Welcome back to the second round of Horse Madness 2016!  We are through the play-in round, and an updated bracket is here:  Horse Madness 2016

Charismatic v. Arcangues

Today’s matchup is one that features two horses that, in my opinion, would not have been nearly as long odds as they were if the races were held today. Arcangues, trained by the immortal Andre Fabre, came into the 1993 Breeders’ Cup Classic as a Group 1 Stakes winner over the grass at Longchamp. It was his first start on dirt, but he was absolutely forgotten in the wagering at 133/1. Of course, he won. Similarly, Charismatic came into the 1999 Kentucky Derby off of a win (with a 108 Beyer) in the Grade 2 Lexington Stakes, and with the services of Chris Antley and D. Wayne Lukas. Nevertheless, the wagering public sent him off at 31/1 – the third longest shot in a field of 19. Both of the races in the competition today are eminently memorable. But which one was the bigger upset?

Continue reading Horse Madness II — Arcangues v. Charismatic →

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Welcome back to the second round of Horse Madness 2016!  We are through the play-in round, and an updated bracket is here:  Horse Madness 2016

Today we have a matchup of horses who ran in the Decade of Champions: the 1970s. Although both Cinderellas, Angle Light and Canonero could not be more different. Angle Light, was a Kentucky blue-blood with strong American connections, and a need-the-lead running style. Canonero II, was a sun of an Epsom Derby winner who got no love in the  auction ring and was sold as to a Venezuelan businessman, made left his best impression on American by his last to first triumph in the 1971 Kentucky Derby.

Continue reading Horse Madness II: Canonero v. Angle Light →

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Welcome back to the second round of Horse Madness 2016!  We are through the play-in round, and an updated bracket is here:  Horse Madness 2016

Today’s contest matches Number One seed Upset versus play-in winner Da’ Tara. Continue reading Horse Madness II Cinderella Bracket: Upset v. Da’ Tara →

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Welcome back to the second round of Horse Madness 2016!  We are through the play-in round, and an updated bracket is here:  Horse Madness 2016

Sarava v. Dare and Go

This is a good one. The longest shot in Belmont history versus the horse that ended Cigar’s streak. 70/1 against 39/1. A classic Tom Durkin call up against a classic Trevor Denman call. I am not even sure where I would start if I were voting.

Sarava was a $250,000 yearling, a son of inaugural Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Wild Again and out of a Deputy Minister mare. He began his racing career in England, but flamed out there and returned stateside to break his maiden in November 2001. He then came in second in three consecutive outings before finding the winners’ circle again at Pimlico in the Sir Barton Stakes. The connections took that win and jumped right into the deep end of the pool, entering the Belmont Stakes against War Emblem, who was threatening to be the first Triple Crown winner in 23 years. War Emblem did not particularly scare anyone away, however, as 11 horses made the gate, including Medaglia d’Oro and Perfect Drift. Of those horses, Sarava actually was not the longest shot on the board – Artax Too was 71/1 – but those two were by far the outsiders as far as the betting public was concerned. The rest of the field was between 3/2 (War Emblem) and 25/1. But weird things happen over a mile and a half – especially when the heavy favorite stumbles badly at the start. The call of the race was also quintessential Durkin, building to the last quarter mile (War Emblem is toiling!) and culminating with a surprised exclamation of Sarava! at the line, even though Sarava took over from Medaglia d’Oro with a furlong to go, and ground him down to the finish. Incidentally, Artax Too ran to his 71/1 odds, coming in dead last. Sarava did not run again as a three year old, and ran just once at four, coming in 6th in an optional claiming contest. He had a decently long campaign as a five year old, but it was clear that his best day was that warm day in June 2002 in Jamaica, Queens – he would never win again.

