Nov
10
The Gomez Factor
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Garrett Gomez has tied Jerry Bailey’s mark of 70 stakes winners in a year and is a cinch to win this year’s Eclipse Award as top jockey. Since returning West, he clearly is the dominant rider on the Southern California circuit. He is in perfect position every time, never makes a mistake, always finds the hole and finishes stronger than any rider in the room (see today’s victories aboard DESERT SEA and HUCKING HOT). Simply put, he towers over the rest of the current colony.
Since coming back on Oct. 28 (after winning two Breeders’ Cup races and being voted the Shoemaker Award as the day’s outstanding rider), Gomez has won with 14 of 44 mounts (32%). He rattled off eight wins from 11 mounts in his first three days at Oak Tree. Of his 14 victories, three each have been for trainers John Sadler and Jack Carava. However, he’s racked up single wins for another eight different trainers (Shulman, Frankel, Canani, Sise, Becerra, Clement, O’Neill and Gallagher). Basically his agent, Ron Anderson, gets him on the best mounts, regardless of which barn. But as handicappers and gamblers, how do we treat him?
Since riding double-digit winners ($12.60 and $10.60) in his first two mounts at Oak Tree, the public has jumped all over the Gomez bandwagon. In 12 subsequent wins (10 favorites), the highest payoff has been $7.40 on HUCKING HOT in today’s stakes. His 14 winners have returned $88 (average win payoff of $6.29), which means a $2 bet on every one of his 44 mounts breaks you exactly even. The moral of the story? Betting on Gomez gets you a flawless ride on a high percentage of winners, usually while on the best horse. Just don’t expect to get rich along the way.
NOTES: Today’s Pick Six returned $210,750 to five winning ticket holders. There were three winning favorites in the sequence, and longshot BUSHWACKER ($24.60) was the only really hard one to come up with. But it would be very interesting to know how many potential winning tickets went down the tubes when favorite ZETTERBERG reared in the gate and was subsequently scratched from the 6th race. Those not using an alternate selection got first-time starter SIGNATURE MOVE, who ran a non-threatening third. Eventual winner WIND’S LEGACY did get knocked down to 5-2 after the scratch (8-1 morning line) but he had been soundly defeated by Zetterberg in their last meeting, meaning most players would have gone looking elsewhere when it came to an alternate. Just shows you, there are lots of ways to get beat in this game. Despite singing the praises of Gomez throughout this posting, he still trails resurgent Tyler Baze by one winner while tied for second with Joe Talamo after four days…the HP Cushion Track is my favorite of the three synthetic surfaces in SoCal. It plays fair to all runners and the times more closely resemble a conventional dirt track (Del Mar’s Polytrack is too slow and Santa Anita’s Cushion Track is too fast)…speaking of Santa Anita, sprinklers were turned on to the main track on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in an attempt to simulate rainy conditions. Officials and workers seemed to be working on drainage issues in a couple of spots through the stretch. I thought these were “all weather” tracks…trainer J.C. Green sent out of a pair of winners in the last two days. Doubt she’s celebrating at the Derby, however.
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Nov
3
Belated BC Wrap
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With this year’s Breeders’ Cup in the rear view mirror, here are some belated thoughts: I loved Monmouth Park. Although Del Mar and Saratoga take center stage, the Jersey shore track has to be a blast during the summer. It’s a throwback—like the old Gulfstream and Del Mar tracks—with loads of character.
The weather was a downer, no doubt about it. But looking at the results, can you honestly say that one winner would have been different over a “fast” main track? Now, no question a number of horses did not handle the wet surface, and the turf course was a bog. The fields were spread out a sixteenth of a mile behind the winners. Many runners were finished at the 1/2-mile pole, and top horses like LAWYER RON and ANY GIVEN SATURDAY were done by the far turn in the Classic.
But INDIAN BLESSING and WAR PASS were going to win the juvenile events no matter what kind of surface. MIDNIGHT LUTE and IDIOT PROOF were running 1-2 in the Sprint regardless of conditions. GINGER PUNCH was certainly a deserving winner in the Distaff. And who was going to beat CURLIN in the Classic?
