Live Blogging

OH MY GOD! WOW! D'Tara wins, Big Brown eased....he looks very wet going off the track. What a difference from the post parade! Damn, didn't play a thing on D'Tara, but did get money on Denis of Cork. It's dead heat for third between Anak Nakal and Ready's Echo.

Final thoughts before the race: Big Brown look cool in the post parade, but Guadacanal looked quite taken aback by the noise. Icabad Crane looked washy, which is disappointing. Here we go...

ABC officially SUCKS! Rather than show the G1 Manhattan, they've got another "human interest story" on Kent Desormeaux and family!! God, they miss airing the BEST race on the card! Shake the Bank did his thing, leading nearly the entire race, but it was Dancing Forever who nipped Out of Control, with Pays to Dream third. Strike a Deal got fourth, and the old warrior Better Talk Now made a nice run from last to get up amongst the leaders. It seems awful fast too...the final time was 1:59.62, nearly three seconds faster than last year's edition.

Of all the races today, the G1 Manhattan is the toughest. What a great collection of turfsters! And how much better would it have been had Einstein been here? I can't believe Stream of Gold is presently out to 18-1! This is the kind of race that screams for a dime superfecta, but I think I've settled on a $1 tri with Proudinsky, Dancing Forever and Stream of Gold (9-10-11). Oh, but I'm really tempted to throw in Pays to Dream with Edgar Prado up....

I missed placing a bet on the G2 Woody Stephens, since I missed that coverage switched over to ABC from ESPN. Still, my choice Silver Edition finished second to J Be K with 24-1 longshot True Quality rounding out a $2 tri that paid $666 (ooooooohhhh, scary!)

Woohoo! Zaftig caught Indian Blessing to win the G1 Acorn!

Indeed, Vacare wasn’t ready, finishing well back in the G1 Just a Game. Garrett Gomez rode Ventura to a nice win ($21.20) over Lady of Venice, and 44-1 longshot Forever Together ($11.20 show) rounded out a sweet $1 tri that paid $1154. Nice job, Patrick and Terry, hitting Ventura!

Benny the Bull just got up on Man of Danger to win the G2 True North. My pick Suave Jazz tanked, finishing in front of only Saint Damon who was pulled up and vanned off after the race, apparently related to the extreme heat. Without real clear views of the horses pre-race, it's hard to tell who's handling the weather and who's not. It was interesting that Big Brown appeared agitated in the holding barn, although Bob Baffert didn't seem concerned about it when asked during the ESPN broadcast. Still, in this heat, I would think he could wear himself out exerting so much energy.

I jumped in at race 4, where Vitruvius was a non-entity, finishing only ahead of last place Firejack. Kent Desormeaux rode Forefathers to a resounding win. In race 5, I made a "pussy" show bet on Endless Circle—who won at over 20-1! Urgh! I hate when I do that. Still, I got $11.60 (as opposed to $43 win and $18.20 place).