Brief research into the history of the term recency bias – the over-prioritizing of recent events at the expense of more distant ones – credits German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus for describing it in 1888.
Brief research also suggests nobody outside racing has even heard of the phrase, “If you didn’t go to the wedding, don’t go to the funeral.”
Both apply to the $250,000 Cherokee Mile, the featured race Sunday at Churchill Downs, closing day of the fall meet.
Even without his top turf sprinter Motorious in the Stormy Liberal Stakes on Sunday at Del Mar, trainer Phil D’Amato might have a stranglehold on the five-furlong turf race.
D’Amato entered three in the Stormy Liberal, including veteran geldings who won the first two editions of the $100,000 stakes – 2022 winner Turn On The Jets and 2023 winner Unconquerable Keen. Neither is a cinch against upstart 3-year-old Sorrento Sky.
“He’s a horse on the improve and has his confidence right now. He’s going in the right direction,” D’Amato said.
Scipio may be the only maiden in Sunday’s Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes for 2-year-olds at a mile on turf at Del Mar, but he is also the runner who commands attention.
Considering the close finishes Scipio had in his first two starts, and a troubled trip when fourth in the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes at a mile on turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1, Scipio clearly rates at the fore of a field of nine in the $100,000 DeMille Stakes.
There is no lack of confidence from trainer Richard Baltas.
Gina Romantica will try to polish off an exceptional career Sunday the same way she started out two and a half years ago, with a come-from-behind win as the favorite in a big field.
The stakes are higher in the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar compared to the Tampa Bay Downs maiden race Gina Romantica won in spring 2022. Her reputation also is higher, and the 5-year-old mare would give trainer Chad Brown his fifth straight win in the Matriarch.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – With just one win in 34 starts, 6-year-old Arabian Prince has spent most of his career trying to clear the first allowance condition. Can he finally turn the trick in Sunday’s Woodbine feature, a nonwinners-of-two Tapeta sprint over 6 1/2 furlongs with a $50,000 claiming option for 3-year-olds?
The 3-year-old filly Cloudwalker needs two things to win the $100,000 Pan Zareta Stakes on Saturday at Fair Grounds: Racing luck and pace in front of her.
The two variables intertwine. The faster the pace of a race, the more the field spreads, opening gaps for a one-run closing turf sprinter like Cloudwalker to find her way home. On paper, the 5 1/2-furlong Pan Zareta, for older fillies and mares, boils over with pace. If it all shows up, and if Cloudwalker can pull a trip like she got last month winning a Keeneland allowance, the Pan Zareta could be hers.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Rated by Merit will try to add one final exclamation point to his already sensational 2-year-old campaign while also attempting to become the 11th horse to sweep the open division of the Florida Sire Series when going postward an overwhelming favorite in Saturday’s $300,000 In Reality Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
Redacted finished a well-beaten second Nov. 14 debuting in a Churchill Downs maiden sprint, earning a modest 57 Beyer Speed Figure. He’s a legit 30-1 on the morning line for the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes on Saturday at Churchill and probably can’t win. Eight other entrants? Go ahead and build a case.
The depth of trainer Phil D’Amato’s turf stable in California is showcased every autumn in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit at Del Mar, a race D’Amato has won five of the last nine years.
After finishing 1-2-3 last year, D’Amato seeks another Seabiscuit trifecta on Saturday. He starts vastly improved Almendares, 2023 Seabiscuit winner Easter, and longshot Masteroffoxhounds. To win the Seabiscuit, the D’Amato trio must turn back the deepest turf stable in New York.
