Weekend Preview

Busy weekend at Saratoga as we are a week away from the Arlington's big Saturday.

Starting out on Saturday:

STAKES. 7 Furlongs Dirt. Purse $250,000. Test S. (Grade 1). FOR FILLIES THREE YEARS OLD. No nomination fee. $2,500 to pass the entry box. All starters will receive a $1,250 rebate. Any filly that competed in the Prioress will have their entry fee waived for the Test. The purse to be divided 60% to the winner, 20% to second, 10% to third, 5% to fourth, 3% to fifth and 2% divided equally among remaining finishers if there are six (6) or more starters. All starters will be guaranteed no less than $1,000. If only five (5) start the purse will be divided 60% to the winner, 20% to second, 10% to third, 6% to fourth and 4% to fifth. 122 lbs. Non-winners of a Grade 1 in 2011 or a Grade 2 twice in 2011 allowed 2 lbs.; a Grade 1 in 2010 or a Grade 2 in 2011, 4 lbs.; a Graded Sweepstake, 6 lbs. Trophies will be presented to the winning owner, trainer and jockey. Closed Saturday, July 23, 2011 with 24 Nominations. (05:12 PM) (9)
PP Horse A/S M/E Wgt Jockey Trainer
1 Ava K. 3 F L 116 Leparoux Julien R. Hushion Michael E.
2 American Lady 3 F L 116 Garcia Martin Baffert Bob
3 Roman Treasure 3 F L 116 Dominguez Ramon A. Hushion Michael E.
4 Coax Liberty 3 F L 116 Castro Eddie Lawrence, II James L.
5 Savvy Supreme 3 F L 116 Lezcano Jose Pletcher Todd A.
6 Turbulent Descent 3 F L 122 Flores David Romero Puype Mike
7 Pomeroys Pistol 3 F L 120 Velazquez John R. Tarrant Amy
8 Her Smile 3 F L 122 Castellano Javier Pletcher Todd A.
9 Salty Strike 3 F 118 Cruz Manoel R. McPeek Kenneth G.

Honestly, as much as I don't care for her, Turbulent Descent should enjoy the shortning up. Pomeroys Pistol and Her Smile where 1-2 in their last race, and I think they will be 1-2 again. This time however, I think PP will get a bit of revenge on Smile. Ava K. for third. I just wished May Day Rose would have been in this race, she would have beaten them all.

10th Race - Saratoga - Saturday, August 6th, 2011
STAKES. 1 1/8 Mile Dirt. Purse $750,000. Whitney Invitational H. (Grade 1). A HANDICAP FOR THREE YEAR OLDS AND UPWARD. (05:45 PM) (11)
PP Horse A/S M/E Wgt Jockey Trainer
1 Flat Out 5 H L 117 Solis Alex O. Dickey Charles L.
2 Friend Or Foe 4 C L 115 Lezcano Jose Kimmel John C.
3 Morning Line 4 C L 118 Velazquez John R. Zito Nicholas P.
4 Giant Oak 5 H L 119 Bridgmohan Shaun Block Chris M.
5 Tizway 6 H L 118 Maragh Rajiv Bond H. James
6 Mission Impazible 4 C L 118 Castellano Javier Pletcher Todd A.
7 Rail Trip 6 G L 117 Dominguez Ramon A. Dutrow, Jr. Richard E.
8 Headache 5 G L 116 Mena Miguel Maker Michael J.
9 Rodman 6 H L 114 Prado Edgar S. Hushion Michael E.
10 Apart 4 C L 117 Leparoux Julien R. Stall, Jr. Albert M.
11 Duke Of Mischief 5 H L 117 Bravo Joe Fawkes David

As much as we complain about the Older Male division, this is about good as you are going to get sans a few horses. Flat Out is coming of a very impressive win at Belmont. Friend or Foe was actually Woodward bound until he scratched from a NYB race. Morning Line is stretching out, Giant Oak is in a bit of a funk, Tizway I personally think right now is the top horse on the East Coast. Mission Impazible was an unlucky second in the Stephen Foster. Rail Trip looks like he's finally rounding back into form. Headache is taking a big step up in class. Rodman was second to Tizway earlier this year. Apart is always there and Duke of Mischief is an up and down horse.

Who wins? I gotta go with Apart. I fell in love with this guy last year, and frankly while he doesn't have the resume that Blame did at this point in his career, I think he may end up being better. Friend or Foe for second and Giant Oak for third.

