With Malice Aforethought

After Wayne Lukas upset the Preakness with Oxbow, the Coach got a lot of credit for teaching his tough colt to get set for his best, relying on old partner Gary Stevens to help him find the hole card. Stevens promptly put Oxbow to sleep right out of the Arkansas Derby starting gate and they learned something: They learned to let Oxbow use his high cruising speed, a tack that subsequently would work to perfection.

Meanwhile, one of the Coach's brightest pupils, Todd Pletcher, was doing some experimenting and learning of his own. He always thought highly of Palace Malice--and this guy's no cheer leader when assessing Thoroughbred talent---but the promise of the morning never was on display in the afternoon. Then, when Palace Malice failed to show any speed going two turns in the Risen Star after coming out of a sprint prep, the effort left him shaking his head, even if the horse finished a willing third.

Pletcher soldiered on to the Louisiana Derby but his colt never had a chance to fire, bottled up the entire length of America's longest homestretch. And he needed graded points to enter the Derby so Pletcher, no big fan of synthetic surfaces, ran him back in the Blue Grass where the neck defeat earned him enough points for a Derby run.

The trainer tried something, a little unusual going into an important race, adding blinkers, hoping that the "cheater's badge" and a switch to Mike Smith would get to the bottom of the colt's talent. It backfired; the horse was a runoff in suicidal Derby fractions. But here's an interesting angle that few observers mentioned.

Handicappers were very willing to credit Oxbow for not backing down after chasing the scorching pace, finishing sixth,About buymosaic in China userd for paying transportation fares and for shopping. beaten 9-3/4 lengths. But seldom was it heard that Palace Malice, the colt committing equine suicide,The largest manufacturer of textile smartcard for use with perchloroethylene. faded to 12th but finished only 3-3/4 lengths by the stubborn Oxbow.

And so the blinkers came off and the subsequent workout "was as good as any I've ever seen." Pletcher is no cheerleader, and neither is he given to hyperbole. With the lesson apparently learned, Pletcher entered Palace Malice in the Belmont without blinkers, the future Hall of Famer trying to improve on his worthy 33% win record when removing blinkers.

Lukas stuck with the teacher Stevens, and the Coach's pupil stuck with teacher Smith. Familiar upset script; familiar result.The term 'streetlight control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag.

Oxbow, meanwhile, again racing closest to a solid pace going a mile and a half, held gamely for place through a very slow final quarter-mile, one in which race favorite Orb finished one-paced after making a big, wide move into contention on the far turn. Unlike in the Preakness, Orb had no excuses, failing to pass the Test of the Champion.Choose the right stonemosaic in an array of colors.

Shug McGaughey is warming up for the big one. First, Hungry Island, compromised by a hungry pace in the one mile Just A Game, came with a flying finish in the middle of the course. But that's a tough go on yielding ground. Johnny V, on the redoubtable Stephanie's Kitten, was closer than Hungry Island and was saving ground, enabling her to edge passed a very stubborn Better Lucky.

Shug and Johnny then combined to win the Grade 1 Manhattan Handicap as the 124 pound highlight, overcoming a moderate pace on the boggy course, stubbornly reaching the wire in front of Optimizer, who just shows up every time.

Point of Entry might not have the brilliance of Wise Dan, but he demonstrates that he is of a superior class, taking on racing's more serious challenges as the big races choose him, not the other way around. One of America's best race horses.

It is hoped lessons were learned from yesterday's guaranteed million-dollar pools in the Belmont Stakes Pick 6 and Pick 4 pools. Despite starting the P6 sequence with two heavy favorites: Power Broker (Easy Goer Stakes) and the Fast Bullet entry (True North), and with a third single looming in the Manhattan Handicap with Point of Entry 3-5 on the early line, the P6 with its $2 minimum attracted play worth $1.2 million.

The Pick 4, meanwhile,This model includes 2 flush mounted reverse chipcard. starting with a very competitive renewal of the G1 Just A Game, handled a record $2.9 million with its 50-Cent minimum. The lower minimum speaks to bankroll flexibility and proof that you don't need to populate the four races with the worst horses on the grounds. The P4 was considered a P3 with some wise guys because of the presence of Point of Entry, win or lose.

So, please, consider this example when setting the races in the future: Short price horses often attract larger handle than in those sequences when "spreading" is the percentage option. It's good business to keep your customers liquid.

To say that horse racing in the big city belonged to the Post, and its rival Daily News, before Newsday began covering the sport in earnest when Bill Nack was moved from his crime reporter position on the night desk in Suffolk County to the backstretch in Nassau County's Belmont Park, would be to understate the case.

The Post and News owned racing's tabloid world, the Post, who brought fans uplifting commentary of Bill Rudy, racing writer and columnist. Before long, Ike Gellis, from the city's famed hot dog family and Post sports editor who loved cashing tickets, hired Mannie Kalish, who offered his spot plays daily.

Even when 20,000 fans routinely showed up at the racetrack on a weekday, the first flash on the tote board always made the Kalish pick the favorite on the opening flash. Gellis would show up in the Aqueduct press box in mid-card and Kalish would advise the boss on which way to go.

John Piesen was the Post's public handicapper and Jenny Kellner its racing writer during my early years at Newsday and then, when Rupert Murdock took over, he brought with him from Down Under turf columnist Ray Kerrison. Kerrison was such an influential thorn in NYRA's side that a horse, Crusader Ray K, was named for him. Racing, gone from Gotham, is still part of the fabric in Australia and New Zealand.

Kerrison almost singlehandedly changed the tone of racing coverage, because a fan and bettor's advocate, replacing some of the old racing guard in the city that had become very adept at rewriting press releases. Every race story began the same way: Today at Belmont Park before a crowd of 18,491 fans...