Super Saturday

It’s good to wake up on the East Coast. The air is crisp, the rain is gone, and I’m working on very little sleep which only adds to my giddiness for the day of great racing ahead. Let’s get right into the five marquee events that make up Super Saturday today at Belmont Park. The Vosburgh Invitational kicks off the grade 1 promenade and traditionally serves as a key prep for the Breeders‘ Cup Sprint. Despite being a grade 1 affair at a sprinting distance, the Vosburgh lacks a ton of early speed, which could well give an advantage to the pacesetter. That early leader should be Wall Street Wonder who was becoming one of the top sprinters in the country before a Spring setback in the sloppy Churchill Downs Handicap. If he can shake free from the sharp New York bred, Driven by Success, as the field turns for home, Wall Street Wonder could be long gone at a distance he loves. Girolamo proved last Fall that he is a colt of quality, and had a useful prep a month ago in the Forego Stakes. If he can return to the form where he was last year at this time, he will be a major danger in here, but with only one race since last year’s Classic and running at a distance that he’s never before competed, questions abound. ***The remainder of today's column can be found on Youbet.com*** Click Here

The ZATT Zone

What you are about to read is a small chapter from a series of works called the ZATT Zone. I believe you will find that it is a very special kind of series. One that explores the deepest, darkest recesses of the mind and the nature of all things. There is only one goal in the telling of these stories, and that is entertainment. Entertainment, for you the audience. In the reading of these stories you will be sent down a path of infinite possibilities. A journey of wonderment so vast the only place these stories can be housed is in the human mind. So grab a beverage of your liking, sit back and strap in, and get ready for the ride of a lifetime. For you my friends, are about to enter … the ZATT Zone. **** Today’s story is called Belmont or Bust, and it is about two men who are bound by a singular, common ideal. Picture, if you will, these two men hurtling down a highway, armed only with a Daily Racing Form and hopes and dreams of seeing great horses and of picking winners. Their story begins innocently enough in a normal sort of place, in a normal sort of town. From there, the journey these two men will unknowingly embark on, will forever change them in ways beyond what they could ever imagine. Passing by the quiet towns of Indiana, and the farms and industry of Ohio, over and through the mountains of Pennsylvania, and the swamps of New Jersey ... the names of these men are Zipse and Zenner. Two ordinary men who happen to fancy the ponies. It was Zipse’s idea to go to New York, and more specifically Belmont Park. While Zenner was only an agreeable participant. The trip to Belmont proved uneventful enough, and the day at the races for the two men was progressing nicely. A few cashed tickets, good friends, good horses, and good times. As the horses entered the starting gate for the day’s feature, a strange wind blew in and the sky went purple. Zipse thought the starting gate bell was louder than he had ever heard before. As the first hoof pounded the ground to begin the race, everything had changed. They felt it. Zenner looked at Zipse who was suddenly endowed with an afro and a groovy mustache. Zenner, whose mutton chops were covering half his face, yelled “what just happened?” Zipse was stunned but never took his eyes of the horses. Honest Pleasure was on the lead. Zenner stared at his racing form and could not believe what he was seeing … It was indeed October 2, but the year jumped of the page at him in three dimensions … 1976! He grabbed Zipse by the shoulder and shook. “Where are we?” Just then announcer Dave Johnson proclaimed, “Forego is 6th on the outside.” Zipse turned to Zenner and said, “Watch the race. Something tells me this is gonna be a good one!” **** All they were looking for was a horse racing adventure. The best laid plans of mice and men, and Zipse and Zenner, for they have just entered the ZATT Zone.

