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If you watched most any of the BC championships, it was a bit anti-climatic. Few of the favorites won, and quite a few came from way out in left field. Fans weren’t treated to a great showing by any of the tip-top horses; Goldikova had an awful trip (made worse by her jockey’s dangerous riding) and Havre de Grace didn’t hit the board either. Hotshot 2-year-old Union Rags wiggled his way all over the track in the Juvenile, only to come up just short to Hansen. I like Hansen, and I think he deserved more credit than ESPN announcers gave him…but I also agree that Union Rags is probably the best colt of the crop.
In the BC Mile (turf), Goldikova finished third– but it was a criminal ride. In the home stretch, she was blocked in against the rail (that sucks, but likely when you’re the 1 horse). Her jockey blatantly swung out into the horses beside him, nearly knocking Courageous Cat off his feet who barely avoided a messy spill. An objection was rightfully lodged, but Goldikova was not taken down. I know it makes a good story to have the Queen finish well in the history books, but that was just wrong…in any other race, that horse would have been placed last, and perhaps the jockey fined. I like a storybook ending, too, but that was almost disaster. Speaking of storybook ending, though, I have to give a shout-out to Charlie LoPresti, the trainer of Turallure, who finished ahead of Goldikova and just missed winning by a whisker. Charlie is one of the “little guys” with a smaller stable…but he’s quietly made a name for himself against the Big Boys. Keep an eye out for LoPresti horses– they are managed by a true horseman and always seem to run their best.
Congrats to Bill Mott for winning both the Ladies Classic with Royal Delta, and the Classic with Drosselmeyer. Royal Delta is a super nice filly — she’s for sale, by the way, at Keeneland this week, if you have an extra couple million laying around. Drosselmeyer won the Belmont last year, so you knew he had the distance in him…but he hasn’t won much else, so the Classic victory was a bit of a head-scratcher. The final running time (2:04.27) was painfully slow, though some would compare the dirt surface to “peanut butter” that day. Just goes to show, races aren’t run on paper, and any horse can come out ahead on any given day!
In related news, Uncle Mo has been retired to stud at Ashford. His liver enzyme levels are a bit high, so his racing days are over. Who would you rather breed to, a Juvenile Champion who developed liver problems and had a couple underwhelming performances (finished 10th in the Classic) in eight starts; or Gio Ponti, a six-year-old winner of $6M on all surfaces in 28 starts?