As for the turf, those results might have been more skewed due to the heavy ground. I have my doubts that LAHUDOOD is the best female turfer in the country, but the Mile was very formful (I had winner KIP DEVILLE picked second, and third-place finisher COSMONAUT on top, with runner-up EXCELLENT ART picked third). The one race where you can make a case for weather causing havoc was the Turf, where odds-on Arc winner DYLAN THOMAS obviously couldn’t handle the going. He was under a drive down the backside and never got going at any stage. But could he have have beaten ENGLISH CHANNEL on dry ground? Who knows? Next year we won’t have to worry about wet conditions when the BC returns to Oak Tree at Santa Anita. Fires, maybe, but not rain.
I was on the same flight coming and going with Nick “Sarge” Hines. (No, he didn’t give the pilot a pre-flight pep talk.) He liked two horses on the card, LAHUDOOD ($25.40) and KIP DEVILLE ($18.40). And as the horses left the paddock for the Classic, he proclaimed CURLIN a standout on looks. Pretty good handicapping, I’d say.
NOTES: Garrett Gomez was terrific on BC weekend and has continued that run since returning to California. In his first three days here, Gomez won with eight of his 11 mounts, but “cooled off” to eight for 15 after four losers on Friday. Speaking of jockeys, Pat Valenzuela has resurfaced at Zia Park after getting licensed by the New Mexico racing board. Here’s a stat to ponder: P.Val ranks 18th on the all-time money list, right below Russell Baze, at nearly $150,000,000 in purse earnings. Had he stayed straight and healthy, P.Val no doubt would have doubled his current total, putting him right with all-time leader Jerry Bailey (who, by the way, is excellent on ESPN telecasts. According to people who work with him, Bailey is an absolute perfectionist who strives to get better with every show. Small wonder he retired as the leading money winner.), while racking up at least 8,000 winners by now….Julien Leparoux will be joining the SoCal circuit at the conclusion of the Churchill Downs fall meet, and rumor has it that Rafael Bejarano will be coming West, too. Now we’re talking about three world-class jockeys to join young lions Michael Baze and Joe Talamo, top-notch rider Victor Espinoza and a resurgent Tyler Baze. Should make for an interesting winter.
BALANCE has been retired after her off-the-board finish in the Distaff, as has THE TIN MAN, who fractured a knee coming out of anesthesia following a bone scan on his left ankle.
Tomorrow is Cal Cup Day. Will LAVA MAN snap back to top form against softer competition? My gamble is no. I believe once a top horse starts to show a declining form cycle, there is no coming back. My gut feeling is that his ultra-game nose victory in the HP Gold Cup was his last hurrah. At least that’s the way I’ll play the race.
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Oct
27
Welcome to Joisey
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Arrived late Wednesday afternoon to clouds and drizzle and nothing has changed in 48 hours. It’s dark and gloomy and the Monmouth track is a quagmire. Too bad, because this track is full of charm and history. It reminds me a lot of the old Gulfstream track, before its multi-million makeover turned it into a much less appealing environment to most that I know. This Jersey shore track has a three-level open-air grandstand, plenty of nooks and crannies, and what I would imagine to be a very festive atmosphere when running during its normal summer months.
However, the weather has really put a damper on festivities. The track is extremely wet and the turf is yielding. Who knows which horses are going to handle it? Today, in the Filly and Mare Sprint, speed collapsed and SoCal-connected MARYFIELD rolled up on the outside to score the 8-1 upset for trainer Doug O’Neill. Her half-length victory in 1:09.4 (after early fractions of 21.29, 44.19) over longshot MIRACULOUS MISS surely was aided by the condition of the track. A look at her wet-track record showed three wins from four previous starts.
In the Juvenile Turf, the lead changed hands a number of times before NOWNOWNOW ($27.20) got the best of favored Euro invader ACHILL ISLAND. Well-regarded PRUSSIAN set the pace but wilted and the horse I liked, GIO PONTI, was blocked hopelessly through the final 100 yards and might have been right there with a clean trip. He is worth playing back next time—hopefully in the Generous Stakes at Hollywood Park during the Turf Festival.
