If you have a problem with my rankings, feel free to put your own list in the comment section below so I can discredit and mock you:
Older Males
(1) (Previously Ranked #1) Mr. Bowling – Ran a good second in an Allowance race on April 20th but was not able to get by Scat Daddybaby. Ran 4th in the Governor's Handicap, but this horse is a Grade III winner of almost $275,000. Respect this horse a good deal and I think he deserves to be in the top spot for one more stakes race, but he needs to win to maintain this position. I believe he will get stronger as the distances stretch out.
(2) (Previously Ranked Outside Looking In) Why Not Be Perfect - Great start to the season for this horse by Whywhywhy off of a 7-month layoff. Quite the training job by Jeff Metz. I mentioned in my previous post that he was working good, but I thought he might have needed a race. Nope. In addition, he ran much wider than both Absolutely Cool and Mr. Bowling in the Governor's.
(2) (Previously Ranked Outside Looking In) Why Not Be Perfect - Great start to the season for this horse by Whywhywhy off of a 7-month layoff. Quite the training job by Jeff Metz. I mentioned in my previous post that he was working good, but I thought he might have needed a race. Nope. In addition, he ran much wider than both Absolutely Cool and Mr. Bowling in the Governor's.
(3) (Last Ranking #3) Jebrica – Must respect Jebrica. He finished second in the the April 20th allowance race and second in the Governor's. By Liberty Gold and out of Peaceful Wings. As the races stretch out, he gets better and could move up the rankings. $15,000 WTBOA Purchase. Here is Jebrica's mom Peaceful Wings (All pictures, save one, by Terra Lee, who always takes great pictures. Thanks Terra for helping me out!):
And Jebrica:
(4) (Last Ranking #3) Stryker Phd – Finished second in last year’s Longacres Mile. My only issue is that he has only two wins in his career. Still a very game horse and is up to 5 Furlong works so we should see him soon. Recently had a 6 Furlong workout on May 25th so we should be seeing him soon. $40,000 WTBOA Purchase.
(5) (Last Ranking #4) Scat Daddybaby – Won the opening weekend feature race but he got a clear lead. Wonder how he will do as things stretch out against this group. No works since the April 20 race because of a foot bruise. The question is whether there is any speed in this division to keep him honest? So far it does not look like it.
(5) (Last Ranking #4) Scat Daddybaby – Won the opening weekend feature race but he got a clear lead. Wonder how he will do as things stretch out against this group. No works since the April 20 race because of a foot bruise. The question is whether there is any speed in this division to keep him honest? So far it does not look like it.
Outside looking in: Finallygotabentley (still waiting for that breakout performance. Wish he would have come off the pace rather than going to lead in the Governor's), Absolutely Cool (good third in the Governor's), Country Rules, and still my Dark Horse Pick for this division is Perfect Night (full to Wasserman who is just getting started. He is by Cahill Road after all so you have to give him time.). More Strawberries, after an abbreviated 2013 campaign, is now back in the mix and won a MSW two weeks ago, so more to come from him.
Older Females
(1) (Last Ranking #1) Stopshoppingdebbie – The Queen continues her reign with an electrifying move around the turn in the Hastings Handicap to take over and leave no doubt. No question the best at Emerald Downs. For more about her family, see my previous post regarding Taste the Passion:
http://www.militaryhawk.blogspot.com/2014/05/broodmare-of-week-taste-passion.html
http://www.militaryhawk.blogspot.com/2014/05/broodmare-of-week-taste-passion.html
(2) (Last Ranking #2) Blueberry Smoothie – Love this horse. She is such a hard trier. She got up for a nice third in the Hastings Handicap beating out Goin to the Window. I also discussed her pedigree in the blog above.
(3) (Last Ranking #5) Madame Pele – Ran a fantastic second in the Hastings Handicap to break up the NW Farms triumpverate. She did have a recency advantage with winning the Mesa Handicap at Turf Paradise on March 29. $14,000 WTBOA Purchase.
(4) (Last Ranking #4) Goin to the Window – Finished Fourth in the Hastings. Daughter of Tapit is still running strong. Must respect her ability and pedigree.
(5) (Last Ranking "Dark Horse Pick") - Tabled with Gold won a Allowance Optional Claiming Race on May 17th. My Dark Horse Pick in this division is coming around nicely. Looking forward to her next race. She has quality.
(5) (Last Ranking "Dark Horse Pick") - Tabled with Gold won a Allowance Optional Claiming Race on May 17th. My Dark Horse Pick in this division is coming around nicely. Looking forward to her next race. She has quality.
Outside Looking In: Quizzical and Finding More (up the track in stakes race).
3 Year-Old Colts
(1) (Last Ranked #1) Del Rio Harbor – Won an Allowance race against the likes of Strawberry Dawn, Kenai King and Redsolocup in an impressive (1:03.65) to start his year. Then the Auburn Handicap. I have to question the strategy a little bit in the stakes race. Being on the rail and having speed why would you not move to the front to be clear of the horses outside of you? The fractions were slow and he could have taken the lead easily. Stikine Slough clearly wanted to rate behind horses. Not sure why Del Rio did not go on with it from the inside. For now, I will keep him #1 because I feel like the race was ran in such an odd way that he deserves another chance.
