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Breeder's Cup 2007 Photo Gallery

Here is a collection of pictures taken by The Annoyed Handicapper's sister of many of the BC winners. The pictures of horses towards the end of the display are more grainy and out of focus because daylight was rapidly ebbing.

As you can see, the track was rather messy. War Pass and Midnight Lute were certainly two very impressive looking horses, as was Curlin.

Click on the pictures for a larger version.

Juvenile Winner: War Pass

Sprint Winner: Midnight Lute

Filly & Mare Turf Winner: Lahudood

Mile Winner: Kip DeVille

Distaff Runner-up: HoneyRyder

Distaff Winner: Ginger Punch

Turf Winner: English Channel

Classic Winner: Curlin


Big Winners of the Day: Patti and J.O.

The Annoyed Handicapper:
Who Made the Whole Trip Possible

Live From New Jersey

The following selection was constructed on Sunday morning following the 2007 Breeder's Cup Championships at Monmouth Park in New Jersey.

Live from New Jersey

It’s Sunday morning, and I’m just slowly coming back to the living after a whirlwind 72 hours. As some may recall, after the football game Thursday night, I got home to Roanoke at about 2 in the morning. Then it was up at 5:45 for work. I left work around 11:30 and hit the road heading for New Jersey, specifically the Breeder’s Cup Championships at Monmouth Park.

For those who aren’t initiated, The Breeder’s Cup Championships are a series of races over a two day period that pit the best and most proven horses against each other in different classifications and distances. Horse racing in America shuts down for this weekend just so these races can have the undivided attention of the racing world. ESPN gave up an afternoon of Saturday football just to cover these races on their number one channel.

I really hadn’t been to Jersey for any length of time before, and in my little spot in the road called Cranberry, NJ, I’ve found the people to be very nice, although I really haven’t come across too many that speak English without a foreign accent. Sometimes it’s hard to tell a true Jersey accent from English spoken over Spanish.

Another thing about this part of Jersey is that there are a lot of deer on the roads at night, and they are very fast. Thankfully, one was just fast enough to dart safely across the road in front of me and the car that was passing me last night as I was traveling RT 33. That deer flashed across from the median as a brown blur like a horse making a move down the stretch. It missed the front of my car by about 6 inches.

Roads in Jersey are unusual for a Virginian. The road signage in this county is severely lacking. There are seemingly street name signs posted in the center of traffic light standards; however, those signs always look bleached out at night. Another odd thing is the whole idea of making any kind of turn. Basically, you can’t do it. To make a left turn, you have to get in the right lane, exit, and loop around. Also, you can’t make a right turn at a traffic light intersection. Instead, you have to know that there is a right turn exit hidden directly behind the sign telling you that you can’t turn right at the light ahead. An out-of-towner doesn’t have a chance.

The races yesterday (Saturday) were amazing. My two sisters and I brought the torrential rains with us from Roanoke. So I pulled out my still soggy football rain gear and put it on. Our seats, although extremely expensive ($100…for the cheap seats), were located far into the first turn. Before I saw them, I thought that was such a rip off. Once there, however, I realized that I would have an incredible view of the whole place. We were sitting in nice, chair-backed bleachers located within ten yards of the outer dirt track. We had a perfect and close-up view of the horses jostling for position on the first turn and accelerating through to the backstretch. They had trucked in lots of port-a-johns and betting machines for us folks in the far turn. It was like we were segregated from the main grandstand and had our own track just to ourselves. Many people didn’t show for the races because of the rain and the extremely steep ticket prices, so we pretty much sat where we wanted.

The races were all awesome over a most sloppy mud track and a boggy turf course. Obviously, the head-liner today is Curlin’. That horse just exploded on his stretch run in the championship mile and a quarter classic and tossed aside my favorite horse, Hard Spun. Hard Spun had the best first turn of any horse that raced yesterday. He was dug in to the slop and made the sharp turn with power and perfection. Thanks to Hard Spun rabbiting around at incredible fractions, Curlin’ ended up tying a track record that had stood since 1963. The field in that race was the strongest I ever remember seeing in one race before. Five true champion contenders: Curlin’, Street Sense, Hard Spun, Any Given Saturday, Lawyer Ron.

