Horse Racing Hall of Fame Nominees

The National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame has announced their finalists for selection in 2009. They are:

Contemporary Male Horses: Best Pal, Point Given, Tiznow
Contemporary Female Horses: Open Mind, Silverbulletday, Sky Beauty
Jockeys: Eddie Maple, Randy Romero, Alex Solis
Trainers: Bob Baffert, Robert Wheeler

See the full article, including brief descriptions of each candidate, here:
http://www.racingmuseum.net/news/nrm-news-view-story-detail.asp?varID=209

John Battaglia Memorial Stakes Field

The John Battaglia Memorial Stakes will be run this weekend at Turfway Park in Kentucky. This ungraded stake, with a purse of $100,000, is named for the former general manager of Latonia Race Track, which changed its name to Turfway Park in 1986. For those of you who recognize the Battaglia name, John Battaglia's son Mike is the odds maker for Churchill Downs and often works as a racing host and analyst for NBC's live racing coverage.

1. Dynamite Bob
2. Stratos
3. Platinum Van
4. Proceed Bee
5. Toccet Rocket
6. Shanes Gold
7. Fitzaslew
8. Parade Clown

One interesting fact for fans of fillies: this race was won by Absolutely Cindy last year, the only female in a field of eleven.

Sham Stakes Set

The 2009 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita will post as the 9th race at Santa Anita on saturday, running for $200,000 as part of a big Saturday of Kentucky Derby preps. The field, with post positions looks like this:

1. Hi Flyin Indy
2. Smart Bid
3. Tiz True
4. Lifeline
5. The Pamplemousse
6. Balfour Park
7. Mr. Hot Stuff
8. Bourbon Bay
9. Ventana
10. Mark S The Cooler
11. Unbridled Roman
12. Take the Points (appears he will start here)

Fountain of Youth Stakes Field

The field is set for the 2009 Fountain of Youth Stakes (GII) at Gulfstream Park, a $250,000 prep for Kentucky Derby hopefuls. Last year, this race produced Derby starter Cool Coal Man. Here are the starters, with post position, and their morning-line odds.

1. Bee Cee Cee 30-1
2. Theregoesjojo 15-1
3. Notonthesamepage 4-1
4. Take the Points 10-1
5. Jack Spratt 20-1
6. Rocketing Returns 15-1
7. Beethoven 12-1
8. Break Water Edison 15-1
9. Capt. Candyman Can 5-1
10. Taqarub 6-1
11. Quality Road 8-1
12. This Ones for Phil 3-1

Note: For those of you observant enough to notice, you will see that Take the Points, the Todd Pletcher trained colt, is entered in both the Sham and the Fountain of Youth this weekend. Bloodhorse.com is reporting that he shipped to California this weekend, so it appears he will run in the Sham and scratch from the Fountain of Youth.

For those of you who just can't wait for some Fountain of Youth action, here's the replay of last year's running with Cool Coal Man:

Horse Racing Movies

In light of Oscar night, I thought it might be appropriate to post a listing of horse racing related films. The link below will take you to a fairly comprehensive listing, although there are at least two that I can think of that aren't included (the 2003 version of Seabiscuit, with Tobey Maguire, and 1988's Hot to Trot, with Bobcat Goldthwait).

Anyway, if you're a movie buff like me, I'm sure you'll enjoy perusing the list.

http://www.horse-races.net/library/list-movies.htm

Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool One

The first of three future wager pools for the Kentucky Derby closed on Feb. 15th, and as usual, the mutual field was the favorite at odds of 5-2.

For those of you unfamiliar with the tradition of the future wager pool at the Kentucky Derby, the premise is to pick the Derby winner before knowing precisely which horses will be running. Horses are assigned an odds to win (only win bets are allowed in the future pools) and bettors are given the opportunity to pick a winner at substantially higher odds than they are likely to receive on race day (provided that their pick actually makes it to the gate). In this process, some early contenders who have already started establishing themselves are given their own odds, while all other contenders who are not specifically named are considered part of the mutual field. In other words, a mutual field bet gets you all the remaining Triple Crown nominated horses.

As you can see, I have listed the horses singled out in the future wager pool in a column on the right-hand side of the blog. I find this the easiest way to track the runners as we count down to the main event. By clicking on the horse's name, you will be taken to their individual profile page on the Thoroughbred Times website, where more in-depth information about each is available.

The second future wager pool is slated for March 12-15, and final early wagering will be held April 2-5. Also, for those interested, the Kentucky Oaks (the filly version of the Kentucky Derby) has reduced its future wagering pools from three to one this year, and it will coincide with the second Derby pool in March. When it becomes available, those horses will be listed as well.

