Thoroughbred Racing 2021

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A happy note....today Got Stormy won the Grade 1 Fourstardave at Saratoga. I own 1 share of GS through MyRacehorse.com!
I'm an owner of a Grade 1 race mare!!!!

Here’s the Replay

 

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A happy note....today Got Stormy won the Grade 1 Fourstardave at Saratoga. I own 1 share of GS through MyRacehorse.com!
I'm an owner of a Grade 1 race mare!!!!

Here’s the Replay

I saw that! A couple of friends of mine also own shares. Pretty cool.

I am part owner, sort of, of an OTTB that is permanently with a rescue in Michigan. I contributed to the pool of money to get him out of a bad situation.

 

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The Pacific Classic was yesterday. So here’s a link to the 1994 Pacific Classic, won by my boy Tinners Way, equaling his daddy’s time for the mile and a quarter (Secretariat in the Deby, Tinner in the Pacific Classic).

1994 Pacific Classic

For trainer Bobby Frankel, there has been good, better and best in the $1-million Pacific Classic, and he rated Saturday as the best after his lightly regard...

youtu.be

 

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Firenze Fire Savages Yaupon in the Homestretch of the Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga

Bloodhorse Article

 

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I saw that! It was unbelievable! And in the we're-our-own-worst-enemy category, Firenze Fire looked like he might have won if he hadn't tried to play halter tag with Yaupon. It was actually scary, and lucky that Yaupon's tongue was not out on the side nearest Firenze Fire.

In other news, Whitmore was retired. Wonder where he will go, to his owner's farm, to Old Friends, or some place else?

 

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And @skipaway if you follow Barbara Livingston on Facebook, she has a fabulous photo of Firenze with his teeth on Yaupon’s halter, and another one of him after the race looking OH-SO-PISSED-OFF!

 

[Vagabond]

Figure skating has the whack; horse racing has the bite.

 

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I saw today that America's Joy, an unarmed 3-year-old filly, died in a training accident. She was by American Pharoah, and I watched her sell for $8.2 million in 2019. So sad.

And tonight Medina Spirit returns to the races at Delmar....

 

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This weekend at Parx we have Hot Rod Charlie, Medina Spirit, and Midnight Bourbon running in the same race. Hot Rod Charlie tries so hard, but so does Medina Spirit. I would like a dead heat between the two of them. If it can’t be a dead heat, I want Hot Rod Charlie to get his grade I win.

 

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This weekend at Parx we have Hot Rod Charlie, Medina Spirit, and Midnight Bourbon running in the same race. Hot Rod Charlie tries so hard, but so does Medina Spirit. I would like a dead heat between the two of them. If it can’t be a dead heat, I want Hot Rod Charlie to get his grade I win.

Medina Spirit and Private Mission, both of Baffert’s runners have been scratched out of the PA Derby and Cotillian. They will be running in the SoCal races.
MS out of Derby

 

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Medina Spirit and Private Mission, both of Baffert’s runners have been scratched out of the PA Derby and Cotillian. They will be running in the SoCal races.
MS out of Derby

Yeah, I just saw that. Hopefully it really was the post position that caused Baffert to scratch. I like Medina Spirit so much, such a gutsy, game little horse. Meanwhile, now I can root for Hot Rod Charlie without being conflicted.

 

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Hot Rod Charlie got his grade 1 win finally. But yikes, someone needs to teach that horse how to corner going into the home stretch.

 

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Baffert Allowed Entry into Breeders Cup Races but there is Enhanced Testing Required on his Horses

 

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I saw that about Baffert. I think it's a good idea. So there should be no surprise positive tests resulting in disqualification.

And speaking of thoroughbreds, Coolmore released their 2022 stud prices. Pharoah is "only" $80,000 and Justify is $100,000. Uncle Mo is the most expensive, but I forget the figure. Cupid is the least expensive at $5,000. There's actually quite a few stallions at pretty moderate prices. I always worry in those cases that they won't earn enough to really support the farm, and will tend to be over used. But every time I've been to Coolmore the horses look fantastic, and they were super super nice to my friends and me the last time I was there, in November 2019 (or maybe it was January 2020)...

 

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2021 Breeders Cup Pre-entrant list

I’m an owner through MyRacehorse of Got Stormy (Turf Mile) and Going to Vegas (Filly and Mare Turf)

 

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2021 Breeders Cup Pre-entrant list

I’m an owner through MyRacehorse of Got Stormy (Turf Mile) and Going to Vegas (Filly and Mare Turf)

I am an owner of a two year old by Into Mischief, Tufnel, through MyRacehorse.

