OZONE PARK, N.Y. - You couldn't tell by the slushy wet snow that blanketed the Big A the other day, but spring is here, and after a couple of postponements racing has finally returned to the main track.
It still feels like winter racing, especially the weekday cards that contain pretty much the same horses that ran on the inner track all winter, but several aspects of a spring meet at Aqueduct are worth revisiting.
Horses for the course
PHILADELPHIA - A week before the Rebel Stakes, Rockport Harbor could not get out of his stall. The day after the horse ran second in the race, it was hard to keep him from rushing back to the track.
"He came out of it good," said Rockport Harbor's trainer, John Servis. "It's hard to believe a week before the horse couldn't even get out his stall. If we don't have any setbacks from here on out, we're going to be in very good shape."
NEW YORK - There were a few "wow" performances in Saturday's four major Kentucky Derby prep races around the country. But not all of them made you go "wow" in a positive way, and none of them did what you would hope for with the first leg of the Triple Crown now only six weeks from Saturday, which is to instill some order and logic into the Derby picture. In fact, right now, the May 7 Kentucky Derby looks as wide open as ever.
PHOENIX - Julio Canani is no dummy. He really isn't one to throw down the gauntlet and say outrageous things like, "She's the best filly who ever lived." Yet that's just what he said following Sweet Catomine's dizzying performance in last weekend's Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Because of their inherent inconsistency, questions of stable intention, and the fact that so many of the leading 3-year-olds are just now starting to gear up for the first Saturday in May, the Kentucky Derby prep races can be treacherous betting races. But they are fascinating in just about every other regard, and observant players will have lots to learn each weekend from now through the end of April.
NEW YORK - Fair Grounds has the richest race in the nation Saturday in the $500,000 Mervin H. Muniz Jr. Memorial Handicap. With the $125,000 Duncan F. Kenner Breeders' Cup Handicap and the $100,000 Gentilly Handicap also on the program, Fair Grounds has the richest stakes card in the country as well. But, with four important prep races for the Kentucky Derby on the schedule, the focus Saturday will very much be on 3-year-old racing.
NEW ORLEANS - High Limit may well be a very nice horse, and a serious contender for the May 7 Kentucky Derby. But if he is, Saturday's at Fair Grounds did not prove it.
That may seem like a silly statement after High Limit drew away in the stretch to become the first horse in 15 years to win the Louisiana Derby leading from gate to wire. He also stretched his undefeated streak to three, increased the total margin of his victories to 22 1/2 lengths, earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 105, and did it all while coming off a five-month layoff.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - When a horse is scratched on the day of a race, the money bet on that horse is removed from the pool and refunded. But futures wagers are different. Once a bet is made, it is locked in. So those who bet on Declan's Moon on Thursday, opening day of Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, will not receive refunds. Since the money already bet on Declan's Moon is still in the pool, the odds on the other contenders haven't yet tumbled, although they will come down before the pool closes at 6 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.
NEW YORK - Santa Anita has the only Grade 1 race in the nation Saturday, but Fair Grounds has the numbers, as in four stakes worth a total of $1.5 million in what is that track's biggest day of its meeting.
The main event at Fair Grounds is, of course, the $600,000 Louisiana Derby. But also on the card are the $500,000 New Orleans Handicap and the $300,000 Fair Grounds Oaks, which, like the Louisiana Derby, are Grade 2's. The other stakes on the card is the $100,000 Marie G. Krantz Memorial Handicap.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Year after year the New Orleans-based horses running in the Louisiana Derby rarely receive their due. The betting public typically pays attention to the Risen Star winner and forgets about almost every other local.
Not me. This year I'm betting on longshot Real Dandy.
Although Saturday's Louisiana Derby drew out-of-town representatives from such high-profile trainers as Bob Baffert, Nick Zito, Todd Pletcher, and Bobby Frankel, the race appears light compared to past runnings. Only three of the nine starters have won stakes.
