A view of our back deck in the middle of round 2 of "Snwomageddon" on 2/10/10
Well, if you live on the east coast anywhere near the mid-atlantic region, you’ve no doubt seen enough of the white stuff to last you a lifetime. Here in Hanover, PA we received as much as 28 inches of snow over the weekend, only to receive around 30 more inches yesterday. Right on schedule, you guessed it, there’s a chance for even more snow this coming Monday. What on Earth are folks to do being trapped inside their abodes for so long? Thankfully (or in some cases not-so-thankfully) the racing gods have sent answers to our prayers to help break the monotony in the form of numerous noteworthy or debatable issues.
- Curlin’s first foal, the filly from Zophie has passed
I don’t like to start on a down note, but I have to mention this. The filly from Zophie who was Curlin’s first born has passed in what is described as a “paddock accident” just weeks after causing so much hope and well wishing at the announcement of her birth. So much for debating what to name the little gal. I’m taking a glass half full approach with this as we all know how absolutely fragile thoroughbreds can be. The “good news” is that she is not the only of her kind. Curln’s got a fabulous looking daughter from Collect Call, a full brother from Smart Strike and Sherrif’s Deputy, and numerous other foals either just born or on their way. Be sure and check out THIS VIDEO of the foal from Collect Call – it’s a heart warmer, especially in light of the news about Zophie’s filly.
Lost in the hoopla over his direct offspring, it seems many have forgotten the full brother to Curlin who arrived Preakness week in 2009. As a reminder, here’s the video of this amazing little guy from way back then.
There’s also a foal from Curlin out of Home Court (by Storm Cat) that, if you ask me, is the spitting image of dear old dad.
Filly sired by Curlin out of Home Court (by Storm Cat)
- Road to the Roses challenge
In more uplifiting news, The Road to the Roses is officially up and running. that’s right – you can enter up to 3 free stables now (10 horses, 2 trainers, and 2 jockeys). Tencentcielo has started at least one private league I’m aware of called “A dime on the ten.” Once you set your stable up, there’s an opportunity to associate it with an existing league. You won’t see me there quite yet as I’d prefer to watch the Sam F. Davis Stakes this weekend at Tampa Bay before finalizing my top ten – especially since Rule, Tempted to Tapit, and the buzz horse UpTownCharlyBrown are all slated to run.
The launching of the contest each year usually coincides with my initial “Derby watch list”, and while there’s numerous other topics I’d like to get to in this post, I will share a few quick thoughts here. My top 5 at this moment in time are listed below (can’t give away the whole stable now, can I? Although it’s probably not hard to figure out).
- Vale of York (I love his stride and would love to see him on dirt this year)
- Lookin at Lucky (debated not including a synthetic horse on this list, I wouldn’t bet him in the Derby, but he’s in my top 5)
- Buddy’s Saint (may wind up surpassing the top two)
- William’s Kitten (something about this guy I’ve liked ever since a friend pointed him out)
- Ron the Greek (perhaps my most controversial addition – at this point it’s just a hunch off that last effort).
Of course, I’m also a big fan of the Tiznows like Tiz Chrome and American Lion. You can add Dorsselmeyer to that list of horses I’m also excited about. If you’re not familiar with Drosselmeyer, then fellow TBA blogger Zipse at the Track has a writeup about him that might interest you. I’ll leave the final two slots in my stable to the imagination. Suffice to say Winslow Homer would’ve been there had he not been taken off the Derby trail.
- Rachel vs Zenyatta redux
Another month, another Rachel vs Zenyatta discussion. Yesterday Bloodhorse broke the news that Rachel Alexandra will not run against Zenyatta in the Apple Blossom. Almost immediately, a person posting as “Zenyatta” on Facebook began with the trash talking about “ducking” and being “scared” – and a slew of the most insane commentary I’ve ever witnessed ensued.
Question for folks – did anyone ever think she was going to run there? It seemed a foregone conclusion to me from the start of the Apple Blossom talk that it wouldn’t happen then and there. Yes, I’d like to have seen it, but I maintain that these two will meet at Belmont or Saratoga later in the year. I guess what I find appalling is the amount of hatred people have for one of these horses depending on which they love more. It makes it very difficult to be a fan of both and seems to bring out the absolute worst characteristics of humanity. I understand the frustration at not getting what we want – but let’s be careful what we ask for. We want them both on TOP of their game when they meet – so as to limit potential excuses. Why? Because one race, unless won by double-digit lengths, is likely not going to settle the issue. When you think of their respective running styles, and the prospect that Zenyatta would be flying to try and catch-and-pass Rachel in the stretch – you’re not likely to see that impressive a victory margin any way you slice it.
