Well, there was Bandit III...

I think there had to be a Bandit II because the elephant drank all the Coors from Bandit I.

I got an unopened Foster's Oilcan from the early 90's....can I get paid?!

Yours is probably worth more!

Two Derby preps ran this weekend: the San Felipe Stakes in CA and the Tampa Bay Derby in some unknown location.

The San Felipe featured likely the best field assembled so far this year with 3 prime contenders and the race did not disappoint. Two of the top dawgs: Iliad and Gormley failed the added distance challenge, finishing a weakening 2nd, and 4th.
The winner, Mastery, ran the fastest Derby prep so far this year, and for one particular "brand" of speed figure he ran their top # in the last seven years! Unfortunately, he took a bad step after the race and fractured his front leg. He's to have surgery tomorrow and it's a type of break that horses can come back and compete from, but his future as a Derby star is over.
Mastery's fine performance is here (the vid cuts out before the injury occurs after the race):



The Tampa Bay Derby was won by Tapwrit and I was out all day yesterday and missed this race, so cannot evaluate it. I can say that Tapwrit cost about a million and a half as a yearling, so expectations were high. He's been cautiously placed so far...
The replay:



edit (again): just watched the replay. Visually Tapwrit looked good and appeared to close well from off the pace for the win. The final time was also decent. The 2nd place horse State of Honor also ran pretty well; he set a pretty good pace but Tapwrit passed him very easily.

thanx for posting this stuff. I have some long lost cousins from Louisville that I never knew about, with whom I have been in touch with a little, over the last few years. They are into this stuff. The women love the hats.

Yeah, I'm not a hat gal myself....I more hang with the degenerates when I go to the track.
The horses rock though, esp. after I hit a $200 exacta at Aqueduct yesterday...

$200 exacta?!...at The Duct?! Good 4 u Peeps, I tend to stay away due to so much chalk. Nice spot to pick.

Thanks, man.
Yeah, the Big A... it's a track I only occasionally bet actually but there was a horse I liked in race 8 Sunday. I bet that horse across and he finished last, but I had 2 exacta keys, one involving the 35-1 horse that ran 2nd.

Mastery back at barn after surgery on leg:

https://www.drf.com/news/mastery-back-barn-after-surgery-leg

The top 3-year-old colt Mastery, who suffered a condylar fracture to his left front leg on Saturday at Santa Anita, underwent surgery on Monday afternoon at Santa Anita that "went very well," his trainer, Bob Baffert, said early Monday evening.

There's some horsey thing going off here at the mo, must be a big deal coz it's all over the sport news - Cheltenham Festival. Folk get dressed up, drink to excess n gamble a lot, all while some jockeys ride n jump thier way to glory. or death.

It sounds like fun, i may participate via the sofa, wearing a top hat n tails, stick a few dolla on a race, sit back n sup some brewski

I think Cheltenham are the hurdles, er steeplechasing I mean. Hurdles are more dangerous than flat racing by a sight... in my opinion anyway. I think it's a combo of those marathon distances and the jumps themsleves. It's a lot more tiring than just running around in a circle at a shorter distance with no jumps.

yeah it's fences i think. just heard on the radio that one horse has had a fatal fall...

i've made small wagers on all three races so far & lost every one. Doesn't help that i know sod all about horses n my betting strategy is based on the name i like the most. Neon Wolf came closest, second by a nose or something. Ah well, having fun anyway!

wow! a 2/9 fave just lost!

sorry...

When the Saratoga meet starts in the summer they do steeplechase races for a day or 2 of the week usually Race 1 of the day.

Yes, I've seen a few of those over the years... I normally got to the Spa once or twice during the meet. Now that Hollywood Park has been demolished the Spa is my fav track.

haha yes! my 'name' strategy has just paid off as Let's Dance romps home. Good ol Bowie!