Girl Power at the Breeders Cup

Saturday proved to be a historic day in horse racing with the victory by the 5 year old mare Zenyatta in the Grade 1 Breeders Cup Classic. Trained by John Shireffs and ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, the daughter of Street Cry (IRE) out of the Kris S. mare Vertigineux covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:00 3/5, ahead of her eleven male competitors (Quality Road was a late scratch after refusing entry and breaking through the gate).



Not since Azeri finished 4th to Ghostzapper in 2004 has a filly or mare tried to win the Classic, but unlike the prior three, this time the girl ruled. Breaking slowly, Zenyatta trailed all but the Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird entering the first turn, and remained in 6th entering the homestretch (see photo right). But Mike Smith had patience and confidence as he weaved his way through the tiring field. Zenyatta was just getting into gear. Smith swung the giant mare out wide and gave her a couple quick cracks of the whip. That was all she needed to get down to business and race past the probable US turf horse of the year Gio Ponti who held on for the place. In finishing first by a length, Zenyatta concluded her illustrious career a perfect 14 for 14, eclipsing the the Hall-of-Fame filly Personal Ensign's 13 straight to start a career, but falling a nose short as the most exciting race in Breeders Cup history.


Zenyatta beat 7 millionaires including the aforementioned Derby winner Mine That Bird and the Belmont and Travers winner Summer Bird. She also beat some of Europe's best, although she didn't have the chance to face the world's best horse - be it Rachel Alexandra or European superstar Sea the Stars - both opting to stay home after tough campaigns. Jess Jackson can say he doesn't want to race his filly Rachel Alexandra on the synthetics after Curlin lost last year, but his decision was made when Rachel was all out winning the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes in September.


Would she have beaten those two champions Saturday if they were running? Doesnt' matter because they didn't run. They can't take away her Breeders Cup Classic title. Will this vault Zenyatta to Horse-of-the-year honors? She'll get some support for sure, but I'd wager she'll fall a little short - remember, the horse center of the world is Kentucky, not Los Angeles, and they have never seen her race in person. Which is a shame, because she is something special. Click Here to Read More..

Breeders Cup Friday

Back from my exciting weekend in the City of Brotherly Love which went great save a 9th inning Yankees rally, but was fun nonetheless. Time to get back to handicapping and the 2 day Breeders Cup at Santa Anita is a good place to start.

Friday was "Ladies Day" last year, but this year they move the Marathon to Friday and stretch it out to 14 furlongs making a true test of the stayer. Last year's winner Muhannak is in the race, but hasn't run well this year. The class of the field is Mastery who won the Group 1 St. Leger Stakes at Doncaster in his last outing and he's the likely winner, but I'm gonna take 9 year old Cloudy's Knight to spring the upset at a price. The #4 horse has won his last two starts at 12F and comes into the race in top form. #1 Black Astor could be a surprise as well as he sports a pace advantage on these.

The BC Juvenile Fillies Turf is somewhat of a crapshoot given the limited preps available to theses fillies and the presence of several Euros in the field. The #8 Lilie Langtry looks especially tough having won almost $1mln already in her career but her trainer Aiden O'Brien hasn't had success with his shippers going 0-23 in the past 3 years according to the Daily Racing Form. I'll look to #11 Junia Tepzia who is 2-2 racing in Italy by Rock of Gibraltar (IRE), a top turf sire. Longshot #5 La Nez is a local filly that could spring the upset at a big price if she takes to the turf.

The BC Juvenile Fillies is usually dominated by favorites like last year's Stardom Bound but this year's contest appears wide open. I like the #7 Devil May Care who's half to Regal Ransom running in the Classic tomorrow. #3 Blind Luck out of the Jerry Hollendorfer barn could give him his first BC winner as she won at this track and distance last race.

The BC Filly & Mare Turf has last year's champion Forever Together in the field as well as 4 other millionaires. I'm gonna take the hard knocking #3 Rutherienne over the #5 Pure Clan.

Ventura, pictured above should repeat in the F&M Sprint unless #2 Sara Louise isn't caught.

The Ladies Classic is without superstar Zenyatta who has opted to race tomorrow in the Classic, which should make this a more interesting affair. #1 Careless Jewel is a logical first choice with #5 Proviso looking to extend the Euros dominance on the syntethics at Oak Tree.

