadley he never raced again, due to an injury he most likely suffered in his imfamous "bump and run" with Scrappy T. Lets hope that doesn't happen to Shack and AK.
As you may have heard by now, two horses where retired within 24 hours of each other. Yesterday, it was announced that the top Turf horse in the US Paddy O' Prado has been retired due to a fractured sesamoid. Grade 1 winner Brass Hat also has been retired at the age of 10. Good luck to Paddy in his stud career, and Brass have fun being a horse!
May 21, 2011
Unbridled Treasures
I'm not the world's biggest Unbridled fan. Partially because his son Empire Maker defeated Funny Cide to deny him the Triple Crown. However, I am a fan of a grandson of his in Rockport Harbor. It was a great weekend for the 1990 Kentucky Derby winner, his granddaughter Royal Delta (by Empire Maker) won the Black Eyed Susan. Then his grandson Shackleford (by Forestry out of one of his daughter's Oatsee) upset Animal Kingdom to win the Preakness. It was the first win for all of his connections, which include jockey Jesus Castanon, co-owner Mike Lauffer (you may have heard his name before, back in 2009 he co-owned a certin filly before selling her to Jess Jackson) and trainer Dale Romans.
It's Dale that I'm estatic for. Back in 2004, he had a great turf colt by the name of Kitten's Joy. He could have had 2 Eclipse titles to his name, if it wheren't for a gelding named Better Talk Now. BTN upset KJ to win the BC Turf. While he still won Champion Turf, had he won the race that may have had more then enough to pass Smarty Jones for Champion 3yo. BTN was trained by Graham Motion who of course trains Animal Kingdom.
Great job by the Derby winner, but it just wasn't his day. The winner reminds me quite a bit like Hard Spun. A speedy horse who a mile and quarter was probley a little bit too long for his taste, but had a heart of the champion. Now here comes the hard part. Since 2001, all the Preakness winners have gone on to be Eclipse Champions at the end of the year (this includes three HOY's, Point Given, Curlin and Rachel Alexandra). Shackleford will have to prove himself that he is the real deal in the next race (which could be the Belmont possibly, although personally I think it's a bit too long for him).
Astrology was third, I think his mini duel in the stretch with Shackleford did him in. Still, a nice effort out of him.
So once again, no Triple Crown. But you know what, I'm okay with that. There was some comments made by Barry Irwin before the race that I agreed and disagreed with (he regrets saying what he said about trainers lieing to him, but he wants the FBI involved with steroids? I do think the goverment needs to get involved, but I think Congress has the keys to that, not the FBI. And that he compared it to BALCO which was wierd, because the BALCO people got slaps on their wrists (Barry Bonds is likely not to serve any jail time because of his purjury convinction).
Subnote, it appears that the $10 mil that Lauffer and Dolph Morrison sold Rachel for is true. And one more note, HOW ABOUT THAT STORM CAT! Sure Forestry is Shack's sire, but the big guy finally gets back in the winner's circle in a TC race.
It's Dale that I'm estatic for. Back in 2004, he had a great turf colt by the name of Kitten's Joy. He could have had 2 Eclipse titles to his name, if it wheren't for a gelding named Better Talk Now. BTN upset KJ to win the BC Turf. While he still won Champion Turf, had he won the race that may have had more then enough to pass Smarty Jones for Champion 3yo. BTN was trained by Graham Motion who of course trains Animal Kingdom.
Great job by the Derby winner, but it just wasn't his day. The winner reminds me quite a bit like Hard Spun. A speedy horse who a mile and quarter was probley a little bit too long for his taste, but had a heart of the champion. Now here comes the hard part. Since 2001, all the Preakness winners have gone on to be Eclipse Champions at the end of the year (this includes three HOY's, Point Given, Curlin and Rachel Alexandra). Shackleford will have to prove himself that he is the real deal in the next race (which could be the Belmont possibly, although personally I think it's a bit too long for him).
Astrology was third, I think his mini duel in the stretch with Shackleford did him in. Still, a nice effort out of him.
So once again, no Triple Crown. But you know what, I'm okay with that. There was some comments made by Barry Irwin before the race that I agreed and disagreed with (he regrets saying what he said about trainers lieing to him, but he wants the FBI involved with steroids? I do think the goverment needs to get involved, but I think Congress has the keys to that, not the FBI. And that he compared it to BALCO which was wierd, because the BALCO people got slaps on their wrists (Barry Bonds is likely not to serve any jail time because of his purjury convinction).
Subnote, it appears that the $10 mil that Lauffer and Dolph Morrison sold Rachel for is true. And one more note, HOW ABOUT THAT STORM CAT! Sure Forestry is Shack's sire, but the big guy finally gets back in the winner's circle in a TC race.
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