Essential Quality Wins 2021 Belmont Stakes

    Up until the final furlong, it looked like Hot Rod Charlie was going to win the Belmont Stakes, after setting a blistering pace in the first half-mile, pushed on by Rock Your World and  France Go de Ina.  But Essential Quality started his move just before the final turn  and slowly worked his way to the front, finishing ahead of a dogged and determined Hot Rod Charlie by 1 1/4 lengths.  Essential Quality finished the 1 and 1/2 mile race in 2:27.11, only 3.11 seconds slower than the great Secretariat in 1973.  

   Essential Quality was the betting favorite in both today's Belmont and in the Kentucky Derby.  But the Kentucky gave him a lot of bad racing luck, and he finished 7th, the first defeat in his racing career.  Taking a rest after the Derby, he came roaring back in the Belmont, taking home $800,000 of the $1.5 million in purse monies.

   Hot Rod Charlie, who was third in the Kentucky, and also by-passed the Preakness, took home $280,000 for finishing 11 1/4 lengths in front of Rombauer, the winner of the Preakness Stakes three weeks ago.  Rombauer, who finished 3/4 length ahead of Known Agenda, received $150,000 in purse money for his third-place finish.

Essential Quality wins the 2021 Belmont Stakes

   The rest of the field finished in the following order, with the amount of purse winnings in parentheses: Known Agenda ($100,000); Bourbonic ($60,000); Rock Your World ($45,000); Overtook ($35,000); and France Go de Ina ($30,000).

   With a small field and only three entries in double-digit odds, the payouts for bets were on the small side.  As usual, I always post the payouts for a $2 bet...  Essential Quality paid $4.60 to win; Hot Rod Charlie paid $4.10 to place; and Rombauer paid $3.50 to show.  The Perfecta paid $15; the Trifecta paid $43.40; and the Superfecta paid $121.40.

  *** The only question in this year's Triple Crown now, is whether the Kentucky Thoroughbred Racing Commission will vote to strip Medina Spirit of his win in the Kentucky Derby after testing positive in two separate blood tests for a banned race day drug, namely betamethasone.  Churchill Downs Incorporated has banned trainer Bob Baffert and any horses under his care for racing at their tracks for two years - through the end of Spring racing in 2023. ***

Pegasus World Cup Invitational Results and Payouts

 Hmmm...  Just thinking...  The Pegasus World Cup Invitational decided a couple of years ago to not allow any competitors to use Lasix.  Suddenly, in 2019, the purse between the two races, which was then $16 million altogether, was reduced tremendously.  This year the races were for a combined $4 million.  There were no international horses that ran - if you count Say the Word, bred in Ontario, as a North American entry, and not a separate country, even though Canada is most definitely a separate country.  What caused the sudden downturn in purses and international horses?  Not allowing the use of Lasix?  Or some other esoteric factor?  -  Or is it just that the races are run in January?

   Anyway, whoever set the morning line betting was spot on assigning the favorites lower odds.  Both morning line betting favorites, Colonel Liam and Knicks Go won their races.

  In the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational, Colonel Liam covered the 1 3/8 miles in 1:53.09, winning by an outstretched neck over Largent.  Largent was  two lengths in front of Cross Border, who finished a half-length before Social Paranoia. Colonel Liam's pay packet was $549,000; Largent took back a check for $183,000; Cross Border added $91,500 to his income; and Social Paranoia took home $45,750.  The rest of the field finished in this order: 5th was Pixelate; 6th, Next Shares; 7th, Storm the Court; 8th, Aquaphobia; 9th, Breaking the Rules; 10th, North Dakota; 11th, Say the Word; 12th, Anothertwistafate.

  In betting payouts, Colonel Liam paid $7 to win; Largent paid $5.00 to place; and Cross Border paid $6.40 to show.  As always, I report payouts on a $2 bet.  The Exacta paid $24.20; the Trifecta paid $384.20; and the Superfecta paid $2,286.40.

Colonel Liam defeats Largent yesterday.

   In the Pegasus World Cup Invitational, the betting favorite Knicks Go ran the 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.89 and finished the race 2 3/4 lengths ahead of Jesus' Team.  Jesus' Team was a neck in front of Independence Hall, who was 6 1/4 lengths before Sleepy Eyes Todd.  Knicks Go was rewarded with $1,740,000; Jesus' Team took home $580,000; Independence Hall upped his earnings by $290,000; and Sleepy Eyes Todd added $145,000 to his bankroll.  The rest of the field crossed the line in this order: 5th, Code of Honor; 6th, Coastal Defense; 7th, Kiss Today Goodbye; 8th, Last Judgment; 9th, Math Wizard; 10th, Tax; 11th, Mr Freeze; 12th, Harper's First Ride.

   Knicks Go paid $4.60 to win; Jesus' Team paid $8.60 place; and Independence Hall paid $10 for a show bet.  The Exacta paid $43; the Trifecta paid $700.20; and the Superfecta paid $4,868.  

Knicks Go crosses the finish line in the PWCI.

I hope your day at the races went well!

Swiss Skydiver Wins Preakness, Only Sixth Filly To Do So

 Swiss Skydiver, the chestnut filly sired by Daredevil, became only the sixth filly in history to win the Preakness Stakes in 145 runnings.  -  And she did so in almost track record time for 1 and 3/16 miles which was set by Secretariat in 1973.  Secretariat ran the Preakness in 1:53; Swiss Skydiver ran it in 1:53.28, after a very slow start to the race.  I also need to state that I quoted an outdated site when I stated on Wednesday that the race had a purse of $1.5 million.  Due to the pandemic, the purse was $1 million.

