Harry’s Picks 102014 Like Stanley looking for his Livingston I’ve been in the deep jungle of the Breeders Cup entry possibilities this weekend- I was able to do some research concerning the BC Classic as well as the Distaff and the complexities of the Dirt Mile and I drank deeply from the vagaries intoxicating expressed in the bouquet of the Xpressbet Sprint- let us take a look at the last of these the Xpress Sprint which when I last looked at it had sweet sixteen engaged in its preparation. I kind of liked the looks o Bourbon Courage because like Capo Bastonge traced back to a Secretariat sired ancestress- playing the distant horses tracing back to a titan of the courses is like playing Russian Roulette with only one chamber empty- but that is how I like to look at the participants of a race if I have mind to study it at any great length- for one truism of racing is that one handicapper may stay up all night figuring a “double” and fail the solution while another plays the 1st 2 numbers of his identity card and goes homeward bound with 500 clams for 2 seconds work- wages ala Brad Pitt! The grandma of Bourbon Courage I would hazard to guess is a full sister to Chief’s Crown and hopefully that sort of class is contagious- usually it seldom is- anyhow Bourbon Courage is the best foot forwarded by Sister Crown (the grandma of Bourbon Courage) thus far and of course Chief’s Crown won the 1st BC Juvenile race many moons ago- he also was a champion and was placed in the hallowed halls of Chef-de-Races a few years ago- Bourbon Courage has won the Super Derby a rich Cajun jaunt and recently ran 3rd in the Texas Mile- I suppose that gives some faint hope to those who will support Bourbon Courage- but the field has many flyers as is appropriate to such a rich and meaningful sprint race- especially No Nay Never who races with a 4th dam by imperishable Eight Thirty! Irish bred Rich tapestry is in there with his low DI: of 1.61 and Palace with its high DI: of 7.00! The sire of Bourbon Courage is exported Lion Heart once a favorite stallion but of late the agent of many a losing wager – I haven’t caught a Lion Heart runner in over a year seems to me- but again the 4th dam of Bourbon Courage is immortal Chris Evert, who was really historically very underrated- and as stated in this space on many occasions her race in the 19074 Travers (think it was ’74) was a sensational struggle in the mud versus plebian Holding Pattern and Duke of Earl-like Little Current-l again Bourbon Courage shows some inbreeding to mightiest Secretariat 5x4 and there are also crosses to the obligatory Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector and the pedigree in its essence seems like a homage to Nearco- if I happen to be walking toward a betting “window” with ample cash to transfer over to the clerk two things would be on my mind (aside from how am I going to pay the landlord if this critters “feet’s fail it, now”) is what is this beasts WBH9GCF which turns up as a less than inspirational “14” and its 5th dam sire which would be T.V. Lark a stud who once sat atop the national rankings! As for capo Bastone who will apply himself to the chore of the Dirt Mile with vigor (hopefully) its grandma is Love is Love by mightiest Secretariat, my favorite non-human being- Secretariat certainly changed my life as he did many others I’d say, much more than the schooling I received and the jobs I worked- I liked horse racing before the advent of Secretariat, but following his appearances at Saratoga in 1972 I went bonkers and became a full-time student of “form” and a pedigree tyro- Love is Love resulted from a mating of Secretariat with Northern Dancers stakes winning daughter Stephanie Leigh of family 22-C- the family in this line had provided Kentucky Oaks 3rd Times Two- as well as Secretariat’s old foe My Gallant known perhaps as the hoss who placed in the single most exciting event I ever saw; Secretariat’s romp in the climatic Belmont Stakes of 1973 when the hero Meadow Stable broke the sound and mental barriers to the doors of perception!- Capo Bastone is a G1 winner of the Kings Bishop sprint at Saratoga and I played I believe in the BC Juvenile stakes back in 2011 (he ran 3rd)- his sire Street Boss in not one of my favorites to stake the stake upon- but does invoke a particularly “strong” faction of the Mr. prospector sire cartel, that stemming from Machiavellian- the aforementioned Times Two was sired by brittle but fiercely competitive Double Jay who raced with very poor knees- Cocktail Queen who recently won a big time affair in France the Prix de Deauville (?) also stems from the 22-C clan another I recollect of this 22-C tribe was a Floridian Two T’s and Two B’s something like that which won a sire stakes in the sunshine land- But one would need some stamina to uncovered any plentitude of stakes winners hopping out of the 22-C bin- ….maybe 100 years ago Cousin Jo won the Kentucky Oaks but that only counts if you happen to be a contestant on “Do you want to be a Millionaire” see; “Slumdog Millionaire”- Lastly Capo Bastone takes his WBH9GCF of “17” into the dirt mile fracas- also within six generations capo Bastone has the 4 pillars of the modern race horse in his genetic garb- Never Band and Hail To Reason and Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector- this facet is not as visible as say the morning star but it is something to tick off one’s list of plus factors can Capo Bastone dispatch the likes of Fed Biz or Bronzo or Goldencents is doubtful but I think he’ll be battling should he get into this field- and I understand contenders Candy Boy and imported Argentine Big Cazanova are also debating to go “dirt mile o classic” stay tuned- h. Turf paradise 1-5 2-7 3-3 4-7 5-4 6-1 7-4 8-10 Zia 1-2 2-2 3-4 4-4 5-5 6-6 7-4 8-2 9-3 10-6 11-8 12-5 Mountaineer 1-1 2-1e 3-5 4-4 5-3 6-2 7-2 8-4 Parx 1-1 2-4 3-1e 4-8 5-1 6-4 7-4 8-1 9-3 Finger Lakes 1-2 2-1e 3-3 4-2e 5-2 6-5 7-5 8-1 9-2 Gulfstream 1-7 2-5 3-5 4-8 5-8 6-2 7-2 8-4 9-5 10-5
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 02:52:53 +0000
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