JC / Railbird

Buzz Babies

Something New

Or why the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile isn’t an easy race to handicap: Seven of the 11 pre-entered are Grade 1 or Group 1 winners. Eight of the 11 won their last start. Four are undefeated*. Three of the five American G1 winners won their G1 race off their maiden race. One broke his maiden winning a G1. All will be trying something new, whether two turns or a dirt surface. And the rock solid favorite? Said trainer Todd Pletcher, “I’m still worried about the four-week turnaround for … Uncle Mo and wish there was another week …“

Posted in Racing on October 29, 2010 / Tagged Breeders' Cup, Buzz Babies, Juveniles, Noted, Predicting an Upset, Statistics, Uncle Mo

BC Pre-Entry Day

And on the NY Times’ Rail Blog, back for the Breeders’ Cup, I take a look at the 10 Euro juveniles pre-entered in this year’s races, including the two very interesting Bernardini buzz babies Biondetti and Theyskens’ Theory. Although I mentioned both were cross-entered in their divisions, I left out that that both have first preference for the dirt races. Trainer Brian Meehan seems quite set on the Juvenile Fillies for ‘Theory,’ but what Godolphin will choose for Biondetti is a little less clear. They’re giving nothing away. Mark Simon, writing in the Thoroughbred Times, speculates that the Juvenile purse and prestige (and a possible championship) will be a factor in their decision. If the two start on dirt, they’ll make four, with Marathon prospects Bright Horizon and Precision Break, the number of Euro contenders running in main track races.

Posted in Racing on October 27, 2010 / Tagged Biondetti, Breeders' Cup, Buzz Babies, Euros, Juveniles, Pre-Entries, Theyskens' Theory

Friday Notes

There have been retirements, defections, and unexpected announcements, but the recent Breeders’ Cup news that’s most interested me is that Theyskens’ Theory is now a probable for the Juvenile Fillies. ‘Theory,’ a Bernardini-sired 3/4 sibling to 2005 juvenile champion Stevie Wonderboy, started her career with three straight wins two wins from three starts before finishing third to Together and White Moonstone in the Fillies’ Mile. Trainer Brian Meehan, who hadn’t been talking about the BC for the buzz baby before that race at Ascot last month, much less a surface switch, said of the effort, “It was a good run, just not her best.” Maybe she’ll show that at Churchill Downs.

Keeneland president Nick Nicholson is succeeding Alan Marzelli as Equibase chairman at the end of the year. Dare to dream? It would be nice if the announcement heralded positive changes for the industry’s database going forward. Getting ahead of things, I started wondering what datasets I’d most like Equibase to make freely available in the way that Keeneland has its Polycapping database and sales results. All the Triple Crown races, of course, and the Breeders’ Cup races, as a group and by division. The Eclipse winners, as a group and by division. Pools, certainly, by track, by year, by wager type …

Dick Powell gets political:

While watching Mr. McMillan direct every issue back to the rent being too damn high, it occurred to me that maybe this is just what we need in horse racing. Instead of analyzing to death all the nuances of the issues that plague our sport, maybe we need the single-mindedness of Mr. McMillan. Maybe, we need Mr. McMillan himself to be our leader. Maybe we need Mr. McMillan to head up a new movement called “The Takeout is Too Damn High!”

Racing already has a McMillan. Its name is HANA.

With the end of the Suffolk Downs meet fast approaching, many East Boston racehorses are in need of new careers. CANTER New England is holding its fifth annual Showcase this Sunday, October 24, on the Suffolk backstretch, from 9:00 AM to noon, for just that reason. Read this delightful OTTB success story, about how well a retired Suffolk thoroughbred adapted to life off track, and stop by to check out the dozens of jumper, riding, and pasture prospects that the hard-working CANTER volunteers have cataloged for this year’s event.

Posted in Racing on October 22, 2010 / Tagged Breeders' Cup, Buzz Babies, CANTER NE, Data, Datasets, Equibase, HANA, Industry Moves, Juveniles, Nick Nicholson, OTTBs, Politics, Suffolk Downs, Takeout, Theyskens' Theory, Wishlist