   There were 11 starters in this year's race, the third leg of the Triple Crown in this pandemic year. Authentic, who won the Derby four weeks ago, was second by a neck. The first two finishers had a dramatic duel down the stretch, but Authentic never caught the filly.  Newcomer Jesus' Team was third, 9 3/4 lengths behind Authentic, and just a head before Art Collector.  (Art Collector missed the Derby after rearing and flipping over in the paddock before that race.

Just past the Preakness finish line - Swiss Skydiver on the right wins

  The payouts for $2 bets were: $25.40 for Swiss Skydiver to win; $ $3.60 for Authentic to place; $12.20 for Jesus' Team to show.  A $2 perfecta bet paid $75.60; a $1 trifecta paid $1,205.70; and a $1 superfecta bet paid $5,035.

    The complete order of finish was: (1) Swiss Skydiver, (2) Authentic, (3) Jesus' Team, (4) Art Collector, (5) Max Player - the only horse to run in all three Triple Crown races, (6) Excession, (7) Mr. Big News, (8) Thousand Words, (9) Ny Traffic, (10) Pneumatic, and (11) Liveyourbeastlife - whose owner paid a $25,000 supplemental fee to enter the race.

Kentucky Derby 2020 Results, Pay Outs, and Strangeness

 In 2020, we've learned to expect strange news and odd happenings.  Yesterday, a "boat parade" in support of President Trump in Texas, had four participating boats sunk by a much larger vessel, whose captain decided that he should be leading the flotilla; so he gunned his engines and flew past the other boats.  The waves from that larger boat's wake were what sunk the four other boats....  Who'd'a thunk it?

   The same sort of strange happenings infected the 2020 Kentucky Derby, too.  Originally, there were 18 entries for the classic race, run without a crowd in the grandstand.  There are scratches, of course, in the normal run of things.  The first scratch was King Guillermo, who spiked a fever, and vacated post number 6.  Then Finnick The Fierce was scratched because of a change in his walk and running - a sore foot - so the Gate 1 starter was gone.  Then, in the paddock, as the horses were being saddled, Thousand Words, trained by Bob Baffert, reared and flipped over, taking assistant trainer Jimmie Barnes with him.  Following protocol, the colt was immediately scratched, leaving Baffert with only one horse in the race - and not yet aware that his assistant trainer was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital, after getting Thousand Words back into his stall.  Barnes has a smashed wrist and will have an operation in California later this week to put pins in place for his wrist to heal....

Thousand Words going over in the Kentucky Derby paddock

  The betting favorite as the horses entered the starting gate was Tiz The Law, who had won the Belmont Stakes on 20 June, and the Travers in August.  We were told by the announcers that the four horses to watch were all on the outside, being (in post number) Ny Traffic, Honor A.P., Tiz The Law, and Authentic.  Authentic had seemed to barely hang on for his last racing win, by a nose, at 1 1/8 miles; most commentators agreed that the 1 1/4 Derby would be too far for the colt to win.

  Now, I have to disagree (being anal-retentive and a tad OCD) with the headlines last night and this morning that state Authentic led the race "wire to wire."  Authentic is a slow breaker from the starting gate.  He might have been in the first 8 stepping out of the gate, but he was not the first, so he couldn't have led "wire to wire." (Just my little nit-pick there.)  Anyway, John R Velasquez allowed the colt to find his stride, then took him to the lead just before the first turn - and then he led all the way to the finish line.  Tiz The Law engaged Authentic in the stretch, but just could not pass the bay son of Into Mischief.  

   Authentic ran the 1 1/4 miles (10 furlongs) in 2:00.61 and won by 1 1/4 lengths.  Tiz The Law was second by 2 lengths, ahead of Mr. Big News ( a long shot) in third, who was 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Honor A.P. in fourth.

Authentic, center, winning the Derby; Tiz The Law at left

with white shadow roll

   In betting payouts (each of these a $2 bet), Authentic paid $18.80 to win; Tiz The Law paid $3.40 to place; and and Mr. Big News paid $16.80 to show.  The Exacta (again, all $2 bets) paid $41; the Trifecta paid $2,623.60; and the Superfecta paid $15,851.60.

   It was announced today that Authentic and Thousand Words will both be entered in the (now third leg of the Triple Crown) Preakness Stakes, to be run October 4 at Pimlico Racetrack.  In this odd year, the Preakness will be run 4 weeks after the Derby, instead of the usual 2 weeks.  However, it will be run at it's normal length 1 3/16 miles, and at it's usual track, "Old Hilltop" outside of Baltimore, Mayland.

   To top of the weirdness of the 2020 Kentucky Derby, after Thousand Words flipped in the paddock, in the Winner's Circle after the race, Authenic spooked at something, and sent several people flying, including his trainer, Bob Baffert.  Baffert, seeing the colt start to spin uncontrollably, pushed several people to safety, before being hit by Authentic's hindquarters....   No one was harmed, thankfully.

Bob Baffert, white hair and blue jacket, going down as Authentic

spins in Winner's Circle

The complete order of finish in the 2020 Kentucky Derby:

1   -  Authentic

2   -  Tiz The Law

3   -  Mr. Big News

4   -  Honor A.P.

5   -  Max Player

6   -  Storm The Court

7   -  Enforceable

8   -  Ny Traffic

9   -  Necker Island

10 -  Major Fed

11 -  Sole Volante

12 -  Winning Impression

13 -  Money Moves

14 -  Attachment Rate

15 -  South Bend