There were some other massive performances. Two horses with Virginia connections won two major races. Kip Deville, who once visited Colonial Downs and ran in the Turf championship there two years ago surprisingly, won the Mile. English Channel, the greatest horse to ever race in Virginia (VA Derby winner), blew away the touted field in the B.C. Turf. Especially enjoyable was how Channel won powering away from the field led by heralded Dylan Thomas from England/France. Another performance worth noting was Midnight Lute in the Sprint Championship. This is one massive horse and he plodded through the extreme slop with seeming ease to smoke the tough field. If you are looking toward the future, keep your eye on War Pass. This two year old dominated the Juvenile championship. Juvenile winners don’t always head to the Triple Crown races next spring/summer and do well, but it will be very hard to overlook this horse now.

As many of you know, I really don’t bet much at the track. I went in yesterday and placed bets on 8 races. My bets totaled $60. I ended up doing respectably well and came out roughly even for the day. My sisters both did very well. They probably bet about $100 a piece and came out with double that.

We were also joined by our family’s long time friend who we all met at Virginia Tech many years ago. He was a perpetual student, so he came to know our whole family as we cycled through the school. He and his wife are real students of the racing game. They own/rescued three thoroughbred racehorses and care for them beside their tenant home on a 6,000 acre horse farm in NOVA. Our friend is especially savvy with his wagers, and rarely loses big, but he sometimes does hit big. Anyway, yesterday, he was commenting that all of his handicapping skills were pretty much thrown into the muck. Soggy turf and mud is a great equalizer. It can also bring out stunning performances from horses that just get it and stinky performances from horses (Lawyer Ron) that despise it. So our friend started goofing around with some cheap exotic picks. Just before the Turf Championship he placed four Superfecta Quick Picks. That’s similar to a lottery ticket where the computer makes the picks. English Channel powered to his win and my friend realized that he lost his regular bets and began double checking his Quick Picks…that’s when a goofy smile came over his face. His last Quick pick had the correct four numbers in order…and he had accidently placed $4 bets on each pick instead of the usual $1…so he won 4X the amount. That Superfecta paid $1,280 X 4. Amazing stuff. To see that look of shock and surprise come across his face made my whole trip worth every penny I spent on the $6 foot long hot dog.

Pssst...

Next week at this time, I'll be in New Jersey about to attend the Breeder's Cup Championships at Monmouth Park. Rolling the dice, picking the ponies; wagering my $2 and watching the horses in the wind.

Win Money...HAVE FUN!

Win Money…HAVE FUN!

That’s what the official Colonial Downs program says in its Grand Slam of Grass edition for July 21, 2007.

I was there to see the Grade II Virginia Derby and to have some fun visiting with my sister The Annoyed Handicapper, my brother Joe, and his chum - Brenda. Joe and Brenda had never been to a track before; however, Brenda, knows quite a lot about horses and was able to offer unique insights. Rarely do I win money, and this visit was no different. I know how to limit my losses, however, and keep it all in proper perspective.

By the time the 9^th race came along, the trend was definitely set had I been paying real attention. Horacia Karamanos, the leading local track rider, was on a torrid run. He had won several races already, but with many of the big boys in the jockey club in residence, Karamanos had no mount in Derby until he gained a 37-1 long shot, Red Giant, the morning of the race.

The field was very strong with Strike A Deal, Duveen, Summer Doldrums, Love Dubai, Soldier’s Dancer and Circular Quay (Key), famously lethargic favorite and looking the part, all entered to run the 1.25 miles over the outer turf.

Inca King led early, but was passed in the turn by Strike A Deal. Circular Quay seemed to be struggling at the back while Summer Doldrums, winner of the first leg of the Grand Slam of Grass was lurking, waiting to move. Inexplicably, Red Giant held the stalking second position through the turn and into the stretch. The Karamanos encouraged the horse to exert a bit more and pass Strike A Deal who had opened a two-length lead. Red Giant took the lead and tried to extend, but Strike A Deal, ridden by Ramon Dominguez, covered the move. The two battled down the stretch bobbing noses in front. No force came from behind. Quay was in mud. Summer Doldrums moved too late to come up to fourth at the line.

In the end it was the 37-1 Red Giant winning by a bob of the head. Strike A Deal was second. Soldier’s Dancer finished third. Another victory for Karamanos. He really does love winning at Colonial.

