Strike One = Banned For One Year!!!!

Whenever there is money to be made illegal happenings will follow. It's always been that way. But why is it so difficult to police the drugs in Thoroughbred racing?

The easiest and first step is the most logical. Any horse found to have illegal drugs in it's system after finishing in the money in any race will be banned for 1-year along with the horses Owners and Trainer. Thing about it. What will all these people do outside of racing for an entire year? Throw 'em out and clean up the game.

Let's make a list of the illegal drugs that have been found in the horses systems for the last few years and outlaw them from the industry. Then research and rule on the steroids and enforce the law in the same way. First offense = 1 Year Suspension for the Horse, The Owner and The Trainer - No More Games.

And if there is an appeal as I am sure there will be, then that horse along with it's owner and trainer will be suspended until the case comes up. No more games. And also have this same set of rules active across the entire industry. None of this outside state thing where a trainer gets suspended in one state but can run horses in another. And by suspending the horse we won't see another trainer run the horse in place of the suspended trainer anymore. What a joke that has been. Get some guy with a trainers license named as the new current trainer so the horse and it's connections can still run and pick up checks. This would get the owners to pressure the trainers to keep it clean or they will simply move their horse to another trainer.

Why is this so hard to do?

Now I know we also have to test for these unknown drugs (the juice) that are running through horses veins undetected. But with these first steps in place we will get to the other undetectable drugs down the road. That is only a question of time.

But for something as I have just outlined not to be put in place makes me think there are a lot of people getting their pockets lined that are very influential to say the least within the industry with these drugs and with these illegal winning horses.

But perhaps the best thing to happen for the industry has been that this all came to a head in Thoroughbred Racing's biggest races - The Triple Crown. Hopefully someone honest and with conviction and integrity will step forward and take the steps needed to get this industry headed back in the right direction.

Music Note the New Champ!

Watching The Mother Goose this past Saturday reminded me of what it feels like to watch a good heavyweight fight. Proud Spell encountered a ton of trouble being banged and bullied but was still fighting it out to the end. Music Note also encountered trouble out of the gate, later lost a shoe but looked like she was never fully set down into a full drive.

As our clients could state that in my analysis of the race I had said that when you compare Music Note's first three races with Proud Spell's first three races, Music Note had run faster and also ran faster going longer. And although Proud Spell had a huge advantage going into the Mother Goose I would bet Music Note because she has never been asked to run yet, has more potential and ultimately will become a better horse than Proud Spell.

Now don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for Proud Spell and after watching The Mother Goose I even have more respect because after encountering all that crazy trouble she still kept coming. And you don't see that too often.

However even more impressive was Music Note because she had her own troubles but it seemed she was never full out. And to think Music Note will keep getting better while seemingly she has no distance limitations.

I would love to see these two gals hook-up once again.

This is a part of what makes racing great...Seeing two great fillies race!

Saturday's Helpful Hints

We are getting some much needed down time this weekend however I wanted to try and help out and offer some picks for this Saturday at Belmont.

To Start the Day:
Race 1 - This being 1 1/8th makes the early pace scenario kind of clear cut. Provincetown should be on the early lead with Bon Marie in close attendance. Both figure to improve off their last efforts. Transit Of Venus shouldn't be too far behind in the early going and looks to be cycling to his better efforts. I feel these 3 horses will create the Exacta!

To End the Day:
Race 10 - Carry the Day gets Blinks and this should help a great deal. He was close to the lead midway last time out but didn't fire. This being his 3rd off the layoff combined with the Blinks addition should make all the difference - and at a price! I would include him in anything and everything.

We will be back next Saturday. - Good Luck To All.

Curlin vs Spectacular Bid

Looking at Curlin's current past performances as a 4-year-old makes me think that he is obviously off to an incredible start this year and could possibly have one of the best 4-year-old campaigns of any Thoroughbred in history.

Now of course when we speak of great 4-year-old campaigns we have to talk about Spectacular Bid.

