Curlin needs another race over turf but he ran into all sorts of trouble today. He'll be fine as a turf runner and lost to a very good horse in Red Rocks (Glad I had the exacta cold)

As for the Swaps, Colonel John needed that race. That layoff was much too long. He has no business losing to Tres Borrachos or getting outclosed by the Salsa horse in the lane. Let's see what he does next time out.

It's funny, you were disappointed in CJ after the Derby and I was relatively sanguine, and now the positions are reversed. I'm pretty let down by him right now. I'm also let down by Hardy. If the layoff was the reason, did the horse really need the two and a half months to run? He only had four in the race, the pace wasn't rough, he had a perfect stalk, and it was only 9 furlongs. I'm pretty bummed.

Also bummed about Curlin. although I must say that:



was pretty prescient. Good job on the exacta, Vince. I'm not too down on Curlin, although I do think that the connections should run him once more before the trip overseas. I don't want Curlin to embarass himself, either. That might just be my wanting to see Curlin live speaking.

_________________
Fire Phil Emery

The only defense I can see for CJ was he did rate well, made a move on the leader and came up short in the lane. That's a fitness issue. I have no idea why they waited 10 weeks to bring him back but he should be better next time out.

I've only caught the stretch run for Curlin, but he wasn't taking to the surface, but did you see the race time? Red Rocks ran his eyeballs out. He didn't win a BC Turf for nothing.

Curlin's trip was more visually impressive. If Belmont had trakus, it'd probably say that Curlin ran as far, as quickly, as Red Rocks. He took the 4 path around the first turn and backstretch, followed by the 3 path on the final turn. Red Rocks had a shorter trip. Curlin may have used a little too much fuel righting himself after the bad break- you only get so many moves. He had to waste one early.

Curlin paid $2.50 to place, which is about 40 cents more than I expected. Also, box the three BC winners in the tri, win $76 for a $12 investment. Sheesh, sometimes it's too easy. (In fairness, I didn't do that, and also in fairness, Curlin on top of the other two probably would have paid around $8.)

_________________
Fire Phil Emery

I just re-watched the Curlin race. I take back the comment that he didn't take to the turf. He was fine, probably didn't get as close to Red Rocks as he hoped in the first stages of the race and could never get to him. He did close on him a bit late in the race, but when he gave him 3-5 lengths early on, that cost him the race. I still think he'll be fine on the turf. Heck he was within two lengths of a Grade 1 winner who is known as a lawnmower. (It wasn't like CJ losing to a career Grade 3 type horse in Tres Borrachos)

If you haven't seen any of the Summit of Speed races, watch the move by Benny the Bull in the Smile. The final time sucks for a BC Sprint horse, but I haven't seen a horse roll like that over the final quarter in a while.

The move was visually impressive, but 1.11 and change isn't Grade 1 territory. I'll be interested to see the sort of speed figures that come out of that race. It could just be that Calder was playing slowly yesterday. It looked like Prado wanted to sneak through on the rail entering the turn, realized a hole wasn't going to open, and had to swing him five wide quickly, all in the middle of his move.

In other 'big horse' news, Proud Spell won the Delaware Oaks yesterday (BTW, I know some of these tracks are cash-strapped, but Delaware really, really needs to update its video feed graphics. It belongs back in the '80s along with the rainbow Astros jerseys and INXS.)

This seems like a good time to see how the Derby horses have done since:

Big Brown: Won Preakness, lost Belmont, headed to Haskell (probably)
Eight Belles: Put down.
Denis of Cork: 2nd in Belmont, suffered hairline fracture, out for season
Tale of Ekati: showed poorly in Belmont
Recapturetheglory: Lost to Pyro at Churchill on Foster day; very, very bad ride by Baird in that race
CJ: sucked yesterday in the Swaps
Pyro: Won Northern Dancer stakes pretty impressively
Visionaire: Show in Northern Dancer
Smooth Air: Won Ohio Derby against weak competition; stabled at Arlington, never ran, and is headed back to Florida with an injury.
Anak Nakal: up the field in Belmont
Bob Black Jack: hasn't run (???)
Gayego: Up the field at Preakness
Monba: hasn't run (???)

Not sure nor particularly care about the others.

_________________
Fire Phil Emery

Z Fortune was third in the Ohio derby

Visionaire was 3rd in the Northern Dancer

I think those are the only two I can think of that raced and placed.

Actually I forgot that Court Vision and Adriano were 4th and 5th on the Turf in a stake at Colonial Downs.

I forgot those horses existed. I knew I only had about a dozen, so I went to the KD website and saw the others I missed and realized I didn't particularly care about any of them.

What a lousy group of 3 year olds. Just looking at the rankings at DRF: I still think Da Tara is bad, despite the Belmont. I don't believe that Casino Drive is everything he was cracked up to be. CJ flamed out. Maybe Pyro can still be something, and of course the jury's still out on Big Brown (whose Belmont race I excuse.)

