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Midnight Interlude sold and to stand in India. I didn’t even know they were into horse racing (I could assume so, but… I don’t know, it was just off my radar).

I said it once, but I’ll say it again: BLACK CAVIAR!

So a Scat Daddy colt wins the El Camino Real (III), which is synthetic, again this year. Why is everyone acting so shocked?

I hope your butt feels better soon, Rachel Alexandra.

Horses love to win once I give up on them… Pacific Ocean and now State Flag, a Street Cry [IRE] I bet on last Belmont Day in a grass race. Dah!

Upcoming Derby race blurbs: Treasury Bill has my rooting interest in the (too short) San Vicente (II), and Always in a Tiz for the Southwest(II)! Still, kind of a boring duo in comparison to the upcoming Risen Star (II) in 6 days. Unf unf Proud Strike! Palace Malice! Normandy Invasion! Oxbow!

Very nice! Days after mentioning her and her young stablemate (Miffed) in my Oaks list, Phil Simms trained Don’t Tell Sophia to launch a drawing-away, 6 1/2 length upset win in the Bayakoa at Oaklawn! This older mare was sold as a yearling for a mere $1,000!

I’m judging you if you rank Verrazano overly high after that ONE race… at 6 1/2 furlongs… loose on the lead setting sprinter-like fractions… IN EARLY FEBRUARY WITH NO 2-YEAR-OLD STARTS. Look at this info and then back at me, look at his family and back at me, look at his trainer and now back at me.

Of course I watched it for Fortify, but Soft Falling Rain [SAF] wasn’t too shabby in the UAE 2000 Guineas (UAE-III). The winner is by an unraced Ontario stallion and out of an unraced Giant’s Causeway mare and is currently undefeated in 6 starts.

I liked her lots early on, but Bustle got a horrid trip to be 3rd in her most recent race… unfortunately, a $20-$25k claiming at Gulfstream.

For those who believe in herd dynamics influencing racehorses, I wonder if baby “Princess” will think she’s a palomino.

Tweet o’ the Week: Still got that royal blue halter

If not, go here.

Honestly, this is why sometimes horse breeding makes me nervous. I’ve had enough negatives to balance out the positives in my own personal experience being around broodmares at foaling time. Some minor complications are expected when a big baby is foaled, and my folks even had a mare die after an artificial insemination went poorly.

But enough of my harping. I hope to God that Rachel will be ok. She is  receiving the best of care and we all know how much of a fighter she is.

I wonder if Europe is obsessing hard over Goldikova’s baby boy as much as people here are obsessing over Rachel’s and Zenyatta’s. One out of these three doing badass would be a pleasing percentage.

Proof Frankel’s baby brother is going to be even better than him: HE HAS A BLAZE!

I’m already sick of this dumb Kentucky Derby points system. One of the biggest motivating factors behind it is that it’ll be “easier” for the public to follow. Ok, maybe? But wouldn’t winning the big races that ought to be televised be even more of a help? The Santa Anita Derby, the Florida Derby, the Wood, the Arkansas… come on now…

My mother the pedigrees-I-know/buttcapper will be dismayed to hear that Quiet American has been pensioned. So much sad.

I am so unbelievably pissed at Joel Rosario for that shitty ride on Animal Kingdom. Who was it on here that hated him already? Was it you Paige?

One horse I forgot to mention but meant to in my last Derby Top 10 update: Texas Bling, the super longshot that won the Springboard Mile. He’s an Oklahoma bred and an underdog at that, but he’s been working super well according to reports. On a similar note, Dewey Square may try turf… his last workout earlier today was over it.

There goes Coolmore jumping the shark again by buying an interest in Verrazano.

I am dying I want to see Gary Stevens ride in the flesh so bad.

There’s not much to see yet brewing in Dubai: Travers (I) champ Alpha ran last in the Al Maktoum Challenge (II) while Lovely Pass won the UAE 1000 Guineas in achingly slow time (1:39 flat for the mile).

Rumor has it Keeneland is looking to rip out their poly in favor of dirt. I’m all for it; handicapping would be made easier and horsemen would take competing on the surface much more seriously. History is full of doubters when it comes to horses who only win on synthetic.

As I continue working on my Oaks Top 10, I’m keen to include a filly of Phil Simms’, partially because of her name: Miffed, a three-year-old daughter of Purge, who is worth watching.

Sweet baby Street Life is off to be a California sire. All dreams of him standing in New York are dashed.

An old favorite in Wasted Tears just had her first foal, but I died when I saw that it was a colt by Malibu Moon. Ugh. No. At least he has a cool facial marking?

Tweet o’ the Week: More cute babby picture time, this one by Even the Score

What’s the fun in following the crowd and producing the same group of sires’ progeny? MEH, I can do better! Let’s play bloodstock expert for a second here with Rachel Alexandra, seeing as she’s due to foal her Bernardini filly in the coming weeks.

The tough part about nicking good matches with a horse like Rachel Alexandra is finding proven horses that equate well with her pedigree as well as her natural ability. Her sire Medaglia d’Oro was an accomplished classic horse on dirt, but is by El Prado [IRE], who is synonymous with top grass horses. Being that Rachel has wins going long but could easily pass as a gifted miler to boot further complicates things, as she tosses her head to what her ancestry suggests about her on paper. If you look on TrueNicks, a lot of the “suggested” picks for Rachel that have high ratings are horses that I know would not work with the goals of what Stonestreet has in mind, nor likely what would mesh with Rachel’s own record: grass/classic sire Street Cry [IRE], Street Cry’s speedy son Street Boss, and grass champ Midshipman.

This particular genetic puzzle is probably more soluable from the conformation approach than going by bloodline statistics, so we ought to ignore the grass and try to reinforce the mighty prowess, or complement it further with long-distance genes:

1. Tizway - One of the most fantastic modern milers, Tizway was untested classic potential with distance-getter Tiznow on top and esteemed sprinter Dayjur on the bottom. He’s similar to Rachel in this regard and also has Northern Dancer/Mr. Prospector. I’m a bit of a fan of the Danzig in this largely unproven cross. (Fee: $25,000, No rating)
2. Eskendereya - Much like Rachel herself, “Esky” was a freakish success at three and looked every bit the champion had he been able to continue on to the Triple Crown. A big, well-built character, it’s hard to nitpick his bloodlines which are largely Euro-influenced: by European champion and prolific sire Giant’s Causeway and out of the Seattle Slew mare Aldebaran Light. Esky would tack on some considerable size, scope, and promise of speed. (Fee: $17,500, Rated B+)
3. Hard Spun - A throwback to really good classic pedigree, while I don’t consider him a perfect specimen it’s hard to argue that the first few rounds of Hard Spuns racing haven’t been anything less than nice. Heavy on the Native Dancer is probably my biggest complaint, but it would be an interesting gamble. (Fee: $60,000, Rated D)
4. Speightstown - A sire with some appeal but largely ignored due to the pileup of trendy stallions, Speightstown was a career miler/sprinter but throws a ton of variety in his progeny with G1 winners sprinting and going the classic distance. His conformation is excellent and similar crosses have done very well including Kentucky Oaks winner Believe You Can (by Gone West son Proud Citizen out of an El Prado [IRE] mare) and Ballerina Stakes (I) winner Hilda’s Passion (by Gone West son Canadian Frontier and out of an El Prado daughter [IRE]). Rachel was always on the cusp of being a phenomenal speed horse and router, so it would be all the more interesting to see this pan out. (Fee: $60,000, Rating A++)
5. Drosselmeyer - I like what I’ve seen already in Drosselmeyer’s first foals, and the Belmont-Breeders’ Cup Classic double is appealing should the desired result be a foal that can carry speed and last. Nijinsky and Danzig make him an attractive option with two G1 winners as his parents. (Fee: $17,500, Rating: A++)

I am no stranger to enormous fan bases as well as enormous hate bases, but I am carefree in admitting that I am a big fan of Zenyatta. She is part of the reason I got into the deeper aspects of horse racing. After watching that amazing 2009 Triple Crown season with Mine That Bird and Rachel Alexandra, I enjoyed watching replays of their races and stumbled upon a mention that a horse named Zenyatta was better than Rachel. How on earth could someone be better than Rachel? I thought. I was skeptical and even outraged that someone could suggest that possibility. However, upon watching her fireworks, I became an instant fan of Z. She was big, fast, and just a wonderful being on and off the track complete with her own set of quirks. I related to her instantly in her slow-to-bloom ways of climbing the track ladder, being obviously bigger than her male counterparts, and simply condescending in her late dashes. How many brilliant athletes do you know of that are also wonderful people?

After all this, it should come as no surprise I’m looking forward to watching her little sister Eblouissante run on Friday. I am risking being late to work to watch this three-year-old filly run for the first time, if anything because I missed watching so many of Zenyatta’s races live. After two years of disappointments with the Bernardini crops, I am hopeful this one will be different. Stay Thirsty and Alpha were both very adept early in their careers, but both hit an awkward patch, blossomed, then faded again. Both resemble their beautiful sire very little, and while “Ebby” is still maturing mentally and physically, she’s probably my pick of the litter looking so much like her sister. I also liked another Bernardini from the same crop who now that I think about it, looks a lot like Ebby: unfortunately, Spare Change has not raced successfully recently.

Whether or not you know this gal’s pressure to perform, it should be a fantastic race to watch. Hollywood Park has one of my top favorite announcers in Vic Stauffer, who called many of Zenyatta’s most memorable wins and always gets really into it. The race should be full of green horses as a maiden special weight, but at the 1 1/16 mile distance, should also give us a good hint as to what we can expect to see from Ebby in the future— how much speed versus her stretch-out potential. With so much anticipation much like Archwarrior’s over the summer, I’m also predicting a lot of scratches…

Eblouissante means “dazzling” in French, and while I try to keep a lid on feeling confident in my juvenile judging capabilities, I suspect I’ll see something similar on Friday. If not, I’ll at least get a sliver of the old thrills and chills I got watching Zen score at Hollywood Park.

I wasn’t the only one bummed to be living on the east coast two weekends back— and “Frankenstorm” had nothing to do with it.

Romans Racing Stables held a meet-and-greet opportunity for Shackleford’s large fan base at Santa Anita, just days before the Preakness winner would turn in his last one-turner around a track in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (I). By the looks of it, a good-sized crowd gathered to meet the huge, chromey chestnut in person as well as G1 winners Little Mike and Dullahan. Photos of the event made me extra green with envy, as this past summer I had been excited at the chance to see Shackleford in the Whitney (I) at Saratoga only to hear he had been scheduled for the day-later Forego (I) instead at the last minute.

It’s also not just trainers who host these types of for-the-fan gatherings. Stonestreet has a “Rachel Day” to allow fans to meet superstar Rachel Alexandra and other well-known farms like Lane’s End and Three Chimneys commonly host open houses. Unfortunately, these types of events are secluded to Kentucky very often, making it difficult for other fans to get a closer look.

I know from reading and hearing things that not all trainers are as welcoming to fans on the backside as Dale Romans was recently, and while I can relate to the need for peace and quiet it would be great to see this becoming a regular thing. Many fans aren’t close enough to a major track to witness many of these champs for themselves, and the ones who do rarely get closer than the outer rail allows. It would be great to see the sport grow by holding more of these kinds of events when and where it’s possible. Racehorses have the same effect on their fans as rockstars, so where’s the VIP treatment?