Tag: Keeneland

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Goodbye My Love

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For better or worse and for freeze advisory this late in the season, brr!  This is your last chance at Keeneland’s Spring Meet.

The handicapper says, in Race 8 choose #5 Eastwood for 4/24/15.  He raced against some very nice sprinters in New York last summer and is working well for his return.

I had my last personal visit to the track for the season today. It was wonderful and emotional.  If you can make it to tomorrow’s final live races, bet this one for me and all of of our followers!

Update: The tip was spot on. Eastwood won 1st place!

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So sorry to see the season end. Its time to focus on the Kentucky Derby now!

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A Thought For Thursday

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Here is a nice picture I took from the stalls in Keeneland’s paddock.  In the background there is one of the racetrack’s newer extensions.  It is the Saddling Paddock Chalet.  This is a private room with nice views available for the Spring and Fall Meets this year and the Breeders’ Cup Championships.

On the topic of extensions, my tipster chose Town Extension, as today’s best bet.  In Keeneland’s sixth race today, 4/23/15, pick horse #9. He has been a very consistent horse finishing in the money 7 of the last 8 races. He should show a nice late kick on the Keeneland turf course.

This 5 year old gray beauty has Paco Lopez for a jockey.  Barclay Tagg is his trainer. Town Extension is owned by Charles Fipke. This is his first race at Keeneland.  This horse has had 15 starts and the last 6, over the course of 3 years, have been at Gulfstream Park.

Let’s give this Thoroughbred a warm Kentucky welcome and win!

Update! Town Extension won 1st place.  Here are some pictures I took myself:

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Tomorrow’s tip to follow!

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It’s Earth Day, Let’s Dance!

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Happy Earth Day!  I am going to spend my day checking out some earth, particularly the dirt, or mud in Kentucky.  It is another rainy day at the races for me.  Keeneland’s Spring Meet is on its final 3 days and rain or shine I want to experience it all.

My handicapping friend has another tip for us today, 4/22/15.  He says in Keeneland’s sixth race go for horse # 6, Dance Champion.  He calls this your best bet of the day.  This horse just ran second at this distance last time out and should get a nice trip! This last race was at Gulfstream Park in March.  See that placing race here.

Dance Champion has jockey Joel Rosario.  The 4 year old gelding’s trainer is Christophe Clement. His owner and breeder is Robert S. Evans.

Time to get ready for the races.  Have a great day, don’t forget to dance and celebrate for Earth Day and win big!

Update: Here are some paddock pics, that I took myself, of today’s big winner!

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Dance Champion did score 1st place today!  Hope all of you won bragging rights at the water cooler or better yet at a racetrack!
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Pulpit to Paddock

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Good morning everyone.  After listening to your reverend on the pulpit this morning come watch Reverend Green on the paddock and track today at Keeneland.

In race 6 (4/19/15) bet on #7 Reverend Green to win his maiden race.  He has solid work tabs, especially in the two recent Keeneland works. He should be ready to win at first asking, says our tipster. He worked out at Keeneland on the 2nd and 8th of this month and then again today.

He is a 3 year old colt owned by Glencrest Farm.  His dam, Papa to Kinzie, had 9 starts and placed in a graded stakes race.  His sire, Elusive Quality, is a multiple graded stakes winner. His trainer is Thomas Proctor and his jockey is Jamie Theriot.  Reverend Green has had no starts while Proctor has had 128 this year so far and is a top earning winner of multiple graded stakes and Breeders’ Cup achievements. Theriot has had 183 starts this year and he too is a winner of many graded stakes and Breeders’ Cup races.

On a side note, Reverend Green is also a nickname for America singer, Al Green. He has had success with both secular and gospel recordings.

Update: Reverend Green was not a winner today.  I stood in the paddock today to watch this rain shy beauty.  He looked dry and warm in his shelter while I was neither.  Here are a few paddock pics of this horse.

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Tip on the Turf

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Tipster says: Most likely winner, Hootenanny.  He’s won against the best in the world. Wesley Ward should have him ready to beat this bunch.

So today (4/18/15) look to Keeneland’s 4th race for another double feature. Go for horse 1 and 1A to bet on Asia and Hootenanny.

The trainer, Ward, has had 149 starts this year. His horses have had 40 wins, 27 at 2nd place and 20 running third in 2015. He is a successful jockey turned trainer.  Hootenanny won Ward his first race, as a trainer, in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

Should be a beautiful day for another turf race.  I hope all of you have a great day at the races!

