JC / Railbird - Belmont

Belmont Archive

Casino Drive Out

Casino Drive is an early scratch from this afternoon’s Belmont Stakes due to a bruised left hind hoof:

Racing manager Nobutaka Tada said Casino Drive was fine during a three-furlong jog early Saturday, but he appeared to be favoring the hoof while receiving a bath following the workout.

The injury, initially reported on Friday, is considered minor.
10:15 a.m. oddity: TwinSpires accurately shows Casino Drive as scratched and won’t process a bet on the horse, but NYRA’s online wagering service currently shows Casino Drive at 5-1 and did let me bet $2 to win on #5. Wow, that seems like an oversight and a problem. I guess I’ll look for a refund sometime this afternoon, when NYRA online finally catches up with NYRA scratches …

Posted in Belmont, Triple Crown on June 7, 2008

Belmont Day Live

Handicapping and blogging, beginning around 11:00 a.m.

Posted in Belmont, Triple Crown on June 6, 2008

If You Can Make it Here

… then thank God that your flights were actually on time for a change.
But seriously folks, I’m on the ground in New York and relaxing in my digs for the next few nights: the Red Roof Inn in Westbury.
As Bart Simpson once said while eating dinner in his panties, “This ain’t the Ritz,” but as far as Red Roofs go, it’s much nicer than any Accor brand hotel I’ve ever stayed at and infinitely nicer than the Red oof Inn (sic) I stayed at in Arlington Heights for the 2002 Breeders’ Cup. To think a girl I was courting actually stepped foot in that room is a marvel. She must have really liked me.
Anyway, I caught the last six races at Belmont today. Didn’t play the pick six but was all over the first two pick threes and the late pick four, so I have some extra ammunition for the sexier Belmont eve and Belmont cards.
It’s hard to tell how much buzz there is for the race since I wasn’t on the backside this morning, but I thought the press box was kind of sparse. I wouldn’t even call it a Preakness-sized crowd, and it was nothing like what the press box is like Derby week at Churchill.
On the plus side, I have heard that the mornings are lively, and the people in the area are very aware of what is on the line this Saturday. I consider it an honor to be a part of it.

Posted in Belmont on June 5, 2008

Sunday Morning Notes

– Zenyatta may be most exciting horse racing this year (and yes, I’m including Big Brown in the also-rans; he’s a Triple Crown season comet). The 4-year-old filly ran her unbeaten streak to five in the G2 Milady at Hollywood on Saturday. Bumped and squeezed at the start, Zenyatta showed a super turn of foot, closing from last into a slow pace (the first quarter in :24.74, the first half in :48.19) and kicking away to a 2 1/2-length win. “She always makes everyone look like they stopped,” said co-owner Ann Moss after. “It’s like she’s out for a gallop and everyone else is stopping” (LA Daily News).
– The power of having a Triple Crown contender in your barn made manifest: NYRA track superintendent John “Fast Track” Passero has adjusted Belmont track maintenance at the request of trainer Rick Dutrow, who was concerned about the recent condition of the dirt surface:

“The day before, I had a horse that ran seven-eighths in 1:20 here. I was thinking maybe the track might be a bit too hard, it’s not going to help [Big Brown’s] feet … I didn’t tell them what to do. I just suggested maybe we could use more cushion on the track if it’s possible.”

Passero said the track was graded less, harrowed more in the last week, giving it an additional quarter inch of cushion.
– Tale of Ekati breezed six furlongs in 1:11.19 this morning over the muddy main track in his final prep for the Belmont Stakes. “This was the move I was hoping for last week,” said trainer Barclay Tagg. In other Belmont news, Tomcito is out with a “reaction” and Casino Drive worked in company with stablemates Spark Candle and Champagne Squall.
– Frank Amonte, now 72 and riding at Suffolk Downs, continues in his quest to be the oldest jockey to win a race.
– When Romenesko posted the memo from Lexington Herald-Leader publisher Tim Kelly announcing a voluntary buyout program meant to cut 4% of the newspaper’s staff, I wondered if turf writer Maryjean Wall might be among those accepting the deal. Unfortunately for readers, she is:

“I still love horse racing,” she said. “But you reach a point in life when you know it’s time to do something else.”

Wall, who plans to finish her PhD in history and teach, landed the racing beat in 1973 and was one of the first women to cover the sport full-time. Given the state of the newspaper industry and declining racing coverage, she might also be one of the last to do the same …
– Bill Handleman declines to get caught up in Triple Crown excitement: “I cannot bring myself to root for Big Brown … I cannot bring myself to utter his name in the same breath with Affirmed and Seattle Slew, much less Secretariat.”

Posted in Belmont, Horses on June 1, 2008

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