View Full Version : Kentucky Derby triple Crown 2007
Kentucky Derby has a variety of possibilities
The 20-horse field at Churchill Downs is without a strong favorite and rain in the forecast further clouds who might be the best bet to win.
By Robyn Norwood, Times Staff Writer
5:40 PM PDT, May 4, 2007
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- You can lead a horse to Kentucky …
- It's Curlin's race to lose
- Rags To Riches wins Oaks
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Today could be a good day for a waterproof Derby hat.
With a 50% chance of thundershowers in the forecast, the $750 millinery for sale at Churchill Downs this week might not be enough to keep someone's hair dry.
Queen Elizabeth II is to witness her first Kentucky Derby from a clubhouse dining room that will remain dry — at least in the literal sense — while the masses revel in an infield soaked by two days of rain for a $40 admission fee.
The contrast in accommodations could be a metaphor for the 20-horse field that will load into the gate for the 133rd running of the world's most famous horse race.
The owner of Nobiz Like Showbiz, Elizabeth Valando, is said to have turned down $17 million for her imposing but distractible colt.
Teuflesberg, one of the last to make the field, was bought for a mere $9,000, and the owners of another longshot, Storm In May, paid $16,000 for a gray colt that is blind in his right eye.
Curlin, the slight 7-2 favorite over 4-1 Street Sense on the morning line, was named for Charlie Curlin, a former slave who joined the Union Army in 1864.
One of the part-owners is Curlin's great-grandson, a controversial Kentucky lawyer named Shirley Cunningham Jr. who would be the first African American to own a share of a Derby winner since 1891 if Curlin won.
The chestnut colt has an average winning margin of 9 1/2 lengths. But there is reason to doubt the Arkansas Derby winner: He has raced only three times.
Hovering over the day's festivities will be the memory of Barbaro, the colt who won last year's Derby by the largest margin in 60 years, only to shatter his right hind leg in the Preakness and be euthanized eight months later because of complications from the injury.
Barbaro's jockey, Edgar Prado, will be aboard 10-1 Scat Daddy today.
"I love Barbaro. He really gave me a big day in my life and changed my life forever," Prado said Friday, his silks muddy after a race over a track rated sloppy for the second consecutive day. "But in this business, you have to move on."
Scat Daddy is one of five horses in the 1 1/4-mile race for 3-year-olds trained by Todd Pletcher, 39, who manages a mega-stable of 200 horses but has yet to win a Triple Crown race.
This week, Pletcher had a Peyton Manning jersey in his office, and jokingly started a news conference as if he were at a 12-step meeting.
"Hi, my name is Todd Pletcher, and I've never won the Kentucky Derby," he said, to peals of laughter. "I'm 0 for 14," he added. "Worst-case scenario, I'm 0 for 19.
"If I have a dead heat, does that mean I'll have won two?"
Three other trainers with horses in the race have won the Derby.
Carl Nafzger, trainer of Street Sense, won with Unbridled in 1990 and is remembered for calling the race down the stretch for 92-year-old owner Frances Genter, whose eyesight had grown dim.
Street Sense is proven over the Churchill track, having won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile here last November by a record 10-length margin. No Juvenile winner has ever gone on to win the Derby, but Nafzger is confident.
"Come Saturday, show me some daylight in the lane, and I'll rest my case," he said.
Barclay Tagg, winner of the Wood Memorial with Nobiz Like Shobiz, won the Derby with Funny Cide in 2003.
John Shirreffs, trainer of Santa Anita Derby winner Tiago, won with Tiago's half-brother, Giacomo, in 2005.
Tiago, a 15-1 closer, has the same team behind him as come-from-behind winner Giacomo did, right down to his groom and exercise rider.
Tiago is one of six horses in the race who trained at Hollywood Park.
Great Hunter, a 15-1 stalker who must break from the far outside post in a 20-horse field, and Liquidity, a 30-1 longshot, are trained by Doug O'Neill and owned by J. Paul Reddam of Sunset Beach.
O'Neill saddled Lava Man for last year's Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill but said his first Derby would be different.
"Just the tradition and the prestige," O'Neill said. "Nothing against the Breeders' Cup, which doesn't have the history yet, but this definitely is not just another day at the racetrack."
