Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Louisiana Derby preview

The Lousiana Derby, scheduled for this Saturday at the Fair Grounds, is shaping up to be the competition. Among the entrants are Pyro, Majestic Warrior, Tale of Ekati. The Louisiana Derby is a G2 event, with a purse of $600,000.

And now, for a little book reccomendation! :) I just finished reading Merryland, a book by Josh Pons of Maryland's Country Life Farm. The book is a diary of two years in the life of a training farm, and it's a must for any racing fan. It's a fast-paced, cover-to-cover read, with beautiful, poetic detail alongside the truths of the racing world. Go pick it up; you won't regret it. :)

Monday, March 3, 2008

Sham Stakes

The Sham Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita was won by Colonel John. The Tiznow colt beat El Gato Malo by a half-length in the $200,000 race. Colonel John and Garrett Gomez went the nine furlongs in 1:50. Third was Victory Pete. Colonel John is trained by Eoin Harty and owned by WinStar Farms.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Big Cap

Santa Anita held the $1 million Big Cap (Santa Anita Handicap [G1]) this past Saturday, with Heatseeker winning by 3/4 of a length. Going the 1 1/4m in 2:00 2/5, Heatseeker beat the likes of Go Between and Monterey Jazz. Heatseaker is trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, who expects big things out of the colt.

In other racing news, Curlin made his four-year-old debut at Nad Al-Sheba on Thursday. He won the $175k, 2000-m handicap by 2 3/4, Robby Albarado sitting chilly in the irons. The race was used as a prep for the Dubai World Cup, to be run on March 29.