Update: Asia scratched prior to the race but Hootenanny ran 1st place! I hope this helped you all to win.

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Seventh Heaven

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Coming off of a high from today’s winning tip I am eager to share my handicapper’s next choice with all of you.

Tomorrow (4/17/15) for Keeneland’s seventh race, go with #10 Harvey.  The tip states he broke his maiden impressively after being bumped hard at the break. Trainer Bret Calhoun had a nice winner Thursday and seems to have brought several nice horses to Keeneland this meet.

I am glad he put it that way.  It gives us a chance to learn a bit more.  A horse is a maiden until it wins a race.  This could be the first race it starts in, it may take years or worse, it may never happen.  Harvey is a three year old colt that ran 1st at Fair Grounds in Louisiana on 3/21/15.  Thus, Harvey is no longer a maiden.  Watch him win here:

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Harvey was sired by the great Curlin, elected to the National Muesum of Racing’s Hall of Fame and winner of the Preakness Stakes, Breeders’ Cup Classic, and the Dubai World Cup.

Enjoy tomorrow’s racing!

Update: Harvey ran second. A ticket to place earned $5.40.  He was shy in the paddock prior to racing.  Here is a picture I took moments before he entered the track…

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Double Play

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Thursday (4/16/15), at Keeneland we will have another chance to bet on two Ken and Sarah Ramsey horses for one ticket.  In race 3 they have entered Thirtysilverpieces and Frat Boy in positions 2 and 2B.  Position 2 is a 3 year old gelding with R M Hernandez riding and W A Ward training.  2B is a 3 year old colt with J Castellano riding and M J Maker training.  My handicapper thinks either part of the #2 entry should win race 3.

Don’t miss your chance to double the pleasure and double the fun!

Update: Racing fans, this one was a winner! Thirtysilverpieces won first without the help of Frat Boy who sctratched.

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It’s Hump Day

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So betting on a camel in America probably won’t help you. Maybe, betting on a horse will…

Look to Keeneland’s fifth race (April 15, 2015) to pick a winner, #1 Cavu.
This 4 year old gelding, trained by Al Stall, Jr. should show solid improvement in his second race after a year layoff, per my handicapper. In his only other 2015 race he placed 2nd.
Remember, my blog is foremost educational.  What I  have learned is that Cavu was gelded days before his most recent start.  He has only had 5 starts prior and has won 1st, 2nd, and third previously. His dam is Sharp Eyes and his sire Zensational. His sire is the only horse to ever win 3 consecutive Grade I Sprint events.

His trainer is Albert M. Stall Jr. He has won multiple stakes including the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2010 and last year the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Race in 2014. He is listed as a top 50 earning trainer of 2014.  Stall has had 22 horses run first this year thus far.

The jockey is Joe M. Johnson.  He also is a multiple stakes winner.  He has had 7 horses win 1st place in 2015.

Update: Cavu tired badly, looking like a winner at the 1/8 pole he could not keep up his pace and did not perform well in this race.

 

 

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Celebrate Spring!

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March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb.  At least, that is how the English proverb goes.  That expression of weather lore is about as undependable as the previous month’s groundhog forecasting.  Despite all the crazy predictions Spring officially arrived on the 20th this month and I am so happy to see it.  On these final days of March, there is still a rapidly interchanging coolness to the air but today the sun and flowers are out.  Since I last blogged, I have enjoyed all of the joy that March brings, St. Patrick’s Day, March Madness, and a quick getaway to the Great Smoky Mountains.  Now just days away from April I am so excited for Keeneland’s Spring Meet!

My favorite holiday is St. Patrick’s Day.  I am a marshal annually in the local parade.  This year’s Grand Marshal was Tom Hammond.  He was born in Lexington, KY and he is a sportscaster on the national level.  He has a degree in animal science, specializing in equine genetics.  He has done the broadcasting for the Kentucky Derby and many times for the Breeders’ Cup, for which he won an Emmy. He has other Emmys as well and was a former play-by-play announcer for Southeastern Conference basketball.  Him and his wife, Sheilagh were very nice.  I talked to the about my blog and they even posed for some pictures.  Also, making a repeat performance this year as St. Patrick himself  was, Sean McLaughlin.  He was nice enough to snap a selfie with me. Sean is the brother of Thoroughbred trainer, Kiaran McLaughlin.  Kiaran has trained some big winners, including the Breeders’ Cup, Dubai World Cup, the Kentucky Derby, and the Belmont Stakes.  Horses he worked with have won many awards including the number 1 World Thoroughbred Racehorse Ranking and U.S. Horse of the Year.  Currently, he is training Kentucky Derby contender, Frosted, owned by Godolphin. This horse in ranked lucky 13 for May 2015’s Run for the Roses.

