EquiSpace

Unveiling the Derby Spreadsheet 8.0

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 02:16:00 +0000

Dortmund holds off Firing Line in Robert B. Lewis
Photo Credit: Melanie Martines

That's Dortmund, one of the top thoroughbreds and ranked second on the Derby leaderboard in points holding off Firing Line in the Robert B. Lewis back in February. Both colts are headed to Louisville to run for the roses on the First Saturday in May.

The 141st Kentucky Derby will take place on Saturday, May 2, 2015 at Churchill Downs and if you want to get in on the Kentucky Derby online wagering action we recommend visiting Kentucky-Derby-Online-Betting.com for reviews of the best online racebooks for the first leg of the Triple Crown.

For analysis of the race, one of the tools I have put together over the past eight years is the annual Derby spreadsheet. The link, is located on the right sidebar and lists the top contenders of this year's Kentucky Derby, including such information as wins from post positions since 1970, Beyer Speed Figures (BSF), BrisNet sire and damsire average winning distances, dosage indices and pedigree information for every horse in the top 20 on the current leaderboard. Also, wet and distance Tomlinson figures as well as Bris distance figures are included on the spreadsheet.

We'll be continuously updating the sheet as new data is released and it is a tool I've used in the past to eliminate horses, in addition to who should be part of my Derby day wagering. It's also interesting to look back on prior year winners (2008-2013 tabs are included for the past seven years statistics for the winners and those that hit the board.

You'll notice some familiar trainers and currently in the top 22 horses, Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher have nearly half of the projected field.

Here's a snapshot of some of the top numbers within the sheet:

Top Beyer Speed Figure
1) Materiality (110)
2) Upstart (108)
3) Dortmund (106)
4) American Pharoah (105)

Top Distance Tomlinson
1) Mubtaahij (353)
2) Materiality (328)
3) Itsaknockout (315)
4) Bolo (307)

Top Distance BRIS
1) Carpe Diem (114)
1) Frosted (114)
1) American Pharoah (114)
4) One Lucky Dane (113)

Top Wet Tomlinson
1) Danzig Moon (417)
2) Stanford (415)
2) Itsaknockout (415)
4) Frosted, Upstart (413)

Sire Average Winning Distance (AWD)
1) Mubtaahij (8.6)
2) Carpe Diem (8.3)
3) Itsaknockout (7.6)
4) Materiality (7.5)

Damsire AWD
1) Mubtaahij (8.8)
2) Danzig Moon (8.0)
3) Frosted (7.6)
3) War Story (7.6)

There are definitely some interesting statistics here that will warrant further research, especially on Itsaknockout, Danzig Moon and Materiality which had some eye opening information to consider.

Stay tuned and bookmark that spreadsheet!

2015 Wireplayers Derby Dozen Debuts

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 13:57:00 +0000

Far From Over winning the Withers at Aqueduct on Feb. 7
Photo Credit: Joe Labozzetta/NYRA

The sixth annual Wireplayers Derby Dozen kicked off to a rousing start with two horses tied for the top spot in the initial poll for 2015. The panel made up of 12 horse racing writers, bloggers, tweeters has once again delivered some witty dialogue and a solid first poll to kick off the Derby trail as we enter the Championship Series portion of the schedule.

The Kentucky Derby is the first leg of the Triple Crown of horse racing, followed by the Preakness and culminating in New York where all of the 2015 Belmont Stakes betting will take place, hopefully on racing's first Triple Crown champion in 38 years.

Last year, I looked back at our initial polls over the past and found that in only one year was the eventual Derby champion ranked in the initial poll (Super Saver, 3rd, 2010). Last year, California Chrome was in the "others receiving votes" category just outside of the initial Dozen, in 14th place. Interestingly, in 14th place in this year's poll is Khozan, a horse who with a win or place in the Florida Derby will be attempting to break the Apollo curse on the First Saturday in May.

The two horses sharing the top spot are Far From Over (Blame, pictured above) and Dortmund (Big Brown), both horses with pedigrees to handle the Classic distance. My top pick was American Pharoah (see individual ballots here), which means he's totally up the creek without a paddle.

Here's a look at this year's initial poll:

Enjoy!

Derby Watch: Futures Pool 2 Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 03:12:00 +0000

Upstart winning at Saratoga on Travers Day
(Photo Credit: NYRA)

The Derby trail is starting to heat up with two big races wrapping up last weekend with Far From Over winning the Withers at the Big A and Dortmund winning a stretch duel with Firing Line in the Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita. Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2 closed out this weekend with the All Others (also known as the field) betting line as the favorite at odds of 5-2, capturing over 23 percent of the total win pool.

With the Run for the Roses less than three months away and live Kentucky Derby wagering available, we'll take a rundown below of some of the top competitors in Pool 2 and where they finished in the final odds tabulation. I made two small wagers, action bets if you will, a $5 win bet on Khozan, who finished at 25-1 (will pay $131 with a win), over his morning line odds of 20-1. The second bet was a $1 exacta wager, boxing All Others with American Pharoah, Dortmund, Khozan and Upstart.

The key in making a future wager is betting on horses that you believe will be at a higher price now than they will be when they leave the gate on May 2. Of course, most of the 23 horses in Pool 2 may never even see a Derby gate, it makes the wager all the more riskier. In 2014's second pool only five of the 23 horses included in the wager actually made the Derby starting gate. There is still a third Future Wager Pool that will run Feb. 27 to March 1.

Here are some of the top competitors and some preliminary thoughts on each (in alpha order):

American Pharoah (final odds 10-1). This son of Pioneerof the Nile, a second place finisher behind Mine That Bird in 2009, has the pedigree to handle the mile and a quarter and has been described as one of the best 3-year-olds Bob Baffert has ever trained. He missed the Breeders' Cup Juvenile due to injury and has not raced since last September, and had his first recorded workout of 2015 on Feb 2.

Carpe Diem (final odds 12-1). The second place finisher in the BC Juvenile, and son of Giant's Causeway has not raced since the Breeders' Cup for trainer Todd Pletcher, who has 34 nominees to the Triple Crown. He will likely start next in the Tampa Bay Derby. Had some betting behind him in the Futures pool finishing several notches under his 15-1 morning line odds. Has a Grade 1 under his belt, winning the Breeders' Futurity last fall at Keeneland. He had a sensational workout on Saturday morning drilling five furlongs in 59 2/5, best of seven workers that morning.

Dortmund (final odds 10-1). A son of the 2008 Derby winner, Big Brown, he impressed this weekend in the Robert Lewis rallying in deep stretch after being overtaken by Firing line (final odds 35-1) to overtake his rival and win for Baffert and rider Martin Garcia. An imposing looking horse who should thrive as the distances get longer, like Pharoah is also on the west coast Derby trail.

Khozan (final odds 25-1). Another Pletcher trainee who has only an impressive maiden win under his belt at Gulfstream. I love his breeding with Distorted Humor on top and his dam sired by Belmont winner A.P. Indy. Pletcher is pointing him either to an allowance or a stake with eyes squarely on the Florida Derby, a path that Commissioner, this weekend's Donn winner took last spring winning Gulfstream's premier 3-year-old race.

Ocean Knight (final odds 18-1). This horse was listed on the morning line at 50-1, but took some big money after his win in the Sam F. Davis at Tampa two weekends ago. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said to be thinking about shipping him to New York for the Gotham next. The son of Curlin's speed figures aren't quite up to what some of his competition has been running, but the thing about 3-year-olds is they develop over the course of the early spring. He could be one to keep an eye on.

Texas Red (final odds 9-1). He finished as the second choice behind the field at 9-1, after the BC Juvenile winner finished second in his 2015 debut in the 7-furlong Grade 2 San Vicente last weekend, losing by a neck to Lord Nelson. The Juvenile winner has only won the Derby once in the history of the Breeders' Cup when Street Sense performed the feat in 2007. This son of Afleet Alex should continue to blossom as the trail winds towards Louisville.

Upstart (final odds 12-1). This New York-bred (pictured above) shined in the Grade 2 Holy Bull on Jan. 24 at Gulfstream. Could see him right back in the Fountain of Youth for trainer Rick Violette, Jr. Was third in the BC Juvenile, a race that is shaping up to be one of the better ones in recent memory.

Quite a bit can happen between now and the first Saturday in May, but it sure seems like more than five of the 23 horses listed in Pool 2 will be in the gate when they spring the latch in Louisville.

A Look at Racing's First Tweets

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Sat, 22 Mar 2014 17:01:00 +0000

The Tweeter recently turned 8 years old and Twitter has concocted a website to take a look at various users' First Tweets. (h/t @TrendingBuffalo) Of course, this opens the door to have some fun and we're all about having fun in the Space Station (see "Twitter Accounts Back in Time").

So I decided to check out some of my racing Twitter pals and some folks I like to follow on the Tweeter from an informational and entertainment (mostly entertainment) perspective...starting with none other than yours truly before we take a little ride through the archives.

Watchin' UB hang tough....I'm twittering!
— Gene Kershner (@EquiSpace) December 6, 2008

12/06/2008: Early adopter...but what a dork...twittering...really?

@Hamilton_WOMoh is this post draw on HPI TV Mike?
— Pullthepocket (@Pullthepocket) June 22, 2010

6/22/2010: The Pocket is one of the best follows in racing...no surprise he's looking for a harness draw.

