- Bob and John, possibly the worst Belmont Stakes favorite of all time (did you even remember he was the betting choice?), determinedly held off Sweetnorthernsaint, last year's Derby favorite, on a sloppy track in the Lone Star Handicap on Sunday. It was his first win in more than a year, since he took the Wood, also in the slop. If you take a big black marker and draw a line through those two ugly Triple Crown races, you see a horse who has never finished out of the money in 11 starts. Bob Baffert said: "Bob always shows up....We've been waiting for John to kick in. Finally, it did today." [DallasNews.com] You see, don't you miss that guy on the Derby Trail? Both Bob and John may next race in the Hollywood Gold Cup.
Another Baffert runner who ran over the weekend was Point of Impact, who, as you may recall, was one of the more highly touted yet-to-start horses in recent memory last winter. It took him three races to graduate, and then he ran up the track on the grass last March, and this was his first appearance since then. And now he's just another horse, sent off at 7-1 and finishing a never-in-it 7th.
- Street Sense was scheduled to work out this morning at Churchill and let's see...ah, a half mile in 49 seconds (14/28). An announcement is expected on Thursday as to whether he'll run in the Belmont, and the guess here is 'no.'
- Corinthian got a 107 Beyer for his win in the Met Mile, and his owners are talking about taking on Invasor in the Suburban on June 30.
- The Form reports that Shakespeare, last seen running 12th in the 2005 Breeders Cup Turf at Belmont is training for a comeback, now for Kiaran McLaughlin. And High Finance earned a gaudy 114 for an allowance race win at Belmont on Sunday.
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Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Notes - May 30
Posted by Alan Mann at 8:17 AM
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3 Comments:
Well you were right on with the SS workout, 49 flat.
They will have a media conferance on Thursday to announce the decision. Do not think they would schedule a media conferance to announce he is not running, so looks like a go.
Now if someone could talk Todd into running R2R instead of leaving her in the barn to admire, we would have some serious race on our hands.
I disagree. If he was running,nobody would question it, and they wouldn't need a media conference. I doubt he'll run.
If Street Sense is healthy then why duck a rematch with Curlin and Hard Spun? The three of them in the Belmont would make for one of the more highly anticipated non-Triple Crown Belmont’s in years. Factor in the possibility of the super filly Rags To Riches the race only gets that much more interesting from every aspect. Of course the entire point is the welfare of the horse and we all get that but if he is healthy then why lay up and wait for the summer to wind him back up again? If not for a tremendous effort in the Preakness stretch by Curlin there would be no doubt that Street Sense would be running in the Belmont. Nafzger had said that Tafel so badly wanted to win the Triple Crown that when they lost at the wire it took a lot out of them and left them totally disappointed. Are we then to believe that if they did win in Baltimore that the Belmont would be contested no matter what the situation, whether Street Sense was 100% or less? Nafzger and Tafel are fine gentlemen and a credit to the sport. But why hold back now? Nafzger has already cut back his workload considerably and is only training the horses of Tafel and one other long time client. Tafel is what, 70, 80 years old? Do they believe another horse like this will come their way? The time is now, to run an excellent horse and give him his fair shot at not only being crowned a champion but becoming a legend. We the fans of thoroughbred racing yearn for and deserve to see it.
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