Sal’s Countdown to the

2017 Kentucky Derby

Cinque

Mrs. Robinson

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TwinSpires Blog – Florida Derby romper Always Dreaming jumps to number 2 on Scully’s Kentucky Derby Top 10

Brisnet – Scully – Kentucky Derby Report April 5: Always Dreaming most impressive, Girvin keeps winning

DRF – Derby Watch 

Bloodhorse – Haskin – Derby Dozen – April 4, 2017 – Presented by Shadwell Farm

TDN – Winstar – Derby Top 20

Horse Race Insider –  HRI Consensus: Always Dreaming’s Florida Derby Vaults Him to Top

National Post – Quan – ‘Indecent proposal’: Brazilian model claims Edmonton Oilers owner offered ‘millions of dollars’ for sex

Point:

Sal says if Silver, Manfred or Goodell was commish of the NHL there would be a big “For Sale: sign hanging outside Rogers Place in Edmonton during the playoffs.

Counterpoint:

Convenient timing to file this lawsuit just days before the Edmonton Oilers make their way back into the NHL playoffs after a decade of drought.

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Stay With Me

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TwinSpires Blog – Reilly – Five things to know for the Wood Memorial

TDN – Bianca – Rising Stars Try to Rebound in Wood

US Racing – Sigmon – Mo Town, Irish War Cry Seek Redemption In Wood Memorial

Sal says there’s a big difference between seeking redemption and proving you’re not a one-hit track bias easy trip wonder.

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Redemption Song

Bloodhorse – Litfin – Litfin: Look For Battalion Runner to Step Up in Wood

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US Racing – Ransom – Thirteen Take Stab At Wide Open Santa Anita Derby

TwinSpires Blog – Reilly – Six things to know for the Santa Anita Derby

TwinSpires Blog – Shapiro – How to Wager on the 2017 Santa Anita Derby

TwinSpires Blog – Shapiro – How To Bet the 2017 Santa Anita Derby Pick 4

TDN – DiDonato – Plenty of Contenders in SA Derby

Bloodhorse – Johnson – Looking for a Longshot in the Santa Anita Derby

Sal’s reprising what he said venerdi:

Sal says he cheering for Kimbear and hoping that if Kimbear makes the Kentucky Derby the owners offer Dany Dion a share.

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TwinSpires Blog – Hanson –  Top picks for the Wood Memorial, Blue Grass, and Santa Anita Derby

TwinSpires Blog – Mucciolo’s Sophomore Spotlight: Wood Memorial, Blue Grass & Santa Anita Derby Previews

TwinSpires Blog – Scully – Analyzing three major Kentucky Derby preps

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TwinSpires Blog – Reilly – Five things to know about the Blue Grass

TDN – Bianca – Crunch Time Begins in Blue Grass

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Lady and the Track – daSilva – Expert Picks for Saturday’s Big Stakes Races 

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ESPN – DRF – Russo – New stablemates start season in Madison Stakes

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LA Times – Erskine – Yes, it’s snowing again in Mammoth — a foot already. Here’s what to expect this weekend

Horse Racing Nation – Ross – Santa Anita Derby 2017: Odds and Analysis

Sal says he cheering for Kimbear and hoping that if Kimbear makes the Kentucky Derby the owners offer Dany Dion a share.

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Ready, Able

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The old lessons (work, self-discipline, sacrifice, teamwork, fighting to achieve) aren’t being taught by many people other than football coaches these days. The football coach has a captive audience and can teach these lessons because the communication lines between himself and his players are more wide open than between kids and parents. We better teach these lessons or else the country’s future population will be made up of a majority of crooks, drug addicts, or people on relief.

