LOUISVILLE - For the past few years, I have upgraded the performances of horses that compete on Oaks and Derby Day at Churchill Downs. The rationale is simple. These races, even maiden and allowance contests, are stronger than normal because they are a part of these big days.
Horsemen with quality runners are eager to be a part of the cards, knowing that there is no greater rush than winning a race in front of 100,000 people.
LAS VEGAS - As the most prestigious one-mile dirt stakes race in the United States, the Metropolitan Handicap has a rich history. Victories by Gun Bow (1965), Bold Lad (1966), Buckpasser (1967), In Reality (1968), Arts and Letters (1969), and Nodouble (1970) are deeply entrenched in the memory of racing fans growing up in the 1960's.
NEW YORK - It is unclear exactly when it happened, but somewhere along the line, hyperbole seems to have become the descriptive method of choice in Thoroughbred racing.
Last week, Funny Cide's victory in the Preakness was alternately described as dominating and devastating, which is delusional. That is said without any slight to Funny Cide himself.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Early speed was dominant at Keeneland, where front-runners won at a 29 percent clip on the main track. But it has been a different story at so far at Churchill Downs, where speed horses have won just 19 percent of the races on the main track.
The difference would be even larger if not for the brief hot streak enjoyed by front-runners at Churchill on May 17 and 18. Throw out the nine winners from those 18 races and the win rate drops to 15 percent, about half the frequency seen at Keeneland.
PHOENIX - He is too old. He has had just one race in the past year. And he's facing some tough youngsters who are lying in wait to get him.
It may sound bad for 8-year-old Ladies Din in Monday's Shoemaker Mile at Hollywood Park, but he's got a better chance than you might think of successfully defending his crown in the race.
ELMONT, N.Y. - One of the benefits of constructing pace figures is the extra dimension it provides for analyzing final-time figures.
The main theory of analyzing pace is that energy expended by a horse early will not be available late, and the symmetry of that relationship is a constant source of amazement. It's almost enough to make a handicapper believe there is at least a bit of logic and order amidst all the chaos that surrounds us, and that is reassuring.
NEW YORK - Saturday is a special day, not just because it starts a Memorial Day weekend that promises excellent stakes racing from coast to coast, or because it is opening day at Monmouth Park, but principally because reigning Horse of the Year Azeri runs in the $200,000 Milady Breeders' Cup Handicap at Hollywood Park.
Given that Azeri will be a prohibitive favorite against a handful of opponents, it is hard betting on her and it is even more difficult betting against her. But anytime a Horse of the Year races, it commands attention, even if betting isn't an appealing option.
PHILADELPHIA - I am here to praise Funny Cide.
Has any Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner ever been given less respect? You know the drill. He had a perfect trip in the Derby. He had only one horse to beat in the Preakness and that horse went off form.
What people are saying and writing may, in fact, be true. It does not change the fact that Funny Cide won both races. And won them emphatically. Until they change the rules of the sport, that is the object.
Let's review.
LAS VEGAS - Funny Cide's lopsided 9 3/4-length victory in the Preakness Stakes following his solid score in the Kentucky Derby has convinced many that he will be the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years. The Preakness confirmed his high quality and catapulted him to the head of his class - for now.
BALTIMORE - Funny Cide won Saturday's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico by a lopsided 9 3/4 lengths, and who really knows? Maybe that was the biggest win margin ever in this leg of the Triple Crown. There was no photo finish camera around to verify Survivor's supposed win margin of 10 lengths in the first Preakness back in 1873, and the people who witnessed that event aren't talking.