However I am not here to yammer about that; I am here to talk about this summer's American thoroughbred racing season. As you can tell by my username, I am very dedicated to handicapping races, pondering odds, and reviewing bloodlines. Last year, the highlight of the 2008 racing season was Big Brown winning 2/3 of the Triple Crown, that little gem of a trophy that has not been earned in thirty-one years, since Affirmed won the Kentucky Derby, The Preakness, and The Belmont Stakes in the summer of 1978. However, Big Brown supposedly had trouble with his shoes (although trainer Rick Dutrow, J.R., the Jackass of Racing, claims it was jockey Kent Desormeaux's fault) during the Belmont Stakes in New York: he ended up coming to wire behind the pack.

This season is, probably, the best racing season since Seattle Slew's time. The Kentucky Derby held over three months ago was the beginning of the drama. The favorite, I Want Revenge was scratched on Derby morning, leaving his status to Friesan Fire with odds of 5-1. The other favorites were Pioneerof The Nile (6-1?) and Dunkirk (same odds). I had seen Pioneerof The Nile in his maiden last year at Saratoga, so I was thinking he'd be a-shooing to win. The longshot of the field was Mine That Bird, ridden by Calvin Borel with 50-1 odds. As it would turn out, The Bird was behind the pack for a while (as the race-goers expected him to be for the rest of the race), but Borel brought him up along the rail for a helluva victory. Everyone was shocked, after all: it was the 2nd biggest longshot victory in the history of the Kentucky Derby. Donerail won with 91-1 odds back in 1913 and held a track record for a spell.

Despite the monumental victory by Mine That Bird, nobody really took the horse seriously in the Preakness in Pimlico...they were too busy hyping up a filly called Rachel Alexandra. The day before The Bird won at Louisville, Rachel won the Kentucky Oaks, the filly version of the Kentucky Derby. Her owner, Dorphus Morrison, was against entering her in the Triple Crown races because they "were for colts only". Rachel was sold right before the race to Jess Jackson of Kendall-Jackson Winery, and he WANTED her to run in a Triple Crown race. Since the Preakness was the shortest, they sent her to Pimlico to run astride Calvin Borel. She beat Mine That Bird by one length, had the race been a tad longer, The Bird could have beaten her.

The longest track, The Belmont, was the last leg of the Crown, and if Calvin was to win with Mine That Bird, he'd have a personal Triple Crown (having won all three race even on different horses). Sadly, The Bird finished third with Summer Bird as the winner. Not to mention the six length victory Rachel Alexandra had over colts in the Sunday Haskell last week. But the biggest race of the year is going to be the Travers' Stakes at Saratoga. The Birds are "flying" in and Rachel shall be running also. There is a rumor floating around saying that I Want Revenge is to run as well, but I am not quite sure. But my bet is on Rachel Alexandra for the Travers'.

R.I.P MAN O' WAR!, Secretariat, Swaps, Seattle Slew, Ruffian, Ciatation, and War Admiral.



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