Anyone Follow Horse Racing?

[klinkman]

Colonel John

Top Perfomances: 1st in the Travers[G1], 1st in the Santa Anita Derby[G1], 1st in the Sham Stakes [G3], 2nd in the CashCall Futurity[G2]

Notable Misfires: 6th in the Kentucky Derby[G1], 3rd in the Swaps Stakes(out of 4)[G2]

Colonel John is something of an enigma to me. As soon as I had written him off as a Polytrack only horse he goes and wins the Travers. His win in the Travers proves that he is the real deal. And with the Breeder's Cup being run on polytrack this year he is in great shape to run in the classic or the dirt mile, whichever he ends up being pointed at. However I think that other horses may be better on dirt, most notably Mambo in Seattle and Macho Again. But there is no doubt that he is talented and will be huge at the end of the season.

[klinkman]

Da' Tara

Top Performances: 1st in the Belmont Stakes[G1], 2nd in the Barbaro Stakes [Not Graded]

Notable Misfires: 7th in the Jim Dandy[G2], 5th in the Travers[G1], 5th in the Derby Trial[Not Graded], 9th in the Florida Derby[G1]

Da' Tara seems to need a lot of things to go his way in order to win a race. He got to jog for the first mile in the Belmont, which allowed him to stay in front of the come from behind horses. When pressed on the pace, as he was in the Jim Dandy and the Travers, he fades at the end. He does have one thing going for him-he beat Big Brown in the Belmont.

[klinkman]

Visionaire

Top Performances: 1st in the King's Bishop Stakes[G1], 3rd in the Northern Dancer Stakes[G3], 1st in the Gotham Stakes[G3], 3rd in the Risen Star[G3]

Notable Misfires: 5th in the Toyota Bluegrass[G1], 12th in the Kentucky Derby[G1]

Visionaire might have finally found a niche in 1 turn sprint races, beating a strong field in the King's Bishop, including Kodiak Kowboy, J be K and Desert Key, who going in were considered to be the best sprinters in the 3 yr old ranks. His run from last to first was nothing short of impressive, and I expect him to stick to sprint races with good results, hopefully ending in a run at the Breeder's Cup Sprint.

[klinkman]

Harlem Rocker

Top Performances: 1st in the Prince of Whales[G1], 1st in the Withers[G3]

Notable Misfires: 4th in the Travers[G1], 4th in the Queen's Plate Trial[G3, I believe]

Harlem Rocker did not impress me much in the Withers. J be K is a sprinter and under no circumstances should run longer than 7 furlongs, and the Withers was a mile. He stopped at the eighth pole leaving Harlem Rocker to come in and take the race easily. His win in the Prince of Whales is far more impressive. The Prince of Whales is a Canadian Triple Crown race, and had a decently talented field. However, the Travers is a complete disappointment. He had every chance to win it a the top of the stretch but didn't have enough speed to win. I'm not sure what to expect next from Harlem Rocker, as he ran poorly over his one race on polytrack (the Queen's Plate Trial), and the Breeder's Cup will be run over it this year.

[klinkman]

Behindatthebar

Top Performances: 1st in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes[G2]

Notable Misfires: 5th in the El Camino Real Derby[G3]

Behindatthebar was entered in the Preakness stakes but was scratched after it was discovered that he had a bruised foot. He did fire a stinker in his only start on standard dirt, and his pedigree suggests a preference for turf rather than dirt, so I don't expect him to do well outside of the Breeders Cup and the preps that are on polytrack, but his win in the Coolmore Lexington was pretty impressive and he figures to factor in the Breeder's Cup Dirt Mile if he is healthy enough to run.

[Lilred36]

Klink you really like horse racing huh? do you have an online sportsbook?

[klinkman]

Klink you really like horse racing huh? do you have an online sportsbook?

Hehe yes I do like it. But as of right now I do not have a sportsbook. TVG has a decent promotion going on right now, so I might deposit there at some point. If anyone knows any good no deposit or match bonuses post them here for me. I used to have a bodog account but I haven't used that for a while, and I think I could get a better bonus somewhere else.

Edit: Never mind, TVG requires me to be 21, which I am not yet....It's only 18 to gamble in Oklahoma even!

