Friday, June 19, 2009

Queen's Plate: Filly Milwaukee Appeal Favored | BloodHorse.com News

June 19th, 2009
Queen's Plate: Filly Milwaukee Appeal Favored | BloodHorse.com News
Jack Shinar

Super filly is the class of Queen’s Plate field : Sports : The Buffalo News

June 19th, 2009
Super filly is the class of Queen’s Plate field : Sports : The Buffalo News
Bob Summers

Hall of Fame trainer aims for record 9th Queen’s Plate win

June 19th, 2009
Hall of Fame trainer aims for record 9th Queen’s Plate win
Lindsey Craig

London Free Press - Other Sports - Queen's Plate victory could rekindle Sam Son fire

June 19th, 2009
London Free Press - Other Sports - Queen's Plate victory could rekindle Sam Son fire
Rob Longley

TheStar.com | Horse Racing | Milwaukee appeals as Queen's Plate favourite

June 19th, 2009
TheStar.com | Horse Racing | Milwaukee appeals as Queen's Plate favourite
Chris Young

Queen's Plate Preview.. ..I Got The Horse Right Here... ...

I got the horse right here... ...
 
I must admit right off the top that my personal immersion into all things Kentucky Derby has left me a little bit behind the proverbial eight-ball when it comes to handicapping this years Queen's Plate.
 
The Queen's Plate is the longest consecutively run stakes races in North America. Needless to say that means a whole lot of history accompanies the annual gallop for the 100 guineas at Woodbine Racetrack.
 
History:
 
In 1934 it was Horometer who gave trainer Harry Giddings Jr his record setting seventh Queen's Plate title. And eight years later when Ten to Ace collected Giddings Jr's eighth and final crown. Giddings would stand alone atop the Queen's Plate trainers board for over a half a century.

 
or
 
In 1991 the Queen of Canadian thoroughbred racing Dance Smartly claimed the Queen's Plate on her way to a Canadian Triple Crown and a successful romp in the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs later that same year.
 
or
 
Perhaps you need look no further then last years race to find a little piece of history. Trainer Roger Attfield won last years race with charge Not Bourbon making Att's only the second trainer in Queen's Plate history to collect eight victories in Canada's most prestigious race.

 
Intermission:
 
If history the history of the Queen's Plate intrigues you, your in luck. The CBC has produced a documentary titled Queen's Plate: History, Heritage and Hope that will be available FREE at the track gift shop (Think gifts for Dad. Sunday is after all fathers day)
 
 
So what's on tap for this years race?
 
I would like to have produced a contenders page for all of the 13 horses entered in Sunday's race but as I said I'm a little bit behind the eight-ball, so here in place of a set of full bios is a look at the brief crib notes that I will carry into battle when I head to the track on Sunday morning.
 
*Horses are listed in post position order 
 
#1 El Brujo -- The colt with the highest earnings, most wins and Stakes scores, El Brujo will likely get a handsome price on Sunday afternoon. The outstanding Malcom Pierce trainee failed as the odd on choice in the Queen's Plate Trail and has yet to collect a win going around two turns.
 
#2  Flip The Coin -- The papers say "toss this one at your own risk", so I guess my first gamble comes long before I even reach the track {I'm tossing this one, Vito's had his luck}. Trainer Vito Armata guided 82-1 bomb T J's Lucky Moon to a Queens Plate victory back in 2002
 
#3  Active Duty -- Casse's #2 horse may be breed for the distance but if this one really had a chance Casse's go-to guy Patrick Husbands would have the mount over a gutsy Corey Fraser
 
#4  Milwaukee Appeal -- The "other" filly, Milwaukee Appeal is the horse that actually won this years Woodbine Oaks
 
#5  Mr. Foricos Two U -- Mr. Foricos may not seem like a contender but the move by trainer Catherine Day-Phillips to secure two time Eclipse Award winning jockey Mike Smith says otherwise
 
#6  Reservoir -- Lightly raced colt has already eclipsed older horses in his two race portfolio. Look for a stunning effort from the Julia Carey trainee
 
#7  Eye of the Leopard -- Eurico Rosa da Silva may only need 1 Queen's Plate mount to claim his first Queen's Plate
 
#8  Rapid Release -- Jono Jones and Roger Attifield look for their second consecutive Queens Plate crown
 
