Weekend Review

Weekend Overview: Woodbine hosted the major action of the weekend and the races provided a good mixture between being formful and downright crazy. I was surprised to see Champs Elysees made the favorite in the Canadian International. I would have thought that Jukebox Jury with his flashy European form would command most of the attention but the public got it spot on. Lahaleed raised some eyebrows with her win in the E.P. Taylor off of very little back form. It's no surprise that she was 44/1 but evidently North America suits her very well because she never would have handled Rainbow View back home. I hope people have noticed that once again the three year olds did so well against their elders. Lahaleeb and Rainbow View completed the exacta in the E.P. Taylor with Eastern Aria running 4th and Jukebox Jury almost won the International for the sophomore class. On the heels of wins by Summer Bird and Gitano Hernando it appears that the older horses are weaker than usual. I was pretty surprised to see Gozzip Girl run as flatly as she did. I overestimated her quality by quite a bit. She's a good horse but pretty ordinary amongst her peers. She won't be a factor in the Breeders' Cup. Jackson Bend raised an eyebrow or two when he won the In Reality at Calder earning a 100 Beyer. He had a tough trip but he overcame the adversity and was very impressive. The steady little Canadian El Brujo won his second consecutive Graded Stakes race south of the border. He doesn't get big figures but he just keeps plodding along. His great form makes the suspension of Hollywood Hit look all the more unfortunate. Hollywood Hit was on a major hot streak, it's a shame to see him sidelined for 90 days because he had a tranquilizer in his system. I know there are differing viewpoints on that subject but I think it's unfair to suspend the horse specifically.

Thoroughbred Championship Rankings: The standings have finally been updated, I missed doing it last week because I was out of town but quite honestly things did not change as much as I thought they might. Zenyatta confirmed herself as the Older Female to beat. The Older Males lost yet another race to the three year olds in the Goodwood and Magical Fantasy continued to dominate the west coast turf. Forever Together is now forced into a position where she definitely has to win the BC Filly and Mare Turf if she wants to be champion again. Magical Fantasy has built up too much of a lead otherwise. Gayego burst onto the Male Sprinters scene and suddenly has a mathematical chance of reaching first place. The BC Sprint will be a major determining factor as it should be but sadly Fatal Bullet's meager campaign leaves him out of the running.

Power Rankings: Perhaps the tightest division right now is the Two Year Old Female division. There really isn't much to separate the best from the rest. There is a difference of just 3.42 from 1st to 5th. Nearctic winner Field Commission is sneaking up the sprinter standings. A good showing in the BC Turf Sprint may actually make him one of the year's top 5 sprinters. Girolamo is also among the upwardly mobile. He is now just 6th among active Three Year Old Males. It looks like there is more to come from this Godolphin colt as well.

Performance of the Week: There is no question that Jackson Bend was the most impressive performer of the week. If you have not seen the In Reality Stakes then go to Thoroughbred Times and check it out. This site, in case you weren't aware, has free links to stakes races both graded and ungraded. Jackson Bend was looking for a sweep of the Florida Stallion series but it looked unlikely after he went down to his nose soon after the break. Young horses rarely come back from that but he regained his rhythm pretty quickly and was in a good stalking position down the backside. Jeffrey Sanchez likely went for home a bit prematurely around the far turn and Jackson Bend again looked in real trouble as Thank U Phillipe came right up beside him near the 1/8th pole. But Jackson Bend fended off the challenge and went on to win by nearly 3 lengths! It was an unbelievable race, certainly the best route performance by any 2yo this year. The 100 Beyer figure confirms the class of the event. It's the highest number earned by a juvenile going two turns. Jackson Bend has now won 5 of 6 starts and is the only horse to have defeated D'Funnybone. Put him on your short list of horses to watch in the future.

Race of the Week: I thought the Nearctic Stakes was the most engaging of the weekend. Turf sprints tend to always be a little hectic and this one was no exception. Maybe I liked the race so much because of the good performances by Field Commission and Jungle Wave. I have a soft spot for these two Canadian based sprinters. Field Commission made an excellent move in the stretch to come between horses then flash by the dueling leaders. Maybe a few of these will turn up at Santa Anita in a few weeks. I don't think they'd be too over matched.

Flop of the Week: I think it likely has to be Gozzip Girl or Look Here. Gozzip Girl was facing a very ordinary cast of 3yo fillies and she had previously suggested that she was a great deal more than ordinary. That illusion is certainly dispelled. Look Here just never raised a hoof in the E.P Taylor. Here is a filly that won the Epsom Oaks, finish third against 3yo males in the St Leger and had been narrowly denied in a pair of tough graded stakes against older males. So what happens when she faces the softest field since her second career race? She runs next to last.

Tip O'the Cap: A horse I have been hard on for virtually all his career is Champs Elysees. He was bred to be a great one and I suppose it was the weight of expectation that resulted in the perception that he was an underachiever. But now with his career now ended I think he deserves a bit of a salute. The Canadian International was likely his greatest performance. He closed with a lot of determination to get Jukebox Jury. He may have only won six times but he struck three times at the G-1 level. All in all he was a solid performer. He was not in the same bracket as his illustrious siblings but 3 G-1 wins is a good haul for any horse. His racing career was not one that will attract breeders but the blood that flows through his veins could only be described as royal blue. I wish him the best of luck at stud.

Weekend Review

Overview: Other than the massive upset by Interpatation over Gio Ponti the week was pretty formful. Interpatation was the only G-1 winner that went off at odds of more than 5/1 and the favorite managed to at least hit the board in every race except the Flower Bowl where Dynaforce struggled to live up to expectations. Even the four G-2 events were all won by the favorite or second choice. So the good horses starting showing their true colors and it's a good thing because the Breeders' Cup record of horses that have had a poor final prep is pretty weak. I do not often mention overseas racing on this blog despite being quite a fan of it. In the early days I actually followed European racing more than American but for the blog I decided to keep my focus stateside. However I simply cannot let the season of Sea the Stars go unmentioned. Sometime after he is retired I plan on thoroughly reviewing his career and comparing it against those of Ribot, Sea Bird, Brigadier Gerard and others to see just how good he was. For now I'll simply say that I am extremely impressed with this colt. His acceleration in the Arc was unbelievable. People speculated that he didn't have that kind of acceleration but as it turns out it seems like he simply never had the occasion to use it. Sea the Stars is a horse for the ages. If you're interested there is an excellent tribute video you can catch on Youtube. There were too many other key races to mention them all by name but Music Note, Summer Bird and Lookin At Lucky were probably the most impressive winners. Gone Astray showed very good acceleration to win his second straight minor state Derby. He may use those wins as back door access to the Classic. Out of stakes company there was a very good debut performance from a Pletcher horse named Connemara. He completely blew the break in a Turfway maiden but he rallied strongly around the whole field on the far turn and kept rolling in the lane to win by 5. This half brother to Lion Heart and French Satin could be a very serious horse.

Thoroughbred Championship Rankings: Mathematically Gio Ponti still had a major chance to catch Rachel Alexandra if he had been able to sweep his final few races. Now that he tasted defeat in the Joe Hirsch that window is all but closed. A win in the Classic would still do it but the Classic is a race he is far less likely to win. The Female Turf division is in a delicate limbo right now. Five horses are within 40 points of each other at the top but with Forever Together and Magical Fantasy still to run in G-1's before the Breeders' Cup the championship may just come down to the two of them. Kodiak Kowboy has put himself squarely back into the mix for the Sprint title. He hadn't won a Graded Stakes race since the Carter back in April so he had been slowly falling down the rankings but this win makes him second only to Zensational. He needs to head to California though.

