One Week at a Time

Special thanks to Tom Lamarra at Bloodhorse and Seth Merrow at Equidaily for so prominently highlighting our launch last week, as did sources as diverse as Thoroughbred Daily News, Horseback magazine, and Canterbury Park’s blog Straight from the Horse’s Mouth. Oh, and Twitter—the go-to place these days to quickly spread information about any new project! Thank you one and all.

In case you missed it, this past week our members were talking about the Breeders’ Cup—former and future champions, as well as issues swirling around the event, including:

• King Leatherbury and his Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint prospect Ben’s Cat (That’s Amore)
• former claimer and Breeders’ Cup champion Furthest Land—fulfilling every claiming horse owner’s dream (Owning Racehorses)
• tough, talented Royal Heroine, first BC Mile winner, who survived a fatal 3-horse spill before her big win (Fillies First)
• why Belmont Park isn’t ready for the Breeders’ Cup...yet (The Business of Racing)
• an interesting comparative look at 2010 BC winners and same day Aqueduct winners (Brooklyn Backstretch)
• why do West Coast horses breeze further than those on the East Coast, and how that might impact them on Breeders’ Cup day (ThoroEdge)
• the betting menu and handicapping approach for the BC Classic (The Turk)
• impressions on which Breeders’ Cup races contenders like Uncle Mo, The Factor and others should be aimed (Giving My Ten Cents) and why any where Uncle Mo goes is a good thing (EquiSpace)
• underwhelmed by a possible BC matchup between Uncle Mo and Havre de Grace, longing for the days of Curlin and Zenyatta (Post Parade)
• Tu Endie Wei’s attempt at the Alcibiades (Triple Dead Heat) and My Miss Aurelia, winner of the G1 Frizette (Brooklyn Backstretch)
• why the Breeders’ Cup has done more to damage horse racing than good in recent years (Foolish Pleasure)

Opening week at Keeneland also inspired analysis and post-race analysis by The Turk while the “last-out at Presque Isle” handicapping angle got put to test. Long-gone tracks at Havre de Grace and Jamaica got some love as well. Colin’s Ghost provided a pictorial wrap-up of Jockey Club Gold Cup Day while Frank Vespe summarized the recent Fasig Tipton Eastern Yearlings sale at Timonium.

Frank Mitchell (Bloodstock in the Bluegrass) recognized dual G1-producing mare Mining My Own, Fran Jurga looked at new research on foal weaning and feed issues emerging as the result of New England flooding, and Bill Pressey quite literally dissected thoroughbred performance—fascinating stuff!

On the international front:

• a fond farewell to Japanese Triple Crown champion Symboli Rudolf (Keiblog)
• a milestone for female jockey and trainer duo winning in Korea (Horse Racing in Korea)
• a phenomenal day at the track in India for sire Razeen and in England for Teofilo with his first G1 winner

Finally, Alan Mann (Left at the Gate) regaled us all week about his European adventures—the Arc experience, NHL in Sweden, geothermic pools in Iceland, and final impressions from his better half on Arc fashions and food.

Wow, can't wait to see what this next week brings! Hope it's a good one for you.