Betty's Critters - & History Views

  The 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby was one for the record books today.  It was the first time a female trainer won the Derby.  It was the first time two brothers finished in first and second places.  It was an amazing day.   The morning started with a full field of 20 entries - then The Puma was scratched due to a skin infection that caused his leg to swell, leaving 19 runners.   Three of those entries were from the "also eligible" list.     There were 150,415 people in attendence for  the Derby - not counting track employees, workers on the backside, employees in the public areas, plus trainers and jockeys for all of the day's racing.   The Post Parade for the Derby and the warm-up went without a hitch.  But during the starting gate loading process, Great White, the first colt to draw into the field due to the scratch of Silent Tactic, reared up and crashed to the ground.  His jockey had bailed from the saddle...

 The horses that participate in the Breeders' Cup races each year are at the top of their games; they have to be nominated, and they have to earn points to qualify to enter such high profile races.  The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) became law after being passed by Congress in 2020.  HISA was created to implement, for the first time, a national, uniform set of integrity and safety rules that are applied consistently to every Thoroughbred racing participant and racetrack facility throughout the United States and it's territories. All horses, trainers and staff members that participate in the Breeders' Cup conform with HISA rules.    Rigorous veterinary checks are carried out on each horse that runs in a Breeders' Cup race.  Nine races were run Saturday at Del Mar in California.  Prior to the races, one horse in the Fillies and Mares Sprint was scratched by the trainer; in the Distaff, 3 of the ladies were scratched by the veterinarians; in...

 I did not  post a preview of the Breeders Cup races this year, as my roommate and I are both fighting cancer, and I did not have the time to do my usual research and write my usual two columns.  Having spent this afternoon at the Cancer Center, I have just finished watching films of the Juvenile Breeders Cup races, and will write my usual report.    The Breeders Cup is being run at Del Mar Racetrack in California this year and next year.     The first Breeders Cup race of the day was the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint , run at 5 furlongs (5/8 mile).  All the entries this year were colts, and they all carried 122 pounds; the guaranteed purse was $1 million.  There was a full field of 12 runners; Out On Bail was scratched due to a knee chip, and Pali's Kitten drew in.  Half of the field were bred in the US; 5 were bred in Ireland; and one in Great Britain.    Magnum Force (IRE) won the 5 furlong race in 56.36 seconds....

 Dornoch became the third winner of a Triple Crown race in 2024, while racing the winners of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.  The third leg of the 2024 was run at Saratoga this year due to rebuilding at Belmont Park, and the Belmont Stakes was shortened from the traditional 1 and 1/2 miles down to 1 and 1/4 miles - the same length as the Kentucky Derby.  The purse for the race was a cool $2 million.    Surprisingly, the second-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, Sierra Leone, was the betting favorite in the field of ten colts.  Unfortunately, Sierra Leone stumbled coming out of the starting gate, and then was bumped hard when he caught up with the back of the field.  Seize the Grey, winner of the Preakness, took the early lead and ran the quarter in 22.99 seconds, the half in 47.25 seconds, and the 3/4 in 1:10.67.  That's when Dornach, who had been in second place following the gray colt for the first 6 furlongs, started to move up.  ...

 Thorpedo Anna, the bay daughter of Fast Anna and Sataves (by Uncle Mo), won the Acorn Stakes by 5 and 1/2 lengths this afternoon.  It was the first time the Acorn Stakes was run at Saratoga - due to the rebuilding at Belmont Park - and the distance of the race was increased from the usual 1 and 1/16 miles to 1 and 1/8 miles.  Thorpedo Anna was the betting favorite when the gates opened this afternoon, after winning the Kentucky Oaks on 3 May.    A field of nine fillies was originally entered, but Becky's Joker, who had drawn post position 1 in the field, scratched from the race.  Just F Y I, last year's 2-year-old champion filly, went to the lead out of the gate, and led for 3/4 mile, with times of 23.53 seconds, 46.75 seconds, and 1:10.24 for 3/4s mile.  Thorpedo Anna had stayed in second from the break, and took the lead just past the 3/4 mark.  Leslie's Rose had stayed in third behind the two front runners for the first 6 furlongs.  As Ju...