Power Rankings: Lookin At Lucky is actually one of the top 10 active horses in the country. It's a pretty rare thing for a 2yo to be ranked this high even before the Breeders' Cup which is obviously a major help to whoever wins it. Lookin At Lucky has been phenomenal thus far. Music Note was the other major gainer this week. In just three starts she has captured the biggest sprint race for mares in New York and the biggest route race for mares. Thankfully her opening debacle this season is a distant memory. Her rating of 20.20 makes her joint 12th among active horses and a good showing in the Ladies Classic would see her climb further still.

Performance of the Week: I don't often give Performance of the Week to a horse that lost a race but Always a Princess impressed me the most this past weekend. She came into the Oak Leaf with many things against her. She had never been beyond 5 1/2f and now she was going two turns. She had never faced winners but she was being asked to face stakes winners and to top it all off she drew the rail which often spells death to the inexperienced. She broke with the field but had to be asked in order to get to the lead. In her first start she was sitting 10 lengths off the pace early but here she set a pace that was just on the quick side. Sterling Outlook set nearly identical fractions in the Norfolk and he wound up dead last. Always a Princess could not deal with Blind Luck but she did stay on gamely and fight off the challenge of Bickersons. With the pace and all other factors being so much against her I thought it was a colossal performance. Always a Princess goes to the head of my Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies list. With a better draw, more experience and a different pace scenario she can beat anyone I've seen so far.

Race of the Week: Despite the fact that the finish was not that tight I thought the Jockey Club Gold Cup was the most exciting race to watch. You had to know the context. Summer Bird on a serious roll looking to establish himself as the clear 3yo leader. Quality Road, the talented and brilliant, whose reputation probably outdoes his significant accomplishments. The winner of this match would go into the Breeders' Cup as the top sophomore of their gender. The older horses failed to involve themselves in this race at all it was pretty clear that we were going to see them duke it out as they entered the stretch. For a brief moment it looked like it might get desperate but Summer Bird found something extra and powered a length clear. Quality Road never gave up and performed with much credit but clearly Summer Bird is the better of the two at the distance. I felt like this race was what racing is supposed to be about. Everyone wanted questions answered in head to head fashion and that's what we got.

Flop of the Week: Very few good horses ran badly this weekend so I'm going to have to pick on Get Serious. He was running in the Cliff Hanger at the Meadowlands. Get Serious was 4 for 5 this year and he had not finished out of the frame in a Turf race since he faced Big Brown, Shakis, Proudinsky and company at Monmouth. There were no killers in the Cliff Hanger so he was justifiably sent off as the favorite at around 2/1. Unfortunately for his backers and connections he just didn't come to play. He offered no resistance in the stretch and was quickly swallowed up by the pack. He only avoided a last place finish by a nose. Get Serious is a better horse than that.

Tip O'the Cap: I wanted to give my congratulations to Kodiak Kowboy and to Steve Asmussen as well for his victory in the Vosburgh. Indian Blessing gets praised for being a BC Juvenile race winner still in action and winning stakes but once upon a time I actually selected Kodiak Kowboy to win the Juvenile. He ran a decent third that day and he's been a solid course all of his career. I think he may actually appreciate the Asmussen program a bit more than what Jones was doing with him. Under Asmussen he is 6 for 11 and has never really run a dull race. With Jones he was 4 for 11 and often times he just didn't look like a horse that was really trying.

KC Handicapping: This will be the last installment of the Kennedy's Corridor Handicapping roundup. I have decided that I am no longer comfortable giving out advice that I know will lose you money over the long term. Not that I believe that anyone follows my suggestions blindly but in life away from cyberspace I spend a good bit of time investing in the lives of people that have come from or are in difficult life situations. I got to thinking, is the handicapping advice I give something I'd want them reading?

All things considered I think I do decently with my selections compared to other people. It's hard to turn a profit when making selections for a race a day or two in advance. Most people that offer these types of picks don't keep score because it's extremely difficult to show a profit. My handicapping tips have been good for a loss of 11% over a period of a couple years. I work in the finance sector and I couldn't in good conscience give this kind of advice at work so I'm choosing not to give it in my spare time either.

Does this mean I'll never handicap another race? I've always enjoyed the challenge of finding winners but I am not a gambler. I'm going to have opinions about certain races, especially big races but I'm not going to approach them with the thought of value or turning a profit. I enjoy racing primarily as a fan and in the future I'm going to be focusing this blog more on being a fan than a handicapper.

Lookin At Lucky, Summer Bird and Music Note were all short priced winners so it was another negative week. Going against Gio Ponti was the correct move but I came up with the wrong horse in Telling. Interpatation is one that I never would have selected, a horse with a profile like that is simply always going to beat me. I was a bit shocked that Kodiak Kowboy got to Fabulous Strike. I thought the Strike would have more than enough to hold him off.

Weekly Record: 9(7)-3-1-0 (-$7.40 -41.11% ROI)
Overall Record: 813(463)-141-128-102 (-$181.90 -11.19% ROI)

Weekend Review

Overview: It was a pretty quiet weekend. The Kentucky Cup series looked like it could have been a good preparation for Breeders' Cup hopefuls but as the synthetic cloud settled it was pretty clear that no potential Breeders' Cup winners were in action. Indescribable ran a decent race against poor competition but it was not a Ladies Classic caliber performance. Same with the Canadian colt El Brujo who took the KY Cup Sprint. Fatal Bullet was a Canadian based sprinter who followed the same path and was second in the Breeders' Cup but El Brujo seems about 7 lengths inferior to where Fatal Bullet was last year. Hold Me Back was all the rage in the Classic but he never lifted a hoof in 6th place. Furthest Land and Dubious Miss both ran excellent races but it's hard to see connections pushing onto the Classic with horses that had only previously attempted Graded Stakes company once. It was a good race but they'd both likely fit in better at the upcoming Keeneland meet. Maybe a race like the Fayette. It was Indian Blessing and Sara Louise who really put on a show. The Gallant Bloom was definitely the best race of the weekend.

Thoroughbred Championship Rankings: Virtually no changes to these rankings because there were really very few Graded Stakes run this weekend. The next two weeks are among the most pivotal of the entire racing season. The contenders should really start to pull away from the pack with big points on the line in multiple Grade 1 events.

Power Rankings: Indian Blessing was the only major mover in this quiet week. She moved into second in the Female Sprinter division behind Informed Decision. Remember though that Ventura is only not a part of this division officially because she's been more of a turf horse so far but a win at the Breeders' Cup on the main track will put her back in here and bump Indian Blessing down a bit. Informed Decision and Ventura have been the best Female Sprinters this year but the defending champion Indian Blessing has been the best of the rest and her campaign has been somewhat unlucky.

Performance of the Week/Race of the Week: I couldn't help but roll these two categories into one. The race of the week was obviously the Gallant Bloom Handicap. Indian Blessing's part in the race was also the best performance of the week. It seemed like a bit of an awkward trip for Indian Blessing as she didn't make the early pace and she had to make a somewhat premature move through a hole on the fence in order to avoid getting stuck down there. I thought she was beaten in the last 1/16th because she hadn't really opened up and Sara Louise looked to be finishing the stronger. But Indian Blessing had obviously had enough of losing. Three in a row is quite a losing streak for a horse of her quality. The youngster Sara Louise just could not match the tenacity of this two time champion. Indian Blessing has been a real treat to follow throughout her career. I hope we all realize how rare it is to have a juvenile champion still running so well and so consistently at 4 years of age.