That said, I think it's also important to track several of the horses not singled out in the initial future wager pool. Keep in mind that last year's winner, Big Brown, was not an individual entry in the first pool, nor was former Horse of the Year and Kentucky Derby third-place finisher Curlin in 2007. To that end, I've created a separate list of "Other's to Watch." If there are any horses that I've missed that you feel belong there, send me a note and I'll get them added.

Mayor Marv Runs Roughshod Over Field in Turf Paradise Derby

Mayor Marv took the lead forty feet from the gate and never looked back, drawing off to win by three lengths in the Turf Paradise Derby. The betting favorite at even odds covered the mile and a sixteenth in 1:43.23.

Mayor Marv's stiffest competition came from local favorite Hidden Bounty, the second betting choice at 9/5. Hidden Bounty ran well, stalking Mayor Marv from the outset and looking for a few strides as if he might have the gas to finish the job. He drew along side Mayor Marv with a furlong to go, but David Flores asked the Mayor for more and got it, while Hidden Bounty had nothing left and faded to a lapsing second place.

Just Jebicah finished third in a good race for him, and long shot Lesson in Deceit finished fourth.

After the race, the TVG hosts discussed the possibility of Mayor Marv shipping to Santa Anita to run in the April 4th Santa Anita Derby for $750,000, a turnaround of about five weeks. A quick check of the nominations for that race on the Santa Anita website confirm that he is nominated, but I think that race might be a little over his head. However, if he hopes to continue on the Derby trail, he will need to be stout there, or in a similar race, to earn enough money to qualify. Keep in mind that he's now won two straight and is under the tutelage of Bob Baffert, who is certainly no stranger to getting big runs out of his horses. Still a longshot, but he performed as asked today, and can't be counted out yet.

Mayor Marv $4.00 $2.40 $2.10
Hidden Bounty $2.60 $2.40
Just Jebicah $6.00

Triple Crown Nominations Down in 2009

Nominations to the Triple Crown were down by almost 11% for 2009, from 449 in 2008 to 401 this year. As Jeff Lowe of the Thoroughbred Times points out in a recent article (see the link below), this is the smallest field of nominees since 2005, when the foal crop was reduced due to the troubles the breeding industry incurred as a result of mare reproductive loss syndrome. However, as noted in the article, this year's downturn is clearly a result of the economy, as the small nomination class was actually part of the largest foal crop of this decade (so far).

I guess even the rich guys get the blues.

Check out the full article at:
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2009/February/07/Triple-Crown-nominations-decline-by-107-in-2009.aspx

A Slim Weekend for Preps

There's not much in the way of prep races for the Derby this weekend. The only one of any note is the Turf Paradise Derby, a race for three year olds at a mile and a sixteenth for $100,000.

The favorite is Mayor Marv, trained by Bob Baffert for the Mike Pegram stable, a team that's worked together on top-caliber horses Real Quiet, winner of the 1998 Kentucky Derby, and Midnight Lute, winner of the 2007 Breeder's Cup Sprint, among others. Although it took him six starts to break his maiden, keep in mind that two of those starts he lost to legitimate Kentucky Derby hopefuls Papa Clem (by 1/2 length in a one mile race at Santa Anita on 12/29) and The Pamplemousse (by 2 3/4 at a 1 1/16 at Hollywood Park on 12/14). And, the start before that, he was beaten by only a head in a sprint at Aqueduct after going five wide. He should be the favorite here. David Flores is scheduled to ride.

Mayor Marv's toughest competition here looks to be Hidden Bounty (morning line 3-1), a Turfway Park favorite who stretched to a mile his last time out and won by 6 3/4, pulling away. He has beaten others in this one, including Albacore Bob (morning line 6-1) and Just Jebicah (morning line 10-1).

I'll take Hidden Bounty to win, Mayor Marv to place, and at 8-1 morning line, I'll look to get a price on Lesson in Deceit, who comes off a mile race on turf where he won by four lengths.

So we're in the thick of the prep races for the 135th Kentucky Derby, and I have finally gotten my blog started. In the next couple of months, I hope to track those prep races, and the horses running for those twenty coveted spots in the starting gate, right here on this blog. After that, we'll move on to the summer session, the races at the Spa, and the Breeder's Cup.

Just to be clear, I'm doing this for fun. I certainly hope to provide some good info, and maybe start some interesting dialogue, but the true point is to have fun, track the horses, and delight in the magic that is the Triple Crown.

As we go, please feel free to send me your thoughts, feelings, and any other input you've got.

Happy racing!