I friend of mine from CA used to go to the track out there with me...even though he knew nothing about racing. He once played the name game and got a 35-1 shot home first! What works works... doesn't matter what you know necessarily.

Lol You're missing out on schoolwork....

Gotta love Steve Coogan...Tristram Shandy is hillarious and his bit with Alfred Molina in Coffee and Cigarettes rules.

More shuffling and ruffling for this week's update... and in a non-Derby race at the same track yesterday I'm pretty sure I witnessed a fix. Hate when that happens; fortunately it was a race I didn't bet.

Anyhow, the lone Derby prep yesterday was the Rebel Stakes from sunny, old Arkansas. The winner was a Pletcher-trained horse named Malagacy, who shipped in from Florida.
For some of the more touted horses coming from CA the race was a bust though and the final time was rather slow. Not sure any serious Derby contenders will emerge from this race, but this year seems particularly wide open so who can say?

Today is Dubai World Cup day! Live stream can be found at the link below, right above my losing wagers. I hope it's Arrogate's day to shine once again... he could be the best American racehorse since the 1970s, if he keeps winning.
Go Arrogate and go Hoppertunity (my personal fav)!

https://www.xbtv.com/watch-live/

my bets:

UAE Derby: # 10 Epicharis ftw

World Cup:
exacta key 9/2,5,6,10,12
trifecta 9/2,6,10,12/5
place Hoppertunity

Arrogate exercising

Good luck with your picks Peeps...one thing is true about this years road to the Derby, the field is wide open which tells me we could see bombadiers float into the top spots which equates to astronomical trifectas and superfectas!

Thanks Vincent. Hit the exact in the WC, but who cares? That was the performance of a lifetime from Arrogate!

I say this in all seriousness: Arrogate is the best horse I've seen since I started following racing in 1981, and he's possibly the best horse since Secretariat.

I read on twitter he lost 94 feet of ground due to the slow break and being bumped repeatedly. He then commenced a prolonged, wide run that saw him eventually pass the entire field. Never seen anything like this horse; he's something else. This was a world-class field and he made them look cheap.

The recap article with replay (watch #9 Arrogate at the start):

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/220628/arrogate-last-to-first-in-dubai-world-cup

I haven't watched it yet but will...I believe your judgement in praise of Arrogate but truth is the winner of the UAE Derby has historically not shown up for the Run for the Roses. I like the fact he can handle being bumped and recover his pace something that'll be needed in a 20 horse field especially if he draws a bad starting position.

Arrogate won the World Cup, not the UAE Derby... no way he runs in the Derby either since he's too old. It's a restricted 3-yo race and Arrogate is 4. When his peers were running in the 3yo Classics last year Arrogate was only just making his 2nd career race in an allowance race. Makes this all that more impressive.... he's skyrocketed to stardom in a short amount of time.

The UAE was won by Thunder Snow who might very well run for the Roses since that is a Derby prep race. His connections nominated him prior to the race yesterday and that victory ensures he has points to get in. He'd be an interesting addition to the field if he goes esp. since he's got Group/Graded wins on both turf and dirt now. The Japanese horse who was second in that race is more likely for the Preakness or Belmont, per his connections. I was hoping he'd go 'cause I had a futures bet on him at around 50-1, but no dice.

Yeah I figured that out after I watched the race and read the article beneath it saying they would be looking towards the Breeders Cup next and that he was purchased as a yearling in 2014. Hell of a move he made to go outside and move ahead of the whole field...from last to first and at the wire he looked like he could go another 1/4 mile at least.

Almost forgot to update this thing, for a variety of reasons... I have to say this year's Derby trail has not been the most exciting in recent memory. The preps are wide open with many unproven horses stepping up and many of the more proven horses running erratically.

The Florida Derby and Louisiana Derby were both this past Saturday and neither featured an unpredictable winner, but both were rather less than inspiring.
Girvin finished out the LA sequence (incl. his previous Risen Star win) with another win in the LA Derby, but the final time was rather tepid and he really looked like a horse that does not want to go 10 furlongs next month. The time was slow and that says even less about the horses he beat, esp since Girvin was the heavy favorite and expected winner. The place horse, Patch, might be the one to watch out of this race since he was giving experinece to the winner and had a less than perfect trip.




The FL Derby featured a bit stronger field, but the top 3 all exit the race with serious question marks.
The winner, Always Dreaming, was making his stakes debut and only had 2 previous wins, both of which were run against weaker and at slowish times. His time was better here, but the track was souped up and the timer malfunction that ocurred during the race caused the final time to appear better than it was in reality.
The place horse State of Honor looks hard-pressed for 10F to me. He previously wilted against similar and at shorter distances, and he has developed the bad habit of fighting the jockey early on. He does not look like the easiest of horses to ride. The 3rd place finisher, Gunnevera, was the race favorite, had a terrible post draw and could only produce a mild rally late in the race. His appearance in the post parade left some to be desired: it was reported by many pundits (and I agree with them) that he appears to be tired and losing weight, whiich is most certainly not what you want from a touted horse making his next start in the big one.

I predict a $200,000 $1 Superfecta!

Maybe my career woes will be over!

Who ya like for the Santa Anita Derby this weekend Peeps?
I'm going for a good price so I'm going 2/6/7 exacta and tri boxes, anyways lots of luck!

I think the payouts will be great in this race. It's wide open, but getting a Baffert horse with Smith aboard at ~5/1 would be nice.

It is Aintree weekend here, the Grand National on Sat, where folk like me who know nothing about horses bet on names for fun!

No bombs for over twenty years

No bombs for over twenty years
I'm a price-player myself.
Boo on the chalk winning!

Need my boy Joe Talamo to come thru for some balloon type prices. Not even gonna bother with Wood Memorial...just observe.