Pants On Fire
Nehron
Mucho Macho Man
Unplaced horses listed in order of finish.
Elite Alex, Machen, Wilkinson, Left, Nacho Business, Majestic Harbor, Le Man, Mavericking, Liondrive
Scratched – Populist Politics
As I sit to write my horse racing blog – I wonder is there such thing as an “expected” surprise….and is the phrase “unexpected surprise”….actually redundant???
Aside from my lack of insight into the English lexicon – I will write that the Louisiana Derby was filled with a few unexpected surprises – and one expected surprise!
As I was watching the race unfold it appeared that Mucho Macho Man was delivering what I had expected – just off the lead, in the perfect position to storm past the front runners in the final furlong…..but instead of storming by…..he just kind of drizzled, with an unimpressive (dare I say less than Macho) 3rd place finish.
I thought this might be a sign that – the increased distance was too much for him, or that he had come out flat – instead later reports surfaced that he had lost his right front shoe in first stride coming out of the gate – so things were a little “off” for this horse.
Of course any horse named Mucho Macho isn’t going to stop racing because he lost no stinking shoe…..horse shoes we don’t need no stinking horse shoes!
Considering that this horse may have been feeling discomfort in this race – third place is impressive.
I was somewhat surprised by the lackluster outing from Elite Alex, Wilkinson and Left – I knew they would have difficulty in the first ½ mile and as you watch the race begin you’ll see that the outside horses simply don’t have anywhere to go. Elite Alex just lets everyone fly by – and makes an inside move to the rail – but he gives up too much ground for him to make up in the end.
I imagined that as the race concluded two out of these three horses would “come up” with an answer to finish at least in second or third, however it seems that their outside post was too much to overcome – you hate to think their race was over before it even began – but it certainly appears that way.
Nehron – I am proud to say was my 36-1 “expected” surprise – and ran the race I thought he was capable of !! Unlike the outside three, Nehron had a perfect spot for the beginning of this race – he stayed behind the two early leaders and even had the inside track next to the favorite Mucho Macho Man. When he was asked to rally – he found his momentum and almost stole this race away from Pants On Fire. I like this horse – probably like him more had I bet on the $2 exacta that paid $459 – but I still like this gamer!
I wasn’t surprised that Pants On Fire started this race so well – but I was stunned at how well he finished. I still think that if Mucho Macho Man runs at 100% he takes this race, but Pants On Fire still manages to fight off both late charges and enjoy a big Louisiana Derby victory.
You may notice that the announcer emphasizes the jockey for Derby winner Pants on Fire – that’s because down in Louisiana a female phenom is making a name for herself.
Let me introduce you to twenty three year old – Anna Rose “Rosie” Napravnik – who finished as the Fairgrounds leading jockey scoring 110 victories at this meet (which is 31 more than her nearest competitor Shaun Bridgmohan). I wouldn’t be surprised if you start hearing a lot about this young talented jockette….(I just made that word up).
Attached is Horse Racing Nation's article regarding this promising young star -
http://www.horseracingnation.com/news/Napravnik_Star_of_Fair_Grounds_Meet_123
Pants On Fire and Mucho Macho Man (who they are saying is uninjured after the LA Derby) are both being shipped to Kentucky and will be entered into the Kentucky Derby.
Video of the race to follow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRIpBoOn_dc&feature=player_embedded
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