@BklynBckstretch I haven't arrived with such fanfare since greeting the business end of the doctor's palm.
— Mike MacAdam (@Mike_MacAdam) May 4, 2011

5/4/2011: In time for Derby 137, my pal Mac joined with great fanfare.

digesting pizza & cookie
— dana byerly (@superterrific) April 10, 2007

4/10/2007: One of the racing pioneers on twitter provided some cool racing insights. (PS dana is a super terrific follow!)

Reading the New Yorker...cartoons too confusing.
— Derek Brown (@NJDerek) December 22, 2008

12/22/2008: My man Derek is as witty as they come.

Check out BC picks at the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance homepage: http://is.gd/4ADf // GOOD LUCK!
— Kevin Martin (@ColinsGhost) October 23, 2008

10/23/2008: How about K-Mart promoting the now defunct TBA page and one of our blogger contests. Wonder what his pal Chad's firster was?

rothie on board
— Chad Roth (@chad_roth) September 9, 2011

9/9/2011: Welcome to the Club.

@superterrific you do???
— Teresa Genaro (@BklynBckstretch) May 16, 2009

5/16/2009: Couldn't find dana's response...guessing she does.

Winning Kentucky Derbys since 2010 #justgettingstartedyall
— T.A. Pletcher (@NotTheToddster) October 6, 2010

10/6/2010: One of the few racing parody accounts entered the scene in 2010.

talking with my financial analyst
— Steve (@stmunday) May 11, 2009

5/11/2009: Translation - talking with my bookie.

god, i still am unsure about this whole twitter thing. maybe so, maybe not.
— o_crunk (@o_crunk) July 25, 2008

7/25/2008: This is awesome on so many levels.

The Burden of Proof filly Abs Fabs won the Indian Group 1 Eveready Calcutta Derby Saturday over 2400 meters.
— Sid Fernando + Obser (@sidfernando) March 1, 2009

3/1/2009: No shocker here, Sid is an authority on pedigree and international racing.

anyone watching the snowfest at aqueduct? time to strap skis on the horses...
— Keith-TripleDeadHeat (@TripleDeadHeat) December 31, 2008

12/31/2008: Happy New Year! Our guide to Woodbine snarks on Aqueduct.

@BklynBckstretch Thanks. If I get addicted, it's your fault.
— Alan Mann (@alanLATG) August 14, 2011

4/14/2011: Late to the party and likely addicted.

@marksingelais Why do they call it tweet?
— Tim Wilkin (@tjwilkin) October 12, 2010

10/12/2010: Classic.

@dgrening maybe
— Jerry Bossert (@JBossertNYDN) January 6, 2012

1/6/2012: Maybe my favorite.

First tweet!
— Chris Hernandez (@tencentcielo) June 25, 2009

6/25/2009: You don't say.

What I've learned today: taking 3 kids into a fast food restaurant bathroom really sucks.
— Ian Lozada (@ianlozada) April 21, 2009

4/21/2009: The Tweeter is a wealth of information.

Hangin out in the pond at the #Saratoga race track. I'd bet but I think NYRA doesn't let geese gamble.
— Spa Infield Goose (@SaratogaGoose) July 21, 2012

7/21/2012: The Goose is loose!

Pretty good race day
— Joe Drape (@joedrape) March 7, 2009

7/7/2009: The eternal optimist.

I think I'll quit on that note. Enjoy the weekend.

Rehashing Old Wireplayers' Derby Dozens

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 03:01:00 +0000

I decided to take a journey back to look at some of the Wireplayers Derby Dozens from the past four years since inception to see how well our panel did in our opening dozen and then the final dozen with respect to the eventual Derby winner. What I found was somewhat fascinating in some respects, and somewhat predictable in others.

You can catch this year's initial 2014 Derby Dozen here and if you are looking for live Derby odds this new site will provide you up to the minute odds for this year's Derby contenders. The Wireplayers panel has turned over some in the past four years, but the core group remains pretty much in tact to provide some consistency and some pretty funny commentary and we've added some sharpies to the team.

The initial polls typically have come out at the end of January or the first week in February (like this year's) so finding the Derby winner this early is nearly impossible. The final polls are released after the draw during Derby week so those polls should be scrutinized the most. Take a peak at how we did:

2010 Poll

First: Lookin at Lucky (1st); Super Saver (3rd)

Final: Lookin at Lucky (1st); Super Saver (6th)

Commentary: We were pretty much in love with Baffert's ace who ended up winning the Preakness, but was doomed on the rail in the Derby. One of our better jobs with the eventual Derby winner as the #3 choice in the inaugural pool in January 2010, but feel to #6 in the final poll.

2011 Poll

First: Uncle Mo (1st); Animal Kingdom (NR)

Final: Dialed In (1st); Animal Kingdom (6th)

Commentary: We were drinking the Uncle Mo kool-aid in mid-January 2011 and Animal Kingdom was nowhere on anyone's radar, he didn't even garner a single vote. He got a little more respect and ironically was the #6 horse in the final poll (see Super Saver above). We nailed the favorite in Dialed In, just not the winner.

2012 Poll

First: Union Rags (1st); I'll Have Another (NR)

Final: Gemologist (1st); I'll Have Another (6th)

Commentary: So for the second time in three years the horse on the top of our initial poll ended up a Classic winner (Belmont Stakes), but not the Derby winner. For the second consecutive year the Derby winner was unranked and without a single vote. Amazingly, for the third year in a row the Derby winner was the #6 horse in our final poll. (Man, why couldn't I play that hunch?) Our final poll had Gemologist on top who never ran again.

2013 Poll

First: Violence (1st); Orb (NR)

Final: Orb (1st); Orb (1st)

Commentary: Unfortunately, like Uncle Mo in 2011, the promising Pletcher colt Violence, our initial poll topper, never made it to the gate. For the third straight year the Derby winner was neither on the list or received a vote (do you see a pattern here?). We nailed Orb in the final poll. By the way, Goldencents was the #6 horse and later won the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile last November.

2014 Poll

First: Cairo Prince (1st); Derby winner (?)

Commentary: Just going out on a limb, but guessing that Cairo Prince probably won't win the Derby and our initial list probably doesn't even include the eventual champ that will wear the roses on the First Saturday in May. I'll be sure to take a hard look at whoever ends up #6 in this year's final poll!

Moral of the story: Keep on digging...he's out there somewhere.

It's Derby Dozen Time

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 16:28:00 +0000

It's been some time since we've posted, but the Derby trail is usually a good time to come full circle and start getting after it again. What better time than the first edition of this year's Wireplayers.com Derby Dozen poll, of which I am honored to be a member. Of course, we'd like to start smelling like roses if possible. I went back to my last four number one votes in the final poll for the past three years and came up with Lookin at Lucky (6th - 2010); Mucho Macho Man (3rd - 2011), Bodemeister (2nd - 2012) and Revolutionary (3rd - 2013).

It looks like Cairo Prince is out ahead of the pack in this year's Dozen based on the panel votes, wherein four different horses each garnered two first place votes. My top vote went to Midnight Hawk (no. 6 in the poll) with Cairo Prince second. We're not too far away from 2014 Kentucky Derby horse betting (less than 90 days away) and the second Futures pool is underway this weekend.

Here's a look at the initial poll by our esteemed panel....

I'll also be posting over at the Sports, Ink blog tomorrow about the big Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park. I caught up with trainer Nick Gonzalez yesterday by phone and he'll enter his star 4-year-old River Seven taking on some monsters such as Will Take Charge and Revolutionary.

Happy Breeders' Cup Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 15:39:00 +0000

This weekend's office view

The Space Shuttle arrived safe and sound (well, mostly sound) in Southern California Wednesday evening after a long journey from the B-lo. The place is absolutely stunning and I could be convinced that a permanent home for the Cup has some merits. But that's a whole different topic and one that my predictions several years ago on the Blood-horse site really haven't come to fruition. (If you have time - check out the comments, some are pretty funny).

The Space Gal will be joining me tonight and for Saturday's races -- wait 'til she gets a load of this place...my credit card is definitely not safe.

I posted a few photos from yesterday morning below at Clockers' Corner, most of the BC horses were galloping on a beautiful, crisp morning. The big news yesterday was the scratch of Ron the Greek from the Classic from a quarter crack.

I have some analysis up at the Sports, Ink blog on Friday's late Pick-4 and check the HRF website for some picks of some of the blogging brethren. I'll be live blogging tomorrow's card at the Sports, Ink blog starting at 3 p.m. ET, so check it out if you have a moment, for a few laughs and info from the Great Race Place.

SPORTS, INK BLOG - FRIDAY QUICK PICKS

Sunrise over Clockers' Corner

Mucho Macho Man

Paynter

Goldencents

Julien Leparoux

Seabiscuit's barn

Have fun and enjoy the races!

SI Covers - Through My Years

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Space Gal's Birthday Cake for #50

No posts since the Travers and we lead with a non-horse racing post the week of the 30th anniversary of the Breeders' Cup. Well, we'll try and post some stuff this weekend in California, but Monday represents the 50th anniversary of the ole' Space Man's birth, so I thought I'd go through the SI Covers on each of my milestone birthdays (every 5 years, 18 and 21) and reminisce about the good old days.

