Wednesday, March 28, 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ZENYATTA!

April 1, 2004, "Little Tige" was born, by Street Cry out of Vertigineux
                And, she lived happily ever after!
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LET'S GO TO THE RACES - Mar 31 - Apr 1

A quick reference tool meant to help the newer fan (like me!) 

NOTE:   AFTER A RACE HAS BEEN RUN, you can return here, click on the CARD to view the Results and watch a REPLAY.
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BIG RACING WEEKEND ON TAP!
This is a huge racing weekend, and for the next couple of weeks, the races get pricier and more important for those three year olds who might want a spot in the starting gate the First Saturday in May for the Kentucky Derby!


What's up this weekend, and what makes it even more fun, is WORLD CUP DAY, where the richest race in the world, the WORLD CUP, along with 7 other races, will be run in Dubai for a LOT of big purses, including the richest, the WORLD CUP, which will be for a whopping $10,000,000!  That means you don't even have to win to take home a big paycheck!  About the World Cup  Dubai World Cup guidebook

Some American horses hoping to bring home the big prize include a filly, ROYAL DELTA!  She's a Grade 1 winner and is considered one of the favorites to win the coveted WORLD CUP, run at 1 1/4 miles, and she has already won at the distance.  In addition, Bob Baffert's GAME ON DUDE, is also listed as a favorite for this race.  Game On Dude barely missed winning the Breeders' Cup Classic last fall, when he was surprised at the wire by Drosselmeyer to wind up in a strong second.  Bob Baffert's THE FACTOR is considered one of the favorites to win the Dubai Golden Shaheen, a sprint at 6 furlongs.

Another Breeders' Cup graduate, ST. NICHOLAS ABBEY, trained by world class conditioner, Aidan O'Brien, will contest the 1 1/2 mile DUBAI SHEEMA CLASSIC.  O'Brien's son, Joseph, will be in the saddle, and together they won at the distance last fall at the Breeders' Cup.

The eight World Cup races will be LIVE STREAMED by the DRF, so anybody with a computer can watch the races!  It will also be telecast on other horseracing television and internet sites.  Details about these races are listed below, in time order.  In the U.S., we will be watching these races on Saturday morning from 8:10 a.m. to the last race with a post time of 1:40 p.m., New York time.  Links below will take you to other sites with more details, including Past Performances, full cards for each race.

In the U.S. several RACES FOR THREE YEAR OLDS, including three important races for FILLIES:  the Grade 1, $300,000, SANTA ANITA OAKS, at Santa Anita; the Grade 2, $300,000, GULFSTREAM OAKS; and the Grade 2, $500,000 FAIR GROUNDS OAKS, all are considered "preps" FOR 3 YEAR OLD FILLIES. Some of the entries will no doubt be running in the Kentucky Oaks the day before the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.  There could even possibly be a filly or two with dreams of running in the Kentucky Derby itself, as has happened on a few occasions in the past.

TWO DERBY PREPS:  The Grade 1 FLORIDA DERBY and the Grade 2 LOUISIANA DERBY, each with purses totaling $1,000,000, which will certainly pad the bank accounts for those colts needing graded earnings to qualify for the Kentucky Derby.  Over 400 horses have been "nominated" to the Kentucky Derby, and since there are only 20 slots, graded earnings are used to qualify the top 20.  For a list of the horses with graded earnings, click here

Under the race descriptions below you will find a "CARD" for each race.  If the race is in the U.S. you can come back here after the race and click on that Card to watch a race replay.  Replays of the World Cup races will be available at many sites, including YouTube.

FLASH:  DRF will LIVE STREAM the full CARD for WORLD CUP DAY, Saturday, March 31:  DRF - Watch live video of full card at Meydan  Lots of info include FREE PPs.

FLASH:  DRF will LIVE STREAM the full CARD for GULFSTREAM'S FLORIDA DERBY, Saturday, March 31:  DRF - Watch live video of full card Gulfstream  Lots of info including Preview VIDEO. PSSST! After you watch the Florida Derby, stick around to see if Aqsaam can remain undefeated against Keertana in the Orchid Stakes, a 1 7/16 mi marathon for fillies and mares!

FLASH:  DRF will LIVE STREAM the full CARD for SANTA ANITA OAKS, Saturday, March 31:  DRF - Watch live video of full card Santa Anita  Lots of info including Preview VIDEO.