Flop of the Week: Hold Me Back was a major disappointment in the Kentucky Cup Classic. He has often been a "nearly" type of horse and bettors made him the favorite here because of his second place finish in the Travers. The competition didn't look that great and he was the only horse with real Breeders' Cup aspirations. Those aspirations had to have been choked out by the recycled rubber and wax. He was supposed to like the surface so what went wrong? Maybe he's just not that good. Lucky Island and Songster also looked pretty bad in a minor stakes race at Belmont on Friday. At one time these were killers in the sprint division. Now they're cheap fodder in allowance and listed stakes company.

Tip O'the Cap: It was pretty neat to see Gomez sweep the Kentucky Cup Stakes races. When I first noted him riding in the Classic I looked through the card to find out which horse he had probably flown into town to ride. I guess the correct answer is all of them. Those were his only three rides of the day and all of them were well timed moves from off the pace. Furthest Land and El Brujo only just got there and Gomez certainly made a difference with them. $240,820 in purse money and a trio of Graded Stakes wins is a pretty good day at the office.

KC Handicapping: Dubious Miss suffered a narrow defeat to Furthest Land who was astutely selected by the commentor Eric. Apparently Furthest Land had the best breeding for this race. He also happened to be well respected in my own Speed Ratings. The KSR identified 4 horses that were fast enough to win the KY Cup Classic. They ran 1, 2, 3 and 6 sweeping a $557 trifecta and a $69 exacta. Unfortunately I only focused on Dubious Miss, who I considered to be the strongest of the alternatives to the favorite. But Furthest Land and Sligovitz would have been good to throw on the ticket as well.

Weekly Record: 1(1)-0-1-0 (-$2.00 -100.00% ROI)
Overall Record: 804(456)-138-127-102 (-$174.50 -10.85% ROI)

Weekend Review

Overview: I thought this weekend was highlighted by the magic of knowing your horse. Bobby Frankel brought Ventura to Woodbine because there was a big purse being offered for a race that fit her preferences perfectly. Ventura is a one turn specialist and she flaunted her proficiency once again. Forever Together also came to Woodbine but she's the polar opposite of Ventura, she is definitely a two turn horse. Forever Together has never lost a two turn turf race but she's struggled mightily in one turn races. That struggle showed itself again as she was nosed out by the inferior Princess Haya. Don't worry too much about the reigning Female Turf champ. The division is won or lost in two turn events and she'll still have a couple of those left on her dance card this season. Regal Ransom looked good in the Super Derby but he's still a few notches short of the real cream from this crop. Blame on the other hand had the pace against him but still came with a bold run in the final few furlongs. His star seems to be on the rise. I wouldn't make too much out of D'Funnybone's latest runaway victory. I thought Discreetly Mine was equally impressive after having a rough trip. With Dutrow planning to take D'Funnybone straight to the Juvenile off this 7f effort he's an easy toss.

Thoroughbred Championship Rankings: Just As Well got lucky when he inherited a win via DQ. He wasn't affected by the trouble but he did get most of the benefit. That result has propelled him into a firm second place in the Turf Male rankings and 6th overall! Who would have ever thought that Just As Well would be ranked higher than Forever Together?

Power Rankings: Ventura has gone from the head of one division to the head of another. The way Power Rankings work is that a horse is given a score based on their entire body of work but the division they get placed in is based on what kind of races make up the bulk of their score. Ventura had been the top Female Sprinter until this weekend when she captured a massive prize on the grass. That made her more of a grass horse than main track sprinter this season so she moved divisions. Expect her to flip flop back into contention for the top Female Sprinter after the Breeders' Cup.

Performance of the Week: Ventura was really good but the pace really helped her as well. She would certainly be a deserving choice for performance of the week but she's also every one's top choice. I'm going to go against the grain just a bit and say that I was personally quite impressed with Awesome Maria in the Matron. She sat right on the pace which was lively then looked powerful as she just extended away from the field. I'm pretty convinced that she'll go two turns and she's a pretty nice physical specimen for a 2yo filly as well.

Race of the Week: Surely the 2009 renewal of the Noble Damsel has to go down in history as one of the tightest non dead-heat finishes of all time. Check out the photo. What is that winning margin, like 3 millimeters? To the naked eye Rutherienne never had her nose in front, even her jockey Alan Garcia congratulated the rider of Quiet Meadow for winning. It just goes to show how important photo finish cameras are. A few weeks ago someone expressed surprise when I said that all dead heats awarded prior to the era of finish line camera's were suspect in my mind. This is why. Even an experienced eye could not have seen Rutherienne get in front at the line.

Flop of the Week: I thought Bribon was ridden far too close to the pace to be effective at Woodbine. Obviously his connections feared Rahy's Attorney more than they should have. Bribon was ridden from further back in the Met Mile, Cigar Mile and even the Saratoga allowance and he did just fine in those races. Here he struggled home without any real kick at all in the lane. He still managed to run 4th just a nose out of third but my feeling is that with some better tactics he could been flying home right with Ventura. Badly done by Alan Garcia.

Tip O'the Cap: 2007 Arlington Million winner Jambalaya was back in action for the first time since that victory and he picked up right where he left off! Okay maybe he wasn't quite back to that level but he did manage to win and he looked pretty good while doing it. Woodbine was never even his favorite course. He always seemed to do better away from his home track but it's great to see him back in action. Who knows, this 7 year old gelding may actually be a major contender for some of this seasons big Turf stakes. He is 19-9-1-6 in his career on the grass but he's 5-4-0-1 away from Woodbine. He's won G-1's at Gulfstream and Arlington and a graded stakes at Saratoga. Jambalaya is a serious horse and congratulations to his connections for getting him back to the races. Patience rewarded.

KC Handicapping: I missed the mark pretty badly this week. For a moment it seemed as if Quijano was going to be good enough but he just doesn't have enough punch in the lane. Rahy's Attorney was too close to a fast pace and he just wasn't good enough. It's been a rough little streak for my 20-20 profiles. Losses in the Woodbine Mile, Pacific Classic and Whitney are beginning to add up. All the 20-20 profiles combined are just $0.70 profitable this year nailing only 6 winners from 11 races. The overall overage is 195% ROI and 79% winners. The Breeders' Cup (eight established races) and Canadian International are the only races of the year left with a developed profile.

Weekly Record: 3(2)-0-1-0 (-$6.00 -100.00% ROI)
Overall Record: 803(455)-138-126-102 (-$172.50 -10.74% ROI)

Weekend Review

Overview: I was rather shocked to see Gozzip Girl beaten in the Garden City but after seeing her almost go down around the first turn I'm just happy she made it back in one piece. It seemed like she was simply going much faster than her rivals but there was no seam to allow her to do so. It could have been extremely messy. She did not run all that well in the final reckoning but I'll give her another shot for sure. Swift Temper seems more like a blue collar horse to me. She is never supposed to run quite as well as she does but I think she's a horse I can really cheer for. It will be interesting to see her back on synthetics in the Spinster. Informed Decision is all class as always and I thought Game Face was visually good enough to give synthetics another try. She missed hitting the board but she did have a bit of a tough trip. I think she would have done better with a more courageous ride. Prado seemed to be waiting for the field to magically collapse into his lap. Game Face would have been better served by attacking the pace setters on the far turn because she's not a horse that accelerates all that quickly. It was a fairly light week of stakes action despite the fact that there was a pair of G-1's. Nobody really knocked the lights out this week in stakes company.

