2012 Breeders' Cup - Can The Streak Continue?

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Thank you.

Now, where was I?

Oh yes; The Breeders' Cup is now just hours away; and while others ponder such questions as "Which juvenile filly will remain undefeated?"; "Can Shackelford handle two turns?"; "How will Animal Kingdom run after an eight and a half month layoff?"; "Will Dullahan smoke the California grass?"; there is just one question on my mind:

"What mess will Johnny V be in the middle of this year?"

Hall of Fame Jockey John Velazquez has had many successes throughout his career, including in Breeders' Cup events; indeed, he has twice won the Bill Shoemaker Award as Outstanding Breeders' Cup jockey.  But over the past several years, Johnny V has managed to find himself a major part of some, shall we say, rather interesting situations during the two days of Breeders' Cup races.

In 2009, Velazquez was on board Quality Road for the Breeders' Cup Classic when the Florida Derby winner became fractious, spending five minutes outside the gate refusing to load.  They finally did get Quality Road loaded, only to have him injure himself inside the gate, thus having to be scratched.

In 2010. Velazquez was the jockey on Life At Ten in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic.  Velazquez noticed that the winner of the Beldame Stakes was not warming up properly.  So does Velazquez report this information to the racing commission veterinarians? No.  Does he let the Churchill Downs stewards know?  No.  Velazquez does, however, tell former jockey and ESPN analyst Jerry Bailey live on the air that Life At Ten was not ready to race, thus alerting millions of viewers (and off-track bettors) to the fact that the second choice on the board was about to run a subpar effort.  Velazquez would be fined ten grand for his actions, and new policies would be enacted because of what shall forevermore be known as "The Life At Ten Incident."

Last year, 2011, Johnny V wasn't waiting for the Breeders' Cup races to find himself in the midst of a controversy.  In Race 2 on Breeders' Cup Friday at Churchill Downs, Velazquez, using a move some would say perfected by his agent and mentor, Angel Cordero, Jr, whips an opposing horse in the stretch, thus causing his mount, Congo, to be disqualified after crossing the finish line first.

So, can Johnny V keep the streak alive?  And, if so, what mess will he find himself in the middle of this year?

Peace and Love,

Jimbo

10/27/12 SA Race 6 - Horse Watch Follow-Up

Crown Over is a long shot claim that we've been following since he was scooped up by Trainer James Kasparoff for $25k out of Race 9 on August 25 at Golden Gate Fields; a race in which Crown Over went off at Final Odds of 32.2-1, and finished next-to-last.

On Saturday, Crown Over made his second start for Kasparoff, in Race 6 at Santa Anita.  As with Crown Over's initial start for Kasparoff earlier this month at Santa Anita, the race was a Starter Allowance (NW2L)  run on some California grass.  However, while the October 6 contest was a turf sprint down the hill, Crown Over was stretched out to eight furlongs in Saturday's contest.  Crown Over also got a change in rider Saturday, from Juan Hernandez to Joseph Talamo.

Didn't help.

Crown Over (Final Odds 9.10-1) broke from the gate seventh in the field of nine.  In the words of the chart caller Crown Over "chased; no late bid".  Never closer than fifth at any call, Crown Over finished seventh, three and a half lengths behind the winner, Smoken Legacy ($25.60 / $12.40 / $6.40).  Crown Over's share of the purse for his seventh place finish Saturday was $350, the same amount that his seventh place finish on October 6 had been worth.  

If you're looking to take something positive from Crown Over's effort, it's worth noting that he was closer to the lead at the end (three and a half lengths) than he was at the beginning (seven lengths back at first call).  This was also true of the October 6 contest, when Crown Over was seven lengths off the lead at first call and finished three and three quarter lengths in back of the winner.  Note that this was not the case in Crown Over's last race prior to heading to Kasparoff's barn; in that race (which, like Saturday's, was eight furlongs on the turf) Crown Over was up close at the start, less than two lengths behind the leader, only to lose ground and finish over five lengths back.

I'll close this post as I did my last on Crown Over, stating that I'll be keeping him on my watch list, if for no other reason than to see if he ever does return back the $25k that was shelled out to get him to change barns.  And I'll ask again, does anyone want to offer a prediction on whether or not Crown Over will turn a profit before he changes connections again?

