North American Racing

Brudder_A wrote: 2017 Road to the Triple Crown Sill in Europe but watching the Road to the Kentucky Derby closely. This weekend: G2 Rebel Stakes (1 1/16 miles) @ Oaklawn Park Undefeated Malagacy (3/1) continued his climb up the ranks for trainer Todd Pletcher winning his first graded race in fine style in 1:43:00 by 2 lengths. G1 Arkansas Derby probably next. Next weekend: G2 (UAE) United Arab Emirates Derby (1900 metres) @ Meydan Racecourse, Dubai G3 Jack Cincinnati Casino Spiral Stakes (1 1/8 miles) @ Turfway Park, Kentucky G3 Sunland Derby (1 1/8 miles) @ Sunland Park Racetrack, New Mexico

Brudder_A wrote: 2017 Road to the Triple Crown Still in Stockholm, Sweden.  Traelled around the Swedish countryside and managed to find the Swedish stud farms and training facilities in the countryside. This weekend: G1 xpressbet.com Florida Derby (1 1/8 miles) @ Gulfstream Park, Hallandale Beach, Florida Second favorite Always Dreaming (11/4) bolted in by 5 lengths in a fast time of 1:47.47, in fact fastest in the Fla Derby since Alydar won 1:47 in 1978. Trainer Todd Pletcher is starting to have multiple entries as far as qualifiers for the Run for the Roses. State Of Honor continued his good form while favourite Gunnevera came from well back to just grab third place. G2 Louisiana Derby (1 1/8 miles) @ Fair Grounds Race Course, New Orleans, Louisiana Favorite Girvin (11/8 fav.) outclassed his eight rivals taking the lead in the straight and winning by 1 1/4 lengths in a time of 1:49.77. Patch finished second and Local Hero was in third. Girvin takes over the lead in points gained to qualify for the Kentucky Derby. Next weekend: G1 Santa Anita Derby, Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, California G2 Wood Memorial, Aqueduct Racecourse, New York G2 Blue Grass Stakes, Keeneland Racecourse, Lexington, Kentucky

Brudder_A wrote: 2017 Road to the Triple Crown Few days still in Stockholm, Sweden.  More police walking around with automatic machine guns but I'm too busy with work to even bother asking why even this place has good problems. Anyway back to the KDerby Trail which is full of question marks as we head into the last few weeks. This weekend: G1 Santa Anita Derby  Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, California (1 1/8 miles) Gormley (6/1) outbattled his rivals in 1:51.16, the slowest Santa Anita Derby time since 1957. That's not promising but he ranks second on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 125 points. G2 Wood Memorial, Aqueduct Racecourse, New York (1 1/8 miles) New Jersey bred Irish War Cry rebounded from his debacle last start in Florida and won by 3 1/2 lengths in 1:50.91. Its been 25 years since a NJ bred has started in the KDerby. G2 Blue Grass Stakes, Keeneland Racecourse, Lexington, Kentucky (1 1/8 miles) Longshot Irad (31/1) stunned the crowd by being the first maiden to win the event in 1:50.39. Next weekend: G1 Arkansas Derby, Oaklawn Park, Arkansas (1 1/8 miles) G3 Lexington Stakes, Keeneland Racecourse, Lexington, Kentucky (1 1/16 miles)

Turf Paradise: Arizona(Dirt Track) Gene Fleming Breeders Derby Stakes

8/8 Yo Y Me ( Hasn't raced for 112 days, but still should be too good for these)

Tomorrow 23/4/17

Brudder_A wrote: 2017 Road to the Triple Crown Back in the US and really getting into the spring weather here on the East Coast as the KD Derby is only 12 days away. This weekend: G3 Illinois Derby, Hawthorne, Chicago  1 1/8 miles (No points for K.Derby) Multiplier (9/2) improved off his maiden victory at the Fair Grounds (March 17) with a desperate lunge at the finish over favourite Hedge Fund (9/5) in 1:47.98. Federico Tesio Stakes, Laurel Park, Maryland 1 1/8 miles I forgot to mention this race last week because it has lost its class grading and is only considered a Black Type. The race was once a G3 and was well regarded. Nonetheless, the race is an automatic entry for The Preakness (2nd leg of the Triple Crown) for the winner. The Chad Brown trained New York State bred Twisted Tom won by 2 1/4 lengths in a time 1:53.60 in the slop. The horse was not Triple Crown nominated but the win nullifies a $150,000 supplemental fee. Next weekend: We'll look at the possible field for the Kentucky Derby

