this one of my favorite racing days of the year- fans are usually treated to full fields and a very competitive malibu stakes. we had a bunch of rain the last few days, so don't know if we're going to have turf racing, or what the condition of the turf course will be, so i will stick to the dirt races. main track was sealed before the rain, so we should be looking at fast footing.
r3: i love buckland manor if this stays on turf, but as of this write-up, that's still up in the air.
r5: watch over me. will rarely back a maiden against winner, but none of these winners is exactly the second coming of citation. 'watch ran a very good race in his debut closing strongly into what was an admittedly strong pace up front. no matter, he's trained well and need only get a good trip from the 4 hole to post an upset. likely favorite, race for glory will probably need a race for the d wayne lukas factory.
r7: pointe birds. sadler gives the seldom-used juan leyva a leg up on this cal bred son of russian courage. 'birds has run well on the engine, but mot importantly has shown an ability to rate some in his maiden breaker. there's a fair amount of speed signed on, so we need leyva to take this one back just a bit so he settles into the second flight of horses; if he can do that, we're looking to light up the tote board on the day after christmas.
r8: what a great race. we've got router, comebackers, balls-to-the-wall sprinters, come-from-behinders, turf to dirt, a little of everything. i don't love any particular horse in this race, but i will back a small amount of money on the comebacking southern image. he's obviously giving a ton away in the seasoning dept. to some of these grizzled vets like posse, midas eyes and toccet, but this one has always had a ton of talent and he should get a gorgeous trip sitting right off the speed. no way i'd play him at less than 10/1, but anything north of there, he's a small play.
r9: hoo gets the gold. this is an extremely empty race with the exception of in form fort point and returnee kirschwasser. i remember there was a bit of a buzz about kirschwasser before his debut last year-- just goes to show you that a lot can go wrong with these animals. obviously something happened on the way to the derby.... 'gold has speed, gets blinkers (a 21% maneuver for o'neill) and he gets the outside box. cross and clear- gate to wire?
good luck everyone.
r3: i love buckland manor if this stays on turf, but as of this write-up, that's still up in the air.
r5: watch over me. will rarely back a maiden against winner, but none of these winners is exactly the second coming of citation. 'watch ran a very good race in his debut closing strongly into what was an admittedly strong pace up front. no matter, he's trained well and need only get a good trip from the 4 hole to post an upset. likely favorite, race for glory will probably need a race for the d wayne lukas factory.
r7: pointe birds. sadler gives the seldom-used juan leyva a leg up on this cal bred son of russian courage. 'birds has run well on the engine, but mot importantly has shown an ability to rate some in his maiden breaker. there's a fair amount of speed signed on, so we need leyva to take this one back just a bit so he settles into the second flight of horses; if he can do that, we're looking to light up the tote board on the day after christmas.
r8: what a great race. we've got router, comebackers, balls-to-the-wall sprinters, come-from-behinders, turf to dirt, a little of everything. i don't love any particular horse in this race, but i will back a small amount of money on the comebacking southern image. he's obviously giving a ton away in the seasoning dept. to some of these grizzled vets like posse, midas eyes and toccet, but this one has always had a ton of talent and he should get a gorgeous trip sitting right off the speed. no way i'd play him at less than 10/1, but anything north of there, he's a small play.
r9: hoo gets the gold. this is an extremely empty race with the exception of in form fort point and returnee kirschwasser. i remember there was a bit of a buzz about kirschwasser before his debut last year-- just goes to show you that a lot can go wrong with these animals. obviously something happened on the way to the derby.... 'gold has speed, gets blinkers (a 21% maneuver for o'neill) and he gets the outside box. cross and clear- gate to wire?
good luck everyone.
