Weekend Recap: The Jim Dandy & Haskell

As the dust from the Triple Crown trail settles, we look to see who can hold form and who can improve, possibly landing himself on the ballot for Eclipse champion three-year-old colt.

Palace Malice before the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland in April, in which he finished 2nd.

The 1-1/8 mile Jim Dandy Stakes (Gr. II) at Saratoga had a field of Triple Crown warriors, as well as a few that bypassed that brouhaha altogether. The latter included Code West, who had won the Matt Winn (Gr. III) at Churchill Downs on June 15. Palace Malice proved that his win in the Belmont Stakes was no fluke and took the Jim Dandy under a strong hand ride from Mike Smith. Per trainer Todd Pletcher, he will be pointed towards the Travers Stakes (Gr. I) at Saratoga on August 24.

Code West before the Matt Winn at Churchill Downs in June.

Also run at 1-1/8 miles, the Haskell Invitational Stakes (Gr. I) at Monmouth Park had shaped up to be the race of the weekend. Also featuring several Triple Crown warriors, the field included Preakness Stakes (Gr. I) winner Oxbow, Verrazano (winner of the Wood Memorial Stakes (Gr. I)), Vyjack (winner of the Gotham Stakes (Gr. III)), and Golden Soul (2nd in the Kentucky Derby (Gr. I)).

Verrazano had finished a disappointing 14th in the Kentucky Derby after chasing the suicidal pace set by Palace Malice. He returned to the races June 16 in the Pegasus Stakes (Gr. III) at Monmouth Park, facing Itsmyluckyday (2nd in the Florida Derby (Gr. I) and Preakness Stakes). A contest between the two horses never manifested, as Verrazano cheerfully seized the lead and ran away to a 9-1/4 length win. Itsmyluckyday was pulled up on the backstretch and later diagnosed with a pelvic fracture.

As I've liked both Verrazano and Oxbow since their debuts, I wasn't sure who I wanted to win the Haskell. Oxbow is as tough as they come, but when Verrazano is good, he is very, very good, and nothing less than a runaway train can stop him.

As he had in the Preakness Stakes, Gary Stevens guided Oxbow to the lead as Verrazano settled into a stalking position behind him. The veteran jockey is a master on the lead, but would it be enough? I carefully watched Verrazano and noted his loose ears and clean, free stride. Then I saw it--his rider, John Velazquez, glancing under his arm. He had a lot of horse and was waiting for the right moment to let Verrazano go!

At the half-mile mark, Stevens glanced over at Velazquez as Verrazano pulled alongside Oxbow. Power Broker, Rosie Napravnik up, then made his bid for the lead. It was happening! My husband grabbed my arm as Velazquez told Verrazano, "Go." The big dark bay colt moved forward smooth as silk and goosebumps rolled over my skin. His ears relaxed in the wind, Verrazano moved to a comfortable lead then, under urging from Velazquez, opened up a greater lead with no discernable effort, winning by a record 9-3/4 lengths.

As of today, he's officially earned a 116 Beyer for the race, and trainer Todd Pletcher says Verrazano will also point towards the Travers Stakes, which is very exciting. Unfortunately, Oxbow suffered an ankle injury in the Haskell and will be sidelined for an undetermined time. I hope to see him return to the races later in the fall.

You can watch Verrazano's performance in the Haskell Stakes here or below.

Weekend Recap: The Preakness Conundrum

We meet again, old friend.

I find myself using this image of Oxbow yet again, as this colt--who I've followed since August of 2012 and touted since January of this year--has finally vindicated himself on the Triple Crown trail. But his victory brought forth a rude mix of emotions--disappointment, disdain, excitement, disbelief. Yes, lots of 'disses', but the latter was a good sort of disbelief, a surreal "did the little bay roan colt that I first saw at Saratoga last year just win the Preakness Stakes??" sort of disbelief.

Not only that, but he won under Gary Stevens, who is having a hell of a comeback, and for trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who once dominated the Triple Crown races but has been absent from the spotlight for the past decade.

But what happened to Orb? Orb had no excuses, in my opinion. He just had a bad day, as we all do. This is a wonderful post clearly illustrating that Orb had zero excuses. Unfortunately his bad day had very bad timing. I have no doubt he'll bounce back and awe us again later in the year, but it's now clear that he'll be facing a seriously tough contender in Oxbow.

Speaking of Oxbow as a tough contender, a particular line from this article from Steve Haskin made me laugh with delight: “[Oxbow]'s like a little fire-breathing dragon. He has a Napoleon complex. It’s like, ‘I may be little, but you don’t want to mess with me.’ Wayne is crazy about all his horses, but he’s really fond of this one.”

That article is fantastic and a must-read.

As for the Belmont, there's a very good chance that both horses will face off over Big Sandy's 1-1/2 miles. Will Orb or Oxbow emerge victorious, or will a third horse cap off the Triple Crown trail? We'll find out on June 8th.

Click here to watch the 138th edition of the Preakness Stakes.

Weekend Recap

It was an exciting weekend for horse racing--well, for me! The annual Eclipse Awards presentation was Saturday night. It wasn't closed captioned (closed captioning is a crapshoot on HRTV) but I didn't mind--I knew who the nominees were and could lip-read all the winners as they were announced, except for Royal Delta (sorry, Laffit).

As I expected, Wise Dan swept Turf Male, Older Male and Horse of the Year. After he won, I mentioned to my husband that a colt hasn't won Horse of the Year since Curlin in 2008. My touching moment of the night award goes to Javier Castellano and John Velazquez for accepting Ramon Dominguez's Outstanding Jockey award in his absence. Dominguez is in intensive care with a displaced skull fracture after a spill at Aqueduct on Friday.

Also, three of "my" horses won over the weekend--two were runaway winners!

Ron the Greek handled the slop like the professional that he is with a 11-length victory in the Florida Sunshine Millions Classic at Gulfstream. An expected challenge from Mucho Macho Man never manifested and the big bay was pulled up by Mike Smith. It was later found that there was nothing amiss with him--he had simply hated the track. You can watch the race here. A self-labeled "hipster" Ron the Greek fan, I have liked the horse since his early Derby trail days three years ago. He fell into a rut with allowance races over the following year before being turned over to trainer Bill Mott, who worked magic with the horse. Ron the Greek has been a consistent runner since then. "Ron" reminds me of another blue collar-style horse I enjoyed a few years ago--Musket Man. Both horses were dropped by full sisters by Fortunate Prospect, out of Flambeau (by Dixieland Band).

Regalo Mia, a lovely bay filly with chrome (those always win me over) nabbed her first stakes win on Saturday in the Florida Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf at Gulfstream. It's always a huge thrill to see a horse you've been following get their first stakes win. By one of my favorite stallions, Sligo Bay, she is out of the Red Bullet mare Shake It Up. You can see her win here.

The Derby Trail officially started with Oxbow's 11-length win in the LeComte Stakes at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans. Oxbow, a lovely bay roan, caught my eye last August at Saratoga while I was taking photos of 2-year-old colts before a maiden special weight in the paddock. A quick look at the past performance charts for his race revealed his name to be the delightfully simple Oxbow. By Awesome Again out of a  full sister to Tiznow, Oxbow is closely related to the tough Paynter (also by Awesome Again, out of another full sister to Tiznow). Unfortunately Oxbow was pulled up and vanned off that afternoon at Saratoga. He later popped up on the worktab and all seems well--I have no idea why he was vanned off, but it clearly wasn't a serious injury. You can see his win in the LeComte here.

Oxbow in the paddock at Saratoga, August 2012