Talent, Kiwi and Balloons

Vineyard Haven has become one of my favorite horses. The horse I thought was the best two-year-old in the nation last year, has come back like gangbusters since his unfruitful time in Dubai. Some horses flourish with a long Winter in the Arabian wonderland, Vineyard Haven was clearly not one of those horses. One failed race in a key eleven month stretch of his career, and I am left wondering what might have been. Vineyard Haven returned to America and finally made it to the races on the last Saturday of August, where he faced the finest field of 3-year-old sprinters assembled all year. The race included Capt. Candyman Can, Munnings, and Big Drama. Vineyard Haven, without the benefit of a prep race, ran erratically down the lane and still hit the wire first. It was the kind of race that horses just don’t do off such a layoff, or at least they do not do it more than once in a blue moon. The grey horse with the blue blinkers and silks was at again yesterday with a scintillating performance at Laurel Park in the De Francis Dash. It was a race that a lesser horse would have struggled home fifth. Vineyard Haven broke from the rail, which was not a good spot with the abundance of speed in the race. He stayed up close early, but dropped back a little as the leading group blazed an opening quarter in 21 and change. He quickly found himself stuck on the rail and the holes in front of him were disappearing. Alan Garcia and Vineyard Haven waited, and they waited, until things finally cleared enough for him. Still it appeared third was about the best he would muster as Fleet Valid was still full of run and Ravalo was charging on the outside. Then it happened, the horse of superior talent kicked it in, and like a silver streak, he made a devastating burst on the fence to win the De Francis Dash by half a length. Vineyard Haven is the real deal, and I, for one, will be watching every move that he makes. Also on Saturday, So You Think, a New Zealand bred son of High Chapparal dominated the $3 million Cox Plate at Moonee Valley Racing Club in Australia. Becoming the first 3-year-old to win the very prestigious Cox Plate in five years. In only his fifth lifetime start, So You Think stamped himself a star with the huge win. Piloted by Glen Boss, who was fined for excessive celebration, So You Think surprisingly set the early pace and when the running really started, he scampered home much the best. Final margin of victory was 2 ½ lengths for the happy supporters of the bay colt. One of his supporters is legendary trainer, Bart Cummings. Cummings had stated this inexperienced youngster had a big chance, and when he talks it is best to listen. The octogenarian is perhaps the most successful trainer in the world. This was his 4th Cox Plate winner which is dwarfed by his unbelievable 12 wins in the Melbourne Cup out of his 256 Group 1 victories. At 82, Bart Cummings is clearly still going strong and when he says that So You Think may become his best horse ever, it would be wise for everyone to listen. The synthetic surface at Keeneland appears to be like no other racing strip in the country. I say this because time and time again form coming from other places does not hold up at the beautiful Lexington track. On this Polytrack surface, it seems that all the horses start with a clean slate. Handicapping is thrown virtually out the window. The result on the tote board is…balloons. Large win, place and show prices and monstrous payoffs on the exotics stun the crowd. An excellent example of this happened again yesterday in the feature race. The $300,000 Raven Run Stakes came down to three fillies as Don‘ttalktome desperately tried to hold off Satans Quick Chick on the rail and Slides Choice on the outside. Satans Quick Chick surged on the rail to win with Slides Choice a rallying 2nd and Don’ttalktome a near miss 3rd . The odds of these fillies? 23-1, 49-1, and 41-1. How ‘bout them apples? I will not bore you with the measly payoffs, rather I will jump right to the superfecta payout. A ten cent wager on the winning ticket returned $5,930 to the lucky few holding the ticket. Not a bad return on your investment.

An Indian Summer at Vineyard Haven

An Indian Summer is an unusual stretch of sun and balmy temperatures in the Autumn. Vineyard Haven is a beautiful section of Martha’s Vineyard. Today at Laurel, the gorgeous race horse, Vineyard Haven will be heating up the Fall Maryland landscape as he and seven older sprinters blaze 6 furlongs in the revived De Francis Dash. OK, I admit it, I am a sucker for the look of certain types of horses, ever since the days of the Lone Ranger, I have loved the appearance of a gray horse, so white, that you strain to see any pigmentation at all. Vineyard Haven is one of those horses. The strapping son of Lido Palace is also an extremely talented horse. Vineyard Haven has been through a great deal of change, but also, has accomplished much in his young life. The record may read only three wins from six races, but there is so much more to this achromatic talent. His first race was at Calder last Summer for Lynne Scace. Both the partnership and the race were short lived as Vineyard Haven scorched the Miami oval, romped in the race, and was quickly snapped up by a Bobby Frankel partnership. After a 3rd place finish in the Sanford, the now Frankel trained Haven rattled off two monstrous efforts. He won the two most important juvenile races in New York, the Hopeful and the Champagne, and he did it in style. Those wins were so impressive that he garnered much support for the notion that he was the best 2-year-old in the nation. I was one of those people that considered him to be the top of last year’s juvenile class. Vineyard Haven’s smashing triumphs in the Hopeful and Champagne also led to an offer too good to refuse. Godolphin made the astronomical offer, and it was off to Dubai. The trip did not help to advance the talented colt and the Spring was basically lost, with only a 4th place finish in the UAE 2000 Guineas to show for his time in Dubai. After another long layoff, Haven returned in the toughest sprint in the nation for 3-year-olds, the King’s Bishop at Saratoga, and he won. Well sort of, he ran an absolute bang-up race to finish first, but his errant path in the stretch brought his number down. Still, it was a remarkable effort, considering he had only one race this year and it was six months earlier on the other side of the globe. Today in the De Francis Dash, Vineyard Haven moves another step forward to reach his great potential. A good performance here will send him back to New York for the prestigious Cigar Mile. Today’s contest will not be a walk in the park though, as the field is littered with fast older sprinters. Chief among his rivals today is Fleet Valid who has reeled off four straight pips at Monmouth Park and Roaring Lion, a rousing winner of the Maryland Million Sprint over this track last month. Both horses are as sharp as a tack and should not be taken lightly. In Ah Day and True Quality, Vineyard Haven will meet two horses of quality who may not be in their best form, but have that back class that always makes you worry. The horse that could well give Vineyard Haven the most worry is Ravalo. A professional sprinter who many outside of the East Coast know little about, despite this horse being as tough as nails. He has won 13 out of 27 including 10 stakes wins. Clearly, Vineyard Haven will have to run big to defeat this field, and I think he will, today at Laurel. Maryland racing is not what it used to be; I remember a day when the D.C. International and the Laurel Futurity were as big as any races in the country. The state fights on though. The Preakness is staying at Pimlico and Laurel has come back with its’ biggest race. Let us hope that the return of the De Francis Dash, after a one year hiatus, is a real corker as we witness an Indian Summer at Vineyard Haven.