[klinkman]

Recapturetheglory

Top Performances: 1st in the Illinois Derby[G2], 5th in the Kentucky Derby[G1]

Notable Misfires: 4th in the Northern Dancer, 9th in the West Virginia Derby[G3]

He has excuses for both of his misfires, he was blocked in when he went to run in the Northern Dancer, and burst through the starting gate early in the West Virginia Derby, costing him energy and he tired and faded at the end of race.

I'm not totally sure where I would go with him if I were his owner or trainer. He should not run more than 9 furlongs though, and might be suited for something like the Breeder's Cup Sprint or Dirt Mile. Or he could step down in class and run some lower graded stakes, though I'm not sure where.

[klinkman]

Z Fortune

Top Performances: 3rd in the Ohio Derby[G2], 2nd in the Arkansas Derby[G2], 2nd in the Risen Star Stakes[G3], 1st in the LeComte Stakes[not graded]

Notable Misfires: 8th in the West Virginia Derby [G3], 7th in the Iowa Derby[not graded], 10th in the Kentucky Derby[G1], 5th in the Rebel Stakes[G2]

A master of inconstancy, Z Fortune has never won a graded stakes, and has failed to fire in several. It's hard what to expect him to do next, as 2 of his biggest failures have been races where he was supposed to be up against weaker competition. I would probably put him back in an Allowance race of some sort to see how he performs before paying all the entry fees for him to not fire in another stakes race. But I know Zayat stables won't do that. I just have no idea what he will do.

[klinkman]

Adriano

Top Performances: 1st in the Lane's End Stakes[G2]

Notable Misfires: 19th in the Kentucky Derby, 9th in the Fountain of Youth[G2]

He's running in the Kent Stakes[G3] Saturday, where he is the morning line favorite, so we'll see how he does against a weak seeming field. If he fails to fire here it should be time for him to take a big step down in class. But he does seem to like polytrack ok, so a good performance might put him into consideration for the Breeder's Cup races later in the summer.

[klinkman]

Kodiak Kowboy

Top Performances: 1st in the Amsterdam Stakes[G2], 2nd in the Derby Trial[not graded], 3rd in the Breeder's Cup Juvenile[G1], 1st in the Saratoga Special[G2], 1st in the Bashford Manner[G3]

Notable Misfires: 5th in the King's Bishop Stakes[G1]

Kodiak Kowboy ran the race of his life to win the Amsterdam by a nose over Desert Key. It took a lot out of him to pull that off, and it showed when he failed to fire in the King's Bishop. Where he'll go next is interesting, but I hope that the final goal is the Breeder's Cup Sprint, as I think he is fit and talented enough for it. He's certainly a top quality sprinter but has not been tried over a mile, and it seems unlikely that he's capable of it.

[klinkman]

Court Vision

Top Performances: 2nd in the West Virginia Derby[G1], 3rd in the Wood Memorial[G1], 3rd in the Fountain of Youth[G2], 1st in the Remsen Stakes[G2], 1st in the Iroquois Stakes[G3]

Notable Misfires: 6th in the Travers[G1], 13th in the Kentucky Derby[G1]

Court Vision has proven to be a decent turf horse, but has not been able to run with the best on dirt, as his misfires have shown. Hopefully he can compete in the turf races coming up and make a showing has he has demonstrated to be capable of it.

[Lilred36]

my goodness are you connected, lol.

[klinkman]

Gio Ponti could not catch Madeo in the Del Mar Derby, he lost a lot of ground going 5 wide around the far turn, and Madeo was expertly ridden around the rail. An impressive win for Madeo, but where does Gio Ponti head now?

[klinkman]

Ready's Echo failed to fire in todays Saranac Stakes, finishing a distant 4th. It's hard to know where he'd be destined to go now, but I suspect a starter allowance of some sort would be in order.

Race page and video here:
http://www.ntra.com/content.aspx?type=news&id=34621

[klinkman]

Anak Nakal got up in the final strides to take it from Acai. Smooth Air was outrun by Acai in the stretch and finished third. The finish is a thriller, even though it meant that I fail at picking horses. I guess Anak Nakal is capable of running after all.

Race Video and results here: http://www.ntra.com/content.aspx?id=34636&type=news