Lists
The Must-Reads, 2009
The year almost past was rich in surprises and storylines, making 2009 not only a superb year in racing, but a good year in turf writing, a reminder that although the industry may be struggling and there may be fewer correspondents on the beat, greatness remains as possible on track as keen reporting does in print (even if only online). Amid the abundance of the last 12 months, here are 10 pieces that shouldn’t be missed:
Balance’s Little Sister (Steve Andersen/DRF Inside Post)
“Her career will end soon. She may not start again. Shirreffs knows that.”
Death of a Horseman (Bill Christine/Horserace Insider)
“You got it wrong … I’ve never fired Frankel. He’s always firing me. We don’t call him George Steinbrenner for nothing.”
Rubin Recalls Her Tough Ride to the Finish Line (Bill Finley/New York Times)
“I think they felt there would be a stigma if a woman rode, that if a woman could ride, how hard could it possibly be?â€
Where Calvin Learned to Ride (Matthew Futterman/Wall Street Journal)
“At the bush tracks in Cajun country where Calvin Borel learned to ride horses for $4 a mount, standards weren’t much higher than the pay.” [A fine complement last spring to Maryjean Wall’s reminiscence, “Calvin Borel: The Early Years,” which appeared on May 15 and is unfortunately no longer online. “Long before Borel became the go-to jockey of this Triple Crown season, I came across him quite by happenstance at the bush races in Louisiana. He was not yet a licensed jockey. He was 14 years old.”]
On Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra, and Memory (Lisa Grimm/Superfecta)
“… our collective memory will do them a better sort of justice …”
A Glorious Reminder (Paul Hayward/Guardian)
“This was not a bloodstock deal, a betting coup or a prize-money grab. It was flesh and blood and beauty.”
Horse Slaughter: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (Matt Hegarty/Daily Racing Form)
“On the issue of horse slaughter, few people take the middle ground …”
High Noon for the Gunslingers (Chris McGrath/The Independent)
“Sheikh Mohammed must have looked at these deadpan men, up from the banks of the Rio Grande, and pondered his own, unrequited craving for this prize. Who are those guys?”
Old School (Claire Novak/ESPN)
“The legend schools the rookie on a cloudy day at Churchill Downs.”
The Final Furlong (Seth Wickersham/ESPN Magazine)
“She took off on foot, walking the track with her medical tool kit, squinting through the mist until she saw a shadowy figure, already a ghost …”
Do you have a favorite piece of turf writing from 2009 not included above? Please share: Leave a comment (and a link, if available) below.
Racing ’09, ’00s in Review: The List of Lists
Final update 1/1/10.
The Year in Review
Final 2009 Standings/Money Leaders (Paulick Report)
The Grade 1 Winners of 2009 (Steven Crist)
2009 Turf Awards (Brisnet) [Excellent review of turf runners]
Beyond Rachel and Zenyatta (Fillies First)
A Look Back at 2009: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 (Jennie Rees)
Two Special Ladies Shared the Limelight (Jay Privman)
Best Performances of 2009 (Jon White)
2009: A to Z (Claire Novak)
A Year in Images (Hoof Blog)
An Academic Look at Racing in 2009 (Brock Talk)
2009 Not So Good for Business (Paul Moran)
Looking Back at 2009 (Horses and the Law)
The Year in Review (Superfecta)
A Memorable Year at the Race Track (Duke Hunt)
Praying for Memory Loss (Not to the Swift)
Top Five Races of 2009 (They Are Off)
Racing Memories, 2009 (Brooklyn Backstretch)
Photo of the Year (Michigan-Bred Claimer)
What a Year: Part 1, Part 2 (Michael Veitch)
Highlights from the Prairie (Quinella Queen)
The Year in Review (Jeremy Ponk)
The Year That Was (Paulick Report)
Readers Choose Zenyatta as Best of ’09 (Thoroughbred Times)
HANA 2009 Year in Review (Horseplayers Association)
Top 10 Newsmakers of the Year (Thoroughbred Times)
The Deciders: The Best Decisions of 2009 (Jay Hovdey)
My Moments of the Year (Claire Novak)
Top 10 Stakes Races of the Year (Brendan O’Meara)
Zenyatta’s Classic an NTRA Moment of the Year Cinch (John Pricci)
Ten Best NY Races: #10, #9, #8, #7, #6, #5, #4, #3, #2, #1 (Nick Tammaro)
Play of the Day Year in Review (Power Cap)
They’re Off: 2009 Offy Awards (Steve Haskin, Lenny Shulman)
A Weak 2009 Derby Field (Jon White)
The Best of a Big Year (John Asher)
The Decade in Review
The Best of the 2000s (Bob Ehalt)
The Best of the Decade, from A to Zenyatta (Art Wilson)
Horse Racing in the Noughties (Greg Wood)
Best of the Decade, Best Non-Champs (Steven Crist)
Best and Worst of the Decade (Dan Illman)
The Top Five of the Top 10s (Vic Zast)
Memorable Horses of the Decade (Nick Kling)
Horses of the Decade: Part 1, Part 2 (Gowanus Baseball)
A Troubling Decade (Gary West)
Horses of the Decade (Farewell to Kings)
Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra Cap Quite a Run (Joe Drape)
Best of the Decade: A Series (Steve Haskin)
Innovations of the Decade: #5, #4, #3, #2, #1 (r2collective)
Dubai Moments of the Decade: #10-#6, #5, #4, #3, #2, #1 (Pat Cummings)
The Best Flat Races of the Decade (Chris Cook)
Racing’s Cruel Decade (Nick Kling)
The Decade in Racing (Sports Illustrated)
2000s Generous to Delaware Racing (Jack Ireland)
Most Influential Horses of the Decade (Jeremy Plonk)
Deck the Halls with the Passing Decade (Bill Christine)
Top 10 Racehorses I Shot this Decade (Sarah K. Andrew)
The Best of the Decade (Zipse at the Track)
Mentions of Racing in General/Sports Year/Decade Lists
Five Memorable Moments in Sports: Mine That Bird (The National)
LA Year in Review: #6 Zenyatta (Daily News)
2009 Top Sports Stories: #3 Rachel Alexandra (Times-Union)
Top 10 Sports Stories of the Decade: Barbaro, ‘Rachel’ (Baltimore Sun)
AP Female Athlete of the Year: #2 Zenyatta (Associated Press)
Decade’s Top Sports Stories: Funny Cide, ‘Rachel’ (Mark McGuire)
Ten Best Stories of 2009: Rachel Alexandra (Don Hunsberger)
Decade Retrospective: 2007: Barbaro (Deadspin)
Top 10 Sports Moments of 2009: #5 Rachel Alexandra (Time)
Top Sports Breakouts Since 2000: Funny Cide (USA Today)
The Year Ahead, Predictions and Advice
Salutations for 2010 (Horse Racing Business)
Things We Don’t Need to See in 2010 (Jay Cronley)
Wishes for the Decade Ahead (Alex Waldrop)
Eleven Things I Want to See in 2010 (HANA)
Racing Wish List, 2010 (TrackMaster)
Dos and Don’ts for Racing in 2010 (Alicia Wincze)
Notes for 2009-04-13
– Few changes to the top 10 this week, with all adjustments in the second tier. Arkansas Derby winner Papa Clem, who’s been bumping around the lower third since February, moves to #6, replacing runner-up Old Fashioned, now off the Derby trail and likely done with racing due to a slab fracture of the knee. General Quarters appears at #8 following his win in the Blue Grass, making him the second to come out of the Tampa Bay Derby and take a stakes. I had trouble coming up with a tenth prospect, narrowing the possibles down to Chocolate Candy, Musket Man, and West Side Bernie, all on the cusp. Although Twitterverse sentiment was 4-to-1 for ‘Candy, I settled on Musket Man, who followed up on his Tampa win with another in last week’s Illinois Derby.
Top 10 for 4/14/09 PDI: 1. I Want Revenge 2. Quality Road 3. Pioneerof the Nile 4. Desert Party 5. Friesan Fire 6. Papa Clem 7. Dunkirk 8. General Quarters 9. Regal Ransom 10. Musket Man
– Chocolate Candy worked yesterday morning with new rider Mike Smith up, going five furlongs handily in :59.20 at Santa Anita. “I was happy with the work, said trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Of course he was. Trainers are almost never quoted as anything but thrilled with their charges, especially three weeks before the biggest 3-year-old race of the year. The colt does look pretty good in this video of his Sunday move, though.
Dunkirk and Quality Road also worked over the weekend, with Dunkirk breezing four furlongs in :49.06 at Palm Meadows, and Quality Road doing the same in :48 at Belmont Park. He then galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.85 (according to DRF; Belmont clockers credited Quality’ with a five furlong breeze in 1:02.19). NYRA posted a short video of the work, showing the Jimmy Jerkens-trained colt going fine, apparently untroubled by the quarter crack found earlier in the week.
On the distaff side, watch mail brought notice that Music Note, third in her final 2008 start, the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Classic, is back in training. The 4-year-old filly breezed three furlongs in :37.40 at Keeneland on Saturday. No news yet on where she might debut this year. Possibly Belmont, in a race such as the June 13 G1 Ogden Phipps Handicap?
– It might be too early to start speculating on possible Derby pace scenarios, but with Old Fashioned and The Pamplemousse out, who goes to the front? There’s not a lot of early speed among the remaining probables.
– BSFs: 99 101 (upgraded) for Papa Clem, 95 for General Quarters.
Shaping Up
Barring any surprises in the Arkansas Derby or Blue Grass Stakes, my list of top 10 Kentucky Derby prospects is pretty much settled (although adjustments are likely over the next three weeks to accommodate changes in status, hoof issues, training problems). I Want Revenge is now #1, moving up from #3, off his stupendous Wood Memorial win, which only grew more impressive watching the replay. Something I failed to notice during the race was that Joe Talamo doesn’t go to the whip at any point — after patiently guiding IWR down the backstretch, saving ground and not hustling to make up for the poor start, then splitting horses to get out of traffic coming into the stretch, Talamo handrides IWR to the wire. Amazing.
