But that won't stop people from taking a chance.
To better understand why, read "The future is a risky proposition" by Gary West for ESPN.com in which he explains it, in part, this way; Some have to climb Mount Everest, not despite its "death zone" but because of it. And some have to bet the Kentucky Derby futures, not in spite of its being the foolish thing to do but because of it. Also writing for ESPN.com, back in January, Jay Cronley offered up a similar perspective when he wrote "Owning the future" regarding the 2014 Derby future pools.
At this stage in the game - with 250+ betting interests - I'm not going to invest the time to research each of their bloodlines, connections or limited races/workouts. While I don't bet on horses for their names or colors or saddle cloth numbers, I did scan the listing for names that might stand out which could suggest particular sires that I might have an interest in betting. One name in particular stood out so clearly it nearly knocked me off the couch: Holy Boss (at 125-1 odds). Sired by Street Boss, a two-time Grade I winner, himself sired by a stallion named Street Cry (Street Cry was euthanized September 17th at the age of 16 due to a neurological condition). Other horses sired by Street Cry are 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense [who I had to WIN; he was running in 19th position down the backstretch] and the filly Zenyatta (19 wins and a second-place finish in 20 lifetime starts). The sire of Holy Boss' mother is... wait for it... Holy Bull. I've written often, here, about my undying love for Holy Bull. 'Nuff said. The knock on Holy Boss is that his bloodlines suggest he doesn't want to go the Derby distance of one and one-quarter miles. And that he might like the turf more than the dirt.
A few other names that caught my eye; Far Right and Capitalism. The horse with the most nominal appeal to me would be Entwistle. Far Right hails from the Blue Grass state, but Capitalism and Entwistle each stand an infinitesimally small chance of winning as they were both bred in Ontario, Canada. I like my power trios from Ontario, not my Derby winners. The last foreign-bred colt to win the Kentucky Derby was Tomy Lee from Great Britain in 1959. Another Brit won in 1917. Thus ends the list of foreign-bred winners of the Kentucky Derby.
*********
As an aside, many things are up for conjecture but this is not; John Entwistle was the greatest bassist of all-time.
*********
And because you cannot have too many asides, here is another.
You often hear about and/or read that Lexington, Kentucky is "the heart of horse country;" the more broad implication being that the Bluegrass State is, itself, horse country. Here are some thoroughbred breeding statistics that reinforce this conceptualization, courtesy of this article from The Blood-Horse:
With the 2014 foaling season essentially completed there have been, through September 9th, as reported to The Jockey Club:
1,629 live foals in California
1,585 in Florida
1,037 in Louisiana
1,025 in New York
531 in New Mexico
514 in Pennsylvania
455 in Oklahoma
454 in Ontario, Canada
440 in Texas where everything is bigger except the number of potential Kentucky Derby winners.
The number in Ohio is top secret but believed to be more than 1.
In Europe the statistics are recorded in metric form so they are indecipherable.
In 2014, Kentucky produced 11,089 live foals.
Here is another look at the most historic of all horse farms. Calumet Farm neighbors Keeneland where you will find racing as it was meant to be.
*********
Wise Dan, aka The Free Money Express and a great-grandson of Secretariat, returns to his home turf (pun intended) at Keeneland on October 4th to run in the (Grade I) Shadwell Turf Mile. Since July 4, 2011 Wise Dan has won 18 of 21 races yet in that span he's lost two of his three runnings in the Shadwell (finishing 2nd in 2013 [when heavy rains forced stewards to switch the race to the main track and off of the turf], 1st in 2012 and 4th in 2011).
October 4th is part of a spectacular Saturday of racing for Keeneland as it opens its Fall Meet that weekend. On the card that day are five, count 'em - five, graded stakes races; the (G3) Woodford, the (G2) Thoroughbred Club of America, the (G1) First Lady, the (G1) Claiborne Breeders' Futurity and, of course, the (G1) Shadwell Turf Mile. No other day during the Fall Meet at Keeneland offers as many graded stakes races.
If you've never seen a truly great, legendary thoroughbred racehorse in person and if you've never been to Keeneland, might I suggest you take advantage of this confluence of history and pageantry to avail yourself of a rare, memorable opportunity.
If you cannot make it to scenic Keeneland on Saturday, NBCSN will broadcast the event from 4:30pm-6pm (check your local listings), and on Sunday the NBC mothership will broadcast from Keeneland two more graded stakes races between 5pm-6pm.
Steve Haskin, writing for The Blood-Horse, recently posted a column titled "A day in the life of Wise Dan" which takes you along behind the scenes at Saratoga, beginning at 4:50am, with Wise Dan on race day. There are pictures for those who just like to look at horses (you know who you are).
Roll the credits!
No comments:
Post a Comment