The Head Chef Stable

- The Head Chef wants her own virtual stable after I read her Jim L's comment and we both realized that Stunt Man, the upset winner of the More Than Ready stakes, was the horse that she spotted Pletcher checking out intently in the paddock at Saratoga. I barely even noticed anyone besides Tiz Wonderful and EZ Warrior when looking at the race, and didn't make the connection at all. $25.20, oh man. She was pretty disappointed with me. So I'm setting her up for email notification. She wants to know if she can name the stable (The Head Chef Stable?) and get colors. So far, it's a three horse barn - Stunt Man, Auto City, who she picked out at the paddock at Saratoga (even though she thought it was the next race), and Jade Queen, who she had up there last year at 9-1.

You might recall that after that race, Jade Queen ran a nice third in the Garden City and an even nice one against older horses in the Flower Bowl. She looked like another potential star for Pletcher, but she's been a disappointment at four in three very well-bet attempts.

The Toddster had a first-timer in a two-year NY-bred race that got beat at 7-10 on in the 2nd on Wednesday. This thing with him not doing well with his two-year olds has gone from a curiosity to a trend...at least in New York, anyway. He actually won with four out of his first six debuting juveniles at the spring meet at Belmont; it looked like it was business as usual. But since then, in a remarkable reversal, he's 1-for-34 here (he had two winners at Arlington). And the bettors, who saw three straight of these lose at 2-5 towards the beginning of the streak (The Leopard, Return to Paradise, and Moroccan Affair, who hasn't been seen since), seem to have adjusted. But not on Wednesday.

In the old days, In P.A.'s Honour would have blown by Giant Moon after stalking him on the lead. But right now, Richard Schosberg is the hot trainer, and Giant Moon wasn't getting caught; he scampered home in 11.94 in a decisive win at 8-1. He's by Giant's Causeway out of a NY-bred Capote mare who won a stakes at Finger Lakes. So owner/breeder Albert Fried, Jr. ponied up the big money for a prominent Kentucky stallion.

Back to the feature, E Z Warrior was 4-5 despite stretching out to a mile, and had no excuse at all this time, other than that he probably isn't suited for the distance. I really just don't understand what Zayat/Baffert had in mind with him this year from the moment I saw him entered in the Bing Crosby. E Z Warrior set a rather moderate pace to the half mile, and surrendered meekly to 8-5 Tiz Wonderful turning for home.

But while everyone was watching those two, anyone paying attention to Stunt Man must have felt pretty good. Castellano looked like he had a ton of horse, and it was with total ease with which he circled the other two rounding the turn. He was past Tiz Wonderful almost immediately after entering the stretch, and Durkin almost fell out of the booth, calling him "the most unlikeliest of winners!" Yes, he was trying open company, but he was in good form for Contessa. It's only because of his overhyped rivals that it would seem like such an upset. And I'd guess that the Toddster wasn't the least bit surprised.