I am Impressed

Who has impressed me so far in 2010? Take a look… 1) Quality Road - February 6 The big bay’s win in the Donn was hands down the best performance of 2010. The 12 3/4 length win in the grade 1 race, garnered a monster Beyer of 121. 2) Eskendereya - February 20 & April 3 Take your pick. In the Fountain of Youth Eskendereya showed he was the most brilliant sophomore in the land, and in the Wood Memorial, he repeated the performance. 3) Zenyatta - June 13 After two good victories over lackluster fields to start the year, the Big Z showed her greatness once again, as she ran into a big performance by St Trinians in the Vanity, but inhaled her late as per usual. 4) Rachel Alexandra - June 12 Two narrow losses after her long layoff had the racing world buzzing about her demise. Not so fast my friends, her Fleur de Lis win was vintage Rachel Alexandra. 5) Concord Point - June 26 First try on dirt, and…wow! If the Iowa Derby is a true indication of this colt’s ability on dirt, then he may become a major force in the second half of 2010. 6) Blame - June 12 Carried less weight and ran a little than slower than Rachel did on the same day, but still his dogged rally on a speed favoring track in the Grade 1 Foster was very impressive and a great way to prepare for this Fall’s BC Classic. 7) Lookin at Lucky - March 13 Unlucky as usual, this classy colt’s first race of 2010 was racked with trouble, yet he still managed to run down the loose and formidable Noble’s Promise, to win this year’s Rebel Stakes like a true champion. 8) Boys at Tosconova - July 2 I am placing myself open for much criticism with this high rating, but that is how impressed I was with this juvenile son of Officer’s maiden win last week. Not sure what his future will hold, but this performance was absolute bigtime. 9) Majesticperfection - June 25 A sprint stakes at Iowa gets this one into the top 10? Yes, he defeated top sprinters and he did it such a way that you just know this horse is the real deal. He is 6f in 1:07.24 kinda fast. 10) Rail Trip - June 12 Bigger, better, and more mature, the California gelding may be ready to tackle the nation’s best, if he continues to look as impressive as he did in his effortless runaway in the Californian. 11) Exhi - June 27 Four straight stakes wins, and each one more impressive than the last, gets this striking sophomore a spot on this list vis a vis an eight length runaway in the Victoria Park Stakes. 12) Redding Colliery - May 31 Who? This late developing son of Mineshaft is a horse on the improve. His last effort in winning the Lone Star Handicap, by nearly seven lengths, earned a 111 Beyer, signaling him as one to watch. 13) Paddy O’ Prado - June 19 The top single performance by any turf horse was turned in by three-year-old Paddy O’Prado, in an alarmingly easy win in the Colonial Turf Cup. He should stay on turf after that performance. 14) Kantharos - July 3 Proving that the juvenile maiden win in the slop was no fluke, Kantharos made an absolute mockery of the Bashford Manor Stakes, and did it in racehorse time. 15) Hollywood Hit - May 9 Announced himself as the fastest thing going on a synthetic surface with a sharp win over Fatal Bullet in Woodbine’s Vigil Stakes. Any horse who runs 7f in 1:20 flat catches my attention. 16) Tuscan Evening - May 29 Her impressive win streak in stakes races continued in the Gamely, and in it, she proved her class by defeating a champion in Forever Together.

Who Am I ???

*I won less than half of my lifetime starts, but at 49%, I was pretty close. *My first stakes victory came in Illinois, but my biggest win came in the Old Line State. *I raced in seven states and at 15 different racetracks, and I won in all of those states and at 12 of those tracks. *I once won ten consecutive races, but unfortunately followed that up with an eight race losing streak. *Despite coming off that losing streak, I was still favored in my most important win. *I can thank my owner for my somewhat unique name. *I lived to the age of 24, but I was inducted into Racing‘s Hall of Fame after my death. *I proved tough as could be in some fantastic battles with a Triple Crown winner. *I ended my career with just over 500 times more in earnings than my bargain purchase price. *For my ability, I give much credit to my sire who passed along the goods. *Two times a champion, I was never a Horse of the Year, because of that Triple Crown winner. You should know by now … Who Am I ???

A Canadian Chip of the Old Block

Do you recall a horse named Tenpins? In the early part of the last decade, he became one of those horses who I had a ton of respect for. You know the type, tough as nails and game through the wire. He was not around for the Triple Crown of 2001, nor was he a star under the bright lights of New York or California. What he was … was a really good horse. The big chestnut won graded stakes in Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland and New Jersey. Tenpins won more than half of his lifetime starts and earned more than a million dollars. Much to my pleasure, I was able to catch a glimpse of this old warrior in the form of one of his sons. Big Red Mike is a three-year-old chestnut gelding who appears to have inherited not only his sire’s talent, but also his strong desire to get to the wire ahead of his competition. Yesterday he put these attributes to great use and became the equine toast of a nation. ***The remainder of today's column can be found on Youbet.com*** Click Here

