Racetrack Lenny

Fog, Cloudy, Clear

Yesterday's prep races put on display everything Mother Nature could throw at horses and more.

The Gotham Stakes (Grade 3) contested at a mile and a sixteenth at Aqueduct Race Track in New York caught the worse of it. The area had a major nor'easter that dumped up to 4 inches of rain. In between torrential downpours, there was dense fog in which you could not see any of the action. In fact, if you look at the chart of the race, all you see is the word "fog" thoroughout. Before the forecast for bad weather, Giant Moon, was expected to be the favorite. However, since the track was a sea of slop, the bettors went wild over Saratoga Russell whose previous race had been a 10+ length score in the slop at 6 furlongs. So, a horse that legitimately should have been about 6/1 to 10/1, got sent off the 8/5 favorite--even on the stretch out from 6 furlongs to the mile and a sixteenth. Visionaire, who had run third to Pyro last out, was dismissed as a 9/2 proposition because of the outside post position (post 10). Oh ye of little faith!

There were two things going against Saratoga Russell: 1. He had never been around two turns and never been beyond 6 furlongs; so, he had every right to regress and 2. His pedigree suggested a sprinter versus a distance runner. My hunch proved correct as Saratoga Russell, under Eibar Coa, managed to set the pace and then tire badly in the strecth to be defeated by better than 40 lenghts, OUCH! I boxed #3 Roman Emperor; #7, Texas Wildcatter and #10 Visionaire (despite rider Jose Lescano). Roman Emperor had run evenly last time out, had good "mud" breeding and I figured he just might get close enough to figure in the exactas. Texas Wilcatter is a Todd Pletcher trainee who loves to gawk at the crowd when racing. Pletcher added blinkers for this outing and I thought that would pay off. It nearly did as Texas Wildcatter literally came up a nose short to Visionaire. The exacta paid $84.50 proving that even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. Despite the fog, Visionaire was closing fast and I like to see that in a horse. Look for him in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.

Also run yesterday was the mile and a sixteenth Louisiana Derby (Grade2) at The Fair Grounds in Louisiana. This was a deeply talented field which included Pyro, Blackberry Road, Tale of Ekati, Majestic Warrior and J Be K. Of those, Pyro truly impressed. He showed another dimension yesterday by stalking the slow pace being set by longshot My Pal Charlie, who at 60/1 almost pulled off the upset, instead finishing 2nd. Pyro (Shaun Bridgmohan up), took over in mid-stretch and won by 3 lenghts going away. Blackberry Road, making his first start in a while raced an even 3rd most of the way and when the time came to get running, he could do no better than 4th. Very disappointing. Tale of Ekati, trained by Barclay Tagg, was not a factor, racing 7th most of the way and finishing 6th. Majestic Warrior, so impressive last year raced 5th most of the way and then flattened out to be a very non threatening 7th. J Be K was the horse being touted as the "wise guy" horse with every chance to improve. He prompted the pace and then stopped badly in the lane to finish next to last. Pyro seems to be the real deal.

Finally, Bay Meadows had its El Camino Real Derby (Grade 3) run at a mile and a sixteenth at Bay Meadows Race Track. Derby hopefuls Nikki's Golden Steed, Behind At The Bar, and Coast Guard ran. Only Nikki's Golden Steed (Jon Court up) managed to be on or near the lead to hold 2nd beaten by 62/1 longshot Autism Awareness. Behind At The Bar raced a dismal 7th all the way before coming on a bit at the end to take 5th place. Favorite Coast Guard (Aaron Gryder up) was a dreadful 8th showing nothing in the race.

Well, that's it for now. It's now wait until next week for the upcoming preps.

May the horse be with you!

Racetrack Lenny

racetrack lenny went to the post at @ 6:20 PM