I noticed that and not quite sure what to make of it yet/.
I would just like to point out that in the 4th race at Gulfstream, a 3 y/o 1 1/8 MSW race, Cosmic finished over a full second faster than the winner of the FOY later in the day.
And again, no pace in the FOY.
(Oh, by the way, Cool Coal Man won)
re: Fountain of Youth
To be fair, while slow, Nick Zito trained Cool Coal Man - owned by Robert LaPenta as he does War Pass - only slightly edged out Barclay Tagg traineee Elysium Fields.
1 - Cool Coal Man
2 - Elysium Fields, then many lengths back to …
3 - Court Vision
4 - Z Humor
Props (to some degree) to Z Humor returning to a Graded stakes race one week later and finish a close forth.
Here is an award of the day “overrated horse Derby” - Anak Nakal who finished an utterly dismal 8th. He was part of that pack that happy sat in the back and were more fixed on watching the infield 
Gary Stevens and the other HRTV analysts think the clocking was off. Interesting to note Gary Steven’s comments before the race (he was at Gulf Stream watching his Court Vision):
He noted that Elysium Fields and Cool Coal Man looked really good. He said that Monba looked like this was his Kentucky Derby and that wasn’t meant as a compliment.
I’d never really gotten a chance to Cool Coal Man in a post parade until today and I have to admit, he is handsome. Tagg got 2 good 2nds in 2 weeks. Not bad.
According to the equibase chart for the FOY: “Due to teletimer malfunction, race was hand timed.”
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;3032722]
According to the equibase chart for the FOY: “Due to teletimer malfunction, race was hand timed.”[/QUOTE]
I missed that line on the chart. Hopefully we can chock the time up to human error then. It’s pretty sad when the MSW winner earlier in the day is a full second faster than the top 3 year olds in the country.
Although maybe Cosmic should enter the derby chase. :lol:
The corrected splits for yesterday’s Fountain of Youth have been posted as follows:
:23 2/5 :46 4/5 1:10 4/5 1:37 1:49 2/5
That’s a bit more respectable for some of the top 3 year olds in the country.
Regarding the failure of the teletimer at Gulfstream with the Fountain of Youth:
The timing of the race was put under review after it was determined that an outrider and his pony, stationed about 20 feet in front of the starting gate, crossed in front of the timer and tripped the beam before the lead horse reached that point.
DRF 2-25-08 -“Fountain of Youth time adjusted”
Obviously there is still disparity in the time as the DRF hand-clocked the race at “1:50.17” vs. the Gulfstream’s Bernie Hettel who retimed the race by hand from replays and reported 1:50.07
As an aside Bill Mott remarked after Z Humor’s 4th place (and racing with only 7 days off) that he won’t return quickly. I think owner Zayat, who made the call, was shown why you don’t do that …
TVG said that off the Derby trail is Into Mischief
However other coverage of him only suggest he’s skipping the G2 San Felipe Stakes on March 15th. Richard Mandella indicated he still has a hind left foot ailment and won’t be ready. Next start is unknown.
File this under - you never know: Cave’s Valley is returning to racing tomorrow (3/1) in the $70,000 Miracle Wood Stakes. They are putting blinkers on him, so if that turns his efforts around just maybe he’ll return to graded stakes and something like the Wood or Illinois Derby and then the KY Derby. A longshot perhaps and he could be this year’s Galloping Grocer, whom I liked too, and did surface in the Preakness.
Everyone on HRTV picked against him (CV). Poor guy. Most of them had a horse with a name starting with a V winning this one. Sorry, it was an odd name and I don’t remember it!
About the Sham stakes- I thought Coast Guard could have been a contender in here but now it looks like a 2 horse race. Col. John has been working out like a mad man, so it should be interesting!
[QUOTE=miss_critic;3044622]
Everyone on HRTV picked against him (CV). Poor guy.[/QUOTE]
I haven’t seen the replay to know if it was close, but Cave’s Valley took 3rd in the Miracle Wood Stakes … not really helping his cause I suppose.
