Horse Racing Random

[dryrunguy]

Doc Ballard is racing in the opener at Gulfstream today--about an hour from now. It's 1 mile and 70 yards on the synthetic. Claiming price is $12,500. He was installed as the tepid morning line favorite at 3-1. It's a field of nine. He'll break from post #4. Luca Panici will ride.

I like him in this spot. Maybe today will finally be his day.

BTW, we keep entering Imperiously in races, but they never fill or don't get carded. Very frustrating.

[ponchi101]

Good luck for Doc. Hope he wins

[JazzNU]

Baffert, his staff, and his horses are still barred from Churchill Downs--at least for now.

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing ... ium=social

Looks like horses have begun transferring. I'm assuming Baffert appealed to the Circuit Court, but as I said before, it's in Cincy, it's likely as connected as the Kentucky court (which had a judge presiding over it whose husband has a business interest in CDI), so banking on that seems like a stretch. So the horse owners appear to be not willing to wait for the true last minute deadline to transfer, possibly because there are cutoffs for other races just before that final date. I saw Feb. 25 is a big race at Oaklawn, for instance.

[dryrunguy]

Good luck for Doc. Hope he wins

The good news is Doc finally broke that string of third place finishes.

The bad news is he finished fifth. No excuses. It was a lackluster performance against a lackluster field.

And... He was claimed--the only horse claimed from the race. The owner/trainer who claimed him is a guy named Steve Budhoo. I've never heard of him. He's only been racing at Gulfstream (since 2021 at least). He's had only four starters this year. But he had his best in 2021 thanks to a horse he was training, Eye of a Jedi, who ran in stakes races and won the Grade 3 Ghostzapper Stakes. I remember Eye of a Jedi but never took note of the trainer. I didn't find anything negative about Budhoo via Google. I'll definitely ask Mary about him.

It's a curious claim because $12500 claiming races are the lowest Gulfstream goes. To drop Doc in class more than we already have would require he run somewhere else. But Budhoo only races his horses at Gulfstream. Maybe he wants to try Doc on turf. We wanted to try turf as well but none of the races Gulfstream put up suited him.

So, my financial ties to Doc Ballard have been severed. Of course, the emotional ties aren't as easy. I feel badly that we just couldn't figure him out.

[dryrunguy]

Top jockey Alex Canchari, a fixture at Canterbury Park and Prairie Meadows but also a frequent rider at other tracks, took his own life last night. This is the second jockey suicide in the past 2 months. Alex was only 29 and leaves behind a wife and two children.

[ti-amie]

Oh no! So sorry to hear this.

[dryrunguy]

Oh no! So sorry to hear this.

There's a faction of horse racing Twitter users who try to outdo each other when it comes to hurling jockey criticism--at times abuse. Now, I would stop short of saying those Twitter jockey abusers are responsible for what happened to Alex or to Avery Whisman. There were almost certainly more formidable, underlying mental health issues. But it's a thing. Actually, it's more than a thing. When it comes to these Twitter abusers, it's almost like a competition as to who can be more critical and cruel. And heaven help you if you call these guys out for their behavior. They come after you like a loyal, unified army.

[ti-amie]

Oh no! So sorry to hear this.

There's a faction of horse racing Twitter users who try to outdo each other when it comes to hurling jockey criticism--at times abuse. Now, I would stop short of saying those Twitter jockey abusers are responsible for what happened to Alex or to Avery Whisman. There were almost certainly more formidable, underlying mental health issues. But it's a thing. Actually, it's more than a thing. When it comes to these Twitter abusers, it's almost like a competition as to who can be more critical and cruel. And heaven help you if you call these guys out for their behavior. They come after you like a loyal, unified army.

That sounds like a certain tennis fanbase...

[dryrunguy]

Imperiously runs today in the nightcap at Tampa Bay Downs--1 mile, turf, $20K claiming, field of eight (one horse was just scratched). Imperiously will break from the fourth hole and be #5. Alonso Quinonez will ride again.

Imperiously will see a few familiar faces in the race, including Super Caro, who won Imperiously's last race (Imperiously finished third), and Peep's Day, who finished fourth behind Imperiously by 1.5 lengths in their last race. But I think Imperiously has a shot to beat Super Caro because Super Caro has raced twice since beating Imperiously on January 18 and has gone backward in both of those races. Both of those races, however, were against tougher company.

[dryrunguy]

So, I'm not sure what happened. Imperiously went wide on the first turn, collected herself, and was sitting a comfortable second when she veered right toward the outside rail and then was pulled up. She didn't finish. I am guessing something went wrong with her equipment. Maybe a busted rein or something.

[dryrunguy]

Three Derby prep races today, and sons of Violence took two of them. This is the Grade III Gotham at Aqueduct. A horse that lost his rider out of the gate made a real mess of things, and the Violence-sired colt, Raise Cain, made the best of it.

[dryrunguy]

2-year-old champion, Forte, made his 3-year-old debut today in the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream. Very impressive stuff with Irad Ortiz aboard. Forte is also a son of Violence. Sorry, all I can find is a clip of the far turn/stretch run.

[dryrunguy]

Same deal with the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita. I can only find the stretch run. Practical Move is a son of Practical Joke and was one of four former-Baffert horses entered by trainer Tim Yakteen.

[dryrunguy]

So, I'm not sure what happened. Imperiously went wide on the first turn, collected herself, and was sitting a comfortable second when she veered right toward the outside rail and then was pulled up. She didn't finish. I am guessing something went wrong with her equipment. Maybe a busted rein or something.

Mystery solved, I think. Heard from Mary. After Imperiously's last race, Quinonez suggested adding blinkers to help her stay focused. Since then, Imperiously has schooled and trained with blinkers and did just fine.

But an actual race situation is a different ballgame. Quinonez said Imperiously could hear the other horses behind her and kept trying to turn her head back to look at them. That was why she blew the first turn and he elected to pull her up--just to be safe. Mary said she's never had this happen before.

So we will look for another race--probably at Gulfstream since Tampa is winding down their winter season. Blinkers will almost certainly come off. LOL!

[dryrunguy]

The Tampa Bay Derby (Grade III KY Derby prep) was today. #6 Tapit Trice was the heavy favorite.