Racetrack Lenny

The Aftermath....

Congratulations to jockey Calvin Borel (Bo-rail) on a masterful ride on 50/1 Mine That Bird. It was pretty obvious that Borel was elated at his improbable win. He is a truly American story. A hard scrabble life that has now reaped him rewards he thought never achievable. It is so nice to see someone who truly LOVES his job. My hat's off to him.

Now to the post-mortem. Once again, the luckiest horse wins the Derby because of too large a field, the weird positioning of the starting gate which only serves to encourage a roller-derby start, and a heavy muddy track that proved tiring in the ridiculously swift fractions set yesterday. The field was then helped by the unfortunate scratch of I Want Revenge who developed heat in an ankle and was properly withdrawn so as not to imperil the horse. A very humane and gutsy call by the connections of I Want Revenge. Of course, my handicapping fully included I Want Revenge as part of the pace scenario. I was expecting him to somehow get in the clear and be 4 or 5 lenghts off the front end. With the scratch, the complexion of the race changed.

You could handicap the race 1,000 times and there is no way you could make a logical case for a victory by Mine That Bird. The way he won makes me think that even if I Want Revenge had not scratched, we would have had the same outcome. Horses, like humans, have their good days and their bad days. Obviously, Mine That Bird had his best day on a day that mattered. For the others, bad luck intervened.

Freisan Fire, the post-time favorite, got the worst of it when he was soundly bumped on both sides, grabbed a quarter and suffered a gash that bled all through the race. You could tell the horse was in some measure of distress as he had his head sideways and was not making up ground. The horse was being evaluated today to determine how serious the injury is and to make sure no infection sets in.

Join In The Dance set a ridiculous fast pace, going 22-4/5 for the opening quarter in a mile and a quarter race. Of course, there were plenty others dumb enough to keep him company. As the field turned for home, the front end was inhaling fumes which allowed tired horses to drift out and the rail opened up for Calvin Bo-rail. The rest was history.

Pioneer of the Nile turned in an excellent effort given he had never raced on dirt and he was part of the suicidal speed duel. He may be the real deal and is a dangerous Preakness horse. Papa Clem & Musket Man fared quite well themselves.

So, we'll wait 2 weeks for an honest horse race at Pimlico called the Preakness.

May the horse be with you,

Racetrack Lenny

racetrack lenny went to the post at @ 4:23 PM