Take a look at the cards below, where major stakes action will occur at Meydan (Dubai), Gulfstream, the Fair Grounds, and Santa Anita.

DON'T FORGET:  Even if you can't watch the U.S. races live, you can come back here after the race has run, click on the CARD listed under the race, and watch a REPLAY!  Let's go to the races!

COUNTDOWN TO THE CROWN:  A "must-read" is Jeremy Plonk's weekly rundown on the Road to the Derby.  DRF: Week 13 - March 30, 2012   He covers the week that was as well as looking toward the weekend.  He also digs into some of the undercard action.  Includes videos of last weekend's races.

TCI - Triple Crown Insider - VIDEO Weekly Review  Jon Siegel and Joel Cunningham wrap up past action and look forward to upcoming races - Twice a week updates

Triple Crown Talk: 

Full cards are shown below, listed in time order, all adjusted to ET.

Just want a simple list of the races, time ordered?  click here

FEATURED RACES:
Note:  Times may fluctuate.  All times adjusted for EDT
DUBAI WORLD CUP DAY
PP Charts - Dubai World Cup Day      
DRF's Marcus Hersh handicaps the World Cup - VIDEO
Royal Delta, Game On Dude carry American hopes in World Cup

Here's your "cheat sheet" for all the World Cup Day races.  AmWest Entertainment's Dick Powell sets the morning line for World Cup races, and he has handicapped all of the World Cup races for you:  BHorse: Dick's Picks for Dubai World Cup Day

8:10 am ET |Godolphin Mile |G2| Meydan| $1,000,000| 3&up| 1 mi |Race 2
DRF: CARD    VIDEO Preview - Steve Andersen

9:45 am ET |Dubai Gold Cup |G3| Meydan| $1,000,000| 3&up| 2 miT |Race 3
DRF: CARD    VIDEO - Gold Cup Preview - Steve Andersen

10:25 am ET |UAE Derby |G2| Meydan| $2,000,000| 3yo| 1 3/16/mi |Race 4
DRF: CARD    VIDEO Preview - Dan Illman
Lucky Chappy faces stiff test in UAE Derby  Helmet carries highweight at 131 pounds

11:00 am ET |Al Quoz Sprint |G1| Meydan| $1,000,000| 3&up| 5fT |Race 5
DRF: CARD    VIDEO Preview - Dan Illman

11:35 am ET |Dubai Golden Shaheen |G1| Meydan| $2,000,000| 3&up| 6f |Race 6
 DRF: CARD     VIDEO Preview - Dan Illman
The Factor gives Baffert another shot at Rocket Man in Golden Shaheen
Australia's great sprinter, Sepoy, U.S. Giant Ryan, also entered

12:25 pm ET |Dubai Duty Free |G1| Meydan| $5,000,000| 3&up| 1 1/8 mi |Race 7
DRF: CARD     VIDEO Preview - Dan Illman

1:00 pm ET|Dubai Sheema Classic |G1| Meydan| $5,000,000| 3&up| 1 1/2 miT|Race 8
DRF: CARD     VIDEO Preview - Steve Andersen
St. Nicholas Abbey, Mahbooba, Treasure Beach, Cirrus De Aigles

1:40 pm ET|Dubai World Cup |G1| Meydan| $10,000,000| 3&up| 1 1/4 mi |Race 9
 DRF: CARD    VIDEO Preview - Marcus Hersh
Royal Delta, Game On Dude, So You Think, Master of Hounds, Transcend, Mendip

U. S. RACES:
GULFSTREAM, SANTA ANITA, FAIR GROUNDS

Free Brisnet PPs
1:26 ET Rampart S |G3| Gulfstream Park| $150,000| 4&up| f&m| 1 1/8 mi | Race 3
BHorse: CARD
Awesome Maria looks tough to beat in the Rampart
Awesome Maria - Maybe they should call her "Dancing Maria"!

