Wednesday, December 17, 2008

GARY ROEDEMEIER ON DERBY 2009

  A horse has never won the Kentucky Derby without starting as a two year old and so, next year's winner is probably out there running. Your job is to find that winner before the first Saturday in May.

      And we already have some hints, some early bloomers, some juvenile stars on the horizon. Start your list for Derby 2009. Some of these early stars will fade, some will get hurt, but maybe, just maybe, like Street Sense in 2007, the winner is already on the radar.

     Vineyard Haven

      Let's start with a two year old who has already won two Grade One Stakes and......won them on dirt. Remember, they run the Kentucky Derby on dirt. The Champagne Stakes has always been a good predictor of the winter book favorite for the Derby and this time, the Champagne was won by the aptly name Vineyard Haven. This son of Lido Palace had already won the Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga then crushed a field at Belmont by almost six lengths. The next step should be the Breeders' Cup Juvenile but....here's the catch. Vineyard Haven is not nominated to the Cup. Trainer Bobby Frankel would have to supplement the horse at a cost of $180,000. He'll probably pass on the Cup and look elsewhere. By the way, one of the owners of Vineyard Haven is Dodger's manager Joe Torre. He's already had a good October. Just ask the Chicago Cubs.

      Square Eddie

      The rest of our Derby hopefuls are on the artificial turf road to the Breeders' Cup and that should set them up for the Pro-Ride at Santa Anita. Or does it?  Pro-Ride is still an unknown among faux race tracks. Will it play like Polytrack or something else?  Which brings us to the Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, a race that was won by a British invader, who's about to become very American. European trainer John Best brought three horses to Keeneland but will leave the winner behind for California trainer Paul O'Neill. J. Paul Reddam bought Square Eddie and O'Neill had not seen the horse until a few hours beford the race. Now Eddie moves squarely into the Breeders' Cup picture. And as a son of Smart Strike, he'll get the distance and is already a Derby contender.

       West Side Bernie

       Speaking of sire power, have you been watching the offspring of Bernstein. Dream Empress, a Bernstein filly won the Grade One Alcibiades at Keeneland. She's owned by MTG partners Kelly Colliver and Bruce and Debbie Lane. West Side Bernie was winner of the Kentucky Cup Juvenile.  West Side Bernie was named for Leonard Bernstein, the composer of West Side story. Bernie won on the dirt at Monmouth and made it two in a row at Turfway. He'll be a longshot in California, but watch this horse and this sire for the future.

         Street Hero

        He was a maiden when he won the Norfolk on Pro-Ride. Now he's in the Cup. Street Hero is a son of Street Cry, who has already produced one Derby winner in Street Sense and remember Street Sense loved the dirt, even though he ran some decent races on Polytrack. If Street Hero wins at Santa Anita again, he might look even better at Churchill Downs.

         Midshipman

         Bob Baffert has a Derby candidate in California.  If you were in the Navy, you'll love Midshipman. He won the Delmar Futurity and then finished second to Street Hero in the Norfolk. Middie has already proved to be a gritty closer and he's by Unbridled Song, so the Breeders' Cup two turn race should be no problem. The only problem for this colt might be the long Derby trail. The Unbridled line seems prone to injury. And by the way, by the time the Derby trials begin, Midshipman will be running in the Darley colors because the horse was included in the sale of Stonerside Stables.

        Coronet of a Baron

        Another Darley challenger is Coronet of a Baron, who ran second to Midshipman and beat Street Hero in the Delmar Futurity. He skipped the Norfolk but should be right in the mix as a Breeders' Cup and Derby possibility. All of these horses are great probabilities for the first Derby Futures Pool that will come out in February.  Remember that sometimes, Derby horses like Monarchos don't win a race and emerge as a contender until they are three years old. But just looking at this year's two year olds and the pedigrees, you might be looking at a winner right now and not know it. It's going to make the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, a race to watch for handicappers, who want an early idea about the Derby next May.   

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Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Good Heavens, It’s Calvin

by Gary Roedemeier

It was going to be the perfect end to a mid-summer Churchill Downs Classic. Perfect Drift, the blue-collar runner from Trackside, pulled away at the eighth pole and was headed for his second Stephen Foster.

But wait! That blur on the outside was flying, going from first to last in a couple of heartbeats. In a summer of improbable long shots and rail hugging victories, Calvin Borel had booted home another miracle.

As he returned to the winner’s circle, he raised his arms in victory. Calvin looked toward the heavens and gave a shout to the grandstand. For a guy who started racing on bush tracks when he was eight years old, the stretch run in the Stephen Foster may have been his finest hour.

But this is Calvin Borel, the man with a very quiet 4,255 wins in horse racing. This is the Calvin who won the Arkansas Derby on Rockamundo at 108 to 1. We shouldn’t be surprised that Seek Gold paid 185.40. Calvin fooled us again.

This is Calvin, the day in day out journeyman rider with the penchant for stealing the big moment. In the paddock he flashes a winning smile, gives a firm handshake and goes about his business.

His business is conducted over a dirt track office. His job is coaxing a thoroughbred to run fast and find the quickest path to the finish line. Most often Calvin finds the rail to his advantage, but he’s flexible. Seek Gold came down the middle of the track, saving his run for the last possible moment.

It happened in the twinkling of an eye. And, with those twinkling eyes and that sly smile, Calvin makes us think he somehow knows a shorter way around the track.

He had won Grade 1 races before, but as Seek Gold circled in front of the crowd and Calvin shouted to the crowd, you somehow knew this moment stood above all the rest. It was Calvin saying once again, “never overlook me on a longshot.”