That brings us to March Madness.  My University of Kentucky Wildcats are on fire.  The men’s basketball team has won the SEC tournament and made it to the Final Four, in the NCAA tournament, with an undefeated  season (38-0). Go CATS!

Basketball has the best fans and since we can’t all pack into the same stadiums I like to travel during the tournaments.  I have found Las Vegas, NV does a fantastic job of highlighting the tourney.  I also feel that Gatlinburg, TN has that little Vegas feel.  I had a great time meeting new fans, representing my CATS, and taking in all the games among the endless variety of restaurants that fun town has to offer.  No racetrack though.

That was OK because now it is about time for the Spring meet!  New dress and jewelry bought (check), got my hair done today (woot woot), and my raincoat and umbrella will match (ugh, rains a lot this time of the year), means I am ready to roll.  Keeneland racetrack in Lexington, KY will start live racing at 1:05 p.m. on Friday, April 3rd, 2015.  Don’t be late, McLaughlin is the trainer for Dickinson, listed in the very first race of the day.  This is a Maiden Special Weight race.  The 3 year old horse however did stumble at Aqueduct on 3/22/15 while racing and did not finish so I am unsure if she is race day ready.  I have a lot of work to do handicapping and so do you.

Happy Easter to all and I hope you have a great time at the track!  If you have any great tips, please share.  Thank you.

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Racing Renaissance

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The Breeders’ Cup trophy was delivered to the grounds of Keeneland race course in Lexington, KY today.  On October 30th and 31st the Breeders’ Cup races will be held at Keeneland for the first time ever.  Tickets go on sale at noon, Eastern Standard Time, tomorrow.  Follow Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Facebook or @BreedersCup on Twitter for this picture and more up to date information.  For now, let’s talk about this statue!

The Breeders’ Cup is a 2 day race that began in 1984 to showcase the best in Thoroughbred racing worldwide.  This event marks the end of the racing season.  Various race tracks in the United States, and once in Canada,  have hosted the annual races.  To run in the Breeders’ Cup, a Thoroughbred must win a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Qualifying race or, earn enough points in qualifying graded races or, be selected by a panel of experts.  Each of the races has a maximum of 14 horses, except only 12 for the Dirt Mile. Seven horses come from the panel and 7 from those winners or, high point scoring horses from the qualifying races. Countries including the United States, France, Australia, England, Argentina, South Africa, Japan, Ireland, Canada and Germany have all had entries. Such a world renown event deserves a special trophy.

The trophy is an ecorche horse.  Ecorche is a term, from the French, to describe a figure depicted without its skin to show the appearance of the muscles.  This particular ecorche horse is a reproduction of the bronze statue made by Giovanni de Bologna during the Renaissance era, in the late 1580s.  It is thought that it may have been created as a study for the Duke Cosimo statue that was made and displayed in 1591 in Florence Italy at the Piazza della Signoria, where it remains even today.  When the Breeders’ Cup began they asked Irene French, of Dorset, England, to sculpt an 11 inch replica statue, to be cast in bronze by Morris Singer Bronze Foundry in Basingstoke, England. These trophies are presented to the owners, breeders, trainers and jockeys of the winners in each race.  The larger statue pictured above is circulated to each venue that is hosting the current year’s races. The original Statue is at The Museum of Fine Arts at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.  They received the statue, with a large art collection, from Sir James Erskine of Torrie in 1836.  Sometimes it is referred to as the Torrie Horse. He obtained the statue from Villa Mattei in Rome in 1803 where it had been since the 17th and 18th centuries.   The trophies were made in bronze from the very start until 2008 when they made them in silver for just one year.  After the return to bronze they switched to Lalique crystal, made in France, in 2012 and that continues even in 2015.

In addition to the statue, the winning horses get blanketed in yellow and purple flowers.  The blanket includes asters, cremons, orchids and chrysanthemums.  Since 1988 Kroger’s has made the 96 inch long blankets at their Floral Design Center in Louisville, KY.

I’m hoping for some warm weather soon.  I have to get out and see this statue myself!

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