In the Dirt Mile, CORINTHIAN dominated under Kent Desormeaux. What a difference a year makes. I’m not sure how many mounts KJ had in last year’s BC, but he rides eight of the 11 races this year. The winner ran past pacesetter (and my choice) GOTCHA GOLD, who finished eight lengths clear of the third horse in what amounted to a two-horse procession. Another tough beat on the Best Plays, since I keyed the runner-up on a pair of tri tickets but threw out overbet DISCREET CAT (3/2 odds), who mananged to nose out WANDERIN BOY for the distant show.
It’s supposed to continue to rain until about 1:00 (Eastern) tomorrow afternoon, just about post time for the Juvenile. The strip can’t help but be anything but sloppy, with another yielding turf course. Remarkably, horseplayers poured it in, with over $30 million bet ($5 million on track, with an announced crowd of 27,803) on the card. On the three BC races alone, nearly $20 was wagered. What would those numbers have soared to had the conditions been ideal?
NOTE: Late scratches for Saturday’s BC card: SLEW’S TIZNOW in the Juvenile and WAIT A WHILE in the Filly and Mare Turf…don’t be surprised if AFTER MARKET joins them.
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Oct
22
Is Anybody Winning?
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If you are consistently beating this Oak Tree meet, I’d like to know your secret. I don’t mean one big score that has put you ahead for the meet, I mean showing a profit in at least three of the first four weeks.
Personally, I have found this meet to be inscrutable. And coming off the heels of outstanding and profitable Hollywood Spring/Summer and Del Mar meets (leading both meets among public handicappers while picking 31-32% top-choice winners and doing very well at the windows), I thought I had this synthetic track thing all figured out. Oak Tree has always been one of my favorite meets but not this time. I’m picking an embarrassingly low 20% winners in my graded handicap and haven’t made a significant hit on my Premium Play sheet since Oct. 13.
This has been the toughest meet I can remember in my 22 years of professional handicapping. Favorites are winning at a shockingly low 23.66% after 186 races. Over the weekend, there were a total of three winning favorites (from 20 races) as double-digit winners scored in 15 of those races, with prices ranging from $10.00 to $75.40. Normally this is a good thing—who wants short-priced chalk all day long? However, the difficulty has been in stringing together this steady stream of upsetters. In this era of multi-race rolling bets, it has been nearly impossible to put together enough consecutive winners to hit Pick 3′s and Pick 4′s, let alone a Pick Six.
For example, there was only one winning ticket in Saturday’s Pick 6, paying more than $500,000. And no one got close on Sunday, leading to a $142,000 carryover into Wednesday’s card. Saturday’s Pick 4′s paid $3,280 and $5,942, with only two winners in the Pick 5, paying over $57,000 each. On Sunday, Pick 4′s paid $1,670 and $1,897, with no one hitting the Pick 5. Pick 3 payoffs ending in races 5-8: $1,286, $6,183, $1,856 and $1,182. Like I said, tough to string ‘em together. Hopefully I will get things turned around in the next two weeks. But I’m not too sad about leaving this place for Monmouth on Wednesday. Breeders’ Cup can’t be any tougher than this.
Too Many Races: Why has Oak Tree piled on so many extra races at this meet? Oak Tree alternates between five- and six-week meetings every other year. Last year, despite having 26 days, Oak Tree ran only three 10-race cards on Saturday and one 10-race card on Sunday. Cal Cup day ran its traditional 11 races on the final Saturday of the meet. This year, for some reason (let me guess, greed?), Oak Tree has run 10 races on every Saturday and Sunday card. Quantity over quality, since that extra race usually is comprised of another cheap maiden claimer or $10,000 plater. And they’re just getting warmed up. On Friday, the first day of Breeders’ Cup (referred to as BC Lite by DRF’s Jay Hovdey), there will be 10 live races to go along with the three BC races from Monmouth. On Saturday, seven live races (including the opener at 9:15 a.m.) to accompany (or dilute, depending on how you look at it) the eight BC races. Then, roll right back with 10 more on Sunday. As we have often talked about in the past, thoroughbred racing is the only sport in the world that plays its championship game (Breeders’ Cup), then comes right back and plays again the next day. Wouldn’t it be great for the sport to shut down after the BC Classic, with every track in the nation closed until Wednesday?