That’s exciting that two of “your” horses are in the Breeders Cup!

 

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I am an owner of a two year old by Into Mischief, Tufnel, through MyRacehorse.

That’s exciting that two of “your” horses are in the Breeders Cup!

Me too! I bought 2 shares of Tufnel!

 

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What a nice horse Echo Zulu is! Just ran away from everyone. Her sire, Gun Runner, is doing very well, and I’m glad to see it. He stands at Three Chimneys, where I’ve been a number of times. They’re the ones who helped with bringing Silver Charm back from Japan to retire at Old Friends.

 

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Wow, what a clusterf in the Juvenile Turf. Modern Games accidentally scratched then allowed to run for purse money only. Impacted all the wagering around the world. He ran a beautiful race though.

 

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That was all very scary, @skipaway. I couldn’t believe Modern Games won it after all that. He was much the best.

I don’t know if it’s quite right to say he was accidentally scratched, though? It was premature, for sure, so maybe it was accidental. It was a shame.

At least no one was killed and the 2 horse did not seem injured, thank goodness.

I’m looking forward to the Distaff today and the Classic. So many good horses in the classic that I like: Hot Rod Charlie, Medina Spirit, Max Player. I am hoping one of them wins it, especially HRC or MS. Probably Medina Spirit.

 

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That was all very scary, @skipaway. I couldn’t believe Modern Games won it after all that. He was much the best.

I don’t know if it’s quite right to say he was accidentally scratched, though? It was premature, for sure, so maybe it was accidental. It was a shame.

From what I understand, the one vet thought MG broke through the gate instead of being released from the gate by the assistant starter.

 

[Vagabond]

From what I understand, the one vet thought MG broke through the gate instead of being released from the gate by the assistant starter.

There's nothing accidental about that. The veternarian didn't examine the horse or even confirm what had happened.

Good luck today, @skipaway. I have a soft spot for Got Stormy.

 

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A loss for Gamine, heavy favorite in the FM Sprint. Pundits talking about how she didn’t look or act like her norm….I just thought it’s b/c Baffert has been very closely watched and maybe she is missing her medication. Sorry, not sorry.

 

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I was surprised Knicks Go won so convincingly in the Classic yesterday. He ran sub 24 second quarters for the first half mile, and just got stronger. It's kind of mysterious how he made such a huge leap in performance when he was moved to Cox. Or maybe he just needed time to grow up.

I was rooting for Medina Spirit or Hot Rod Charlie, just because both those horses try so hard. I was happy to see Medina finish second. If he does not get disqualified from the Derby, he may have a three-year-old colt case to make.

 

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I was able to pet Shedaresthedevil on Tuesday at Fasig-Tipton. She tried to snuggle with me. I think it was the ginger cookies I had been eating shortly before. She sold for $5 million.

Also saw Swiss Skydiver. She was beautiful! She sold for $4.7 million, I think.

And went to the open house at Lanes End. I went with a friend on Tuesday and we were there kind of at the end, so she just asked the groom she knew if he would take Honor A.P. out of his stall and he did. We both were allowed to stand at his shoulder and pet him and get some pics. Very cool. We went back the next day, earlier so that there were breeders there, and saw quite a few of the stallions. The folks at Lanes End are so kind to visitors. Also, you can still recognize Quality Road from a mile away: he has a wild hairstyle and his forelock is always hanging down over his eyes and there is a lot of it, it is hilarious.

My friend Awesome Gem at Old Friends was happy to see me. Yesterday one of my friends had told me his neck was very itchy, and she’d been scratching his neck and all of a sudden -clunk- he laid his head on her shoulder. I was remembering the other day that he ran in Zenyatta’s BC classic.

I missed seeing Essential Quality yesterday. We’d gone over to the Spendthrift Open House but it turned out that it wasn’t starting for another 45 minutes. I’d made plans with a friend and wanted to head out of town before the bad weather hit. Oh well, next time.

 

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Perennial Woodbine 9 yr old gelding Pink Lloyd won his final race of his career, the GII Kennedy Road. He retires with a record of 29 wins in 37 starts, all at Woodbine in Canada!

 

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Maxfield went out a winner on Friday, too. I’m super excited to see him at Godolphin in January.

 

[Sarah]

Medina Spirit died of a heart attack.

Medina Spirit dies at Santa Anita

 

[ilovepaydays]

Here’s some photos of Medina Spirit during a workout about a week ago.

What a beautiful horse that he was.

 

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So sad. What a beautiful, hard trying horse.