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Thursday, February 09, 2006

Notes and Corrections - Feb 9

- Got a comment from a friend of a friend about a statement I made in this post about the stallion Freud, the NY-based full brother to Giant’s Causeway.

...the statement one can get the same genes [from the two stallions] is just totally false [emphasis not mine]. They're by the same parents but they do NOT have the same genes--does your sister...have the same genes as you? No!! Mom has 46 chromosomes, so does dad. But the MIX of them is random, and short of being identical twins, there is NO CHANCE that you have the SAME genes....:
Guess I need to brush up on my Horse Genetics. Or any genetics, for that matter. A more accurate statement would have been that in Freud, you can get a stallion that descended from the same gene pool as did Giant’s Causeway, which, as evidenced by the two horses’ race records (as I pointed out), doesn’t guarantee anything. But that doesn't make any less interesting to me the way that he has been so successfully hyped and promoted thus far. Seems I bought into that hype myself, and for that I apologize.

- Bill Turner’s exercise rider says there’s “no way” that Christening took 1:05.12 for her five furlong work the other day; he thought it was closer to 1:02. He speculated that the clockers got confused by two horses that broke off right in front of her, and as I explained in an earlier post, that’s no surprise to me. She still needs to get her gate card, and Turner is anxious for that to happen as he feels she’s about ready to go. Highland Cat worked five in 1:02.15 (16/28), and Turner is still eyeing that maiden special carded for Feb 25.

- When Congress overwhelmingly passed a law last year to strip funding from horse slaughter plan inspectors, it was, as everyone was aware, with the specific intent to ban the practice in this country. But now the Bush Administration has rendered that action meaningless. The Agriculture Department has ruled that the plants can pay for the inspections themselves, thus horses will continue to be slaughtered in this country.
The [Agriculture] department "is thumbing its nose at Congress," said Michael Markarian, an official of the Humane Society of the United States. [AP]
Actually, they’re giving Congress the finger, along with the rest of us who cherish these animals who perform for and serve us so faithfully.

2 Comments:

Anonymous said...

...just got a look at Saturday's entries...Meetmeinthewoods is making another route-stakes try in the Grade 1 Las Virgenes (one mile for 3yo fillies)...she's drawn the rail (which is good), but she's also drawn directly inside probable pacesetter Diplomat Lady (which is bad)...and Balance is drawn outside Diplomat Lady, so it's quite possible this'll be replay of the last one where Diplomat Lady takes the lead, with Balance stalking outside and Meetmeinthewoods pinned on the rail inside Balance...that proved to be a problem last time, although she was gonna get beat regardless...i do find it interesting that her connections are throwing her right back in with the wolves, at another route distance no less...i can only guess that she continues to train exceptionaly well, and hopes remain high...not sure she can handle Balance at the route distance, but i do expect an improved effort this time around, with the initial route under her belt...and she'll obviously be a bigger price this time around...i've barely heard her name mentioned since the loss, and somehow she was left out of the pari-mutuel Oaks futures...i'm guessing she goes minimum 5/1 on Saturday?...tough spot to win, but based on the maiden win i still think she's quite possibly the best 3yo filly in the country...just not sure routing is her game...i guess we'll find out Saturday...

Anonymous said...

...speaking of Balance, i think she's the most likely winner, and should go favored, but she definitely WON'T be favored due to the presence of Wild Fit...no doubt taht one will pull a ton of money, so there should be a nice overlay available on Balance (not to mention Meetmeinthewoods)...you may want to keep in mind that Wild Fit's huge Breeders Cup run came around one turn, which is where she had her prior success...her only two-turn race to this point resulted in a career-worst effort...may have been a fluke, but on the other hand, it may not have been...in any case, there's NO WAY she deserves to be 3/5 or thereabouts, which she certainly will be...like i said, i don't think she deserves to be the favored at all...i'll be rather surprised if she finishes in front of Balance...

...also on the card, Corazondelcampeon (who i had a HUGE report on heading into his longshot Sunshine Millions try) drops into allowance company and is undoubtedly "live"...unfortunately, he's run into the comebacking Our Father, who had been working heads-up with Bro Lo prior to his debut, and ran Dinner Magic off his feet in that maiden race...something obviously happened to him, because he disappeared thereafter, but if he's healthy and ready-to-go, he's gonna pose a huge problem for Corazondelcampeon...in any case, it'll be a very interesting allowance race...