Wednesday Morning Notes - Feb 6

- Street Cry will be keeping some exclusive company this year; his visitors will include Ashado and Playful Act. The latter is the Sheikh's $10.5 million broodmare, and since Street Cry stands for Darley in Kentucky, it's kinda like an interdepartmental transfer.

Street Cry gets $100,000 for his services. He was the leading second crop sire last year, with almost half of his $6.5 million in earnings accounted for by Street Sense. He's also the sire of Zenyatta, the spectacular filly from the Jerry Moss/John Sherriffs team.

- Santa Anita has taken entries for Friday in anticipation of the "polymer-ation" of its Cushion Track being complete. However, track president Ron Charles said that the program is "a day-to-day thing."

"We're shooting for it, but by the same token we just want to make sure that we get it down exactly right....As we're working, we're gaining more confidence that the surface really is going to be a good surface."
.....
Charles, asked Tuesday if he has a backup plan in case the renovation does not solve the drainage issue, said he is confident Pro-Ride founder Ian Pearse's answer for the dilemma will work.

"So far, the area we have done, everybody is extremely comfortable and confident this is the type of track we were looking for," he said. "This is the surface I think we were hoping for." [Pasadena Star-News]

- The Form has free pp's available for Pool 1 of the Derby and Ky Oaks futures pools (pdf file). Though Baffert doesn't have any of the 23 horses named for the Derby pool, I see that he's listed as the trainer of "All Other Three Year Olds." So he must be keeping busy nonetheless.