Bad News for Horseplayers: After reporting months ago that major rule changes were upcoming in the case of dead-heats and scratches in Pick 4 and Pick 6 races, I received the following email from Mike Marten, spokesman for the CHRB:
“Scientific Games has informed the CHRB that due to technical limitations associated with the transferring of wagering data over the telecommunications system, we are prevented from implementing rule changes to allow for proportional payouts for deadheats in multiple-race wagers involving four or more races and from creating consolation pools when scratches occur in Pick Four races…a representative of Scientific Games gave a presentation to the CHRB Pari-Mutuel Operations Committee yesterday. He apologized for giving us incorrect information when we first asked Scientific Games months ago if these changes could be done. The answer at that time was yes. But upon further review, Scientific Games realized there are those technical limitations, which they overlooked on first consideration. The commissioners were very disappointed to hear this, as they wanted to make these changes for the benefit of fans. They were told Friday that it could be one or two years before the wagering protocols are updated and these changes might become possible.
Thanks for making these suggestions to us, and we’re sorry we can’t carry out the plan.”
Once again, the horseplayer takes it in the shorts. We keep coming back for more but, for me, the overracing and bad rules slowly but surely erode my passion for the sport.
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Oct
13
Legendary John Henry
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With the news of John Henry’s passing at age 32 earlier this week, I tried to recall how many times I had seen him run in person. My memory is not good enough to come up with the exact number but it was more than a handful. I started in the newspaper business in the fall of 1985—after John had retired—but I was able to see him run numerous times as a fan. What I recall most was his tremendous desire to win, often re-rallying near the wire after being passed in the stretch. Going through his lifetime past performances the other day, I was surprised to see that he had won the last four starts of his career (three Grade I’s) on his way to a Horse of the Year title at age nine. Thirty nine wins from 83 starts, running from early in his 2-year-old year until late in his 9-year-old season. Different jockeys, different trainers, different surfaces, different distances and different running styles. What a horse.
Last weekend at Santa Anita we saw the final round of Breeders’ Cup prep races. You had to be impressed with TIZ’S TOUGH SIS’s game win over HYSTERICALADY in the Lady’s Secret. And IDIOT PROOF got back on the winning track when defeating an unlucky GREG’S GOLD in the Ancient Title. All four are headed back to Monmouth for their respective races on Oct. 27. I’m sure I think this every year, but this seems like one of the most wide-open Breeders’ Cups in history. FABULOUS STRIKE, the one horse that I felt was the biggest lock of the day, is out of the BC Sprint because of a lung infection. Ouch.
NOTES: Many fans emailed with their displeasure over the late odds drop on MOJITOVILLE, who was a wire-to-wire winner on Thursday. Entering the gate at 32-1, MOJITOVILLE dropped to 22-1 in the final click after the gates opened (exactly 14 seconds later). This is the standard delay as out-of-state money filters in. However, those watching at home on TVG, due to the 45-second television delay, did not see the drop until after the horse had crossed the wire. The perception is bad but nothing untoward happened here…Paula Capestro-trained RIVER’S PRAYER injured a sesamoid and has been retired. Too bad because she had a huge shot in the BC Filly & Mare Sprint after going five-for-five this year…trainer Patrick Biancone appealed his one-year suspension and received a stay, which means he will be the trainer of record for his numerous BC runners. However, he lost one starter with the retirement of ASI SIEMPRE…THE GREEN MONKEY bombed again today at Belmont (at even-money). This $16 million yearling has been a disaster from the get-go.