#9  Buchephalus -- On a personal note I really like Trainer Kevin Attard and believe that he is a real class act. The distance for Bucephalus is going to be a problem, good thing for him none of the other contender has taken a shot at the mile and a quarter distance. Named after the famous steed of Alexander the Great, Bucephalus would be a much more fitting name for a Plate winner then say..Tasty Temptation
 
#10 Stardust Ziggy -- Stop-watch special has a better chance the 20 to 1 morning line may reveal
 
#11 Tasty Temptation -- A filly has claimed one of every five running of the Queens Plate and the team of Casse and Husbands are all too capable but I think this filly was named after liver flavoured kitty treats
 
#12 Shut It Down -- Nobody wanted to ride Casse reject Shut It Down for trainer Lorne Richards in this years Queens Plate, so Richards went out an hired the worlds winningest rider Canadian, Russell Baze
 
#13 Keino West -- This one will be running late but with Gerry "The anchor" Olguin aboard I wonder from how far back they'll be running 
 
 
Zoltan Black
 
 


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Thursday, June 18, 2009

Queen's Plate

June 18th, 2009
Queen's Plate
Bucephalus (Queensplate.com)

Comments:

On a personal note I really like Trainer Kevin Attard and believe that he is a real class act. The distance for Bucephalus is going to be a problem, good thing for him none of the other contender has taken a shot at the mile and a quarter distance. Named after the famous steed of Alexander the Great, Bucephalus would be a much more fitting for a Plate winner then say..Tasty Temptation

Queen's Plate

June 18th, 2009
Queen's Plate
Flip For The Coin (Queensplate.com)

Comments:

The papers say "toss this one at your own risk", so I guess my first gamble comes long before I even reach the track {I'm tossing this one, Vito's had his luck}. Trainer Vito Armata guided 82-1 bomb T J's Lucky Moon to a Queens Plate victory back in 2002.

Queen's Plate

June 18th, 2009
Queen's Plate
Stardust Ziggy (Queensplate.com)

Comments:

Stop-watch special has a better chance the 20 to 1 morning line may reveal.

Queen's Plate

June 18th, 2009
Queen's Plate
Stardust Ziggy (Queensplate.com)

Comments:

Stop-watch special has a better chance the 20 to 1 morning line may reveal.

Queen's Plate

June 18th, 2009
Queen's Plate
Reservoir (Queensplate.com)

Comments:

Lightly raced colt has already eclipsed older horses in his two race portfolio. Look for a stunning effort from the Julia Carey trainee.

Queen's Plate

June 18th, 2009
Queen's Plate
Active Duty (Queensplate.com)

Comments:

Casse's #2 horse may be breed for the distance but if this one really had a chance Casse go-to guy Patrick Husbands would have the mount over a gutsey Corey Fraser.

Queen's Plate

June 18th, 2009
Queen's Plate
Keino West (Queensplate.com)

Comments:

This one will be running late but with Gerry "The anchor" Olguin aboard I wonder from how far back they'll be running.

Queen's Plate

June 18th, 2009
Queen's Plate
Rapid Release (Queensplate.com)

Comments:

Jono Jones and Roger Attifield look for their second consecutive Queens Plate crown.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Queen's Plate

June 17th, 2009
Queen's Plate
Shut It Down (Queensplate.com)

Comment:

Nobody wanted to ride Casse reject Shut It Down for trainer Lorne Richards in this years Queens Plate, so Richards went out an hired the worlds winningest rider Canadian, Russell Baze

Queen's Plate

June 17th, 2009
Queen's Plate
El Brujo (Queensplate.com)

Comment:

The colt with the highest earnings, most wins and Stakes scores, El Brujo will likely get a handsome price on Sunday afternoon. The outstanding Malcom Pierce trainee failed as the odd on choice in the Queen's Plate Trail and has yet to collect a win going around two turns.

