JC / Railbird

Deputed Testamony, RIP

The 1983 Preakness winner died today at age 32.

In a 2011 Kentucky Confidential video, Jeff Krulik and John Scheinman visited the then-oldest living Classic winner at Bonita Farm.

Deputed Testamony won his Classic without racing on Lasix, a point interesting then because patchwork raceday drug regulations were just one of the reasons the 1983 Preakness was dubbed the “Prescription Preakness,” and now, as the Lasix debate reaches another peak.

Posted by JC in Racing on 09/18/2012 @ 10:24 am / Tagged Classic Winners, Deputed Testamony, Lasix, Maryland, Preakness Stakes, RIP, Triple Crown / Follow @railbird on Twitter

Dan and the Man

With his win in the Woodbine Mile, Wise Dan has now won Grade 1 races on dirt and turf. If he can add a G1 win on synthetic (over which he’s already won a G2), he’ll join Lava Man as only the second horse to win Grade 1 races on all three surfaces. Getting the synthetic win might be tough — there aren’t many options on the calendar, and trainer Charles Lopresti plans to start his versatile gelding next in the Breeders’ Cup Mile — but maybe Wise Dan will find his way west for a synthetic surface G1 in 2013.

Superterrific and I have been talking about dusting off Omnisurface Stars — Wise Dan might be just the nudge to make that happen.

If you’re interested in more current stakes winners across surfaces, see Matt Gardner’s spreadsheet on SB Nation.

9/17/12 Addendum: “A versatile horse in today’s age.” Heck, yeah.

Posted by JC in Racing on 09/16/2012 @ 6:08 pm / Tagged Great Geldings, Lava Man, Omnisurface Stars, Track Surfaces, Wise Dan, Woodbine Mile / Follow @railbird on Twitter

Forty-Two Years

Greg Wood reflects on Coolmore, Camelot, and the Triple Crown:

Racing has changed since Nijinsky won the Triple Crown and Magnier has probably done as much as anyone alive to change it. Nor is there anything that Camelot can do on Saturday afternoon to bring the old days back. But the fact that he is running in the St Leger at all shows that, even now, there are still precious moments in the billion-dollar business of international Flat racing when the money is secondary to the sport.

9/15/12 Addendum: Forty-three years. Encke outruns Camelot.

Posted by JC in Racing on 09/14/2012 @ 12:31 pm / Tagged Camelot, Coolmore, Encke, International, St. Leger, Triple Crown, UK / Follow @railbird on Twitter