Havre de Grace Was Tops In A Difficult Year

It has been a rough year for the Horse of the Year award. So troubled has the year been for those horses pursuing the golden Eclipse award, that I have pondered the dilemma for more than a week since the completion of the Breeders’ Cup, and still, I am not adamant about my selection.

For disclosure, I do not vote for Horse of the Year. That honor has been bestowed upon the folks at Daily Racing Form and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. But if I did have a vote this year, I would approach it the following way.

It would be difficult to give the award to Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Drosselmeyer (photo right). His only victory this year other than the Classic came in the $60,000 One Count Stakes at Belmont Park in May. No matter the significance of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, it needs a little more help than the One Count Stakes to confirm a Horse of the Year.

Others under consideration had difficult days at the Breeders’ Cup that may have eliminated them from Horse of the Year. The Breeders' Cup is billed as the World Championship after all.

Goldikova was attempting an unprecedented fourth consecutive Breeders’ Cup Mile hoping to add to her record three straight, but was unable to overcome a trip filled with traffic difficulties this and finished third. And one third place finish in American does not a Horse of the Year make.

Classic favorite Flat Out went into the Breeders’ Cup off of a win in the grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, two seconds in the Woodward and Whitney, Saratoga’s two main events for older horses, and third in the grade 2 Suburban Handicap at Belmont in July. Flat Out also had one of the better human interest stories this year in 70-year-old trainer Charles “Scooter” Dickey, but a fifth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic compromised the Horse of the Year chances for Flat Out.

Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom should also be considered. Although Animal Kingdom has not run since finishing sixth in the Belmont Stakes June 11, the Kentucky is certainly the most noteworthy race in America and its winner she be duly noted.

There is also some precedent for Animal Kingdom being named Horse of the Year – at least from a chronological standpoint. In 1999, Cat Thief won the Breeders’ Cup Classic at nearly 20-to-1 odds over favored Behrens in seventh. That year Charismatic was named Horse of the Year after being injured in the Belmont Stakes and not running thereafter. Like Animal Kingdom, Charismatic won the Kentucky Derby but unlike Animal Kingdom, also had a victory in the Preakness and in the grade 2 Lexington. Animal Kingdom has the grade 2 Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes win to match Charasmatic's Lexington and of course the Kentucky Derby, but no Preakness.

Stay Thirsty is another from the 3-year-old ranks that should get some attention from the Horse of the Year voters. He has three graded stakes wins this year in the Travers (gr. 1), Jim Dandy (gr. 2) and Gotham Stakes (gr. 3). Hurting him, however, was his performance in the Kentucky Derby (12th) and the Breeders’ Cup Classic (11th).

Game On Dude deserves consideration from Horse of the Year voters based on his two grade 1 victories this year in the Santa Anita Handicap in March and the Goodwood Stakes, again at Santa Anita, in October. He was also second in the grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup this summer but probably still needed to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic to solidify the Horse of the Year award. Zenyatta can run second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and be named Horse of the Year. But can Game On Dude do it? I’m not so sure.

Having the best record in the most graded stakes this year was the filly Havre de Grace (photo left). She won five of seven starts in 2012, three of which were grade 1 including a win over older males in the Woodward. Her fourth-place finish in the Classic and the fact that four of her five wins came against fillies and mares will be her Achilles heel among Eclipse voters.

Unlike Favorite Trick in 1997 and Secretariat in 1972, the 2012 Horse of the Year is not likely to come from the 2-year-old ranks. Like Favorite Trick, Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Hansen finished the year undefeated, but that was only Hansen’s third start of the year and first in graded stakes company. Hansen’s other victories, while impressive with 12-1/4 and 12-1/4 winning margins, came in the $95,000 Kentucky Cup Juvenile and a maiden race, both at Turfway Park.

Juvenile Favorite Union Rags has wins in the grade 2 Saratoga Special and grade 1 Champagne Stakes but very much needed to win the Juvenile in order to be considered for Horse of the Year. Instead, a second place keeps him in contention for divisional honors, but probably not for Horse of the Year.

