The Uncle Mo performance is the most talked about loss since Rachel could not fend off Zardana last March. If you go on chat boards, or read some comments, it was somehow a fait de compli - a perfectly expected loss. One wonders why the horse was 1-9 and 1.15 on betfair then, of course. It certainly was not expected, it was shocking. If the colt stopped the clock at 9f yesterday what he stopped the clock at 9f in his BC Juvy gallop out, he wins easily. Something happened to this horse.
What happened? That's anyone's guess. I believe he looked awful, and at the quarter I was worried because he would not settle. After seeing him run in several times, and have no response on the far turn, it looked that he would be beaten by more than he was. But good horses like him don't give up easily.
Opinion on the net is scattered. Some think we have seen him for the last time, others think he will be fine. It truly is Rachel Alexandra II out there.
As expected, Mo will ship to CD, according to their twitter feed a moment ago.
Whatever happens, I hope racing wins. Because Repole and Mo are good for racing. I feel bad for both of them.
Thankfully Mo is a horse and he can't read. All he wants is a pet and an extra carrot. What more would he ask for?
Mo Notes
Mo's price at Betfair has settled at 8.4-19. Some traded at 30, 20 and 16, as well as a hunk around 10. The new chalk is Dialed In, followed by the Factor.
The Factor has been everyone's fave Derby whipping horse because of mostly his racing style. But the colt laden with speed is still there, while other grinders are dropping like flies.
Sway Away is at 32.0 at Betfair and that seems like a no-brainer long, even though the connections are changing things up with blinkers. I thought he was just fine in his last; just a little goofy on a pretty fast track with some traffic trouble.
Kudos to Aqueduct. I rarely play there because I will not even look at a field with less than seven horses, and they are shut out of two of my ADWs, but I did yesterday because the race office carded a fantastic group of races. Handle soared because of that, and attendance did too because of Mo.
Cowboy Squirrel commented below on the day.
"Big crowd of Mo-ites clad in blue & orange cheering in the dining room...it was grand.
Whatever the issues with this horse, Repole is refreshing & positive. He walked by us with a 100+ entourage on the way to the paddock...talking to people and shaking hands with fans...priceless!"
It's why a lot of us in racing are hoping yesterday was some sort of freak occurrence.
Non-Mo Notes
Balmoral's carryover and guarantee did well last night, with a nightly handle well over $1M and a pick four pool of over 50k.
Uncle Mo, then Uncle Joe? I took a small pick 5 ticket yesterday at GP, hoping I could get D'Funnybone beat, which happened. However, I was keyed on one horse in the last leg - Uncle Joe. This was about ten minutes after Uncle Mo was beaten. Needless to say, although he was 7-5, I was not very confident and that was confirmed when he was badly beaten.
Woodbine's guarantee was not hit last night; they had to add ten K, making it a nice takeout reduction for horseplayers. I did not partake because I could not see Umphery's horse winning leg one. I went six deep, but should have went nine deep.
Northfield had another nice pool. The 14% take and guarantee is paying off.
Why should we never bet a non-speed horse at less than 1-5? Hypnotic Blue Chip answers that one. The horse absolutely needs a target and is terrible first over. JJ got away third and was forced to press to the lead. From there he was beatable with no target. JJ certainly had no choice however, and at least he gave punters a shot for their money instead of sitting in like I am sure he'd have liked to.
I've been traveling like a crazy man lately so blogging has not been on the priority list. My last trip this past week was for a good friend's funeral. What a guy this guy was. He was a friend from University who ended up being a friend for life. He was not a mover and a shaker, his family was working class from a small mining town in Northern Ontario, which is possibly why we hit it off so early. The guest list from our school days was pretty astonishing, though, and might make you think he was some kind of big shot. Lawyers and business people, a high ranking government official (taking time off the campaign trail), university professors were all there; some of them traveling thousands of miles. For a funeral that was out of the way for so many, it did not matter and his family was truly touched to see them. I think that's what happens when you live your life as an honorable person and treat everyone as equals, wanting nothing in return: People remember you. A lot of people will miss him. What a wonderful friend and person.
Enjoy your Sunday everyone.
1 comment:
How do owners like Repole and Flay find a trainer as evil as Pletcher?
If they got into harness racing would they find Pena?
Post a Comment