Quality Road drops to #2, a move I made before hearing the colt has a quarter crack, which is being treated by Ian McKinlay. Imperial Council drops off completely, while Terrain creeps into #10. We’ll see how the under-the-radar colt, third in the Louisiana Derby, does in the Blue Grass on Saturday.
Top 10 for 4/7/09 PDI: 1. I Want Revenge 2. Quality Road 3. Pioneerof the Nile 4. Desert Party 5. Old Fashioned 6. Friesan Fire 7. Dunkirk 8. Regal Ransom 9. Papa Clem 10. Terrain
How about Rachel Alexandra in the Fantasy Stakes? The embodiment of easy:
Calvin Borel starts mugging on the backstretch, but I can’t blame him. She’s just galloping, the other four fillies totally at her mercy, lolling through unhurried fractions to a final time of 1:43.35, finishing more than eight lengths ahead of Afleet Deceit. On to the Kentucky Oaks …
Odds and ends: Old Fashioned worked five furlongs in 1:00.6 at Oaklawn on Monday. Trainer Larry Jones was pleased with how the colt went around the turn. “That was the big thing.” I’m nonchalantly ignoring Musket Man for now, even though he’s definitely heading to the Kentucky Derby after winning the Illinois. And The Pamplemousse is out, for at least six months, possibly longer. “Our goal is the Pacific Classic [at Del Mar] next year.”
Top 10 Shuffle
Kentucky Oaks-bound Rachel Alexandra drops off my PDI Derby top 10, while Quality Road zips from #7 to #1 on the strength of his Florida Derby win. It wasn’t that long ago I would have dismissed Quality Road for the five-week layoff between his final prep and the Kentucky Derby and for being too lightly raced, but Big Brown and Barbaro have nullified those concerns, and the Jimmy Jerkens-trained colt does meet what I’ve come to consider the minimum-required historical criteria: He started as a 2-year-old, has made three starts as a 3-year-old, and has raced around two turns and in fields of more than 10 starters.
Dunkirk, an impressive second to Quality Road, moves from #8 to #7, a slight bump that reflects my dislike for how he’s being prepped, tempering my enthusiasm for his potential Derby ability. That he’s on the earnings bubble with $150,000 and may miss the Derby is a shame, but then, trainer Todd Pletcher shouldn’t have treated the Florida Derby as a Win and You’re In race for his talented gray. A little jiggering of the schedule could have had Dunkirk start in two graded stakes before May.*
I dropped Friesan Fire to #6 from #2 (and it’s possible he’ll fall further after the Santa Anita Derby and Wood) since trainer Larry Jones’ plan to train the colt up to the Derby seems a little out there the further away we get from the Louisiana Derby — I’m ready to concede a five week layoff is no longer a problem, but seven weeks off seems still too much.
Desert Party drops one spot, to #4, after finishing second to Regal Ransom, who reappears at #8, in the UAE Derby. I didn’t reverse the two, for reasons similar to Steve Haskin’s assessment:
If Desert Party had run the exact same race in one of the final preps in America, I would consider it a solid effort that should set him up for a peak performance on May 2…. Desert Party was the only non-speed horse to make up any ground late, and he finished 15 lengths ahead of the third horse …
Regal Ransom and Desert Party will ship to Churchill Downs early in April. Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford said a decision would be made closer to the Derby as to whether both will start or whether one will be held back and pointed to the Preakness.
Top 10 for 3/31/09: 1. Quality Road 2. Pioneerof the Nile 3. I Want Revenge 4. Desert Party 5. Old Fashioned 6. Friesan Fire 7. Dunkirk 8. Regal Ransom 9. Imperial Council 10. Papa Clem
*The annual graded earnings debate flares anew, this year with a twist in Mafaaz scoring a guaranteed spot as the winner of the Kempton Kentucky Derby Challenge. “And so it has come to this,” Gary West fulminates,
The horse who won an insignificant stakes on an artificial surface at a minor racetrack in England has a reserved spot in the starting gate for the Kentucky Derby, and the horse who ran second in the Florida Derby may not even get a chance to race for the world’s most famous roses.
While I don’t agree with West that Mafaaz taking up a spot is a problem, I’m with him and almost every other observer in believing that using graded earnings to allocate precious Derby stalls is a flawed method. Dunkirk isn’t going to be squeezed out by a stunt winner, but by colts such as Square Eddie (#2 on the earning list with one start in 2009), West Side Bernie (#12 and showing no progression this year), or possibly Charitable Man (tied at #21 with Dunkirk and making his first and only pre-Derby start in the Blue Grass Stakes). A points system, such as the one Mike Watchmaker proposes in his latest DRF+ column (similar to Handride’s scheme), would not only have the benefit of weeding out the pretenders who racked up stakes monies as 2-year-olds or in winning minor stakes with inflated purses, but would discourage connections from making the sort of all-in gamble that Pletcher did with Dunkirk. It would give trainers reason to prep their charges through a series of races, making the Kentucky Derby more sporting all around.
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Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
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