Maybe the Horse of the Year title will go to a horse that did not run in the Breeders’ Cup. Acclamation finished 2012 with five consecutive wins in graded stakes including three grade 1 wins – something only he has accomplished this year. His grade 1 victories came in the Charlie Whittingham Stakes at Hollywood Park and the Eddie Read and Pacific Classic at Del Mar. A tenth-place finish in the grade 3 Charles Town Classic and no appearance in the Breeders’ Cup will be the hurdles facing Acclamation with voters. They will just have to decide what is the biggest detriment to a Horse of the Year - losing in the Breeders’ Cup or not running at all.

It has been a difficult year for racing stars. Again the Kentucky Derby has failed to win another race after the Run for the Roses and a long shot takes the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Preakness winner Shackleford and Belmont winner Ruler On Ice also finished the year with no victories after their trips to the winners’ circle in their respective Triple Crown races.

I don’t have a vote in the Eclipse Awards, but for records’ sake, Havre de Grace deserves to become the third consecutive female to be named Horse of the Year in a close call over Acclamation. Helping Havre de Grace is her appearance at five different tracks this year in four different states. Acclamation raced at four tracks in two states. Havre de Grace raced primarily against females while Acclamation won most of his races on the grass. However, both have grade 1 wins against older male horses on dirt around two turns. Neither Acclamation nor Havre de Grace won the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but it has been four years since Curlin won the Classic and the Horse of the year.

It is not an easy year to vote for Horse of the Year, but it should again go to another female. She may not be as accomplished at her most recent predecessors, but seldom ever have been. What matters is that Havre de Grace had the best year of any thoroughbred this year.

And for that, Havre de Grace should be honored with golden Eclipse Award for a rich and accomplished year.

My Jon White Horse of the Year Rankings

While perusing through the Paulick Report yesterday, I happened upon Bill Christine’s Horse Race Insider blog entitled A Poll For What Ails You. In the blog, Christine wrote about another blog posted by Jon White on XpressBet.com ranking every Horse of the Year since the Eclipse Awards were established in 1971. White then asked 31 other turf writers to do the same and came up with a concensus. That consensus is in Christine’s blog, but don’t look yet.

Christine provided all 33 horses in alphabetical order that have been honored with the golden Eclipse Award statuette. Some of them have won the title more than once.

What a great exercise, I thought. Just the kind of task that one looks for when freezing rain, ice and snow are dominating the news here in Arlington, Texas, despite the fact we’re hosting a pretty big football game here Sunday. That game has been preceded by multiple events and parties located throughout the massive metroplex in the weeks leading up to Super Bowl XLV. Needless-to-say, most of those events and parties do not fall within my financial nor my emotional budget, but those that might, have fallen down on the need-to-do list as a consequence of the local weather.

And just as Christine wrote in his blog, “But in the spirit of the thing, why not do your own rankings, then compare them with the rest of us? No peeking at the consensus, though. I'll list the 33 horses (some of them were champions more than once) in the next paragraph, then stop reading for a time and go do your assignment: Rank them from 1 through 33, in order of greatness. A deal? OK, here's goes:

Ack Ack, Affirmed, All Along, Alysheba, A.P. Indy, Azeri, Black Tie Affair, Charismatic, Cigar, Conquistador Cielo, Criminal Type, Curlin, Favorite Trick, Ferdinand, Forego, Ghostzapper, Holy Bull, Invasor, John Henry, Kotashaan, Lady's Secret, Mineshaft, Point Given, Rachel Alexandra, Saint Liam, Seattle Slew, Secretariat, Skip Away, Spectacular Bid, Spend a Buck, Sunday Silence, Tiznow, Zenyatta.”

Use any criteria you like. I did not cloud my judgement by looking up specific past performances or any other research. I went by memory and instinct alone. But that doesn’t mean you have restrict yourself from looking up races and information. Heck, that might be half the fun for you.

Hope you enjoy a little winter puzzle and let me know your rankings. My rankings are below. Don’t peak until you're finished with your list though…


Consenus Poll, Christine Rankings, White Rankings


Jon White XpressBet.com blog


The Brock Talk HOY rankings.
1. Secretariat
2. Seattle Slew
3. Forego
4. Affirmed
5. Cigar
6. John Henry
7. Spectacular Bid
8. Zenyatta
9. Ack Ack
10. Tiznow
11. Curlin
12. Lady’s Secret
13. Skip Away
14. Azeri
15. Rachel Alexandra
16. Ferdinand
17. Alysheba
18. Sunday Silence
19. A.P. Indy
20. Point Given
21. All Along
22. Kotashan
23. Holy Bull
24. Ghostzapper
25. Invasor
26. St. Liam
27. Mineshaft
27. Charasmatic
29. Conquistado Cielo
30. Black Tie Affair
31. Criminal Type
32. Spend A Buck
33. Favorite Trick

I matched the consensus with #1 Secretariat, #4 Affirmed, #6 John Henry, #27 Mineshaft and number #33 Favorite Trick. The horses on which I differed the most with the consensus were, ironically, among my favorite horses, Alysheba, who I hand ranked #17 while he was #10 on the consensus; and Sunday Silence. I had Sunday Silence ranked #18 and he was also a top ten among the consensus pollsters at #8.

I ranked both Lady's Secret and Azeri much higher than the consensus poll, missing on them by eight and nine slots respectively. Although, two more recent female stars in Zenyatta (my rank #8, consensus #9) and Rachel Alexandra (my rank #15, consensus #19) I ranked a little low, but not far from the consensus.

Horses on which I missed the consensus by just one slot were Seattle Slew, Tiznow, Curlin, Skip Away,

Don't Let Facts Get In The Way of Secretariat's Truth

Hollywood’s Secretariat, recently released by Disney Studios, has all of the little factual hiccups that horse racing fans will notice but soon forget as the movie tells the remarkable story of what many consider to be the best thoroughbred race horse of all time. Based on the true story of then Colorado housewife Penny Chenery-Tweedy (Diane Lane), who assumed responsibility of her ailing father’s (Scott Glenn) Virginia-based farm Meadow Stable, the movie tells the story of Secretariat very well from the famous coin toss, to his first steps as a foal, training and racing through the Triple Crown.

One might not expect much drama from a movie where everybody knows the ending, but it’s the journey to the end that makes this movie so enjoyable. Lane remarkably portrays Chenery’s struggles against the male dominated world of horse racing and the conservative members of her own family including her husband Jack Tweedy (Dylan Walsh) and brother Hollis Chenery (Dylan Baker). On her mission to save the family farm and keep Secretariat, Chenery aligns with trainer Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich), Meadow Stables’ longtime secretary Elizabeth Ham (Margo Martindale), groom Eddie Sweat (Nelsan Ellis) and jockey Ron Turcotte, (played by real jockey Otto Thorwarth).

It is a movie that will gnaw at the side of horse racing purist with a few creative liberties taken by director Randall Wallace, the Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated screenwriter of the global hit “Braveheart,” but the acting, direction, cinematography and screen play by Mike Rich will quickly overcome any and all of that. Technically, the movie is “suggested” by the book Secretariat: The Making of a Champion by William Nack. In the movie, Nack is smartly played by Kevin Connally of Entourage fame alongside Eric Lange as Andy Beyer.

Wallace has made it clear that he did not want to create a documentary. Rather he wants to introduce or re-introduce the audience, “to the deeper truth of what Secretariat and Penny accomplished,” he said in final production notes. That goal is clearly achieved with the obstacles set by husband Jack; brother Hollis; Ogen Phipps (James Cromwell); Sham and his bravado trainer, Frank “Pancho” Martin (Nestor Serrano).

Some battles accentuate Chenery’s strength in many confrontational scenes where she takes on everyone from the family trainer, to Turcotte, to Phipps-more throughout the movie. Lane is masterful in portraying Chenery’s cleverness during the pre-race press conferences and Rich’s screenplay is on target in portraying the horsemanship she had learned from her father that gave her the conviction place such a gamble on a horse. The most subtle aspects of Lane’s performance is perhaps the most important, as her character was elogent, intelligent and classy in nearly every scene.

I was a little disappointed the Belmont scene did not really portray his true dominance in that race, but the cinematography crew had their shining moment here with an isolation head-on shot that is sure to make you stop chewing you popcorn. Wallace creatively uses the actual television broadcast footage of the Preakness and brilliantly seemed to inter-disperse original audio from NRA track announcer Chick Anderson with a talent that sounded eerily similar.

Laurin and Mrs. Ham provide the needed Disney levity with well played slap stick moments centered around Laurin faults in men’s style – in particular, the hats. Malkovich is brilliant throughout playing a lighter and more vulnerable character in Laurin who you laugh at and not with. And two thumbs to Thorwarth. His riding ability was an obvious plus and he was very believable as a cantankerous but tactful Turcotte.

I must disclose that I can’t watch the original Secretariat Belmont Stakes footage without tearing up before they go four furlongs. One of my favorite moments in racing came discussing the Belmont Stakes with Ron Turcotte and asking what he looking at over his left shoulder in the famous finish line shot. “I’m looking at the timer on the tote-board” Turcotte told me. “I’m like everyone else. I can’t wait to see how fast Big Red was going.”

I was 13 when Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby in 1973 and I was a veteran of four Kentucky Derbies via the 1973 miracle of Jack Whitacker, Hayward Heybrown, et. al. and CBS Sports. So I was pretty much sold on the story before I walked into the theater. But this film sold me on the rest. And really, Diane Lane, John Malkovich and Secretariat are all you need to know as motivation to see this film.

Secretariat is a typical family feel good Disney movie. But it really is a well done film and exciting tribute to Secretariat and Mrs. Chenery.

Preakness Rides To Remember

Another rail-hugging victory by jockey Calvin Borel aboard Super Saver in the Kentucky Derby (gr. 1) presented by Yum! Brands has riding accolades again being directed at the popular Cajun rider and deservedly so. But with the Preakness Stakes (gr. 1) less than two weeks away and a full field of 14 possible for the second leg of the Triple Crown, the pressure will again be on Borel to flash his navigational brilliance in Baltimore when he steps aboard Super Saver May 15.

Super Saver is now the co-leader along with Sidney' Candy in the TBA 3-Year-Old Standings sponsored by OCD Pellets.

Not that the pressure seems to bother Borel. It was he, by the way, that declared a Triple Crown for Super Saver on national television during the winner's circle celebration following the Derby. It was also Borel a year ago, who stepped off Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird to ride the filly Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness in a move defiant of pressure. But as they've been saying in Louisiana for years, "dat pressuh doan bodder "Boo" (aka Calvin Borel) and he and Rachel Alexandra rolled to a Preakness win.

A well planned, mistake free and well executed ride in the Preakness may be good enough for another Preakness win for Borel - as long as Super Saver is good enough and ol' Mr. Bad Racing Luck stays away. But should he be called upon for another "Bo-Rail" riding feat for the win, and pulls it off, it seemed appropriate to recall perhaps three of the greatest rides of Preakness past - just in case we have to compare.

Ron Turcotte - Secretariat, 1973
In 1973 Secretariat had just won the Kentucky Derby in patient come-from-off-the-pace fashion, set a track record in the processand speculation began of a possible Triple Crown. The pressure was beginning to mount for jockey Ron Turcotte in the Preakness.

The pressure continued for Turcotte shortly after the break of the Preakness when it appeared that Secretariat was having some trouble finding his stride or getting a hold of the track. But Turcotte settled "Big Red" into a seemingly comfortable position along the rail in last as they passed the grandstand for the first time.

Suddenly (and I mean in an instant), Secretariat found his stride and that's where Turcotte's piloting skills and quick thinking came into play. Heading into the Clubhouse turn, few riders would swing out from the rail and suddenly go three-wide around the turn to pass slower horses. Most riders would have been content to keep their mount on the rail and easily gallop behind the team of preceding runners and wait for a hole to open or pass to the outside down the straight backstretch.

But Turcotte steered Secretariat just to the right and outside of the horses in front of him just before the left handed turn, only to feel Secretariat begin to pass horses and then inhale them as he began running faster and faster with more than three-quarters of a mile still left to run. Other riders might panic and fight the apparent runaway Secretariat. That's when Turcotte made perhaps his second winning decision. "I wanted to slow him down," Turcotte would say later, "but he wanted to go on. So I figured... ....if he wants to go on, I'm not going to argue with him. He's pretty big."

Secretariat never slowed a step and with Turcotte now just a passenger, he hit the wire three lengths in front of Sham in track record time according to the Daily Racing Form chart.

The official time on the infield tote board lit up to 1:55.0, a full second slower than Cananero II's 1:54.0 in the Preakness two years earlier. But the track clocker had caught Secretariat in 1:54-2/5 and two Daily Racing Form clockers had timed him in an identical 1:53-2/5. The official time was listed at 1:54-2/5 everywhere but Daily Racing Form, which also published their time in the official chart.



Eddie Delahoussaye - Risen Star, 1988
In 1988 D.Wayne Lukas had just won his first Kentucky Derby with the front running filly Winning Colors with jockey Gary Stevens aboard.

Woody Stephens, the Hall of Fame trainer of fast-closing Derby runner-up Forty Niner, rued the fact that Winning Colors had been conceded an uncontested lead from the start in the Derby and held it for a neck victory.

Stephens vowed things would be different in the Preakness – that Forty Niner would strongly contest or even take the lead. “I may be last, but she'll be next-to-last,” Stephens was widely quoted as saying.

Forty Niner drew post No. 4, Winning Colors No. 5 for the Preakness. When the gates opened, Pat Day on Forty Niner established inside position, with Gary Stevens and Winning Colors immediately outside. Day took a wide path, forcing Winning Colors to go even wider. The two horses bumped several times down the backstretch while Day andStevens were both off of what they considered to be a "dead rail."

Meanwhile, Eddie Delahoussaye on Kentucky Derby third-place finisher Risen Star, apparently recognized the battling jockeys ahead of him as he stalked them down the Pimlico backstretch. Delahoussaye saw the big hole inside, disregarded the advice to stay off the slow rail, and glided through the inside path passing the battling Winning Colors and Forty Niner with ease and rolled to a victory in the Preakness.

Honorable mention goes to jockey Angel Cordero Jr. on Brian's Time who followed Delahoussaye's inside path to get up for second over Winning Colors in third. Forty Niner was seventh.

After the race, Stevens said, "At about the half-mile pole, I saw Eddie (Delahoussaye) coming up on Risen Star and it was obvious then that Pat wasn't concerned with anybody getting through or maybe even winning the race. I've said it many times – as religious as Pat Day is, he threw out his Bible at the half-mile pole in that race."



Jeremy Rose - Afleet Alex, 2005
More than 20 years later, Afleet Alex had just finished third as one of the favorites in the 2005 Kentucky Derby, less than a length behind long shot winner Giacomo. Following the Derby, jockey Jeremy Rose accepted the responsibility for the loss saying that he did not ride his best race and may have cost Afleet Alex the Derby.

Going into the Preakness, the racing public had made Afleet Alex the favorite and eyes were on Jeremy Rose at Pimlico.

Just before the half-mile pole, Rose took Afleet Alex into a crowed group tiring front runners and was forced to stop the horse's momentum. But just as soon as he stopped, Afleet Alex started rolling again round the far turn and they had the leading Scrappy T in their sites and pounced on him like a jaguar chasing a slow pig. Just as the two began to turn for home and Rose began to pass on the outside, Scrappy T suddenly veered to the right, slamming into Afleet Alex and nearly dropping him as Rose was thrown from the saddle. But in that instant when Afleet Alex jumped backed into stride, Rose somehow managed to stay balanced and aboard and swung back into the stirrups and was again riding before most could comprehend what had happened.

Before anyone could take a breath after gasping in anticipation of the wreck at the top of the Pimlico stretch, Afleet Alex and Jeremy Rose were back in stride and well on their way to one of the more amazing Preakness victories of all time.



Editorial Note: The Brock Talk will be the guest handicapper this week on ThoroFan.com handicapping the Lone Star Derby (gr. 3).

Will Popularity Equal Performance for Kentucky Derby Favorite Eskendereya?

With the major prep races for the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands in the books and the field beginning to solidify, it appears all but certain that Wood Memorial Stakes (gr. 1) winner Eskendereya will be your post time favorite. And as we mentioned Monday, according to Churchill Downs morning line maker Mike Battaglia, Eskendereya will likely be listed at 2-1 in the program and will possibly be bet down to lower odds by the wagering public.

Since 2001, when the wagering "field" was eliminated and betting interest increased to as many as 20, only Point Given has been popular enough to dip below the 2-1 level, going off at 9-5. He finished fifth. The last horse to win at less than double odds was Spectacular Bid, who in 1979 went off as the odds-on favorite at 3-5 in victory. The 1980s and 90s were a bad time to be a heavy favorite in the Derby as Arazi (1992, 4-5), Mister Frisky ('90, 9-5), the 1989 entry of Easy Goer and Awe Inspiring (4-5) and Chief's Crown ('85, 6-5) all went down in defeat. Arazi and Mister Frisky finished 8th while Easy Goer was second and Awe Inspiring and Chief's Crown finished third in their respective years.

Going back to 1946 when the Kentucky Derby wagering format was expanded to handle 12 betting interests from a maximum of ten, 38 horses have gone off at 2-1 odds or less. (Twelve of those Derby starters ran as a coupled entry so there were actually 32 betting interests.) During those 64 years, eleven, or 28.9%, of the 38 have come home winners.

The only year in which two uncoupled Kentucky Derby starters went off at 2-1 or lower was 1978 when Alydar was favored at 6-5 over eventual Triple Crown winner Affirmed at 9-5.

The only decade kind to heavy favorites was the 1970s when Seattle Slew ('77, 1-2), Foolish Pleasure ('75, 9-5), Cannonade ('74, 7-5), Secretariat ('73, 7-5 as an entry with Angel Light) and Riva Ridge ('72, 7-5) were all popular winners.

Between 1946 and 1969, only Majestic Prince ('69, 7-5), Needles ('56, 6-5), Hill Gail ('52, even) and Triple Crown winner Citation ('48, 2-5 as an entry with Coaltown) managed to hit the winner's circle and pay-off their supporters. During that span, such greats as Damascus, Candy Spots, Ridan, Bold Ruler, Nashua and Native Dancer all went down in defeat at odds of less than 2-1 as did 11 others including Coaltown.

Native Dancer and Social Outcast ran second and seventh respectively as a coupled entry to set the record as the lowest price losers at 3-5. In that Derby, Native Dancer was severely bumped going into the first turn by 45-1 long shot Money Broker and was never able to recover sufficiently to catch 24-1 winner Dark Star. Even the official chart notes that Native Dancer "was probably the best."

It is difficult to point the finger at other unfortunate favorites as well. Easy Goer lost to Sunday Silence. Hill Rise was bumped twice past the grandstand for the first time and forced wide on the far turn when second to Northern Dancer. Nashua was second to Swaps in 1955, but won the Preakness and Belmont as Swaps headed back to California. But Nashua was able to avenge his Derby loss to Swaps in the famous match race later that year at Washington Park in Chicago.

Daily Racing Form charts of other heavily bet losers are not so gracious however. Although Arazi was 8-wide, he "came up empty" and finished 8th. In 1967 Damascus "loomed boldly... ...continued gamely to midstretch where he appeared to hang under extreme pressure." Olympia "gave way" in the stretch of the 1949 Derby at 4-5 and finished 6th.

No one knows if Eskendereya's Derby will more resemble Secretariat's 1973 track record performance at Churchill or Bold Lad finishing tenth at 2-1 in 1965. Just remember before you put your precious financial investment through the window on the first Saturday in May, that popularity and performance are sometimes vastly different.

The Donn Can Sometimes Produce A Diamond

There is a funny phenomena in sports that has only to do with time. It is the perception of fans and media alike, that early season competition somehow has less significance than the games or races later in the year.

The Red Sox versus the Yankees in May just doesn't seem as important and that same series in September. The Cowboys playing the Redskins during the second week of the season just doesn't pack the punch of that same game during the last few weeks of the regular season.

The reason is obvious of course, in that early in the year, we just don't know what teams are good and what these games may mean come playoff time. We sometimes think we know what teams are good, but often we and every sports pundit on radio and television and in blogs and newspapers are very wrong.

I mention this because Saturday, Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. presents their centerpiece event for older horses, the grade 1, $500,000 Donn Handicap.

It is the first major event each year for older horses and although Quality Road looks like a championship contender, there might be a New Orleans Saint in the bunch too.

That was never more evident than in the 1995 Donn Handicap. Holy Bull was the heavy favorite and brought national attention to the race as the Champion 3-Year-Old Colt the previous year with his victories including the Manhattan, Travers, Haskell Invitational, Woodward and Dwyer Stakes. He was also a local hero of sorts, having won the Hutcheson Stakes and Florida Derby at Gulfstream less than a year earlier as well.

Unfortunately Holy Bull never finished the Donn after being pulled up on the backstretch by jockey Mike Smith. Holy Bull's injury was career ending, but not life threatening, but nobody knew that at the time. Disappointment, shock and concern for Holy Bull dominated our attention as a relatively unknown Cigar won the Donn.

More recently and less dramatic, Saint Liam's story relative to the Donn Handicap is a bit of a diamond in the ruff tale as well. During the previous year, Saint Liam had won the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs and was a close second to Ghostzapper in the Woodward. It was a notable year, but certainly not enough to garner national attention.

Saint Liam won Donn over Roses in May, Eddington and Seek Gold then went on to win three more grade 1 races that year including the Breeders' Cup Classic. I don't know that I would consider the Donn a turning point for Saint Liam, but it again produced a champion.

Even going back to the 1974 Donn Handicap when it had just grade 3 status, the race has appeared to launch some notable careers. The previous year had been dominated by Secretariat and his historic run through the Triple Crown and beyond.

But the '74 Donn had a 4-year-old gelding who during the previous year had finished fourth, 11 lengths behind Secretariat in the Derby. Forego was his name and he won the grade 2 Roamer and grade 3 Discovery Handicaps in New York to finish his undistinguished sophomore campaign.

Forego won the Donn Handicap that year on his way to his seven eventual Eclipse Awards including three as Horse of the Year. It was also his first of eight wins in 1974, six of which came in grade 1 company.

Quality Road is the 7-5 morning line so it is difficult to attach the diamond in the ruff label to him. But Cigar was 4-1, Forego (photo) was odds-on and Saint Liam was no longshot. But the Donn Handicap has a history of sometimes acting as a catalyst for perhaps exposing greater potential.

And I can think of no horse currently in training that would fit this model more than Quality Road. If not for a quarter crack injury, he would have started in the Kentucky Derby and likely the Preakness and Belmont too. And one could certainly make the case for his potential before he pulled a Kanye West to Zenyatta's Breeders' Cup and dissed the gate crew on national television.

Now he's the heavy favorite in the Donn, but he also finds himself far below the attention of Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta and perhaps even below Champion Older Horse Gio Ponti.

But no matter the winner of the Donn - longshot or favorite - they have often proven that early season wins can influence or even produce a championship too.

The Greatest Belmont Stakes

Ask just about anybody: What was the greatest race of all time? You will get people that will say the 1938 match race at Pimlico between Seabiscuit and War Admiral. Others may respond Dr. Fager's 1968 Washington Park Handicap, citing his ten length victory and a world record mile in 1:32.1. A record that stood some four decades. You might hear Man o' War and his 1920 Belmont Stakes which he won by 20 lengths. The list and arguement is endless.

But my favorite is Secretariat's 1973 Belmont Stakes. He was trying to become the first Triple Crown winner since Citation 25 years earlier and did so with a historical performance. I will just tell you, everytime I hear track announcer Chick Anderson say that Secretariat is "running like a tremendous machine" I get choked up. Tears and all. The heck with it! I said it.

But my favorite part of this race is at the wire, when jockey Ron Turcotte looks back over his left shoulder, apparently in an effort to see how far behind the other horses were. But for years, I had thought he may be looking at something else. I thought I would never know until I met Ron Turcotte at Lone Star Park in 1998 and asked him where he was looking. Turcotte vindicated my theory by saying that he was looking at the infield toteboard and waiting for the official time of the race to flash on the teletimer. "I just wanted to see how fast he was actually running," Turcotte told me. He said he just couldn't believe a horse could run that fast.

Sham, who finished second in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness to Secretariat by just over 5 combined lengths, faded to last after trying to keep pace with Secratariat early in this Belmont. He never raced again.