Talk About Tennis 2.0

Meanwhile, Danceswithbourbon ran a good race today. There was no way she was going to get by the Brad Cox horse taking a MASSIVE drop in class. I'm a little surprised DWB finished third, but it was still a good result for her, and her preliminary speed figure went back up to something around her first race. So that's improvement.

BTW, they had rain in the Indianapolis area over the weekend, so today's race was pulled off turf and switched from 7.5 furlongs on turf to 8 furlongs on dirt. The dirt track was fast, though.

Most important, she got through the race safely, in spite of having to check on the backstretch, and she earned almost enough in purse money to cover her barn bill for the next month.

dryrunguy wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 2:02 am Cancel culture? Huh? In what alternative universe?

Think it's just one of those terms now that people decide just to throw around whenever it suits them and they are angry about being punished for something.

The Preakness is today. Post time is 6:47 p.m., EST. Medina Spirit, as well as all of Baffert's other horses scheduled to race at Pimlico today, passed all drug tests.

Here's a nice slide show of the field: https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing ... ess-stakes.

My apologies for the delay in posting the race. It was a really fun race. I didn't bet it because I was far too confused.

Two Fun Facts: First, this was Rombauer's first win on dirt. He has now won three races--one on turf (his debut), one on synthetic (the win the qualified him for the Derby), and now one on dirt. Second, this was jockey Flavien Pratt's first asterisk-free Triple Crown win. He was the jockey aboard Country House, who won the 2019 Derby only after Maximum Security was disqualified.

It was a great stretch run dry. Rombauer coming around the outside at the turn didn't hurt him at all.

ti-amie wrote: ↑Sun May 16, 2021 7:42 pm It was a great stretch run dry. Rombauer coming around the outside at the turn didn't hurt him at all.

The funny thing is that no one actually did anything wrong. You knew what Medina Spirit was going to do. You new Concert Tour would try to go with him. You knew Midnight Bourbon would try to be forward, which is actually what Irad Ortiz achieved. Irad did everything right. It looked like he was going to pull it off. And then down came Rombauer from the clouds.

Going into the second turn, Rombauer was more forwardly placed than I expected. He was in a perfect position. And he capitalized.

Meanwhile, Rombauer's connections should send flowers to the connections of France Go de Ina. He had Rombauer boxed in on the backstretch and then tried to make that same move as Swiss Skydiver from last year. That gave Rombauer room to get out and get closer--and the rest was history.

Rock Along will run in her second race in Race 3 Thursday at Churchill. It is a $100K maiden special race with a field of 10 (with 4 also eligible horses who can get it only if others in the main field scratch). She will go 5 furlongs on turf. Florent Geroux will ride again. She will break from post #1. Normally that is not a good thing, but with her natural speed, the inside post should serve her well and allow her to control the rail.

Rock Along will be one of two fillies in the field that have raced before. (The other was the horse that finished right behind her in Rock Along's debut, which means nothing). Wesley Ward, known for his prowess with first-time starters (Rock Along lost her first race to a Ward first-time starter), has two firsters in the field. Brendan Walsh also has a first-time starter of his own.

There's not much else to tell. Two-year-old races are next to impossible to predict. Except you know Ward's two fillies will get absolutely hammered in the betting.

The New York Racing Association announced yesterday that it has slapped Bob Baffert with a temporary suspension, which means neither he nor any of his employees can enter or stable horses at any of the NYRA's three tracks. While horse racing Twitter is focused on how Baffert can't have a runner in the Belmont on June 5, I don't think he planned to enter that race anyway. BUT, he almost certainly would have had one or two horses running on the undercard for the Belmont. For example, he had planned to return Charlatan to racing for the Met Mile on June 5. Now that won't happen.

The Saratoga Summer Meet doesn't start until July 15. The suspension could be lifted by then.

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing ... suspension

dryrunguy wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 6:39 pm Rock Along will run in her second race in Race 3 Thursday at Churchill. It is a $100K maiden special race with a field of 10 (with 4 also eligible horses who can get it only if others in the main field scratch). She will go 5 furlongs on turf. Florent Geroux will ride again. She will break from post #1. Normally that is not a good thing, but with her natural speed, the inside post should serve her well and allow her to control the rail.

Rock Along will be one of two fillies in the field that have raced before. (The other was the horse that finished right behind her in Rock Along's debut, which means nothing). Wesley Ward, known for his prowess with first-time starters (Rock Along lost her first race to a Ward first-time starter), has two firsters in the field. Brendan Walsh also has a first-time starter of his own.

There's not much else to tell. Two-year-old races are next to impossible to predict. Except you know Ward's two fillies will get absolutely hammered in the betting.

She won. She got the lead and no one was able to pass her. I'll try to find video later tonight.

The preliminary Equibase speed figure is 82.

EDIT: Bumped down to 69. That makes more sense.

Go to 3:06 or so. Rock Along is the #1 horse.

dryrunguy wrote: ↑Thu May 20, 2021 10:11 pm She won. She got the lead and no one was able to pass her. I'll try to find video later tonight.

Awesome! What a great run and a fabulous start. Congrats!

And you asked me to talk you out of this. Aren't you glad you don't have sensible friends?

*throws virtual rose petals and opens champagne in celebration*

A few things:

1) I would be remiss if I did not profusely thank the 5 horse for trying to run sideways the whole way down the stretch--until it was too late.

2) Yesterday's win earned the partnership a check for $57,488. That's only $9,477 less than what Bold Article and Tiz the Dude earned COMBINED in 2020. That'll buy A LOT of oats and hay. It also underscores the hard core financial differences between winning a $100K race compared to a $32K allowance or claiming race. This is one of those things that I always KNEW, but I never grasped it until I SAW IT for myself as an owner.

3) I have no idea what happens next. We just started seeing 2-year-old races in the last 6-8 weeks, so there aren't very many 2-year-old winners to run against. I also have no idea what they'll do in terms of surface and distance for her third race. Rock Along made tremendous improvement in her second race compared to her first. Remember, in her first race she did the "speed and fade" thing, and that was at 4.5 furlongs on turf. Yesterday's race was just a 1/2 furlong longer. While she didn't fade like she did the first time, she was slowing down as she neared the wire. So while I would probably be down with the idea of switching her to dirt if we need to, because she has only trained on dirt and has put up some outstanding times, I'm not sure I'd be in favor of stretching her out more than another 1/2 furlong. We'll see...

Thanks for the support!

I hope it also buys YOU a lot of wine and cheese, so you can celebrate.
I mean, it can't all go to the horses, right?