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Six of Canada’s Best Horses (and Four Trainers) Inducted into Hall of Fame

Because I like to cover horse racing around the world, I thought it would be nice to tip the hat to six horses and four individuals who will be inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Mister Big is one horse. Remember him? The second biggest pacer of all time in Canada. His trainer, Robert McIntosh, will also enter the hall.

Mister Big  earned more than $4 million. He finished in the money 65 times in 85 career starts — 34 wins, 20 second-place finishes and third another 11 times. And 18 times the multiple Dan Patch and Nova Award winner posted a time of 1:49 or lower.

McIntosh, from Windsor, Ont., is a four-time O’Brien winner as Canada’s top trainer and is also the leading trainer in the Breeders Crown with 15 wins.

He has recorded over 3,562 wins and his horses have earned more than $78 million in earnings. WOW.

Other inductees include Belmont Stakes winner Victory Gallop, along with Lady Angela. They join builder Mel Lawson of Hamilton and trainer-jockey Frank Barroby.

Joining Mister Big in the standardbred class of 2010 is broodmare Classic Wish along with builder R. Peter Heffering and A Worthy Lad in the veterans category.

The 10 new inductees will be enshrined Aug. 19 at the Mississauga Convention Centre.

Lawson, 87, and Jim Dandy Stables were involved in the breeding and racing of quality horses for almost 50 years.

Barroby, 66, dominated racing as a jockey, winning titles in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C.

Heffering, of Port Perry, Ont., has campaigned many notable horses including Precious Bunny, a winner of over $2 million and a member of the Hall of Fame.

Congratulations to all.

Presenting the Field for Today’s Preakness Stakes (Favorite, of Course, is Super Saver, the Kentucky Derby Winner)

Here is the field for today’s Preakness Stakes:

1. Aikenite under jockey Javier Castellano with morning line odds of 20-1
2. Schoolyard Dreams under jockey Eibar Coa, 15-1
3. Pleasant Prince under jockey Julien Leparoux, 20-1
4. Northern Giant under jockey T. J. Thompson, 30-1
5. Yawanna Twist under jockey Edgar Prado, 30-1
6. Jackson Bend under jockey Mike Smith, 12-1
7. Lookin At Lucky under jockey Martin Garcia, 3-1
8. Super Saver under jockey Calvin Borel, 5-2
9. Caracortado under jockey P. Atkinson, 10-1
10. Paddy O’Prado under jockey Kent Desormeaux, 9-2
11. First Dude under jockey Ramon Dominguez, 20-1
12. Dublin under jockey Garrett Gomez, 10-1

The Preakness Stakes is the 12th race in Pimlico’s May 15 race card.

Race time is 6:12 pm., eastern time.

Longshot Schoolyard Dreams Has a Shot in This Year’s Preakness

He’s a longshot, but bettors are seriously looking at Schoolyard Dreams as one of the horses that could beat Super Saver. In fact, he has.

Don’t  ignore Schoolyard Dreams.  He lost the Tampa Bay Derby to Odysseus but just barely. That loss cost the horse a chance at the Kentucky Derby as he didn’t have enough earnings to make the field. 

The owners entered the horse in the Wood Memorial but no horse was going to beat Eskendereya in that race.

After the fourth place finish in the Wood the horse was pointed toward the Preakness.

“The horse is ready to go,” said part owner Eric Fein, “Anybody who doesn’t think so is crazy.”

The sire of Schoolyard Dreams is Stephen Got Even who finished fourth in the 1999 Preakness.  Schoolyard Dreams is the grandson of 1992 Belmont Stakes winner A.P. Indy.

All Hail Super Saver, and Super “Jockey” Calvin Borel, Kentucky Derby Winners

Well, I shouldn’t have been surprised.

The 136th Run for the Roses ended with jockey Calvin Borel winning AGAIN, the third time in the past four years. This time, on Super Saver.

The horse went off at 12-1 odds.

So winning the Derby was nothing new for this great jocket (from Louisiana)…not so for trainer Todd Pletcher, who has had 24 (count em) entrants in the Derby before yesterday’s win. His first.

