Week of October 4, 2010
By Dana Byerly, Hello Race Fans Co-founder
In a weekend packed with a head spinning 20 graded races it’s easy to overlook some interesting performances. Clearly the standout story of the weekend was Zenyatta extending her flawless campaign to 19-0 in her last race in front of her adoring home crowd. But several other performances deserve to be highlighted as well. Also at Hollywood Park was Jaycito in the Norfolk, who went four wide the entire race and still had enough for a strong finish over the favored J P’s Gusto. Hibaayeb made a useful first start in the US winning the Yellow Ribbon Stakes.
At Belmont Park it was Winchester who came on late to win the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitation but fans of Paddy O’Prado had to be happy with his first effort against older males, stretching out over the soft going for a respectable second. Haynesfield pulled the shocker of the weekend wiring the Jockey Club Gold Cup with Blame now where to be found, although members of Team Blame have to be happy with his potential odds come Breeders’ Cup day. Blind Luck’s second to Havre de Grace can also be filed under “respectable second” as she showed up with usual race but just didn’t get there in time in the Cotillion at Parx.
Two other Breeders’ Cup Classic hopefuls put in solid performances. Both Lookin at Lucky in the Indiana Derby and Richard’s Kid in the Goodwood looked strong in victory and will likely go on to the Classic. On Sunday Air Support survived an inquiry to win the Pilgrim at Belmont Park over favored Soldat, Winter Memories unleashed a furious run to win the Miss Grillo and Tizway took the reformatted Kelso while heavily favored Regal Ransom was off the board. Fortunately for Godolphin, Girolamo made a return to form in the Vosburgh and will point towards the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. At Hollywood Park overwhelming favorite Tell a Kelly was another who notched a respectable second as she was game in defeat to impressive longshot Rigoletta in the Oak Leaf Stakes.
There were plenty of retirements this past week, most notably reigning Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra. You can grab her lifetime past performances, see replays and images here. Veteran turfer Grand Courtier was also retired last week with an ankle issue and it looks as though champion turf mare Forever Together will be retired after her disappointing performance in the Flower Bowl. Graded stakes winner Don’t Forget Gil was also quietly retired last week. And finally, Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Real Quiet died this week after a freak paddock accident.
This week at HRF we’ll take a look at how thinking like a sports fan can have a negative impact on your bottom line, and feature the Frizette Stakes in Ten Things You Should Know. At Raceday 360 it was a whirlwind of posts about Rachel’s retirement, Super Saturday and Zenyatta. Keep up with what this week as to offer!
Last Week’s Races
2010 Flower Bowl Invitational Replay
2010 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational Replay
2010 Jockey Club Gold Cup Replay
2010 Indiana Oaks Replay
2010 Indiana Derby Replay
2010 Goodwood Replay
2010 l’Arc de Triomphe Replay
2010 Pilgrim Stakes Replay
2010 Miss Grillo Stakes Replay
2010 Clement Hirsch Stakes Replay
Check probable starters at Horse Racing Nation’s Stakes Tracker
See you at the track!
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Nice write up! Love the videos of all the races. Wow, what an exhausting weekend of racing…but exciting! Love the picture you’ve posted of Zenyatta with her ears going forward beating Switch, who has her ears pinned back. Switch ran a good race too. Keep up the good work. And, GO ZENYATTA!
Thanks, glad you liked it… and yes, exhausting is a good way to describe it. The coming weekend looks to be only a slight bit less busy with 17 graded races!
It dawned on me this morning that I should have also mentioned that Switch put in a great effort in defeat to Zenyatta, certainly another “respectable” second, particularly given that she’s a 3-year-old!