I know it's been a while since I took the time to share my thoughts on individual high-profile races. It wasn't for lack of interest. Handicapping takes time, and putting my opinions into a cogent format takes even more time.
Since I moved away from California and getting settled into my new home state, and after the success of Casual Lies - A Triple Crown Adventure, I decided to flex my writing muscle in a new direction—fiction. First, I started with short stories. Then I decided to try my hand at a full-length novel. Into Madness was published last fall, and I'm hard at work on the second novel in the trilogy, which is entitled, Heart's Divided.
Still, as I intimated earlier, I pay attention to the sport of horse racing. How could I not, after actively spending more than twenty years in the sport and still enjoy, even after all these years, the record for the best finish for a horse in the Kentucky Derby trained by a woman.
While looking through the entries for the Fountain of Youth Stakes set to run today in Florida, I came across the video of Greatest Honor winning the Holy Bull Stakes. Pretty darn impressive. He cruised along, relaxed as can be, until he was asked to run. And it wasn't a shocking burst of speed that just tore everybody's head off. No, it was far more impressive than that. He didn't come from a mile off of it either. He stayed in contention. And then there was the way he just walked away from the field. It made it look like, at least to me, this horse could get the one and one-quarter mile distance of the Kentucky Derby. And he might also be able to cover the distance at the Belmont if he holds together for all three races, that is. And no one could argue that Greatest Honor doesn't have the right trainer on his side.
I like Greatest Honor for today's race, but watch out for the speed. Might be fun to try boxing an exacta with the obvious speed in the race.
Take care,
Shelley Lee Riley
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