Borel knows this track. And we know Borel.

He broke from the gate and went directly to the rail. Waiting for just the right moment to make the break.

Confident, as always, he told reporters  ”I knew nothing was going to run him down.” This, despite a hard charge from Ice Box down the home stretch.

Pletcher, who had come close to Derby wins with Bluegrass Cat (2006) and Invisible Ink (2001), was happy to have Borel on his side for once, especially given his history at the famed Louisville course.

“Calvin Borel is a great rider anywhere he goes, but at Churchill Downs he’s even five lengths better,” Pletcher said.

We couldn’t have said it better.

Be interesting to see the horse he rides next year.

Derby Day…Experts Around the Net Make Their Picks

I’ve spent the better part of a day checking out various media outlets to see what the experts think about today’s Derby.

The horses most commonly amongst the expert Kentucky Derby betting picks are Super Saver, Awesome Act, Ice Box, and the filly Devil May Care.

Here’s why:

It’s gonna be a muddy track, remember.

Super Saver is a popular Kentucky Derby pick because he’s one of the few horses in the 2010 lineup that has won at Churchill Downs.

He’s a dirt horse that has had success on this track and it doesn’t hurt that 2009 Kentucky Derby winning jockey Calvin Borel will be yanking the reins.

You can get close to 17/1 Kentucky Derby betting odds on Super Saver online even though the track odds at Churchill Downs have him as the race favorite at 7/1.

Awesome Act is liked because he’s really figured it out recently and has the versatility to run any sort of race.  In a 20-horse race like the 2010 Kentucky Derby, that type of skill is looked fondly upon.

Ice Box seems to be the consensus favorite as the top closer in the 2010 Kentucky Derby lineup and many are making picks on him because of how easily Mine That Bird came from way back last year.

Devil May Care is the filly and she really doesn’t appear all that talented at first glance.  She’s ran one nice race in her career and it was against a lineup of iffy contenders.

That said, there are plenty making Kentucky Derby picks on her because of the huge speed figure she put up in that race.  It puts her amongst the top 3 in terms of that statistic and you can get close to 20/1 odds on her currently.

Good luck, bettors everywhere. I’ll post news after the race.

Kentucky Derby Preview: With Eskendereya Withdrawn, Who is the Favorite Now?

Ok. Now we have a problem, as bettors.

Eskendereya, whom I would have bet on this Saturday, in the 136th Kentucky Derby has been withdrawn.

Eskendereya, for those who aren’t aware of the horse, won the Fountain of Youth Stakes and Wood Memorial.

He would have been a strong favorite in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, but the colt was withdrawn from the first leg of the Triple Crown on Sunday because of swelling in his left front leg.

Damn it.  Of course, we don’t want anything to happen to the horse, so it is right that he was withdrawn. Don’t get me wrong on that.

Trainer Todd Pletcher said at a news conference at Churchill Downs, “The horse isn’t lame. I wouldn’t call it that. He’s not uncomfortable; he’s slightly off. We’re hopeful that this is not career threatening.”

Pletcher still has as many as six horses eligible for the Kentucky Derby, as he tries to win the race for the first time. He has competed in nine of the past 10 Derbies with 24 starters, and his best finishes were seconds by 51-to-1 shot Invisible Ink in 2001 and 30-to-1 shot Bluegrass Cat in 2006.

“It is extremely disappointing, of course,” Pletcher said.

So who do we bet on now?

With Eskendereya gone, the probable Derby favorite will be Lookin At Lucky, who has won six of eight starts and was the champion 2-year-old in 2009.

Lookin At Lucky is trained by three-time Derby winner Bob Baffert.

Watch this week for MANY MORE postings on the Derby.

Multi-Billion Dollar Horse Racing Complex Planned in China

Correspondents in China (reporters for the U.K. newspaper, the Telegraph) note that an ambitious 10-year project  aims to create a “Tianjin Horse City” (see photo of the city above) with an international equestrian college, horse-breeding centre, auction base, animal feed factory, racetrack, and 7-star hotel with sweeping, phoenix-shaped grandstand.