2:23 ET Skip Away S |G3| Gulfstream Park| $100,000| 4&up| 1 3/16 mi | Race 5
BHorse; CARD
Where's Sterling, Uptowncharlybrown

3:55 ET Appleton S |G3| Gulfstream Park| $100,000| 4&up| 1 miT |Race 8
BHorse: CARD

5:03 ET Santa Anita Oaks |G1| Santa Anita| $300,000| 3yo| f| 1 1/16 mi |Race 4
BHorse: CARD
BHorse: Eden's Moon, Reneesgotzip in SA Oaks rematch
Willa B Awesome, Reneesgotzip, Eden’s Moon

5:03 ET Gulfstream Oaks |G2| Gulfstream Park| $300,000| 3yo| f| 1 1/8 mi |Race 10
BHorse: CARD - Gulfstream Oaks    This race will be part of NBC Sports (formerly Versus) coverage.
DRF: Grace Hall, Yara clash again in Gulfstream Oaks

                         Derby Prep
5:40 ET Florida Derby |G1| Gulfstream Park| $1,000,000| 3yo| 1 1/8 mi |Race 11
NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus) to cover Florida Derby and the Gulfstream Oaks
Union Rags, El Padrino, Take Charge Indy. Fort Loudon
BHorse: Florida Derby CARD - Ignore heading
BHorse: Florida Derby - Union Rags draws post 6

5:58 ET Fair Grounds Oaks |G2| Fair Grounds | $500,000| 3yo| f| 1 1/16 mi |Race 10
BHorse - CARD
DRF: Fair Grounds Oaks favorite Summer Applause learns lesson in loss
Avie's Sense out, while Summer Applause heads up Oaks field
Disposablepleasure, Summer Applause, Small Kitchen

6:20 ET Orchid S |G3| Gulfstream Park| $150,000| 4&up| f&m| 1 1/2 mi T |Race 12
BHorse: CARD
Keertana to get back on winning ways in Orchid Stakes
Aqsaam to seek cover in Orchid Stakes
Aqsaam, Keertana
See Special Profile on Aqsaam  Click here

7:07 ET Evening Jewel S | Cal-Bred | Santa Anita | $200,000 | 3 yof | Race 8
BHorse: CARD

8:08 ET Echo Eddie S |Cal-Bred |Santa Anita | $200,000 | 3yo | 6.5f |Race 10
BHorse: CARD
Cal-bred, Bertrando has 3 colts in this one!

Sunday, April 1

 2:47 ET  Duncan F Kenner S | Fair Grounds| $150,000| 3&up| 6f | Race 4
BHorse: CARD
DRF: Cash Refund vs Gantry in Round 3 at the Kenner
"Todd Pletcher’s  Soaring Stocks has won three races in a row, but none of them look good enough to handle the top Fair Grounds sprinters. Zero Rate Policy, another Florida shipper, came within a nose of winning the Mr. Prospector Stakes two races ago, but that was a career-peak effort. Joe Hollywood has proven little more than early-pace fodder when matched against Gantry and Cash Refund, while Sweetsouthernmoon’s best hope is to sit back and pick off tiring speed horses to earn a minor placing."

4:51 ET  New Orleans H |G2| Fair Grounds |$400,000| 4&up| 101/8 mi | Race 8
BHorse: CARD
Big names clash in the New Orleans Handicap
"A field of nine was drawn for the 1 1/8-mile event, which features some of the potential top handicap horses in the country. Mission Impazible, Nehro, and Pants On Fire all have had success over the Fair Grounds main track in the past, and each have turned in sharp races to begin their 2012 seasons. Also in the field is the only grade I winner, Toby's Corner, who signaled readiness for a strong campaign with a solid 4-year-old debut last month. Throw in recent Mineshaft Handicap (gr. II) winner Nates Mineshaft and you have yourself one heck of an undercard race."

5:22 ET  Mervin H Muniz Jr Memorial H |G2| Fair Grounds| $400,000|4&up| 1 1/8 miT | Race 9
BHorse: CARD
Smart Bid seeks repeat in Mervin Muniz

                         Derby Prep  
5:55 ET  Louisiana Derby |G2| Fair Grounds| $1,000,000| 3yo| 1 1/8 mi | Race 10
BHorse: CARD
BHorse: Mark Valeski, 13 others in Louisiana Derby
DRF: Louisiana Derby VIDEO PREVIEW
Z Dager, Rousing Sermon, Mark Valeski, Mr. Bowling, Shared Property, Arm Force (scratched)
Mike Smith aboard Rousing Sermon

