JC / Railbird

Triple Crown Archive

Belmont Day Notes

– Two races into the card and it looks — as Paul Moran surmised it would, reporting earlier today that the “maintenance crew scraped the surface on Friday and the course was inexplicably sealed at about 9 a.m.” — as though we have a faster surface than we’ve seen all week at Belmont. In the first, Desert Key wired, getting the first half in :45.12 and finishing in 1:08.80, while in the second, maiden Sixthirteen squeaked out a similar run, flying through a half in :44.80 and wrapping up 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:16.70. In both races, the place horse was the same horse that chased the leader from the start.
– NYRA’s online wagering service does now show Casino Drive scratched, but the site is exhibiting plenty of other problems. I’m getting kicked out every couple minutes and have been presented with one “System busy” error so far, which does not bode well for later afternoon.
– If Big Brown wins the Belmont Stakes, I have the perfect epilogue to my book on great American racehorses. Yet, like Pete Fornatale, I’m kind of rooting for him to lose … but then, like Andrew Beyer, I suspect he’s so superior to this field that even with lost training time and a patched hoof, “he is unlikely to be beaten.” At least if Big Brown does win, we won’t see Hooters girls in the winner’s circle.
– In the fourth, Kent Desormeaux scored his first win of the day, coming through on the rail with favored Forefathers.
– ESPN just showed footage of a rambunctious Big Brown in the detention barn, kicking and bucking in his stall. Trainer Bob Baffert says, “If I were an opposing trainer, I’d be feeling nervous. He looks good.” Big Brown is fresh.
– More fun with NYRA online wagering, which apparently was not prepared to scale for Belmont day. As of 3:30 p.m., all I’m getting from it are these two errors:

The application data was updated a moment ago and the item you selected does not exist anymore.
ERR_WS_LOAD_RACETRACKS +
Error occurred when retrieving track information.
System busy.

Might be time to switch to TwinSpires, if that system is up …
Oh! New NYRA error at 3:41 p.m.:

ERR_WS_LOAD_TOTEBOARDMLS +
Error occurred when retrieving toteboard M/L information.

Fantastic. I’ve been shut out of one of the card’s best betting races. Go, Vacare, Bayou’s Lassie, and Bit of Whimsy!
– Well, the NYRA site malfunction saved me money: 9-1 Ventura, getting a super trip inside and a dream ride from Garrett Gomez, came through in the stretch to win the Just a Game, with favored Lady of Venice, briefly boxed on the rail, taking second. As expected, lone speed Bayou’s Lassie was the pacesetter, but she faded back to fourth, with 44-1 Forever Together getting third for the wily combo of Jonathan Shepard and Ramon Dominguez.
– Another NYRA online error to report, this time at 4:38 p.m., 22 minutes to post for race nine: “All pools for race nine have been closed.” Right, NYRA … and by the way, where’s my refund on the $2 Casino Drive win wager that I shouldn’t have been allowed to make more than two hours after the colt was scratched?

Knock-knock-knockin’ on History’s Door

To me, winning the Triple Crown is a self-fulfilling accomplishment. That is, doing it is enough.
While the fact that no horse behind Big Brown in either of his Grade 1 victories has run better than 100 Beyer or earned a Ragozin figure better than a “5” certainly speaks to the inferiority of this crop in a general basis, I have been impressed by the way Big Brown has won his races: He’s winning by open lengths, overcoming obstacles, and making it look easy.
Other than Big Brown, there doesn’t appear to be any world beaters in today’s Belmont Stakes, but I do think this race will pose the dual classic winner’s toughest challenge because of the quarter crack issues, some missed training, and the 1 1/2-mile distance.
So going back to my original statement, if he wins his third classic race in five weeks then he’s a deserving Triple Crown winner. To me, the talent behind him becomes moot once he makes it happen.
If someone hit successfully in 57 consecutive Major League Baseball games to break Joe Dimaggio’s record, I wouldn’t care if it came against fifth starters–the accomplishment is enough, and that’s how I feel about Big Brown winning the Triple Crown.

Casino Drive Out

Casino Drive is an early scratch from this afternoon’s Belmont Stakes due to a bruised left hind hoof:

Racing manager Nobutaka Tada said Casino Drive was fine during a three-furlong jog early Saturday, but he appeared to be favoring the hoof while receiving a bath following the workout.

The injury, initially reported on Friday, is considered minor.
10:15 a.m. oddity: TwinSpires accurately shows Casino Drive as scratched and won’t process a bet on the horse, but NYRA’s online wagering service currently shows Casino Drive at 5-1 and did let me bet $2 to win on #5. Wow, that seems like an oversight and a problem. I guess I’ll look for a refund sometime this afternoon, when NYRA online finally catches up with NYRA scratches …

Belmont Day Live

Handicapping and blogging, beginning around 11:00 a.m.

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