Queen's Plate

June 17th, 2009
http://www.woodbineentertainment.com/queensplate/Contender.aspx?id=28
Mr. Foricos Two U (Queensplate.com)

Comment:

Mr. Foricos may not seem like a contender but the move by trainer Catherine Day-Phillips to secure two time Eclipes Award winning jockey Mike Smith says otherwise

Queen's Plate

June 17th, 2009
Queen's Plate
Milwaukee Appeal (Queensplate.com)

Comment:

The "other" filly, Milwaukee Appeal is the horse that actually won the Woodbine Oaks

Queen's Plate

June 17th, 2009
Queen's Plate
Tasty Temptation (queensplate.com)

Comment:

A filly has claimed one of every five runnings of the Queens Plate and the team of Casse and Husbands are all too capable but this filly's named after liver flavoured kitty treats

Queen's Plate

June 17, 2009
Queen's Plate
Eye Of The Leopard (Queensplate.com)


Comment:

Eurico Rosa da Silva may only need 1 mount to claim his first Queen's Plate

Once-favoured El Brujo out for redemption at Queen's Plate

June 16, 2009
Once-favoured El Brujo out for redemption at Queen's Plate
Malcolm Kelly

TheStar.com | Horse Racing | Milwaukee Appeal would fill out Plate

June 16, 2009
TheStar.com | Horse Racing | Milwaukee Appeal would fill out Plate
Chris Young

London Free Press - Other Sports - El Brujo just may follow in Mine That Bird's horseshoes

June 15, 2009
London Free Press - Other Sports - El Brujo just may follow in Mine That Bird's horseshoes
Rob Longley

Friday, June 5, 2009

The Belmont Stakes : Ranting, Raving and Carrying On




Videos





No footage found.


A brief glance at the results of past Belmont Stakes reveals a telling secret.
 
For at least the past fifteen years the Belmont (the final jewel of the North American horses racing triple-crown) has been captured by a who's who of the thoroughbred horse racing industry. The 1994, 95, 96 and 2000 editions of the Belmont Stakes were captured by international racing spokesman D. Wayne Lukas, who enters the pair of Luv Gov and Flying Private in this years running of the mile and a half Belmont classic.
 
A mile and a half is, in North American racing terms a gruelling test of stamina. No horse entered in Sunday's race has ever or will ever be asked to tackle such a far flung distance.
 
Since 1991 every winner of the Belmont has come from a major racing operation. Not one horse has captured the third leg of the triple crown in the last fifteen years with out the help of a major training outfit. 
 
Sorry Chip (virtually unknown trainer of Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird; Chip Woolley) but look like your out of luck.
 
The only name to appear on the Belmont Stakes winners list over the past fifteen years that does not seem to belong is Dermot K. Weld who captured the 1990 Belmont Stakes with foreign import Go And Go. However Mr. Weld was in fact one of if not the premier trainers in all of Ireland. It has even been suggested that Ireland's Galway Race-Way be re-named the Dermot Weld Retirement Fund Race-Way.
 
So who are the small out-fits that we can count out on Stakes Day?
 
Of the ten horses entered in this years Belmont Stake only two come from barns that would be considered minor in comparison to the races most recent winners.
 
#4 Summer Bird is trained by Tim Ice an accomplished horseman who just recently made the transition from trainers assistant to head trainer and now has a stable of his own at Oaklawn Park.
 
#7 Mine That Bird is trained by the now internationally known Chip Woolley. Despite his most recent success and  a current bout of international notoriety Chip Woolley is still just a cowboy. And although his Kentucky Derby win may have been fitting, given that races long history coupled with it's most recent results a win at Elmont, New York in June is simply out of the question.
 
There is a divided amongst North-American Horse-Racing enthusiasts when it comes to the validity of the Belmont Stakes.
 
Some believe that the race is simply to far for North America breed horses to run and that the Belmont is nothing more then a flaming hoop designed to dash the hopes of a legitimate triple-crown contender.
 
Others like myself will tell you that despite a weakening blood stock amongst North-American Thoroughbreds that the Belmont is indeed the truest test of class.
 
Doubt me?
 
Just take a look a the success of Belmont winners in the breeding shed as compared to Derby winners and it all becomes fairly obvious http://www.drf.com/newsletter/06cri.html
 
 
It is clear that the Belmont is a test of class, stamina and gumption for athletes of both the equine and human persuasion but a look at the races recent history suggests that the Belmont is reserved not as a flaming hoop to deter Triple Crown hopefuls but as a signature event obligated to keep us in touch with our past.
 