I now understand why everyone picked against him…
So, I wanted Col. John to win even though I had both top finishers in my stable. Yeah for me. But Gato Malo could have easily won if the race set up differently. I will say though, it is a bit disheartening to get 2 first place points and 1 second when you realize how much less $$ this race is worth than the races coming up. I think that is a flaw in the ST thingy.
This could just be recycled ‘news’ or maybe the owners/connections are indeed looking more at the Kentucky Derby. Last reports were more suggestive of the Belmont Stakes …
Courier-Journal 2-29-08 “Horse from Peru may be Derby-bound”
Seeking horses to take back to Peru, Zanelli started the bidding at $1,000.
“He wasn’t the prettiest mover because he walked wide,” Zanelli said. “He was bigger than most horses. A heavier horse that big, a lot of people stay away from. … But the stride he had covered a lot of ground.”
Nardiello – who raised Street Sense for owner-breeder James Tafel but who personally owns only three broodmares – said a bone blemish scared away some veterinarians.
“This business humbles you,” he said. “So while I thought he was a nice horse – yes, big, but very light on his feet – you try to keep low-key.”
“This is a great lesson in how the sales arena and racetrack do not always agree,” said Dan Pride, Darley America’s chief operating officer. " … It’s a great story. Kind of like the Black Stallion – the great mystery horse."
Not sure if anyone was following Referee, but he was euthanized this past weekend after being injured in training. 
Link:
http://www.drf.com/news/article/92695.html
In happier news, scroll up in the same article and we have a list of probables for this weekend’s Gotham, including:
Giant Moon
Visionaire
Roman Emperor
Texas Wildcatter
Ling Ling Qi
Saratoga Russell
Eaton’s Gift
Stevil
Holidaze
Southern Terminus
Looks like the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby (Mar 8) will be a solid race:
PP. Horse, Weight, Jockey
- Stevil, 122, Calvin Borel <-- Zito trained
- My Pal Charlie, 122, Julien R. Leparoux
- Pyro, 122, Shaun Bridgmohan
- J Be K, 122, Kent Desormeaux
- Unbridled Vicar, 122, Corey J. Lanerie
- Tale of Ekati, 122, Edgar S. Prado
- Blackberry Road, 122, Robby Albarado
- Yankee Bravo, 122, Alex O. Solis
- Majestic Warrior, 122, Garrett Gomez
I would think that unless Etched can bounce back from his poor 4th place finish in the U.A.E. Two Thousand Guineas (UAE-G3) to score big in the March 29th U.A.E. Derby (UAE-G2) he won’t be going to the Kentucky Derby.
Unexpectedly, his connections withdrew from the $150,000 Al Bastakiya to be held Thursday. That is the middle leg of the U.A.E Triple Crown.
Yes, he won the G3 Nashua at the Big A in October 2007, but that earned him just $64,680 in graded stakes money. Right now is lifetime record is 3-2-0.
While over 1-month away, the Keeneland folks have created a special website just for the Blue Grass Stakes, complete with old videos, etc:
Official site: 2008 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) 4-12-08
(TVG will be exclusively airing that race live and also will show the Toyota Blue Grass Post Position Draw April 9th at 11:30 am)
The Blue Grass is also on ESPN thankfully.
I stand corrected that TVG coverage is not exclusive with the race itself but elements around and leading up to it 
Who was asking about Big Brown earlier this year?
It seems he’s back in action after a 12 3/4 length allowance victory at Gulfstream yesterday. Dutrow says he’s aiming for the Blue Grass Stakes next.
Big Brown impresses with allowance win, DRF 3/5/08
The Blue Grass gained another notable candidate several hours later, following Big Brown’s 12 3/4-length victory in a first-level allowance race switched from the turf to a muddy main track…
“That was very impressive,” trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. exclaimed while leaving the winner’s circle. “He’s been breezing like a rocket on both the turf and dirt at Palm Meadows, but the plan all along was for him to run on the turf, so I was worrying all day after they took this race off the grass. I guess it was for nothing.”
Dutrow said both the timing of the Blue Grass and Keeneland’s Polytrack surface were perfect fits for Big Brown’s stakes debut…