Some of the covers have absolutely no relevance to my life, but some actually do, at least via my sports fanaticism through the years. Unfortunately none of the covers were actually horse racing related. Ironically there was a SI issue on the date of my birth (10-28-63 [below]) and on my 50th.

D.O.B: 10-28-63: Hot NBA Rookies

Art Heyman (Duke, NY Knicks) and Jerry Lucas (Ohio State, Cincinnati Royals) graced the cover on the day I was brought into the earth. I hate Duke and Ohio State, so maybe a foreshadow of what was to come (see Buffalo Bills Super Bowl outcomes).

5 Years Old: 10-28-68: Bob Brown, Green Bay Packers

I was still too young to pay attention to sports, the 1969 Baltimore Orioles and Colts were my first favorite teams as I grew up on Cayuga Lake in Cayuga, New York, where no hometown allegiances existed. My grandfather took me to my first-ever sporting event in 1971, at eight years old for the first ever football game in Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Eagles took on....wait for it...the Buffalo Bills and a certain running back.....

10 Years Old: 10-29-1973 The Juice

I remember watching O.J. break the record in week 14 against the Jets at old Shea Stadium behind the Electric Company. I wasn't a fan and even rooted against the Bills as a Johnny Unitas/Colts fan pre-Mayflower days. Watched the game in Cayuga, we didn't move to Syracuse until June 1974 when my father started his own business. In 2004 some 31 years later, the Space Gal and I would have a random encounter with the Juice at Casino Niagara and I sat next to him for a solid four hours as we watched the USC-Notre Dame game as he wore a Reggie Bush jersey. And no, I didn't ask him.....

15 Years Old: 10-30-1978 Bill Rodgers, NYC Marathon

The only runner who made one of my covers. I was more of a Jim Ryun fan, pretending to be him in the Olympics in the Cayuga days racing my next door neighbor and lifelong friend Jay (who was Kip Keino from Kenya) jumping picnic tables as our hurdles.

18 Years Old: 10-26-1981 Graig Nettles, NY Yankees

Graduated that year from North Syracuse High and hit the golden number (drinking age!) while attending Elmira College. Hate the Yanks, as I was a big time Orioles fan (still am) with my idols Brooks Robinson and Jim Palmer. Spoiled early on as the O's won the 1970 World Series against the Reds and the Colts won the 1971 Super Bowl against the Cowboys...little did I know it would be 12 years between celebrating one of my team's championships.

20 Years Old: 10-24-1983: Rick Dempsey, World Champion Orioles

I couldn't have it any better as the Phillies were my second favorite team (due to my family being from the Philly area) and the O's met them in the '83 Series in my junior year at College. Was playing varsity basketball for Elmira and enjoying the College years. It was all good....unfortunately didn't celebrate another title for one of my teams for another 20 years....

21 Years Old: 10-29-84 Larry Bird & Bill Russell

While I wasn't a Celtics fan, I had a deep appreciation for the Bird-man and loved his game, following it closely over the years. Was in my junior year in College, started working for the Anheuser-Busch distributor as a marketing intern and was named co-captain of the hoops squad.

25 Years Old: 10-24-1988 Notre Dame Football

I used to watch Notre Dame football highlights every Sunday morning as a little kid (in Black & White) before looking at the morning paper so I wouldn't know the score. I was a huge ND fan until right about this point. I watched the UCLA 88-game losing streak fall with my dad and was in tears with 3 minutes left and before the improbable comeback.

30 Years Old: 11-01-1993 Joe Carter, Blue Jays walk-off Series HR

This is the first cover, where I can actually say I was at the game it took place at. My father and brother Greg and I had tickets in the nose-bleeds at SkyDome for the Carter HR and then partied into the evening. Of course, we were rooting for the Phillies, but to see a World Series-winning HR was super cool. In the years between covers, I have my first child, who is now in her 5th year of school getting her Masters. We've gone through three Super Bowl losses at this point...ugh.

35 Years Old: 11-09-1998 Doug Flutie, Buffalo Bills

The guy who saved the franchise for Buffalo was on the 30 years old cover (ok I skipped one, but saw Flutie in the next issue...sue me). Another Super Bowl loss and still not interested a lick in horse racing. Leave the national firm and start our accounting firm in October 1994 with a total of 5 people. The Sabres lose the "No Goal" game and beginning to think I'm jinxed.

39 1/2 Years Old: 4-16-2003 National Champs!

The Cuse wins the title and we unveil our first half-birthday issue. I make an exception here since it's been 20 years between celebrating a winner. The Bills haven't done squat in some time and the Orioles are struggling through the early 00's.

40 Years Old: 10-29-2003: LeBron James NBA Preview

Not really a big LeBron fan, but respect his game and root silently for Cleveland due to the fact they share a lake with us. Firm is a mature nine years old and start dating the Space Gal, the best thing that's ever happened to me. In August 2004, the Saratoga Resident introduces me to the Saratoga Race Course...and well, you know the rest...

45 Years Old: 10-29-2008 Kobe Bryant NBA Preview

Kobe is another NBA guy I respect, but rarely root for. He's a tremendous athlete though and the guy I would want to have the ball in the final seconds of an Olympic game down one. I start the EquiSpace blog in April 2008 (686 posts ago) and the rest is history. The Space Kid is born in January 2009 and the Space Filly in November 2010 on Black Friday. In October 2010, I start the Buffalo News gig and start traveling to the Triple Crown races and Breeders' Cup. Trips to Woodbine, Fort Erie and Saratoga covering the biggest races fills out my assignments on an annual basis.

50 Years Old: 10-28-2013 Brooklyn Nets (Jason Kidd) NBA Preview

That takes us up to today, the big 5-0. An issue on my birthday, just like the day I was born a few weeks before the JFK assassination.I visited my son at Geneseo (a frosh) today and it brought back memories of my college days seeing his suite room during the time the World Series was going on. Sports has always played a big role in my life and I'm glad I found horse racing to fill the void after I stopped playing hoops. I have lots to be thankful for, an awesome wife, great kids, super parents and in-laws, lots of friends and good partners in business. I guess that about covers it.

Travers Weekend in Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:16:00 +0000

Will Take Charge

There's your 2013 Travers champion as he heads from the paddock to the track with jockey Luis Saez aboard. He's a big boy alright, I remember seeing him up close for the first time when he was headed to the track from the Preakness Stakes barn and he is just mammoth. He certainly enjoys Saratoga and with the adding of blinkers in the Jim Dandy to his beautiful trip on Saturday, we have a 3-year-old division that's up for grabs.

Moreno is headed to Parx for the Pennsylvania Derby, and this son of Unbridled's Song may just follow him there to run the 1 1/8-mile $1 million race that's starting to gain a bit more significance in recent years. I have some relatives down that way...hmmm. I will say that his trainer is quite the character. Eric Guillot in his post-race comments after the race told the contingent that was surrounding him that he "hates New York City" and that his back was aching from the "cheap ass seats they got here." Not to mention the voodoo hex he put on Pletcher, which was also a topic of discussion. I was holding back a belly laugh listening to this guy after his horse just ran its guts out at odds of 33-1.

It was a fun weekend, my recap for The Buffalo News can be found here. In my preview I picked WTC third and had this to say in the final paragraph:

"Will Take Charge (10-1) has had plenty of excuses through the Triple Crown series so don’t count him out here."

So I don't feel all too bad, although I really thought Palace Malice was going to win going away, and according to Pletcher and Mike Smith if he had broken cleanly he would have won the race. But that's why they don't run them on paper.....

I had my father with me for the fourth straight year and we had a ball all weekend. It's a little tradition we have going and hope to continue as long as we can. Here's some pictures from the weekend, focused on the stakes races mainly.

The Lumber Guy

Palace (12-1) closes on The Lumber Guy to
win the Chowder's first Stakes - Cornelio Velasquez up

My friend Josh from Buffalo was the NYRA
Fan of the Day on Friday - pictured here with his family
in the paddock

Travers artist in the paddock

Ballerina winner Dance to Bristol with Xavier Perez up

Second place finisher Book Review
with Rafael Bejarnano in the irons

Villanesca with Johnny V up
takes third in the Ballerina

Dance to Bristol impressive in
winning the Grade 1 Ballerina

Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer
readies to saddle Sweet Lulu before the Test

My Happy Face in the paddock stalls
(nice big filly)

Wildcat Lily

Test winner Sweet Lulu
with Julien Leparoux aboard

Sweet Lulu (inside) holds off Wildcat Lily
and a late closing My Happy Face (8 wide at top of stretch)
in the Grade 1 Test

Sweet Lulu in the winners' circle

Laughing holds off Pianist
in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa

Laughing (IRE) in the winner's circle --
Jose Lezcano was the winning jock

Nick Zito with Declan's Warrior
before the Grade 1 King's Bishop

Irad Ortiz, Jr. up on eventual winner
of the King's Bishop - Capo Bastone

Second place finisher Mentor Cane and
Edgar Prado head to the track

John Shireffs - trainer of Mentor Cane

Robby Albarado aboard Central Banker -
show horse in the King's Bishop

Beaten favorite - Forty Tales in
the paddock before the KB

Big balloons in the King's Bishop (what's new)

Pletcher speaks with a dejected Julien Leparoux (Forty Tales)
while a happy Irad Ortiz is captured on the JumboTron

Ortiz, Jr. and Capo

Cot Campbell - Dogwood stables
before the Travers

Shug McGaughey chillin before the big race

Enter Verrazano stage left

Will Take Charge heads to his stall

Moreno coming through

Palace Malice circling the paddock

Trainer Dallas Stewart (light blue suit)
with Golden Soul

Verrazano and Johnny V

Moreno with Jose Ortiz

Mike Smith aboard Palace Malice

First time by in the Travers

Will Take Charge gets the last jump on
Moreno with Palace Malice closing fast

Will Take Charge with the
Travers carnations

D. Wayne Lukas (the Coach)
accepts the Travers trophy

That's a wrap from Saratoga for me this summer...next scheduled track visit will be Fort Erie tomorrow night for the Bob Summers Memorial, hopefully the Presque Isle Downs Masters in early September then on to California and the Breeders' Cup. Hope you enjoyed the photos.