Two of Pletcher's five horses, 8-1 Circular Quay and longshot Sam P., were part of the string Pletcher sent to Hollywood Park last winter to train on the new synthetic track, considered safer for horses.
The final Southern California entrant is 30-1 Stormello, the Hollywood Futurity champion ridden by two-time Derby winner Kent Desormeaux and is seen as part of the early speed in the race.
"Kent Desormeaux told me six months ago this was a Derby horse," said Bill Currin, who bred, owns and trains Stormello. "After his last work, he got off and said, 'Here's the winner.' "
Stormello is expected to be up front early, but there have been only six wire-to-wire winners of the Derby since 1966.
That's the sort of statistic that casts doubt on the chances of speed horses such as Pletcher's Cowtown Cat and Larry Jones' Hard Spun, whose final workout Monday was so fast it made some believe the horse couldn't recover in time for today.
Churchill Downs is known for its ability to handle water. But if it continues to rain and the track comes up sloppy or muddy, that is considered an advantage to the front-runners and a disadvantage to those that would have to endure mud kicked in their faces before coming from behind.
For anyone not inclined to study past performances and workout times to pick a Derby winner, here's a more frivolous approach.
The last two winners of the race, Giacomo and Barbaro, both had names ending in "o."
That leads us to Tiago, Stormello or Zanjero.
Don't bet the Camaro.
robyn.norwood@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/sports/horseracing/la-sp-derby5may05,1,6752809.story?page=2&cset=true&ctrack=1&coll=la-headlines-sports-horse_raci
http://www.cappersmall.com/sportscenter/files/curlin.jpg
Break out your mint julep recipe and ugliest sun hat because it?s Kentucky Derby weekend. The 133rd Kentucky Derby will take over Churchill Downs this weekend without a heavy favorite. Considering the favorite hardly ever wins this horse race, that may not be a bad sign for horses that don?t make the top of the odds list.
As always, though, there is of course a horse racing wagering favorite this year and that distinction goes to Curlin. The three-year-old colt has looked sharp in all three of his races so far this season. Curlin started the year with a dominating win in the Maiden Stakes at Gulfsteam and proved that win wasn?t a fluke by thrashing the rest of the field again in the Rebel Stakes. Curlin?s most impressive win came a month later when he won by an astounding 10 ¼ lengths in the Arkansas Derby. Curlin has a lot of Derby history against him (the favorite hardly ever wins and neither do horses that did not race as a two-year-old), but with his blazing speed he may be able to overcome his perceived shortcomings in the 2007 Kentucky Derby.
If Curlin fails to perform in the Derby the next best horse on the odds list appears to be Street Sense. Street Sense was the talk of thoroughbred racing a few months ago after winning the Tampa Bay Derby. The spotlight shifted away from Street Sense after Curlin?s huge performances, and after Street Sense came second in a close photo finish at the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes.
The spotlight being placed elsewhere may be just what Street Sense needs to make a dominant showing at the Derby. However, one strike against Street Sense is that he only raced in two Derby prep races this season. Most Derby champions race in three or four prep races and any horse that races in less (or more) usually winds up watching another horse cross the finish line first at the Derby.
If Curlin and Street Sense both end up watching another horse beat them to the wire, it?s likely that horse will be Scat Daddy. One of trainer Todd Pletcher?s prized horses, Scat Daddy started the year slowly with a third-place finish in the Holy Bull Stakes, but showed what he was really made of by following that up with wins in the Fountain of Youth Stakes and the Florida Derby. Even if Pletcher doesn?t get his elusive Derby win from Street Sense, he?ll still have a chance with four other horses in the field including contenders Circular Quay and Cowtown Cat.
Post time Saturday is 6:10 pm ET, with NBC providing the coverage. The forecast calls for a slight chance of a thunderstorm with a temperature in the high 70s.
Bet on the Kentucky Derby
http://www.cappersmall.com/sportscenter/CM-Columns/Curlin-favored-to-win-2007-Kentucky-Derby8391.html
Street Sense rallies to win Kentucky Derby
Borel brings favorite back from 19th place; horse ends 23-year jinx
Timothy D. Easley / AP
Calvin Borel rides Street Sense to victory in the 133rd Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
Updated: 7:03 p.m. ET May 5, 2007
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Street Sense roared from next-to-last in a 20-horse field to win the Kentucky Derby, putting trainer Carl Nafzger back in the winner’s circle 17 years after his first visit.
