Horse Racing Random

[dryrunguy]

Forgive me - "win the sequence " - what does that mean?

Sorry. That's referring to when you play a Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5, or a Pick 6. Those types of betting tickets are called a sequence. For example, today I'm playing the $0.50 late Pick 5 at Gulfstream, so that's races 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14. I can choose more than 1 horse in each race if I want, but the price of the ticket increases when you do that. I picked 2 horses in Race 10, 3 horses in Race 11, 1 horse in Race 12, 5 horses in Race 13, and 3 horses in Race 14. You have to have the winner in each race to get the payout. (Actually, Gulfstream is one of the few tracks that gives you a payout for getting 4/5 correct, but the payout isn't much--just a few bucks.)

[Fastbackss]

I figured that is what it was but I was confused seeing different number of horses chosen in each race.

Thank you for clarifying.

When I was a kid and would go - I only wanted to pick winner, or at most W,P,S. As an adult I am suddenly a pompous blowhard and "won't get out of bed for anything less than an exacta"

[dryrunguy]

I figured that is what it was but I was confused seeing different number of horses chosen in each race.

Thank you for clarifying.

When I was a kid and would go - I only wanted to pick winner, or at most W,P,S. As an adult I am suddenly a pompous blowhard and "won't get out of bed for anything less than an exacta"

I totally understand that. I pretty much stick with Pick 5s. The only time I bother with Pick 3s or Pick 4s is if I have a very strong opinion on some longer shots in a sequence.

[JazzNU]

It was a great race, but I found myself disappointed with the coverage afterward. This had to have been a historic win on the jockey side and neither NBC nor the horse racing media in general seemed to have felt the need to highlight it outside of a quick mention.

Brothers (Irad Ortiz Jr. and Jose Ortiz) went 1 and 2 at the Belmont Stakes. How many times has that happened at any of the major races? And two brothers won Triple Crown races (Preakness, Belmont) in the same year? Has that ever happened before? Why isn't that a bigger deal?!?

Truly wondering if this is the first time it's ever happened, I'm sure it's extremely rare, like count it on one hand and not need all 5 fingers kind of rare, if it has happened before at all. I don't understand why a bigger deal wasn't made of it.

[dryrunguy]

It was a great race, but I found myself disappointed with the coverage afterward. This had to have been a historic win on the jockey side and neither NBC nor the horse racing media in general seemed to have felt the need to highlight it outside of a quick mention.

Brothers (Irad Ortiz Jr. and Jose Ortiz) went 1 and 2 at the Belmont Stakes. How many times has that happened at any of the major races? And two brothers won Triple Crown races (Preakness, Belmont) in the same year? Has that ever happened before? Why isn't that a bigger deal?!?

Truly wondering if this is the first time it's ever happened, I'm sure it's extremely rare, like count it on one hand and not need all 5 fingers kind of rare, if it has happened before at all. I don't understand why a bigger deal wasn't made of it.

Honestly, I'm pretty knee deep in this stuff and didn't even put it together that the Ortiz brothers combined to win the Preakness and the Belmont. I'd be shocked if that's happened before. Same with siblings going 1-2 in the Belmont or any other Triple Crown race. In any case, I'm glad you pointed out because that detail flew right over my head.

The Ortiz brothers gets so much unfair, downright brutal, treatment from bettors. There's a guy on Twitter with thousands of followers who constantly berates Irad Ortiz in comparison to Flavien Prat. The same guy also nicknamed Jose Ortiz as Jose Ort-Ease... Because he's convinced that Jose routinely eases horses in the stretch so his brother can win a race. Which is complete nonsense, of course. But he has a loyal following.

But in the broader racing community, both brothers are incredibly well respected. And I would strenuously argue that Jose's ride about Pizza Bianca in the Breeder's Cup Juvenile Turf was the most impressive ride I saw in all of 2021.

[JazzNU]

The only thing mentioned on the broadcast was them going 1 and 2 at the Belmont, no mention was made at all about 2 brothers winning Triple Crown in the same calendar year.

Also, in case it escaped anyone's notice, the other thing that was odd about how little was made of this is that in another case, it could at least somewhat be explained away as not wanting to take away from the winning horse's owner and trainer, etc. But in this case, it was the same owner, same trainer, same everything. So there's truly no reason that highlighting this rare feat would've detracted from the winning owner and trainer's celebrations, it would've added to it, making it much less of just another year that didn't have a Triple Crown winner. And the owner said specifically how proud he was as a NY boy who used to skip school to go to Belmont and bet the horses (and hope he would win so he wouldn't have to explain to his parents that missing $20 - it was one of the better winning owner's speeches), how this was his goal as an owner above all else, to win the Belmont and going 1 and 2 made it that much sweeter.

[dryrunguy]

Imperiously will race tomorrow (Friday) at Gulfstream. 5.5 furlongs on dirt, maiden special weight--so she won't be eligible for a claim. She has been training well under no urging. It's a nine-horse field, and she will break from hole #6. That's good because, if she gets out of the gate okay, she won't be able to dart to the right and try to take a tour of the Gulfstream parking lot like she did in her first race.

She's one of three horses in the field with experience. The other six are first-time starters.

I haven't studied the race yet (will do that later tonight), but she can't help but improve over her debut, right? Right? RIGHT?!?!? Remember, Cryptic Creed was horrible in his debut (tried to swallow his own tongue twice), and then he won his second start, has won again since that, and has already reached his "Non-Winners of Three Races" condition.

