Cairo Prince - "Oh Wow"

January 27, 2014

Dear Readers,

            Well, Saturday’s Holy Bull was a rather ho hum affair, except for Cairo Prince’s “Oh Wow” performance. Despite a strong field, he made it look easy, and when a horse win’s off like that, they usually pull up terrific.

            So ramp up the stress factor, his connections are going to have a lot of thrills going forward from this point on. I’m sure the first bright-eyed visage trainer Kiaran McLaughlin wants to see looking back at him when he steps into the shedrow in the morning, will be Cairo Prince’s.

            I’ve always said, “Horse’s stay up night’s to ruin our days.” There are so many things that can happen and which can end the dream. Besides a training injury, there’s a cough, colic, getting cast, just to name a few.

            My best wishes and good luck goes out to the whole team. I’m so excited to watch this horse as he progresses towards the first Saturday in May.

Take care,

Shelley Riley, Author of Casual Lies – A Triple Crown Adventure

www.shelleyriley.com

My Picks on the Holy Bull Stakes

January 23, 2014

Dear Readers,

            Nothing I like better than handicapping a nice field of horses in a top rated race. This Saturdays Grade II Holy Bull Stakes falls into the top rated category on several levels. Used as a prep race for the Florida Derby, which is a stepping stone for the Kentucky Derby, the race annually attracts a strong field of contenders. Who doesn’t remember Barbaro who won this race in 2006 and went on to win the Florida Derby and the Kentucky Derby?

            Is there a possible Kentucky Derby winner in this race? Could be. Let’s take a look at the entries.

Coup de Grace — This son of Tapit broke his maiden at first asking, going six furlongs, in November. He came back five weeks later to win an allowance race at a distance of one mile. This race seems an ambitious, though at the same time obvious, choice for his connections to choose for their speedy charge.

Financial Mogul — I don’t know what to say about this horse, he seems to show up ready to run every other race. Someday he may get it all together and be a really nice horse, but until he lines out and figures out what he’s supposed to do, I will be looking elsewhere for the winner of this race.

Best Plan Yet — A veteran of seven races in eight months, this horse has learned his lessons, running himself into being considered a nice colt and one with a bright future. Obviously his connections thought highly of him from the get go. His first two starts were in stakes races before they backed him down and gave him an opportunity to break his maiden, against easier company, in a maiden special weight. He got really good after that. But what happened in the last race where he finished way back? He broke good and then went nowhere. Maybe he didn’t like the Gulfstream Park surface and that wouldn’t bode well for Saturday.

Almost Famous — And if he wins this race he will definitely live up to his name. This son of Unbridled’s Song looks very talented and has also been rather good at getting himself in trouble. Lightly raced, he is one good race, against tougher company, away from being well regarded.

Our Caravan — With one race, and that going a distance of ground, you can’t ignore this colt. Though he seemed sluggish in the early and mid stages of that race against other maidens, nonetheless he won by a clear margin. Taking on this group in the Holy Bull, while it seems ambitious, his connections will look very savvy if he wins.

Mr Speaker — I should really like this son of Pulpit, but I’m a little suspect since he’s never run on the dirt. He’s blessed with a trainer who knows how to bring a young runner up to a big race and Mr Speaker looks like he knows the business of running when he pushed through on the rail to pull away in his last race. This talented turf runner can’t be overlooked by any means, and hopefully he’ll like the Gulfstream Park surface.  

Cairo Prince — Okay, I see why everybody is getting so excited about this colt. The most impressive thing about him, for me, is when the running starts on the turn for home; Cairo Prince wants to be in front. Ears slick to his head, he digs in and gives it everything he’s got. The last race, where he was second by a nostril, was for all intents and purposes a draw, at least as far as I’m concerned. The pace in that race was astonishingly slow, my goodness these horses breeze faster than those fractions…much faster.

Wicked Strong — This colt didn’t benefit from the slow pace in the Remsen either , and he finished third behind Cairo Prince. He got himself in trouble coming out of the gate and ran with his tail tucked up under him, never seemed to relax enough to enjoy himself. With very little room to run throughout the race, when Wicked Strong did get clear, he ran green as grass down the lane, and yet he only got beat a half length. I like this colt.  Someday, if he stays sound, and once he figures out what it’s all about, he'll be quite the runner.

Conquest Titan — I don’t know what to say about this horse, he has shown talent, but I hesitate to ignore him and yet I can’t back him. He would benefit from an easy lead, something he is unlikely to enjoy in this race.

Big Bazinga — Right off let’s get past how much I like the name of this horse. I’ve never watched the Big Bang Theory, which is where Bazinga was popularized and I must say it would be a big prank indeed, if this gelding beat this contentious group of runners. Big fun if he did, however.

Intense Holiday — This colt has all the right connections going for him, and boy-howdy he has been running against the best. Maybe Saturday will be the day he gets it all together.

            So what do I think? Tough race and it should be very exciting. I won’t be betting and I’m not encouraging anybody to use my opinions to make their wagers, having said that; here are the horses I’ll be watching to make a statement.  If they do, I’ll be back bragging about it on Sunday.

Wicked Strong — If he gets it all together on Saturday, he may be in a close photo with Cairo Prince.

Cairo Prince — I love this horse and his obvious will to win. But I do think he could be battling it out with Wicked Strong if the latter lines out and runs his best race.

