Weekend Overview: It promised to be an excellent weekend of racing and I think it lived up to that billing. We saw fantastic performances from a whole variety of horses
Performance of the Week: Can there be any argument? Invasor's performance in the Donn was a race that will be replayed all year long. He was simply fantastic, it was a pretty questionable ride by Jara and had tragedy struck he would have taken a lot of heat but as it is most of the focus is off his ride and on the masterful display by the reigning horse of the year. The announcer's cry of "how good is this horse?" was pretty apt. Invasor has seemingly only done what was necessary in the past. We may not have seen how good this horse really is yet. Now it's on to Dubai where he will face Discreet Cat and the only track that has seen him beaten.
Race of the Week: I don't want to go too over the top praising Invasor's but I think I would lose credibility if I didn't also nominate this as the race of the week. It was simply fantastic to watch.
Flop of the Weekend: There were a few leading candidates, Miesque's Approval was underwhelming. Magna Graduate threw in the towel pretty badly and Awesome Gem just never showed up but a common denominator I settled on was Bob Baffert. Bob sent out Pirates Deputy, Preachinatthebar, Midnight Lute and Tenfold and the only horse to hit the frame was Tenfold and he did so in very disappointing fashion. This G-2 placed 3yo was 3-5 in allowance company and he failed to settle before fading in the stretch. All the other Baffert horses ran pretty badly and two of them were favored. Not a great weekend for this high profile trainer.
TCR Mover’s and Shakers: The 2007 TCR are finally up on the sidebar. As usual we will feature an overall top 10 as well as a top 3 from each division. At this early stage however there aren't necessary 3 horses in each division that have earned enough points to be listed. A horse needs at least 20 points to be ranked and in a division like the 3yo fillies not a single horse has achieved it yet. Invasor obviously goes to the top thanks to his big win in the Donn.
Tip O’the Cap: Sweet Return proved once again that if he leave him alone on the lead he is as tough to beat as anyone in the game. This 7 year old un-gelded warrior racked up his first win since July of 2005, where he also stole the race on the front end. The 104 Beyer Speed Figure he received is the highest turf figure earned year to date. He is 36-8-6-6 lifetime and is one of the most loved horses on the California circuit. He may be getting on in years but he should never be underestimated. I wont go as far as to predict a Miesque's Approval type year for him but I do hope he bags another stakes win or two this year.
KC Handicapping: Sometimes things just workout for you, this was one of those weeks. True our longshot pick, La Dolce Vita, found herself outclassed and Midnight Lute ran a poor race but the other races worked out swimmingly. Keyed Entry was fabulous, even the $5.80 seemed like a gift. He is going to be a tough horse to beat in sprints this year. Nobiz Like Showbiz held sway as I expected. Nice to get the top 3 finishers right as well. I nearly had the top 3 in the Donn too but that crafty Zito had his plodder ready for a big race. Overall I was 3 for 5 with my top picks, which despite the prices is a respectable average. Congrats to Joseph for keying Ravel in the Sham and to Gerry who tipped Arson Squad in the Strub
Cumulative record of selected horses 13-4-2-3 (-$9.80 -37.7% ROI)
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there is no joy in mud-ville as the mighty 'monsters of the midway' were not so mighty and struck out vs. the colts//great job by our leader at kennedys corridor// KC also gave us adore the gold which to the best of my recollection paid at 7-2 odds /KC didn't give himself credit for that but should have because it was a great call//i used him in my RTD contest and total credit to KC for that// thus far, am doing well in the contest // if anyone didn't make a little money using the picks from everyone this weekend including joseph's, then they were asleep at the wheel// also, i was able to catch spin master on the turf with guidry aboard at a great price in the second race at gulfstream// in the strub, i did what i said i would do and i caught arson squad at about 3-1// i have done this before several times, and i will explain because i am a little proud of myself for all the right reasons or for stupid reasons like 'feet outside the stirrups reasons' // first, the result of the race again demonstrated a classic example of what happened in eddie murphy's 'trading places' movie where arson squad and spring at last traded places with awesome gem and midnight lute// when midnight lute did not come down to 7-5 or below, which was my valuation of him, and he went above 8/5 i switched to arson squad//now here is (are) the reason(s); basically, if the dutchers, the rebaters, and the $ monied wiseguys playing santa anita wouldn't bring midnight lute to my valuation then either my handicapping was poor, which happens often, or they had information about midnight lute which didn't have// i do know that fans of brother derek and of gomez, rider of arson squad, could have had an influence in the betting, but it would never have had the influence of the aforementioned in this particular race// am glad KC's brought up jara's questionable ride on ivasor// i thought jara's ride on invasor was horrendous// the trainer was kind to jara afterward, but i wonder if he would have been so kind had the horse been seriously injured//and what about the owners?// with that much horse under him, a pat day or jerry bailey would never had gotten into that situation in first place/ it's time to bring in prado, gomez, or jr///regarding brother derek, i thought he did try //unless the trainer thinks he can continue to plug away and eventually win a race much like an eddington, he ought to stop on the horse until summertime or put him in the breeding shed// i agree with KC on the great job by sweet return/ i wish i had picked her//a classic 'wuda, cuda, shuda'// chicago gerry
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