Thoroughbred Championship Rankings: Rachel Alexandra has built a lead that is practically unassailable but mathematically she's not free and clear yet. Conceivably horses like Einstein, Gio Ponti or maybe even Summer Bird could match her points tally but from a practical and realistic standpoint it's quite unlikely. Rachel Alexandra is just the second horse to break the 400 point mark in a single season. Curlin is still the single season TCR record holder with 442.35 in 2007. These records are only kept from 1999 to the present. Swift Temper is shaping up as one of the surprises of the season. When a horse has that many "flukes" in a row one begins to think that she might actually be that good. She holds the lead in the Main Track Older Female division at present but she'll probably need another big race win or two to stay there.

Power Rankings: Informed Decision proved once again that she's peerless on the synthetic surfaces. Diamondrella, Game Face and Flashing were all up against it once Informed Decision set for home. Kudos to John Sheppard for keeping her on form all year long. Seventh Street missed a chance to claim the top Power Ranking for Main Track Older Females but that result seems just about right. Although she has been winning I get the feeling that she's not true championship class.

Performance of the Week: The horse I was most impressed with this week was Girolamo. He was a highly touted horse after a sparkling 2yo debut at Saratoga last summer but he failed to follow up that effort with any form of not. Godolphin took him to Dubai and he was only put back to the races a few weeks ago at Saratoga where he was again impressive. This weekend he stayed in allowance company but he was facing some pretty good horses for the class level. This performance suggests that he's done with allowance horses. He tracked the pace for the first 5f but moved very easily to the front without being seriously asked. Garcia shook him up a bit in the lane and he opened up willingly. You get the impression that he's capable of much more and Godolphin really is having a very hot run at the moment. Girolamo is probably not developed enough to be in a Breeders' Cup race but look for him in a graded stakes race next time out. His star is definitely on the rise.

Race of the Week: I really liked the match up in the Palomar. Lethal Heat coming off 11 days rest against males to face Gotta Have Her, Carribean Sunset and Wild Promises. I admit that I was cheering for Lethal Heat and was a bit disappointed when Gotta Have Her went past but I thought the top two put on a pretty good show. Carribean Sunset did not really live up to expectations in third but she may not prefer the hard California surfaces.

Flop of the Week: After beating Forever Together it seemed logical to respect Diamondrella greatly. She had never been on synthetics but her closing style and turf proficiency suggested that it would be no problem. It turned out to be a pretty big problem indeed. Diamondrella never really got going in the Presque Ilse Masters and that most assuredly ends her chances of being seen in a main track BC race. The Turf Sprint or the Mile would seem like the only Breeders' Cup hopes for Diamondrella now but it's more likely that she just won't go to California at all.

Tip o'the Cap: I reserve this little spot to say at least one nice thing about racing every week. This week I'm tipping my cap to HRTV's program Pursuit of the Cup. I love the build up to the Breeders' Cup and this show only fuels the fire. I can't watch HRTV in my region but both the Bloodhorse and Breederscup.com carry this show on their websites. It's worth checking out. Much of the advice they give about specific horses chances in the BC is useful and I simply like the way they present the show. Good job to the Pursuit of the Cup cast!

KC Handicapping: It was not the best week for me. I did feel a small sense of satisfaction when Keep the Peace failed to live up to expectations once again. But that joy quickly faded when my pick, Fearless Leader, couldn't keep up to the winner either. It was a bad result for my speed ratings. They missed out on both the top pair. Gozzip Girl's result seemed more like bad luck to me while Diamondrella just did not handle the surface while the favorite predictably did. The results tallied below also include my selections from Alabama weekend. Milwaukee Appeal was indeed better than the Americans but it was the other Canadian she couldn't handle. Careless Jewel is looking monstrous right now.

Weekly Record: 5(5)-0-1-1 (-$10.00 -100.00% ROI)
Overall Record: 800(453)-138-125-102 (-$166.50 -10.41% ROI)

Weekend Review

Overview: The weekend review will be somewhat abbreviated this week because of some personal time constraints. Besides as soon as this day is over most of us will be done with looking back. The news for the coming weekend will be what catches our eye. The Zen masters "yatta" and "sational" continued to do what they do best. Win races. Zenyatta left it oh so late and it was tough to tell if she had gotten there. I know Smith blames himself for this but it only illustrates the problem with closers. It's hard to win races from the back of the pack all the time. Zensational has no such worries. He is easily the best sprinter in California and aside from Fatal Bullet it's hard to find another horse that could really challenge him. Fabulous Strike may be a monster but he's a dirt monster, we already saw how he does on synthetic. It's a shame for Fabulous Strike because the sprint championship really seems to be coming down to him and Zensational. Having the championship race on less than ideal footing puts him at a disadvantage. Gio Ponti was crowned as my official favorite horse late last year and he's given me much to celebrate this year. He just seems to get better and better. He has been winning his races with a late swoop but at Arlington he showed some real stamina after blasting to the front very early. He was completely exposed through the straight to those who had chosen to ride more patiently but he had the stamina to hold off all comers. It was a new dimension and an exciting one for his fans. Take the Points win in the Secretariat had to have the connections of Battle of Hastings thinking twice about their decision to skip. Bullsbay will go down as one of the more forgettable Whitney winners of modern times. He's not a terrible horse but he's typically been a G-3 level runner and the race really lost something with the scratch of Asiatic Boy and the complete no show from Smooth Air.

KC Handicapping: My plays this week focused on using the results of my 20-20 profiles for the Whitney and Arlington Million. The Whitney was flat out embarrassing, it was a totally upside down result according to the profile and it just goes to show you that horse racing is about more than just numbers. Not everything can be quantified and packaged into something simple. Luckily the Arlington Million worked out and spared some blushes. Gio Ponti even paid for the loss on Smooth Air. The $72.20 exacta with Just as Well was a nice touch too. So far a win bet on all 20-20 perfect qualifiers this year has returned +29.72%. It's well below the overall average but at least it's positive.

Weekly Record: 2(2)-1-0-0 ($1.00 +25.00% ROI)
Overall Record: 795(448)-138-124-101 (-$156.50 -9.84% ROI)

Weekend Review

Weekend Overview: So is Rachel Alexandra the best filly of all time? She is definitely the best filly I've ever seen and in my mind she has surpassed Ruffain, Regret, Busher, Personal Ensign and all those greats save one. Twilight Tear is still the standard for me but Rachel Alexandra doesn't have far to go. A win over a quality field of older males would definitely put her over the top as the greatest filly of the modern era in my opinion. Munnings proved himself to be a quality horse who should have been kept in sprinting races. He'll be very hard to be in any sprint race this year but he was never going to beat a monster like that. Mine That Bird looks more ordinary by the day. He's a quality horse that fans should enjoy for years to come but he's not really championship quality. He'll probably be the top three year old male this year but that division is really thinning out. The best three year old males seem to be sprinters this year. Forever Together got back on track even though the course was likely softer than she wanted. I can see her sweeping every event from here to the end of the season unless Gozzip Girl continues to improve. Colonel John was nearly the most impressive horse of the week in the Wickerr Handicap. He loved the turf and had his rivals all at sea once he got going. It wasn't quite War Chant's turf debut but Colonel John could be as good as anyone on the grass if connections choose to leave him there. Justenuffhumor is definitely a rising star in the Turf division. If he can avoid Gio Ponti he just may find himself undefeated until the Breeders' Cup.

Thoroughbred Championship Rankings: Rachel Alexandra is now officially the best Three Year Old Female on record. Better than Rags to Riches, Ashado and Silverbulletday and we're only in August. She still has a few months of serious racing to go. It's incredible to think that she's outdone those fillies in such a short span of time. One more G-1 win basically guarantees that she cannot be caught in the standings. She is already a lock in the hearts and minds of race fans but the numbers say she needs one more just to be totally safe from some horse that may get hot over the summer and fall.