Paul Bryant

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Lady and the Track – Sigmon – Talented Field Assembles For Blue Grass

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This is Horse Racing – Joe Clancy – Irish War Cry looks to wake up Derby chances

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Bloodhorse – Johnson – Looking for a Longshot in the Santa Anita Derby

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TwinSpires Blog – Handicapping Insights – Powell – Horse Racing’s Final Four

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TDN – Massam – Wild Shot Carries Calumet Tradition Into Blue Grass

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Bloodhorse – Reeder – Harmonize to Make Season Debut in Royal Heroine

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Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Sage – Reader poll result: American Pharoah is still the people’s horse

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Paulick Report – Golden – ‘Average Guy In A Rich Man’s Game’ Relishes First Win As Owner

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TDN – DiDonato – Unified Goes for Grade I in Carter

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NY Times – Branch – Behind Kevin Durant’s Jersey Number, a Cold-Blooded Murder

TDN – Duckworth – Betologists Again on Hand for Keeneland Opening

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Horse Race Insider – Jicha – Timing, other factors outweigh grading for Derby preps

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Bloodhorse – Balan – Thirteen Enter Up-For-Grabs Santa Anita Derby

ESPN – DRF – Privman – O’Neill, already in exclusive company, looks for more

Brisnet – Caldwell – Santa Anita Derby attracts competitive field of 13

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Questo è per i contendenti e pretendenti nella Wood Memorial e Santa Anita Derby:

Redemption Song

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Paulick Report – Pedulla – Brown Looking For Triple Crown Success To Eclipse Reputation As Filly, Grass Trainer

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Paulick Report – Hackbarth – Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘All The Ingredients’ For A Derby Dream

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TDN – Caulfield – Pedigree Insights: Always Dreaming

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Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Willoughby – There’s something about Girvin that means we should take him very seriously

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Something In The Way She Moves

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TwinSpires Blog – Mucciolo’s Sophomore Spotlight Recap: Florida Derby & Louisiana Derby

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Bloodhorse – Balan – Paradise Woods Steps Up for Santa Anita Oaks

Brisnet – Caldwell – Abel Tasman faces six in Santa Anita Oaks

Sal says that Baffert should have shown a modicum of class and refused to accept Abel Tasman.

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Bloodhorse – Shulman – A. P. Indian Set for Season Debut in Commonwealth

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Bloodhorse – Miss Sky Warrior Heads Gazelle

Brisnet – Caldwell – Nine entered in Gazelle at Aqueduct

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Bloodhorse – Angst – Unified Takes Grade 1 Aim in Carter Handicap

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Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Smith – Stunning weekend rockets Snitzel up the world sires’ rankings

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TDN – BIll Finley – Iavarone Ready to Re-Enter Racing

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TDN – Thornton – Banned Trainer Dutrow Files for Bankruptcy

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NY Times – Clarey – A Body Blow the Winter Olympics Didn’t Need

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TDN – Pegasus World Cup to Carry Record $16-million Purse in 2018

Sal says that the Stronach group has thrown down the gauntlet.

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NY Times – Bondy – With a New Breed of Fans, Even the Yankees Must Adapt

Bloodhorse – Wincze Hughes – Tapwrit Enters Blue Grass Looking Like a Million Bucks

Paulick Report – McCraken Draws Post Two, Installed As 7-5 Favorite For Toyota Blue Grass

TDN – McCraken Draws Two in Intriguing Blue Grass

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Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Shields – ‘Ready-made’ Iliad has O’Neill dreaming of another shot at the Triple Crown

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The difficulty is not so great to die for a friend, as to find a friend worth dying for.

Homer

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Curtis Stock
Originally from London, Ont., Curtis Stock’s affection for the horses, jockeys, trainers, and horse people in general is reflected in his writing, He began to follow racing in Calgary during his high school days, and gained valuable experience covering racing there while attending college.

That soon led to an opportunity in Toronto, working with honored Canadian Horse Hall of Fame member Bruce Walker in the Ontario Jockey Club Publicity Department. Stock later returned to Alberta and take over publicity, marketing, and advertising at Northlands Park in Edmonton, later moving to the Edmonton Journal where he covered racing for 32 years. He also plied his craft for the Daily Racing Form for 20 years.

Stock’s reporting has resonated with the judges in Sovereign Award voting. His record run of Sovereigns started in 1985. In 1993, he swept both feature story and newspaper categories. Stock was the recipient of back-to-back Sovereign Awards for outstanding feature story in 1993-94, and took home an unprecedented eighth Sovereign Award for outstanding newspaper story in Canada.