(2) (Last Ranked #4) Noosito – Won the Auburn Handicap by 5 so you would think he would be #1 but I have to say I still think Del Rio Harbor is better and if he was allowed to use his speed to get clear instead of getting stuck behind horses, he would have performed better. A duel-stakes winner now, I expect Noosito will get better as the distances get longer. $55,000 WTBOA Purchase. Noosito at the WTBOA sale:
(1) (Last Ranked #1) Del Rio Harbor – Won an Allowance race against the likes of Strawberry Dawn, Kenai King and Redsolocup in an impressive (1:03.65) to start his year. Then the Auburn Handicap. I have to question the strategy a little bit in the stakes race. Being on the rail and having speed why would you not move to the front to be clear of the horses outside of you? The fractions were slow and he could have taken the lead easily. Stikine Slough clearly wanted to rate behind horses. Not sure why Del Rio did not go on with it from the inside. For now, I will keep him #1 because I feel like the race was ran in such an odd way that he deserves another chance.
(2) (Last Ranked #4) Noosito – Won the Auburn Handicap by 5 so you would think he would be #1 but I have to say I still think Del Rio Harbor is better and if he was allowed to use his speed to get clear instead of getting stuck behind horses, he would have performed better. A duel-stakes winner now, I expect Noosito will get better as the distances get longer. $55,000 WTBOA Purchase. Noosito at the WTBOA sale:
(3) (Last Ranked #2) Illumination Road – Really looking forward to his return. He had only one start and that was a good second to Del Rio Harbor in the Emerald Express Stakes. T-Gil must have had mucho confidence in him to place him there in his first start. Good thing is that he is back and has two 4 Furlong works. Problem is that he has not worked since May 15th. Hopefully, everything is ok with him.
(4) (Last Ranked #3) Mebossman – The son of Peaceful Wings won a Maiden Special Weight ("MSW") on April 27th. He runs a good second in the Auburn Handicap. If he takes after his half-brother Jebrica, he will do better as the distances get longer. $15,000 WTBOA Purchase. Her are some excellent pictures of Mebossman as a baby with her mom Peaceful Wings:
And Mebossman now:
And Mebossman now:
(5) (Last Unranked) My Chief - Been smoking up the track. Two wins in a row in 1:03.12 and 1:03.01, respectively. Undefeated Gelding may be headed to stakes competition. Here is a picture of him at WTBOA 2011 where he sold for $5,000 to Preston Boyd:
Outside Looking In: Royal Tale (MSW races), Trick or Retreat (MSW races), Redsolocup (Needed a faster pace in the stakes race), Smart Copy and Cantcatchme.
3 Year-Old Fillies
This division is difficult to figure out right now because of Chu and You’s last two performances. She finished last in the Ross McLeod Stake’s at Hastings in her last start. Her workouts prior to the stakes race were swift so we can maybe forgive the effort. I truly believe the best horse in this division has yet to race. For now:
(1) (Last Ranked #1) Strawberry Dawn – She won an Allowance race by 8.5 lengths on April 13, 2014, running the 5.5 Furlongs in 103.08. She came back in an allowance race against the boys, including Del Rio Harbor and ran a respectable 4th. I viewed it as a prep for the Seattle Handicap this weekend. As a two-year old, she was Multiple Stakes Place behind Chu and You.
(2) (Last Ranked #2) Lotta Attitude – Smoked a MSW race on April 12, 2014. She ran 5.5 Furlongs in a swift 102.99 for 5.5 Furlongs. She won an Allowance Optional Claimer (N1X) on May 10th. Next stop is the Seattle Handicap this weekend. This horse has a very interesting pedigree and family, which we will get into in the future. $15,000 WTBOA Purchase.
(3) (Last Ranked #3) Chu and You – She was clearly the best 2-year old filly on the grounds last year, but the last two races give me cause for concern. As stated above, she finished last in a stakes race at Hastings. Maybe we can throw that race out because she did not like Hastings. For now, I will put her third. Her workouts prior to the stakes races were very good. Seattle Handicap will tell the tale.
(4) (Last Ranked #4) Sunpenny – Z Thoroughbreds has a good one here. Won a nice Allowance race last year and then finished second in the Northwest Farms Stakes behind Chu and You, but ahead of Belladiva and Sanibel Harbor. Sunpenny's first race of the year was the aforementioned Allowance Optional Claiming race that Lotta Attitude won. She had a troubled trip throwing her head at the start:
(Thanks to Steve Zerda for the picture). I expect she will continue to get better as the year progresses.
$12,000 WTBOA Purchase. Some of Terra's pictures of Sunpenny from the 2012 sale:
(Thanks to Steve Zerda for the picture). I expect she will continue to get better as the year progresses.
$12,000 WTBOA Purchase. Some of Terra's pictures of Sunpenny from the 2012 sale:
Terra can take a picture, huh?
(5) (Last week Unranked) Belladiva - Finished second to Lotta Attitude in the AOC race. And also ran behind Strawberry Dawn in an Allowance race on April 13, 2014. Although this horse has some speed, the pedigree suggests she will be even better on the stretch out so we will see how she performs in route races later on. Nominated to the Seattle Handicap this weekend. $5,200 WTBOA purchase. A picture of Belladiva from the sale:
Outside Looking In: Timeless Pleasure won a Maiden Option Claiming last weekend and looks to be a better horse as things stretch out. Charismata (also waiting for a stretch out). Find Your Spot is back on the work tab and getting close to a race. Just a Love is entered in this weekend's stakes race and can move up if she runs well. Sanibel Harbor still trying to break the maiden. Tinkerbelle Tops won a big race last year at the Maiden $25,000 level last year in her only start. She took a break from works in April and just started working out again. Quiet Wisdom is still a maiden but that won't last long. My Dark Horse Pick has yet to appear in a race.
Sorry, not a lot of jokes this week. I am in a bad mood because Game of Thrones and Cosmos weren't on. But Mad Men was pretty good.
Always Love Your Animals and remember the horses who died in battle,
Will
No comments:
Post a Comment