Historically, the phrase “General Quarters” has been a call to action for naval combatants. From Trafalgar to Jutland to Midway the order has gone out for men to stand fast at their battle stations and prepare to receive the enemy. On Saturday afternoon a 3-year-old son of Sky Mesa proved himself worthy of the name General Quarters as he battled out a victory in the Grade 1 Toyota Bluegrass at Keeneland. Owner and trainer Thomas McCarthy wasn’t the only one richly rewarded on the day as General Quarters elated his supporters by returning $30.60 for the win en route to stamping his ticket to the 2009 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May.
Join In the Dance set the early pace, with splits of :24.40 and :49.06. At the top of the stretch, General Quarters was set down for his run, and quickly overtook the fading pace setter. Hold Me Back, Massone, and Terrain were all starting to move well late as well. Unable to gain ground on General Quarters, they would wind up finishing behind him in that exact order, with Join in the Dance a distant 5th. Teamed with jockey Eibar Coa for the first time in his career, General Quarters crossed the finish line going 9 furlongs (1 1/8 miles) in 1:49.26.
The victory, General Quarters third in 11 lifetime starts, gives him graded stakes victories over a route of ground on both conventional dirt and a synthetic surface having also won the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs over Musket Man. He’ll run into that one again in the Kentucky Derby, along with all of the other top 3-year-olds in the nation. I’m not sure how he stacks up against the better horses, but at this point I think you have to rank him around the area of Musket Man.
The two actually present an interesting handicapping challenge for players to ponder considering they’ve taken turns beating each other. Musket Man owns impressive victories in the Tampa Bay Derby and the Illinois Derby. Considering the surfaces involved, those two races may turn out to be better true barometers for the Kentucky Derby than the Blue Grass was. It’ll be interesting to see which one takes more play at the windows just 3 Saturdays from now in the Kentucky Derby.
I think we saw a colt who really grew up in a big way today, and his win adds depth to a 3-year-old division in need of another contender or two after The Pamplemousse was removed from the Derby trail due to injury. His next challenge will be handling the obvious class test looming in the distance. As Steven Crist recently pointed out in the Daily Racing Form’s Saturday edition, the prestige of the Toyota Blue Grass as a true Kentucky Derby prep has been called into question. Only time will tell if this year’s winner will go on to add luster to a proud list of horses to have won on the Blue Grass, or will wind up closer to what we’ve seen in recent years with the likes of Monba (20th in the 2008 Kentucky Derby) and Dominican (11th in the 2007 Kentucky Derby).
I won’t even mention Bandini (19th in the 2006 Derby) since I actually liked him along with Barbaro that year. In fact, Bandini might bet he last horse I actually cashed on at Keeneland, as my inability to pick a winner there continued with the handicapping picks for the Blue Grass. So much for Charitable Man showing the world what Lemon Drops can do. I actually had General Quarters covered in my $.50 Pick 4 ticket, but was knocked out two races earlier when Rebellion just missed getting past Eternal Star in the Grade 2 Commonwealth. He looked good coming on late though. Oh well. On to better days then! Here’s hoping one of you hit the win or the $1399 trifecta.
I put $5 to win on General Quarters and it made up for a bunch of my mistakes all over the country. At least now they have their human interest story for the Derby. It seemed so flat without Julio and The Pamplemousse in the group.
Nice job, Kevin. You do the work. Respect.
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Well, Join in the Dance definitely had some speed, but it was not enough. I actually had General Quarters get listed 2nd in some software we own, but…I tossed him! Oh well, I was so off that it wouldn’t have made any difference. Ha. Seconding ernie…very nice blog…great that you get the videos right up.
HOLD ME BACK finished very willingly for second – would seem to ‘like’ the 1+1/4 of the K-DERBY.
Yes, and in general, the winner never runs his ‘best’ race just prior to the Derby. Next, we’ll have to see if he runs any bullets at Churchill. If so, that to me is a strong contender.
GENERAL QUARTERS threw a 48.1 black ball work 4/4 and changed to EIBAR COA under new trainer McCARTHY. WILL HE GET 1+1/4 OF THE K-DERBY???
**Note that should have been 58.1 for GENERAL QUARTERS work**
Hey Kevin, I work with the great-niece of General Quarters owner/trainer! How wierd is that, she’s a waitress at the restaurant where I do waiting!! (-:
RE-RAN this race again and again. HOLD-ME-BACK with MOTT and DESORMEAUX offer a a rare combination on this GIANT’S CAUSEWAY colt who traces his line back to BOLD RULER and SECRETARIAT to name a few. WILL WATCH HIM CLOSELY IN THE WEEKS UP TO THE K-DERBY.
Funny you should mention that. I keep thinking HMB might be one of the most overlooked in the field. We have to see how he “classes up” against the big boys – but I’ve liked what I’ve seen. Certainly he deserves to be ranked right in the mix with the likes of Musket Man and General Quarters.
“So much for Charitable Man showing the world what Lemon Drops can do.”
Lemons Forever did win the Ky Oaks. CM is coming off a 6-month layoff with no experience on poly or at the distance. His other races are 7f in 124n/c and 6.5f in 117n/c nothing special.
Hold Me Back ran well with Kent D on poly in a non-maiden race at a similar distance to the Lanes End. Off the layoff HMB shows a recent bullet work and a switchback to Kent D. HMB also ran well to the second call in the Remsen on dirt.
Racing in Canada is grade-b/c except for the major turf races like the Woodbine Mile or the International.
GQ ran exactly the same final fraction his last 2 races which show exactly the same lead final fraction. He was steadied early and passed horses late from the comment line so there’s nothing wrong with him. He also shows poly form from his Oct 18 non-maiden sprint, second off the layoff.