Picks & musings for 032814 by harry watnik Gulfstream Park and Louisiana’s Fair Grounds on the 29th of March will each stage a version of he Breeders CUP/ Dubai World Cups with their own jamborees featuring many outstanding black-type races plus their big Derby’s- along with the racing of the UAE Derby halfway around the globe- the 3yo classic season arrives at last in earnest- I’d like to present my “picks” for the Dubai races late Friday night as there are many new faces for North American based handicappers to mull over- Last evening or morning I stated my preference for King Cyrus, in the Louisianan Derby, but it would appear that any of a half dozen could easily collect the million dollar pot plus the silverware- as for the Florida Derby, a relatively compact field will attempt to insure themselves not only a place in the 2014 Kentucky Derby starting gate but the prestige of certainly being among the choices in the great race itself. Nashua and Big Brown and star crossed Barbaro, and last years winner Orb, are among the best of Florida Derby ‘superstars- anyhow I count 8 racers announced to attend the 2014 Florida Derby with Cairo Prince, a nose shy of being perfect seemingly a sure-fire favorite - Honor Code, seems to be the only one to have beaten the son of fire hot stud Pioneerof The Nile, the latter a G1 winner of some racing attainments- Cairo Prince, is trained by KP McLaughlin and owned by Godolphin etc. -- in his last outing way back in January, Cairo Prince, had little difficulty winning the G2 Holy Bull- a brief look at the field for the 2014 Florida Derby follows- a) Wildcat Red -is a pretty good runner & a mere head shy of being undefeated (the stewards took him down once as well) General A Rod, is the one who put his head before “Red” in the Gulfstream Park Derby on New Years day 2014- Wildcat Red, stems from the best family 9-f in my opine, and he goes back in turf time to noted race mare Saint Astra, who was sired by Ladas, the classic winning half brother of Chelandry! - b) Matador -is trained by Canadian mastermind Mark Casse, and this son of Malibu Moon, ran 5th last out on a fast track, The Tampa Bay Derby mystified him, so now he is supposed to answer affirmatively the questions posed from an envelope containing a guaranteed million dollars! Last years Florida Derby winner was also sired by Malibu Moon, from a 8-C family which produced Ruffian etc. -will lightening strike twice over Tampa Bay? Highly doubtful- c) Cairo Prince, needed a longer proboscis to be unbeaten and comes into this derby like a good hoss - stemming from the Now What, line of family “20” - Cairo Prince, would be the first of his tribe to win the Florida Derby- his dosage index of 7.00 seems to be the hole in his hull- and I would not play him at 9f- d) Constitution -is a son of Tapit, one of the premier sires in the known world- his connections have decided a G1 million dollar race is where he should make his black-type debut- and it is a stunning plan to jump from optional claiming to a position of Kentucky Derby favorite, should fortune and skill coalesce - sporting a powerful WBH9GCF of (32)- Constitution, must overcome his sketchy bottom line- there is much early speed in the Florida Derby and it appears Constitution, is destined to be singed by the hot early fractions- e) East Hall -appears to be running for 5th money- he ran well in the New Years day Gulfstream Derby, but has floundered a bit since that effort- his ff are top notch 9-f- f) General A Rod -is a tough hombre, and has never been worse than second- his bottom line broodmare sire array is very potent looking and features such legends as “big hear” Mahmoud, and fiery Royal Charger, diminutive but fast and potent Danzig, and 17 hands Dynaformer etc. the mares along the tail-female are 4-d constituents, a group known for Groupie Doll and Majestic Prince- a handsome fellow General A Rod, wears a hood to his races- g) Allstar -will be my Florida Derby hoss and there appears little to say why he rates such an accolade- claimed for the paltry sun of 25K -Allstar, goes for the brass ring from an allowance victory at synthetic Calder Race track! Allstar, is a son of my favorite female group, Chelandry’s 1-N line- (14th dam)- herein the 5th dam is Betty’s Fortune, by Conjure, a lightweight full brother to big time Mark-Ye-Well- a win here by Allstar, should be about as forthcoming as hitting a Nolan Ryan fastball with a toothpick. But he’s my hoss for this Derby edition. h) Spot -is a gelding delivered to needy hall of fame trainer N. Zito- Spot, has excellent papers; being a race horse from high class ff 13-C (Seattle Slew & Mr. Prospector etc.) coming in off a surprise win in the G2 Swale Stakes, Spot, looks like he races well one start and goes off form in the next- or a skip-hitter- I’ll skip him this trip- although with a lot of speed in front of him, he may close and pass tiring steeds- as I mentioned after the Swale Stakes was history- “they don’t put you in the hall of fame for nothing”- Aqueduct 1-1 2-3 3-2 4-3 5-2 6-4 7-1 8-2 9-1 Calder 1-1 2-6 3-5 4-4 5-1 6-2 7-4 8-6 Fair grounds 1-3 2-2 3-3 4-5 5-6 6-3 7-8 8-1 9-2 Gulfstream 1-5 2-3 3-5 4-3 5-2 6-1 7-2 8-4 9-7 10-2 Hawthorne 1-1 2-6 3-2 4-4 5-7 6-10 7-9 8-7 Laurel 1-6 2-1 3-1a 4-6 5-4 6-1 7-1 8-7 9-2 Los Alamitos 1-6 2-1 3-4 4-1 5-1 6-1 7-3 8-3 Oaklawn 1-5 2-6 3-2 4-7 5-7 6-2 7-8 8-4 9-2 Penn 1-2 2-1 3-1 4-3 5-5 6-1 7-4 8-2 Remington 1-7 2-8 3-1 4-2 5-8 6-6 7-2 8-6 9-2 10-3 11-4 12-1 Sam Houston `-6 1-2 2-6 4-5 5-2 6-8 7-2 8-4 9-1 10-8 Santa Anita 1-4 2-1 3-3 4-8 5-3 6-2 7-3 8-5 Sunland 1-3 2-5 3-5 4-7 5-3 6-1 7-6 8-1 9-8 10-6 11-8 Tampa bay 1-6 2-7 3-7 4-8 5-2 6-4 7-2 8-10 9-8 10-9 Turfway 1-3 2-4 3-5 4-4 5-6 6-1 7-2 8-5 9-1 10-2 h.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 09:30:54 +0000
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