Big Win At Oaklawn
This April Kim and I will be at Oaklawn Park for the Grade 1 Apple Blossom and then for the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby card the following day, so I've been following their meet more closely this winter. Today marked the 2015 debut of two-year-old filly champion Take Charge Brandi. She had upset the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at better than 60/1 and has since rattled off three more graded stakes. Today she begins her campaign towards the Kentucky Oaks in the listed Martha Washington. But first there were races at Gulfstream. I had handicapped the card prior to going in the hospital and I was supposed to be discharged this morning, but there was no guarantee as to what time. So after a largely sleepless night I got on my phone and placed my bets early via twinspires.com. I was lucky that my surgeon was in my "room" prior to 9 am and we were home by 10 am. I was really wiped out today, and did little but sleep. I watched the races in the evening. My first play was my Gulfstream "best" with a Todd Pletcher debuting three-year-old. The DRF made Thepartyneverends 12/1 but they were so obviously wrong, again.....sent off at odds of 3/5. She broke slowly and in a 5 1/2 furlong race like this was that was her undoing. She made a good late run to be third - tab her for later in the meet. I didn' have another bet until the 7th when I liked Ironicus in an allowance event on the turf. The thing I did NOT like was that he was a deep closer; but he had valid excuses I his last two when trying to close into glacial pace calls. Today the pace looked more legitimate AND he got Javier Castellano. As they hit the far turn he was so far out of it, but suddenly he took off like a shot! He was picking off horses one after another, but was wide into the lane. Still, he had all the momentum and collared the leaders inside the 16th pole to win going away! WHOOO HOOOO!
The $5.20 payoff got me back nearly $30. In the 10th Private Relations wasshuffled back early, then had to wait for running room through the tur, through the stretch and didn't get free until the 16th pole. He was flying, but ran out of ground - 2nd at 5/1. Oh that would have been nice. In the finale Kitten in May as a GP 40% Club play for Michael Maker and Javier Castellano. Much like Private Relations he had to wait for run through the turn and through the first half of stretch....an even fifth at 6/5. The last race of my day was the featured Martha Washington. Everyone thought that Take Charge Brandi laid over the field, and on paper that was the case. She broke right on top and was in complete control. Turning for home she was under a hand ride with a two length lead and jockey Jon Court seemed to wrap up on her and ignore the second place filly. She had been outside of 'Brandi, but now she dove inside and was FLYING! Inside the final fifty yards if you watch the race on the weekly highlight video tomorrow you'll see she is actually in front! But Take Charge Brandi was simply too good and put her head in front. Many observers afterwards felt that either Court or 'Brandi were too confident, but all agreed that they could have run around the track a couple of more times and that filly would never have finished in front of the champion.
January 2015 Highlights
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