6:58 ET Costa Rising S | Fair Grounds |$90,000 |4 yo+ |1 1/16 mi | Race 12
BHorse: CARD
BloodHorse: The undercard action won't get much better than watching the remarkable STAR GUITAR, who goes postward as the heavy favorite in the Costa Rising in seeking to become the all-time leading earner among Louisiana-bred horses. The purse will enable STAR GUITAR to pass Happy Ticket atop the earnings list with a victory. To date, Star Guitar has earned $1,635,862, or $52,976 less than what Happy Ticket made. Star Guitar, winner in 22 of 28 career starts, was assigned the outside post in a field of 10 entered in the Costa Rising, a 1 1/16-mile race run around two turns. Corey Lanerie, who has ridden the 7-year-old horse in 6 of his last 7 races, will be back aboard Sunday.
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News/California:  ZENYATTA TO GET A STATUE AT SANTA ANITA.  Zenyatta to get a statue across from John Henry at Santa Anita.  The unveiling is scheduled to take place at the 2012 Breeders Cup, scheduled at Santa Anita in November.  DRF: Zenyatta gets John Henry treatment at Santa Anita
News/Palm Meadows:  Winter Memories back on the turf  Pointed to the Jenny Wiley at Keeneland April 14.  Goal after that is June 9 is Just A Game stakes on Belmont Stakes Day.

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Missed your favorite race?  BloodHorse has a searchable results page with Race Replay Videos by Date, Track, or Race Type.  BloodHorse Race Results page - Domestic & Internat'l

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Links to past races for each horse entered
Graded Stakes Database - Powerful database / Race Videos
Thoroughbred Report - Companion to Graded Stakes Database

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UPCOMING RACES/CALENDARS:
For more on current racing activity, browse through the stories, videos and options at:  Daily Racing Form, BloodHorse, Thoroughbred Times.   HRTV Racing Calendar
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Useful tools:


The Juvenile Crop
- Now the three year olds!

FUTURE - KENTUCKY DERBY / OAKS

NEWS/Older Horses: 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS: 

Videos worth watching: 
Chewin' the Fat is a new international show based in Australia covering horse racing.

Cloudy's Knight - Video 41 minutes

The story of Charismatic - ESPN
I've given a page to this story. Charismatic - 5 videos of the ESPn broadcast

INDUSTRY NEWS

BREEDING NEWS

COOL TIP:  Come back here after the races and click on the cards for the featured races below and see the RESULTS and Order of Finish, as well as VIDEO REPLAY of the race.  Also:  to get the results for all the races on a particular day, this is BloodHorse's results page:  Race Results  There will be a "short list" but scroll down and click on "View Full List".  Most will have videos of the races!! Easy way to get a roundup of a day's racing action quickly!!

New to the sport or just want a place to learn more?
Check the following sites:

Stakes Entries - Video Replays


COMING UP
Seventeen stakes races with purses of more than $3 million are scheduled for the 26-day season, which commences November 10 and continues through December 18.
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WATCH VIDEO REPLAYS OF ALL STAKES RACES
BloodHorse has a great video replay site to watch all the stakes action:
You can watch all stakes races for a particular DAY, or by TRACK, or a combination.  You can also watch INTERNATIONAL and DOMESTIC racing action!  Because these are links and not embedded videos, the site loads quickly.
 
RECAP OF WEEKEND RACING ACTION: 
DRF: Weekend stakes preview - videos

WATCH RACING ONLINE!
Note:  There are free sites to watch online: check out http://www.ntra.com/ or NTRA Live Stream or sign up for a free trial account at http://www.twinspires.com/content/video  You can also catch the replays right after the big races at http://www.raceday360.com/   Calracing has live coverage of races - Will need to register  Check frequently at DRF as they live stream many of the Derby Preps and marquee races:  http://www.drf.com/

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A really good site for the new fan:
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NOTE: In order to enjoy and use the functionality of the various sites below, some sites may require you to register, however, there is no charge for most of what you will want access to.  If you want to go to the next level and actually place bets and learn more about handicapping, some of these types of services have a fee, but this is strictly your choice whether to use these services.

DRF Grid: Today's Action - Upcoming & Prior Race Days - Click on any track "day", and pull up that day's entries for each of the races
DRF - Starts with ACTIVE tracks - Click on the DAY next to the track name to see that day's full race card. 

Simple Alpha List of American Graded Stakes by Stakes Name, by Grade I, II, III

This includes a list of all American tracks


Useful web sites 
Twin Spires Race viewer - One of the best individual race video sites - You will need to register, free

Links to blogs and other sites I have found useful:

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