LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Money is the ultimate motivator. Second must be palm trees and sunshine.
Although none of Calder's four Grand Slamstakes Saturday is offering a purse over $200,000, all are good betting events filled with large fields of closely matched runners. No horse sticks out, which may create some fat payoffs and a potentially large stakes pick four.
Here's a quick look at the four stakes, races 9-12, and what I feel are bettable odds on the chief contenders.
If you regularly factor in Beyer Speed Figures when evaluating layoff horses, you could have had Puma's Pride at 22-1 in last Saturday's sixth race at Aqueduct. And you certainly should have hooked her up with the obvious top-figure favorite and hit the $164 exacta. Of course, it's never that easy. There's always a snag.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - When he is competing against the likes of Pat Day, Robby Albarado, Cornelio Velasquez, and other top jockeys, Rafael Bejarano is a longshot player's best friend. Give him a horse at double-digit odds who has any kind of chance, and Bejarano is a serious threat to score the upset.
PHOENIX - Making a big splash isn't always necessarily a good thing. Sometimes it raises expectations too high. A horse dazzles in its debut, and instead of taking the next logical step, he is thrown into the deep end of the pool. Some swim, most sink.
It happened last October in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. Forest Music had won her debut at Laurel Park by more than eight lengths with a dazzling 105 Beyer Speed Figure, but only 17 days later was thrown in against the country's best 2-year-old fillies. Forest Music showed speed, then fell apart.
NEW YORK - For all the weekend warriors out there, this is your last chance to get some Christmas money. However, if your fancy is stakes racing, there isn't a lot to choose from Saturday, as might be expected toward the end of December.
Oh, Hollywood Park will present the Grade 1, $200,000 Hollywood Futurity. But, unless your middle name is "Cheap," you won't be able to spread much holiday cheer with Lion Heart looking like a likely winner at a very short price against a small field. Hollywood also has the $150,000 Dahlia Handicap on Saturday's card.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Times have changed for handicappers betting horses exiting races that have produced multiple next-out winners. With information having become more accessible on these key races, value on the angle has diminished.
If a horse finished second to a next-out winner, the name of the winner is italicized in the company lines of the past performances. Runners-up and third-place finishers also appear in italics when they win next out.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Having trouble with that big holiday dinner menu? Can't decide if you should serve a traditional turkey, a festive ham, or a sumptuous Christmas goose? Perhaps it's time for a change, a new twist on the main course that is sure to have the holiday guests ooohing and ahhhing with wonder and delight.
Try horse meat.
PHILADELPHIA - When my Eclipse ballot and accompanying DRF past performances arrived the other day, I tried to ignore them. Eventually, even unpleasant tasks must be faced. Usually, I love poring over the year-end data, but this was never going to be an easy task.
Too many categories are just too close - the 2-year-old males, the 3-year-olds, the older fillies, the grass horses, even the older males and Horse of the Year. Halfbridled was the only name I didn't linger over once I finally opened the envelope.
NEW YORK - Around this time almost every year there is usually a lot of worrying about the projected quality of racing for the season to come. "Look at all the top horses who have retired," is the familiar cry. "Where will all the top horses come from to replace them?"