Most recently Stock was the recipient of the 2015 Sovereign Award in the outstanding writing category. His story “Love of Horses” appeared earlier that year in the Edmonton Journal. It was his 11th Sovereign Award overall. He has received this most-coveted award at least once in each of the past five decades, an achievement unmatched.

Harold Barroby a native of Ravenscrag, Saskatchewan, followed his older brother Frank to Alberta, to become leading trainer in 1969 and 1970 before moving further west to British Columbia in 1974. There, the great Love Your Host won 13 stakes under his tutelage, and horses Pampas Host and Delta Colleen were both multiple stakes winners.

B.C’s leading trainer a record 10 times and previously inducted into the B.C. Thoroughbred Hall of Fame, Barroby remains the all-time leader in terms of wins and stakes wins there, inlcuding graded stake wins with Fortinbras in the 1986 British Columbia Derby (G3) and 1986 B.C. Premier’s Championship Handicap (G3).

While he remains an active trainer, he’s operating with fewer horses these days. Barroby now joins his brother Frank as a member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Bloodhorse – Melnyk Heads Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame Class

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Bloodhorse – Casse Switches Strategy for Ashland Duo

Brisnet – Reilly – Elate seeks to take next step in Ashland

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Brisnet – Constellation invades for Madison, A.P. Indian returns in Commonwealth

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Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. Forty percent of people know that.

Homer Simpson

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Brisnet – Scully – How to Bet Keeneland

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TDN – RMG Announces Internship for Jockeys

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NY Times – Shpigel – N.H.L.’s Olympics Stance Leaves Players Cold

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TDN – Bill Finley – Arrogate’s Dam, a Strange Trip to Stardom

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National Post – Ahsan – The important questions: Why salad will always be boring and will never be an ‘it’ food and it’s time we get used to it

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Seattle Times – Hanson – Life at Emerald Downs: passion, pain and persistence

It Keeps You Living

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Bloodhorse – Brown Likes Blue Grass Timing for Practical Joke

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Paulick Report – Wellman And The Three-Way Partnership It Took To Land ‘Standout’ Yearling Tapwrit

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Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Meet the best female jockey in India (she’s also the only one they’ve got)

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Brisnet – Reilly – Oscar Performance, Ticonderoga meet again in Transylvania on Keeneland opener

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TwinSpires Blog – Reilly – Ward enters two Scat Daddy fillies in Keeneland juvenile maiden

TwinSpires Blog – Reilly – Projected fields for Keeneland’s opening weekend

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US Racing – Ransom – Arrogate Back in California, Will Be Given Brief Break

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Paulick Report – ‘Setting An Example For Children’: Olympic Dressage Medalist Peters Dons Helmet In FEI Competition

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NY Times – Shpigel – N.H.L. Says Its Players Will Not Participate in 2018 Winter Olympics

US Racing – Ransom – Always Dreaming Has Connections Doing Just That After Florida Derby Win

TDN – Always Dreaming ‘Excellent’

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Paulick Report – Florida Derby Handle Of $30.6 Million Second-Highest In History

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ESPN – DRF – McGee – McCraken tepid choice at 5-1 in Derby Future Pool 4

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Bloodhorse – Hughes – McCraken Makes It Look Easy in Four-Furlong Move

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Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Ehalt – How the son of Tapit who almost broke the bank may be about to hit the jackpot

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Bloodhorse – Pletcher Duo Works Toward Wood Memorial

Paulick Report – ‘Todd Squad’ Update: One Liner To Arkansas Derby, Battalion Runner To Wood Memorial

Paulick Report – Wood Memorial: Battalion Runner Has ‘Consistently Run Well Fresh’

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Bloodhorse – Irish War Cry Breezes at Fair Hill

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Paulick Report – Untrapped, Lookin At Lee Put In ‘Super Work’ For Arkansas Derby

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TwinSpires Blog – Caldwell – With Unique Bella sidelined, Farrell reigns alone atop the Kentucky Oaks Leaderboard

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Bloodhorse – Balan – Hard Aces Grinds Out Tokyo City Cup Victory