Picks: Race 3 -#4, Race 4 - #11, Race 5 - #7, Race 6 - #3, Race 7 - #9, Race 8 - #1

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Pearl Jam Concert Lived up to Hype

Got back from the big Pearl Jam last ever concert at the Spectrum and it didn't disappoint. Here's the setlist(thanks to pearljam.com):

Set List: Why Go, Last Exit, Corduroy, Severed Hand, The Fixer, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, You Are, Amongst The Waves, Even Flow, Pilate, Unthought Known, Daughter/Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 (Waters), Johnny Guitar, Rats, I'm Open, I Got Shit, Glorified G, Out Of My Mind, Black, Insignificance, Life Wasted

1st encore: Just Breathe w/string quartet, The End w/string quartet, Low Light, Speed Of Sound, Jeremy w/string quartet, Inside Job, Bugs w/string quartet, Spin The Black Circle, Porch

2nd encore: Whip It (Devo), Got Some, Crown Of Thorns (Mother Love Bone), Satan's Bed, Sweet Lew, Do the Evolution, Better Man/Save It For Later (English Beat), Smile, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World (Young), Yellow Ledbetter/Star Spangled Banner

I got to hear 6 of the 10 songs I wanted to hear, but none of the top 3. Still all in all, when you get to got to 3 1/2 hours of Pearl Jam playing live, it is something special. Highlights for me include the "Whip It" cover when the band dressed up as Devo, and the finishing Alive and Rockin' in the Free World combo. Also Eddie was chatty and funny, and dispelled the rumors of special guests early on. Click Here to Read More..

What I Want to Hear

Earlier in the week on day 1 of Pearl Jam's 4 night stand at the Spectrum lead singer Eddie Vedder uttered that "we're gonna try to play every song we know by 2am Sunday." That off-handed statement had the forums buzzing over at pearljam.com not only for the potential of an epic 5 hour concert, but also for the potential to hear some rare classics that are infrequently played.

Myself, I don't claim to be any kind of superfan. I've been to 5 PJ concerts and have a number of albums, but not every one. I loved the concert at Outside Lands because they played so many songs I know. So, I got to thinking, what are the songs I really want to hear Pearl Jam play on Halloween. PJ has repeated a few songs besides their recent Backspacer numbers, I sure hope they do repeats tonight as most of my faves have played. Here goes:

1. Breath - never heard it live, they don't play this one as much, but played it Friday.
2. Dissident - Played night 1.
3. Rearviewmirror - played on nights 1 and 3.
4. Black - always great.
5. Rats - fitting for halloween
6. Life Wasted - haven't played yet
7. Rockin' in the Free World - closed nite 1. If Neil Young is invovled this moves to #1
8. Corduroy - night 1
9. Leash- Get out of my face.
10. Alive - Great set closer

Mostly hits, I know, but pretty much that's what I want.

Leaving now for airport. Click Here to Read More..

Weekend of the Year

Usually this space is reserved for commentary on horse racing. But this weekend I have the great fortune of travelling back to Philadelphia for an out of this world Pick 3 starting Saturday night at the final live performance in the history of the fabled Philadelphia Spectrum by one of my favorite bands Pearl Jam on Halloween. Sunday follows with the ultimate double-header. First is a 1pm kickoff of the Philadelphia Eagles vs. division rival New York Giants. Then Game 4 of the World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees takes place at 8:30pm.

The idea cropped up after my initial plan to possibly catch a World Series game in Anaheim was fizzling due to the Yankees grabbing a commanding 3-1 lead. When that looked dire, I started looking for plane tickets to Philly, and fortunately I found a ticket to fly the red-eye Sat night to arrive for the big Eagles/Phils double header. Now all I needed was a Phils win in game 5 of the NLCS.

The morning after the Phils clinched I went to book my flight, but the price had tripled for the red-eye. An earlier direct flight could get me to Philly Saturday afternoon, but that required additional approval from the wife. Since she is the greatest wife ever, she recognized how fired up I had gotten for this trip, so she graciously gave me the thumbs up.

The earlier arrival sparked a new idea. I had read during Bruce Springsteen's legendary performances last week at the Spectrum that it was closing this weekend, and Pearl Jam would be the final act. Having recently seen their scintillating performance at Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco in August, I could hardly imagine how great seeing them close the Spectrum would be. Well if the Friday night's show is any indication, its gonna be insane. Game 3 is going on across the street at Citizen's Bank Park, so the whole complex is gonna be rocking, not just the Spectrum.

I hope to post pictures and stories from the weekend, the weekend of the year, and possibly the greatest sports weekend of my life.

Off to Broad and Pattison.

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