Luca Panici will be riding. I like Luca a lot.

[dryrunguy]

Imperiously was less awful than she was in the debut. She got out of the gate fine--didn't try to tour the Gulfstream parking lot like her debut. Finished 6th out of 9 (better than 6th out of 7 from the debut), and her speed figure improved by about 10 points. So it was improvement. Not much. But a little.

I just don't think the lightbulb has gone off for her yet.

[dryrunguy]

Unified Dreams and Doc Ballard will race tomorrow (Sunday) at Churchill. Unified Dreams will run in Race 4--8.5 furlongs on dirt, purse of $60K, field of 10, he'll be #5, claiming price is $75K, so it's a bit of a drop in class. At quick glance, he should be pretty competitive in this group. Reylu Gutierrez will be aboard again.

Doc Ballard will run in Race 7--5.5 furlongs on dirt, $92K purse, field of 10, he'll be #9, no claiming. The race has an interesting condition I don't see very often. It's only open to 2-year-olds that were purchased for $45K or less at their most recent auction or failed to sell. Doc was purchased for $16K. It's still too short for him, but hopefully he'll at least get out of the gate better than his debut and show better early speed. Gerardo Coralles will ride.

And since I forgot to mention it before, Saffie Joseph took over training duties on Doc Ballard shortly after his debut. Apparently he saw something he liked. Here's hoping Saffie can improve him quickly.

[dryrunguy]

Well, there's no other way around it.

Unified Dreams was horrible. Finished last. He looked tired to me. About 1 minute after his race, the partnership's email chain started blowing up. My favorite was, "What a disgraceful performance." As if THAT kind of comment is in some way helpful.

As I said, he looked like a tired horse to me. I think he needs about 3 weeks off, no training, and then perhaps a series of 5-furlong drills. I'd also like see the partnership consider getting him away from Churchill, perhaps even consider synthetic or grass. And chances are, another drop in class in probably necessary. It was very disappointing.

Doc Ballard also was disappointing--but better. He improved a little. According to the partnership's lead, Saffie was super disappointed with the rider. Generally, I think that's a pretty lazy "go to" when things don't go well. Maybe not in this case. Doc broke horribly again. And you just can't do that in a 5.5-furlong sprint and get away with it.

A small taste of success would be really nice at some point. Because it has been an incredibly disappointing year so far.

[ponchi101]

What a disgraceful performance.
"Hey buddy, why don't you run the race? AS A HORSE?"
Indeed, how unproductive. Better luck next time, buddy.

[dryrunguy]

So, a few things about Unified Dreams... When I saw him in the paddock before his race yesterday, he was really on his toes and looking excited. But I only got to see him a few seconds here and there as there were 9 other horses in the field, and I was watching online.

According to the partnership lead (and I missed ALL of this), Unified Dreams was being quite unprofessional for most of his time in the paddock. Then, it took two handlers to get him out to the track. Then he continued to act up throughout the post parade. In other words, he expended A LOT of energy before the race even started when it was roughly high 80s/low 90s at Churchill.

It's a fine line. You want a horse to show interest, but you don't want them to be too riled up before a race--especially on a hot, muggy day. Matt said UD pretty much did the same thing before his last race. I did not know that.

Not sure how we'll fix him...

But we'll start with gelding him in the next day or two to see if that helps him calm down and focus. He'll need 4-6 weeks before he can resume training. So he'll be out at least 2 months.

And this is how the balls bounce sometimes (pun intended).

[dryrunguy]

Just to give you an example of how unpredictable this can be... You may remember the filly that was second to DanceswithBourbon in DWB's debut--Flippant. Meanwhile, DWB never won another race after that and is now in foal. Meanwhile, Flippant is competing well in stakes races. For example, this afternoon, Flippant won the Indiana General Assembly Distaff Stakes at Horseshoe Indianapolis in a dead heat with another horse, has posted Equibase speed figures in the low 100s in two of her last three races and has amassed $256K+ in purse earnings from just 10 starts.

How do we explain it?

After losing to DWB, Flippant went on to discover turf. And to say she took to it well would be a massive understatement. Now the only question for her is if she is GRADED stakes material. Being only 4 years old, she still has time to find out.

[dryrunguy]

Unified Dreams will race 8/2 at Colonial Downs in Virginia. He'll go 5.5 furlongs on grass--so back to a sprint, but we're giving turf a try. Claiming price is $25K. I actually like his chances in this spot. At quick glance, it's not a strong field. His pedigree suggests he should like turf (sired by a son of Candy Ride; Flatter on the dam's side should work as well).

He'll get bet because this will be his first start since being gelded. (Yes, that's an angle.)

Reylu Gutierrez will ride. We're also adding blinkers for the first time.

[Cuckoo4Coco]

Unified Dreams will race 8/2 at Colonial Downs in Virginia. He'll go 5.5 furlongs on grass--so back to a sprint, but we're giving turf a try. Claiming price is $25K. I actually like his chances in this spot. At quick glance, it's not a strong field. His pedigree suggests he should like turf (sired by a son of Candy Ride; Flatter on the dam's side should work as well).

He'll get bet because this will be his first start since being gelded. (Yes, that's an angle.)

Reylu Gutierrez will ride. We're also adding blinkers for the first time.

Are you the owner of this horse? Is that the horse in your avatar? A very beautiful horse.