On Sunday,

9th Race - Saratoga - Sunday, August 7th, 2011
STAKES. 6 Furlongs Dirt. Purse $150,000. Honorable Miss H. (Grade 2). A HANDICAP FOR FILLIES AND MARES THREE YEARS OLD AND UPWARD. No nomination fee. $1,500 to pass the entry box. A supplemental nomination fee of $2,000 will be accepted at any point prior to the publication of weights. All starters including supplemental nominees will receive a $1,000 rebate. All supplemental nominees will be required to pay the entry fee. The purse will be divided 60% to the winner, 20% to second, 10% to third, 6% to fourth and 4% to fifth. Any horse that competes in both the Honorable Miss Handicap and the Ballerina will have their entry fee waived for the Ballerina. A trophy will be presented to the winning owner. Closed Saturday, July 23, 2011 with 23 Nominations. (05:12 PM) (5)
PP Horse A/S M/E Wgt Jockey Trainer
1 Irish Gypsy 5 M L 121 Velazquez John R. Baffert Bob
2 Wild News 4 F L 115 Lopez Charles C. Parisella John
3 Tar Heel Mom 6 M L 118 Solis Alex O. Hough Stanley M.
4 Champagne D'oro 4 F L 119 Cohen David Guillot Eric J.
5 Beat The Blues 4 F L 116 Mena Miguel Calhoun W. Bret

While any of these horses have a chance, this was the place of Champange d' Oro's breakout last year when it came to sprinting. Sadly this year she's fastly becoming only known as Ruler on Ice's big sister. However, she returned from colic finishing fifth in the Princess Rooney. Tar Heel Mom has either won or finished second in past four starts. I think she finds the winners circle in this race. Champagne d' Oro for second and Irish Gypsy for third.


10th Race - Saratoga - Sunday, August 7th, 2011
STAKES. 6 Furlongs Dirt. Purse $250,000. Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. (Grade 1). A HANDICAP FOR THREE YEAR OLDS AND UPWARD. No nomination fee. $2,500 to pass the entry box. All starters will receive a $1,250 rebate. The purse to be divided 60% to the winner, 20% to second, 10% to third, 5% to fourth, 3% to fifth and 2% divided equally among the remaining finishers if there are six (6) or more starters. All starters will be guaranteed no less than $1,000. If only five (5) start the purse will be divided 60% to the winner, 20% to second, 10% to third, 6% to fourth and 4% to fifth. Any horse that competes in both the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap and the Forego will have their entry fee waived for the Forego. A trophy will be presented to the winning owner. Closed Saturday, July 23, 2011 with 23 Nominations. (05:45 PM) (8)
PP Horse A/S M/E Wgt Jockey Trainer
1 Noble's Promise 4 C L 117 Garcia Alan McPeek Kenneth G.
2 Bank Merger 4 C L 116 Leparoux Julien R. bin Suroor Saeed
3 Atta Boy Roy 6 R L 115 Castanon Jesus Lopez Lund Valorie
4 Hamazing Destiny 5 H L 115 Lezcano Jose Lukas D. Wayne
5 Calibrachoa 4 C L 116 Castellano Javier Pletcher Todd A.
6 Sean Avery 5 G L 115 Bravo Joe Iwinski Allen
7 Apriority 4 C L 116 Dominguez Ramon A. Fawkes David
8 Trappe Shot 4 C L 118 Velazquez John R. McLaughlin Kiaran P.

A mouth watering group of horses. Apriority has been consistant all year long and will try to get out of his stablemate Big Drama's shadow. Atta Boy Roy has only 1 win since being pulled up in the BC Sprint last year. Noble's Promise has been getting better as the year gets longer. Trappe Shot is my pick to the the Eclipse for Champion Sprinter, however he is not my pick in this race. I'm going with my heart and going with Sean Avery. Unlike his New York Rangers namesake who once again decides he wants to cause trouble, he's been pretty good since his return off an 2 year layoff. He had a three win race streak snapped last time out, and the winner of the race came back to finish an okay 4th on Haskell day. Still, one of my all time favorite sprinters Go Go Shoot was a nose away from winning this race a few years ago, and I would love to see another fav of mine get in the winners circle. Trappe Shot for second and Apriority for third.

While the Spa is the place to be this weekend, Del Mar will be pretty exciting on Sunday.

4th Race - Del Mar - Sunday, August 7th, 2011
MAIDEN CLAIMING. 1 Mile Dirt. Purse $31,000. FOR MAIDENS, THREE YEARS OLD. Weight, 121 lbs. Claiming Price $40,000. (03:30 PM) (3)
PP Horse A/S M/E Wgt Jockey Trainer
1 Joker Face 3 G L b 121 Smith Mike E. Eurton Peter
2 Parable 3 G L 121 Sutherland Chantal Gaines Carla
3 Tapfortexas 3 G L 121 Machowsky Michael

Tapfortexas will only run if one of the other two horses scratch. The Duel of the Exes is what this being called. Up until last year Mike and Chantal had been engaged, but are no longer together. I gotta go with Parable since I'm all for the girl power (although Parable is a boy). Plus the name Joker Face kinda creeps me out. I'm going to say the winning margin is a head.

