No question about it. The fields for the stakes on Derby Preview Day are stacked with top-class talent. Five Grade 1 winners, including two Breeders Cup winners, will enter the starting gate at Fair Grounds on Saturday. With the exception of the Pan Zareta, the stakes offer great betting opportunities.
Colonel Power-No Fault and Fort Prado.
Mineshaft-Encaustic.
Fair Grounds Hcp-Sterwins and Silverfoot.
Silverbulletday-Highest Class.
Risen Star-Visionaire.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Selections for Saturday, February 2nd
FG Race 7: Steel Pier and Chief Export.
FG Race 9 (Black Gold): Knotty Knotty.
GP Race 6 (Swale): St. Joe.
GP Race 9 (Donn): Brass Hat.
OP Race 8 (King Cotton): Probation Ready.
SA Race 6 (La Habra): Areigo.
SA Race 7 (Santa Monica): Society Hostess and Silkly Smooth.
SA Race 8 (Thunder Road): Mr Nappaer Tandy and Siren Lure.
SA Race 9 (Strub): Giant Gizmo and Monterrey Jazz.
FG Race 9 (Black Gold): Knotty Knotty.
GP Race 6 (Swale): St. Joe.
GP Race 9 (Donn): Brass Hat.
OP Race 8 (King Cotton): Probation Ready.
SA Race 6 (La Habra): Areigo.
SA Race 7 (Santa Monica): Society Hostess and Silkly Smooth.
SA Race 8 (Thunder Road): Mr Nappaer Tandy and Siren Lure.
SA Race 9 (Strub): Giant Gizmo and Monterrey Jazz.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Selections for Saturday, January 26
More rain for New Orleans is in the forecast for Saturday morning, so it is a safe bet that the turf races, including the featured Krantz Handicap, will be transferred to the main. Autobahn Girl is my selection. She has won three of seven starts over traditional dirt surfaces, including a win in the Suncoast at Tampa Bay and a victory over Canada's Horse of the Year Sealy Hill in a Gulfstream allowance last January. She also ran a close fourth behind Acorn champ Cotton Blossom in the Tampa Bay Oaks. The Malcolm Pierce barn has done little wrong this FG meet.
The Sunshine Millions will be held on Saturday, and it is very possible that only half the "Millions" races will be run as Santa Anita has cancelled several cards this week because of torrential rainstorms and problems with its Cushion Track. My selections for the portion held at Gulfstream Park are: Mach Ride (Sprint), Robbie's Gal (Oaks), and Prop Me Up (Distaff). Prop Me Up has trained at Fair Grounds, where she ran an excellent fourth in the Furl Sail over the grass. She faces the Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Ginger Punch in here, so the race is tough, but she should hold her own against the rest of the field and is 20-1 ML. The Millions Turf looks wide open, but there are two in the race that I really like: French Vintage and Birdbirdistheword.
The Sunshine Millions will be held on Saturday, and it is very possible that only half the "Millions" races will be run as Santa Anita has cancelled several cards this week because of torrential rainstorms and problems with its Cushion Track. My selections for the portion held at Gulfstream Park are: Mach Ride (Sprint), Robbie's Gal (Oaks), and Prop Me Up (Distaff). Prop Me Up has trained at Fair Grounds, where she ran an excellent fourth in the Furl Sail over the grass. She faces the Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Ginger Punch in here, so the race is tough, but she should hold her own against the rest of the field and is 20-1 ML. The Millions Turf looks wide open, but there are two in the race that I really like: French Vintage and Birdbirdistheword.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Road to the Derby Kickoff Day
Fair Grounds has put together an outstanding card for the Road to the Derby Kickoff Day. Turf races were transferred to the main track on Thursday and Friday, but the weather in New Orleans on Friday was dry, so hopefully the Colonel Bradley and Leggio Handicap will remain on the sod. Here are several horses I like in the various stakes events.
Gaudin Handicap: Island Warrior and Demarcation.
Colonel Bradley: Save Big Money and French Beret.
Louisiana Handicap: Prom Shoes.
Leggio Handicap: Cat On A Cloud.
Tiffany Lass: Tizaqueena and Highest Class.
Lecomte: Z Fortune and Macho Again.
Gaudin Handicap: Island Warrior and Demarcation.
Colonel Bradley: Save Big Money and French Beret.
Louisiana Handicap: Prom Shoes.
Leggio Handicap: Cat On A Cloud.
Tiffany Lass: Tizaqueena and Highest Class.
Lecomte: Z Fortune and Macho Again.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Selection for Monday, December 31st
Pantara Phantom runs in the 4th race, the colt and gelding division of the Louisiana Futurity. In his previous start, Pantara Phantom ran an impressive third in the Champions Day Juvenile, which was his first start in nearly four months. Pantara Phantom pressed a fast pace in the Juvenile while along the inside, lost his position on the turn to drop back to sixth, lacked room early in the stretch, then rallied strongly when able to get clear. Albarado is back in the saddle for Pat Mouton.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Selection for Saturday, December 15
Mara's Time is entered in the 6th race on Saturday at Fair Grounds. It is a La-bred MSW going six furlongs. This will be Mara's Time second career start. In her debut on the second day of the meet, Mara's Time was bet down to be the second choice at 5-2 in a race with the same conditions as this race, but she disappointed when finishing a well-beaten seventh behind the even-money winning favorite. She drew an outside post that day and had a fairly wide trip.