The colt broke two Derby jinxes to score the win under jockey Calvin Borel, who was 0-for-4 in the race.
In beating Hard Spun by 2 1-2 lengths, Street Sense became the first Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner to return in the spring and win on the first Saturday in May, snapping an 0-for-23 skid. He was also the first 2-year-old champion to win the Derby since Spectacular Bid in 1979.
http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070505/070505_derby_vmed_4p.widec.jpg
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18507564/
While it was Nafzger’s second win in three tries, trainer Todd Pletcher, who had a record-tying five horses, was skunked again. He is now 0-for-19 in the Derby.
The 65-year-old Nafzger, who is nearly retired from training, wasn’t as emotional as he was in 1990, when Unbridled won for 92-year-old Frances Genter. Because of her failing eyesight, Nafzger called the race in her ear so she could follow her colt to the finish line.
This time, Nafzger merely wrapped his arm around 83-year-old owner James Tafel, then shook hands before pumping his left fist.
“I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it. This is the toughest race in the world to win,” the trainer said.
Street Sense was sent off as the 9-2 favorite on his hometown track.
Curlin finished third, losing for the first time in his four-race career.
Imawildandcrazyguy was another half-length back in fourth and Sedgefield was fifth. Circular Quay, coming off an eight-week layoff, was sixth for the trainer’s best finish.
Street Sense is the third favorite in the past eight years to win the race.
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/ap/c643ea5f-652e-408f-b016-997d20866894.rp350x350.jpghttp://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/ap/2c244f0e-1d2c-448e-acb8-b7bc9e971d48.rp350x350.jpg
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing-news/2007/May/15/Street-Sense-smooth-in-Preakness-workout.aspx
Street Sense smooth in Preakness workout
Street Sense breezed five furlongs in 1:00 on Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs in his only workout between the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) and the Preakness Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.
Jockey Calvin Borel guided the Street Cry (Ire) colt through fractions of :12.60, :25, :37, and :48.60. Street Sense galloped out six furlongs in 1:12.60.
"He wanted to go faster than he did, but he just listened to Calvin," Nafzger said. "They asked me before the work why we went five-eighths, and that's because I didn't think the horse would get into stride enough going a half-mile—it might frustrate him because he just likes to stride along. Actually he worked a lot faster than we thought [he would], but that's what he had to do. He did it the right way and it didn't hurt him."
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/images/ui/primary/top_banner_left.jpg
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/images/street-sense-work-palmer.jpg
STREET SENSE
Reed Palmer/Churchill Downs photo
The budding rivalry between Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Street Sense and runner-up Hard Spun took another step forward on Wednesday when the pair drew alongside each other in the starting gate for the $1-million Preakness Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.
FULL STORY
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/default.aspx
http://www.breederscup.com/bc_index.aspx
Curlin beats Street Sendse...replay video above ( no sound)
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/05/19/sports/20preakness.xlarge5.jpg
BALTIMORE, May 19 — As Street Sense angled out of the final turn past Hard Spun, much as he did two weeks ago in the Kentucky Derby, Carl Nafzger, the colt’s trainer, nudged Jim Tafel, his owner, and tight, satisfied smiles spread across their faces. Street Sense was en route to the Belmont Stakes with a chance to sweep the Triple Crown.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/05/19/sports/20preakness_turn.jpg
The Preakness Stakes: Moment by Moment Even Calvin Borel, aboard Street Sense, believed he was home free: “I thought it was all over,” he said.
Robby Albarado, however, was atop a colt named Curlin and knew the real running in the Preakness Stakes was just beginning. He had his colt out in the middle of the track poised to pounce. Like Borel, Albarado had learned his craft on the bush tracks of Louisiana. Like Borel, he had toiled just below the nation’s elite jockeys.
Two races earlier, Albarado took a hard fall on the turf course trying to avoid a fallen horse and rider. His day got worse when Curlin stumbled out of the gate, nearly scraping his knees. But an eighth of a mile to the wire, Curlin was only a length and a half from Street Sense.