Power Rankings: Six fillies are among the top 10 best active horses in racing. Rachel Alexandra dominates the list of course but Forever Together, Informed Decision and three Main Track Older Females also make the list. This may even be a stronger year for fillies than 1999 when we had Beautiful Pleasure, Banshee Breeze, Silverbulletday, Manitisque, Soaring Softly and Excellent Meeting. Enjoy these fillies to the fullest because they're a very special lot.

Performance of the Week: Champions and all time greats often have defining moments of brilliance or courage. The Haskell is the race that both ushered Rachel Alexandra into the company of the most exalted and the race that will likely be used to surmise her career. There could be more brilliant feats to come but this was definitely her best race to date. Summer Bird also ran a career best race and Munnings tried his little heart out despite going too far but they were in their own race. Rachel Alexandra was already walking back to be unsaddled. This was one of the best performances in the past decade by any three year old, male or female. She simply looked invincible and for champions the aura can be just as important as the accomplishments.

Race of the Week: Blanket finishes in dirt races usually point to a lack of quality but they sure are good to watch. Backtalk seems like a good enough juvenile but 100 yards from home in the Sanford I sure had some questions about how good he was. He was rightly favored off of his past form but the Sanford field seemed to get away from him on the far turn. The principals quickened and he struggled to stay on terms. But in the final furlong as the top 3 were dueling themselves into submission Backtalk and Bulls and Bears were getting on track. They all finished with a rush and the neck margin of victory almost seemed generous. Only 1 1/4 lengths separated the first five horses across the line.

Flop of the Week: Both Kip Deville and Well Armed were horrendous this weekend. I'm not sure that either has a legitimate excuse other than the fact that they're now old and obviously inconsistent. How could Well Armed have gone from Dubai World Cup winner and defending champion in the San Diego to failing to beat a single horse? Kip Deville was perhaps less of a surprise since he was flat in his last effort too but I thought the track had more to do with that effort. Evidently not, he may have simply lost a step.

Tip O'the Cap: The DRF did a little spot on Informed a few months back about how he might be the next Lava Man. A older horse claimed by O'Neill and transformed into a stakes runner he seemed to have a few similarities. But a few things have since become clear. He's not nearly as fast as Lava Man and he's never going to be a serious horse of the year candidate. But let's appreciate him for what he is. His latest gutsy win in the San Diego brought his career earnings to half a million dollars and he's now a dual G-2 winner and is just a nose shy of have three G-2's to his name. Informed is a cool horse and I wish him all the best.

KC Handicapping: My Saratoga travails are being documented on a day to day basis so this little recap will focus solely on my weekend picks and analysis. It was a shaky week for me in that I didn't really have strong opinions in any stakes races aside from knowing that Rachel Alexandra would win for fun. I ended up going with four horses in two races. Lucky for me one of them (Justenuffhumor) ran well and paid for the rest. So a week where I was pretty confused becomes one of my best recently. I can see the humor in that.

Weekly Record: 4(2)-1-0-0 ($1.50 +18.75% ROI)
Overall Record: 793(446)-137-124-101 (-$157.50 -9.93% ROI)

Weekend Review

Weekend Overview: For a week with a pair of Grade 1 races it felt pretty quiet, perhaps its just because I'm holding my breath for Saratoga. It could also be that both G-1 races were underwhelming. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for Global Hunter and Funny Moon but it's hard to make a strong case for either horse becoming top contenders in their divisions. Rahy's Attorney and the opening of Del Mar were the bright lights of the week. One of the reasons we all love Del Mar and Saratoga so much is the two year old racing. A lot of talented juveniles will be on display and we'll get a feel for who the coming stars of racing might be. Saturday's 7th race at Del Mar may have seen quite a few good 2yo's debuting. Baffert and Sadler both unleashed a pair of good looking horses. Tiny Woods was the best on the day but Samardo might be the best of the four in the long run. Tasty Temptation took the last leg of Canada's Triple Tiara but most likely the biggest impact of this race is the positive form reference that this result gives to Milwaukee Appeal.

Thoroughbred Championship Rankings: No one made a significant jump forward in the rankings this week but one horse did fall back quite a bit. A medication violation for It's a Bird in the Oaklawn Handicap saw him stripped of the purse and officially disqualified this week. Consequently he was stripped of the TCR points he earned that day. It's a Bird fell from the 5th ranked Main Track Older Male to the 14 spot. Belmont specialist Bribon inherited 5th place.

Power Rankings: He may only be running at Woodbine but Rahy's Attorney is a legitimate top class turf horse. He moved into 4th place in the Turf Male Power Rankings and he would seem to have plenty of options open to him now that he's a Graded Stakes winner from 8f to 10f. Like Gio Ponti and Battle of Hastings who join him in the top 5 he's unlikely to find his best trip at 12f. The top 12f horse is usually the front runner in the Turf Male division but not this year.

Performance of the Week: I don't often look beyond stakes company to find the most impressive horses of the week but this time I'm going to talk about Samardo who ran third in a maiden race at Del Mar. It's really early to be predicting what kind of impact 2yo's could have in championship type events but Samardo is the first juvenile of this season to really catch my eye. The worst post position for any first timer is the inside post. Unless your horse is naturally faster than the rest they're going to have a hard time securing a position and having a bunch of horses to your outside can be very intimidating. Samardo did not break particularly well and he soon found himself last, a little over 11 lengths back. He began to gather himself and move through the field but was stalled entering the far turn as his pilot waited for something to open. Quinonez finally had enough and just swung the colt wide. He began to pick of horses but was still well back with a furlong to go. It was the final furlong of this race that most impressed me. Samardo made up about 5 lengths, although he could only be third he was a length in front of the top pair just a few strides after the wire. A better break and a bit of ground saving would have been enough for him to sweep past the entire field. He should do very well next time out.

Race of the Week: Despite the lack of quality the Coaching Club American Oaks was an interesting race to watch. Five horses had a shot at the top of the lane and all 5 finished within 2 lengths of the win. Wynning Ride stuck her nose out in front and staved off challenges from Casanova Move and Livin Lovin but the final 100 yards was too much for her as both Funny Moon and Don't Forget Gil swept past.

Flop of the Week: Does anyone have any idea why Thorn Song suddenly bolted to the outside rail? At first I feared injury for the lovable old guy but it just seems like he went crazy all of the sudden and he had no physical issue at all. I don't think I've ever seen an experienced horse like this simply bolt like that without an injury.

Tip O'the Cap: Global Hunter is one of the luckiest G-1 winners out there. Thorn Song who had previously won a G-1 bolted for no reason that anyone can see and that incident got Monterey Jazz, the favorite, all keyed up and he ran off with his rider. Global Hunter was experienced enough not to get riled by those events and he simply ran his race. When Monterey Jazz stopped Global Hunter had inherited a lead that none of the closers could chip into. Global Hunter has been a hard luck horse for basically his entire career in North America. He's not really good enough to win a race like this but it's nice to see him roll a 7 on such a big occasion.

KC Handicapping: Marlang scratched in the Nijinsky and Livin Lovin didn't stay in the CCA Oaks. It was a quiet week at windows. I should have stuck with my gut feelings from the Acorn. In the Acorn I tabbed Livin Lovin and Funny Moon as the two most likely winners. Both failed that day but keeping the faith would have been wise here.

BRISnet hosted a free online handicapping challenge on Saturday that offered 3 qualifying spots to the National Handicapping Championship in Vegas. Since the NHC is something I'd like to qualify for someday I gave this contest a shot. In the end I could do no better than 166th. It was a respectable performance but the best handicappers out there are certainly a few class levels above me at the moment.