BTW the last time there was a highly anticipated match race involving two jockeys of different sexes, the loser of that race Woke Up Dreamin (who was ridden by Julie Krone that day) went on to be a stakes winner. However, I doubt that will happen this time around.

8th Race - Del Mar - Sunday, August 7th, 2011
STAKES. 6 1/2 Furlongs Dirt. Purse $150,000. Best Pal S. (Grade 2). FOR TWO-YEAR-OLDS. By subscription of $150 each, which shall accompany the nomination, or by supplementary nomination of $1,500 each by closing time of entries, $2,250 additional to start, with $150,000 Guaranteed, of which $90,000 to first, $30,000 to second, $18,000 to third, $9,000 to fourth and $3,000 to fifth. Weight 123 lbs.; Non-winners of $50,000 allowed 2 lbs.; of a race of $25,000 other than maiden or claiming, 4 lbs.; of a race other than claiming, 6 lbs. Nominations closed Thurs. July 28, 2011 with 8. A trophy will be presented to the owner of the winner. (05:30 PM) (7)
PP Horse A/S M/E Wgt Jockey Trainer
1 I'll Have Another 2 C L 119 Rosario Joel O'Neill Doug F.
2 Creative Cause 2 C L 119 Bejarano Rafael Harrington Mike
3 Mighty Monsoon 2 C L 119 Espinoza Victor Bonde Jeff
4 Night Tide 2 C L 119 Garcia Martin Baffert Bob
5 Galex 2 C L 119 Talamo Joseph Hollendorfer Jerry
6 Curfew Tower 2 C L 119 Valenzuela Patrick A. Reed Eric R.
7 Brigand 2 C L 119 Gomez Garrett K. Baffert Bob

With the exception of Creative Cause, I really have not heard of any of these horses. However, they are babies and it's early on. Going with CC here and on names only Night Tide for second and Curfew Tower for third.

The Hambo is also tomorrow, but I'm looking foward to San Pail who is coming off a win in the Maple Leaf Trot. Lets hope all the horses come back safe and sound all around the world this weekend!

Special vs Schaefer

A few years ago, the Maryland Jockey Club had to make a decision. Get rid of the William Schaefer Handicap or the Pimlico Special. One was run on Black Eyed Susan day at the same distance as the Preakness (1 3/16 miles) and a G1, while the other was a shorter race (1 1/8) held on Preakness day was a G3. While the Schaefer has some good winners such as Master Command, Flashy Bull and last year's BCC winner Blame, it's the Pimlico Special that has the rich history.

Names like War Admiral, Seabiscuit (their 1938 match race being historic and part of the Oscar nominated movie that shares a name with the latter horse), Whirlaway, Citation (both of their wins, walkovers), Twilight Tear (who before 2009 was one of only 2 other 3yo fillies to be named HOY), and Tom Fool are some of the legendary names. Maryland bred Cigar won his homestate's second biggest race the same year he won the BCC. More recent HOY's who won include Mineshaft and Invasor (in his first US race).

At first the Schaefer had won the battle when the Pimlico Special was not run in 2002 and 2007, but it came back the next year both times. 2008 it looked like that the Pimlico Special was the only race run when the Schaefer went to the sidelines. However, the most famous Maryland race outside of the Preakness has not been run since. If by chance it comes back next year, it will have to work to get the Grade 1 ranking back because it's no longer eligible.

I know the Schaefer is named after the former Gov. of Maryland, but the namesake passed away a few months ago. I think it's time for the Pimlico Special to come back... that is if there's even racing at Pimlico next year.

Here is video of Seabiscuit vs War Admiral:

Rachel and Zenyatta: Match Race? Don't get your hopes up

If it where up to one Texas bussiness man, it could happen. James "Mattress Mack" McIngvale who owns Gallery Furniture is offering $2 mil for a match race, featuring Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta at Sam Houston Park. His reasoning is that it's central (the Moss' won't go east) and on dirt (Jackson won't take Rach to synthtic). Also it's a surface that niether of them has been on which would level the playing field.

However, I don't think it will happen and honestly it shouldn't for a number of reasons. One (and this is strictly opinon), not everyone likes match races since Foolish Pleasure vs Ruffian (even though she wasn't running as hard as she had been). Secondly, a match race favors Rachel, as a pace setter/stalker, she would get out to a large lead and basically Z would not have a chance. Thirdly, the last time I checked, the BC Distaff (Don't like the name Ladies Classic), is 3 mil. I doubt Zenyatta's connections would skip that race for this.

In that end, I don't think this will be a good idea, period. Sorry Mr. McIngvale, nice idea, but not really bussiness savy IMO. (In my opinon) If this isn't a popular opinon, I respect that but this is just how I feel.