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Bloodhorse – McCoy – R Angel Katelyn Romps at Tampa Bay Downs

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Bloodhorse – Shea – Mo’ Green Flies Home in Top Flight

TDN – Uncle Mo Filly Takes ‘Flight’ at Aqueduct

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Bloodhorse – Lady Aurelia to Make Season Debut in Giant’s Causeway

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Brisnet – Reilly – Arrogate ‘fresh’ upon return, eyes Pacific Classic en route to Breeders’ Cup title defense

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I was walking down the street the other day when I saw my best friend Jeff. I walked up to him and mentioned that I had the craziest dream the other night. Jeff listened as I told him that the dream consisted of just one thing. A huge glowing number “5”. It was made of gold and sparkled with shiny diamonds. Jeff’s curiosity was peaked. I went on to say that the first thing that I did in the morning was to grab the daily racing digest and look up the 5th race.

Jeff raised an eyebrow. I told him that the #5 horse in the 5th race was named “The 5th Element.” Jeff started grinning. Then I told him point-by-point what I did that entire day.

I ate 5 bowls of cereal for breakfast and drank 5 cups of coffee

I went for a 5 mile jog to clear my head

I took a 5 minute shower to rinse off

I dressed in the 5th suit I found in my closet

I sat in my car for 5 minutes before starting it

I drove to the racetrack and parked in the 5th stall in the 5th row

I entered through the 5th admissions gate

I bought 5 programs

I went to the 5th betting window and bet $555 on the 5th horse in the 5th race

I went and sat in the 5th row of the bleachers making sure there were 5 people sitting on both sides of me.

I settled in and waited for the race to start.

“Well,” said Jeff. “Did your horse win??”

I frowned at Jeff and said, “Stupid horse came in 5th.”

Memorie d’Angelina – The Digestivo: A Beginner’s Guide to Italian After Dinner Drinks

NY Times – Steinhauer – Sipping on a Sunset, Italy in Mind

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Ahead by a Century

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When you have five or six potential hall of famers on your team … that’s when you win pennants and championships. The only thing you have to be concerned about is getting the ballplayers to bed on time.

Joe DiMaggio

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Garden and Gun – Thompson – Taste the Delta of Old at Lusco’s

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DRF – McGee – Hansen taking lower-key path to Derby with Fast and Accurate

Sal says that when Mark Zimmer bent down and kissed the ground in the winner’s circle the Northlands Park stewards fined him.

DRF – Nevills – Breeder Hansen being rewarded for faith in stallion Hansen

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Wicked Game

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NY Times – Tracy – Gonzaga Earns Chance to Prove It Belongs Among Basketball’s Elite

NY Times – Schonbrun – Loose Attitudes and a Tight Finish Put the Tar Heels Back in the Title Game

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NY Times – Tracy – Go Gonzaga! But Who Is Gonzaga?

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Somebody to Love

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National Post – Washington Post – Holley – A ‘classy’ North Carolina restaurant banned kids. Critics fumed — and then reservations surged

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I relate this, again, because on two occasions Saturday, Grade 2 stakes races at Fair Grounds and Gulfstream Park were run at the same time. The Gulfstream Park Oaks went off moments after the Muniz Memorial Handicap was underway. A little more than an hour later, the Louisiana Derby and the Pan American were run simultaneously.

Horseplayers are forced to tolerate this nonsense all the time. But the fact that this happened twice on Saturday, in the type of races involved and in such a relatively short period of time, really struck a nerve with me. And judging from the visceral reaction I saw on social media, it angered a bunch of other people, too.

I don’t care which party is at fault here. We all know that Gulfstream habitually makes a mockery of scheduled post times. But on Saturday, Fair Grounds brought a stakes field on the track with zero minutes to post. And I don’t really care about the underlying political motivations involved, either. But as a horseplayer, I do care about how I am treated.

The game is doing okay, but it’s not doing so great that tracks can show such a complete disregard for its most important audience. Running two Grade 2 stakes races at the same time twice within an 80-minute window was downright abusive, not only to horseplayers – you know, the people who pick up the damn check – but also to the type of racing fans the industry seems so bent on attracting. Imagine being new to the sport and just wanting to watch good horses perform, and being forced to choose which stakes horses you get to watch because the races are being run at the same time, as if there aren’t enough minutes in a day.