First, Borel heard the big chestnut rolling behind him. Then he peeked beneath his shoulder and saw Albarado looming larger.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/05/19/sports/20preakness_looking.jpg
Each jockey pulled the head of his horse toward his rival, asking each to dig deeper and be better than the other. For 40 yards, the two powerful colts moved as if they were a crew rowing on a river: Borel fanned his whip with his left hand, Albarado with his right.
When they hit the wire, the record crowd of 121,263 at Pimlico Race Course needed a photo finish to sort out the duel.
Albarado and Borel did not.
“You got me,” Albarado said Borel told him immediately.
Nafzger and Tafel did not need a photo either. They knew their Triple Crown dreams were over.
“They nipped us,” Nafzger said, the smile turning into a grimace.
The margin of Curlin’s victory was actually a head, and the two colts covered the mile and three-sixteenths in 1 minute 53.46 seconds, equaling the Preakness Stakes record set by Tank’s Prospect in 1985 and tied by Louis Quatorze in 1996.
“Heartbreaking, that’s what it was,” said Nafzger, whose colt looked invincible galloping off with the Kentucky Derby by two and a quarter lengths. “We only needed a nose. Curlin ran a hell of a race, but we had Curlin. We should have never let him come back and get us.”
The drama of a wonderfully run race could not capture the ebullience displayed by Albarado and the colt’s trainer, Steve Asmussen, who had just captured their first victory in a Triple Crown race.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/05/19/sports/20preakiness_passing.jpg
They had done the seemingly impossible: Curlin did not race as a 2-year-old, but now has gone from maiden winner to Classic champion in four races over three months. To do so, the colt, a son of Smart Strike out of the mare Sheriff’s Deputy, had to recover from a momentum-wrecking stumble at the gate, which was all too reminiscent of the Derby.
At Churchill Downs, Curlin failed to break cleanly from the gate and was blocked three times as Albarado guided him around the track. He still finished third. It was a gallant effort for a horse that showed so much promise in his first race that a consortium of owners purchased 80 percent of him for $3.5 million.
“We threw the Derby out of mind,” said Jess Jackson, one of Curlin’s owners and the founder of Kendall Jackson Vineyards. “We never lost faith in him.”
But when Curlin faltered in the opening strides Saturday, Asmussen’s heart sank.
“Robby was nudging on him early,” he said. “I was worried about the replay of the Derby at that point.”
So was Albarado. He was not having a good day. Aboard Einstein in the Dixie Stakes, a mile-and-an-eighth turf race, he was unseated trying to avoid a horse named Mending Fences and his jockey, Eddie Castro. Both riders came out uninjured, but Mending Fences had to be euthanized after sustaining a fracture.
“I was on the grass course, so I kind of slid for 10, 15 feet,” he said. “I was very, very lucky I didn’t get hurt.”
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/05/19/sports/20preakness_down.jpg
In the main event, Albarado had to overcome his unlucky start, which meant adopting, in his words, “Plan B.” It essentially entailed riding Curlin every stride.
“I had to step on him a bit and get him in the race,” Albarado said.
Curlin is a mammoth chestnut colt with a high cruising speed. Albarado found it in the backstretch while Hard Spun, Xchanger and Flying First Class set wickedly fast fractions of 45.75 for a half-mile, and 1:09.80 for three-quarters of a mile.
As the three speedsters collapsed in front of them, Borel and Albarado started to make their moves. Borel went inside, Albarado outside. It looked as if Borel had the faster horse as he surged into the stretch and seemed to leave Curlin behind him. Albarado knew better.
“I think I got enough time to get to him,” Albarado said. “Curlin just has this way about him, the last part of the race he wants to win.”
Curlin has won four of five lifetime starts, and he increased his career winnings to $1.6 million.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/05/19/sports/20preakness_padding2.jpg
Street Sense also has a way about him that has concerned Borel and Nafzger in previous races: He loses focus after he passes horses and lets them catch up to him.
“He hung a bit, started looking around about 40 yards from home,” Borel said. “He just got outrun.”
Nafzger was gracious in defeat. He conceded Street Sense was defeated “fair and square,” and hailed the effort not only of Curlin but of Hard Spun, who followed his runner-up finish at the Derby by hanging on for third here.