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Oct
3
Smart Strike Has Career Day
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Has a sire ever produced three Grade I winners in a single day? Let alone in a span of an hour and a half at the same track? Well, that’s what Smart Strike accomplished on Sunday when FABULOUS STRIKE, ENGLISH CHANNEL and CURLIN took home Grade I’s on Belmont’s “Win and Your’re In” Challenge day. Standing for $75,000 (raised from $50,000 last year and sure to jump again next year), Smart Strike sired horses that won at 6 furlongs, 1 1/2-miles on turf and 1 1/4-miles on dirt. Talk about versatility.
CURLIN and LAWYER RON turned in an epic battle in the JC Gold Cup, with CURLIN prevailing narrowly at the wire in 2:01.1. Depending on what happens in the BC Classic on Oct. 27, CURLIN has a chance to be Horse of the Year and/or top 3-year-old colt, or get shut out of year-end awards if he finishes behind Street Sense or Any Given Saturday. However, one indisputable fact: CURLIN has been involved in three of the most exciting races of the year (or any year) when winning the Preakness, narrowly being defeated in the Belmont, and taking a thriller in the JCGC.
In other weekend races from Belmont, FABULOUS STRIKE looks like a legitimate favorite in the BC Sprint after his impressive, front-running win in the Vosburgh; ENGLISH CHANNEL beat nothing but bravely squeezed through inside to outclass his foes in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic; and UNBRIDLED BELLE overcame all kinds of traffic trouble to narrowly defeat stablemate INDIAN VALE, with favorite GINGER PUNCH finishing a flat third in the Beldame. On Saturday, LAHUDOOD got a rail run to win the Flower Bowl, with odds-on WAIT A WHILE finishing a no-excuse third; and TRIPPI’S STORM defeated favored AFTER MARKET in the Kelso.
It also was a huge weekend at Santa Anita, with NASHOBA’S KEY running past soft-trip pacesetter CITRONNADE in the Yellow Ribbon to remain undefeated on her way to the BC Filly & Mare Turf; CRY AND CATCH ME stretching out from a 5 1/2-furlong maiden victory to become a Grade I winner in the Oak Leaf; and TIAGO returning from a layoff and facing older for the first time when gamely holding off AWESOME GEM (who doesn’t seem to want to run by horses) in the Goodwood. On Sunday, DIXIE CHATTER handled SALUTE THE SARGE and a bunch of patsies in a weak edition of the Norfolk. ‘SARGE is a nice colt that appears to have serious distance limitations but the winner might be okay going forward. He’s lightly-raced, improving and obviously likes the two-turn game.
NOTES: Big weekend for a resurgent Mike Smith, who was aboard both CRY AND CATCH ME and TIAGO in Satuday’s stakes wins…Jose Valdivia booted home three winners on that card, including longshots GABRIEL’S HILL ($86.80) and import WING FORWARD ($31.00), the second of trainer Mike Puype’s wins that day. Talk show host Jim Rome was in the winner’s circle following the victory…Victor Espinoza also scored a hat trick on Saturday…Tyler Baze took both halves of Sunday’s early double…both of Doug O’Neill’s winners paid over $30…top jocks Michael Baze and Joe Talamo will each receive an additional day’s suspension for riding in more than one designated race on Saturday. I’d say that worked out okay in Talamo’s case (Nashoba’s Key), not so well for Baze.
Reading Between the Lines Dept.: Oak Tree issued a statement on Sunday that the Microbrew Festival scheduled for Cal Cup Day (Nov. 3) has been postponed. According to Excecutive Vice President Sherwood Chillingworth, the demand for infield space and the desire to “ensure that all those in attendance continue to enjoy the camaraderie and fellowship” of the day were the reasons given. The decision probably had nothing to do with the fights or police helicopter flying over the infield after Saturday’s first microbrew day.
There is a Pick Six carryover of more than $121,000 into Wednesday’s card.
