Incredible Upside

One of my goals for Drew Clear was to document the thoroughbred ownership experience. Well, until now I hadn't actually owned any runners for the past few years. This changes with my recent partnership of a 2yo filly with my friend and racing mentor Harry, who originally got me involved in horse ownership. We're bringing another one of my friends into the partnership, a first time owner, but early indications suggest he'll be a longtime owner.

Harry purchased this chestnut filly at the 2009 September Keeneland yearling sale, Hip 2981. She's by million dollar stakes winner and freshman sire Badge of Silver out of the Unaccounted For mare Upside. We named her Incredible Upside for her second dam "Incredible Me" and of course her dam Upside. Upside is the dam to multiple stakes winner Red Lead who is currently still in training. Fortunately for us, Red Lead has won several stakes since the sale last September, and has earned an additional $300k, which will look great on Incredible Upside's pedigree page.

This past Saturday, Harry and I transferred Incredible Upside from Bobby Gonzalez' farm in Brentwood to Pleasanton racetrack where she'll be trained by Kent Molinaro. This is our first opportunity to use Kent as a conditioner, but he comes well recommended by Bobby, who's ridden for him in the past, and says he always has his horses ready to run. Fortunately the shipping went smoothly and she was pleasantly grazing on straw in her stall when we left. At the farm she was in light training, jogging daily with weight, so hopefully she won't need too much time before being fit to race. With no setbacks I would expect her to be ready to race sometime in February.

I plan to get out to the track for some of her workouts and will try to update the blog regularly with her progress.

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Back in Action

It's been over a year since I last posted and I want to apologize to all the loyal reader(s) of Drew Clear (that means you GDR) for taking so long between posts.
Let's see what happened while I was gone: Well for one, Zenyata unretired, won 5 Grade 1's and nearly won the Breeders' Cup Classic a second time in an absolutely thrilling race but ultimately fell a head short of Blame at the wire. Her legacy as arguably the greatest mare in US thoroughbred history has been solidified, and she's done more for horse racing than any other horse since Smarty Jones made a run at the triple Crown at Belmont in 2004. I had the pleasure of witnessing her two Breeders Cup wins, and can say without a doubt, she's the one of the finest horses I've ever seen in person. Last year's win was by far the greatest atmosphere before and after a race that I've experienced.


She's easily win another Eclipse Award, but I truly hope voters give her a much deserved Horse of the Year, despite her narrow BC loss, because relatively speaking she's so far and above the best filly/mare in the US (Goldikova being the best in the world) that when comparing her vs. Blame in that regard, it isn't close. Favorite Trick won Horse of the year in 1997 as a 2yo over contenders Skip Away and Silver Charm. Surely he would not have won a head-to-head race vs. either of those two horses, but he was deemed the best of the year based on how dominant a 2yo colt he was. Hopefully voters this year will take a similar approach.


The aforementioned Goldikova proved she's the best female horse in the world with an unprecidented 3rd straight Breeders Cup Mile. Her "turn of foot" is simply amazing, and I'm proud to have witnessed her prior two Breeders Cup victories at Santa Anita. The fact that her connections have announced that she will race again in 2011 is simply remarkable. I'm sure I'll have my money on her in next year's Mile if she is fortunate enough to make it to the race again.
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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..