Weekend Review

Weekend Overview: I think the Dubai World Cup meeting was everything we had hoped for. Well perhaps not everything as Discreet Cat really disappointed. But otherwise we saw some fantastic races and thrilling finishes. Invasor cannot be denied the title of best horse in the world. He came back to the only track that had ever seen him beaten and once again made it look like another day at the office. He isn't flashy so he needs good horses around him to make him go faster, but it wouldn't surprise me if he had even more in the tank. It's hard to think of a horse that could beat him right now.

Performance of the Week: Fairbanks gets some consideration for this after posting a 115 Beyer in the Tokyo City but he basically loose on the lead. Asiatic Boy on the other hand did not have things his own way and he went on to crush his opposition in the UAE Derby. If there is to be a horse than can beat Invasor it might just be him. I thought the company early may affect him but he didn't seem to care at all and when the real running began he just loped away from the field. A fantastic performance and a near automatic pick wherever he turns up next.

Race of the Week: I'm going to go with the Fountain of Youth. Sure it wasn't the fastest race and most likely none of those horses are going to win the Derby. But you have to admit Scat Daddy, Notional, Stormello and the rest are a pretty good group to watch. What they lack in speed they have in class. I wish them all nothing but the best.

Flop of the Weekend: I did not expect Discreet Cat to win the Dubai World Cup but clearly this was a performance that was well below par. He looked out of sorts right from the start and was basically eased. The much anticipated match race never looked like materialising and I don't know how much we'll see of Discreet Cat again.

TCR Mover’s and Shakers: Invasor goes back to the top with his stirring win in the Dubai World Cup and he looks sure to stay there for a while. Some point systems may not include International races but I see no reason why they shouldn't be included. The whole idea is to accurately assess the accomplishments of the individual racehorses. Accomplishments earned by American based horses on foreign soil should definitely count. Kelly's Landing and Scat Daddy also break into the top 10 and take over the top spot in their respective divisions. The Cajun Canuck Jambalaya also solidified his #1 turf ranking with another stakes victory at Gulfstream.

Tip O’the Cap: I have to give this to Vengence of Rain. This 7 year old warrior has gone through a lot of adversity in his time. He burst into prominence in Hong Kong as a young horse and soon made it to the very pinnacle. But after his win in the 05 Hong Kong Cup he got injured as wasn't seen again until Oct of 06'. He struggled in his first few races back and word was that he was a spent force. He finally got back into form this march with a win in the HK Gold Cup but again the consensus going into the Sheema Classic was that he was a good horse but not good enough, and not a real 12f horse. Well he certainly quelled the doubts as he handily beat the best turf field you could have hope to assemble. Hopefully we will see this champ taking on more international conquests.

KC Handicapping: We fared not too badly in Dubai and at home. Kelly's Landing was the big winner on the day but the turf races didn't work out like we'd hoped. Of the 9 races that were looked at the winner was identified in 6 of them. As far as free handicapping advice goes I think you'd be hard pressed to find a blog with better results. Over 150 selections made and a flat bet profit of almost 10%. Keep in mind that these selections are always made at least a day prior to the actual race. The Handicapping at Kennedy's Corridor has worked out quite well so far this year.

Cumulative record of selected horses: 24(9)-6-4-2 (+$3.00 +6.25% ROI)
Overall record: 159(62)-33-27-22 (+$31.60 +9.94% ROI)