_________________
Fire Phil Emery

CJ was really disappointing... hopefully the issue was just with the lengthy layoff and he'll rebound in the Travers. Even though Curlin did not win, I don't look at it as that bad of a race ... I'll give him one free pass on the grass, but from here on, they need to start his closing move a little sooner than on the dirt.

_________________
"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

I just got clearance for the 9th at Arlington. I see they have some reserved seats coming available tomorrow but I am guessing they will be costly since they are in the suites on the 5th floor. If they are reasonable I'm grabbing one but more than likely I got 150 as the number they will be.

Just looked. 200 bones to sit on the 5th level. I'll hoof it with the common folk.

I'm not the one planning things, but all indications are that we are headed to Arlington that day.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Like I said, I already have my tickets. I'm resigned to sit with the hoi-polloi like the rest of you'se.

_________________
Fire Phil Emery

Visionaire won a N3X close at Saratoga today with a MAD close. You figure that's it for the allowance ranks for him though- it's either graded or bust if he's gonna amount to anything.

_________________
Fire Phil Emery

Yep, that's my plan too. I have to drop the kiddies off that morning so I figure I'll be getting there around the time of the first. We'll talk closer to the event.

Excited about the Jim Dandy tomorrow. Great races as Saratoga today, with Ginger Punch and Commentator looking like superstars. Ginger Punch muscled her way through horses and jockeys determined to shut her off, while Commentator drew away easily (and at a ridiculous 4-1).

_________________
Fire Phil Emery

Jim Dandy turned out to be a good race. Da Tara was exposed as a one time wonder who got a super soft pace in the Belmont. Pyro was pinched early but the race was set up for him and he couldn't outclose Macho Again who got the jump on him. If the race was another 1/8 of a mile, Pyro is a winner, but you can't fault him or Macho Again for the effort. The time was slow for quick opening fractions. I know the track was labeled good and i haven't looked at other times from yesterday to see how it compared but it was a slow race.

It compared badly. The race before it, which was an ungraded stakes for 3yos, was run about 1/5th of a second faster. I'm a big Macho Again fan, but I have to admit that I was surprised to see him get the win here. It'll be interesting to see just who shows up to the Travers.

Next- onto the Haskell and Big Brown!

_________________
Fire Phil Emery

If anyone's planning on going, you can get reduced pricing on general admissions seating if you purchase the tickets online and use the code JOHNHENRY at checkout. I think they're knocking it down to $12 from $15.

_________________
Fire Phil Emery

Cool - I'll get on that. Thanks for the code.

I believe the last day for the code is the 3rd, so if you're planning on using it, you've only got a couple of days left.

Looks like there's going to be nice, full fields all day long, and they're expected 9 or more for each of the three stakes races. Combine that with some bigger than average pools and a guaranteed $250,000 Pick Three pool for the Secretariat, Beverly D. and Million and there's going to be quite a few opportunities to hit big. I think I'm going to be playing exotics almost exclusively to take advantage of those pools, and I may go in deeper than usual for that Pick 3 pool.

_________________
Fire Phil Emery

I bought reserved seats in Section A which is past the wire for 25 bucks today for me and my old man.

Rick, I dont know how big your group is, but they had a handful of seats available on line.

So everyone is abandoning me? Well, fuck y'all, I'm staying in the peon section.

Any thoughts on the Haskell?

_________________
Fire Phil Emery

I'll come down with the common folk to visit. Plus, I suprised my dad with the ticket. He wouldn't have went without a reserved seat. I'm planning to bring my new toy (camera) to snap off some pictures of some of the horses and connections.

The Haskell? Well, if that race was the classic distance it would have looked like Big Brown won for fun but at the 9 furlong distance, he had enough run to get past Coal Play. He did what he was supposed to and that was win. The time was respectable and it will give him a nice base for future races.

That pretty much matched my sentiments. I thought it was disappointing in the context of what I was expecting, but with an hour or two to digest it, it was a pretty OK victory. Bad ride by Desormeaux though; Monmouth is a speed track if there ever was one, and if he would have just let BB run early it wouldn't have been close. The pace was quick, but not ridiculous. I reserve final judgment until I see the speed figure.

To the Million! Maybe we should create a new thread...

_________________
Fire Phil Emery

Hell, you, me and PU Rick are the only ones reading it.

I am now confirmed for the Arlington Million, but I'm not sure where I am sitting. We may be general admission. We may have reserved seats. I guess we'll see.

The good news for you guys is that I'll be there and willing to blindly bet what you guys tell me.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Agreed... not an amazing rally but a decent one.

Bodog's Breeders' Cup Classic Futures (at time of this post):
3/1 for both Big Brown and Curlin
6/1 for Henrythenavigator
10/1 for Casino Drive
16/1 for Pyro, Mast Track, Go Between, Harlem Rocker
Other individuals listed at 25/1 and longer, no field bet available
Prop Bets
Will Curlin & Big Brown race against each other in '08? +150 Yes, -200 No
Breeders' Cup winner: +300 Curlin, -450 All others

_________________
"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

It's better for the rest of the board that we are isolated to this thread.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!