Monday, July 14, 2008

Monday Morning Notes

Here are some quick notes on this Monday morning:

……. Curlin came second in his turf debut on Saturday. At about the half I said to myself “he is not winning this race”. He looked a little uncomfortable, not overly keen. Not the Curlin that I have watched. I am pretty sharp, eh?

……. Now, fast forward to Saturday evening. Somebeachsomewhere was struggling a little bit to clear at the quarter. I said to my friends’: “he is ripe to get beat, I hate when they are not keen and on the bit, that is not Somebeach!!!” Yep, horseplaying is humbling.

……… Speaking of humbling, how about Yannick Gingras? He was talking about Somebeachsomewhere last week before his stunningly easy elimination win.

"[At the Meadowlands] if you put ten good pacers against him [Somebeachsomewhere] he's going to have to earn it. That's one thing about the Meadowlands, there's a flow -- there's not going to be an easy three-eighths or something for him."

If they ran at him, he probably would have only came home in 54, but then again he might have set a track record.

Yannick – no worries pal, we horseplayers misjudge horses many times a day.

…….. There was an interesting post on the Harnessdriver board yesterday, alluding to the fact that Somebeach’s elim win did him some good – no one will challenge him next week because they are scared out of their wits. I thought that was a good point. I wonder if Paul primed the engine a little in the stretch hoping it will serve him well in next weeks final.

……… In other Beach tidbits, he continues to bridge the racing gap a little bit like we spoke of here.

Left at the Gate says in his post here:

Wow! That's all I can say about Somebeachsomewhere, and his dominance in his elimination heat for next Saturday's Meadowlands Pace.

Valerie from Foolish Pleasure said in a comment below:

Wow! Somebeachsomewhere was a monster! 1:48:3! And he makes it look so easy. Thanks for getting me hooked on him :)

Two things I notice about that, they both used “wow” and they both like watching good horses, of any breed. I am sure there are many other comments out there by thoroughbred fans about this horse.

……. Admirals Express won on Saturday night at Mohawk – in 51 and change. It was his 79th win, and it came at the age of 12. Every harness fan knows about the Admiral. He has been racing at or near the Open level since he was three years old. He has banged heads with some of the greats, and he has beaten both those greats and some of their sons. His nickname is the Grey Gladiator. He is not the prettiest gaited horse. He is not a superstar. He is one tough SOB who gives his all every single week, after week, after week. This was his first big track win since coming out of retirement in December of 2006. I was standing near the winners circle when he won. I clapped. The Admiral is everything I enjoy about harness racing. (Note: Chris Connor writes about Admirals return on his blog)

……. Luc Ouellette was injured last week in an accident at Flamboro Downs. It looks like he’ll be out a month. As blog readers know our friend Greg R, who has contributed here on the blog is good pals with Luc. I wish Luc a speedy recovery. He is one of the good guys in the game.

……. There is some monstrous news out of Betfair this week alluded to by the Racing Post regarding a potential deal with California racing, but we will wait until everything is confirmed to speak about it.

…….. Ellis Park had a 4% pick 4 last year and it generated some excitement. This year, Premier Turf Club has taken the ball and ran with it. They are offering a 10% Ellis Park pick 4. I bet the owners of that ADW are making almost zip on that bet. But that is what ADW’s do; they resell and offer deals for players to up handles. It is why we need them in racing. If you can join PTC in your jurisdiction, they come highly recommended by virtually everyone I know who plays there.

……. I was at Mohawk on Saturday. It was a really good crowd. And there was some excitement. They are doing a good job at Mohawk.

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