Alabama Slammer

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 21:39:00 +0000

Princess of Sylmar being led to
winners circle by owner Edward Stanco

It's too bad there's not a filly Triple Crown (or Tiara) because there's a good chance Princess of Sylmar would have swept all three races this summer. After backing up her Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks win on opening weekend at the Spa with a convincing victory in the Coaching Club American Oaks she set herself up for a divisional title with a win in Saturday's $600,000 Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.

The only likely challenger, Fiftyshadesofhay wasn't much of a threat while the Majestic Warrior filly circled the field winning by 2 1/2-lengths over the field of five in the nationally televised race. She's all but locked up the 3-year-old filly division with her third consecutive Grade 1 victory. There's a chance she's done for the year with only races at Parx (Cotillion) and Belmont (Beldame) currently being considered for the filly. She's not Breeders' Cup nominated, although that fee is a pittance based on her year-to-date earnings. The connections appear to want to take a break and point towards a 4-year-old campaign (one likely without Royal Delta in the mix, mind you).

The Space Gal accompanied me for a nice weekend at the Spa which commenced early Saturday morning with a visit to Leah Gyramati's barn to visit some of the Bona Venture Stables crew and horses. We spend time with Nicholson (named after Orlando Magic first round draft pick Andrew Nicholson, a 2012 Bona grad), Smooth Bert and Bullet Baby. Smooth Bert worked four furlongs in 47 and 4 and looks ready to go for Wednesday's Albany Stakes where he'll attempt to prevent Amberjack from a $250K bonus in winning the Big Apple Triple, last won by the late Tin Cup Chalice. Mike Luzzi will have the mount on Smooth Bert.

I learned that Gyramati is quite the animal lover, she's currently nursing an abandoned baby squirrel back to health. She was under a heating pad in her barn and was fed some milk during our visit...quite the sight.

Here are some pictures from the backstretch and from the day, mostly around the Sword Dancer and the Alabama....

Hervie Castillo readies to work Smooth Bert (upper right)
in his best pink pants (he lost a bet)
Bottom left - Sweet Reason (broke her maiden last week)

Trainer Leah Gyramati nurses a baby
squirrel back to health

Midnight Taboo - Repole Stables

Terry Finley, Tom Albertrani confer with
Twilight Eclipse jockey Javier Castellano

Jersey Joe Bravo gets a leg up
on Sword Dancer winner Big Blue Kitten

Twilight Eclipse- runner-up
in the Sword Dancer

Nutello - show horse

Tannery - only filly in Sword Dancer
field finished fourth

First time by in the Sword Dancer

Big Blue Kitten soars to the win

Jersey Joe celebrates

Big Blue Kitten - winners circle

Sword Dancer trophy presentation

Fiftyshadesofgray

King of Prussia Stables owner Ed Stanco

Pletcher saddles the Princess

Carnival Court trainer Kiaran McLaughlin

Javier Castellano aboard Princess of Sylmar

Irad Ortiz Jr. on Carnival Court

Fiftyshadesofhay

First time by in the Alabama

Princess of Sylmar by 2 1/2-lenghts

Mike Battaglia interviews the Toddster
on NBC Sports Network

Princess of Sylmar with Ed Stanco
after a quick dousing

The top 3-year-old filly in the land

Saratoga Surgical Strike: ThoroFan, the Sale and a DQ

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 22:03:00 +0000

Wise Guys

Made a quick surgical strike to the Spa this week for the ThoroFan annual board meeting, to take in the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings sale on Tuesday night and to attend the races on Wednesday.

I've been part of the ThoroFan board since October 2010 and am the Treasurer of the not-for-profit organization. We've made great strides with membership and industry groups over the past few years and we recently received news that our Annual Awards Brunch will officially be part of the Eclipse Awards weekend at Gulfstream Park next January on the Friday before the Eclipse Awards event.

We held our first Annual Awards Brunch last January and pulled off a successful event (which isn't easy doing from New York) that featured Nick Zito as the keynote speaker, and we presented our first annual ThoroFan Award to Ms. Wolfson, owner of Affirmed. She attended with family and friends and was truly honored by the Award. We also had handicapper of the year, Michael Beychok and Starlight Racing/NBC Sports personality Donna Barton Brothers as guest speakers. Here's hoping with the support of the NTRA we continue to grown this event.

If you haven't checked out Tom Amello's Joe ThoroFan blog and his Saratoga Diaries, make sure you check it out, there is a ton of useful information there.

After the meeting we had a nice casual drink and readied for the sale, which was my first time ever attending any type of sale. It was fascinating seeing the horses up close in the walking ring and reading the pedigrees provided with the free catalogs that were on site. It really is quite the social event (if you're not working, of course) with tons of fans, locals and industry types all over the place. The facility is of the highest quality and the drinks were cold. After about an hour, a colleague and I started to amuse ourselves by trying to guess the final bid using "The Price is Right" model and would bet a buck a hip. If you hit the number on the nose it paid double. Yours truly walked away with 16 crisp ones after nailing hip 113 on the nose in the final bet of the night. Degenerate gambling at it's best.

On Wednesday, I mostly caught up with friends around the track, but managed to make a wager or three early in the card. I benefited greatly from the DQ of Orino as I had singled West Hills Giant in the middle of a 6x1x5 Pick-3 trying to catch some long shots around WHG. Let's say I wasn't too upset by the decision. Ironically I was standing in the winner's circle next to the two jockeys Saez and Prado who were having a civilized discussion about the inquiry during the long wait for the decision.

Here are some pictures from the two days at the Spa...

Inside the F-T Sales Pavilion

Do I hear $650,000?

Well, yes I do (on this horse)

Outside walking ring

Goose and Tonic (drink of choice)

Drum Roll, please in Race 4

Johnny V on 6-1 Drum Roll

The Toddster, JV and assistant

Luis Saez on Orino

Edgar Prado aboard West Hills Giant

The Spa from the inner turf course

View of the Turf Terrace, Durkin Central
and Press Box

Durkin Central

Beautiful Video Board showing post parade
before the Cab Calloway

By us the first time from the hedge

Eclipse Worthy - Finish Photo
(jumped the gun)

Prado on the phone with the stewards

A dejected Saez after
the DQ

A not very happy James Bond
trainer for Orino after the DQ

Winner via DQ - West Hills Giant

Winner's Photo

Excited Groom!

Prince of Wales Day: Successful Twilight Card

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 11:45:00 +0000

That's your 2013 Prince of Wales winner, Uncaptured, a 3-year-old son of Lion Heart, who won the 78th edition of the second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown on Tuesday evening at Fort Erie Race Track. I was fortunate enough to cover the race for The Buffalo News, ironically a race I had never had the opportunity to write about in my stint as the national racing writer for the paper. My recap of the race can be found here.

The border oval was rocking on Tuesday night, and I'd say the experiment of moving the race to a Tuesday evening proved to be a success. Handle was up, and by the looks of the parking lot, attendance was up and the weather was outright spectacular.

The race day had its share of long shots and favorites winning over the course of the twilight card. The $1 Pick Five paid over $13,000. The only downer of the evening was the scratches of two of trainer Mark Casse's horses Dynamic Sky and Spring in the Air out of the Prince of Wales earlier in the day. But he still had the favorite, Uncaptured for owner John C. Oxley, who handled the Fort Erie dirt surface for his third win in four career dirt starts.

River Seven was valiant in defeat losing by only a length to the classy Uncaptured after a disappointing 10th place finish in the Queen's Plate.

Overall, it was a magnificent day at the track and from what I could tell everyone had themselves a very good time. It was great to see my Woodbine friends Keith McCalmont and John Siscos who made the trip down from Toronto for the race as well as seeing a lot of friends from the Buffalo area who braved the bridge to enjoy a lovely evening at the border oval.

Here are a few pictures from my Prince of Wales day at the Fort...

Welcome to the Fort!

Food Trucks were onsite

Pie Food Truck with
directions to the Tiki Bar

Musical Talent was in the house

Pig Roast

Packed House

View of the Tiki Bar from
the Winners' Circle

Me, some Mounties and You down with OPP?

19-1 Catch the Luck wins Race 6

Uncaptured enters the paddock

River Seven in the walking ring

River Seven's ownership group -
Tucci Stables

Casse and Mena head to meet Uncaptured

Miguel Mena aboard Uncaptured

Eurico Rosa da Silva in the irons
on River Seven

Stephen Bahen on third place
finisher Niigon's Glory

Power Phil takes them past us
for the first time

Uncaptured glides past River Seven
to win the Prince of Wales

Winners' Circle Photo
in the beautiful Fort Erie infield

Trophy time

Miguel Mena and the goods

Casse and Mena being interviewed by
Jason Portuando

And that's a wrap from Fort Erie, hope you enjoyed the races and if you've never been to the Fort, make it a point to visit, it's a beautiful track with lots of great people.

