MeSlew
06-08-2013, 10:50 PM
Hello All! For Sunday June 9, here are the tracks and races on Slew's mind:
Monmouth - 3,4,6,7,8,10
Hollywood - 1,3,4,5,6,8
Churchill - 5,8,10
Woodbine - 3,4,5,7,9
Calder - 1,3,5
Arlington - 3
The first order of business tonight is to congratulate PALACE MALICE and his connections. His daddy being Curlin, certainly gives him the authority to ascend to the Belmont throne.
Congrats also to all the handicappers who took the leap of faith and backed a horse eligible for an entry level allowance in one of the great races we offer here in the U.S. For me, it
punctuates the talk of a less than stellar crop of 3 year old males. The splits were literally staggering, with the final time almost a full 7 seconds slower than the benchmark of all benchmarks, Big Red.
And as my wife commented just moments after the winner literally staggered across the finish line: "They have bred the 'classic' out of the horse".
I'm glad this less than memorable triple crown season is over. Now, we prepare for Saratoga and the great summer racing.
Our Key Horse running Sunday is:
Big Blue Kitten - MP (10) GP 12/08/12 # 5
The Monmouth Stakes (G2) looks to be a field deep in graded stakes runners...but not winners. Boisterous (McGaughey/J.Velasquez) appears to be the most accomplished runner in the group having notched the Red Smith (G2)on a yielding Aqueduct turf, along with the Fort Marcy (G3) and the Knickerbocker (G3) on a yielding Belmont turf. Also notable is Rahystrada (Hughes/Ortiz, Jr.) who just nipped Boisterous in the Arlington Handicap (G3) on a surface labeled as good. As a five year old, I'm not sure how much better Big Blue Kitten will get. But he has been out of the money only once, and that was in the Prince of Wales stakes at Ascot. We'll give him that one.
On our soil, Big Blue Kitten (Bravo, Jr.) has won the Hall of Fame (G2), was 2nd behind Wise Dan (of horse of the year fame) on the fake stuff in the BenAli (G3) at Keeneland, and was 3rd in the Ft. Lauderdale (G2) at Gulfstream park. Two allowance races since that January start prep him for this Grade 2 contest as Chad Brown takes another crack at a graded stakes win in a field of not the best graded stakes company.
It appears to be a good opportunity and if he is ready and the course is not soft, at 5-1 he merits consideration.
Enjoy the Sunday racing...good luck and good 'capping!
Monmouth - 3,4,6,7,8,10
Hollywood - 1,3,4,5,6,8
Churchill - 5,8,10
Woodbine - 3,4,5,7,9
Calder - 1,3,5
Arlington - 3
The first order of business tonight is to congratulate PALACE MALICE and his connections. His daddy being Curlin, certainly gives him the authority to ascend to the Belmont throne.
Congrats also to all the handicappers who took the leap of faith and backed a horse eligible for an entry level allowance in one of the great races we offer here in the U.S. For me, it
punctuates the talk of a less than stellar crop of 3 year old males. The splits were literally staggering, with the final time almost a full 7 seconds slower than the benchmark of all benchmarks, Big Red.
And as my wife commented just moments after the winner literally staggered across the finish line: "They have bred the 'classic' out of the horse".
I'm glad this less than memorable triple crown season is over. Now, we prepare for Saratoga and the great summer racing.
Our Key Horse running Sunday is:
Big Blue Kitten - MP (10) GP 12/08/12 # 5
The Monmouth Stakes (G2) looks to be a field deep in graded stakes runners...but not winners. Boisterous (McGaughey/J.Velasquez) appears to be the most accomplished runner in the group having notched the Red Smith (G2)on a yielding Aqueduct turf, along with the Fort Marcy (G3) and the Knickerbocker (G3) on a yielding Belmont turf. Also notable is Rahystrada (Hughes/Ortiz, Jr.) who just nipped Boisterous in the Arlington Handicap (G3) on a surface labeled as good. As a five year old, I'm not sure how much better Big Blue Kitten will get. But he has been out of the money only once, and that was in the Prince of Wales stakes at Ascot. We'll give him that one.
On our soil, Big Blue Kitten (Bravo, Jr.) has won the Hall of Fame (G2), was 2nd behind Wise Dan (of horse of the year fame) on the fake stuff in the BenAli (G3) at Keeneland, and was 3rd in the Ft. Lauderdale (G2) at Gulfstream park. Two allowance races since that January start prep him for this Grade 2 contest as Chad Brown takes another crack at a graded stakes win in a field of not the best graded stakes company.
It appears to be a good opportunity and if he is ready and the course is not soft, at 5-1 he merits consideration.
Enjoy the Sunday racing...good luck and good 'capping!