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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Arlington Million Day

Perhaps the best day of turf racing in the US happens Saturday at Arlington Park in Illinois with the Arlington Million (gr. I) headlining the card. Three Grade 1 races on the turf are scheduled for Saturday with the Beverly D for fillies and mares, and the Secretariat for 3yos also on the docket. The big races start with race 7 at 3:05 CST, lets take a look.


Secretariat Stakes (gr. I): The first of three straight Grade I turf races starts with 3yos in the Secretariat Stakes at 1 mile and a quarter. The race appears to be fairly wide open with Giant Oak being the 3-1 M/L favorite. #10 Giant Oak won the Arlington Classic two starts back but could only manage 4th in the American Derby (gr. II) with both #8 Reb and #5 Oil Man finishing ahead of him. I like Reb alot as he has won three in a row including a win over the track, and has Julian Leparoux aboard (3-3 on the horse). He absolutely flies and couldn't be any gamer winning his races by a head, a nose, and a head.

The other horse I really like is #9 Black Bear Island by legendary sire Sadler's Wells, and is a full brother to arguably the best turf horse of the 90's, High Chaparall who won the Epsom Derby (gr. I), the Irish Derby (gr. I) and the Breeders Cup Turf (gr. I) twice. He's a Grade II winner in England, but has been knocking heads with the best in Europe this year. First-time Lasix angle, plus top trainer Aiden O'Brien isn't sending him for fun. Love his chances, the class of the field.

#7 Take the Points out of the Todd Pletcher barn will be well bet, and is certainly capable, but I don't like him too much. Ran a decent 3rd in the Va Derby (gr. II), but has still not yet won a turf race yet in his career. Talented, but a likely underlay vs. better.

Hoosier Kingdom has won 4 in a row vs. lesser and has speed but appears overmatched. #3 Proceed Bee may grab a slice coming late.

The Pick: My top pick is the 9 Black Bear Island, just think he has too much class, but I also like Reb's chances and will include him in the exotics.

Beverly D. Stakes (gr. I): Unfortunatley Christophe Clement will not extend his two year win streak for this "win and your in" race as he hasn't a starter, but it should be a well conested battle. When The Aga Khan ships a horse to this race, you better recognize, the #1 Alnadana comes into this race off a grade III win in France 3 weeks ago. The grey Alain Dupre filly by Danehill Dancer is 4-1 on the ML. The other European import with a good shot is #5 Mad About You who was only a head away from the Irish One Thousand Guineas last year and has already captured a Group III win this year.

The top US entries are #2 Pure Clan, a grade I winner in 2008, she's coming off a grade III win over this track last month. Also #4 Black Mamba out of the John Sadler barn looms a major contender. She's coming off a win in the grade II Beverly Hills Handicap at Hollywood Park and has a grade I under her belt, but usually runs in So. Cal. #6 Tizaqueena by Tiznow is intriguing, but hasn't won since May and appears slightly overmatched.

While this race could be won by any of these entries, I'm focusing on the Euro class again in #1 Alnadana as the top choice with #2 Pure Clan as the likely place runner, i'll use both in multi-race bets.

Arlington Million (gr. I): A great race with four millionaires entered. To me it comes down to two. Does Presious Passion hold on to his lead, or does Gio Ponti run him down at the end. If you aren't familiar with #2 Presious Passion take a look at this.



If you are worried about him getting into a pace duel, stop, it doesn't matter. He just keeps running faster each race. In the United Nations he goes 1:09 4/5 and still wins by 2. Maybe Gio Ponti, who can absolutely fly in the lane catches him, but if Presious Passion runs his race he wins, I really think its that simple. He's won 4 of his last 5 turf races only finishing 2nd in the Sunshine Millions Turf at Santa Anita. With 12 career wins and $1.8mln in the bank, PP really seems to be peaking at age 6.
Foreign horses have done well in this race and #7 Gloria De Campeao seems to be the top contender. He took the Grade I Singapore Cup and finished 2nd in the Dubai World Cup (gr. I) in March. The incredibly bred #8 Cima de Triomphe by Galileo out of a stakes winning Danehill mare won the Grade I Italian Derby last year but hasn't quite reached that class this year...still, he looms a threat.

The Bet: The $300k guaranteed pick 3 is an enticing bet. Here's my picks:

Top bet: 7,8,9 / 1,2,4,5,6 / 2 $15 pick 3
8,9/ 1,2 / 2,6,7 $12 pick 3

total bets $27
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