 On a muddy track at Pimlico, the 149th running of the Preakness Stakes was won by Seize the Grey - a colt sired by Arrogate, who has 2,750 owners.  The gray/roan colt is trained by D. Wayne Lukas (aged 88), who won the Preakness for the seventh time in his career - he has won 15 Triple Crown races so far.  It was the first graded stakes win for jockey Jaime Torres, a 25-year-old native of Puerto Rico.    Seize the Grey, out of Smart Shopping, is owned by My Racehorse, a micro-share partnership, with 2,750 owners, who purchased 5,000 shares of the colt for $127 per share.  He won $1,200,000 today for his owners.    Seize the Grey took the lead when the starting gate opened, and never looked back.  Imagination, the Bob Baffert trained colt, shadowed him for the first half-mile, then slowly faded.  Seize the Grey won by 2 and 1/4 lengths, followed by the Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan, who was a head in front of Catching Freedom, who led...

 The 100th running of the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes took place today with a field of 8 3-year-old fillies vying for a purse of $300,000.  The fillies carried between 118 and 124 pounds for the 9 furlong race on a fast track at Pimlico Race Course, outside of Baltimore, Maryland.     When the race began, Gun Song was the crowd's betting favorite, with Corposo as their second choice; both fillies were allotted 118 pounds.    When the gates opened, Recharge stumbled from the gate, which set her behind.  Jeanne Marie led the racers from the gate to the top of the stretch, creating times of 24.20 seconds for the first quarter; a slow 49.47 for the half-mile; and 1:13.66 for 3/4 mile.  The mile was clocked at 1:38.80, with Gun Song, who had run in second place for most of the race, taking the lead.  Gun Song won the race by 3 1/4 lengths in a time of 1:51.39.  Corposo was second by a neck over Call Another Play, who led Whocouldaskformo by ...

 Wow!  What an amazing finish in the Kentucky Derby this afternoon! In front of grandstands holding 156,710 fans, we waited for several minutes for the results - Mystik Dan was the winner by a nostril; and Sierra Leone was in second place by a nostril over Forever Young (JPN).  Mystik Dan had the lead for the last quarter-mile, while Sierra Leone kept lugging to the inside and bumping Forever Young (JPN), who kept pulling to the outside and bumping Sierra Leone.  I'd bet that both colts have sore ribs tonight and tomorrow.    Mystik Dan is a bay son of Goldencents, out of the Colonel John mare Ma'am.  He is trained by Kenny McPeek, and his jockey is Brian Hernandez, Jr.  The trainer and jockey won the Kentucky Oaks yesterday with Thorpedo Anna.  It is only the third time in 150 years that a trainer has won the Oaks and Derby in the same year - the last time was in 1952, when Ben Jones accomplished the double win.  It's only the 9th time ...

 When the full field of 14 went to the post for the 150th running of the Kentucky Oaks today, the track was sloppy .  Tapit Jenallie, who had drawn post position 1, had scratched; so the fillies in gates 2 through 14 moved over  one space, and Our Pretty Woman, trained by Steve Asmussen, and heading out of the gate at odds of 13 to 1, was in post 14.    The morning line betting favorite had been Tarifa, who had earned the most points for entry into the Oaks; and the second betting favorite was Just F Y I, who had won the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies race last year.  Leslie's Rose was third betting choice in the morning line, and Ways and Means, along with Thorpedo Anna, were fourth betting choices at 5 to 1.    Thorpedo Anna took the lead in the Kentucky Oaks today after running 1 furlong (or 1/8 of a mile) and led for the rest of the race.  She ran  the first 1/4 mile in 22.87 seconds; the half-mile in 46.79 seconds; the 3/4 mile in 1:...

 No injuries or accidents were reported about the participants in today's Breeders Cup Races.  Only one injury occurred yesterday during the five 2-year-old races: an un-displaced condylar fracture/crack in the foreleg of Mountain Bear (IRE), who finished in second place in Friday's Turf race for colts.  At the end of the race, the jockey pulled up and dismounted, and the colt was taken off track in an ambulance. A series of x-rays were taken, he was placed in a cast, and the vets expect him to be able to resume training in 4 weeks.    Todays races were for horses aged 3 years and up, and the 9 Breeders Cup races today showcased 93 horses representing the breeders from 8 countries (11 countries if you count the breeding places of sires and dams).      I realize that I kept referring to descendants of Sunday Silence in my listings of runners in the races for today.   I was a big fan of Sunday Silence in 1988 and 1989, his 2 years of ...