- Point of Impact (Point Given) decided to check out the parking lot by the outer rail on the first turn today, taking himself out of the race and out of any realistic consideration for any classics this spring....I guess. He and his stablemate Overland Trail were 3-10 and ran 4th and 3rd. Nice win though by Really Indian, an A.P. Indy colt making his debut for Neil Drysdale. He won by five as he drew clear under a crack of the whip and a long hold late. And thanks to Walter for calling attention to the Santa Anita stable notes, which informs us that Drysdale’s Your Tent Or Mine, who has not had a recorded workout since finishing second to Brother Derek in the Hollywood Futurity on Dec. 18, is “in light training.”
- Darley Stable isn’t known to skimp on their thoroughbred purchases, and at Gulfstream today, they rolled out Dubai Escapade for her four-year old and U.S. debut. Back in March of 2004, they paid a cool $2 million at Barrett's for this half-sister to Madcap Escapade, and they haven’t yet seen much of a return. She ran 5th in the UK in June of that year, next raced in March 2005 on the dirt in Dubai, graduating by five. But she went back to the sidelines until today, and at 7-10 with Aspen Tree a late scratch, she broke last, as track announcer Vic Stauffer noted with alarm. But by the time Stauffer was done noting that Quisett and Kelly’s K’s Pleasure were “fast into stride,” Dubai Escapade was already poised to take the lead, and lead she did, as easily as could be with John Velasquez, drawing off under a hand ride in 1:15.26. [EDIT - for 6 1/2 furlongs] Nice!
- Eden’s Causeway (Giant’s Causeway), who debuts on the grass for Christophe Clement in the 8th at Gulfstream on Thursday, is a half-sister to turf monster and champion Paradise Creek, who won over $3 million and had as great a year at five as any turf horse could, winning the Grade 1 Arlington Million, Manhattan, and DC International among nine stakes wins. Finishing third in the BC Turf didn’t cost him the Eclipse Award, nor did a second in the Japan Cup. Another half-brother is Wild Event, who won several grass stakes himself. So I’m thinking this one is going to take to the grass.
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Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Wednesday Night Notes - Jan 25
Posted by Alan Mann at 10:36 PM
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...WOW...five hours @ Santa Anita, and EIGHT hours in the car...but it was worth it!...as my friend Ken said, "you won't remember the time in the car, but you'll always remember the time at Santa Anita"...very true!...i started the day by going to the to the paddock for the 1st race, and lemma tellya, Point of Impact looked the part...big, strong-looking chestnut seemed every bit the young star he's reputed to be...but once they opened the gates, well, i guess you guys saw what happened...he totally blew the turn, literally had to be about 20-wide???...the only positive i can find is that he likely cost himself 15 lengths on the turn, and he lost by less than that, so maybe you could say he would've won without the trouble???...as i told Ken, i'll lay even-money that Baffert takes the blinkers off for his next start...after the slow break in his debut, and now THIS, it's safe to say his head isn't in the right place (unless the right place is up his ass)...incidentally, while i was in the paddock area i grabbed private clocker Toby Turrell's tip sheet, and he had this to say about Point of Impact's most recent workout:
"Strapping colt put it all together in this powerful 5/8's drill. Super"
...Baffert can only hope it'll be as easy as removing the blinkers, and who knows, maybe it will...you never know until you try...
...as for the rest of the card, i laid low until the 7th, when i couldn't resist the 25/1 being offered on Railroad...i lost two units on a win/place bet...in the nightcap, i made a two unit win bet on Touchdown Kid, who simply DID NOT warrant a play @ 4/5 odds...but i was @ Santa Anita, i'd been waiting for the race pretty much all day (more on that in a moment), and i figured "who knows when i'll get back out here"...so i went ahead and pulled the trigger, against my better judgement...Touchdown Kid responded with an easy win (thank goodness), and i left the track with a happy memory!...i'm still a little upset that i made the play, but it was a special day for me, so what the heck...as for WHY i was looking forward to the race, well, i had suffered a near-miss on Touchdown Kid in his debut, when i made a two unit win bet on him @ 8/1, only to watch him run a 96 Beyer and get nosed at the wire by Canteen...i was looking for a little payback today, and i knew he wouldn't offer much of a price, but Touchdown Kid had been training well (according to both my clocker and Toby) and i was expecting another big effort...i thought he'd offer good value @ 3/2, but with the 96 Beyer showing and P-Val taking the mount, well, say goodbye to 3/2...at least he won the race, nice job Touchdown Kid...overall, i had a great time, and i hope to do it again someday...Del Mar would be a huge thrill, but Ken says that's a 6 1/2 hour drive, so now we're talking THIRTEEN hours in the car..that may be pushing it... 8^)
...almost forgot, i wanted to say something about Dubai Escapade...i was following that filly back in March, when she won a race over in Dubai for Godolphin...i knew she was a half to Madcap Escapade (who of course excelled on dirt), and this filly had taken to dirt lkike a duck to water @ Nad Al Sheba...there was some talk of sending her over for the Oaks, but that fell through, and the latest i
'd heard was that she was part of a small string (5 or 6 horses) that Godolphin was sending to Belmont in the fall...that was the last i'd heard, and i had honestly forgotten all about her i until i picked up the Gulfstream Form today and saw her name in the entries...what i found very strange though is that she was named as a Darley horse, and was wearing Darley silks...i took that as a bad sign, because Godolphin considers Darley their "second-string", and when a highly-regarded Godolphin filly shows up wearing Darley silks, well, i figured maybe she wasn't so highly-regarded anymore...so i really wasn't sure WHAT she'd do today...but she certainly ran very well, so it'll be interesting to see which flag she's flying next time out...we shall see...what's ironic is that Dubai Escapade finally shows up on the same week that they're trotting out thev firsr round of the pari-mutual Oaks Futures, and that's why i began looking at her last year...go figure...
Didn't know that about Darley/Godolphin, thanks for the info. She was impressive; let's hope she doesn't need another ten months off.
I was watching the 8th on HRTV...you know I would never condone betting a 4-5 shot, but way to go! Glad you had a good time.
Millie Ball, who does an excellent job on HRTV, was touting Hockey Fan based on his appearance on the track. He was 12-1 morning line, but took money at 5.80 to 1. She did say, however, that he's a big colt, and may have trouble breaking from the rail in his first start. That's exactly what happened, and he ran a good enough 4th for me to put on my watch list. I like the name, anyway. :)
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