It’s absurd beyond words.

DRF – Watchmaker: Horseplayers deserve better treatment

Sal says that one would think that with all of the Longines’ timepieces they give away someone would be able to tell time.

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Out of Time

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Bloodhorse – Balan – Iliad Records Final Santa Anita Derby Workout

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Bloodhorse – Wincze Hughes – Tapwrit Tunes Up for Blue Grass Stakes

Paulick Report – Pletcher: Tapwrit Lays Down ‘The Most Impressive Breeze’ For Blue Grass Stakes

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Brisnet – Caldwell – Petrov, Silver Dust breeze for Arkansas Derby

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Paulick Report – Mo Town ‘Couldn’t Be Much Better’ Ahead Of Wood Memorial

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Bloodhorse – Blue Grass Again Features Enhanced Security Measures

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To practice five things under all circumstances constitutes perfect virtue; these five are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.

Confucius

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NY Times – Pennington – They Can Hit 400-Foot Homers, but Playing Catch? That’s Tricky

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Paulick Report –  Schweitzer – Keeneland Presents American Graded Stakes Standings: Making His Mark

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Fifth

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It was on my fifth birthday that Papa put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘Remember, my son, if you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of your arm.’

Sam Levenson

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TDN – Harvey – Buick Hit With Hefty Ban

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People whose ideologies are close but not identical often seem to hate each other the most. Consider the quarrels among various brands of progressives captured in the phrase “the left eats its own.” Freud called this phenomenon “the narcissism of small differences.” Recent research has referred to it as “horizontal hostility,” which grows as a reaction to “distinctiveness threat.” The distinctness under threat is differentiation from mainstream groups, a differentiation that minority groups usually value as part of their identities.

LA Times – Kateman – Can’t vegans and vegetarians just get along?

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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.

Albert Einstein

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Five to One

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DRF – Hegarty – Pegasus stakeholders to meet, get paid, discuss 2018 event

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Catch Us If You Can

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Tell them I was arrested for carrying concealed ideas!

 Jack McGurn

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Paulick Report – Critic Calls Proposed Massachusetts Horse Park ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ 

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Candle In The Wind

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Paulick Report – Barr Introduces Three Proposals To Reform Tax Code, Would Benefit Horse Industry

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I respectfully decline to answer because I honestly believe my answer might tend to incriminate me.

Joey Gallo

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Doesn’t Remind Me

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Paulick Report – Woodbine’s Wilson Learning To Balance Elite Riding Career With New Twin Daughters

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Bloodhorse – Fiero – Another A. P. Indy Line?

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Behind every great fortune, there is a crime!

Charlie Luciano

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Goodbye Horses

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Sal says that one of his salient sources suggested that the oft confusing triactor or trifecta bet should be renamed the Threesome. Box a threesome and it doesn’t matter who finishes first.

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The Letter

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Paulick Report – Frank Mitchell – Bloodlines Presented By Climax Stallions: Man o’ War’s Century Of Influence

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NY Times – Clark – Carrots, Striking and Sweet, Have Arrived

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In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.

Yogi Berra

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Never Been to Spain

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Bloodhorse – Novak – Always Dreaming Runs Away With Florida Derby

ESPN – DRF – Welsch – Pletcher looks strong for Kentucky Derby after Florida Derby win

ESPN – AP – Florida Panthers owner part of Florida Derby win

TwinSpires Blog – Genaro – Always Dreaming lives up to his name in Florida Derby win

TDN – Bodemeister Colt Gives Pletcher Fourth Florida Derby

Paulick Report – Always Dreaming Gives Pletcher Yet Another Prep Win In Florida Derby

Sal says that the 2017 Florida Derby again showed that you better have a superior horse or better juice if you want to win a race from the outside at 1 1/8 miles at Gulfstream Park.

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Dreams

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1994 Florida Derby

2008 Florida Derby

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What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist takes only your skin.