When Street Sense won the Derby, Borel was invited to a White House dinner to meet Queen Elizabeth II. All week here, Nafzger was confident in his colt and confessed to enjoying his status as “king of the mountain.”
Now, Curlin has a claim on that crown. Unfortunately, it will not be that of a Triple Crown champion, a fact modern horsemen have grown accustomed to since Affirmed was the last to sweep the Triple Crown races in 1978.
“We have two good horses here — we might have an Alydar-Affirmed thing,” said Nafzger, referring to the colt that pushed Affirmed in each of the classic races. “Curlin is a racehorse. If he wasn’t a racehorse, he wouldn’t have overcome the lead that we had on him. How good is he? Hell, that’s why we run them.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/sports/othersports/20preakness.html?em&ex=1179806400&en=90101444f1ddf037&ei=5087%0A
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Seabiscuit
05-06-2007, 21:11
Interesting runner in the Belmont Stakes, top filly Rags to Riches to take on Curlin. Rags is a super smart gal and might be some value in the Belmont as lots of punters will say she cannot win because she's a gal
Same thing happenned with Vodka in Japan
http://sports.bostonherald.com/images/otherSports/ltprags06052007.jpg
Filly Rags to Riches set to take on the boys in Belmont
NEW YORK - It’s a go for Rags to Riches.
The fabulous filly will run Saturday in the Belmont Stakes, where she will attempt to become the first of her sex in 102 years to win the final jewel of the Triple Crown.
Trainer Todd Pletcher took several days before deciding to give his Kentucky Oaks winner a chance to take on the boys in the 1½-mile Belmont, the longest of the Triple Crown races.
"We’re going in because we think we have a chance to win," Pletcher said Tuesday morning outside his barn at Belmont Park. "The filly is doing very well."
The addition of a filly in the Belmont spices up a race that will be run without Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense.
"It should make it interesting," Pletcher said. "I’ll be as excited as anyone else."
Rags to Riches has won her last four starts, taking the Santa Anita Oaks before her impressive win in the Kentucky Oaks on May 4.
The decision is having a big effect on the Belmont field. At least one horse, Time Squared, has been pulled out of contention, and several jockey changes have been made.
John Velazquez, who was set to ride Slew’s Tizzy in the Belmont, is Pletcher’s No. 1 rider and now will be aboard Rags to Riches. Garrett Gomez, who has ridden Rags to Riches to her four victories, will stay aboard Hard Spun, replacing Mario Pino. Rafael Bejarano is the new rider for Slew’s Tizzy.
Also, trainer Nick Zito may enter C P West, who finished fourth in the Preakness. The post position draw is Wednesday.
Rags to Riches looks to be a formidable foe for Preakness winner Curlin, the likely favorite for the Belmont.
"I would certainly identify Curlin as the horse for everyone to beat," Pletcher said. "If I was anybody else in the race, I wouldn’t be excited that she was in there running against me."
Rags to Riches would be the first filly in eight years and 22nd ever to run in the Belmont. Silverbulletday finished seventh in 1999, and two fillies have won - Tanya in 1905 and Ruthless in 1867.
Pletcher based his decision on several factors - his filly is bred to run 1½ miles and has been training well, and the defection of Street Sense has opened up the field.
The 3-year-old filly is a daughter of 1992 Belmont winner A.P. Indy and a half-sister to Jazil, last year’s Belmont winner.
"Arguably, she has the best pedigree for this race any horse could ever have," Pletcher said.
Rags to Riches put in a five-furlong workout in 1:03.84 at Belmont on Sunday, and Pletcher said, "She’s in very good form."
The filly was purchased for $1.9 million by bloodstock adviser Demi O’Byrne at the 2005 Keeneland September yearling sale for owners Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith.
Pletcher, meanwhile, is 0-for-28 in Triple Crown races, including 0-for-5 in the Derby on May 5 and 0-for-2 in the Preakness on May 19.
Circular Quay, sixth in the Derby and fifth in the Preakness, also was under consideration but Pletcher said the colt will skip the Belmont and prepare for a summer campaign.
