Notes

I read in the print edition of Bloodhorse that Birdstone has "picked up about an extra 40 mares this year;" and that was just after the Derby. I found it interesting that Marylou Whitney kept the suddenly popular stallion's fee at $10,000; that as opposed to Medaglia D'Oro, the sire of Rachel Alexandra, whose fee was reportedly raised from $40,000 to $60,000 mid-year (and that was before he was sold to Darley). Birdstone's fee has been the same since he entered stud in.....2005 ('First Year at Stud' is just one of the helpful facts that one can easily find in the Thoroughbred Times' Stallion Directory, but not in the more widely-used Stallion Register). Birdstone will service 110 mares this year in total according to the Bloodhorse piece, by David Schmitz....so I'd say that his business was relatively modest by today's standards before his impressive Triple Crown Double.

- Yuck, another rainy day here in New York, and thus, another day of miserable slop, no turf, and scratches galore at Poly-less Belmont. Contessa won the first with Apple ($10.40). Since I noted that he'd won just three of his first 76 races at Belmont and postulated that he'd likely be far closer to his 11% winning percentage over the last two years at that track by the time the meet was over, he's won nine out of 43, raising his meet percentage to 9%.