I lost money, limited my losses, and had fun. All in all, a delightful cool summer day at the track.

Perhaps we’ll add a photo later... perhaps one of my mates has a photo of a horse that ran.

Pilgrimage

On Saturday July 21, a pilgrimage will be made to Colonial Downs for a day of races featuring the Virginia Derby.

All family are invited to attend. The Grand Caravan has room for six comfortably and three are definitely committed as of this moment. One more is likely, thus leaving two additional seats.

Admission is nominal and you can wager as you feel inspired. Food and beverages are rather expensive, so I usually buy a bottle of water and keep refilling it over and over...unless I strike it rich. If that happens, the world is my oyster.

Rags is Richer Wins

Johnny V and the boys turned the Belmont into a 6f race yesterday. Plodding early fractions gave way to a match race down the stretch between a boy and a girl. Curlin was beaten by a stray chest gaze.

The message board I frequent had an interesting post this morning. I didn't know the exact answer. Perhaps The Annoyed Handicapper could chime in.

After the race I heard several people talk about the 5 pound difference in
weight carried by the filly possibly making the difference in the stretch
run.
Do the horses not train with whatever weight they would carry in the
race? So why would Curlin (or any other horse for that matter) know
any difference?

I'd appreciate any knowledgeable response to this post.

Belmont Ramblin's

Greetings all,

It’s time for the 139th Belmont Stakes, the oldest and final leg of the Triple Crown races. Even though there’s no chance of a Triple Crown winner this year or an opportunity to rematch the winners of the first two races (Street Sense’s connections decided to take their pony and go home) the race gained some spark with the entry of KY Oaks-winning filly, Rags to Riches. Plus a third match up of two of the top three finishers in the Derby and Preakness is nothing to sneeze at either. It’s been an interesting week in New York with lots of shuffling among potential entries and their jockeys. I’ll make note of some of the details in my points to ponder below. As always remember the Belmont is 1 ½ miles long – a full ¼ mile (or about the length of the Churchill Downs homestretch) further than the Derby. Most of these horses will never run this far again, let alone around just two turns. This race has fooled more than one inexperienced jockey into moving too soon only to realize with dismay he’s not even close to the finish. The horses are listed below along with the usual conglomeration of factoids, unsubstantiated rumors, and snide observations.

(Click to Enlarge)

Imawildandcrazyguy – He closed well to finish 4th in the Derby, much like Jazil did last year prior to winning the Belmont. His trainer says he’s been aiming the horse at the Belmont all year. He says he can run all day, which really doesn’t help much unless he can run fast all day. He went back to his Florida home after the Derby and had some good workouts, including a nice mile work 1 ½ weeks ago. He had a quick 3 furlong breeze at Belmont on Sunday and appeared to handle the track well. His pedigree doesn’t have a whole lot of stamina in it, but maybe he just happened to get the important genes from the right ancestors.

Tiago – He finished a closing 7th place in the Derby then returned to California. He also had a nice mile workout 1 ½ weeks ago. He’s been at Belmont for about a week and has one leisurely work over the track. He’s a half brother to Giacomo who finished 7th in the Belmont, but Tiago has a sire who should add more stamina to the mix. Speaking of mixes. Tiago drinks high class bottled water when away from his home at Hollywood Park. Apparently, the water there is filtered, so in order to keep his horse happy on the road, trainer John Shirreffs buys him several cases of bottled water to drink each day. Mike Smith rode in New York for years, so he knows the track, but he’s never won this race.

Curlin – He’s been doing very well after his tremendous effort in the Preakness. He went back to Churchill Downs where he had a couple of easy workouts and then arrived in New York this week. Jockey Robbie Albarado believes Curlin has matured quite a bit in his last two races. It will be interesting to see if he’s still improving or if he reached a peak in the Preakness. Most people think he’s still on an upswing. Pedigree-wise he doesn’t have the best distance pedigree in the field, but it’s not bad. Albarado has won some big races at Belmont Park, but never this one. Curlin will be one of two horses receiving a perfect attendance award for the Triple Crown.

