FRANKEL'S FAVORITE MAKES SENSE.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Horse Racing horse racing, trials of speed involving two or more horses. It includes races among harnessed horses with one of two particular gaits, among saddled Thoroughbreds (or, less frequently, quarterhorses) on a flat track, or among saddled horses over a turf course with Bobby Frankel was right the first time. The morning after Medaglia d'Oro finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby Kentucky Derby One of the classic U.S. Thoroughbred horse races. It was established in 1875 and run annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs track in Louisville, Ky. With the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, it makes up U.S. racing's coveted Triple Crown. , the Hall of Fame trainer boldly predicted that the lightly raced but hard-tested colt would have things his way at the next stop. ``I'm going to win the Preakness with him,'' Frankel told The Blood-Horse magazine. Nobody stepped forward to tell Frankel he was wrong. But when he faced reporters on a conference call from his Hollywood Park barn Thursday morning, his confidence seemed less certain. ``I've said that before in other races and got beat,'' Frankel said of his boast, emitting a hint of a laugh. ``Maybe I was just pumping myself up.'' Frankel said he was ``a little surprised'' that Pimlico Race Course Pimlico Race Course is a horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Pimlico officially opened in the fall of 1870, with the colt Preakness winning the first running of the Dinner Party Stakes. in Baltimore made Medaglia d'Oro the Preakness morning-line top choice at 5-2, ahead of Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem at 3-1. Maybe Frankel is trying not to further drive down the odds on his horse - or trying not to motivate the opposition by serving up incendiary INCENDIARY, crim. law. One who maliciously and willfully sets another person's house on fire; one guilty of the crime of arson. 2. This offence is punished by the statute laws of the different states according to their several provisions. quotes for the other horses to read. Frankel is too good a handicapper hand·i·cap·per n. Sports & Games 1. One who assigns handicaps. 2. One who predicts the winners in a horserace, especially one who publishes such predictions as a guide for bettors. Noun 1. not to see why Medaglia d'Oro is the most likely winner of Saturday's Preakness Stakes, the 1 3/16-mile second jewel of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown. As usual, the Preakness challenges horseplayers on fundamental questions: Which of the top finishers in the Derby at Churchill Downs will be helped or hurt by the slightly shorter distance, the different racetrack characteristics and the different competition? Do any of the Derby horses figure to get a smoother trip around the track this time? Can any of the newcomers take advantage of the possible fatigue of the Derby horses? Watching the Derby, it's logical to assume Medaglia d'Oro's luck will get better and War Emblem's will get worse. In an unusually cleanly run Derby, Medaglia d'Oro was the only one of the 18 horses to have significant traffic trouble. He and jockey Laffit Pincay collided with Essence of Dubai at the start, forcing them to drop back to 10th when they wanted to be close to the lead. He and Pincay had to swing out wide to find room to run on the turn for home, only to bump again with Essence of Dubai. Considering all that, Medaglia d'Oro did well to finish fourth. ``He got enough experience in the Derby for four or five races,'' Frankel said of the colt with only five career starts. ``He had trouble and he still tried at the end.'' On an afternoon when the slow pace and track conditions allowed War Emblem, Proud Citizen and Perfect Drift to run 1-2-3 for virtually the entire 1 1/4 miles, Medaglia d'Oro was the only horse able to pass rivals in the stretch, advancing from eighth to fourth in the final quarter. ``He still got beat by eight lengths,'' Frankel said, explaining his surprise at being favored. ``I guess everybody saw (the trouble) I saw.'' After showing early speed in his victory in the San Felipe Stakes The San Felipe Stakes is a race for Thoroughbred horses run each year at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The race is normally held in mid-March and is open to horses, age three, willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles (8.5 furlongs) on the dirt. at Santa Anita and his second in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, Medaglia d'Oro displayed a come-from-behind dimension in the Derby that should serve him well in the Preakness. Jerry Bailey, who replaces Pincay aboard Medaglia d'Oro, can hope that War Emblem and Victor Espinoza are challenged for the early lead this time and forced to expend more energy. That's a logical scenario, because Booklet, the most accomplished of the so-called fresh horses, is a confirmed front-runner. Frankel said he wouldn't be sorry to see Medaglia d'Oro take on War Emblem early, believing his horse is tough enough to win that battle. What we don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. is whether War Emblem needs an easy lead, as he got in the Illinois and Kentucky derbies, to repeat those huge efforts. You can't toss out War Emblem. Although he has yet to prove he can take early pressure, he also has yet to prove he cannot. He might just be better than any of the other 3-year-olds this season. ``He ran a strong race (in the Derby),'' Frankel said. ``He was drawing out at the end. I don't know what's going to happen if they hook him. It's hard to judge that race (the Derby).'' The big difference between the Derby and Preakness is that the latter tends to be more formful. In the 22 years when the Derby has produced only one winning favorite (Fusaichi Pegasus in 1999), the Preakness has produced six (including Point Given in 2001). The favorite has done better in the Preakness than in the Derby in eight of the past 10 years. Betting the favorites to win in the past 10 runnings of the Preakness would have netted a nearly-30-percent profit. ``I wish that if they