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Sep
29
Oak Tree Ushers in Cushion Track Era
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The Great Race Place became the third and final major track on the Southern California circuit to switch to a synthetic surface when Oak Tree opened its fall meet on Wednesday. After three days, here are my early impressions: the strip obviously plays much faster than Del Mar’s Polytrack (what track doesn’t?); the track has played very fair, with the winners coming from everywhere; and, in appearance and profile, Santa Anita’s Cushion seems to be almost identical to its counterpart at Hollywood Park. Perhaps a bit quicker, but similarly fair to all types of runners.
Regarding fast times: Santa Anita has always been the fastest of the three SoCal tracks, so I have no problem with a quick main track, as long as it is safe for the horses. The trainers and jockeys have been almost unanimously positive in their comments about the surface, and large field sizes are testament that horses have stayed sounder throughout the year while able to recover quicker and run back more often. Sorry, but I just haven’t found any downside to the new synethic era.
NOTES: On Wednesday, Corey Nakatani again showed why he’s the best turf rider in the room with his rail-skimming victory aboard DANCING EDIE, while CLINET steadied repeatedly behind horses down the lane…JOHNNY EVES sizzled in 1:08.05 when chased home by talented runner-up STREET BOSS. On Thursday, MODEL split horses to gamely win her second straight while acting like a filly that is going to keep improving with experience and distance. On Friday, COCO BELLE got back on the winning track with a fast win going 6 1/2 furlongs…another good effort by runner-up GOTHIC BEAUTY, who chased the top one all the way home.
Get ready for a Sensory Overload Saturday, with excellent races from all over the country.
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Sep
8
Closing Out Del Mar ’07
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Closing day at Del Mar is always a bittersweet experience. Sweet because it’s the end of long, 11 1/4-month grind, culminated by seven weeks of six-day racing. Vacation is on the horizon, with a chance to recharge the battery and freshen up for the Oak Tree season. Bitter because, let’s face it, it’s awfully nice living and working within a stone’s throw of the Pacific Ocean. It’s a nice respite from the “real world†and a chance to be totally immersed in horse racing and its denizens for a couple of months. The work load is heavy (evidenced by the fact that I have not made a blog posting since Aug. 22–which I’ve been reminded of by a number of friends and readers) but we all know that when we ship down here for the season. Plus, Del Mar is my home track, having grown up 20 miles away in nearby Vista. As the meet winds down I often times get pangs of nostalgia, thinking about how fast another year has gone by. I flash back to memories of being a kid, coming to Del Mar with my Dad and late grandmother, rarely missing a day. I knew every nook and cranny of that old facility, with its open-air grandstand and ivy-covered paddock.
The first year of the Polytrack era is over and I think the results were very positive. Fewer runners broke down, horses were able to bounce back from races more quickly and ran more often. Field sizes were up slightly (thanks to a very strong closing week at the entry box), as were attendance and handle. Those, like myself, who felt serious gamblers would take a wait-and-see approach for the first couple of weeks were wrong. Nearly $14 million a day was handled (bolstered by over $24 million on Pacific Classic Day and over $22 million on closing day, fueled by that huge Pick Six double carryover), while on-track attendance was 16,719. Del Mar truly has become a destination place to visit, and gamble on, during the summer.
The racing was good, although not particularly spectacular. Maybe the slow nature of Polytrack had something to do with that. In fact, for me the most noteworthy performances came on grass, with RUTHERIENNE winning the Del Mar Oaks and CROSSING THE LINE taking the Del Mar Mile. AFTER MARKET was named Horse of the Meet after taking the Eddie Read and Del Mar handicaps. Michael Baze followed up his Hollywood Park riding title with another here at the seaside. After an early battle with Joe Talamo, Baze came away through the last two weeks to end up winning 50-37. Doug O’Neill and Jeff Mullins continued their string of one-two finishes, with O’Neill prevailing 23-19 while saddling over twice as many starters. Honorable mention to trainers John Sadler and Mike Mitchell, who tied for third; Craig Dollase, who was the highest-percentage trainer in the top 10 while taking down nearly a million dollars in purses; and Peter Miller, who got off to a torrid start to lead the early standings and then knocked down his first Grade I with SET PLAY in the Debutante.