Others set for the Belmont include Imawildandcrazyguy, Tiago and Digger.
http://sports.bostonherald.com/horseRacing//view.bg?articleid=1004958&format=&page=2
Seabiscuit
06-06-2007, 08:27
I have just been reading some stuff at Paceadvantage and yes plenty of knockers coming out to say she cannot win as she's a gal. I will be backing her. She is really good. Curlin the one she has to beat
I don't like Hard Spun at all but I don't think too many will. It should be coming down the last 100 yards as fast as Silent Witness does these days
Online racebook Sportsbook.com has made Preakness champion Curlin the favourite to win the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 9th, 2007 at 6:25 PM EST at Belmont Park. Trainer Steve Asmussen is making his Belmont Stakes debut. Curlin will be riding out of gate three by jockey Robby Albarado.
http://www.point-spreads.com/images/stories/curlin-kentucky-derby.jpg
Belmont Stakes expert horse handicapper Anthony Stabile had this to say about Preakness Stakes winner Curlin, “Oh, what could have been. Had he been a bit more seasoned or had some better racing luck in the Derby, I think there would have been a good chance we'd be talking about him making history in the Belmont. Instead he'll be looking to grab the divisional honors lead from Street Sense by winning the third jewel of the Triple Crown.
I'm surprised his effort in the Preakness hasn't been more heralded because to me it was the stuff of legends. I mean, you see it on a daily basis with cheaper horses but I can't remember the last time a horse as good as him gutted out a win like he did at Pimlico. Street Sense left him for dead at the ¼ pole, but Curlin would have none of it.
What can make me not root for a horse like this? Well, he'll be under even money, will be making his fifth start in 73 days and has to go 1 ½ miles. Yup, that's enough for me. I don't doubt that he is probably the best horse in the race, I just can't tell you to bet on a prohibitive favorite that may have any vulnerability, which he certainly has. The second pick, I'll use him in all the exotic and multiple race wagers like pick threes and pick fours.”
Sportsbook.com has posted horse race betting odds on which horse will win the Belmont Stakes:
Imawildandcrazyguy: 15-1
Tiago: 12-1
Curlin: 1-1
C P West: 12-1
Slews Tizzy: 25-1
Hard Spun: 3-1
Rags to Riches: 3-1
http://www.point-spreads.com/content/view/1986/2/
Internet Racebook Sportsbook.com has posted Belmont Stakes odds on Rags to Riches at 3 to 1 odds making the horse one of the contenders at Belmont Park on Saturday, June 9th, 2007 at 6:25 PM EST.
The filly is trained by Todd Pletcher and will be ridden by jockey John Velazquez, who is 0 for 10 at Belmont Park. Rags to Riches will be racing out of the seventh and final gate.
http://www.point-spreads.com/images/stories/rags-to-riches.jpg
Belmont Stakes odds expert handicapper Anthony Stabile had this to say about Rags to Riches, “Is it just me, or do you think of the opening scene from "GoodFellas" whenever you say her name? Anyway, I'm glad to see someone willing to think outside the box, or oval if you prefer, and give the public a chance to see something special.
A Derby/Preakness winner rematch would have been great but a filly taking on the boys is just as good in my opinion, especially when it's a superstar in the making like this lass. She's done very little wrong so far in her career. Since finishing fourth in her debut, she's rattled off four consecutive wins, including three Grade 1's in a row. And if you watched the Kentucky Oaks closely you may be of the opinion that she hated the muddy track like I believe. She won that, by 4 ½ lengths under a hand ride mind you, on her class alone.
She's by A.P. Indo, who won this event in 1992 on his way to Horse of the Year honors and is a half sister to last year's Belmont winner Jazil. While you need to be afraid of the distance limitations of some in here, when it comes to her it should be the furthest thing from your mind. Her biggest questions is simple- is she good enough? I think she's ready to answer with a resounding yes.
I don't often pick or bet a filly running against colts but I'm making an exception here. I think she's that good. The pick to win the 2007 Belmont, I'm keying her on top in all exotic plays, using her in all multi-race wagers and if I'm not alive in the pick three or pick four, I'll be playing her to win.”
Sportsbook.com has posted horse racing betting odds on which horse will win the 2007 Belmonth Stakes.