Of Zenyatta and Rants from the Peanut Gallery

I love Zenyatta, but yet I must admit there have been times in the last eleven months where I felt that some of her fans have a chip on their shoulder the size of the mighty mare that they adore. Over this period, I could not write anything positive about Rachel Alexandra without being chastised or lectured in the process. Now of course, this is not all Zen fans. Far from it. Most are wonderful admirers, gracious in victory, who do not seek to insult others, in order to build up their own rooting interest. I understand, I get it. Zenyatta was the victim of circumstance when it came time to decide Horse of the Year two years in a row. Zenyatta is a hero to millions. She has drawn in new fans in droves, and quite simply is a godsend for the sport. On the track, she is one in a million. I believe she is a fantastic race mare, hell, I think she is the best female athlete we have seen in the universe. Sorry. I did qualify that as female, seeing as I am a Chicagoan, and we had a guy a few years back named Michael. On Saturday, the world has the privilege to witness Zenyatta racing again. The undefeated, and soon to be three-time champion, Zenyatta towers over the field like a skyscraper in the middle of a corn field, as she goes for lucky number 19 in the $250,000 Lady's Secret Stakes (formerly the Zenyatta Stakes [formerly the Lady’s Secret Stakes]). Now for the bad news … Zenyatta’s 2010 campaign, including her race in two days, does not deserve to place her atop the current Horse of the Year polls. {Insert expletives here.} The only reason that she holds this spot, is because of what she has accomplished over her career. She simply has not beaten one horse of top quality this year. The only notable horse she has raced against in 2010 is St Trinians, and she was coming off a 6th place finish in her previous start. Does this fact take anything away from Zenyatta as a racehorse? Absolutely not. Rather, it is only an assessment of the campaign her handlers have chosen for her to this point of the year. Am I hear to announce that her owners have cheated the racing public? No. They are her owners, and they can choose to do whatever they want, which of course could have spelled retirement a long time ago. If Zenyatta is not my current Horse of the Year, who is? This year there are no historic seasons to compete against. My current leader is Blame, because of the quality of the fields he has defeated in his undefeated season so far, but he is on schedule to run only five races the entire year for crying out loud. Ahhh, but that is a rant for another day Do all these mismatches take anything away from her career as many have suggested? I honestly don’t think so. It seems like an apples or oranges situation. If she had been running in hard races against males regularly, like some other great mares of the past have done, we may have been treated to some great races along the way, but I doubt that she would still be undefeated, and I feel that it is very likely that she would have already been retired. There is a lot to be said for longevity and perfection. Do I think she can still deserve to win Horse of the Year at the conclusion of 2010? That’s an easy one … Yes! If she wins the Breeders’ Cup Classic, her easy campaign leading up to it will just have been a perfect series of preps. If she wins the Classic, Zenyatta will be Horse of the Year, and the vote will be deservingly unanimous. Love them, hate them, or somewhere in between, these are my opinions. Thank you for listening.

Who Am I ???

*A one-time Eclipse Award winner, I was bred in Kentucky, and trained by a Hall of Famer. *Well traveled, I competed in stakes races at eleven different racetracks and won stakes at seven of those tracks. *Popular with the bettors, I was sent off as the favorite 25 times. *Exactly one half of my lifetime victories came during my championship season. *Dirt was my surface; I never raced on anything else. *I won more stakes at Santa Anita than anywhere else, but was defeated by the same horse in the Big Cap who had beaten me in an early juvenile stakes. *My stakes wins only had a three furlong spread between the shortest and the longest. *I was a multiple graded stakes winner in each of my three years of racing. *In the money more than 30 times, I was one victory shy of winning half of my lifetime starts . *My longest winning streak consisted of five straight graded stakes tallies. *One of my losses came in the Kentucky Derby, where I was considered one of the horses to beat. You should know by now … Who Am I ???

Farewell to My Champion

This will not be my grand send off to Rachel Alexandra, that will come later. For now, I only want to offer a few words to all of her wonderful fans, who like me, fell hard for the beautiful girl. Personally, I fell in love with Rachel during a couple of Autumn stakes races at Churchill Downs of her juvenile year. I saw something then that enlivened my heart, thrilled my mind, and transformed me into a little boy again. I have never been disappointed one second in being her devoted fan ever since. Rachel will be missed dearly. I find it difficult to wrap my head around never seeing her run another race right now. Like all things in life though, we move on, as Rachel will. When I look back at the last two years, I am left with fantastic memories that elicited powerful emotions both then and now. I need to say thank you for everything that Rachel did for me. It has been a wonderful ride, and in fact I started writing about horses because of her. There would be no blog here if it was not for Rachel Alexandra. I wish her a long and happy lifetime as she embarks on a new stage of her life. I look forward to the day when I can feed her a carrot and reminisce. See you soon girl.

