Chris Smith on the likely challengers to California Chrome at Royal Ascot:
A picture is beginning to emerge of the probable strength of the international challenge for the great meeting (June 16-20), and it is abundantly clear that some truly outstanding turf performers from Europe, the Far East, and Australia are being lined up to take him on.
The reigning Horse of the Year is apparently quite happy in trainer Rae Guest’s Newmarket yard post-Dubai World Cup. He certainly looks good.
Posted by JC in Racing on 04/16/2015 @ 9:00 am / Tagged California Chrome, International / Follow @railbird on Twitter
Beware fandom while handicapping the Kentucky Derby, writes Jeremy Plonk:
The want vs. will discussion will be key in your mental gymnastics between now and the first Saturday in May. There are fans and foes of the Zayats and Ramseys, Todd Pletcher and Bob Baffert, jockeys like Kent Desormeaux and Joel Rosario, and of east vs. west, Davids vs. Goliaths and so many more personal stands. But remember: They are personal stands. Don’t mistake them for sound handicapping and wagering.
I’ve been struggling a bit with this — I like Dortmund, and I’m conflicted. He’s trained by a guy who admitted dosing his entire stable with thyroxine (a legal therapeutic drug when appropriately prescribed) during a period when seven horses in his barn dropped dead of sudden cardiac events, and by a sire campaigned by dodgy owners and a trainer who’s since been banned for 10 years. But the horse knows nothing of this — all he’s done so far is win.
Posted by JC in Racing on 04/14/2015 @ 10:48 am / Tagged Kentucky Derby / Follow @railbird on Twitter
Bob Ehalt on the power duo of trainer Bob Baffert’s Kentucky Derby string:
American Pharoah and Dortmund, mind you, have done nothing but win this year and between them have 10 wins in 11 career starts.
Once a hurdle as imposing Secretariat is cleared, a historian in search of a duo as formidable as Dortmund and American Pharoah would most likely have to head back to 1948 when trainer Ben Jones sent out Calumet Farm’s entry of Citation and Coaltown, who were dismissed as a 2-5 favored entry.
Citation won the Derby and went on to sweep the Triple Crown. The Hall of Famer retired as the sport’s all-time leading money earner. Coaltown, the other half of the entry, finished second in the Derby and developed into a Horse of the Year and a Hall of Famer.
It’s a heady comparison. Fortunately for bettors, the pair won’t be coupled.
Posted by JC in Racing on 04/13/2015 @ 9:10 am / Tagged Kentucky Derby / Follow @railbird on Twitter
