So I was doing the normal Twitter thing, scrolling through my feed. I never make it to the bottom but I sure was trying today. All of the sudden, I get a notification for a new tweet. Lo and behold, the tweet is from Scott Hazelton, proclaiming that...
"Hear the Ghost is out of the Santa Anita Derby?" I exclaimed. So we won't get to see an anticipated rematch with Flashback! Too bad.
Even worse was the news that the Ghostzapper gelding has been sidelined for three or so months, keeping him out of the Triple Crown for good. I know people had high hopes for this horse, and I feel for them. I have to admit that Hear the Ghost was growing on me. Hopefully he can come back with renewed energy this summer. At least he doesn't have the equipment to breed and is not just another colt destined for stud...
Well, and at least this makes me feel more confident about Flashback's chances in the Santa Anita Derby, that's for sure. Hear the Ghost's lethal late charge was one to fear in that race.
Anyway, besides this news about another defection from the Derby trail, one horse worked out today, and I have no idea who it is:
Channel Isle worked five furlongs in 1:00.60 at Churchill Downs. This English Channel colt boasts just over $100k in earnings and 1 Derby Trail point. According to Equibase, his one point comes from a fourth place in the Southwest, and he most recently finished seventh in the Spiral Stakes. Hmm, guess I should pay more attention.
I promised in the title that I'd analyze another Derby contender, Will Take Charge, more in depth. That analysis is just a click away:
Am I crazy? Or do I really have two D. Wayne Lukas horses in my fantasy stable? No turning back now. Even though the trainer does have many, many years of experience under his belt, there are many who say he's lost his edge. In the past few years, he's sent horses to the Derby that have a snowball's chance in hell of winning the thing. This year, he's got quite the arsenal, and this is the horse that I like second-best in his stable.
Will Take Charge is by Unbridled's Song. Immediately, I can see people cringe. The gray stallion has been under a lot of scrutiny in the past few years for allegedly siring unsound offspring. The matters got even more out of hand when the filly Eight Belles broke down on the gallop out after finishing a gallant second in the 2008 Derby. Her sire was Unbridled's Song.
Eight Belles is one of a handful that have been unsound. Another handful have run pretty well for a good long time. Mission Impazible, although inconsistent, ran until the end of his five year-old season. Thorn Song raced until he was six years old. And, as a four year-old, Political Force won the G1 Suburban Handicap - at ten furlongs. So Unbridled's Song has not only proven he can sire soundness, but also stamina. And Political Force had a pretty sprinty female family, as well.
Will Take Charge is out of Take Charge Lady, a multiple graded stakes winner as a racehorse. That makes this colt a half-brother to a Derby contender from last year, Take Charge Indy, who won the Florida Derby. Now, her sire, Dehere, was the champion two year-old colt of 1994, and didn't exactly get a chance to shine at longer distances, but he was inbred to Nearco, a very important Thoroughbred who just happened to win a Grade 1 at 15 furlongs.
If you look at Will Take Charge's pedigree in general, you'll see it's very sprinty. He's inbred to Fappiano, after all, who was a great middle-distance horse. Fappiano, however, did sire a Derby winner - Unbridled. And in Will Take Charge's pedigree, I can count four Derby winners alone. So it may not be all that bad, pedigree-wise.
Like I said before, he is my second Lukas choice. (I bet you can guess who the top choice is. I'll reveal him sometime soon, anyway.) I'm a little shaky and I'm waiting to see what he does in his next prep, which I believe will be the Arkansas Derby. His performance in the Rebel showed me he had the guts to fight to the wire, which is very important in a Derby contender.
Oof. I really should stop writing these posts so late at night; they probably come out all rambly and disjointed. Nevertheless, I wait for Equibase to send me the Triple Crown virtual stable e-mail so I can add workouts in. I suppose I could just edit them in later. Decisions, decisions...
Well, thank you for reading, as always! I am sincerely sorry to the Hear the Ghost fans, especially. It's a hard blow to hear news like that when you really like a horse.
No comments:
Post a Comment