Prince of Wales Post Draw Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Sat, 27 Jul 2013 20:23:00 +0000

Prince of Wales Post Positions

This afternoon at the Race Office on the backstretch of Fort Erie Racetrack the post position draw for the 78th running of the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes was completed with Uncaptured, the 9-5 favorite drawing the rail. This year's race will take place on Tuesday evening at approximately 7:30 p.m. at the 116-year old race track when eight horses will go 1 3/16-miles on the 8th race of the card.

The event's drawmaster was Sam McComb (pictured above) who won the 1965 edition of the Prince of Wales aboard Good Old Mort (no video available). Mark Casse, similar to his entries in the Queen's Plate, entered four horses and will have half of the field for the second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown restricted for 3-year-olds foaled in Canada.

Canada's richest race run on real dirt will feature three horses trained by Casse that are also owned by John C. Oxley. Dynamic Sky (3-1) and the filly, Spring in the Air (4-1) will join Uncaptured as the three Oxley horses in the race. Ironically they drew the first three posts. Casse was tempted to enter Uncaptured in the $1 million Grade 1 Haskell this weekend, but obviously a chance at a $300,000 payday against an easier field appealed more to Casse who will look to sweep the trifecta with his top 3 horses.

His fourth entry, Jagger M has also ran well on the dirt while at Gulfstream this winter and is the fourth choice on the morning line for owner Gabe Grossberg. Casse won last year's Prince of Wales with the filly, Dixie Strike after she finished third in the Plate. Spring in the Air finished third in this year's Plate and will try and duplicate Dixie Strike's path to the Fort's winner's circle. Casse has won the race twice, winning also with Gallant in 2009.

A horse to watch is River Seven, a finalist for 2-year-old colt in last year's Sovereign Awards, the year end awards for Canadian thoroughbreds. Trainer Nick Gonzalez has always seen the potential in River Seven who stumbled at the break in the Plate Trial and could never get it going in the Queen's Plate finishing 10th. He'll be a nice price on Tuesday, his morning line set at 12-1.

Gonzalez told me before the Plate that the son of Johannesburg that "River Seven is a way better horse than Midnight Aria," said Gonzalez, "I've been telling all my friends or whoever will listen that he's the faster horse." Midnight Aria, the winner of this year's Queen's Plate is getting a breather and will be sitting out the Prince of Wales. River Seven fired a bullet on July 21 on the Woodbine dirt training track going 5 furlongs in 1:00 in his first workout after the Plate.

Miguel Mena will come in to ride the talented Uncaptured for Casse and Joel Rosario will make the ride down the Thruway to make his first ever appearance at the border oval. Shaun Bridgmohan will also be making his Fort debut aboard Jagger M. Casse has hinted that a win by Uncaptured in the Prince of Wales could send him eastward to Saratoga for the Travers Stakes later next month.

Four horses in the field have never ran a race on a dirt surface, Rackman, River Seven, Niigon's Glory and Power Phil.

The two newcomers to the Triple Crown trail are the two outside horses, Niigon's Glory and Power Phil, both of whom skipped the Plate. Power Phil looks like he will be a pace factor as he looks like he may show some early speed. Trainer Robert Tiller, who like Casse has never won a Queen's Plate, has a Prince of Wales win under his belt, winning the 2001 race with Win City.

Niigon's Glory, a son of the 2004 Plate winner, Niigon, races for Chiefswood Stables and trainer Rachel Halden. He has finished second in three straight Ontario-bred allowance races recording three straight matching 69 Beyer figures.

For those wondering about my bridge times today. Over to Canada: 15 minutes; Back to USA: 55 minutes. One of the reasons I always hesitate heading over to the border oval, sometimes it can be a drag waiting on the bridge. Today, I took advantage by handicapping the Saratoga card and listening to the HRTV simulcast on satellite radio, so it wasn't as brutal as usual.

Here are the post positions, trainers, jockeys and odds for the eight horses entered in this year's race:

Prince of Wales Post Positions

PP Horse Trainer Jockey Odds

1 Uncaptured Casse Mena 9-5

2 Dynamic Sky Casse Rosario 3-1

3 Spring in the Air Casse Boulanger 4-1

4 Rackman Nosowenko McAleney 30-1

5 River Seven Gonzalez da Silva 12-1

6 Jagger M Casse Bridgmohan 6-1

7 Niigon's Glory Halden Bahen 15-1

8 Power Phil Tiller Contreras 12-1

Prince of Wales field shaping up

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 01:05:00 +0000

The field for the 78th running of the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie Race Track is shaping up for next Tuesday night's second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown and it looks like the race will attract nine starters. The probable starters is likely to include six returnees from the Queen's Plate on July 7 and three newcomers, one being the highly regarded Uncaptured for trainer Mark Casse, who will likely don the favorite's role with Plate winner Midnight Aria passing on the race as reported on by Toronto-based DRF writer Bill Tallon. Like the Preakness in the US, the second jewel is run at 1 3/16-miles.

In breaking with tradition at the 116-year-old border oval, the race will be run as the feature of a twilight card on a Tuesday evening. With Woodbine, Saratoga and Del Mar all dark on Tuesdays, optimism is high that the simulcast handle will increase from its usual home on Sunday afternoon. In addition, bridge traffic from the USA should be much lighter on a Tuesday evening. The race, the 8th on the card will go off somewhere around 7:30 p.m.

Here's a look at the probables for the race and some comments a week out from the race...

County Lineman

County Lineman ran 11th of 12 in the Plate and was never a factor. He only has one win in five career starts and his only effort on dirt, Fort Erie's surface, was a last place finish at Gulfstream last winter. The Silent Name (JPN) colt was a toss in the Plate and I can't see him doing much in here.

Dynamic Sky

Dynamic Sky was the show horse in the Plate beaten eight lengths by the eventual winner Midnight Aria after winning the Plate Trial. Casse will send three colts to the party in an attempt to win his second straight Prince of Wales. He won last year's edition with the filly, Dixie Strike who also finished third in the Plate and came back to win the second leg. Has had success on the dirt in the States winning the $100K Pasco at Tampa and finishing second to Falling Sky in the Sam F. Davis, the prep for the Tampa Bay Derby. It will be interesting if Casse can entice jockey Joel Rosario to take a trip down the Thruway from Saratoga to ride him again.

Jagger M

Jagger M finished fifth in the Plate beaten 11 lengths by the winner. He has some late closing speed, so he will need some pace to run into and he might get it if Power Phil goes in the race and is tracked by Uncaptured. He's a sneaky colt who could jump into the trifecta or superfecta.

Niigon's Glory has finished second in three straight Ontario-sired allowance races, one against probable Power Phil. Trained by Rachel Halden, the son of the Plate winner Niigon would likely have Steven Bahen aboard, as he is Halden's fiancee and rides most of her mounts. He seems to be over his head against this field.

Power Phil is another newcomer and looks to be the speed in the race. Has faced similar company losing to Pyrite Mountain by a nose in the $125K Kingarvie as a 2-year-old last December. The son of Philanthropist shouldn't have a problem with the distance and if no one challenges could get away with highway robbery, but after the pace scenario at the Plate, I doubt that will happen again.

Pyrite Mountain

Pyrite Mountain burned a lot of cash at the windows in the Plate after being a buzz horse before the race. He has not been the same horse since he upset Uncaptured in the $100K Wando Stakes on Derby weekend finishing a disappointing fourth as the favorite in the Plate Trial and an unenthusiastic seventh beaten 20 lengths in the Plate. Horse seems to be a bit of an enigma and you can't be sure which one will show up next Tuesday. Has never run on dirt, but Woodbine horses rarely have issues transitioning to the dirt.

Rackman

Finishing behind County Lineman in last was Rackman, a late entry to the Plate who didn't really seem to belong. The Nosowenkos are riding it out though and trying again in the Prince of Wales. You can't win 'em if you don't run 'em a trainer once told me. A good bet to finish last again, will be a big number on Tuesday.

River Seven

Nick Gonzalez will try to win his first Prince of Wales with River Seven after capturing his second Plate earlier in the month at Woodbine with Midnight Aria. The Fort Erie-based trainer is high on the Johannesburg colt and even told me several times he thinks he's the better horse of his two Plate entries. He's trained well on the dirt in the past and isn't worried about his first race on the real stuff. He wasn't exerted in the Plate, cashing it in on the far turn, as it just wasn't his day, so he may be ready to fire next Tuesday. Would be a sentimental win for Gonzalez who still has a shot for a trainer Triple Crown. Tucci Stables owners of this year's Plate winner are also the owners of River Seven.

Uncaptured
(Photo credit: Michael Burns)

The probable favorite will be Uncaptured who last raced in Louisville finishing second in the Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill behind Code West who is headed to the Jim Dandy this weekend. When I spoke with trainer Mark Casse before the Plate he was contemplating running Uncaptured in the Haskell, especially if either Dynamic Sky or Spring in the Air ran well in the Plate to keep them separated. He also indicated the purse difference and stallion potential with a win in the Haskell versus the restricted Prince of Wales. But here we sit, with Uncaptured looking to be present across the border come next week. He has fared exceptionally well at Churchill on the dirt winning a Grade 2 and finishing second in two Grade 3 races. He will be the class of the race and could be odds-on at post time.