With Saratoga starting up this week I'll be continuing the tradition of playing public handicapper for the meet. 100 winners, a flat bet profit and one perfect day with nothing but winners are my goals again this year. This will be my 5th year of this exercise, I've beat the meet twice. The most winners I ever managed was 96 in 2005. In 2007 I had 7 winners on a 9 race card. That is the closest I've ever come to sweeping.

My plan is to also post some wagers for Saratoga when the opportunities arise. Something similar to Brad Free's $50 a day plays at Del Mar for the DRF. We'll see how that goes.

Weekly Record: 1(1)-0-0-0 (-$2.00 -100.00% ROI)
Overall Record: 789(445)-136-124-101 (-$159.00 -10.08% ROI)

Weekend Review

Weekend Overview: Speed was queen on the Delaware interstate this weekend. Careless Jewel and Swift Temper both looked very good but the enthusiasm must be tempered somewhat by the fact that the track conditions didn't give anyone else a chance. Unbridled Belle probably underperformed as is her custom after a big effort but I still felt a bit for her and Icon Project as they simply could not make up ground on Swift Temper. Biased track conditions tend to taint races a bit in my mind. Fatal Bullet looked like his old self and maybe better in the Bold Venture at Woodbine. He could have a big year. Speed also help up pretty well in the Sunset handicap at Hollywood. Black Astor took off like he was Presious Passion or something but then his pilot, Joe Talamo, eased him up and led the field come back 10 lengths on him before breaking off again and really winning quite easily in the end. Run off leaders in long turf races are becoming more and more popular, they're also having more and more success. Battle of Hastings continued his nice roll as one of racings most consistent horses. I would caution everyone not to get too carried away though. This horse is nowhere near as good as Gio Ponti. Despite his consistency he does not look like a significant threat for any Breeders' Cup race this year. Straight Story is the horse I might actually be buying stock in if that were an option. Evita Argentina and Misremembered looked decent enough in their respective stakes efforts at Hollywood. I was impressed without being blown away by either of them.

Thoroughbred Championship Rankings: Battle of Hastings and Swift Temper were naturally the biggest movers in the standings. They both look lightweight compared to the division leaders but the results they're achieving entitle them to be ranked among the best in their division. For Battle of Hastings to make it all the way up to 16th overall in the country is pretty significant. Not since Kitten's Joy have we had such an accomplished 3yo Turf male.

Power Rankings: The Three Year Old Male division just keeps getting worse through injury and under performance. With I Want Revenge, Musket Man and Pioneerof the Nile all sidelined it makes them ineligible for the power ranking divisional standings. The top 5 standings are only for active horses but the quality is really seeming thin this year. Hold Me Back and Grazen both had a chance to vault themselves into contention for best active 3yo's but they both failed. Hold Me Back never really threatened in the Virginia Derby and Grazen got beaten at his own game in the Swaps. Summer Bird and Mine That Bird can't return to action soon enough.

Performance of the Week: I'm very impressed with Fatal Bullet. This horse is a win machine on synthetic tracks. I didn't know how good he'd be after the long layoff but he nearly broke his own track record at Woodbine and he earned a 109 Beyer Speed Figure. It is going to take a special horse to beat Fatal Bullet in any race this year. He is brilliantly fast from gate to wire, I'd wager that even Zensational would look a bit slow against him.

Race of the Week: There was a bit of confusion over whether or not the Virginia Derby was going to be on national television this weekend. CBS had aired the race in previous years and there was some misleading information on the NTRA website. It didn't end up being covered by CBS and it's a real shame because you won't see a better finish this year. Battle of Hastings and Straight Story were just a head apart in the Colonial Turf Cup and this time the result looked even closer. I don't understand why the public made these two the second and third choice instead of near co-favorites. They ought to have been much shorter on the board based on their form. Straight Story seemed to have made the winning move at the top of the stretch as he went a few lengths clear but Battle of Hastings dug down and seemed to find another gear as he made up a length in the last hundred yards. The photo finish was too close to call but Battle of Hastings came out just the better over his rival for the second straight race. Round three at Arlington should be excellent.

Flop of the Week: Acoma may be a much better horse on the Turf but failing to beat a single horse in the Delaware Handicap is a major disappointment. She is definitely my flop of the week. Hopefully connections get her back on the grass.

Tip O'the Cap: The quality of Canadian racing has been lacking since the late 90's but it does seem to be picking up recently. Fatal Bullet looks like the Eclipse Sprint Champion in waiting, Careless Jewel and Milwaukee Appeal seem to be as good as any 3yo filly outside Rachel Alexandra, Rahy's Attorney looks like a significant threat in mile races on the grass and Smart Surprise continues to roll along with yet another stakes win. Smart Surprise won a stakes race at the Fair Grounds this winter earning a 107 Beyer and she just won again this weekend bringing her record to 6-4-1-0 for 2009. Owned by John Sikura and trained by Josie Carroll this daughter of Smart Strike is emerging as one of the most consistent horses of the year. She has 4 stakes wins already and it doesn't look like anyone at Woodbine can touch her aside from maybe the sophomores, Careless Jewel and Milwaukee Appeal.

KC Handicapping: I finally had a good week on public record with Battle of Hastings narrowly getting there in the Virginia Derby. It was a decent success for me and my 20-20 system. I was sad to see Livin Lovin scratched from the Delaware Handicap. Speed was holding and she may have been the main speed in the race. I think she could have outrun Swift Temper and all the rest.

Weekly Record: 1(1)-0-0-0 (+$7.20 360.00% ROI)
Overall Record: 788(444)-136-124-101 (-$157.00 -9.96% ROI)

Weekend Review

Weekend Overview: It was a great week for some of my favorite horses. Gio Ponti was fantastic again. This horse looked like a promising one right from the start but for some reason he had a somewhat mixed bag of results up until his last 3 races. He has now put everything together and no one can match him. He might even be able to win at 12f although I don't think he'll be given that chance. The Arlington Million is next and I expect him to get a layoff after that until a race like the Kelso. Game Face put some bad efforts to rest as she romped in the Princess Rooney. Rail Trip was the most impressive of all. The fears over his ability to 10f were unfounded as he looked stronger than he's ever been. He was a special horse from the start and he'll be a real handful in the Classic. Eaton's Gift won what has to be described as a disappointing renewal of the Smile Sprint. Benny The Bull was the only really good horse in the race and he didn't fire. It was a bit disappointing to see Eye of the Leopard come up short in the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown but it was a great race to watch. I'm not sure if we saw much quality at Arlington's Million Preview day aside from Pure Clan. She is going to have a big year. Top turf sprinter Chamberlain Bridge was narrowly beaten but lost nothing in defeat. Turf sprints are often wild and wacky races. There is no shame in going down by a neck.

Thoroughbred Championship Rankings: It was quite an active weekend with the standings changing in almost every division. Gio Ponti has set sail after Rachel Alexandra for the overall lead. Rail Trip has finally won a Graded Stakes race and now he's 9th overall in the nation. Game Face reopened her case as a contender in the Female Sprinter division. Her last two races had her staring over the abyss of obscurity but she ran well enough on Saturday to even cast doubt over whether or not Indian Blessing could have beaten her. Perhaps we'll find out at Saratoga. The pair should also meet Informed Decision that day.