Remembering ... Real Quiet

With every heart pounding stride it was becoming painfully evident that the quest for racing’s holy grail was in jeopardy. Only seconds before, Mike Pegram’s Real Quiet had seemed home free, as he and Rider Kent Desormeaux had stormed to a commanding lead early in the stretch. He was on the verge of becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed had outfought his great rival Alydar to the Belmont Stakes wire twenty years earlier. While Affirmed had to best the great Alydar in three straight classic races, Real Quiet’s foil was Victory Gallop. The late developing son of Cryptoclearance had finished second to Real Quiet in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, and was back to challenge for a third time. The two proud colts were now in the midst of thrilling the second largest crowd to see the race in the rich history of the Belmont Stakes. The thrilling duel, down the Belmont stretch, brought the crowd first to a fever pitch, and then to an eerie silence on a gorgeous June afternoon in New York. Immortality would slip away from Real Quiet on that day, as Victory Gallop methodically reeled him in during the final few strides of the Belmont Stakes. In the end, Real Quiet had been beaten a scant nose, and in that tiny margin, the hopes of millions of race fans, desperately seeking a new hero, were dashed. Adding to the drama of the closest Belmont since the Affirmed/Alydar epic, was the announcement after the race that stewards might have disqualified him if he had won the race, due to bumping Victory Gallop twice nearing the finish. It marked the second year in a row that Real Quiet’s trainer Bob Baffert was denied after coming agonizingly close to completing a Triple Crown. He had been turned away the year before when Silver Charm was passed by Touch Gold late in the race. This near miss was closer though, much closer. I could not help but feel for Real Quiet and his connections. I was not alone in my disappointment. Real Quiet was bred by Little Hill Farm in Kentucky, and born on March 7, 1995. The bay colt was by sired Quiet American, out of the Believe It mare, Really Blue. His narrow frame and crooked knees did not attract much attention from prospective buyers, and so the young colt was snatched up at auction by trainer Bob Baffert, to be owned by his friend Mike Pegram, for a mere $17,000 as a yearling. The bargain purchase would set the stage for Real Quiet joining Seattle Slew as a quintessential rags to riches racing story. The first time I saw Real Quiet in person was a very memorable day for me. It happened to be my first ever visit to Santa Anita Park, and I had decided my money would be on the bargain basement colt. The loser of his first six races, including two at the Downs of Santa Fe in New Mexico, Real Quiet had blossomed when stretched out in the Fall of his juvenile year. He broke his maiden impressively at Santa Anita and culminated his two-year-old season by winning the Hollywood Futurity. My first experience at Santa Anita and seeing Real Quiet came in the 1998 Santa Anita Derby. I bet on The Fish, so nicknamed by Baffert because of his skinny appearance from head on, as he faced off against California’s other top sophomores in Artax, and Baffert’s new star, Indian Charlie. My selection ran a solid race that day as he made a strong rally and split horses early in the stretch to finish second to his favored stablemate. Indian Charlie was too good for him that time, and at that distance, but Real Quiet had the look of a colt who would thrive at the longer distances to come. Things would soon be different. The 1998 Kentucky Derby seemed like it was ripe for the taking. Ligthly raced Indian Charlie was the favorite despite questions about his ability to get the Derby distance. Real Quiet and Victory Gallop were two of many of the horses thought to have a real chance to pull the upset. Pull the upset he did. Sent off at 8-1, Real Quiet stormed to the lead on the far turn and had enough to hold off the strong late rally of Victory Gallop, with Indian Charlie checking in third. It was no surprise to winning trainer, Bob Baffert, who knew the colt was peaking at the right time. Two weeks later further demonstrated how good Real Quiet was becoming, as he clinched the first two legs of the Triple Crown with an easy 2 ¼ length score in the Preakness Stakes. Victory Gallop again rallied for second, but this time he could not come close to The Fish. The Belmont, three weeks later, may have been opportunity lost, but it completed an awesome stretch of racing in a five-week period for Real Quiet. Despite being sidelined after his sensational Triple Crown chase, his accomplishments in the first half of 1998 earned him the Eclipse Award as Champion three-year-old male. Real Quiet would further demonstrate his class when returning the following Spring as an older horse. After a couple of narrow defeats, off the layoff, in graded stakes in the South, Real Quiet would be reacquainted with a classic distance in the historic Pimlico Special. I must admit I did not bet The Fish that day, because he was up against one of my all-time favorites in Free House. Real Quiet would prove that last year’s Triple Crown was no fluke by earning a hard fought neck victory over his accomplished foe. Interestingly, Gary Stevens was the winning rider that day, yes the same Gary Stevens who had ridden Victory Gallop on that fateful day at Belmont Park. By winning the Grade 1 Pimlico Special, he became only one of five horses ever to win both the Preakness and the Pimlico Special, joining four Triple Crown winners, Assualt, Citation, War Admiral, and Whirlaway to win both races. After the big win at Pimlico, Real Quiet was upset by the hard hitting Behrens in the Mass Cap, before heading back to Southern California for a date in the Hollywood God Cup. Proving once again that he was a terror at classic distances, The Fish won the ten furlong Gold Cup by a half length. It marked his fifth race at a 1 3/16 or farther, with only the nose loss in the Belmont blemishing his perfect record. The Gold Cup would send Real Quiet out as a winner, as shortly after the Gold Cup in June, Real Quiet suffered a fractured bone in his right front leg and never raced again. All told he won 6 of his 20 starts, finishing in the money 17 times, and earned $3,271,802. Real Quiet was a horse who was not afraid to rise to the occasion, as five of those six wins came in grade 1 races. After retirement, the bay stallion entered stud at Vinery in 2000 and later moved to Taylor Made Farm before being relocated to Pennsylvania. As a sire, he produced Midnight Lute and two other Grade 1 winners, Pussycat Doll, and Wonder Lady Anne L. Midnight Lute would of course win back to back Breeder’s Cup Sprints and was named the Champion Sprinter of 2007. It is with great sadness that I report that Real Quiet’s stallion career has come to a tragic end. The fifteen-year-old stallion passed away suddenly after a freak accident in his paddock yesterday afternoon at Penn Ridge Farms, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Frankly, it was not my plan to write about the 1998 champion, Real Quiet today, but when I had heard that he had died, my duty was clear. It is always tough to lose a popular horse, and in Real Quiet, racing lost a real champion yesterday. No horse has ever come so close without winning the Triple Crown. He will always be remembered for his heartbreaking loss, but as he proved on many occasions since that afternoon at Belmont Park, The Fish was far more than the horse who narrowly missed out on becoming the 12th ever winner of America‘s Triple Crown. I remember you Real Quiet.