JC / Railbird

Triple Crown Archive

Preakness Post Positions

PP	Horse	Jockey	ML
1	Macho Again	Leparoux	20-1
2	Tres Borrachos	Baze	30-1
3	Icabad Crane	Rose	30-1
4	Yankee Bravo	Solis	15-1
5	Behindatthebar	Flores	SCR
6	Racecar Rhapsody	Albarado	30-1
7	Big Brown	Desormeaux	1-2
8	Kentucky Bear	Theriot	15-1
9	Stevil	Velazquez	30-1
10	Riley Tucker	Prado	30-1
11	Giant Moon	Dominguez	30-1
12	Gayego	Smith	8-1
13	Hey Byrn	Lopez	20-1

Posted in Triple Crown on May 14, 2008

Better than Big Red

At least, on the Sheets, reports John Scheinman:

I would like to believe that Big Brown is a once-in-a-lifetime horse and cheer him on to a Triple Crown, but what holds me back isn’t just a snobbish distaste for his connections, it’s the unresolvable question both Patrick, in his post “Big Brown Bonds,” and Jeremy Plonk, in his column “Derby Drugs,” have written about recently — how much of the immense talent displayed so far by Big Brown is natural and how much is assisted? The horse is blameless, but there’s an asterisk next to his name regardless.

Posted in Triple Crown on May 13, 2008

That Scamp

– Trainer Rick Dutrow’s transformation from crass cheat to lovable rogue with tragic backstory continues. Having a Kentucky Derby winner sure improves your media coverage.
– The one horse Dutrow claimed to respect in the Preakness is out. Withers winner Harlem Rocker will pass the second leg of the Triple Crown to prep for the Queen’s Plate, a more logical spot for the speedy son of Macho Uno. “He wants to play it conservative for now,” said trainer Todd Pletcher of owner Frank Stronach’s decision (DRF). Recapturetheglory, who came down with fever over the weekend, is also out, which means Big Brown will face a field that may have grown to 13 but could contain no other Derby starters.
– Aided by favored Lethal Heat’s stumble out of the gate, Million Dollar Run went from maiden to graded stakes winner in her second start, the Railbird Stakes at Hollywood on Sunday, and she did it most impressively, tracking first half fractions of :22.13 and :44.55, dueling, then drawing away to run the final furlong in :12.32. It’s another improbable 3-year-old accomplishment — coincidence, or do Million Dollar Run, Casino Drive, and Big Brown indicate a trend?
– The best stakes race this weekend happened at Lone Star:

Posted in Triple Crown on May 12, 2008