Power Rankings: Rachel Alexandra has a new challenger emerging in the form of Gio Ponti. He is only narrowly behind the flying filly now as he's captured his third straight G-1. You may notice that the Three Year Old Male division looks odd. The Power Rankings differ from the TCR in that the top 5 you see listed on the sidebar always represents the top 5 active horses in any division. The retirement of Pioneerof the Nile and Musket Man going to the shelf for the year means they're removed the active list in that division and it gives a slot to Hold Me Back and the up and comer Grazen. This does not mean that Grazen is a better horse, his power ranking is actually lower but an active horse is always faster than a retired one. The TCR let's you know what they've accomplished, the Power Rankings help tell you who the hot horses are, right now!

Performance of the Week: There is no way to get around what Rail Trip did this past weekend in the Hollywood Gold Cup. He ran that last quarter in 24.76 en route to a 3 length win and a track record. He earned a massive 110 Beyer Speed Figure which is equal to the biggest figures given out for a route race on synthetics. I view this race as every bit as good as what Heatseeker was able to do last year and given the relative weakness of the older horse crop you might say that this form makes him a clear favorite for the Classic. I know Ellis is conservative but I'd love to see him take on the Whitney before going back home for the Goodwood and BC Classic.

Race of the Week: Most people probably haven't seen the Prince of Wales Stakes which is the second leg of Canada's Triple Crown. You can see it at the Bloodhorse's stakes replays section on the main page. It is definitely worth watching. You will not only get a glimpse at an exciting three horse stretch duel featuring a longshot, a filly and a Triple Crown contender but you will see that Milwaukee Appeal, the filly mentioned earlier, is and extremely high class horse. It is actually my contention that Milwaukee Appeal is the second best route filly on the continent behind only Rachel Alexandra. Her latest speed figure is unknown but her last three on synthetic were all over 90 with 99 being her highest. She stays 10f but has the tactical speed to be effective in sprints. She's a very good horse and although she was denied by a nose on this day she'll have more than a few days of her own to come.

Flop of the Week: The myth of Midships has been exposed. It's too bad it was done at this time of year. Bettors will have a hard time putting faith in him for the Breeders' Cup. When faced with other classy horses, especially speed horses, he was always ripe for a wilting. Frankel should get back to picking spots with him.

Tip O'the Cap: At one time Linda Rice was best known as the trainer of City Zip, a plucky little 2yo that swept the Saratoga juvenile stakes program back in 2000 but since then Linda Rice has found a niche and is exploiting it like no one I've seen. Rice is the Queen of New York turf sprints and there is no King or even Prince. Linda has dominated turf sprints in New York for probably the last 4 years and this weekend she once again had runners finish 1-2 in a stakes race. Earlier this year she swept the top 4 places in a turf sprint stakes race. I'm not sure what she does different from everyone else but there is no question that she has the eye to pick out what a turf sprinter should look like and then she has the program to get them winning races. She does all this with state-bred and claiming level stock. It really is quite amazing.

KC Handicapping: You can probably just shoot me. I seem to have become an infuriating mixture of brilliance and incompetence. How many people actually thought that Tres Borrachos had a great chance in the Hollywood Gold Cup? I did, but I ignored a horse I've been high on since his maiden so I got nothing. I was finally eliminated from Monmouth's Survival at the Shore game. I gave a decent account of myself but blew it when forgetting to make picks one day and toasting my life preserver. Both my weekend selections ran poorly while three of my personal favorites Gio Ponti, Game Face and Rail Trip won some of the biggest races of the weekend. I like to keep my sentiment separate from my handicapping. In fact I rarely even mention my personal feelings about horses but Gio Ponti is my favorite horse in training and the other two are on my short list of about 10. My heart was a great deal more accurate than my head this weekend.

Weekly Record: 2(2)-0-0-0 (-$4.00 -100.00% ROI)
Overall Record: 787(443)-135-124-101 (-$164.20 -10.43% ROI)

Weekend Review

Weekend Overview: The reason the buildup to the Breeders' Cup is so awesome is because it's a confluence of so many contenders and divisions. We can get excited about sprinters and turf horses just as much as the classic routers or three year olds. Presious Passion ran one of the most impressive G-1's you'll ever see as he blitzed his rivals in the United Nations by opening up a crazy 20 length lead early on. Kudos to Elvis Trujillo for knowing his horse and knowing how much he can handle because they were getting to him late and he would not have lasted another furlong but he rationed out his speed for the 11f and it was perfect. Monterey Jazz flashed some speed of his own in the American Handicap. Ditching Storm Military that easily in the opening furlongs is not a simple task. Monterey Jazz is very dangerous when he's good. The three year sprinters seem to be of above average quality this year. Munnings and Zensational were extremely impressive, both beat older horses in Graded Stakes and they looked like killers. Munnings went from 2 lengths behind to a pair in front in about 100 yards on the turn and just cruised through the lane in a fast time. He looks unbelievable right now. Zensational was faced with trying to beat older horses at 7f but it seemed like no problem for him. Cat Moves was also pretty impressive when running her unbeaten streak to 3 in the Prioress. Horses don't usually win G-1 races in their third start unless they're two years old. Cat Moves was very professional. Kensei also looked like quite the pro in the Dwyer. I think he'll be a useful miler. Speaking of miler's how about Coal Play running his rivals off their feet in the Salvator Mile? You have to play that horse at Monmouth, he might be unmatchable again in the Iselin. No review of the weekend is complete without mentioning Gozzip Girl. I'll talk about her more a bit later but she is something special.

Thoroughbred Championship Rankings: Big races from Zensational, Presious Passion and Munnings were not quite big enough to give them the lead in their divisions but they moved into contention for the top spot among their peers. Gozzip Girl was the only one that did enough to eclipse her rivals and take over a #1 slot. She looks like the real deal but her campaign may not be solely Turf focused so a championship will be hard to nail down. Informed Decision solidified her status in the as the best Female Sprinter. A G-3 at Arlington was never going to prove much but she was more impressive than she had to be and will take a lot of catching.

Power Rankings: Cat Moves looks like a very good horse in the making. Her Prioress win sees her burst onto the scene with a 10.00 power ranking. That's very solid for a Female Sprinter and puts her only behind Informed Decision and Ventura. Musket Man is no longer listed among the top 5 in the Three Year Old Male division because the power rankings are tracking the active horses in each division. Musket Man is unfortunately no longer active.

Performance of the Week: I won't say that I'm Gozzip Girl's biggest fan but there would certainly be few that think more highly of her. She really caught my eye at Gulfstream and then again in the Ashland. Her versatility in the Sands Point was impressive but nothing compares to her latest triumph in the American Oaks. Before the race I compared her to Wait A While when she was at the same stage in her career. Little did I know that she'd do a great Wait A While impression in the American Oaks. Her connections decided to ride her from the back of the pack on this day and she adapted easily. She broke well enough and settled before gradually picking her way through the pack. By the head of the stretch she was right with the leaders. I think the quickness and power of her move was best summed up by my wife when she was watching the race. As they came in the straight she said "It's going to be a close one.......errrrr...no it's not!". I'm a sucker for horses with a devastating turn of foot and Gozzip Girl has that in spades. It only took a few strides to settle this race and with a weapon like that she'll take a lot of beating. This horse has Breeders' Cup winning potential, I know Forever Together is a monster but she can be one as well.

Race of the Week: I'm not sure if the form of the Firecracker was championship quality but the race was a great one to watch. Inca King and Mr. Sidney had an all out battle through the lane and the winning margin of 1 1/2 lengths doesn't do the battle justice. Inca King came to run, and he hadn't been up to that kind of performance since he was a sophomore. But Mr. Sidney has never lost at a mile and he wasn't about to give one to his rival here.

