Sunday Morning Notes - Nov 4

- Warned you the other day about Calvin Borel/Ian Wilkes, and the combo won their third in a row at Churchill over the last four days, all at nice prices, when Silent Street rallied from far back to take the 8th on Saturday. They have three entered for Sunday, the most promising of which would appear to be Vicarian in the finale.

Also mentioned how Mott took the Ack Ack with Istan, and now he's being talked about for the Cigar Mile too. Mott won the opener on Saturday as well, and now stands at six winners in 12 starters, at least according to my most unofficial stats.

In the Chilukki Stakes, Robby Albarado smartly worked his way up the rail with Rolling Sea, and held on over High Heels, returning what seems in retrospect to be a generous $10 mutuel. Frankel's Windy, second choice in the morning line, took the money at 9-5, probably on the theory that she likes the one-turn mile. Her time of 1:36.02 was nearly two full seconds slower than that of Istan.

Sad to see Lava Man falter against a field of Cal-breds he would have had for lunch when in his prime form. Here's a horse who we've seen try so hard that he ran himself literally into exhaustion from his effort in the 2005 Pacific Classic. So to see him get eaten up by horses like this shows that he's just not right. He had won nine out of his last ten before his trip to Dubai in March; and his subsequent Hollywood Gold Cup win notwithstanding, that trip certainly does not seemed to have served him well at all.

So he's being sent to the farm for a well-deserved rest, and let's hope he regains that competitive fire that seems to be missing now. Or maybe he needs to be sent out east. His decline also corresponds with the switch to synthetics, so perhaps California is no longer really a suitable home for him.

- Lawyer Ron will stand for $30,000 at Stonewall Farm. I was thinking maybe we'd see him again, but I guess not.

"It is just the right time, and timing is everything in the Thoroughbred industry," said Bamberger. "Lawyer Ron is 100% sound and at his peak. He's won the big older race, set a track record, and is the top older horse in the country right now.

"As executor of James Hines' estate, I think it is the best interest of all parties involved that Lawyer Ron begins his successful stud career at Stonewall Farm Stallions in 2008." [Bloodhorse]

The speaker is the attorney for the horse's late owner, and he's just doing his job. There's no question that it's in the best financial interest of the man's estate to retire Lawyer Ron now to the farm that purchased an interest in him before the Derby last year. When you boil it down to the fundamentals, at least from the business side, it's hardly much of a decision at all.