Anyhow, I’m not going to waste much ink (type) on this beyond acknowledging that the meetup the sport needs ain’t gonna happen at Oaklawn in the Apple Blossom. Is that really such a bad thing? Is that really where we want this to take place? I love Oaklawn, don’t get me wrong, but is that really the venue we want the race of the year/decade/century/ new millennium to be held? I guess I’m just bullish on my insistence this happen at Saratoga, if possible. Just seems like a befitting setting for two horses of such stratospheric class levels. Now if only their fans could show some of that same class. And who knows…maybe we’ll get to add Quality Road to the mix as well? Now THAT would be a race!
- Tim Ice loses Summer Bird and Dr. J horses
This piece of news really took me by surprise. Tim Ice has had Summer Bird and most of his other stock removed from his stable by the Jayaramans. Having had the chance to meet both Tim and the Jayaramans on Haskell Invitational morning, 2009, at Monmouth Park, they seemed to have an exceptionally close relationship. Ice speculated it may have been due to his slow start this year, or a disagreement over the direction of Summer Bird. Whatever it was, it must’ve been something personal, as this feels like a personal disagreement rather than anything outwardly professional.
Ice is, after all, just 35 years old and already has a Belmont Stakes under his belt with Summer Bird. I really like this guy, so on a personal level I was sad to see him take this kind of hit. I’m sure the Jayaramans have their reasons though and I respect that they’ve kept the matter largely private. It might be wishful thinking, but I’m hoping cooler heads will prevail and these folks will reconcile.
In the meantime, Summer Bird is with Tim Ritchey, who is a sensational trainer is his own right, perhaps most famous for his work with Afleet Alex – a horse that coulda, woulda, shoulda been a Triple Crown winner 2005 (just my humble opinion).
Happier Times - us with trainer Tim Ice and the Jayaramans - owners of Summer Bird
So, there you have it – that’s our midweek, snowbound update. We’ll have a closer look at the Sam F. Davis and the weekend racing action coming up on Friday evening. For now, be sure and let us know where you stand on the Rachel/Zenyatta question and everything else going on in the racing world. If you’re feeling really gutsy – go ahead and share your Road to the Roses stable here. I will have a full disclosure update once I make the final selections. As you could infer above, there’s technically two spots left in my stable and I’m still debating the jockeys.
I guess global warming has not effected New York and the northeast area. We got over 3 feet of snow this winter so far. It is the coldest and snowiest winters I remember in decades.
The Derby contenders seem very weak this year. A horse to check though I have read about is Tempted to Tapit. From Tapit of course. Tapit was one of my past favorite horses. Tempted ran a 100 Beyer in last race.
You’ll see him this weekend in the Sam F. Davis against Rule and DownTownCharlyBrown. Truth be told, I’m saving my 2 open stable slots for at least one runner from that race, maybe 2. I’m fond enough of Tampa Bay in the winter to think that this might be one of the more interesting preps. Anyone who doubts Tapits need only remember Tapitsfly at 10/1 in the Breeders’ Cup.
My Stable:
Drosselmeyer
Eskendereya
Kettle River
Maximus Ruler
Nextdoorneighbor
Rule
Super Saver
Tiz Chrome
Uptowncharlybrown
William’s Kitten
“KING KONG AIN’T GOT NOTHING ON ME!”
Hmmm…so you must have Pletcher as one of your trainers, huh?
I”m guessing everyone will. I soooo don’t want to – as he never wins the Derby despite being loaded every year – and far too many of his horses seem to have front running styles this year – but it’ll be hard not to. I’m thinking Pletcher and Baffert. I got burned badly by my nemesis, Rick Dutrow, last year.
Kevin,
The amount of points Pletcher will bring in with his “band of merry men” more than outweighs his Derby donut.
It’s not like i expect him to break the 0-for this year.
Yeah, there’s a lot of interesting and frustrating psychology going on with this little “feud” between fans of Rachel and fans of Zenyatta. When Rachel first started soaring to the top, I was shocked by the number of people who “dropped” Zenyatta like a hot potato and not just to the point of thinking that RA could beat her in a race (which is a fair opinion to have), but that Zenyatta wasn’t even on the same *planet* as Rachel. You’d think she was some kind of plow horse the way some folks were talking about her. This just flabbergasted me–she’s so *obviously* talented, if frequently under-challenged (some might argue that even the BC Classic was not a challenge, considering the ease with which she disposed of the competition). So, there is some residual resentment and defensiveness there on the part of Zenyatta fans–they feel they are constantly having to defend the fact that “their” horse is any good at all–a maddening job, because it has nothing to do with *reason*, hence the old saw that you can’t reason someone out of a position they didn’t reason themselves into.
There is also a lot of conflating of horses and connections going on–hence the crap about how either horse is “scared” or “ducking” the other one when clear it’s the CONNECTIONS who are in charge of such things. Dump on them if you want, but not the horses.