made you the favorite, that meant you were going to win, but it's not that simple,'' said Frankel, who has kept Medaglia d'Oro with his assistants at Belmont Park in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of this week and has scheduled the four-hour van ride to Baltimore for early Saturday morning. While Medaglia d'Oro and War Emblem are the most likely winners, the 13-horse field includes two attractive long shots. U S S Tinosa, 20-1 on the morning line, finished 2 1/2 lengths behind Medaglia d'Oro in the San Felipe Stakes and had a troubled trip to fifth in the Santa Anita Derby The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California and carries a purse of $750,000. before missing the Kentucky Derby because of low earnings. Equality, 15-1, won the Tampa Bay Derby The Tampa Bay Derby is a race for Thoroughbred race horses held in March at Tampa Bay Downs. A Grade III event, the race is open to three-year-olds willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles (8.5 furlongs) on the dirt. in a solid time before running an excusable second in a minor stakes at Gulfstream Park and is trained by underrated Graham Motion. The picks: 1. Medaglia d'Oro; 2. War Emblem; 3. U S S Tinosa; 4. Equality. OUT OF THE GATE HOLLYWOOD PARK LEADERS Through Wednesday Jockeys Wins Victor Espinoza 18 Pat Valenzuela 16 Laffit Pincay 12 Martin Pedroza 10 Jose Valdivia Jr. 10 Trainers Wins Jerry Dutton 7 Bob Baffert 5 John Sadler 5 Seven tied 4 PINCAY WATCH Laffit Pincay, who rode Medaglia d'Oro to a troubled fourth in the Kentucky Derby, has been replaced by fellow Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey for Saturday's Preakness. But trainer Bobby Frankel said that doesn't mean Pincay did anything wrong. ``It wasn't his fault the horse turned his head at the start,'' Frankel said. Bailey has been the main East Coast jockey for Frankel. Pincay's record career-victories total is up to 9,352. ON THE STAKES SCHEDULE Hollywood Park Saturday --$100,000 Railbird rail·bird n. Slang A horseracing enthusiast, especially one who watches races at the outer rail of the track. Noun 1. Stakes, 3-year-old fillies, 7 furlongs Sunday --$75,000 Jim Murray Memorial Handicap, 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/2 miles on turf Bay Meadows Saturday --$150,000 Yerba Buena yerba buena (yĕr`bə bwā`nə), trailing evergreen perennial (Micromeria chamissonis) of the family Labiatae (mint family). It is native to W North America and especially common to woodland areas along the Pacific coast. Handicap, 3-year-olds and up, fillies and mares, 1 3/8 miles on turf Pimlico Today --$200,000 Black-Eyed Susan black-eyed Susan or yellow daisy, North American daisylike wildflower (Rudbeckia hirta) of the family Asteraceae (aster family) with yellow rays and a dark brown center. It is a weedy biennial or annual and grows in dry places. , 3-year-old fillies, 1 1/8 miles Saturday --$1 million Preakness, 3-year-olds, 1 3/16 miles Belmont Park Saturday --$200,000 Shuvee Handicap, 3-year-olds and up, fillies and mares, 1 mile Hawthorne Saturday --$500,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup, 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/4 miles A WEEK AT THE RACES At The Races is a British television channel, originally co-founded with Channel 4, but now owned by a partnership between British Sky Broadcasting, Arena Leisure PLC and 28 (out of the 59) UK racecourses. Corey Nakatani's return from a May 2 accident at Hollywood Park is being delayed by headaches and dizziness. Nakatani told the Daily Racing Form The Daily Racing Form, LLC (DRF) is a broadsheet newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of race horses as a statistical service for bettors on horse racing in the United States. he hoped to exercise horses this weekend. He hit the ground hard when his mount clipped heels in a race for 2-year-olds. He was forced to miss riding Blue Burner in the Kentucky Derby. The colt finished 11th under Pat Day. ... Take Charge Lady, runner-up to Farda Amiga A personal computer series introduced in 1985 by Commodore. Amigas gained a reputation early on as advanced graphics and multimedia machines, and NewTek's Video Toaster application brought it to the forefront of economical, high-end video editing. in the Kentucky Oaks as the favorite, will skip today's Black-Eyed Susan after coming down with a lung infection. That leaves Pimlico's big race for 3-year-old fillies without a Kentucky Oaks runner. Chamrousse, twice third to Take Charge Lady, is the horse to beat with Jerry Bailey riding. ... Five 3-year-old fillies, all going for their first graded-stakes victories, are headed by September Secret and Pat Valenzuela in the Grade III Railbird at Hollywood on Saturday. ... Sky Jack and Laffit Pincay are aiming for the July 14 Hollywood Gold Cup The Hollywood Gold Cup is a Grade I stakes race for thoroughbred horses inaugurated in 1938 at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. It was run as a handicap race until 1997 when it was switched to weight-for-age conditions. after winning last Saturday's Mervyn LeRoy Handicap The Mervyn LeRoy Handicap is a race for Thoroughbred horses run at Hollywood Park Racetrack each year. Open to horses, age three and up, willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt, the Mervyn LeRoy is a prep to the Hollywood Gold Cup. at Hollywood Park. ... Easy Grades probably is heading to turf after his 13th-place finish in the Derby, trainer Ted H. West said. ... War Emblem is No. 4 in the NTRA NTRA National Thoroughbred Racing Association NTRA National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (Egypt) NTRA National Training Reform Agenda NTRA Nano Technology Research Association (Korea) rankings behind Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in the late winter at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses three years old and up, and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during winner Milwaukee Brew, Strub Stakes winner Mizzen Mast and Xtra Heat. Seven horses received first-place votes this week. CAPTION(S): box Box: OUT OF THE GATE (see text) |
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