The Post Draw is set for Noon on Saturday at Fort Erie l and we'll post the gate and morning line odds here at the Space Station as we approach the biggest and richest race run at the border oval this year. A race that a mere five months ago was almost an after-thought with the issues at the southern Ontario racetrack.

Saratoga Opener: Day in Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Sat, 20 Jul 2013 14:25:00 +0000

It was somewhat prophetic when I snapped the above picture in the paddock prior to the 95th running of The Schuylerville Stakes (G3) on Friday afternoon. The jockey statues of the two horses that dead heated in the 2012 Travers are prominently displayed in the paddock at the Spa, in addition to the two canoes in the infield pond. The feature race of opening day ended in a dead heat between the Bret Calhoun-trained Bahnah and Brazen Persuasion trained by Steve Asmussen.

We spent the day on The Porch, a very nice spot to watch the races, even in the oppressive heat that has been bearing down on the Capitol Region over the past few days. There was a nice breeze blowing through our area so it wasn't as overbearing as it could have been. After the track we ventured up to Saratoga National for some drinks and appetizers on the patio that was very relaxing. We ended the evening at the Merry Monk (formerly Tiznow) where I tried the pomme frittes with chipotle mayo that hit it out of the park.

My advance on the meeting for The Buffalo News focuses on some records, the big races of the meet and the historical perspective of the 150th anniversary of racing in Saratoga. Today's big race is the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks which has attracted only five fillies including the Kentucky Oaks winner Princess of Sylmar and Unlimited Budget, last seen finishing sixth in the Belmont Stakes against the boys. I think Unlimited Budget will defeat the Oaks champion, who likely won't get the pace scenario that favored her late closing style in Louisville.

Here's a look at the day in pictures, primarily of the 2-year-old maiden race won impressively by Stopchargingmaria and the Schuylerville....

Donna Barton Brothers interviews
Todd Pletcher

Hall of Fame trainers Zito and Lukas
shoot the breeze

Second place finisher in the 3rd
22-1 shot J. Quirk

Trainer Gary Contessa

Maggie Wolfendale chats with
Mike Repole

Rare visit by Toronto-based jock
Emma-Jayne Wilson

Zito and Joel Rosario
discuss strategy

Johnny V aboard Stopchargingmaria

Stopchargingmaria romps

Win Photo - Repole Stables
Stopchargingmaria

Bret Calhoun saddles
Bahnah

Jose Lezcano and Johnny V

Javier Castellano aboard Elena Strikes

Johnny V up on Yes Liz

Rosie Napravnik on Brazen Persuasion

Corey Lanerie on Bahnah

Head bobbing to the wire in the Schuylerville

Dead heater Bahnah

Dead heater Brazen Persuasion

Twitter Accounts: Back in Time

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 21:10:00 +0000

Do you ever think back and wonder what it would have been like if Twitter had always been around? I do.

It's been awhile since we've had a little fun at the Space Station, so I thought I'd take you back in time to a Twitterdom far, far, away and share some Twitter posts of some folks you've probably heard of from racing's past with their faux Twitter handles and avatars, of course.

Joe Hirsch, Turf Writer

"@TheDean: Someday they'll name a Press Box after me that will last forever. #churchill #hinthint"

Bing Crosby

"@WhiteChristmas: Racetrack? That song is about my dinner. #steakandlobster #DelMar"

Chic Anderson

"@TremendousCaller: Need a signature line...drawing a blank....anybody?"

Jimmy The Greek

"@TheGreek: Bet the gray horses I hear they have an extra tendon."

Secretariat

"@BigRed: Funny that you use a sham to dust things, 'cuz I just dusted that dude. #sham #31andaHalf"

Alydar

"@Bridesmaid78: @PeteAxthelm: Stop complaining, I told you to bet me to place."

Derrick Davis

"@FixIsIn: Live to all in the Pick Six!!! #BreedersCup02"

Lucien Laurin

"@BeingLucienLaurin: My middle name is Octavio. #LOL"

JT Lundy

"@CalumetKing: Insurance premiums are crazy expensive, yo."

Harvey Pack

"@PackAtTheTrack: Hello? Is this Tweeter thingy on?"

Eddie Arcaro

"@TheMaster: Next guy who calls me "Banana Nose" in the jocks room is going over the hedge. #sorrynotsorry"

Colonel Matt Winn

"@ColonelYum: I hate when they screw up my extra crispy order at the drive-thru. #churchill #KFCFail"

George Woolf

"@IceMan: This one's for Red! #matchrace38 #theBiscuit"

Fake Woody Stephens

"@NotTheWoodster: Call me Mr.Consecutive. #belmont #FiveStraight"

Jim McKay

"@YellowJacket: I was the first voice of Baltimore television. #truedat"

Samuel D. Riddle,
owner of War Admiral

"@RiddleMeThis: #FF @WarAdmiral #matchrace38"

Bill Shoemaker

"@IfTheShoeFits: Next writer that calls me the George Blanda of horse racing is gonna get it. #oldguysrule"

Pittsburgh Phil

@GamblingFool: "Hey anybody got a Form? Wait...what...they haven't invented it yet?"

Hope you enjoyed this little post about Twitter handles gone dark....if you have any good ones leave them in the comments.

Queen's Plate 2013: The Day in Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 15:29:00 +0000

Photo Courtesy: Mike Burns Photography Ltd.

That's Midnight Aria on the right holding off the charging favorite, Up With the Birds to win the 154th Queen's Plate at a rain-soaked Woodbine Racetrack. It was a fun day up with our neighbors to the north as I covered the big race for The Buffalo News. My advance on winning trainer Nick Gonzalez had Midnight Aria ($35.20) on top for a nice 16-1 hit. I also wrote a piece for the #QP2013 website on trainer Mark Casse. The Woodbine Media office did a great job promoting the race on social media and the handle showed some of those affects with a record-setting $9.7M for a Plate day.

My post race recap for The Buffalo News highlighted the upcoming second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown which will be run at beautiful Fort Erie Racetrack on Tuesday July 30 during a twilight racing card at the border oval. The home-based Gonzalez has never won the Prince of Wales and would be a feather in the cap of the two-time Plate winning trainer.

I was happy for the Tuccis, nephew Lou and his uncle Carlo who have been chasing the Plate dream for over 40 years. I caught them about a half hour before the Plate draw breakfast and they were the first owners that had shown up for the draw and seemed like kids in a candy store, so excited to be a part of the race. They certainly cashed in on Midnight Aria who they claimed at Gulfstream Park for $35,000 and have now won a $1 million race.

It'll be interesting to see who Mark Casse sends down to the Fort. In my conversations with him last week he mentioned if either of the two Oxley horses (Dynamic Sky and Spring in the Air) performed well in the Plate he would likely send them to Fort Erie. His other top colt, Uncaptured, second in the G3 Matt Winn at Churchill several weeks ago would then likely be sent to the Haskell. It should be interesting to see what he does with Dynamic Sky finishing third in the Plate.

Here are some pictures from Queen's Plate day at Woodbine:

Beautiful Woodbine Racetrack
Press Box view

Jockey Gerry Olquin

Caton Bredar interview Olquin
at the HorsePlayerNow tent
Jeremy Plonk looks on

Food Trucks Galore

Night School Tent was doing
brisk business teaching newbies the game

Woodbine facade

Hard Not to Like - Johnny V up

Irish Mission - Alex Solis up

Moment of Majesty - Joel Rosario was in the house

Solid Appeal - Jesse Campbell up

Trainer Mark Casse with
the Oxleys trailing

Boom Shakalaka

Solid Appeal captures the $200K G2 Dance Smartly

Campbell had a pretty big day

Solid Appeal - Win Photo

Bath Time - Solid Appeal

And then this happened....

Call to the Post for QP 154

Midnight Aria - Campbell up

Third place finisher Dynamic Sky
Rosario in the irons

Spring in the Air - Gary Boulanger
had the mount

Eurico Rosa da Silva on Up With the Birds

Rainy Woodbine grandstand

First time by in the Plate with
lone speed Midnight Aria on the engine

Tucci Stables
Gonzalez fists up in background

Lou Tucci parading the winner
past the grandstand

Campbell tossing flowers
from the Queen's Plate blanket in the air

That's a wrap from Woodbine and the Queen's Plate, hope you enjoyed the coverage.

Casse seeks elusive Plate win #QP2013

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 16:25:00 +0000

Trainer Mark Casse with
Owner John C. Oxley

TORONTO – It's the one race in Canada that has eluded him in 35 years of training thoroughbreds.

Five-time Sovereign Award winning trainer Mark Casse has achieved almost everything possible when it comes to thoroughbred racing in Canada. The one missing victory in a training career approaching 10,000 starts is a win in the Queen’s Plate, Canada’s most famous horse race.

The first leg of Canada's triple crown on Sunday afternoon at Woodbine Racetrack will be the 154th running of the $1 million race and Casse will send four starters to the gate seeking that elusive first Plate victory. He is winless in 13 attempts at capturing the Gallop for the Guineas with his best finish being a second place result in 2011 with 61-1 shot Hippolytus.

