This, That, and The Other Thing

Not much is holding my interest these days in American racing, thus the lull in posting (plus, the semester is winding down, so tons of grading to accomplish before the first week of December). With late spring racing in Australia gearing up, I’ll probably focus a bit more attention there over the next months.

Praying for rain in New York on Wednesday, as long-time favorite Bsharpsonata is a MTO entrant for the grassy Fairy Garden Stakes at Aqueduct. It’s her first race since that crushing defeat as the favorite in the G2 Black-Eyed Susan, and her owners Cloverleaf Farms switched her from Tim Salzman to Todd Pletcher. She has won two of three on turf, so it’s a shame her entry is conditional. John Velazquez rides her for the first time.

Is there really a market for undefeated (in three races) 2-year-old Run Away and Hide at stud? By City Zip out of a lightly-raced Runaway Groom mare, and the best black-type is a G1 (Young America Stakes) win by offspring of his third dam? For $7,500?!? I suppose only time will tell, but it hardly seems worth the effort, and there is such known quality out there for that price—Doneraile Court, Marquetry, Alphabet Soup, to name a few. Heck, for $2,500 more you can get Aptitude or even Holy Bull. Likewise, are breeders going to be knocking down the door for Santana Strings, son of Storm Cat’s far-less-talented half-brother Wheaton, by the Prospectors Gamble mare Smiling Santanna? Santana Strings who has won a total of 5 races in 40 tries, with his biggest win being the G2 Amsterdam at 3? Urgh! Do we really need another damn sprinting sire—and not even a very good one at that?

On a more positive note, a warm welcome to the most recent additions to the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance family:

As if you couldn’t tell by his blog name, Pull the Pocket is our token harness racing blogger—I kid! His insightful contributions about wagering issues are a must-read, and who better to introduce such fantastic harness racers as Somebeachsomewhere and Deweycheatumnhowe to a broader audience. Despite his protests to the contrary, he is indeed a fine blogger.

Another refreshing voice is Triple Dead Heat who writes eloquently about a broad array of horse racing issues, but particularly about Woodbine and his memories and interactions with the mecca of Canadian racing.

Yet another East Coaster, The Turk sharpens his handicapping skills and shares his insights in his blog, while the Horseplayers Association of North America put forth their perspectives on important issues facing horseplayers and the industry today.

Check them out as well as other TBA blogs by subscribing to our RSS feed.