C P West – Shoeless Nick Zito sent him up to Saratoga for training after his nice 4th place finish in the Preakness. Saratoga is where Shoeless Nick has trained any number of horses who pop up in the Belmont and run big. Birdstone anyone? Shoeless Nick has run 19 horses in the Belmont, won it once, was 2nd 6 times, and was 3rd twice. He didn’t decide to enter the Belmont until after Street Sense dropped out of the race. Does that count as a vote of no confidence in Curlin and Hard Spun? Edgar Prado is based in New York and has won the Belmont twice before. CP West’s pedigree is a little short on his dad’s side, but chock full o’ stamina on his mom’s side.

Slew’s Tizzy – He’s 2 for 2 since removing blinkers for his last two races which were the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland and the Lone Star Derby. Robbie Albarado rode him in those two races, but elected to stay with Curlin for this race. Trainer Greg Fox then hired John Velazquez to ride, but when Rags to Riches entered Johnny asked to be released from his commitment, so he could ride the filly. Fox graciously agreed to being jilted for the 2nd time and promptly hired Rafael Bejarano who, so far, shows no signs of leaving him at the altar. You have to appreciate the irony if this horse wins after two jocks pass on him. Slew’s Tizzy has a pedigree which might get him 1 ½ miles, but the best stamina sources are a few generations back.

Hard Spun - He’ll also be receiving a perfect attendance award for the Triple Crown, and as his trainer previously noted, it’s his turn to win one. Hard Spun’s karma points took a bit of a blow when the owner dumped jockey Mario Pino in favor of bigger name Garret Gomez. It almost backfired on them when the filly entered because Gomez was her regular rider, and he asked to be released so he could ride her instead. These connections held Gomez to his commitment though. So Hard Spun will have a new jockey who will have to try to get him to relax and save his high cruising speed for the proper point in the race. He had a nice get acquainted workout with Gomez last Sunday at Belmont. Don’t forget he’s a Polish horse with some serious stamina sources in his pedigree.

Rags to Riches – The filly who was a last minute entry even though Todd Pletcher says he’s been sort of pointing her towards this race since she won the KY Oaks 5 weeks ago. She’s won all 4 of her races this year, but has never raced against the boys. Only two fillies have ever won the Belmont, with the last being in 1905, but there have been others who have finished in the money. She’s been working well at Belmont for the last month. She’s a 1/2 sister to last year’s Belmont winner, Jazil. She looks nothing like him though, being a big red filly with a white face while he’s a small dark brown colt. As a daughter of AP Indy, along with some other stamina influences, she should be able to get the distance. As mentioned earlier, Johnny Velazquez picks up the mount after he gets released from his commitment to ride Slew’s Tizzy who was ditched by Robbie Albarado, while Rags to Riches regular rider Gomez is tied up with Hard Spun and Rafael Bejarano picks up the vacant mount on Slew’s Tizzy. I love it when they play musical jockeys. It reminds me of high school and sorting out who was taking whom to the prom. To circle back to the race, lets just say Rags to Riches would like to be the prom queen by the end of the day Saturday.

That’s our Belmont field. There should be a variety of odds to choose from, ranging from favorite Curlin to an assortment of longshots. One or more of those longshots might be necessary to catch the leader of The Royal Edition 11ARFTCHC, Gordon. He has a total of $238.40 and leads Thom and J.O. by about $90. There are a few of us about another $30 further back, but everyone has a chance if we happen to get a longshot winner of Sarava-like proportions. So pick your three ponies and send them to me by post time on Saturday which is 6:25 pm. The television coverage is being done by ABC this time. You might also want to tune into some of the great races on the undercard televised by ESPN and see some favorite horses from previous Triple Crown series like Steppenwolfer, or Keyed Entry.

As usual, I will be dancing with the ones what brung me (which fits with the whole prom date/musical jockey theme) and pick:

Curlin – he’s pretty good
Hard Spun – he’s not bad
CP West – in the absence of any other inspiration I turn to Shoeless Nick

If you're looking for inspiration, check out the video posted below.


In any event here’s wishing a safe trip to all horses and humans.

May the horse be with you.
The Annoyed Handicapper

A Race for All Time

As we begin to gear up for the Belmont Stakes this Saturday, I am reminded of a time 34 years ago when a horse mastered the world.