How is it gonna be financed? Oil money (Dubai) of course.

The Dubai-based Meydan group, the developer of the world’s biggest horse racing complex, said it had been invited by the Chinese government to use its know-how to take horse racing in China to the next level.

China is hoping to emulate that success, having legalised horse racing in 2008.

So we’ll see. But I wouldn’t bet against the chinese.

Previous attempts to kick-start racing in China ran into difficulties, with the government shutting down a number of racecourse in 2000 in an anti-gambling campaign.

Racing was introduced in China by the British in the 19th and early 20th century, with the sport becoming a popular pastime.

However the sport was banned after the Communist revolution.

Work on the Tianjin Horse City is slated to begin in May, with plans to complete the 660-acre equestrian college, stud farm and animal feed factory by the end of 2011.

The Chinese racing industry has argued that legalising on-track betting could generate up to three million jobs, clean up illegal gambling and generate some £4bn in tax revenues.

We’ll see. But the plans look very promising. To say the least.

Zenyatta’s the “Apple” of My Eye; Her Win in Hot Springs Proves She is One of Best Ever

Absolutely no question now. Zenyatta is one of horse racing’s all time greats.

She won the Breeder’s Cup Classic ($5 million) in November.

Last week, in Arkansas, she won her 16th straight race, with an easy 4.25 length win the the $500,000 Apple Blossom Stakes.

Now, she’s up there with such greats as Citation, Cigar and Mister Frisky, who won 16 consecutive races while competing at the top level of the sport.

“I have to say, I really believe she’s even better this year,” said Mike Smith, Zenyatta’s regular rider.

Zenyatta ($2.10) assumed her typical role at the back of the pack early in the Apple Blossom, as Be Fair broke like a shot and moved to the lead through an opening quarter in 24.07 seconds. The pacesetter was pushed along by Taptam through a half-mile in 48.19 seconds, with Zenyatta still able to see them all while racing about eight lengths off the pace at that point.

Zenyatta began her bid in earnest past the three-eighths pole. Then, Zenyatta rolled five wide into the stretch, then overtook her rivals to cover 1⅛ miles on a fast track in 1:50.71.

“She won really well in hand,” said Smith, who was aboard Zenyatta for trainer John Shirreffs. “I would say this and her last race were pretty impressive to me. She did it well, well within herself.”

All hail the Queen of the track. Hell… she’s about the best there ever was.

Here’s What We’ve Been Waiting For: Zenyatta Racing Again (It’s Apple Blossum Time in Hot Springs, Ark.)

Is this any way to treat a lady?

I’ve been waiting for this race for a long time…Zenyatta racing again, racing in the $500,000 Apple Blossum, at Oaklawn Park.

She’ll be running against four other fillies and mares will be in the starting gate for the 1 1/8-mile race,.

Zenyatta, of ocurse, is an overwhelming favorite to join Citation and Cigar as American horses that won their first 16 races.

This was going to be the first meeting between Zenyatta and 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra. But Rachel’s first race of 2010 was a loss and it was clear she wasn’t quite ready to show her best.

So, that will have to wait.

Post Time for England’s Biggest (Most Prestigious) Race, The Grand National

The course at Aintree will once again host the Grand National, England’s most famous race.

Aintree is unforgiving. 40 horses lining up … 4.5 miles, 30 fence jumps.

Is this the toughest, most demanding course in the world, as some people think?

Yup.

The race’s history is responsible for some of the true horse racing greats and everybody who has ever witnessed a Grand National has a story to tell. And a memory that will last a lifetime.

As I look at my record book, I’m seeing names of famous winners like Bindaree, Hedgehunter, Miinnehoma, Party Politics.

Big Fella Thanks?

Anything can happen in the National. Last year, 100/1 shot Mon Mome landed last year’s renewal.

I’ll keep my eye out for more information tomorrow. So check this site out. I’ll comb the web for more information. And put more feelers out to my UK contacts.

If you are reading this in the UK…would love to hear your thoughts. And predictions.

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