Mara's Time has had two solid works in the interim. Most importantly, she has a very positive rider switch to Albarado. At 8-1 ML, she is worth considering.
Mara's Time has had two solid works in the interim. Most importantly, she has a very positive rider switch to Albarado. At 8-1 ML, she is worth considering.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
It is funny how things sometimes work out
I came home from Mass on Friday evening to find my front yard looking like a lake. After a few minutes of searching with a flashlight, I found the telltale bubbles that showed the spot where an underground pipe was broken. I figured it was probably a broken sprinkler line that I would take care of on Saturday morning. I shut off my water at the main and went inside to catch the remainder of the Delta Jackpot card. In the Delta Jackpot, Golden Yank ran well through the short stretch while between the dead-heat winners, and for a moment there I thought I might at least get an exacta saver behind the 39-1 Turf War, but the photo showed it was not to be. The jockey aboard Golden Yank lodged a claim of foul against both winners, and the head-on reply showed Golden Yank was squeezed on one side by Z Humor and by a greater degree on the other side by Turf War, but the stewards let the outcome stand.
Saturday morning started with some digging. After going through about 18 inches of soil, I reached some sprinkler pipes. The sprinkler system had been installed by the husband of the family that had previously owned my home. I was soon to learn that he should have left the installation up to the professionals. Although I couldn't see exactly where the pipe was leaking, I figured that I had the suspect pipe, so I called a plumber to cap it and I figured that I would worry about it in the Spring when I would start using my sprinkler system again.
The poor plumber arrived and quickly realized that he shouldn't have taken my call. He said the leaking pipe was actually deeper, so he began digging. He found more sprinkler pipes, but none was the problem. Finally, he said that the leak was probably along the main line. So more digging was done until the hole was about four feet deep. All the plumber could do was to shake his head at the installation of the sprinkler lines. I'm not exaggerating when I write that the exposed sprinkler lines looked like a monument of PVC scaffolding. The plumber said he had never seen anything like it in all his career. The leak ended up being where the sprinkler system had been tied into the main line. The plumber remarked that the original owner had not known what he was doing as evidenced by the maze of PVC and the shoddy connection.
I wasn't very happy to hand the plumber a check for $525 for his work, but I try to be optimistic about things and realized the bill would have been much higher if the leak had been under my house. By this time, the Champions Day Turf had been run and I was down for the day, so I headed inside to focus on the last four races and possibly turn my day around. But not much changed as my remaining selections fizzled. Champions Day was a losing day for me.
But Hollywood was still open and the Native Diver was later on the card. Looking at the past performances, I saw that Heatseeker was competitive in the field and was 20-1 on the morning line. I had bet Heatseeker in the San Diego Handicap at Del Mar when he made a bold run to get the lead in the stretch before tiring late. I made some small wagers on Heatseeker and left to take care of some tasks that had been delayed because of the earlier issues. I forgot about the race until much later that evening when I checked the Racing Form website to see if there were any news about Fair Grounds. Much to my surprise there was an article about Heatseeker paying $63 to win the Native Diver. My winnings did not cover my plumbing bill or my losses at Fair Grounds today, but it was still a nice chunk of change. This game is funny sometimes. Just when you are overwhelmed by the frustration of making bad selections, or making good selections that end up encountering racing trouble or bad rides, up pops a $63 winner.
Saturday morning started with some digging. After going through about 18 inches of soil, I reached some sprinkler pipes. The sprinkler system had been installed by the husband of the family that had previously owned my home. I was soon to learn that he should have left the installation up to the professionals. Although I couldn't see exactly where the pipe was leaking, I figured that I had the suspect pipe, so I called a plumber to cap it and I figured that I would worry about it in the Spring when I would start using my sprinkler system again.
The poor plumber arrived and quickly realized that he shouldn't have taken my call. He said the leaking pipe was actually deeper, so he began digging. He found more sprinkler pipes, but none was the problem. Finally, he said that the leak was probably along the main line. So more digging was done until the hole was about four feet deep. All the plumber could do was to shake his head at the installation of the sprinkler lines. I'm not exaggerating when I write that the exposed sprinkler lines looked like a monument of PVC scaffolding. The plumber said he had never seen anything like it in all his career. The leak ended up being where the sprinkler system had been tied into the main line. The plumber remarked that the original owner had not known what he was doing as evidenced by the maze of PVC and the shoddy connection.
I wasn't very happy to hand the plumber a check for $525 for his work, but I try to be optimistic about things and realized the bill would have been much higher if the leak had been under my house. By this time, the Champions Day Turf had been run and I was down for the day, so I headed inside to focus on the last four races and possibly turn my day around. But not much changed as my remaining selections fizzled. Champions Day was a losing day for me.
But Hollywood was still open and the Native Diver was later on the card. Looking at the past performances, I saw that Heatseeker was competitive in the field and was 20-1 on the morning line. I had bet Heatseeker in the San Diego Handicap at Del Mar when he made a bold run to get the lead in the stretch before tiring late. I made some small wagers on Heatseeker and left to take care of some tasks that had been delayed because of the earlier issues. I forgot about the race until much later that evening when I checked the Racing Form website to see if there were any news about Fair Grounds. Much to my surprise there was an article about Heatseeker paying $63 to win the Native Diver. My winnings did not cover my plumbing bill or my losses at Fair Grounds today, but it was still a nice chunk of change. This game is funny sometimes. Just when you are overwhelmed by the frustration of making bad selections, or making good selections that end up encountering racing trouble or bad rides, up pops a $63 winner.
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