Saturday Morning Notes - Oct 8

- It's been pouring here with no end in sight, and Belmont is going to be a washout for sure. I think the horses are going to need snorkel masks today. But it looks like a great card at Keeneland. Full fields abound, Alinghi takes on the boys in the Grade 1 Shadwell, and the Breeders Futurity looks like a wide open betting affair if nothing else. It remains to be seen whether there are any legitimate Juvenile candidates in this field. The horsemen are drawn to Keeneland by the big purses, and it's the prototypical "boutique meet" that Magna cites as its model for Pimlico. That meet would climax with the Preakness.

Well, the rain provides a convenient excuse for a TVG Day here in Queens. There’s a national Pick 4 with the Champagne and Frizette at Belmont with the two stakes at Keeneland. This is a tough one, and the slop at Belmont could produce unexpected results. I think the Frizette is almost an “all” race in these conditions. You have a few fillies like Adieu, Catch My Fancy, and Keeneland Kat that seem close on paper, and a whole bunch of others with the potential to improve. In the Champagne, I’m going to go with Henny Hughes this time; I had First Samurai singled on Travers day and I’ll go against the grain again here.

- Bill Mott had yet another first-out two year old winner on Friday, his third in the last couple of weeks at Belmont. Jinni was a good thing at 6-5, and don’t be too put off by the mile run in 1:40.2; the track yielded slow times all day and besides, she ran a long way. After being taken back to last under hard restraint by Jerry Bailey, she was three wide around the entire sweeping Belmont turn, not usually a good thing. So it was little wonder that Bailey had to drive her home to best the persistent After Dark, second-time for Pletcher. Talk about royally-bred, Jinni is by A.P. Indy out of champion three-year old filly Anjina (Strawberry Road)

- Tim Ritchey seems to have the Perryville, a seven-furlong stakes race scheduled for Friday at Keeneland, in mind for Alex's comeback. Officials at NYRA have written a race for Afleet Alex for Friday going one mile, but Ritchey doesn't think the race will fill. He still called it a "possibility." [NY Daily News]