Spectacular Bid had the greatest 4-year-old campaign in history. The Bid went 9 for 9 and won the Malibu, Strub, San Fernando, Santa Anita Handicap, Mervin LeRoy, Californian, Wash Park, Haskell and Woodward. And while winning these 9 races he carried 132 pounds on 3 different occasions and also carried 130 pounds 3 times.

I bring up this conversation because it will be interesting and fun to see just how close Curlin comes to this incredible record of Spectacular Bid's during this 4-year-old season.

It sure is fun to see a great racehorse run - Good Luck Curlin!

Ya Gotta Love This Guy...

Now Dutrow is pinning the loss on his rider. I think Dutrow has to be reminded of some basic training procedures that he failed to give his horse causing him to lose.
It's very hard to win a Triple Crown off only 3 career starts. And that's what Big Brown had entering the Kentucky Derby. In the end he simply did not have enough foundation to stand up to having 3 grueling races in 5 weeks. I mean it's a tough thing to handle for a very seasoned horse as we all realize so what is Dutrow thinking?
Additionally, he did not train Big Brown for the 3 weeks between the Preakness and the Belmont. He tried to maintain his condition and sharpness. He was hoping Big Brown would stay exactly the same as when he last raced in the Preakness over the 3 weeks into the Belmont.
Isn't that a rookie mistake? I know he had foot problems and all and he missed important training days but if Dutrow was a master of his craft he could have come up with different ways to help get Big Brown ready for the Belmont without pressuring his feet or draining his energy tank any further.
One way would have been to swim his horse so he wouldn't have missed much training at all. Another way would have been to jog or gallop over a softer and easier on the legs- turf course. By now we all realize the benefits of working on grass.
But instead of reasoning as this becoming a possibility as to why the horse was tired and didn't want to run, he points his finger and blame at the jockey, who in fact didn't push the horse after he had nothing left.
Desormeaux might have even saved the horses life. Who knows what would have happened if he continued to push the horse.
Ya just got love this guy - not!

Congrats To Big Brown!

Well, I guess it was pretty clear Big Brown didn't want to run. He looked like a tired horse that had enough of the heat, the race distance and as I had stated prior to his Derby run, I just didn't think he had enough foundation to pull off a Triple Crown.

Three races in five weeks is a lot to ask and since he had so few races to build him up prior to The Derby I think it was a great achievement that he did pull off The Derby and Preakness.

I still consider Big Brown to be a very good and very talented horse and sadly we most likely will never see him race again. But perhaps the most positive thing that Big Brown has done for racing is bring to the forefront the use of steroids in the racing industry. Now perhaps the industry leaders will do something about this poor use of such medications.

When a trainer is giving his horse a shot of steroids every month and in his own words doesn't know why he is doing it - well, that kind of says it all doesn't it?

Anyway, Congrats Big Brown, we enjoyed your Triple Crown Run. Thanks for the Excitement.

Belmont Stakes Pick-4 Outline

Funny thing, a few weeks ago on the Derby undercard at Churchill I had invested into several Pick-4's with the last leg being The Kentucky Derby. So I was happy to be alive going into the last leg with Recapturetheglory, Tale of Ekati and Colonel John.
The funniest part is that Recapturetheglory got to the front (very briefly) turning for home and the return if he won was to be $109,000!
So here I am listing the Pick-4 outline I will most likely use going into The Belmont Stakes.

Race 8 - Game Face / Indian Blessing
Race 9 - Ready's Image
Race 10 - Out of Control / Prudinsky/ Dancing forever/ Pay's to Dream
Race 11 - Big Brown / Tale of Ekati/ Denis of Cork/ Ready's Echo

This comes to be $32 total for a $1 payout. And if you're not comfortable singling Ready's Echo in Race 9, you can also add Fatal Bullet to the equation.

And the reason I am using Big Brown is because I also spread in the other races so I could very well already have a big Pick-4 working without the Belmont Stakes so why get beat with a 2-5 shot?

I am also going to try and work some Pick-3's and Pick-4's using the last 2 races of the day. Follow my analysis to see which horses I will be keying on.

As always I wish you all the best of luck and let me know how you did.

Be well - Nick