Mark Twain

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LA Times – Fleshler – Discovery of Florida panther kittens near Everglades buoys hope for the endangered cats

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Bloodhorse – Shea – Sadler’s Joy Wins Pan American at Wire

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Cause I Said So

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Bloodhorse – Wincze Hughes – Girvin Reigns in Louisiana Derby

ESPN DRF – Privman – Girvin sits atop Ky. Derby points list after La. Derby win

US Racing _Ransom – Girvin Answers All Questions With Louisiana Derby Win

TDN – Tale of Ekati’s Girvin Doubles Up in FG Derby

Paulick Report – Girvin Adds Louisiana Derby To An Ever-Growing Resume

With Patch garnering 40 points for his second place finish Pletcher added 2 more qualifiers to his 2017 Kentucky Derby Platoon on Saturday.

Sal says that it looks like Pletcher is growing a playoff beard.

Sal says that  channelling the rabbit’s exhaust fumes in the Louisiana Derby harmed rather than helped Monaco. Sal’s sure that Matlock made an eponymous wager on the Louisiana Derby a tad smaller than the $1.3 Million US invested in what appears to be a slow tax loss.

Speaking of the rabbit when have you ever seen a more appropriate named rabbit than Hotfoot. 

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So. Central Rain

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TwinSpires Blog – Hanson – That’s a wrap: Impressions of TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby Day and New Orleans

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TwinSpires Blog – What DeRosa Thinks He Learned About the 2017 Kentucky Derby from the Florida And Louisiana Derbys

Sal says what he learned from the Florida and Louisiana Derbys is that omerta is still the best policy.

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Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – 17 ‘win and you’re in’ races now included as new Irish Derby initiatives are announced

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With A Little Help From My Friends

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NY Times – My 10 Favorite Books: Viggo Mortensen

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Ramble On

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Bloodhorse – Hammonds – Farrell Strolls in Fair Grounds Oaks

US Racing – Ransom – Farrell Proves Best With Fair Grounds Oaks Victory

TDN – Malibu Moon’s Farrell Simply Too Good in FG Oaks

Paulick Report – Farrell Easily Scores Fourth Stakes Win In A Row In Fair Grounds Oaks

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All of The Day and All of the Night

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Bloodhorse – Salty Impressive in Gulfstream Park Oaks

TDN – Quality Road Filly Much the Best in Gulfstream Park Oaks

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Bloodhorse – Hangin With Haskin – John Nerud and the Making of Arrogate

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Lola

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NY Times – Klein – In Poland’s Crooked Forest, a Mystery With No Straight Answer

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Nearly Lost You

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DRF – Hovdey: Training a good one was vintage Fanning

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Show Me How to Live

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Driving – Seams – Five classic muscle cars going up for auction – which would you pick?

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Mustang Sally

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Garden and Gun – Reid – Thirty Years of Steel Magnolias

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Can’t Always Get What you Want

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Bloodhorse – Beyond Imagination – By Evan Hammonds

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Garden and Gun – Celebrate the South

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Hardly anyone has noticed that in the Northern Hemisphere people stir their drinks counterclockwise, whereas the same people stir their drinks clockwise when visiting the Southern Hemisphere.

John McCarthy

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Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Duckworth – The man who raised Lady Eli and his wondrous rapport with his horses

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Thoroughbred Racing Commentary – Will the Australian Derby continue the rise of the stallion of the moment?

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Bloodhorse – Balan – Collected Puts Away Dortmund in Santana Mile

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TDN – Anderson – English Channel Colt Makes the ‘Cut’ at Gulfstream

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TDN – DiDonato – Well-Related Hard Spun Colt Runs Away to Rising Stardom at Gulfstream

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Bloodhorse – Wincze Hughes – Honorable Duty Runs Them Down in New Orleans Handicap

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Bloodhorse – Balan – Enterprising Digs in to Win Muniz

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Bloodhorse – Celestine All Class in Honey Fox

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Bloodhorse – Kumin Buys Interest in Stakes Winner Whitmore

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Bloodhorse – Shea – All Included, Summersault Make Grade on Gulfstream Turf

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It’s All over Now Baby Blue