Jun 092025
 

Just for the record, the weather today is calm and sunny, but the air is full of bullshit

Chuck Palahniuk

In The End

Horse Race Insider – John Pricci – NYRA TRACK MAINTENANCE AND SOVEREIGNTY BOTH STAR AT BELMONT-157 RACING FESTIVAL

ESPN – Sham Charania – Sources: Knicks’ request to speak with Udoka, Finch denied

Phil has a question:

Did the Knicks have a plan before firing their coach.

Paulick Report – Personal Ensign Could Be Next For Breeders’ Cup-Bound Dorth Vader

Bloodhorse – Frank Angst – NYRA Thinks Long-Term With its Belmont Day Decisions

Horse Racing Nation – Ron Flatter – Anger over Sovereignty’s snub of Triple Crown boils over

Thoroughbred Racing Commentary -Nicholas Godfrey –  World rankings: Sovereignty reigns supreme at Saratoga – and there’s nobody close to world #1 Aidan O’Brien at Epsom

TDN – Tim Wilkin – Belmont Champ Sovereignty Will Target Travers Next

Paulick Report – ‘Trainer’s Dream’: Sovereignty In Good Order Following Belmont Win; Travers Prep Jim Dandy Could Be Next

Paulick Report – Belmont Runner-Up Journalism ‘Doing Fantastic’; Breeders’ Cup Classic Long-Range Goal

Bloodhorse – Bob Ehalt – Despite Rain, O’Rourke Sees Sunshine in Spa Numbers

Bloodhorse – Sean Collins – East Avenue Back to Old Self in Matt Winn Victory

TDN – ‘Rising Star’ East Avenue Goes The Distance In The Matt Winn At Churchill

Paulick Report – Victor Ryan – Gaming Dominates Gate To Wire In Affirmed, Tops Exacta For Bob Baffert, ‘Three Amigos

Bloodhorse – Frank Angst – NYRA Postpones Jaipur, Manhattan Stakes to June 8

The gain to the winner is always less than the loss to the loser.

Ian Fleming

Bloodhorse – America’s Best Racing – Tom Pedulla – Takeaways From 2025 Belmont Stakes Festival

Bloodhorse – Frank Angst – Despite Race-Day Changes, Belmont Posts Solid Numbers

The Athletic – Amos Morales III – Sovereignty surges down the stretch to win the Belmont Stakes

The Score  – Liam Fox – Sovereignty tops Journalism again to win Belmont Stakes

Sports Illustrated – Mike McDaniel – Sovereignty Wins 2025 Belmont Stakes

TDN – Derby Winner Sovereignty Stamps His Authority On the Belmont

Never give a sword to a man who can’t dance.

Confucius

Under Pressure

Bloodhorse – Bob Ehalt – Sovereignty Wins Belmont Stakes in KY Derby Repeat

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. 

Confucius

Paulick Report – Chlesea Hackbarth – ‘Two Great Horses’: Déjà Vu In Belmont Stakes As Sovereignty Defeats Journalism Again

Horse Race Insider – John Pricci – SOVEREIGNTY REIGNS SUPREME IN BELMONT 157

Bloodhorse – Frank Angst – Belmont Notebook: Godolphin Team Enjoys the Moment

Bloodhorse – Byron King – Journalism Camp Proud; Eyes Fall Rematch at Del Mar

TDN – Tim Wilkin – Journalism’s Camp Not Throwing In the Towel

Our attitude towards others determines their attitude towards us.

Earl Nightingale

The Haiku Handicapper, Joe Nevills, was close:

Prediction
Triple Crown near-miss
Journalism wins rematch
And then six, three, two

Prediction 
Triple Crown near-miss
Journalism Sovereignty wins rematch
Same Tri as Derby

Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad

Racing Post – David Carr – Lambourn dominates from the front to give Aidan O’Brien yet another triumph in the Derby

Racing Post – David Carr – Royal Ascot next for 2,000 Guineas winner Ruling Court after he was pulled out of Betfred Derby due to the ground

Garden and Gun – Tom Wilmes – Ten Standout Southern Bourbon Festivals

Firing the coach also redirects the blame from the GM, who makes the statement that the roster isn’t the problem.

ESPN – Stars fire coach Pete DeBoer after losing in the West finals

Phil has a question:

Is it easier to pull one goalie than 12 underperforming forwards and 6 underperforming defencemen.

Is it easier to fire one coach than 20 underperforming players.

Does Dallas think it’s New York.

SportsNet – Justin Bourne – Pete DeBoer, and how NHL coaches have been sapped of all authority

ESPN – Shams Charadia – Sources: Knicks interested in speaking with Jason Kidd

Should I Stay Or Should I Go

The Athletic – Spencer Harrison – I research organizations and culture. Here’s a lesson the Knicks should heed

Phil has a question:

Did Thibodeau play his starters too much cuz that’s his technique or cuz he had no talent on the bench.