Over the past twenty years the number of horses able to complete the Belmont's gruelling mile and a half distance has plunged bellow acceptability and irate horsemen across the continent have screamed for a reduction in the races distance but rather then rewarding the irresponsible breeders who have reduced the quality of North-American blood-stock to an all time low, lets make the Belmont the years marquee event.
 
Raise the purse money, profile and public awareness and hopefully the new "jewel" of North-American Horse Racing will encourage a new generation of breeders to be a little more responsible with there stock.
 
Z.Black
 
Unfortunately I will be in the office this evening until some un-godly hours of the early morning and I may not be able to produce the Belmont Stakes preview I had intended. So here is a little friendly advice in case I don't make my next posting.
 
Belmont Stakes Wagering Tips
 
#1 -- The first four position in the Belmont starting gate are not the place to be and have not produced a winner in at least twenty years.
 
#2 -- Horses who did not race in the Preakness and have had five weeks off since there last performance have dominated the Belmont in recent years.
 
#3 -- Often time the Belmont winner is a distance specialist that has experienced little success running at shorter distances. Last years Belmont winner D' Tara has since gone 0-6 since capping Big Brown run for the triple crown in last years Belmont.
 
 


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Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Belmont Stakes analysis - NTRA

June 3rd, 2009
Belmont Stakes analysis - NTRA
Ellis Starr

Mine That Bird draws post 7 - NTRA

June 3rd, 2009
Mine That Bird draws post 7 - NTRA
David Grening

Borel could set Triple Crown record in Belmont - NTRA

June 3rd, 2009
Borel could set Triple Crown record in Belmont - NTRA
NYRA

Borel predicts another victory - NTRA

June 1st, 2009
Borel predicts another victory - NTRA
Thoroughbred Times

Dunkirk the Belmont's forgotten horse - NTRA

June 2nd, 2009
Dunkirk the Belmont's forgotten horse - NTRA
David Grening

A pitching revolution... ...Randy Johnson;Last of a dying breed




Videos





No footage found.


The Revolution Will Be Televised... ...On MLB.TV
 
Major League Baseball is currently undergoing a changing of the guard at the starting pitching position.
 
Young hurlers like Detroit's Rick Porcello, Toronto's Brett Cecil and Seattle's King Felix Hernandez are all at different stages of the developmental curb despite all being under the age of 25.
 
However it is not just a prominence of blessed young arms that's pushing the revolution forward.
 
Only two active Major League pitchers are anywhere close to the magic 300 win plateau, a marker that comes with guaranteed inclusion into baseball's hall of fame (figuratively speaking)
 
Both of these player are over the age of 40 
 
#1 Randy Johnson - The big unit is just one wins away from capturing 300 and cementing his status as a Grade A fireball-er and a lock for Cooperstown (The Baseball hall of fame is located in Cooperstown, N.Y.)
 
#2 John Smoltz - Ok I'll be the first to admit that this one isn't really going to happen but it must be mention just how close to the top of the summit the 42 year-old, 8 time all-star really got.
 
A lost generation?
 
Some veterans like Roy Halladay (Toronto Blue Jays) and Mark Buehrle (Chicago White-Sox) would need to win a whopping sixteen games a season right into their mid-forties to have any hope of achieving what the Big Unit has work an entire 20 year career to accomplish.
 
Now I wouldn't put it past ol' doc Halladay to still be toeing the slab well into his fifties but the incredible wear and tear that his body has experienced over his work-horse like career is likely to catch up with the good doctor soon rather then later.
 
 
Roy Halladay 290 Game Total = 1875 innings pitched over 10 years and just 7.5 complete seasons
 
Ran. Johnson 296 Game Total = 1976 innings pitched over 11 years and just 9.5 complete seasons
 
With a combined 129 career starts over just 4 1/8 complete Major League seasons it's hard to say weather young up-starts like Porcello, Cecil and Hernandez will have what it takes to reach the elusive 300 win mark. What we can be sure of is that with MLB's current glut of young talented arms the long road forward certainly carries with it a tremendously bright future.
 
Zoltan Black 
 
Noteworthy:
 
Randy Johnson will attempt to become just the twenty-fifth player in Major League history to reach the 300 win mark when he goes to the hill for the San Fransisco Giants against the Washington Nationals, game time is 7:05 pm est. The Nationals for there part will send rookie sensation Jordan Zimmermann to the mound with hope of spoiling the Big Unit's capital coming out party.  
 
 


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