Mr Speaker — Will definitely have a say in the outcome of this race.

Take care,

Shelley Riley, Author of Casual Lies – A Triple Crown Adventure

www.shelleyriley.com

Tanzanite Cat and Walt in the Smarty Jones Stakes

January 22, 2014

Dear Readers,

            Today I pulled up the race video on Tanzanite Cat winning the one mile Smarty Jones Stakes which was run at Oaklawn Park on January 20^th. A big good looking horse, the son of Graeme Hall was well placed throughout the race. When Walt made an early move on the backside and scooted past him on the rail, Tanzanite Cat stayed relaxed and up in the bit. When the running started down the lane, he looked professional and got the job done.

            I couldn’t help myself when I saw Walt floundering around; I had to take a closer look at the replay. I’m not sure why he made that big move on the backside, I can surmise, after the way he ran in his last race; that perhaps his connections thought he would run better on the front end. For whatever reason he made that move, once Walt was on the lead, he seemed to be controllable and was moving along well in hand.

            The problem comes when the rider asked him as they’d turned for home and he gave the colt a tap or two with the whip. Each tap resulted in the rider having to check the colt. Walt was lugging in and away from the whip. So the jockey switched to a left handed whip, which didn’t fix the problem. Where the real problem came to the fore was when he switched back to the right handed whip. The colt ducked for the rail, switched leads violently and started climbing. Ken Tohill, the jockey and a veteran rider I know well, wisely put the whip away and hand rode Walt to the wire, saving second for his connections. Hopefully Walt didn’t hurt himself switching leads in the manner in which he did it, or that an injury didn’t cause him to do it in the first place, rather than the whip being the causal factor.

            Clearly Walt is a speedy little devil, still green and he’ll surely improve with racing. Now what about that whip? One hates to take the whip off, and it was clear Ken wasn’t pounding on this colt, but it’s also clear that the whip and Walt’s reaction to it, took away any chance he had of winning the race.

            Barring injury, they might try working Walt with blinkers to find out if the whip, in his peripheral vision, is what’s troubling him. Some horses just won’t tolerate a whip. But a whip is an important tool in horseracing and not just to encourage the horse, but to help control him. For example a horse lugging, either in or out, can often be corrected with a good tap of the whip on a shoulder or neck. The problem is, if the jockey is carrying a whip, the racing officials expect him to use it. Any jockey can make it look like he’s hitting the horse, when in fact he is just waving it around. But if Walt is concerned enough about being hit, he’s going react to any movement.

            All in all, I hope both horse’s came out of the race in good shape. I’ll be looking forward to seeing both of them on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Take care,

Shelley Riley Author of Casual Lies – A Triple Crown Adventure

www.shelleyriley.com

Midnight Hawk in the Sham & Capetown Noir in L'Ormarins Queens Plate

January 18, 2014

Dear Reader’s,

            It’s been a very busy time for me. I finished up a short story for my next book, and I was thrilled to be invited to speak to the members of three different organizations so far this month.

            Today I was catching up on two races that were run on January 11^th, both of which are considered stepping-stone races. The Grade III Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Race course in California, which is good for Ten Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner. The other was the L’Ormarins Queens Plate a Gr. I race that takes place at Kenilworth Race Course in Capetown South Africa. The L’Ormarins is the first in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup “Win and Your In” Challenge Cup Series. The winner of this race becomes an instant qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Mile in October at Santa Anita.

 

            First off the Sham, only four horses went to post in this prestigious race. A four horse field, yuck, never good for the punter. Unless one horse is much the best, pick the speed and place your bets. And that is exactly how this race unfolded. Two horses on the front end, and two other’s getting a workout behind them. Midnight Hawk, who broke his maiden impressively in December, and comes back in the Sham to win by a length and half, and he has to be respected. Kristo the runner up to Midnight Hawk, also lightly raced, looked good, but on the day was clearly second best.   

 

            I’m not ready to jump on a Midnight Hawk bandwagon as yet. He is a heavy headed runner, which is not my favorite type, and once he got in front of Kristo, he may have lost focus or maybe that was all there was. He just doesn’t, at this point, look like a horse I would want to place a futures bet on in Las Vegas to win the Kentucky Derby. Nonetheless, congratulations to his connections, which must be really excited and well they should be.

             Now on to the 153^rd running of the L’Ormarins Queens Plate a one mile Gr. I contest run over the turf course at Kenilworth. A strong field of fourteen horses broke beautifully from two gates and the stampede was on in the first eighth of a mile, everyone jockeying for good position. At which point the first of several jam-ups began to unfold.

        The eventual winner, Capetown Noir (SAF) in tight quarters down on the rail, was helpless to do anything but wait and see how it all unwound, and pray someone didn’t go down and take him with them.  
 
            I’m not sure if I’m more impressed by the horse or his jockey. Karl Neisius, courageous and clever, and I would say this was a masterful ride. Not only did he keep his horse safe in a very dangerous section of the race, once clear he timed his mounts move so beautifully, he made it clear a very talented field was running for second and third. 

 

         

An interesting side note on the L’Ormarins Queens Plate spectator dress code, everybody has to wear blue and white. It makes for a really striking picture on this day at the races in South Africa.

Take care,

Shelley Riley - Author of; Casual Lies – A Triple Crown Adventure 

www.shelleyriley.com