Weekend Review

Weekend Overview: We're likely to have many quiet weekends like this over the next few months. This is as close to the off season as racing gets. I'm quite disappointed to see that Istan is now set to be retired at the end of the season. He's just finding his stride. Curlin will likely follow him to the shed and racing, the sport, will again be the loser. Racing needs to come up with a way to keep horses in training.

Performance of the Week: You will likely hear a lot about Inca King in this space over the next year if he continues the path he's on. He loves the grass and once again he proved it when annexing his rivals in the Commonwealth at Churchill. How he was not favored in this race is beyond me. I'm loving the look of Inca King as a potential first rate miler. He's got speed but he's learning how to rate. The quick move he showed again in the Commonwealth is exactly the kind it takes to be first class at 8 panels.

Race of the Week: 9 year old two time defending champion giving everything he has desperately searching for the wire as the heir apparent 3yo challenger gets closer with every stride. The gallant old champion hangs on by a nose. Sounds like a movie doesn't it? Well Revved Up and Soldiers Dancer put on a first rate show in the Bonnie Heath Turf Cup. Revved Up has owned this race for years now but Soldier's Dancer is definitely the best Turf horse at Calder these days. Revved Up made his customary move to the front at the head of the lane and for a moment looked home free. But Soldiers Dancer burst from the back of the pack and was getting to the old timer with every stride. The wire came at just the right time for Revved Up.

Flop of the Weekend: Royal Highness has hit rock bottom. She turned in yet another anonymous display in the Long Island Handicap. Perhaps she was on poor footing on the inside but she just had no punch in the stretch. That's twice in a row now that she's been awful. Something is amiss with her.

TCR Mover’s and Shakers: The TCR standings are fully updated but none of the top horses were in action so the standings remain unchanged at the top. Bit Of Whimsy jumped into 7th place in the Female Turf Division but she's most like done for the year. I don't expect to see her move up much more this year but she could be one of the horses to beat in the division next year. Sugar Shake moved into 6th in the older fillies division. She's had a pretty decent year, she was not able to compete with the division headliners in the summer but she proved herself more than useful in the early part of the year.

Tip O’the Cap: Hard to overlook Revved Up's three peat in the Bonnie Heath Turf Cup but I'm going to give this otiose honor to Garret Gomez for breaking Jerry Bailey's record for stakes wins in a single season. Gomez has been sharp all year long and in just a few short years after some major problems in his life he is now the best money rider in the business.

KC Handicapping: Took some shots this week and only my saver on Bit Of Whimsy came in. It just goes like that sometimes.

Cumulative record of selected horses: 7(2)-1-0-1 (-$8.80 -62.86% ROI)
Overall record: 413(184)-74-71-59 (-$47.20 -5.71% ROI)