But I agree, I always thought it was unlikely that the Apple Blossom would happen. Rachel was just beginning her training too slowly, and really, do any of us really want them to meet if one of the two is not fully fit yet? Think about it, we’ve been hearing all about how RA has been getting ready gradually, has had training delays, etc. Let’s say they tried to crank her up anyways and put her in the Apple Blossom after a prep and she loses to Zenyatta–there would be NO END to the excuses that well, RA just wasn’t fit enough yet. She wasn’t at her best. It wasn’t fair. And it would be a LEGITIMATE point. But the Zenyatta fans would be sorely tempted to say anyway, “Nah nah, boo boo, we won!” and the RA fans would have a whole new source of resentment to fuel the debate for months. I get a headache just thinking about it. The point of these horses meeting is, in part, to help SETTLE the debate.
If someone wants to argue that they *deliberately* avoided getting her ready in time because they were “scared”, then whatever. Unless you’re JJ himself or his secret confidant, then it’s just opinion and speculation. It is true that, had you been paying any attention, you would have known for a few months now that Zenyatta has been pointing for the Apple Blossom after a prep in CA. This is not news. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t good reasons to be giving RA the training schedule she currently is on anyway.
The Zenyatta fan page on Facebook is not “official”, it appears to be run by a fan. I was a little irked by the last post, too, if only because so far they’ve managed to be relatively neutral and respectful thus far. I think if you’re going to pretend to represent a racehorse, then you ought to uphold a high standard of neutrality and, well, maturity. There is/was a significant problem of so-called RA fans coming on to the fan page and saying some pretty insulting, destructive things about Zenyatta, which just makes everything worse.
It would be nice if we could all decide to just take the high road on this one, and try to pay closer attention to where our own knowledge on these matters leaves off. That would limit some of the more insane trash-talking.
Just my opinion, but I think it would be wise to see how Zenyatta handles dirt beofre everyone gets all hot for a match-up with RA, so it’s a relief to see Jess Jackson pull the plug on the Apple Blossom, even if some find his motives questionable.
If Zenyatta doesn’t dominate on dirt the way she does on synthetics, any sort of “one surface” meeting would be pointless.
Hmmmm..just noticed no Tempted to Tapit in the Sam F. Davis? I guess it’ll be the Risen Star for him instead?
@tvnewsbadge – Good points, but arguably her 2nd best win (some might still say her best, despite that Classic performance) was on the dirt…in the Apple Blossom no less at Oaklawn. I’ve got no doubt she’ll run huge…but you’re right – you never know, and spending that much time on the synthetics, I’m reminded by one of Sheriff’s comments that, if anything, the plastic has been detrimental to her training by perhaps shortening her stride a bit (he said this on a TVG interview prior to the Classic in acknowledging the decision not to run Rachel over synthetics).
@nonheinous – I agree with EVERYTHING you wrote (apologies I had not seen your comment when typing my last reply). EVERYTHING – spot on – and standing applause from me. I’m elated that someone out there “gets it.”
One thing about Zenyatta’s Facebook page – she’s got a great fan group run by a friend of mine that I absolutely love. I actually help run one of the Rachel fanpages, and needless to say the issues with “haters” were mutual. I had to ban several purported “Rachel fans” for incessant hateful comments towards Zenyatta, and interestingly some of these same people were over stirring up trouble on Zenyatta’s pages.
I think what really gets under my skin is a bit more superficial. Look at how many replies that “ducking” comment from “Zenyatta” received – it’s in the hundreds. Just a shame that Sophomoric (and indeed moronic) drivel receives that much attention when other items fall on deaf ears.
Thanks for you post – very well said!
Agree on Rachel Big Man, since you met the owners and trainer of Summer Bird, last year, any chance of you contacting them for an interview. Would be a great story , big Man
Man, i wish, Tony. One thing I definitely don’t have is a way to communicate directly with him. We figured we’d run into him at the track up in NY this summer and hopefully he’d remember us and who knows – maybe we’d ask him then about an interview. Even so, he’s too classy to say anything juicy, and the J’s seem to be classy folks as well (since they aren’t bashing him in the press over whatever the issue is). I respect that….maybe once they reconcile (which I hope they will) he’ll be okay with talking about it, but he’d spill that to Bloodhorse or DRF light years before we’d get to talk to him.
Rachel/Zenyatta could be back on…Apple Blossom going to be pushed back 6 days in an attempt to work with both horses schedules. Stay tuned!
WOW – totally unexpected – Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta will face off afterall in the Oaklawn, which has been moved back a week to April 9th!!!!!
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/horses/2010-02-11-rachel-alexandra-zenyatta-race-april-9_N.htm
Uptowncharlybrown is so popular, they even named a song after his girlfriend: