Go, Baby Go!
Let me tell you that one of the greatest things about moving South from Noo Yawk, aside from the babes, the weather, the polite people, good economy, affordable housing, well-bred children and the outstandingly well cultivated taste for fine bourbon, is getting the chance to attend these quaint traditional Southern “hoo-has” where nice, attractive people get dressed up, drink cool bourbons, smoke cigars and party the old-fashioned way– which, ironically, would include the pounding of Old Fashioneds. Let me tell you, these Southern fuckers live to party, and they don’t even mind if some Yankees come and join them, as long as you don’t puke on the sofa, goose the wife or kick the spaniel.
The Grand Daddy of aforesaid genteel Southern get-togethers is the “Run for the Roses” — Louisville’s Kentucky Derby — 135 years old this year, and going stronger than ever– recession be damned. For those of you ill-cultured enough to know nothing of “the Sport of Kings” — thoroughbred horse racing– this is the first race of the famed “Triple Crown” which also includes Baltimore’s Preakness and New York’s Belmont Stakes. Neither of the those two races, however, match the pageantry that is “the Derby,” where the greatest three-year old thoroughbreds colts (mostly) from all over the planet are flown in to test their mettle on the hallowed twin spires-shaded dirt of Churchill Downs.
It’s a day of at least twelve races, with the great Derby– a full mile and a quarter in length– arriving at the tenth (or eleventh, this year), by which time the crowd is well oiled with juleps and ready for history. Everyone bets this race from the cheapest piker Anabaptist deacon to the highest rolling international gangsta that just dropped wheels in his G-5 from Paris that morning. You have a full hour from the previous race to make sure you’ve bet every combo, and that the Downs (NASD: CHDN) has sucked every penny of hope from your rag and tip sheets. And since there’s always anywhere from 16 to 20 horses, you will drive yourself batshit betting more combos, wheels and exotics than Skye Masterson ever dreamt of. You see, you really… really want to have a winner in this one.
That’s because there is no thrill in the world like hearing the crowd roar as those magnificent beasts round that eighth pole and start pounding for home– with your horse is in the mix. Go baby, fuggin’ go!
Literally… nothing…. like it.
From the cheap standing room only seats in the gnarly “infield” to the outrageously priced balcony views of Millionaire’s Row, the crowd– sometimes as much as 150,000 strong– will roar as one when the most thrilling two minutes of sports culminates with that galvanizing pronouncement from the Spires’ speakers: “AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME!!”
Bucket shoppers and bucket listers alike — take heed: Like your kids’ weddings and the “find yourself” trip to Tibet, The Derby is something you must attend before you embark on that final dirt nap.
Make room for it, get good seats, good hotel and restaurant reservations, and do the whole shebang (The Oaks (Friday) & Derby if possible). You will never regret it, I promise.
Now, on to “the picks:”
Following are your current Kentucky Derby morning line odds:
Post Position | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Odds |
1 | West Side Bernie | Stewart Elliott | Kelly Breen | 30-1 |
2 | Musket Man | Eibar Coa | Derek Ryan | 20-1 |
3 | Mr. Hot Stuff | John Velazquez | Eoin Harty | 30-1 |
4 | Advice | Rene Douglas | Todd Pletcher | 30-1 |
5 | Hold Me Back | Kent Desormeaux | Bill Mott | 15-1 |
6 | Friesan Fire | Gabriel Saez | J. Larry Jones | 5-1 |
7 | Papa Clem | Rafael Bejarano | Gary Stute | 20-1 |
8 | Mine That Bird | Calvin Borel | Bennie Woolley Jr. | 50-1 |
9 | Join in the Dance | Chris DeCarlo | Todd Pletcher | 50-1 |
10 | Regal Ransom | Alan Garcia | Saeed bin Suroor | 30-1 |
11 | Chocolate Candy | Mike Smith | Jerry Hollendorfer | 20-1 |
12 | General Quarters | Julien Leparoux | Tom McCarthy | 20-1 |
13 | I Want Revenge | Joe Talamo | Jeff Mullins | 3-1 |
14 | Atomic Rain | Joe Bravo | Kelly Breen | 50-1 |
15 | Dunkirk | Edgar Prado | Todd Pletcher | 4-1 |