Possible Entries with points gained for qualification

1     Girvin     150       - 1st Louisiana Derby, 1st Risen Star Stakes
2     Classic Empire     132 - 1st Arkansas Derby, 2YO Champion     
3     Gormley     125 - 1st Santa Anita Derby     
4     Irap     113     - 1st Blue Grass Stakes 
5     Irish War Cry     110 - 1st Wood Memorial      
6     Thunder Snow (IRE)     100 - 1st UAE Derby     
7     Always Dreaming     100 - 1st Florida Derby     
8     Gunnevera     84     - 1st Fountain of Youth, 3rd Florida Derby 
9     Practical Joke     74      - 2nd Blue Grass, 1st Champagne Stakes (2YO)
10     J Boys Echo     63      - 1st Gotham Stakes
11     State of Honor     62      - 2nd Florida Derby, 2nd Tampa Bay Derby  
12     Tapwrit     54         - 1st  Tampa Bay Derby  
13     Hence     50         - 1st Sunland Derby
14     Fast and Accurate     50  - 1st Spiral Stakes  
15     McCraken     40       - 1st Sam Davis Stakes
16     Battle of Midway   40 - 2nd Santa Anita Derby           
17     Patch     40     - 2nd Louisiana Derby  
18     Untrapped     34     - 2nd Risen Star Stakes, 3rd Rebel Stakes
19     Lookin At Lee     32     - 3rd Southwest Stkes    
20     Sonneteer     30     -  2nd Rebel Stakes (Maiden)
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21     Royal Mo     30     -  1st Robert B. Lewis Stakes, 3rd Santa Anita Derby
22     Local Hero     30      - 3rd Louisiana Derby, 3rd Risen Star Stakes 

Another "Feel good" story.

Cheapest horse in the derby - Gunnevera. Cost $16,000 at Keeneland during the eighth session of the 2015 September yearling sale. Has now earned nearly $1.2 million.  (Not bad !)


Gunnevera is one of about 55 horses trained by Sano, a Venezuela native.

In 2015, Sano purchased 23 horses at yearling and 2-year-olds in training sales for slightly more than $1 million in total, including Gunnevera. Sano said he was attracted to the colt because of his stride.

Alessandro Sano, the trainer’s son, analyzes the pedigrees of some 50-60 horses a year his father is interested in buying, winnowing it down to about 10 to pursue. The younger Sano added Gunnevera to the list primarily because he had been an admirer of Dialed In while the horse was on the track.

Trifecta Classic Empire, Patch, Gormley !!  

Kentucky Derby May 6, 2017 6:46 PM EDT

Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Odds
1	Lookin At Lee	Corey Lanerie	Steve Asmussen	20-1
2	Thunder Snow	Christophe Soumillion	Saeed bin Suroor	20-1
3	Fast and Accurate	Channing Hill	Mike Maker	50-1
4	Untrapped	Ricardo Santana Jr.	Steve Asmussen	30-1
5	Always Dreaming	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	5-1
6	State of Honor	Jose Lezcano	Mark Casse	30-1
7	Girvin	Mike Smith	Joe Sharp	15-1
8	Hence	Florent Geroux	Steve Asmussen	15-1
9	Irap	Mario Gutierrez	Doug O'Neill	20-1
10	Gunnevera	Javier Castellano	Antonio Sano	15-1
11	Battle of Midway	Flavien Prat	Jerry Hollendorfer	30-1
12	Sonneteer	Kent Desormeaux	Keith Desormeaux	50-1
13	J Boys Echo	Luis Saez	Dale Romans	20-1
14	Classic Empire	Julian Leparoux	Mark Casse	4-1
15	McCraken	Brian Hernandez Jr.	Ian Wilkes	5-1
16	Tapwrit	Jose Ortiz	Todd Pletcher	20-1
17	Irish War Cry	Rajiv Maragh	Graham Motion	6-1
18	Gormley	Victor Espinoza	John Shirreffs	15-1
19	Practical Joke	Joel Rosario	Chad Brown	20-1
20	Patch	Tyler Gaffalione	Todd Pletcher	30-1
AE	Royal Mo	Gary Stevens	John Shirreffs	20-1
AE	Master Plan	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	50-1

Classic Empire to win an open race.

Rain has hit Churchill Downs at the start of an expected a three-day stretch of wet weather leading up to the Kentucky Derby.

Nothing like a day at The Derby  , in the pouring rain ,  with 155 thousand people all trying to get under cover !    To think I traveled half way around the world for that !  Almost did it again this year.  Thinking now I am glad I didnt .

acacia alba wrote: Nothing like a day at The Derby  , in the pouring rain ,  with 155 thousand people all trying to get under cover !    To think I traveled half way around the world for that !  Almost did it again this year.  Thinking now I am glad I didnt .

And we are going to miss you. Did hear the Louisville/Lexington police and ICE are quite relieved that you are remaining in OZ. Your Wanted posters are increasing in value. Auctions are calling them pop art. Not yet Dead or Alive vintage, but if you visit the USA again pick a sanctuary city and use an alias.

JMHO, but include a couple of longshots in your betting. This yank thinks it's a Mind That Bird kind of year. I like Hence, along with a few others. None of the professional handicappers can make sense of this field.

Are there any West Coast trained horses & if so, could one of you please list them? Numbers are fine

Lucky they weren't 9, 11 and 13 otherwise Brooke Redemption would be telling us to back them.