Dare and Go broke my heart as a kid. As a 13 year old, I didn’t have a great concept of betting value – I just wanted to watch a dominant horse. And Cigar was just about as dominant a horse as possible, and he was ridden by my favorite jockey, Jerry Bailey. He had a 16 race win streak coming into the 1996 Pacific Classic, and did not show any signs of letting up. In 1996 he had won the Donn, the Dubai World Cup, the MassCap and a stake race at Arlington. He was the overwhelming 1/9 favorite at Del Mar for the Pacific Classic, and it did not seem like anyone in that field could touch him. Unlike Sarava, however, Dare and Go was not an unknown or unproven commodity. He was a Grade 1 winner, having won the Grade 1 Strub Stakes in 1995. He had also garnered the place spot in three Grade 1 Stakes in 1994 – the Secretariat Stakes, the Hollywood Derby, and the Hollywood Turf Cup. Dare and Go was a legit horse, and in hindsight, he may have been rounding into form with a second place finish in the Grade 2 Bel Air Handicap at Hollywood Park the month before the Pacific Classic. It’s that Cigar was just such a monster at that time that it was inconceivable that he would lose. But if you’ll forgive the cliché, that’s why they run the races. Cigar was taken wide by Siphon on the first turn, and Jerry Bailey had to contend with Siphon, with David Flores aboard, on his inside and Dramatic Gold, under Corey Nakatani, on the outside. Knowing how overmatched their horses were, both Flores and Nakatani utilized some race-riding strategies against Cigar, and those took their toll. As Cigar finally put Siphon and Dramatic Gold away, Dare and Go was coming like gangbusters, and went by Cigar to an unthinkable upset, to the great surprise of both Trevor Denman and the giant crowd at Del Mar.

Here are replays of both races.

2002 Belmont Stakes

1996 Pacific Classic

This is a great matchup, as it pits two different kinds of upsets against one another – an upset by a horse that seemed to not fit the race, and which featured unthinkable odds, against an upset by a good horse that just was up against one of the greatest thoroughbreds of all time.

Please place your votes on Twitter by retweeting for Sarava, and favoriting for Dare and Go.

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Horse madness is back! By popular demand, we are bringing back our annual tradition where you, the fan, helps us fill out a bracket of horse racing matchups. There will be upsets, surprises, buzzer beaters, all the excitement of the college basketball version without the gambling losses. This year we are trying to determine the biggest upset in the history of horse racing. We have 18 contenders, seeded 1-18. Here is the Horse Madness 2016 Bracket. Today we begin with the first of our two play-games.

Da’Tara v. Birdstone

We start off with a juicy matchup between two of the unlikelier winners in Belmont history. Both prevailed over Triple Crown aspirants – Da’Tara over Big Brown and Birdstone over Smarty Jones. Da’Tara featured the longer odds, leaving the starting gate in the 2008 Belmont at 38/1 – the longest shot in the field. Big Brown was the overwhelming favorite, sent off at 1/4 over a field where the second choice was Thorobro favorite Denis of Cork at 7/1. Although the race was not particularly dramatic – Da’Tara stole the race on the front end, and Big Brown was eased and finished last – there is no denying that the outcome was extremely unlikely. The upset made Da’Tara’s backers a pretty penny, and also did not deflate those on hand at Belmont Part to nearly the same level as other thwarted Triple Crown attempts. Big Brown was owned by a “horse racing hedge fund,” and had dubious and relatively unlikeable human connections. Da’Tara, a son of American hero Tiznow and ridden by Alan Garcia and trained by Nick Zito, was a true feel good story. The good feelings were limited to that one day in June, however, as Da’Tara’s post-Belmont performance substantiates the magnitude of the upset – he never won another race.

Birdstone also had sterling connections. Owned by Marylou Whitney, trained by Zito, and ridden by our old friend Edgar Prado, Birdstone was a horse that you could really get behind. He was the son of a Kentucky Derby winner, and the grandson of another Kentucky Derby winner. He would go on to win the Travers later in his three year old season, and had won the Champagne at two. How, you may be asking, is this horse the perpetrator of one of the greatest upsets of all time? Because when he entered the starting gate in New York, he was facing a juggernaut – the unbeaten Smarty Jones. Birdstone was sent on his way in the Test of a Champion at odds of 36/1 – the third longest shot in the field. Smarty Jones, on the other hand, was 2/5. In terms of drama, this race offered everything you could want – Smarty Jones, lengthening his stride on the way to a seemingly sure place as an immortal race horse, the crowd briefly letting itself think that this might be the day the Triple Crown drought was broken, Tom Durkin seeing Birdstone commencing his rally, and the realization among the thousands in attendance and the millions watching at home that Smarty Jones was going to come up just one length short. This is a race that nearly every racing fan will remembers watching.

Here are replays of both races.

2008 Belmont Stakes

2004 Belmont Stakes

Please place your votes on Twitter by retweeting for Da’Tara, and favoriting for Birdstone.

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