Firing Thibodeau was controversial and costly enough that the Knicks better get this coaching hire right. Anything less than the franchise’s first title since 1973 will be considered a failure.

SB Nation – Ricky O’Donnell – Knicks coaching candidates: 4 favorites, 3 longshots to replace Tom Thibodeau

All Apologies

The Ringer – Joel Anderson – Lane Kiffin Crossed a Line. College Football Recruits Should Pay Attention

Phil has a question:

Why hasn’t fat fucking Don the Fucking Con attacked any University with Div I Football or basketball teams.

Seven Nation Army

TDN – ‘Rising Star’ Patch Adams Scoots Clear In Woody Stephens

I only ever play Vegas one night at a time. It’s a hideous, gaudy place; it may not be the end of the world per se, but you can certainly see it from there.

Robin Williams

What Wonderful World

Bloodhorse – Teresa Genaro – Cutting Back, Patch Adams Gets Grade 1 Win at Saratoga

The Russians love Brooke Shields because her eyebrows remind them of Leonid Brezhnev.

Robin Williams

Paulick Report – Myra Lewyn – ‘Special Horse’: Favorite Patch Adams Powers Clear In Woody Stephens

Bloodhorse – Bob Ehalt –  Running Nitrogen on Dirt in Wonder Again Pays Off

The horse I bet on was so slow, the jockey kept a diary of the trip. 

Henny Youngman

TDN – Maximus Mischief’s Raging Torrent Causes Surprise in Hill ‘n’ Dale Met Mile

Bloodhorse – Byron King – Raging Torrent Takes Them All the Way in Met Mile

Bulls On Parade

Bloodhorse – Karen M. Johnson – A. P. Kid Earns First Stakes Win in Pennine Ridge

2018 Pennine Ridge

TDN – Alan Carasso – Book’em Danno Rebounds Over Mullikin In True North

Hawaii 5-0

When you leave New York, you are astonished at how clean the rest of the world is. Clean is not enough.

Fran Lebowitz

In The End

New York is an ugly city, a dirty city. Its climate is a scandal, its politics are used to frighten children, its traffic is madness, its competition is murderous. But there is one thing about it – once you have lived in New York and it has become your home, no place else is good enough.

John Steinbeck

Man on The Moon

SkySports – David Beckham to receive knighthood in King’s Birthday Honours List named next week

Daily Mail – Amelia Wynne – ‘I still sit there on my own until 4am doing it!’ David Beckham, 47, reveals he loves to play with Lego because it ‘helps him relax’

Atomic

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook. 

William James

One of Phil’s favourite name horses: Dorth Vader, the  John Ropes Florida homebred had the Force with her in the Saratoga slop in the GI Ogden Phipps Stake Presented by Ford for  $500,000 going 1 1/8 miles on the sloppy dirt on Friday.

Dorth Vader is by Girvin (Tale of Ekati) out of the Yonaguska mare Hardcore Candy who was campaigned in Alberta by Darrell Landry and then Amber Buniak and Ryan McLean. Hardcore Candy won 8 races from 40 starts with 8 seconds and 4 thirds, earning $101,308. She was Stakes placed in the Freedom of the City Stakes (Black Type) at Northlands Park.

Trained by George Weaver for owner/breeder John Ropes, Dorth Vader landed her first win since taking the 2023 Davona Dale Stakes (G2) as a 3-year-old. The now 5-year-old mare made it worth the wait, earning an automatic berth to the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) Nov. 1 at Del Mar with her victory in the Ogden Phipps, a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In event. 

Bloodhorse – Karen M. Johnson – Dorth Vader Springs the Upset in Ogden Phipps

Dorth Vader is out of the winning Yonaguska mare Hardcore Candy, who Ropes purchased under the name Rose Grove Farm for $23,000 at the 2014 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. Fall Mixed Sale.

Paulick Report – Joe Nevills – Dorth Vader Forces Herself Into Breeders’ Cup Conversation With Mud-Caked Ogden Phipps Win

Q: How does Darth Vader manage to eat through that mask?

A: He’s force fed.

TDN – Frankel’s Asbury Park ‘Bosses’ Spa Maiden, Becomes A ‘Rising Star’

Spirit In The Night

TDN – J.N.Campbell – ‘TDN Rising Star’ Ways And Means Chairs Bed O’ Roses Romp At The Spa

Mustang Sally

Bloodhorse – Frank Angst – La Cara Upsets Acorn; KY Oaks Winner Good Cheer Fifth

Paulick Report – Chelsea Hackbarth – La Cara All The Way In Acorn; Oaks Heroine Good Cheer Fifth

Jolene

Bloodhorse – Byron King – Wet Turf Can’t Stop She Feels Pretty in New York Stakes

Big Yellow Taxi

As a bee gathering nectar does not harm or disturb the color and fragrance of the flower; so do the wise move through the world.

Buddha


Phil M. Stockmen

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