Celebrating the 4th at Arlington Park

If you‘ve never been to Arlington Park in suburban Chicago, I urge you to make the trip. The track, facility, and the grounds are unmatched in the United States for pristine beauty. Arlington Park, which was rebuilt after the fire of 1985, is simply a showplace for the Thoroughbred. I had a wonderful time there today, and in the process saw a champion mare win for the first time in 2010. Seeing a champion in person is something that never grows old for me, and as I watched the other big races from around the country, it occurred to me that the grey mare might not be the only champion female winning today. Of course the champion I saw in person was Informed Decision, winning the Chicago Handicap. It is a race that she also won last year on her way to the Eclipse Award as the nation’s best female sprinter. Today’s race was tougher than expected as Informed Decision had to outgame the upstart, longshot speedster, Rinterval, to the wire. At the finish, she was a head better than her rival, who was in receipt of seven pounds, as the two mares pulled clear of the rest of the field. After being upset in her first two starts of the year, and being tested by an unknown today, it appears that the champ may not be quite the force that she was in 2009. Her three races this year, while not as impressive as last year for sure, have been solid, and a little improvement may get her to a level contending for another championship. I would not put anything past this beautiful grey mare who has now won 12 times in 17 lifetime races. If Informed Decision is unseated as Eclipse winning sprinting female, it may be a three-year-old New York bred who is able to turn the trick. Fanny Freud is no run of the mill state bred. Take a look at her record, and you get an idea just how good this filly is. The daughter of Freud has now won 8 times with 2 seconds in 10 tries sprinting. Today she easily handled her competition in snaring her first grade 1 victory. Sent off as a heavy 7-10 choice despite the presence of a recent grade 1 winner in Champagne d‘Oro and a sharp stakes winner in Bonnie Blue Flag, Fanny Freud proved much the best in the Prioress. The winning margin ended up only being 1 ¾ lengths, but it seemed far easier than that, as Fanny made a quick and decisive move as the horses straightened out, that settled things early in the lane. From there she coasted home and will now head to Saratoga as clearly the horse to beat in the Spa’s prestigious Test Stakes. Leaving the female sprinters for just a moment, Maram may have been the horse that most impressed me today. It was not a major stakes that she won, and she only ended up winning the Miss Liberty by a head, but I thought her performance was scintillating. Stuck on the outside, and behind a slow early pace, Maram appeared to be in deep trouble as late as the eighth pole. Still in the 7th position at the stretch call, the four-year-old daughter of Sahm suddenly turned on the afterburners. Gaining on the sharp stakes winning turf filly, Strike the Bell, with every stride, Maram got up in the last few strides to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Gaining all that ground on good fillies, who were sprinting home, speaks volumes of her ability. It was the fifth win in only eight starts for the dark bay filly who has run exclusively on the grass. Always a classy sort, in 2008, she won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in only her third lifetime start. Last year she was thrown to the wolves by running in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf off of only two preps. She was not up to the challenge that day, but was still only beaten 3 ½ lengths. Back and healthy this year, I believe the sky is the limit for her now at four, and I see another run and win in the BC as a real possibility. Photo Courtesy of Four Footed Fotos

Returning Stars Come Back with a Bang

America’s Independence Day is one of the more important weekends of our nation. A weekend long celebration of the creation of a sovereign nation, it is a time to enjoy being an American. It also happens to be an important couple of days on our national racing landscape. Traditional powerhouse stakes races litter the holiday weekend. Setting off a large portion of the equine fireworks will be three, four-year-old males that made major marks on the sophomore schedule in 2009. I Want Revenge, Regal Ransom, and Mine That Bird all make their 2010 debuts off extended layoffs this weekend, and returns to top form by any of three will make them major players in an already contentious handicap division. ***The remainder of today's column can be found on Youbet.com*** Click Here

Appearance Fees in Racing?

Money, money, money. It happens in tennis, it happens in golf. In fact it happens wherever a person of celebrity desires to pocket a buck at the expense of an event organizer who is more than happy to make the expensive hand out in order to glamorize their show. Now we can add one miss Rachel Alexandra to the list of celebrity cash grabbers. Is it right, or is it wrong for the Rachel Alexandra ownership to run their star at a track, and at a race, only when the purse is significantly raised ? It seems to me the idea of appearance fees is Capitalism 101. If the celebrity, or in this case, the owners of the celebrity, are willing to decide where they will appear based on cash, and the event organizers, in this case, a racetrack, are grinning ear-to-ear with their agreement, who are we to say the agreement, rooted in American capitalism, is wrong? OK, so it is acceptable for a celeb to make some dough by availing themselves to their fans in our chosen form of economics, but what about on the athletic landscape? Doesn’t this smack of forgetting the competition just to assure the attendance of one of the competitors? Doesn’t this lessen the importance of the actual competition? Well, yes and no. In golf, when Tiger Woods is paid $2 million to play in a tournament, while the winner of the tournament gets a measly $650,000, then yes, I apply pressure with my thumb and index finger directly to both nostrils. When the appearance fee is paid regardless of performance, it belittles the event. Does Tiger Woods have as much to play for as Joe in-the-field Golfer? Of course not, he already got his. Is this a worry in racing? No. Two big reasons why it is different. First off, Rachel does not know of cash. She will run just the same regardless of her owner’s bankbook. Secondly, this appearance fee is the good kind in sports. Jess Jackson is not being paid only to show up, he is being paid when Rachel wins. Many would say, knowing her brilliance, that these two things are the same. Maybe so, but the truth is the extra purse money is out there for all. Who are the losers as a result of this deal? Not team Rachel. Not Monmouth Park. Not the fans of the sport. We now get to see Rachel, and know ahead of time where we can see her. Also with the purse hike, it should attract at least as good a field as we would have seen in the Ruffian Stakes. Perhaps the losers are NYRA and their elite meet of Saratoga. To them I say, check your Econ textbooks. Monmouth won, fair and square. Besides, Saratoga should still host another Rachel race before their meet is done. Perhaps the American Graded Stakes system is a loser. Monmouth’s Lady’s Secret is ungraded, now rich, but still ungraded. Saratoga’s Ruffian is a grade 1. This may actually only hurt Rachel’s resume, while benefiting the Ruffian winner. In the end, I am not against this devilish deal between the good people at Monmouth Park and Rachel’s owner, Jess Jackson. It takes nothing away from our sport, even if somewhere Gordon Gekko is smiling. This matter is the topic du jour for the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance http://www.tbablogs.com/, please check out their main page to find numerous other points-of-view. Some not nearly so kind to JJ as I am.