I'm more than just a little disappointed with myself this year. The rigors of class and Scrubs reruns have found me lacking in the usual knowledge I pretend to have in the Fall Classic that is the Breeder's Cup. For this I apologize. If, say, one of you were to ask me who I liked in the 6th, my forced reply would contain the words "who's in the 6th?" I'm not happy about this, but all I can do is learn from my mistakes, vow to give it my all going into the Derby Prep season (which I suppose begins Saturday in the Juvenile where we get to eliminate one horse from Derby staradom), and try to steal as much info as possible from those who are giving the day the adequate attention it deserves. If none of you wish to be stupider at the end of this post, I suggest that you stop reading right here and check out one of the following who knows whats going on a little better than I do:
http://handride.blogspot.com/
http://theraceisnottotheswift.blogspot.com/
Good stuff on both, Patrick keeps things updated and on good topic and John has a some race videos which are entertaining.
All of this being said, my concentration will not be on who will win come Saturday (a task I consider too pretentious for myself given my aptitude level) and focus more on who I want to win. This way, I'm always going to be right, unless someone catches me lying to myself which so far only my friends John Dewar, Justerini & Brooks have managed to do.
The Juvenile Fillies - 1 race in and I'm already embarrased. A quick scan reveals Point Ashley did not make the field so I'll go ahead and take Octave with Todd Pletcher and Garret Gomez aboard. Interesting to note that Gomez has the mount on 6-1 Octave while Pletcher's normal go to man John Velazquez sits atop the 10-1 Cotton Blossom. No D. Wayne and no Bobby Baffert makes me a little sad.
The Juvenile - This race should be renamed The Derby Kiss of Death for what its done to past winners. Anybody know the wherabouts of Stevie Wonderboy? Baffert and Lukas both show up here with horses I think I could outrun. Pletcher has 3 studs and he's proven that only an idiot would bet against him this year. Enter me. I will take the Baffert Malt Magic if for no other reason than I like publicity and I want the Pletcher trio to stick around for a Spring run to the Roses. I might be wrong but I've been there before. Most recently with my cereal this morning when I failed to notice that my milk was not okay with a change to November.
The Filly and Mare Turf - Once more Pletcher has 3. Once more I'm blindfolded throwing darts at a map. I will take Ouija Board because I've seen her run and, frankly, it was impressive. I'll move on and hope that no one noticed me comment on this one.
Ah The Sprint - My lock of the day with Henny Hughes. Only problem here is the tendency for a new horse to sneak in the picture (Squirtle Squirt, Cajun Beat, almost Thunderello). Henny's the man and almost classed his way down the triple crown trail with no ability to get the distance. The only thing that has stayed with him on the track this year is the announcer and the betting public. He deserves this one.
The Mile - Uh oh. I've seen a handful of the horses in this one but I'm sentimentally going with Badge of Silver. I was a Badge of Silver fan on his triple crown run in 2003 when he was chasing around Funny Cide and Peace Rules under the care of Ronny Werner. Injuries and trainer changes later, he's back and I wish him the best. Unfortunately Jared from the Subway commercials has a better chance of winning this one than he does.
The Distaff - I actually do like 3 in this one. Spun Sugar, Lemons Forever and Bushfire, unfortunately for ridiculous reasons. I hope you stopped reading before this point, I'm only embarrasing myself.
The Turf - Not wanting to give up my seat on the Pletcher bandwagon I'm taking two of his in this one, English Channel and Go Deputy. Decent chances on these two but there's a lot of class I'm going to have to pretend doesnt exist. I suggest you do the same.
The Classic - This is going to be a real winner of a race. Those of you who remember Brother Derek and Lawyer Ron will get to watch them chase the field in this one. Bernardini is the obvious class but I feel like its really going to be anyone's race. He shouldnt be even money. You're getting great prices on Lava Man and Invasor and you also have such names as Flower Alley, Sun King and Giacomo trying to muddle the picture. The standard fare of Euro invaders are back again with David Junior and George Washington (coincidentally what I will be naming my first 2 children.) Check this one out for a good article on the simmering feud that is Dubai and the Irish. But as I'm not trying to pick a winner but only who I want to win, I'll be going with Perfect Drift. I love the old boy. He shows up for everything, rarely winning but consistently at a long price in the money. Nothing would make me happier than to see him romp home and send the foreign invaders packing.
Again, my apologies for a total lack of competency on my selections this year, but stick around and I'll try and make the upcoming months respectable.
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