16 | Pioneerof the Nile | Garrett Gomez | Bob Baffert | 4-1 |
17 | Summer Bird | Chris Rosier | Tim Ice | 50-1 |
18 | Nowhere to Hide | Shaun Bridgmohan | Nick Zito | 50-1 |
19 | Desert Party | Ramon Dominguez | Saeed bin Suroor | 15-1 |
20 | Flying Private | Robby Albarado | D. Wayne Lukas | 50-1 |
You can see who your clear favorites are, but let me tell you that although I Want Revenge is already nominated as the Official iBankcoin.com Derby Pick— just for his name alone — I will not be betting him (save for in exotics), due to the fact that his trainer and owners are hated — mostly for shadiness– by the other trainers and jocks. In a big race like this, unless the horse is head and shoulders a better athlete than the rest of the field,–like Big Brown was last year– that is bad news. Look for the more experienced jocks to angle and attempt to block out the favorite’s 19-year old Derby rookie jockey, eventually kicking him down the proverbial “noobie elevator shaft.” That said, I Want Revenge could not have asked for a better slot than the 13 hole to start this monster.
Pioneer of the Nile (4-1) is also getting great play, for having won the Santa Anita Derby, the California Derby prep race, and being trained by newly annointed Hall of Fame trainer (just last week) Bob Baffert (above), a literal racing superstar. My problem here is very short odds due to “the Baffertness,” and the fact this horse has never won on dirt, as the SA Derby is run on the new synthetic surface called polytrack. True track hounds are known for calling it “pussy-track.” You get the picture.
Same comment for sentimental favorite and Kentucky Blue Grass Stakes winner General Quarters (20-1), who is a from a one horse stable trained by an retired Kentucky high school principal(!) Sentimental favorites get crappy odds though, so he may not be worth it at post time (you should see that 20-1 shrink).
Out of the favorite pool, I like Dunkirk (4-1) and Desert Party (15-1) — both great bloodlines and the latter being fed a diet of diamonds and Saudi crude by his owner, the Emir Of Dubai. As the Emir is never a favorite here in Derby town, you might get some nice odds for Desert Party and his partner from Godolphin Racing (the Emir’s barn) Regal Ransom(also purchased with the treasure from Aladin’s Cave, including the lamp). I like Dunkirk because Todd Pletcher— another superstar trainer like Baffert — is due, and Edgar Prado is a top five jockey. I also like short odds candidate and Louisiana Derby winner Friesan Fire, who is trained by Larry Jones, whose Eight Bellesfilly gave Big Brown such a tough race last year before pulling up and breaking both forelegs in the appalling aftermath. If anyone is due, it’s Jones after that tragedy. However Friesan Fire has been very lighty raced, which is usually not a good sign for a Derby candidate
But hey, iBankCoin is about banking coin, so I’m going to throw some lesser followed long odds dark horses at you. I have won at the Derby a number of times picking non-favorites with great Beyer speed numbers, and one to watch in that category this year is West Side Bernie (30-1), who came in second in the Wood Memorial at Acqueduct to I Want Revenge. The Wood is one of my favorite Derby prep races, and I always look to that race over others to show me my Derby pick. West Side Bernie was moving nicely in the stretch of that mile and 1/8 long race, and I like his chances for the longer Derby, even though I Want Revenge was magnificent in that race. The one downside I see to Bernie is his position in the “one slot,” which will be very tough in this big field unless he gets a great break from the gate. I also like Papa Clem (20-1) and Musket Man (20-1) as “interesting exotic” plays to throw in with your favorites.
The great thing is there are no dogs in this race… these are the true “kings” of the sport. Savor the experience, coming to your teevee screen tomorrow evening, about 6:15 Eastern. I will leave you with last year’s classic, where aptly named Big Brown won from the 20-hole (the farthest post position out) — an unprecedented event in the 134 year history of the Derby. Just another thriller… there’s one every year. Good luck!
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBeoZUsnXdc 450 300]_________
Update: Congrats to 50-1 moonshot-no-one -had “Mine that Bird.” Should have looked at wife’s “take the ugliest name” strategy. Seriously, I don’t know why I didn’t bet jockey Calvin Borel, a true pro in the horse game, who just won the million dollar The Oaks feature race the day before.
Update: Why it’s worth going even if you don’t win, and some bogus 50-1 long-shot takes it (pic #28):
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Thanks to Woodshedder for stopping by to raise a julep cup to us all:
Til next year, Happy Derby!
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that you, jake?
Whaddaya mean?
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how much time did you waste writing this?
Too much, lol!
Oh, and go fuck a catamount, weed of the dil.
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Funny. I was going to ask you to do this.
Nice way to paint a pig. Everyone knows, southerners are BBQ eating slobs, who drive pickup trucks and carry rifles.
Spose to be rainin’ …. any good mudders for a long shot?
Someone did ask me to do it, so I figured, what the hezzy.
And don’t be paintin’ everyone down here with the same Woodshedder brush.
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E8 — Ironically, one of the only horses who’s run on a wet track is Desert Party — the Dubai horse. Must’ve been in Europe. I don’t know that it’s going to be that muddy. The Oaks went off as “fast” by race time tonight. CD drains very well.
Trouble with the Derby horses– and why you may not be able to gauge their worth on different surface conditions — is they are by rule all three year olds, and so might have a total of five races to their name if they are run consistently by their trainers, some with less than that.
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I’ll be at Preakness. Can’t wait.
Just be careful and make sure you’re not in the middle when the structure collapses up there, JC.
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First, I must drive through the West Baltimore narcotics distribution centers on every block.
Say hi to Stringer Bell for me.
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Letterman had Dave Johnson on the phone again tonight for his annual calling of “Down the Stretch They Come” ….
Couldn’t find it on Youtube but this caught my eye … looks like Woodward Reserve doesn’t it?
http://www.youtube.com/kentuckyderby
Have a mint julep on IBC and enjoy the day!
I can’t believe that fucking douchebag Talamo gets to ride the favorite.
I’d like to see Prado bring it home.
DPeezy ‘darkhorse’ special: Chocolate Candy & Mike Smith.
Talamo is in trouble tomorrow, I think. The other jocks don’t like it either.
Prado was good to me today.
My daughter picked Chocolate Candy. Caveat: She’s 8, though.
E8– I will be imbibing lots of Woodford tomorrow, thx.
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Jake:
No don’t worry about it, I thought the pic was you but then I read it wasn’t.
LOL — no, that’s Bob Baffert. He just went to the Hall of Fame this year.
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E8 — watched the clip — that’s the awesome bar in the foot of the Seelbach Hotel. There’s like 80 bourbons there, but yeah, that’s Woodford in the clip. I know that woman too, she’s always there.
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Comment re Bondholders posted on OEW from mmacycles … no comment here regarding geocosmics but the guy does make a good point regarding private investment/bondholders. Fly thought bondholders needed to take a hit along with stockholders and I agree but wiping them out could seriously threaten the entire capitalist system.
http://caldaroew.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!D2CB8C5EBA2ADE86!38893.entry#comment
Click on the read comments at the bottom of tonights recap if they don’t come up from the link ….
Fly should get Tony as a tabbed blogger on IBC … just saying.
Bourbon: Cool … scuse my ward for ford … lol @ myself!
My daughter picked Chocolate Candy. Caveat: She’s 8, though.
2 year olds are being admitted to Mensa nowadays, so age seems to matter not!
Mike Smith will invoke the spirit of Giacomo and make it rain chocolates & candy out there!
It’s not The Kentucky but it is Dave Johnson:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhqFUQtaWkI&feature=PlayList&p=3444B1A2C084D4E6&index=0&playnext=1
Two seconds off the pace of his sire …
uh…this missed the Jakester spelling/grammar rectifier:
I wou will
Remember blogging and alcohol don’t always mix well.
good stuff.
WESTSIDE BERNIE’S!!!!!!!! TO WIN
Jake, your in the IBC HOF
Looks like the horse with the best name will not be running…
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/more/05/02/kentucky.derby.scratch.ap/index.html
I told you this trainer was known for shadiness, and that they’d be gunning for him today, right?
Well, this is a bit suspicious:
Derby Favorite I Want Revenge is a Late Scratch.
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That ought to change the odds quite a bit… look for Friesan Fire and Dunkirk to become the new favorites now.
Pioneer of the Nile has a chance to be (undeserved) best-odds, due to the “Baffert Love” here.
I am hoping for a Chocolate Candy – Atomic Rain 1,2 finish, so ESPN can play “Chocolate Rain” in the intro music for the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
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I Want Revenge by a country mile; his win in the Wood Memorial last outing would have been six lengths if he hadn’t reared at the start.
The Kentucky Derby is 1 1/4 miles, not 1 3/8ths.
Ok, I see I Want Revenge is scratched. Dunkirk is my new pick.
Great Post. My girlfriend is there, so I’ll probably have her place a bet or two.
Repeat after me, ‘CHOCOLATE CANDY!!!!!’. You heard it here first.
Down to 8-1 odds, benefiting greatly from the scratch.
Goffer — of course it’s one and a quarter. It’s the Preakness that’s 1 and 3/8ths.
I like Dunkirk but am now leaning towards Friesan Fire in the slop. Still putting $20 on West Side Bernie, tho, ftw and place.
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Freaking cold today! Yesterday was much more comfy.
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$20 on Hold me back and boxed with Chocolate Candy/Firesan Fire. Walking out of OTB I had a hunch I should have covered Papa Clem.
“Kicking the Spaniel” is southern jive speak for waxing one’s carrot by the way.
Don’t like Hold me Back but have not really considered it either.
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Yep, weun’s kin tolerate yankees in moderate doses, but kentucky is north of the mason-dixon line son.
Big Obama family race in the ninth:
#7- Royale Michele
#2 – Dubai Majesty
#5 – Secret Gypsy
#3 – Informed Decision
#9 – Game Face
Whom do we like?
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Hey Jake,
Are you currently abiding in the happy hunting ground or just going for the Derby? I myself originated in the Bluegrass state. I do miss the natural areas of the state and the Derby is one hell of a party. However I prefer a more liberal culture than the populace of that part of the country. I also miss Skyline Chili, but that is a Cincinnati thing.
Anyway, good luck at the track.
Frog
Actually, I think I found the horse I have to bet– for us all:
Bear Now (10-1)
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Okay bet Bear Now (10-1) across in the 9th.
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Frog- L’ville is pretty liberal, and I’m a conservative. I’m from NY and lived in Manhattan & Brooklyn for many years after college.
To each his own I guess.
Truly hate skyline chili, fwiw. Chile should not be sweet in my O.
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Favorite #3 Informed Decision won that last by a nose.
Bear Now went “the Devil Dawg Way.”
Ah well.
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That was a nice last few strides by Informed Decision. For a second there, I thought the Dubai horse was going to actually hang on.
Einstein (2-1) is the clear favorite of this 10th race on turf, but one of my rules on turf races is “always net the gray” as they seem to do better on grass.
So I will likely pair Einstein in an exacta box with Court Vision, but take the long shot Thorn Song (14-1) across as well.
Derby up after this one. Big delay for it.
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ooh, my inner geek would bet big on ‘Einstein’
Long shot Thorn Song is now (15-1) in the tenth, even though he has 4 out of 6 ins on turf here at CD.
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That said, I Want Revenge could not have asked for a better slot than the 13 hole to start this monster…
Yeah, right.
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090502/SPORTS08/90502019/I+Want+Revenge+scratched+from+Kentucky+Derby+2009+
Shit, Friesan Fire has dropped to 7/2-1 odds on the Derby and Chocolate Candy to 8-1. Bernie down to 31-1 from mid 40’s. I knew I shouldn’t have leaked that pick! ;).
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Mudders Advantage ….
1) Desert Party
2) Friesan Fire
3) Pioneer of the Nile
DPeez- Einstein won this same race last year and has not slowed down at seven years old. Love turf races and horses.
