Bloodbuzz Belmont

I did mention the other day about Bill Mott being red hot at Belmont. And while Macedonian got left at the gate and settled for second, the barn had two winners (and a third) from three starters on Thursday. That's a pretty good day, certainly a better one than these clowns had. That puts Mott on a streak, by my rough calculation, of 8-4-0 from his last 15 starters.

Mott is on a roll off the track too; his win with Drosselmeyer in the Belmont earned him a spot on the mound at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night throwing out the first pitch.



Not bad form, but Mott was later disqualified for not spending the requisite six hours of detention in Robinson Cano's locker. Silk Route ($9.70) won Thursday's 6th for the barn, graduating on her second try, both on grass. This is a three-year old daughter of Empire Maker, out of Jibe (Danzig), a stakes winner in England and a half sister to the Epsom Derby winner Commander in Chief, as well as to the multiple UK Group 1 winner Warning.

Mott seems poised for another winner in the first on Friday (3 PM post time, finally!) when he sends the impressive maiden winner Flawless (4-5) to face winners. This filly is by Mr. Greeley out of an unraced Wild Again mare; and this is the distaff family of the two-time G1 winner Seventh Street.

Flawless won her debut by 13 and earned an 87 Beyer while under a very confident ride after being extremely well-supported on the tote; the third choice in the morning line at 7-2, she was sent off as the even money favorite. Today, she's listed at 4-5; and here we have the usual question of a horse facing winners for the first time, as impressive as its maiden win may have been. Because what, really, did she beat that day? There were five others - two were also maidens (one of whom came back to get beat by 25 lengths), two were trying dirt for the first time, and the fifth is Lovely Lina, a hopeless four-year old who needs to find another profession. So while I'm not feeling compelled to make a point of trying to beat Flawless in this spot, I certainly wouldn't blame anyone who might be taking a look at a horse like Bahama Bound (4-1), who comes off a six length win in a Starters Allowance.

The third is an interesting little (as in a five horse field) allowance race, and Kid Kate (9-2) starts for Chad Brown. I singled him out as a cold trainer on Wednesday, and he promptly beat me with Cheyenne Nation, thus breaking out of an 0 for 24 slump. Since then, he won on Thursday with Tottie ($4.80), and now suddenly he's on a mini-streak of 2-2-0 with his last five starters. This daughter of Lemon Drop Kid won her first two races, on sloppy tracks, before even efforts in the G1 Alcibiad on the Keeneland Poly, and an off-the-layoff turf stakes at Monmouth last month. So this will be her first try on a fast dirt track, and I therefore offer her only as a possible price play off the trainer angle and the fact that Zaphyra (8-5), Persistently (5-2), and Ain't Love Grand (3-1) have all recently been disappointing at low odds.

- This (via Brooklyn Vegan) is Matt Berninger of The National making his way through the first row of the first mezzanine with the world's longest mic chord during the Brooklyn band's triumphant sold-out show at Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday. And though the Head Chef and I are not in this picture, we could have been, as we were sitting in that very row. I knew that those seats would be pretty cool when I got them, but who woulda thunk we'd have a close encounter of that kind sitting up there?? The National have worked their way up from years on the club circuit, and their recent and excellent album High Violet debuted at #3 on the Billboard charts, holy crap! They showed off their ample range on Wednesday, mixing their doleful orchestral numbers with raging rockers like Abel and Available, and their sound amply filled the grand hall throughout the set. This below is the video for Bloodbuzz Ohio from the new album...the line "I still owe money...to the money....to the money I owe" surely being an appropriate one for a horse racing blog.