Racetrack Lenny

Friesan's on Fire

4 major prep races this weekend and Friesan Fire is well positioned to be the Derby favorite.

In the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby run yesterday at a mile and a sixteenth, favorite Hello Broadway (2/1-Eibar Coa) stalked the pace set by 135/1 longshot Perfect Bull and looked like a threat at the 3/4 pole before flattening out to finish a dismal 7th. No excuses for the favorite given parade-like fractions of 24, 48-2/5ths and 1:12-2/5ths. 2nd choice, the 5/2 General Quarters ran last and closed belatedly to pass tired rivals and finish 5th. We can excuse his lacklustre finish given the slow fractions. The third choice in the wagering at nearly 6/1 was Musket Man (Daniel Centeno up) ran mid-pack, then faded to next to last before making one strong, sustained run to get up by a neck over 35/1 longshot Join In The Dance. I don't think the Derby winner was in this race.

At Oaklawn Park, the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes was run featuring the much-heralded Old Fashioned who was sent off as the prohibitive 2/5 choice under Ramon Dominguez. Old Fashioned suffers from the "Big Brown" problem: the horse must have an outside post to do well. Saddled with post position 1, Old Fashioned got suckered into a suicidal speed duel with 6/1 Silver City. After cutting fractions of 22-2/5ths and 46 flat, both horses were sucking wind at the head of the stretch. That gave 56/1 longshot Win Willy the chance to circle the field from last to score by 2 widening lengths. Unless the connections of Old Fashioned can figure out a way to get their horse to rate, he will be an "also ran" in the Derby. A disappointing finish.

At Santa Anita, the San Felipe Stakes (Grade 2, 1-1/16th miles), drew a small field of 6 over the "all weather" track. The highly regarded Pioneer of the Nile was sent to the post as the overwhelming 1/4 favorite and did not disappoint; although, the fractions were pretty pedestrian and the competition was what you might find in an allowance race. Until I see the horse dominate rivals on dirt, I'm skeptical.

The real show of the weekend was at the Fair Grounds in Louisiana where the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby was run. 2/1 favorite, Friesan Fires (Gabriel Saez up) took off in the sloppy stretch under a hand-ride to score by over 7 lenghts at the wire. 2/1 was a true gift! Papa Clem (Rafael Bejarano) was sent off at 5/1 and cut the fractions over a very sloppy track but could not compete with the winner; although, he did hold off the late running Terrain (8/1 under Julien Leparoux). Giant Oak, Flying Pegasus, Uno Mas and Patena finished 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th respectively. None of them really fired and you wonder if they just didn't care for the mud.

So, right now, Friesan Fire has won on fast tracks, around one turn, at 7 furlongs, on a sloppy track, at a mile and a sixteenth and looks like the real deal. Hopefully, luck remains with him to stay healthy and bring us our just rewards on the first Saturday in May.

May the horse be with you!

Racetrack Lenny

racetrack lenny went to the post at @ 8:40 PM