Imawildandcrazyguy: 15-1
Tiago: 12-1
Curlin: 1-1
C P West: 12-1
Slews Tizzy: 25-1
Hard Spun: 3-1
Rags to Riches: 3-1
http://www.point-spreads.com/content/view/1985/2/
Seabiscuit
10-06-2007, 08:11
A great victory for Rags!!!!! First filly to win in over 100 years as she outdoes Curlin in a hardfought stretch duel
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/images/Rags-to-Riches-bel2-z.jpg
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/default.aspx
Heres the link to the replay. It seems rather slow loading so be patient.
Seabikkies, you are spot on about this horse, she is tops+++.
Never in Rags -- She's been a blue-blood since the day she was born. RAGS TO RICHES is by 1992 Horse of the Year and Belmont S. (G1) winner A.P. Indy,
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/stallion-directory/photos/apindy.jpg
and her dam, Better than Honour (Deputy Minister), is a Grade 2-winning and multiple Grade 1-placed mare who hails from 1982 Kentucky Oaks (G1) queen Blush with Pride (Blushing Groom [Fr]). Her third dam is 1982 Broodmare of the Mare Best in Show (Traffic Judge), and her half-brother Jazil (Seeking the Gold), captured last year's Belmont. Rags to Riches sold for $1.9 million as a yearling. After easily breaking her maiden in her second career start on January 7, the chestnut filly jumped into stakes company with a remarkable performance, taking a right turn at the start and winning the Las Virgenes S. (G1) ( replay links below)
http://racing.bloodhorse.com/video/february.asp
despite the widest of trips. She rolled to a 5 1/4-length decision in the Santa Anita Oaks (G1) next out
http://racing.bloodhorse.com/video/march.asp
and then crushed her competition in the Kentucky Oaks.
http://racing.bloodhorse.com/video/may.asp
On the same day that ABC will televise the Ruffian story, Rags to Riches can provide the perfect lead-in with a Belmont victory. It will take a special filly to break the 102-year dominance by males in the final leg of the Triple Crown.
http://www.brisnet.com/cgi-bin/editorial/news/article.cgi?id=8089
Curlin set to make his debut on turf in Man o' War Stakes
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
Licensing issues apparently have been resolved that will enable Curlin to compete in the Man o’ War Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Belmont Park.
The colt’s eligibility was in question because Shirley Cunningham and Bill Gallion collectively own a 20% share of the five-time Grade/Group 1 winner. Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stables owns the other 80%.
Cunningham is not licensed in New York.
Normally that only would be a formality, but Cunningham and Gallion face federal charges for allegedly bilking their clients in a lawsuit settlement related to the diet drug Fen-Phen.
The clients won a civil judgment against the suspended attorneys, and a Kentucky judge last week ordered an interim receiver, Matthew Garretson, to take control of the management of Cunningham’s and Gallion’s assets.
With the order, Garretson as receiver would replace Midnight Cry in Curlin’s ownership makeup for the Man o’ War, said Richard Getty, attorney for Stonestreet.
Getty said Stonestreet and Garretson have been approved to enter Curlin in the Man o’ War, but Daniel Toomey, spokesman for the New York Racing and Wagering Board, would only confirm on Tuesday afternoon that the board expects to receive a license application for Garretson within the next day or so.
Entries for the Man o’ War will be taken on Thursday.
Curlin, the 2007 Horse of the Year, would make his turf debut in a field that could also include John Deere Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) winners Red Rocks (Ire) and Better Talk Now.
Jackson and trainer Steve Asmussen are eager to test Curlin in elite company on turf to gauge whether they should proceed with the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1) as a major target this fall.
“I think that’s the question we want answered this weekend - whether he’s of the caliber to be considered for the Arc on the turf,” Asmussen said. “Two previous Breeders’ Cup Turf winners should definitely give us that measure.
“I think the Arc is one of the greatest races in the world and we’re hoping to prove Curlin is one of the greatest horses in the world.
"If we can establish a Grade 1 form on him this Saturday at Belmont in the Man o’ War we will make arrangements from there to get him to Chantilly and start our preparations with him to be comfortable going right (clockwise).
"Liking the turf is one thing, going right-handed is another.”
By Jeff Lowe of Thoroughbred Times
www.thoroughbredtimes.com
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