Last year he thought he had a solid shot at getting the monkey off his back with his filly Dixie Strike, who came back to win the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie after finishing third in the Plate. "I decided after last year when I thought I had good shot to win it, that I'm not making any more predictions. I'm starting to feel like Todd Pletcher does in the Kentucky Derby," said Casse.

His two top chances are owned by John C. Oxley, who four years ago started using Casse regularly with much success. The filly Spring in the Air has faced top competition, including three Grade 1 fields over the past year, looks to have a big shot at getting Casse into the Plate winner's circle. "Of all four of the horses, the horse training the best so far is Spring in the Air. If she could come up with the effort she gave in the [Grade 1] Alcibiades last year, she may be our best chance."

CONTINUE READING AT QUEENSPLATE.COM

Barber, MGM chief, hopes Kaigun is Plate-ready

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 01:22:00 +0000

MGM CEO and Chair Gary Barber

Thoroughbred racing has its share of prominent owners and MGM CEO Gary Barber fits the bill as his Ontario-bred colt Kaigun will try to win the 154th edition of the Queen's Plate on Sunday afternoon at Woodbine Racetrack. Barber took over the sole title of chairman and CEO of the Lion last October when his longtime partner and co-chairman Roger Birnbaum shed the title to produce exclusively for MGM full-time. The two had been partners since the mid-1990's in Spyglass Entertainment producing such successes as The Sixth Sense and Seabiscuit.

MGM which emerged from bankruptcy several years ago has undergone a renaissance since Barber and Birnbaum took over the reigns. Barber is the money guy as he is a former chartered and certified public accountant. In the first quarter of 2013, MGM continues to show large increases in revenues (168 percent over the first quarter of 2012) attributed mainly from theatrical revenues spurred from the movies Skyfall and The Hobbit according to the most recent quarterly report filed with the SEC.

Barber has long been involved with horse racing and according to his Breeders' Cup bio he owns nearly 50 thoroughbreds through various ownership interests with about half of them in training. Trainer Mark Casse trains eight of those horses, five of which are stakes winners. Barber with his partners from Quintessential Racing will start Kaigun, the lightly raced son of Northern Afleet, the sire of multiple-Classic winner Afleet Alex.

I caught up with Casse on Monday and you can tell he enjoys training for Barber continually touting him as "one of the good guys" of the sport. Later in the day Casse and Barber would team up to produce a track record with their 4-year old sensation Delegation who covered the mile and a quarter Dominion Day Stakes in 2:01.51 winning by nine and one-quarter lengths. The previous track record belonged to Strait of Dover set in last year's Queen's Plate.

Justin Stein, the rider of last year's Plate winner will get the call aboard Kaigun who worked five furlongs on Saturday in 1:00.2. With Gary Boulanger having to make a commitment on Spring in the Air early, the door was open for Stein to get the mount on Kaigun and Casse thinks the horse and jockey "will fit nicely together."

Boulanger who rode horses for Casse during the winter as part of his comeback worked Kaigun and grew fond of the chestnut colt. Gary thought so much of him he drove from Ocala to Lexington, a 12-12 hour trip just to ride him in his maiden race at Keeneland. He worked Kaigun the other day. We've been 50-50 whether Kaigun was going to run and we needed a commitment on Spring in the Air so he went ahead and made the commitment before we even knew Kaigun was going to run," said Casse.

He's a developing horse who broke his maiden in his next race at Woodbine and then finished seventh in the Plate Trial over five lengths behind the winner Dynamic Sky. Casse admittedly knows they are taking a shot with Kaigun, but he raved over his talent level during our conversation.

For Gary Barber, a win on Sunday would be the perfect script for this year's Queen's Plate.

The Plate, Mid-Year Report and DNC

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Sun, 30 Jun 2013 15:31:00 +0000

Plate Stuff

That's Nipissing (Photo Credit: Michael Burns Photography), the Woodbine Oaks winner who will be looking to claim Canada's most famous race, the Queen's Plate, a week from today at Woodbine. I'll be heading to the Great White North and suburban Toronto to cover the Plate for The Buffalo News (TBN) on Thursday for the post position draw and on Sunday afternoon. My Friday racing notebook focused on some of the latest news on the Plate contenders and you can also find information about betting on horse racing online.

Making a bet on the 2013 Queen's Plate race could prove fruitful as it looks like we could have upwards of 12 starters in the gate for this year's edition of "The Gallop for the Guineas." In addition to my usual coverage of the Plate at TBN I will be doing a trainer feature for the Queen's Plate.com website which will have features from an outstanding crew of writers up through Plate Day. The Twitter hashtag for this year's Plate is #QP2013, so be sure to check out all things Canadian horse racing over the next week.

UPDATE: It looks like Rackman is off the Plate trail after working 6F this morning handily at 1:14.20, leaving the field at 11 probable starters. Kaigun breezed 5F in 1:00.20 this morning and will have last year's winning jockey Justin Stein in the irons for trainer Mark Casse. Another Casse contender, Jagger M breezed 5F in his final Plate work in 1:02.20. It was a big morning for workouts as Nipissing worked 4F in :48 for conditioner Rachel Halden. Up With the Birds and His Race to Win worked in tandem for trainer Malcolm Pierce in 1:00.60.

Mid-Year Report

I launched my 2013 mid-year racing report this weekend in print at TBN and here is a link to the highs and lows to the racing season at halftime through my eyes. I've enjoyed writing the halftime report since 2008 and you can find links to past mid-year reports here if you want to take a stroll down memory lane. Unfortunately the 2012 post is currently lost in cyberspace after the TBN website redesign, hopefully it'll be recovered someday.

DNC

One of the largest companies in Buffalo is Delaware North Company (DNC) was featured in the Business section of this morning's TBN. One thing I did not realize was how DNC, a company listed as No. 172 on Forbes list of largest privately held companies that has over $2.6 billion in annual revenues, obtained its start in the hospitality and food-service business. You guessed it...horse racing.

An excerpt from the article on "Changing Customer Tastes" Chairman and CEO Jeremy Jacobs offered this tidbit:

"I often tell people, what was the largest attended business in sports years ago? It was horse racing. More people went to horse racing than any other sport. Today it’s non-existent, and you have to grow from that or you become nonexistent. The horse racing business got us into the gaming business. We wouldn’t have done that if we hadn’t been in that horse racing business."

Whoa. Non-existent.

President and Chief Operating Officer Charles E. Moran, Jr. offers the following on passing on the chance to run the Aqueduct and their decision to opt out in the re-bidding of the contract eventually won by Genting:

"We had a huge number of qualifiers that they never got around to looking at, to be candid with you. And in the final analysis, the company that did the deal, they put in no qualifications whatsoever about competition, about requirements from the state. They decided to take a risk and write a $375 million check. We would have never done it the way they did it."

Interesting perspective from a company that runs Finger Lakes Casino & Racetrack, the Arizona OTB Network and has a thorough knowledge of gaming operations. A related entity owns the Boston Bruins and DNC currently has hospitality contracts at such well-known places as Yosemite National Park and Oriole Park at Camden Yards as well as a number of major airports throughout the U.S.

************************

For my friends up north in Canada, have a great Canada Day tomorrow and I look forward to seeing some of you next week in Toronto.

Belmont 145: The Day in Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 00:45:00 +0000

After spending a long weekend in the Big Apple, we're back in the B-lo and taking a breath after an exciting Triple Crown series that culminated in Palace Malice's big win in Saturday's Belmont Stakes. The day ended up being picture perfect after the onslaught of rain that the metropolitan New York area experienced on Friday and in the early Saturday morning hours.

It was an exciting race that came down to two Hall of Fame jockeys battling it out at the top of the stretch with Mike Smith avenging his Belmont loss on Paynter last year with the victory aboard the son of Curlin. As a big fan of Curlin, I am punching myself in the face for not using him. Worse yet, in my 4/26 post on the Sports, Ink blog in my annual Degrees of Separation post I listed the following two horses in the "Afleet Alex Division" and I quote:

The Afleet Alex Divison: Horses that won't win the Derby, but will have to be respected and could hit the board. Those qualifying here have the potential to become a Classic winner down the road in either the Preakness or the Belmont Stakes.

Palace Malice: Late charger who seems to be a Belmont horse to me. I like him very much, and will keep an eye on his draw, his daddy Curlin won the Preakness and was nosed out of the Belmont.

Oxbow: Still waiting for this one to show up. Thinking it may be in the Belmont where he may savor the Test of a Champion.

Yeesh....did I cash on either? Take a wild guess. Maybe I should read myself more often! Anyways the weekend was a blast and the Space Gal and I took in the Big Apple with gusto. She even managed to make the Fashion at the Races blog (red dress, white fascinator).

My post race recap of the Belmont for The News can be found here. I also live blogged during the stakes portion of the races at the Sports, Ink blog from Big Sandy. My paper picks of Revolutionary-Oxbow-Freedom Child didn't quite pan out, although I felt very positive about Oxbow running a big one and he sure did respond and paid fairly handsomely for the place and show spots.

Our next assignment will be up north early next month where we'll be covering the Queen's Plate, one of my favorite races of the year up at Woodbine in Toronto. We'll have a post up later this week discussing likely contenders and some early thoughts after this weekend's Plate Trial win by Dynamic Sky.