Speaking of trainers, here are a couple of interesting tidbits. The top 20 trainers won 197 of the 371 (53%) races carded this summer. On the other end of the scale, of the 232 trainers who started horses at the meet, 165 of them won one race or less. Think about that for a minute. Seventy one percent of licensed trainers were not able to win more than one race. Ron McAnally (two-for-52), Nick Hines (one-for-29), Ted West (one-for-21), Mike Puype (one-for-26), Gary Stute (one-for-22), Mel Stute (zero-for-26), Mike Marlow (zero-for-21) and Eoin Harty (zero-for-15) had particularly forgettable meets. Although Steve Knapp managed to win three races, he saddled 51 horses, staying true to his average of about 6% for the year. And newcomers Cody Autrey (two-for-26) and Dale Romans (zero-for-11) found the water a little deeper out West.
NOTES: Patrick Biancone has enjoyed much success in the training profession but his reputation is more than a bit clouded. Along with the current cobra venom allegation, Biancone is serving a 15-day suspension in Kentucky after one of his horses tested positive for caffeine, and has been fined $10,000 in California after one of runners tested positive for Salmeterol (a Class 3 substance) back in January at Santa Anita. This is the same guy who was banned from racing in Hong Kong after a couple of violations there in the late 90’s. Innocent until proven guilty but, often times, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
After a good battle with Jeff Siegel that came down to the final day, I again led all public handicappers with 120 winners (32%). Although I finished second to Siegel in the mutuel category, I was able to eek out a miniscule flat-bet profit $742.80 (based on 371 races). It isn’t much but it’s still a good accomplishment when picking every race over a seven-week period. Perhaps it’s a coincidence, but I’ve been the leading handicapper at all three meetings (Hollywood Park Fall, HP Spring/Summer and Del Mar) run over synthetic surfaces. We’ll see if that streak can continue at Oak Tree, where Cushion Track will debut over the Santa Anita track.
On vacation until opening day at Oak Tree (Sept.26), where the blog postings will get back on a more regular schedule.
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22
Pacific Classic Week
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There was a changing of the guard in Sunday’s $1,000,000 Pacific Classic as shipper and recent private purchase STUDENT COUNCIL pulled off the upset at 23-1. Shipped to trainer Vladimir Cerin just six days before the race, ‘COUNCIL took advantage of a perfect trip/ride under Richard Migliore, surged to the lead into the lane, then held off the late run of AWESOME GEM (10-1). The longshot brigade was completed by HELLO SUNDAY (13-1), which made for a very healthy trifecta of more than $2,500. As for LAVA MAN, he got a gorgeous trip, challenged for the lead at the 1/4-pole, then came up empty in mid-stretch. Although it’s way too early to write him off after this subpar performance, he had to be considered vulnerable after his all-out win in the Hollywood Gold Cup. Here’s what I wrote in the blog posting following the Gold Cup: “As a handicapper and one who tries to dispassionately analyze races, my first thought after the initial thrill of a great stretch run was: What a lousy race for a Grade I…if that sounds cynical to the casual fan, so be it. The name of the handicapping game is properly analyzing what you see and trying to use it to your advantage next time.”
In hindsight, I would have to say that was a pretty good analysis. LAVA MAN ran sixth in the Pacific Classic, right behind BIG BOOSTER (third, beaten less than a length in the Gold Cup), then it was all the way back to ninth to find A. P. XCELLENT (beaten a nose in the Gold Cup). Assessing the Gold Cup as a “negative” key race, one reasonably could have thrown these three out of consideration. That still didn’t make the winner easy to find but it might have made the task a little easier.
CROSSING THE LINE was awesome again in winning the Del Mar Mile, his third consecutive win in this country…GREG’S GOLD stalked the soft trip set by BORDONARO, switched leads late and held off SURF CAT to wrap up top sprinter of the meet.
