JC / Railbird

Triple Crown Archive

Noted: May 15

– Weekend results: “With no impetus other than his own desire, Wanna Runner took possession of Saturday’s $300,000 Lone Star Derby.” At Hollywood Park, Grey Swallow won the Jim Murray by five lengths, and Surf Cat made an amazing move from last to first to win the Mervyn LeRoy. “I saw a lightning flash,” said trainer Bruce Headley. “That was some kind of move.” Jockey Alex Solis had a big day at the track, sweeping all three graded stakes at Hollywood on Saturday.
– Trainer Bob Baffert said neither Point Determined nor Bob and John would run in the Preakness. “I’ll take them back to California on Monday,” said Baffert. “I’ll let [those entered] soften Barbaro up in the Preakness so we can get him in the Belmont.” The defection of Baffert’s duo leaves just six probables (making the likely Preakness field the smallest since 1979), but two others are still being considered for the race: Trainer King Leatherbury may supplement Federico Tesio winner Ah Day to the race, and trainer Steve Klesaris may enter allowance winner Diabolical.
– Hemingway’s Key worked five furlongs in 1:00.2 at the Oklahoma training track on Sunday in preparation for the Preakness. Jeremy Rose has been named to ride the colt, but the jockey may pass: “It’s not 100 percent whether or not we’re going to ride in the Preakness,” said Rose’s agent, Kid Breeden. “Right now it’s at best a 50/50 possibility.”
– The Green Monkey, aka the $16 million colt, worked for the first time on Sunday, breezing three furlongs in :39.4 at Belmont.
– Lost in the Fog could make his next start at Lone Star. Trainer Greg Gilchrist has nominated last year’s champion sprinter for the May 29 Beck Auto Group Turf Sprint. “We’ve always wanted to find a grass race for this horse,” said Gilchrist, “and this race at Lone Star would fit nicely in his schedule.”
– Julien Leparoux may be an apprentice, but he’s also the country’s leading jockey.
– Mid-Atlantic tracks like Delaware Park are growing crowded with Triple Crown race-winning trainers and jockeys. “They have slots, the trainers are getting better, the horses are getting better,” explained jockey Jeremy Rose.

Posted in Races/Results, Triple Crown on May 15, 2006

Preakness Field in Flux

– With nine days to go, the Preakness has only six definite starters: Barbaro, Brother Derek, Sweetnorthernsaint, Like Now, Bernardini, and trainer Nick Zito’s morning glory, Hemingway’s Key. “I had this in mind from day one because I thought he was Belmont material,” said Zito of the colt, who finished eighth in his last start, the Lexington. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, put off by Barbaro’s dominating win in the Derby, has decided not to enter Simon Pure, who finished fourth in the Arkansas Derby. “I think [Barbaro] should scare a few horses away — me included,” said Lukas. Lawyer Ron is also out — the colt is having surgery Friday to remove chips in his right hind ankle.
– Lawyer Ron wasn’t the only horse to exit the Derby with an injury. Sharp Humor has a knee fracture, for which he’ll have surgery today. “It was very unfortunate and now we know why he ran the way that he did,” said trainer Dale Romans. “He just didn’t run his race at all.” Sharp Humor finished 19th in the Derby.

Posted in Triple Crown on May 11, 2006

“A Tremendous Machine”

Watch Secretariat win the Triple Crown, again and again and again …

(If the screen above doesn’t work, try this link.)

Posted in Triple Crown on April 3, 2006

The Price of Greed

Yearling prices and syndication deals have changed the game and made winning the Triple Crown harder, not easier, Lowell Sun racing correspondent Paul Daley writes in this week’s Sun column, reprinted with permission here.
The past few days we’ve witnessed two notable defections from the Kentucky Derby Trail. First, two-year-old Eclipse Award winner Stevie Wonderboy suffered a hairline condylar fracture to his right front ankle on Monday morning, necessitating at least a 90-day absence from the racing wars. Then, on Tuesday, trainer Patrick Byrne declared Arlington Washington Futurity winner, Sorcerer’s Stone, out of the Triple Crown due to small ankle chips.
Thus, the Derby jinx lives for at least another year. Spectacular Bid, in 1978, remains the last two-year-old champion to win the Kentucky Derby the following year. Why, 14 of the last 27 champion two-year-olds never even made it into the Derby starting gate.
Additionally, $60,150 in Churchill Downs Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Futures Bet is now down the drain faster than you can say flush. Sorcerer’s Stone finished Pool 1 at 30-1 odds, accounting for only $9,982 in wagers. However, Stevie Wonderboy was the second wagering choice in Pool 1, garnering $50,168 of the action while the mutuel field led the way at 3-1 with $115,000 wagered. At least with the field, if you lose a horse you still have over 400 others as a backup. Not so with the Eclipse Award winner, who will now be pointed for a late summer campaign leading to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, according to owner Merv Griffin. How appropriately ironic that two of the game shows he devised are Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.

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Posted in Triple Crown on February 13, 2006