Mage is out of the BC Classic due to a fever & loss of appetite. Owners plan to race him again in 2024.
White Abarrio had a renowed blacksmith flown to Cali from NY by Trainer Dick Dutrow to fix a shoe problem before he was allowed to workout @ Santa Anita. Whit Abarrio won the Whitney in his last outing. Dutrow won the BC classic in 2005 with St.Liam.
@Crusher13
The blacksmith's name is Ian McKinlay.
A blacksmith is different than a farrier. A farrier works with horses but needs training to become a blacksmith & doesn't normally make the horse's shoe. White Abarrio needed new shoes made.
No expense is spared when you have a shot at winning the Classic.
Arcangelo has been nursing his left hind leg & had to remove his shoe. Rather than giving him a breeze, trainer Jena Antonio had him walk for 45 minutes.
Caravel has raced only one time out West when she was 12th in the BC Turf Sprint at Del Mar.
Mike Smith at 58 will have a chance to be the oldest jockey to win a BC race.
Mark Casse trained Get Smokin will be scratched from the BC Turf because he just wasn't feeling it & will get the winter off so he's fresh in 2024. The ML was 30-1 & this was the only BC mount for jockey Fernando De La Cruz.
Take a look at #8 Fev Rover in the Filly/Mare Turf. She's been ornery in the paddock & the gate but ran a solid 3rd to In Italian in the Diana. Javier stays up & the ML 8-1 looks attractive. She ships in from Woodbine.
Mike Smith says that #7 Tamara may turn out to be the best 2 year old filly that he's ever ridden. She's won both starts. Personally, I like the tactical speed of #12 Just FYI for Billy Mott. She won a MSW at the SPA by a closing nose at first asking & came back in the slop at the BIGA to win the Frizette. Tamara is the "buzz" filly but I like Mott's filly chance of upsetting @ 8-1.
Just finished capping Friday's card & will probably play the first 4 races very lightly (or not at all) to get a feel for how the track is playing.
I don't know what's up with some of the ML odds because many that I like are 8-1 or better. Either I'm going to get slammed or I'll be doing the slamming.
Many of my plays will be WPS & trifecta keys hoping to hit an 8-1 shot on top with 3 or 4 others.
There are plenty of jockey changes, horses going longer & trying grass for the 1st time. The Santa Anita stretch is shorter than other tracks & closers need to stay relatively close because the wire will come up quickly when turning for home.
Personally I like to watch replays to confirm what I see in the racing form. For example, take the favorite in the Juvinile Fillies Race 6 #7 Tamara. In her 1st try, Brisnet comment states "stumbled start" when in my view, she almost went down to her knees. Money Mike kept her up, got her comfortable & she won pretty easily. In her 2nd start, Brisnet comment is "bumped start" where as I think she got banged pretty hard by the horse outside of her. It also states she won 6 3/4 lengths when in reality, she won by at least 10 to 12 while being hand ridden the whole race. If you are looking for a "single" in your exptoics, I think she is the one. She got more seasoning in those 2 races than many of her opponents on Friday. Very, very special IMO.
Todays thoroughbreds sure are less durable then when I started handicapping. And most now are retired after there 4 yr old campaign. It all has to do with how the industry has changed. Most horses are bred to be sold and not raced by their breeders. Hence durability is not the concern. That and the widespread use of legal and non legal meds allowing them to run free without any pain. My idea would be to slowly go back to the way it was. Let them be horses growing up instead of being handled with kid gloves. That may be hard to do in this day and age. Look at Forte. He had problems in the later part of his young life and will now be put out to stud at a very high price tag. But will those problems he suffered from be carried on to his offspring? The answer unfortunately is yes.
Good luck on you plays this weekend. Lets hit a couple bombs.
Locked may be my biggest win /place wager on Friday. Wondering what your take is on his chances and who could upset him Thanks pal
@vetdrm
I watched Locked last race where he was headed by #1 Wine Steward down the stretch only to come back & win by about 3/4 of a length, Also, on the 1st turn he got fanned wide by another horse & had to make up more ground than Wine Steward who a choce rail ride the whole way. He showed a ton of heart but I always worry of a bounce after a race like this.
Baffert's #2 Prince of Monaco is unbeaten in all 3 races where he's been heavily bet. #4 Timberlake for Cox beat #8 General Partner for Brown & the favorite #9 Fierceness for Pletcher/Repole in the Champagne. #10 Muth for Baffert has won at this distance over this surface with jockey Juan Hernadez who is winning at almost 30%.
I'm thinking this race is wide open.
Thanks for your answer regarding the problems in the sport right now. All eyes will be on Santa Anita this weekend.
7 jockeys racing @ Churchill today will get on a 6 PM flight to Cali for the BC races. They include Tyler, Geroux, Santana, Torres, Saez, Beschizzia & Cheminaud.
Speaking of Torres, he will ride #12 Committee of One for Assman in the Juvinile Turf Sprint Race 5 & then fly back to Kentucky to ride on Saturday. This one came from way back to beat #9 Amidst Waves by a nose in his last. Take a look at this replay if you can because Johnny V made a big move with #2 & looked like the winner until Torres caught him. This race will be a half furlong shorter than their last battle.
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