Peace and Love,

Jimbo

10/25/12 SA R7 - Horse Watch Follow-Up

About a month ago on this blog I wrote about putting Sweet Swap on our Horse Watch list.  I had been impressed with his final time running down the hill at Santa Anita in Race 6 on September 28, especially as it compared with the final times in a couple of Stakes over the same course.  I later tempered my enthusiasm in a comment to that entry, where I noted (among other races) that Circa'sgoldengear, a five year old gelding who has never competed in, let alone won, a stakes race, posted his fourth win in fifteen career starts by smoking the downhill grass with a final time that was a over a fifth of a second quicker than that run by Sweet Swap.

Thursday, Sweet Swap ran his first race since that September 28 effort.  Moving up the class ladder into a non-winners of two other than AOC, Sweet Swap significantly improved upon his final time from September, running the six and a half furlongs of the downhill California grass in under seventy-two seconds.  Unfortunately for Sweet Swap's backers (of which there were many, as he left the gate as the Post Time Favorite at final odds of 1.3-1) that time was only good enough to capture the Show, as Clubhouse Ride (6.7-1) hit the wire a half length ahead of him, with Truest Legend (11.6-1) taking the Place between those two.  So a nice effort by Sweet Swap, but certainly not the result that his bettors were hoping for.

For those interested, the Equibase chart of the race is available here, while the DRF version of events may be viewed here.

Peace and Love,

Jimbo

Chantal Sutherland Calls It a Career

In surprising (though not really shocking) news, Chantal Sutherland  announced her retirement from horse racing on Sunday.  Her last mount was for her father Hugh aboard Crushin Hard in The Bunty Lawless Stakes at Woodbine.  I'm sure that you all join with me in wishing Ms Sutherland the best of luck in all her further endeavors.

Peace and Love,

Jimbo

10/20/12 GG Race 2 - Horse Watch Follow-Up

City Chapel is a longshot claim that we've been following since late August, and wrote about most recently on October 10; so I won't recap his full story again here.  On Saturday, City Chapel made his third start for owner and trainer Victor Trujillo, going to post less than two weeks after his previous start (marking only the third time in City Chapel's career that he's raced on such short rest).

Saturday's contest was a step up in class for City Chapel; for while it was still a claiming race with the same price tag as his prior start ($8k-$7k), Saturday's race was unrestricted; whereas City Chapel's previous starts since breaking his Maiden had been in races open only to horses with just one lifetime victory (NW2L).  The race was run at a distance of eight furlongs over some California grass.

City Chapel went to post at final odds of 11.1-1.  He broke third, was never more than three lengths back of the leader, and took the Place, paying $7.80 / $3.60 (not to mention pairing up with Post Time Favorite Janero (1.4-1) to form a Quinella that paid $23.40 for every two dollars wagered).

City Chapel's portion of the purse for taking the Place was $2,400; thus making for a total of $4,710 in purse money collected by Trujillo for the three starts this gelding has made for his barn since being purchased for $4,000 on August 26 (and since Trujillo is both trainer and owner, he has significantly fewer people with whom he needs to split these funds).

So in less than two months time Trujillo has taken a horse that ran out of the money at odds of nearly 30-1 in a $4k claiming race, and has twice in a row gotten that same horse to finish second for a claiming price double that for which he was purchased.  Quite an achievement for Trujillo, and one for which he can be justifiably proud.

For those interested, the Equibase chart for Saturday's race is available here, while the DRF version of events may be viewed here.

Peace and Love,

Jimbo

Happy Birthday Dr Joyce Brothers

Sending out best wishes for a happy birthday to Dr Joyce Brothers Saturday, October 20 (though here her birthday is given as October 29, while in other places it's given as September 20).  Columnist, author, business consultant, wife, and mother, not to mention being America's best known psychologist, Dr Brothers has enjoyed a successful career that has spanned over half a century in the media spotlight.  The following video, compiled by the good doctor's friends and family, is a compilation of many of the highlights of her career.






So, while I'm sure that you all join me in wishing Dr Brothers all the best today, I'm also sure that you're wondering, "What does all this have to do with a blog about horse racing?"  Well, I'll tell you: It's because the following quote, attributed to Dr Brothers, is one that every horse player in the world should have memorized and committed to heart.  Post it on your computer; write it on your Daily Racing Form; tape it to your refrigerator door; chisel it into stone and put it on your desk; do whatever you have to do to make the following a part of your handicapping process:

"Trust your hunches. They're usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level." - Dr Joyce Brothers

Peace and Love,

Jimbo