JC / Railbird

Thursday Notes

– Trainer Steve Asmussen, who won the Schuylerville with 12-1 Jardin, said that favored Ocean Colors tied up in the stretch, which is why she stopped so badly on the final turn. Jockey Shaun Bridgmohan blamed the wet going, reports the Daily Gazette:

“If you have a horse that doesn’t really handle it, it’s a tough situation,” he said. “Obviously, we can’t do anything about the rain, it’s nobody’s fault, but it’s not very pleasant…. she’s a much better filly than she showed.”

So long as she recovers well, Ocean Colors, already more accomplished than most of her dam’s babies, will certainly get another chance to redeem the late Winning Color’s reputation as a broodmare. Hopefully, she’ll get that chance over a fast track.
Notonthesamepage is scratched from the Sanford Stakes with a fever, leaving six five competitive starters for today’s feature (Bullion Cache is among today’s 31 33 scratches). Desert Party, making his second start, seems likely to go to post as the favorite with his connections, breeding, and $2.1 million auction price, but there are a few things to like about Dagnabit — the colt showed some versatility winning the Tremont in his second start, and Essenceofthemoon, third in that race, returned to win an allowance at Delaware with a 71 Beyer speed figure — and Vineyard Haven, making his first start for trainer Bobby Frankel. He won his debut at Calder last month by drawing away to a 4 1/2 length lead, and Miles and Miles, the place horse in that race, returned to win a maiden special at Calder with a 79 Beyer figure.
– In the grand tradition of web site launches, Raceday 360 is a wee bit behind schedule due to backend issues, soon to be resolved. In the meantime, though, we are on Twitter.
– 12:30 Update: Dagnabit is now scratched from the Sanford, and the rain, after ceasing for a few minutes this morning, has returned.