Flop of the Week: I think Todd Beattie and the owners of Fabulous Strike deserve this dubious distinction for chickening out of a meeting with Munnings. It was the matchup of the weekend and you knew it was coming for over a week. They also knew the weights back when they were released. If your horse is healthy run them in the races you had picked out and forget the competition, in fact welcome a bit of competition. I think Fabulous Strike would have lost the race to Munnings but now he's lost a lot of respect too. There is nothing wrong with coming second in a well fought duel.

Tip O'the Cap: Racing often gets slammed for not treating fans to the perks they think they deserve so I thought I'd take the chance to highlight a one thing that has been going well for the fans. Video replay access is available like never before. We've all used Calracing for years, but it has limited access. NYRA has now added the race replays to their site and the Bloodhorse, DRF and Thoroughbred Times all offer stakes races at a minimum and in some cases like the Bloodhorse they offer much more. Fans can get virtually any race for free. It's something to be thankful for.

KC Handicapping: Two winners from 5 races and unfortunately it was just not enough to break even. The bettors really came in for Gozzip Girl and she was a much shorter price than I thought she'd be. The scratch of Fabulous Strike also played against my chances of getting more than 3/5 on Munnings. I think Munnings was a winner anyway so it's disappointing not get a better price because of the scratch. Seaspeak was not good enough, Noble Court just ran out of ground and while Stud Muffin was worth a shot he was never a horse you'd really bank on.

I'm lucky to be alive in the Survival at the Shore contest. I worked very hard to earn an extra life preserver then I blew on the first day when I forgot to get my picks in. I barely survived Sunday only getting through with a third place finish from my last pick. Still I'm 296th overall which I kind of pleased with. I never thought I'd last 31 days.

Weekly Record: 5(5)-2-0-2 (-$0.30 -3.00% ROI)
Overall Record: 785(441)-135-124-101 (-$160.20 -10.20% ROI)

Weekend Review

Weekend Overview: The two best horses in the nation were in action this weekend and while fans will have enjoyed seeing them win all the focus is on how we get them to face each other. Zenyatta's owners seemed very keen to chase Rachel Alexandra in the hopes of getting Horse of the Year. They rightly recognize that the path they had originally set out for her would not add up to anything other than a divisional Eclipse Award. Rachel Alexandra is the horse to catch for Horse of the Year and Zenyatta will have to come and get her. Unfortunately for all would be challengers Rachel Alexandra just looks like she's in a zone right now. She beat nothing but she was moving very sweetly and recorded a very fast time. Zenyatta on the other hand seemed to take a while to get into the race even though she was being asked a long way out. She won as she always does but this was not her best race. Euphony continued her roll in the minor stakes races with a nice win in the Iowa Distaff while Jonesboro seems to be finding the best form of his life as he took the Cornhusker. It was the first G-2 win for the 7 year old who seems to still be loving life after 40 career starts. Rahy's Attorney, Black Mamba and Porte Bonheur were the other notable race winners this weekend. It also should not go unnoticed that Dutrow has now nursed Wishful Tomcat through 3 straight stakes wins. They have all been in state-bred company but he's getting nice figures and he's already a G-3 winner on the dirt as well as a minor stakes winner on the grass. Other than a rough 3 race skid with Bobby Frankel, Wishful Tomcat has been a very consistent and very dangerous speed horse.

Thoroughbred Championship Rankings: The question of the First-half Horse of the Year is easily settled. It's Rachel Alexandra. She has been leading the standings for the last 7 weeks and her latest victory only widened her lead. Rachel Alexandra has had one of the most impressive half seasons in recent history. Her score of 252.84 virtually ensures her a top 10 overall finish even if she never ran again. If she wins 2 or 3 more races I don't think it will be possible for anyone to catch her. Kodiak Kowboy overtook Fabulous Strike again to take the lead in a limp Male Sprinter division. No one has really stepped up and made this division their own.

Power Rankings: It's official, Rachel Alexandra is the top horse in the nation by every measurement I've got and at her current rating of 31.61 she is the best 3yo filly I've got on record (1999 to the present) and the third best female period. She ranks behind only Zenyatta from 2008 and Azeri from 2002. Power Rankings do decline with losses though so Rachel Alexandra will have to keep up her high level of performance for the rest of the season to maintain or better her lofty status. Zenyatta's first G-1 win of the season saw her take a huge jump in the rankings. She moved all the way into third among the older females, another win may just put her in front. Rahy's Attorney and Porte Bonheur were the only other significant movers in the Power Rankings. Both horses broke into their divisional top 5's for the first time this year.

Performance of the Week: A horse that was at his most impressive was Rahy's Attorney. He won the King Edward going wire to wire and earning a 106 Beyer for his effort. It's not easy to go 9f at Woodbine all the way on the front end, especially with good horses like Sterwins and Society's Chairman in the race. He went the first quarter pretty slowly but then Sterwins rushed up to force the issue and Rahy's Attorney drilled his next 3 quarters in :23.20, :22.52 and :22.43. Hardly any horse can close into those kind of numbers. He finished off his last furlong in :11.95 to score a comfortable length victory. Sterwins stayed on for second but the winner just never came back to him. Rahy's Attorney seems to have picked up where he left off at Woodbine last year. He won the Woodbine Mile over Kip Deville and Ventura last year before finishing off the season with a couple of poor efforts out of town. But back at Woodbine he lost the Connaught Cup on his seasonal debut by a head but turned the tables on Sterwins in emphatic fashion here in the King Edward. His last 3 Woodbine Beyer figures have been 106, 101 and 107. He ought to make any potential shippers think twice about coming to Woodbine.

Race of the Week: I loved Churchill's Debutante as a visual spectacle. Although the stretch battle between Decelerator and Wild Forest Cat was a bit messy, with plenty of bumping it was a fantastic contest between the top two. Two year olds often have problems keeping a straight course when under severe pressure and the top pair in this race were under the most pressure possible. They both wanted to win and they really threw it down for the length of the stretch. I'm already looking forward to Act II at Saratoga.

Flop of the Week: Carolyn's Cat came into the First Flight Handicap as a legitimate favorite in good form but she wound up involved in a speed duel that cost her all respectability. She failed to beat a single horse in the First Flight. I don't know if she just didn't show or if I should be getting after Garcia for the ride. But either way her last place finish was a massive flop.

Tip O'the Cap: It seems as if the match up between Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta has fallen to the Moss's and NYRA to organize. Jackson has trumpeted himself as a sportsman but he's not the one that is looking to make this match up a reality. I'm glad Mr. Moss can see that his horse's initially proposed campaign was not tough enough to earn Horse of the Year. To be Horse of the Year you can't just be the most talented you have to earn it. Sending Zenyatta to New York in search of Rachel is a nice step towards earning the right to be Horse of the Year. The Breeders' Cup Classic has also been mentioned as a possibility so this week I'm doffing my cap to ambitious plans. I sure hope they become a reality.

KC Handicapping: Another tough week for me at the windows. I was encouraged by Soul Warrior's good second in the Iowa Derby. A 2nd place finish as a 13/1 shot is a decent performance and i was much more confident about my other two picks. I really could not believe that both Native Ruler and Victory Pete missed the frame. That was pretty unbelievable. Nothing is coming easy for me at the moment.

The good news is that I'm still alive in the Survival at The Shore contest. I've lasted 26 days and that is apparently long enough to earn a lifesaver (a one time free pass if you strike out) 4,266 handicappers entered and just 496 remain. I'm pleased to be one of them.

Weekly Record: 3(3)-0-1-0 (-$6.00 -100.00% ROI)
Overall Record: 780(436)-133-124-99 (-$159.90 -10.25% ROI)