November 2006 Archives

Now that he's added the Grade I Frank J. DeFrancis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park to his resume, should the Doug O'Neill-trained Thor's Echo win an Eclipse Award as top sprinter? My answer is yes.

Good luck if you take a stab at what should be a HUGE pick six pool today at Hollywood Park, what with the big carryover paired with the guaranteed $1 million. I think I'm going to pass. Too wide open for me. Two iffy 2-year-old maiden races and a wide-open Hollywood Derby scare me away.

Del Mar announced Tuesday it has decided to install Polytrack as its artificial surface to satisfy the CHRB's mandate that each major Southern California track install an artificial track by the end of 2007.

I went down in smoke yesterday, hitting only two of my pick four races with a $48 ticket, although I had a 20-1 long shot run second in the first leg. Still, not good enough. Here's a $20 pick four ticket I like tonight:

I'm going to take a shot at today's pick four at Hollywood Park because there are a few horses I like that are running in the later races. I like Nickypalmer in the fifth, Spy Aly in the seventh and Zielonko in the nightcap.

Some advice you might find useful today if playing the huge pick six carryover at Hollywood Park:

We made a little money last night at Hollywood Park, what with a $15.80 winner in the first race along with a $1 exacta that paid $24.90. We also had the fifth-race exacta, a four-horse $1 box that would have cost you $12 and returned $35.40. Our best bet of the night, Our Finale, lost a tough three-horse driving photo finish while going off at 5-1. He did return a healthy $6.60 to place.

Let's try to make some money tonight .... my best bet is the John Sadler-trained Our Finale in the seventh. I think Direct Male has a big shot in that race as well.

Is there anyone out there who doesn't believe Invasor is the Horse of the Year after beating a strong field in the Breeders' Cup Classic?

Setafire, with Patrick Valenzuela in the saddle, looks good in this spot. Stretching out for the first time, draws the rail. Chances are good P-Val will have her on, or close to, the lead. She's trained by the more than capable David Hofmans, and P-Val and Hofmans click at a 36-percent success rate. She's worth a look.

As great a trainer as he is, two-time Eclipse Award winner Todd Pletcher went into today's Breeders' Cup 2 for 24 in BC races. After blanking with a record 17 starters at Churchill Downs, he's now 2 for 41. He's not alone. Other great trainers, most notably Bobby Frankel, have also had their problems on Breeders' Cup Day. It's not easy to win when you're entering horses in races where there are six or seven others just as talented as your's.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin deserves a ton of credit for the training job he did with Breeders' Cup Classic winner Invasor, who was forced to miss his main Classic prep -- the Jockey Club Gold Cup -- because of a fever. He was off almost three months, but the layoff did not show one bit.

Invasor's victory was not even five minutes old, and the ESPN crew was debating whether Javier Castellano moved too quickly on Bernardini. Hogwash!!!! Invasor was just the better horse today. Give him credit. He's now 9 of 10 lifetime and probably deserves to win Horse of the Year. Bernardini and Castellano didn't do anything wrong, it was Invasor's brilliance today that should be celebrated.

Another long shot, which makes five in the seven races. Red Rocks, one of the four Irish-bred horses in the race, gives jockey Frankie Dettori his second win of the day. Right now, Dettori looks like the Shoemaker Award winner. The Classic? Well, the way long shots are clicking, you have to take a look at Brother Derek and Lawyer Ron. And Perfect Drift, the horse who is always right there but doesn't win? Can he end his career with a stunner?

The four winners of today's Breeders' Cup races on the dirt have been won by the horses that had the No. 1 post. One more to go, and Brother Derek, 30-1 on the morning line, is on the rail in the Classic.

It just shows how fragile these big, powerful animals are. Track vet reports the injury to Pine Island was too severe to try to save the 3-year-old daughter of Arch. For the Phipps Stable, which owned the filly and has had many glorious moments in the sport, this is one of the most somber days.

Tragedy strikes again on a big racing day when Pine Island, one of the favorites in the Distaff, reportedly dislocated a front ankle in a life-threatening injury. How ironic that the race would be won by a filly -- Round Pound -- who is trained by Michael Matz and was ridden by Edgar Prado, the trainer and jockey connected with Barbaro, who broke down in the Preakness Stakes in May and is still fighting for his life at a Pennsylvania equine hospital.

Five races and three winners paying more than $30. Despite being a long-shot player, I haven't had any of them, although I liked Thor's Echo. Miesque's Approval's Beyer was not going up, but it wasn't going down either. He had a 104 his past two races. In the next one, the Distaff, Beyers are going up for Fleet Indian, Balletto, Pine Island and Pool Land. Four-horse exacta box, anyone?

Thor's Echo was the third Breeders' Cup winner today whose Beyer Speed Rating was going up. We don't know about Ouija Board because they don't get Beyer ratings when they race in Europe. In the Mile, the next Breeders' Cup race, Free Thinking and Gorella have Beyers on the improve. Of course, this is a tougher one to figure because there are so many European horses that don't have Beyer figures.

I could kick myself. I tried to bet Thor's Echo at the last minute and got shut out. NO WAY this horse should have gone off at 15-1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He had the second best Beyer in the race and had just run second in the Ancient Title to Bordonaro, one of the favorites. Plus, Ancient Title runners have historically run well in the Sprint. This is one I totally let get away. Kudos to Doug O'Neill and Corey Nakatani for a job well done. Nakatani could still get that first-ever BC riding triple.

Todd Pletcher, with a record 17 Breeders' Cup starters today, is 0 for 8 so far with nine to go. All it does is show what an extraordinary day Richard Mandella enjoyed at Santa Anita in 2003 when he won four BC races with seven starters that afternoon. It's a record that will be very tough to match and probably never be broken. We were all fortunate to witness such an accomplishment.

Ouija Board showed her class in this one, becoming a two-time Breeders' Cup winner with a powerful victory. She won in 2004 at Lone Star Park in Texas and was second last year at Belmont Park before today's victory. It appeared Wait a While, who had won her past four starts by more than four lengths in each one, didn't enjoy the softer turf course at Churchill Downs.

Wow ... I thought I had a winner there when Corey Nakatani made a bold move with Great Hunter at the top of the stretch and challenged for the lead, but Street Sense then just spurted away and won for fun. Great Hunter didn't even place, having to settle for the show. Something to watch the rest of the day -- for the second straight race, the winner's Beyer was heading upward. Just like Dreaming of Anna, he appeared to be a horse on the rise.

I like Great Hunter in the Juvenile, Wait a While in the Filly & Mare Turf, Siren Lure in the Sprint, Aragorn in the Mile, Fleet Indian in the Distaff, Hurricane Run in the Turf and Invasor in the Classic. Here are some long shots I like on the card:

Well, my day got off to a slow start as my best bet on the Breeders' Cup card, Cash Included with Corey Nakatani up, finished fifth and was never really in the hunt.

I think I'm going to bet One Off in the seventh at Hollywood Park today.