And, if you weren’t paying attention, it cost you. On Sunday afternoon, Calvin showed up again in the winner’s circle on a 34 to 1 shot called Speedway. Yes, the jockey standings list Bejarano and Leparoux first and second. But at Churchill Downs, this is the summer of Calvin Borel.

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Monday, June 12, 2006

Listen to the Radio

by Gary Roedemeier

Gary Roedemeier is a five-time Emmy award winning news anchor for WHAS-11 in Louisville, Kentucky. He is an original member of “The Ham & Eggs Gang” appearing weekly on The Track Kitchen radio show.

There is something mysterious and magical about the radio.

With the advent of television in the late 1940s everybody thought that radio was doomed. Instead, radio would thrive as the conduit of popular music, news, and sports that somehow survived that lack of visual support.

And so, it is interesting that a person who has spent 38 years doing television news would find a kind of literary freedom in doing a radio show about horse racing. But, let’s face it, anchoring a television newscast is a little like wearing a straight jacket. Let’s make that a tie and a straight jacket.

The journalism straight jacket is objectivity. Objectivity transferred somewhat intact from print journalism. Television news has been charged with skewing that objectivity with a raised eyebrow or a casual chuckle, but to my knowledge it’s never been calculated subjectivity.

But now, I can revisit an older format, where I can shed the straight jacket and get down to straight talk. In fact, you can’t tell what I’m wearing. We provide the commentary, the words, and your mind fills in the pictures.

I became a fan of horse racing when I listened to the 1953 Kentucky Derby. Yes, listened…on the radio. I could see - in my mind’s eye - the stirring stretch duel between Dark Star and the thoroughbred superstar Native Dancer. The Derby was the Dancer’s only defeat and I was left breathless by the call of the race on our car radio.

I was a radio kid before I joined the TV generation. At night, you could hear the voice of Harry Caray wafting thru our neighborhood, as St. Louis fans followed their beloved Cardinals. Broadcaster Bob Costas once called it “the soundtrack of summer.”

The late baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti may have captured the feeling best when he said he could always hear a game better on the radio than he could watch it on television. That’s because, on radio, the words matter. On the radio, sound is the singular means of communication. I get the feeling that I am talking directly to you - one on one - and that you are paying attention.

On radio, you get more of the real Gary. It gives me an opportunity to take chances. I can be funny and have fun. And, for about eight Saturday mornings this spring, we have crafted a little radio drama with real people and real opinions.

Horse racing, itself, is an ongoing tableau, with triumph and tragedy. Who can forget the heartbreak of Barbaro, and the discovery of Bernardini… and Jazil, the little horse that could?

Listen to the radio. Every week, we’ll paint the word pictures that describe a living breathing industry with thoroughbred stars.

Listen to the words. The pictures are in your mind.

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FROM MAY TO DECEMBER

As the song says, “It’s a long long time from May to
December.”

Our two year olds began arriving just after the Derby in
mid-May and brought with them, the hopes of un-raced thoroughbreds. Now
with the hindsight of a cold December morning, they have brought us thrills
in the winners circle, and in one case, a promise still waiting to be
fulfilled on the race track.

Dixie N Spades has been our star with a Maiden Special win
at Mountaineer and then a month later beating a field of winners at
Hawthorne in Chicago. As veteran trainer Neil Howard said to me, “do you
know how rare that is?” A filly, who went through two conditions in a
month, has us looking forward to her three year old season. We’re thankful
for the keen eye of Texas horseman Ed Dodwell, who picked Dixie N Spades out of the
parade of yearlings at the Keeneland sale last year. Ed found her, broke
her and sent us a filly, who has two wins and two seconds in five starts.
Trainer Bernie Flint has been putting the polish on Dixie, who is quite
simply a sweet filly with great tactical speed.

And while Dixie N Spades is a sprinter, Fast Actress gives every
indication of being a route horse. Not to be outdone by her sister in Media
Thoroughbreds, Fast Actress put on quite a show when she broke her maiden on
the grass at Ellis Park. In a couple of sprint races at Keeneland and
Churchill, Fast Actress proved to be anything but fast. Then, on the grass,
she proved to be a different filly. All of that Storm Cat breeding came to
the surface when she passed most of the field in the last jump and gave MTG,
yet another two year old winner. Kenny McPeek chose the Pure Prize filly at
Keeneland, and we think her career is ready to blossom as a three year old.

Did I forget? Our beloved gelding, Shock N Storm, had
another fine season punctuated by a ridiculously easy 6 furlong win at
Churchill Downs. Shockie also hit the board in races at Ellis and Calder
before his year was over.

And maybe the best is yet to come. We’ve been patient with
Spirit Warrior and perhaps we’ll be rewarded before the year is over.

The Boundary colt has been “sound as a dollar” but on December 4th he is
still un-raced. Now we’re waiting for the weather and the horse to cooperate
as we try to get him into a maiden race around Christmas. Once again,
Bernie Flint is trying to work his magic; and, he is very high on this
colt. Of course, you never know, what will happen when they step on the
track, but we have high hopes that “the Christmas Spirit” will still be
running fast by the month of May.

2006 has brought Media Thoroughbred Group four victories
and still counting. And waiting in the barn we have five yearlings, ready
to renew the cycle of thoroughbred racing. We live for the season of the
horse, the two year olds bringing us thrills and accomplishments, the
yearlings bringing us the hope than dawns with every spring in the fields
and race tracks of Kentucky.

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