JC / Railbird

Place in History

Casino Drive laid over the field in the Peter Pan on Saturday, prompting all sorts of excitement for the Belmont Stakes in four weeks.
Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but where would producing three consecutive Belmont Stakes winners place Better Than Honour in the history of the turf? Greatest bloodstock achievement in history? Certainly, yes, but how about in comparison to Secretariat’s 1973 Triple Crown or Woody Stephens’s five consecutive Belmont victories?
Keeping the perspective to this year only, if Big Brown wins the Preakness, he could head to Belmont as a wagering favorite but not a fan favorite (a la Sunday Silence).
It will be interesting to read Kent Desormeaux’s comments about Casino Drive. I liked the way he split horses turning for home. He looked a bit green in the stretch, but it was his second career start off a long layoff and ship, so the four weeks and added distance should help this one out a lot.
Gotta love the idea of getting 5-to-2 on this one in the Belmont if Big Brown rolls in the Preakness.
Update: Kent Desormeaux said that team Big Brown “has its hands full” while the trainer said that his star pupil was not in top form.
I’ll likely be wagering against Big Brown 166 hours from now, but I’ll at the very least be cheering for him to head to Belmont for a showdown with Casino Drive.


6 Comments

Does anyone have a link to the video of the race?

Posted by Claire on May 10, 2008 @ 6:37 pm

Claire, the race is now up on Cal Racing:
http://www.calracing.com/replays.php
You’ll have to register/login to view …

Posted by Jessica on May 10, 2008 @ 7:24 pm

Nothing touches Woody’s record. Not DiMaggio, not Ripken.
Nada.
Incredible mommy, though, and likely to be one for the ages.
As you read this, Big Brown is doing shots.

Posted by Ernie Munick on May 10, 2008 @ 8:12 pm

You can catch the clip on http://www.bloodhorse.com.
This horse is bred to win Belmont at 1.5 miles. The Triple Crown for Big Brown is not the walk over people think it will be.

Posted by robert on May 10, 2008 @ 11:24 pm

Has the game turned so far upside down that a horse off a single maiden score in Japan and one subsequent posted work can win the Peter Pan for fun? Are you kidding me? I don’t give a damn who his dam is. It was incredible enough to watch Big Brown win the Derby off three starts — one on the turf, one scheduled for but off the turf, one in the Florida Derby — from the 20 hole, no less. How much money is burned by good handicappers doing nothing more innocent than applying years and years of foundation knowledge about how horses need to be prepared for demanding objectives? What of trainers, say, Shug McGaughey or Neil Howard, who have been bringing their horses along “the right way,” and now watch these super freaks just laugh in the face of methodical paths to maturity and success? I’m not sure how big a fan I am of this new horse racing or even understand it. All we talk about is the weakening of the breed, but these horses sure don’t look weak to me. They look stronger and more talented than anything we’ve ever seen. There is a theory floating around that in “the old days,” the great horses routinely pummeled the rest of the mediocre ones, and that now all the horses are good and that they break down more because the competition has become so fierce, it’s much harder to win a horse race than it used to be. I’m starting to believe there is truth to this, that the new breed is not only more infirm from drug histories and poor breeding strategies but also much faster and talented because of those same strategies.
P.S. — A horse broke down in the stretch at Hollywood yesterday. Just loosely keeping score.

Posted by John S. on May 11, 2008 @ 9:34 am

Ernie: Dimaggio’s streak is the pinnacle in all of sport to me, but Woody’s is incredible. It’s certainly underrated in the grand scheme of things. I think I’d still rank Better Than Honour’s accomplishment ahead of Woody’s.
John: How is Casino Drive different than Better Than Honour, Jazil, Mineshaft, and Rags to Riches? He won his first start.
The family clearly likes some time to develop (all were relatively early winners in the scope of their careers, but the big successes came later). Casino Drive is just doing it on raw talent now.
Is he the best 3YO in the world? Its way too early for any of that nonsense, but he is legit and is likely the value play in the Belmont if Big Brown is going for a Triple Crown. Otherwise, he’s an underlay.

Posted by EJXD2 on May 11, 2008 @ 10:06 am