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Thorn Song 10-1 same sire as Dunkirk ….
E-8 disagree on #3 as a mudder as he has only run on the fake shit.
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Right … I figure he’s fast enough to finish third with the other two mudders ….
How’s the Derby track … getting better or worse?
Is it raining now?
Come onnnn Thorn Song!
El Cabong!
Good race!
EINSTEIN!!! Never bet against the maaaad genius!
I’ll take #20 Flying Private. Longest shot on the board bitchez!
Holy crap, Thorn Song had the lead for 7/8ths and then Einstein came in and tore it away.
Einstein is a blue black horse that might be the prettiest I’ve seen all day. Ah, this sport is something else!
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E8- been dry all day, but it rained like crazy last night, hence the puddles.
And its cold, so we aren’t getting the dry off we got yesterday. Still they should have the track in good shape by the start.
Be sure to tune in for the Kentucky anthem before the race- “My Old Kentucky Home.”. Won’t be a dry eye in the house after that.
Or a sober one.
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Holy shit, just saw a dude in a pink suit. Jake, is that you?!
$10 I’m down with with W.Bernie.
Hell Jake, some of the announcers on TV are even slurring their words …. another Woodford please, for the chill ya know.
Don’t think I haven’t noted the irony of the name “West Side Bernie,” even though Madoff is an East side guy.
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I like I Want Revenge (great Grandson of Seattle Slew).
Granpappy was a mudder, his Papa was a mudder and his mudder was a mudder.
Oops. I think he was scratched.
I will go with Mr. Hot Stuff as a longshot.
Ack, I hate this. The empty slot in #13 due to the Revenge scratch has left me reconsidering the sentimental favorite General Quarters.
I hate it because gay sentiment will drive my odds down.
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Love the track.
Used to spend some time at Hialeah (now closed) and Calder in Miami.
Never bet that much but always had a good time.
The only horse track around here is the ponies at Cinderella’s castle.
Old Kentucky Home fuckers, respect.
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Wow, Dunkirk looks peppy.
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Nobody could carry the tune other than the horn player … tone deft or stone drunk!
TC, ya picked the wrong longshot…
Go with the jockeys, don’t mind the horses. Wish I’d thought of that with Calvin Borel. A huge winner, and the Oaks winner last year.
Oh yeah, he was on Big Brown too.
Fuck!
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$150,000 to Calvin.
Nice
Fuck!
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Pepped up …. Calvin Borel!
D-Peez, yesterday they had a “pink out’ for the Breast Cancer Fund- Susan G Koman Center.
Today it was your choice, but not mine.
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Sorry, I meant Calvin won the Oaks YESTERDAY!
Off to drink myself into a worse stupor.
Woodford Reserve-style.
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Bottoms Up!
Story to make you sick:
Ran into rich as shit scion of a coal clan, who hadn’t won shit all day, but had bagged a nice turkey last week hunting, so threw $50 to W-P on “Mine that Bird” and won $4k.
This is why I drink this night.
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Having lived just outside of Louisville, I can say without a doubt that KY is more Northern than Southern.
Still, that picture does favor me, a tad.
The Northerners would do well to find themselves amongst a diversion as that of the K Derby, where men are gentile and ladies aren’t scolds.
Not so, Wood.
I gotta couple of Jewish buddies that own boxes, too.
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lol…genteel, not gentile.
Sorry if I offended anyone. I was in a hurry.
Here’s why I don’t gamble as being the one and ONLY time I’ve gone to the racetrack.
I was in my early twenties and a group of older employees talked me into going telling me to only bring $20. As I was making $5/hour that wasn’t a hard thing to do.
After we got to the track and someone walked me through the odds board, I picked me a couple of horses, and settled down with a drink and the first cigar I had ever smoked in my life.
At the first race, the horse I picked on startled before the shot rang and promptly broke it’s leg.
I spent the rest of the day thinking about what was going to happen to the horse and consequently went home with $10 in my pocket.
Cuervos-
LMAO!!! I’m sure the horse is fine…not.