On Saturday, RUTHERIENNE got the jump on VALBENNY and impressively won the Del Mar Oaks. As we wrote before, no one is better at shipping and winning than trainer Cristophe Clement…RIVER’S PRAYER made it five straight when winning Friday’s Rancho Bernardo. She is a major contender for the BC Filly and Mare Sprint race.
On Thursday night, the racetrack community came together for a poker tournament and silent auction benefit for Lava Man’s injured groom Noe Garcia. The night was a huge success, raising more than $120,000 to help towards Garcia’s medical bills and a new, state-of-the-art prosthetic arm. Although this a very competitive business/sport with a tremendous amount of backbiting, racetrackers do have a history of taking care of their own. Congratulations to the O’Neill families for their tireless work on this project, which came together in a matter of only two weeks. Honorable mention to horse owner and former Syracuse basketball player George Hicker, who made the final bid ($12,000) on a Hawaiian vacation package, then handed the vacation over to Garcia and his family.
Sight of the week: Dennis O’Neill rented a U-Haul truck to bring all the silent auction memorabilia down from Los Angeles. With no other mode of transportation to Wednesday’s post position draw party at The Lodge at Torrey Pines, O’Neill was left with no option but to drive the big orange truck. Watching O’Neill leave valet parking at the end of the night, I am quite sure he made history as the first person to ever valet park a U-Haul at swanky Torrey Pines.
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Aug
15
Past the Halfway Mark
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Time flies at Del Mar, where six-day racing can swallow you up if you’re not careful. The blog updates have become a bog, so it’s time to catch up on last week’s proceedings.
The biggest news of the week were the deaths of trainer Warren Stute and owner/entertainment mogul Merv Griffin. IÂ knew both only by reputation. Stute as the tough, old-school trainer who plied his craft for nearly 70 years, winning the first Del Mar Debutante, then another one 51 years later. Griffin as the effusive owner of Stevie Wonderboy, who broke into a rendition of “My Old Kentucky Home” after his pride and joy had won the BC Juvenile at Belmont Park in 2005. Stevie didn’t make it to Kentucky the following spring, and Griffin’s Cobalt Blue didn’t get there this year but Griffin never got discouraged and was a great ambassador for our sport. Both gentlemen will be missed.
On Saturday, THE TIN MAN ran his heart out but had to settle for second behind JAMBALAYA in his quest to win consecutive runnings of the Arlington Million. The 9-year-old was trying to match John Henry as the only two-time winner but perhaps he will be back to try again next year…SALUTE THE SARGE remained perfect in three starts when defeating GEORGIE BOY in the Best Pal Stakes…MEDICI CODE got the right trip and won smartly in the La Jolla. He ran a number of good races in a short period in his native England and will be a definite threat in the Del Mar Derby. Speaking of the DM Derby, Secretariat winner (at Arlington Park) SHAMDINAN is likely to ship West for Doug O’Neill…MAIMONIDES, the $4.6 million Zayat/Baffert colt who shipped out of Del Mar, turned heads at Saratoga with a huge debut win…liked the way TASHA’S MIRACLE won the Sorrento here last Wednesday. She acts like a major player in the 2-year-old filly division…Joe Talamo tied Michael Baze at the top of jockey standing mid-way through Saturday’s card but Baze spurted clear again and holds a 31-25 lead into Wednesday’s card…the O’Neill barn has picked up the pace and leads Jeff Mullins 12-10. As Yogi Berra said, it looks like deja vu all over again…there has been an absolute claiming frenzy through the first month of the meet. I haven’t counted up all the claims but many times there is a shake (multiple claims) for each tagged runner.
Quotes of the Week: Had to laugh when I read these two quotes. First, there was Kent Desormeaux after winning aboard Silver Tree at Saratoga: “If you can teach every horse to race like him, everyone would have a luxury of life.” I think it’s “life of luxury”, Kent. Then there was winning owner Marc Keller, who had owned horses in the 1980′s but got out of the game. After his GRAND COUTURIER won the Sword Dancer: “I married a wife who thought you’re supposed to keep money in a matress, so I got out. She passed away 1 1/2 years ago and I’m back in.”
Good night now.
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