Notes - May 10

- I was right about Acquired Cat, but only in that he was nearly 3-5; he was .75-to-1. He came in third, and I'm rather shocked about that; I thought he looked like about as much of a sure thing as you could find for that price. Robin was at the track, and points out that there have been zero turf winners from post positions 1-3 since Belmont opened.

Bustin Stones ran off to win the feature by 3 1/4, and that was a very nice front-running effort, check it out. Indian Camp crept up within a head on the turn, but when Prado, after taking a peek behind, showed the 3-5 choice the whip at the top of the stretch, this three-year old son of City Zip sprinted away. Nice.

A single bettor took down the entire early Pick 4 pool; the winners went off at odds of 13-1, 22-1, 33-1, and I imagine that he/she had to sweat out the 5th, in which 3-1 Egypt Lane managed to just hang on, producing the winning payout of $90,874. Nice! The Pick 3 with the three longshots returned $14,974 to three open-minded winners.

- On Thursday at Belmont, Mini Sermon starts for Pletcher as the 2-1 morning line favorite. This Edward Evans homebred daughter of Pulpit, out of a Storm Cat mare, graduated at Keeneland, just barely getting up over subsequent winner Marquee Delivery. Lost Etiquette (3-1) returns to earth for Patrick Reynolds after a couple of futile tries, overmatched in Grade 2 company, why? Here's an idea - Stolen Star (5-1) comes off a layoff for Kimmel; note that she's three-for-three off layoff lines, including a win at this mile distance at Belmont with a Beyer that puts her right there against Pletcher's probable favorite.

- Invasor is back on the track; he worked a half in :50 4/5 at Belmont on Wednesday. But where the hell is Discreet Cat? The most recent report, from three weeks ago, was that he's still recovering from his throat infection. That's a pretty persistent obstructive granulomatous mass, wouldn't you say? I usually just gargle with Listerine when I get one of those. I know I've posed this question before, but would anyone be shocked if we never see him again?

Godolphin has a starter in Thursday's feature; Council Member makes his U.S. debut; he ran second on British Poly last October, his most recent start. Trainer bin Suroor Saeed is 7-3-1-2 with U.S. Godolphin runners this year. Council Member is a five-year old son of Seattle Slew, out of a Seeking the Gold mare who is a half-sister to the dam of the Strub winner and current sire Event of the Year. Hither Lane is the 9-5 favorite for Christophe Clement, off to a quick start with two winners from his first three runners at the meet, watch. Hither Lane is a half-brother to the graded sprint stakes winner Day Trader.

- Lawyer Ron is training for a start in the Met Mile here, and worked five in 59.87 seconds for Pletcher on Wednesday. Pletcher said that Magna Graduate....would likely make his next start in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs on June 16. [DRF]

- And harness driver George Gilmour passed away. While his more famous brother Buddy, a Hall of Famer, was one of the most popular drivers on the Roosevelt/Yonkers circuit, George ruled up at Monticello for many years. Brothers John and Lloyd were also successful sulky pilots. George Gilmour was 72.