Preakness Results

Greetings all,

I'm sorry for the delay in sending the Post-Preakness standings in The Royal Edition 11ARFTCHC. It's been a busy, yet strangely slow-moving week. Those Preakness ponies were moving fast though, equaling the stakes record for a dramatic edition of the race. It started with Curlin stumbling slightly out of the gate, moved on to Hard Spun dragging Mario Pino to the lead going into the far turn, continued with Street Sense coming through on the inside again to take the lead, and finished with Curlin finding another gear in the stretch to win on a head bob. You could make a movie about a race like that! It sure would be nice to see a rematch in the Belmont. Steve Asmussen and Larry Jones, trainers of Curlin and Hard Spun, respectively are up for it as long as their horses are. Larry Jones says it's his turn to win the next race. Street Sense's connections are considering if they'll run. There are several other intriguing possible starters. They include Derby horses Tiago, Imawildandcrazyguy, Nobiz Like Shobiz, and Great Hunter.
Also possible are Chelokee, trained by Barbaro's trainer, Michael Matz, Peter Pan Stakes winner, Sightseeing, and Cristobal, who has run twice in France. It should be a good race no matter who shows up.

Here's the order of finish for the Preakness. I've also listed the margin each horse finished ahead of the one behind it and the chartwriter’s comments for each horse, so you can see how your picks fared.

Curlin 1 (head) stumbled break, 5 wide
Street Sense 2 (4) swung 4 wide, yielded
Hard Spun 3 (1 ½) 5 wide move in hand
CP West 4 (1 ¼) wide trip, 4 wide move
Circular Quay 5 (3 ¾) 4 wide 3/16, mild rally
King of the Roxy 6 (6 ½) angled 5 wide, no bid
Mint Slewlep 7 (8 ½) checked bumped break
Xchanger 8 (4 ¼) broke inward, bumped break
Flying First Class 9 pressed pace, tired

Times :22.83 :45.75 1:09.80 1:34.68 1:53.46

Payouts
Win $8.80 $3.80 $2.80
Place $3.00 $2.40
Show $3.00
2$ exacta $23.20
2$ trifecta $50.00


As for The Royal Edition 11ARFTCHC several people had all three horses and gained some ground. Gordon was the only one of the three leaders to have all three horses, so with a total of $238.40 he's trying to put some distance on the rest of the field. There will still be plenty of opportunities for the rest of us to put in a Street Sense-type move from behind and catch Gordon. There's bound to be some longshots in the Belmont that can help us close the gap. I've listed your Preakness picks below. I've also added up the total money won for each horse, the Preakness in total, and the current grand total for the contest. I hope the table lines up OK for you. If not, let me know and I'll send you the standings in a different format.

Total (horse) Total (Prk) Grand total Mom $88.60 $5.40 $3.00 $97.00 $102.60 Dad $15.40 $3.00 $0.00 $18.40 $40.80 Becky $5.40 $0.00 $0.00 $5.40 $28.20 Gordon $88.60 $5.40 $3.00 $97.00 $238.40 Jesse $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 Jody $5.40 $3.00 $0.00 $8.40 $8.40 Brenda $5.40 $3.00 $0.00 $8.40 $36.80 Amy $38.60 $5.40 $0.00 $44.00 $44.00 Joey $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $22.80 Holly $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $22.80 Greg $15.40 $3.00 $0.00 $18.40 $35.20 Adrienne $88.60 $5.40 $3.00 $97.00 $102.60 Andrew $88.60 $5.40 $3.00 $97.00 $119.40 Jeane Marie $5.40 $3.00 $0.00 $8.40 $25.20 Thom $5.40 $3.00 $0.00 $8.40 $149.80 Jackie $38.60 $5.40 $0.00 $44.00 $44.00 Sam $88.60 $5.40 $3.00 $97.00 $113.80 Callan $88.60 $5.40 $3.00 $97.00 $119.40 Libby $88.60 $5.40 $3.00 $97.00 $119.40 Jacqueline $88.60 $5.40 $3.00 $97.00 $119.40 Andrea $88.60 $5.40 $3.00 $97.00 $125.40 MaryBeth $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $22.80 J.O. $5.40 $3.00 $0.00 $8.40 $149.80 Javier $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

The Belmont is on June 9th, and I'll be back during the week before that with the post positions and observations about the field.
Until then may the horse be with you.
Libby