Here, in no particular order, is a review of some of the major stories surrounding racing this past week:
Twirling Candy ascended to another plane of performance on Saturday when winning the Strub Stakes in one of the most overwhelmingly easy victories I have seen since I began following racing. He is now the front-runner for the Older Male Horse championship, even at this early stage in the year.
Giant Oak isn’t too far behind Twirling Candy in the Older Horse Division after winning the Donn Handicap on Saturday over a very strong field to register his second Grade 1 victory.
Capt. Candyman Can returned triumphant from a 15 months layoff in the Super Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs to prove that he will have a lot to say in this year’s sprint division. I look forward to seeing him racing against the nation’s elite once again after he ran a terrific 2009 campaign.
Also on Saturday Toby’s Corner ran away to a 2 length victory in the Whirlaway Stakes over a muddy Aqueduct track. It was the Bellamy Road colt’s third consecutive victory, albeit over a seemingly average field. It remains to be seen if he can become a major player on the Derby trail.
The Mosses seem to have a thing for naming their best fillies and mares with the beginning letter being a ‘Z’. First Zenyatta and now Zazu. On Saturday at Santa Anita Park Zazu defeated heavily favored and then undefeated 3-year-old filly Turbulent Descent by 1 ¼ lengths in the Las Virgenes Stakes after launching a devastating rally from far back around the final turn. I think she will only improve from here on out and should be a major player for the rest of the year.
On Thursday Bold Silvano won the Al Maktoum Challenge R2 at Meydan Racecourse by an easy 2 ½ lengths in preparation for the Dubai World Cup.
On Monday racing fans received the glad tidings that Champion Two Year Old Filly Awesome Feather has been walking under tack for the last week. She could begin jogging in about two weeks if all goes well.
On Sunday Gladding proved he is a force to be reckoned with in the major leagues, winning the San Antonio Stakes (gr.2) over favored Aggie Engineer. Both horses could be headed to the Santa Anita Handicap (gr.1) and a potential showdown with Twirling Candy.
Champion Two Year Old Male, and early Kentucky Derby favorite, Uncle Mo registered his second work of the year on Sunday completing a half mile work in :49 3/5. It was a much more encouraging move than his last and even surprised trainer Todd Pletcher who stated the colt is now ahead of schedule after just two works.
2010 Belmont Stakes winner Drosselmeyer is back in training and preparing for a run at the Mineshaft Handicap and possibly the Dubai World Cup if all goes according to plan.
2009 Dubai World Cup winner Well Armed has been retired from racing. The Tiznow gelding won the World Cup by 14 lengths, a record that will probably stand for a long time.
This weekend promises to be an incredible racing extravaganza with a tremendous lineup of Graded stakes races with such high-profile runner as Blind Luck, St. Trinains and Brethren to mention a few,set to run.
Showing posts with label Drosselmeyer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drosselmeyer. Show all posts
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Sunday, June 6, 2010
The Belmont and Vanity
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The 2010 Triple Crown is officially over, another Belmont Stakes champion has been crowned and I am feeling a little confused. What kind of Triple Crown was this? It felt more like a mangled jumble of new faces in each race than an elite series for the nation’s leading 3-year-olds. There were only 8 young three year olds that competed in two legs of the Triple Crown this year and not a single one competed in all three. The Preakness Stakes seemed to make some sense as I believe that Lookin At Lucky is truly a very special colt and will go on to another championship season. The Kentucky Derby was run in the mud and finishes in those condition almost never makes sense but Super Saver is obviously a good horse and Ice Box too. The Belmont Stakes was a complete shake-up. At the wire it was WinStar Farm’s Drosselmeyer at odds of 13-1 who held off a furious late charging rally by Fly Down to take the victory. Heavy betting favorite Ice Box was nowhere to be found, finishing up the track in 8th, but I agree with trainer Nick Zito when he said that Ice Box is much better than that. Third place finisher First Dude proved yet again that he is one of the best 3-year-olds in the country by holding on gamely to lose by less than 2 lengths after setting most of the pace up front.
Drosselmeyer, with new jockey Mike Smith aboard got a perfect Belmont ride and was able to inch past First Dude in the homestretch while finishing looking very strong. I’m not sure that I think he will be one of the top three colts this year but this is a huge improvement off his last two tries in graded stakes races. Drosselmeyer gave Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott his first win in the Belmont Stakes.
In other news one of racings all time greatest will be making her way back to the track this weekend to contest a third consecutive Vanity Handicap. Multiple-champion Zenyatta will be trying to win her third straight Vanity on June 13th
[caption id="attachment_728" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Zenyatta"]
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and her 17th straight victory overall. She is currently tied with such greats as Triple Crown winner Citation and 1990’s superstar Cigar in winning 16 straight races. While the former two won their skeins of races in the midst of glittering careers dotted with the occasional loss, Zenyatta is absolutely and completely perfect in her career so far.
In a very disappointing turn her connections have moved her back to California to race yet again on synthetics after implying that they would pursue a more fan-friendly, dirt based campaign this year, but it is still Zenyatta and anyone who is evenly slightly interested in this sport should watch this race.
[/caption]The 2010 Triple Crown is officially over, another Belmont Stakes champion has been crowned and I am feeling a little confused. What kind of Triple Crown was this? It felt more like a mangled jumble of new faces in each race than an elite series for the nation’s leading 3-year-olds. There were only 8 young three year olds that competed in two legs of the Triple Crown this year and not a single one competed in all three. The Preakness Stakes seemed to make some sense as I believe that Lookin At Lucky is truly a very special colt and will go on to another championship season. The Kentucky Derby was run in the mud and finishes in those condition almost never makes sense but Super Saver is obviously a good horse and Ice Box too. The Belmont Stakes was a complete shake-up. At the wire it was WinStar Farm’s Drosselmeyer at odds of 13-1 who held off a furious late charging rally by Fly Down to take the victory. Heavy betting favorite Ice Box was nowhere to be found, finishing up the track in 8th, but I agree with trainer Nick Zito when he said that Ice Box is much better than that. Third place finisher First Dude proved yet again that he is one of the best 3-year-olds in the country by holding on gamely to lose by less than 2 lengths after setting most of the pace up front.
Drosselmeyer, with new jockey Mike Smith aboard got a perfect Belmont ride and was able to inch past First Dude in the homestretch while finishing looking very strong. I’m not sure that I think he will be one of the top three colts this year but this is a huge improvement off his last two tries in graded stakes races. Drosselmeyer gave Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott his first win in the Belmont Stakes.
In other news one of racings all time greatest will be making her way back to the track this weekend to contest a third consecutive Vanity Handicap. Multiple-champion Zenyatta will be trying to win her third straight Vanity on June 13th
[caption id="attachment_728" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Zenyatta"]
[/caption]and her 17th straight victory overall. She is currently tied with such greats as Triple Crown winner Citation and 1990’s superstar Cigar in winning 16 straight races. While the former two won their skeins of races in the midst of glittering careers dotted with the occasional loss, Zenyatta is absolutely and completely perfect in her career so far.
In a very disappointing turn her connections have moved her back to California to race yet again on synthetics after implying that they would pursue a more fan-friendly, dirt based campaign this year, but it is still Zenyatta and anyone who is evenly slightly interested in this sport should watch this race.
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