Here are some pictures from Belmont Stakes Day with some color commentary mixed in..

A view of the box seats from the trackside
winner's circle (if you look close enough on left hand
side first box - you'll see the white-shirted
former NYRA chairman Charlie Hayward)

Palace Malice reaches the winner's circle

Space Invasion: Belmont Park

Space Gal stylin' on paddock rail

Wabbajack - Ninety North Stables star
before the Easy Goer

Repole Stables' Micromanage

Easy Goer winner Power Broker
with Rosie Napravnik up

Johnny V aboard Stephanie's Kitten
winner of the Just A Game

DWL saddling Optimizer before
the Manhattan

Point of Entry in the paddock
before the Manhattan

Incognito before the Belmont

Rosie aboard Unlimited Budget

Orb heads to the track with Joel Rosario in the irons

Horses milling around before
entering the gate (Space Gal view)

Crowd anticipating the start

Belmont Tote Board

Palace Malice about 31 lengths from the wire
(see blue pole marking Secretariat's margin of victory)

Give that Palace Malice a hand!

My view from the winner's circle

That's a wrap for this year's Triple Crown. My weekly Friday column can be found here so be sure to bookmark to keep tabs on me for the next few months.

Preakness 138: The Day in Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:43:00 +0000

Oxbow wins the Preakness

There's your gate-to-wire winner, Oxbow, taking the 138th edition of the Preakness at Pimlico Race Course. I moved around most of the morning spending time in and around Old Hilltop trying to snap a few pictures for the 'ole blog. I was live blogging from mid-afternoon through the Dixie for The News and luckily that was during the heavy misting. My recap for The News for this morning's paper can be found here.

It was a fun, but exhausting weekend in Baltimore, my third year covering the race and I watched from the winner's circle for the first time instead of the perch up in the press box. One thing I saw before the race was the trouble that Govenor Charlie's handlers were having with his bridle when taking him out to the track. More than one F-bomb was being thrown at the person who was responsible for securing it in the paddock. They struggled for a good 90 seconds trying to get it on and the horse was none too happy about it. You can see it in a picture I captured below.

While the pace of the race was dawdling through the six furlong mark, the big surprise to me was that no one challenged Oxbow in the early going to keep him honest. Maybe they were just freaked by the hot pace of the Derby and the havoc it presented. I didn't have Oxbow, I liked him on the Triple Crown trail based on his pedigree to go long (probably one of the top two), but just got spooked by his inability to win and to sometimes find trouble. Oh well, that's why they call it gambling.

Here are some pictures (click to enlarge) from Saturday's travels...

The Jagermeister Stage in the Infield

InfieldFest

Pitbull on the Main Stage

Space Gal's required Celebrity Photo:
Gene Simmons & Shannon Tweed

Johnny V on Summer Applause
for Chad Brown

Oxbow heads to the indoor paddock

The jockeys cross over to the saddling area

Kevin Krigger in full jog mode

Rosie and Johnny V

Julien Leparoux in the "Green Bay" silks

Baff

Hall of Famer and legendary Notre Damer
Paul Hornung in the trackside winners circle

Doug O'Neill

Derby winner Orb

Oxbow

Govenor Charlie's handlers having
some issues

Itsmyluckyday

Post Parade: Orb

Post Parade: Goldencents

Post Parade: Titletown Five

Post Parade: Departing

Post Parade: Mylute

Post Parade: Oxbow

Post Parade: Will Take Charge

Post Parade: Govenor Charlie

Post Parade: Itsmyluckyday

NBC's Donna Barton Brothers

D. Wayne Lukas - "Hey There!"

DWL and Ms. Racing Queen (to the right)

First time by - Oxbow loose on the lead

That's a wrap from Baltimore...back in a New York minute for the Belmont.

Black-Eyed Susan Day: The Day in Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Sat, 18 May 2013 14:39:00 +0000

That's Fiftyshadesofhay with jockey Joel Rosario up for trainer Bob Baffert after winning the 89th running of the Grade 2 $500,000 Black-Eyed Susan (BES) Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. I arrived yesterday morning and moved around the track all day enjoying the brilliant sunshine and great day of racing that Pimlico serves up on the eve of the Preakness Stakes.

My recap on the BES for The Buffalo News can be found here. In the finale, Bona Venture Stables' Summer of Fun lost a photo in the Old Hilltop Stakes. I spoke with managing partner Dan Collins this morning who said "She came out fine, a little tired. She's just got to learn to keep the lead, that's twice now." She'll likely point towards the Virginia Oaks at Colonial or the Lake George at Saratoga later this summer.

It's a little overcast, but hoping any rain showers will hold off for today. the infield is starting to fill up and the first race goes off at 10:45 a.m. on what is the longest day of racing of the year. Later today I'll be live blogging (starting around 3:00 p.m. at the Sports, Ink blog.

I went with Orb in this morning's paper, but will be protecting against a second place finish with some exacta boxes and perhaps a trifecta keying him in second, should something go awry or if he has to play catch up a la Animal Kingdom.

Here's a look at some pictures from yesterday's travels...

Marathon Lady - second in BES,
Robby Albarado up

Toasting - West Point Thoroughbreds
Javier Castellano in the irons

Fiftyshadesofhay wins the BES

Bob Baffert

Shug McGaughey and Bill Mott

Emotional Kitten - Old Hilltop winner
Joel Rosario aboard for the Ramseys

Chad Brown and Castellano discuss
Premier Step's trip

Doug O'Neill after the Old Hilltop
with Birdlover

View from the Turfside Terrace
one of the best in all of racing

Orb on Preakness morning
in traditional stall 40

That's a wrap on the Black-Eyed Susan....good luck everyone.

Derby 139: Post Parade

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Sat, 11 May 2013 16:52:00 +0000

It's been a week since Derby Day and I'm just getting around to posting some Derby pictures from my spot in the winner's circle. With all the hullabaloo about where the media was going to watch the race, my spot on the rail was as good as anywhere else. I was able to see all of the horses parade by (see below) after coming out from the paddock and it was a great spot to be in to see Orb make his move and fly by us.

My post-Derby pre-Preakness thoughts are up at the Sports, Ink blog and am gearing up to head to Baltimore next weekend for a fun weekend in racing. My favorite race day of the year, believe it or not, is Black-Eyed Susan Day at Pimlico. Hanging out at the sixteenth (or is it the eighth?) pole and having a cigar and a cocktail or two while enjoying top flight racing -- can't beat it, and am really looking forward to it.

So here are some pictures from the rail during the post parade of all 19 horses and some post-race photos after the big win.

The Post Parade

Oxbow-Gary Stevens

Revolutionary-Calvin Borel

Golden Soul - Robbie Albarado

Normandy Invasion - Javier Castellano

Mylute - Rosie Napravnik

Giant Finish - Jose Espinoza

Goldencents - Kevin Krigger

Overanalyze - Rafael Bejarano

Palace Malice - Mike Smith
(Even fast in post parade - got past me)

Lines of Battle - Ryan Moore

Itsmyluckyday - Elvis Trujillo

Falling Sky - Luis Saez

Verrazano - Johnny V

Charming Kitten - Edgar Prado

Orb - Joel Rosario

Will Take Charge - Jon Court

Frac Daddy - Victor Lebron

Java's War - Julien Leparoux

Vyjack - Garrett Gomez

Parading towards the starting gate

They're Off - on the big screen

Coming past us the first time

Orbbbbbbbb!!

The Champ

Orb and Joel

Shug meets his champ

Time for a certain photo

Can he win the Preakness?

Cleaned up

Time to head home

That's a wrap from Louisville. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Derby Doings

noreply@blogger.com (Gene Kershner) — Sat, 04 May 2013 16:02:00 +0000

The Twin Spires

Happy Derby Day! The picture above is that of the iconic Twin Spires, appropriately dressed in pink for Oaks Day yesterday. The view was from the Finish Line Suites one of the swanky areas of Churchill Downs where I at least found I could grab a 16 oz. frosty glass of Amstel while watching the Grade 2 Alysheba for 5 beans (not bad).

Speaking of that race, Take Charge Indy showed up 364 days too late for me, winning for the first time since last year's Florida Derby. The Oaks was a shocker but a closer look at the PP's shows Princess of Sylmar with some back form and with the amount of speed in the race it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. Here's my Oaks recap on the Sports, Ink blog from yesterday.

It's starting to rain pretty hard at Churchill right now (11:35 a.m.) and the possibility of an off track is looking more and more a reality. I did some wet track analysis for TBN on Thursday, check out some of the analysis here.

I went with Revolutionary in the big race, due to post, Calvin, pedigree and looks since my arrival. Unfortunately his odds will be pretty depressed by post time (already down to 5-1 from the 10-1 morning line). My advance for The Buffalo News can be found here. Orb and Itsmyluckyday are also part of the equation and may toss in Palace Malice (Pletcher/Smith karma pretty high) if we have a wet track.

I'll be live blogging at the TBN Sports, Ink site this afternoon, so be sure to stop by and see what's going on here in Louisville.

Here are a couple photos from Oaks Day.

Johnny V is back! TAP ready to congratulate

A happy Toddster after the La Troienne

The break in the Alysheba

Alysheba winner Take Charge Indy

Mike Smith on Kentucky Oaks winner Princess of Sylmar

Good luck everyone!