I rarely concern myself with stewards' inquiries or objections following a race but I think the events of yesterday's Del Mar Derby (chart) warrant an additional look.  (If you didn't see the race you can watch a replay here.)

Twirling Candy clearly interferes with Summer Movie coming off the first turn onto the backstretch (if you watch the head-on replay it's even more obvious) and I think it's pretty clear that the interference caused Summer Movie to alter course and lose ground.  And even though Twirling Candy was easily the best horse in the field I'm not sure he should have stayed up given the Riding Rule of the California Horse Racing Board.

According to Rule #1699 (b) and (c) of the CHRB:

(b) A horse shall not interfere with or cause any other horse to lose stride, ground or position in a part of the race where the horse loses the opportunity to place where it might be reasonably expected to finish.

(c) A horse which interferes with another and thereby causes any other horse to lose stride, ground or position, when such other horse is not at fault and when such interference occurs in a part of the race where the horse interfered with loses the opportunity to place where it might, in the opinion of the Stewards, be reasonably expected to finish, may be disqualified and placed behind the horse so interfered with.

From the letter of law, as declared by the CHRB, it's questionable as to how the Stewards could have left Twirling Candy up as the winner since he clearly caused Summer Movie to lose ground.  I can only assume that the decision was predicated on the phrase "the horse interfered with loses the opportunity to place where it might, in the opinion of the Stewards, be reasonably expected to finish" and that the Stewards concluded that Summer Movie would have finished last regardless of the incident.  Considering that Summer Movie was second when the incident occurred and ultimately finished last I'm not sure how they could have come to that conclusion.

The Stewards' job is never easy but I'm not sure you could ask for a more clear example of interference.

With approximately two months remaining until the 2010 Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs it's getting down to crunch time for many horses and connections.  This weekend we've got a bunch of action in the juvenile divisions, a key prep for the Sprint, and two "Win and You're In" races for the Classic.  Here's a look at what took place this morning in England and Ireland:

• At Leopardstown, Cape Blanco (IRE) scored a gate-to-wire upset over Rip Van Winkle (IRE) and Twice Over (GB) in the Group 1 Irish Champions Stakes.  Cape Blanco won the Irish Derby earlier this year.  
  
  The Irish Champions Stakes is a "Win and You're In race for the Breeders' Cup Classic.  Should Aiden O'Brien choose to bring Cape Blanco to Churchill Downs in November he is guaranteed a spot in the Classic field.
• Lillie Langtry (IRE), an Aiden O'Brien trained filly that finished a disappointing 8th as the favorite in last fall's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, won the one mile Group 1 Matron Stakes at Leopardstown over Spacious (GB) and Music Show (IRE).  Lillie Langtry won the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Ascot in mid-June.
• At Haydock, Markab (GB) was the upset winner of the Group 1 Sprint Cup over Lady Of The Desert and Genki (IRE). Favorite Starspangledbanner (AUS) finished a well-beaten fifth.

All of this weekend's stakes results will be summarized in the chart below, along with a link to the result chart (when available).  The chart appears best on "wide" settings.

• I don't know if anybody else had the same opinion of the Woodward, but Quality Road noticeably shortened his stride inside the last furlong.  Yeah, he was going to win easy given the field running behind him, but more than ever I'm not sure he's going to want 10 furlongs in the Classic.  
• How good is Twirling Candy?  He completely bolts coming off the first turn into the backstretch in the Del Mar Derby, gets head strong on jockey Joel Rosario, calms back down and then proceeds to blow away the field with ease.  Whether or not he should have been taken down is irrelevant to me - to lose concentration like he did at the mid-way point and then still dominate the field is pretty impressive.  Now, he was clearly the best horse in the field going in so it's certainly debatable if he'd be able to recover from such a move in a race with a deeper field, but this colt is has some serious power at his disposal.  
  
  What are the odds Twirling Candy gets a set of blinkers for his next start?  Another question: will we see both Sidney's Candy and Twirling Candy in the Mile?
  

As we edge closer to the end of summer we also head into the final days of the 2010 Saratoga and Del Mar meets.   It's a long holiday weekend which means many tracks around the country are using the weekend as an opportunity to showcase some great racing action. Here's a snap shot of the graded stakes action around the country the next few days.

UPDATED: The weekend gets a bit more enticing for Pick 6 players as Del Mar has a $1.6 million carryover into Saturday's card, a record for the track.  The Daily Racing Form estimates that the total pool could grow to over $4 million.  

Some thoughts below the jump...

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The Woodward might be the "big name" race of the day on Saturday but the Forego looks to be the most competitive of the weekend's Grade 1 action. 

Grade 1 Forego
Saratoga
7 furlongs
Three year olds and up
Purse: $250,000
Post-time: 5:14 EDT

I'll update the chart with the morning line odds when they become available.

I haven't a clue as to what direction I'm going to ultimately end up going in this race but here's a quick take on some of the thoughts that popped into my head when I went through the field the first time:

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Quality Road will attempt to bounce back after his defeat in the Whitney when he takes on six rivals in the Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga.  Mine That Bird will get a pair of blinkers and a new jockey (Rajiv Maragh) for the Woodward, although one wonders if what he really needs is a bit of class relief. 

Grade 1 Woodward Handicap
Saratoga
1 1/8 miles
Three year olds and up
Purse: $750,000
Post-time: 5:48 EDT

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - FEBRUARY 01: Lot 320 by Giant's Causeway (USA) out of Champagne goes under the hammer for 875,000, February 01, 2005 at the National Yearling sales in Karaka, Auckland, New Zealand. Giant's Causeway is the current top ranked sire by progeny earnings in North America. (Photo by Michael Bradley/Getty Images)

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It's a bit of a slow week in the racing world following the whirlwind of stakes races around the country last weekend.  After the win by Afleet Express in the Travers I began to go through the current sire lists as I was curious as to how the progeny of Afleet Alex had been performing as we move into the latter half of 2010. As I continued to dig I became more curious as to how various sires have performed not just in regards to total earnings, but as to the overall value they provide.

The Thoroughbred Times has an excellent sire list page (which can be found here) where I went and sorted the top 100 General and Freshmen sires.  (An Excel file of the complete list can be found here: Sire Stats 9.1.10).  The General and Freshmen sire lists were initially sorted and ranked by total earnings.  Of course, just looking at total earnings can be a bit deceptive since one or two big wins during the year can tip the scales in a sire's direction.  So I re-sorted the data and added four different statistics: Winning Percentage, Earnings per Start, Earnings per Win, and a Earnings to Stud Fee Ratio.

The Earnings to Stud Fee ratio was calculated by first multiplying the stud fee (if available) by the total starters (for the General list) or total 2 year olds (for the Freshmen list) to come up with a Total Fee.  I divided Progeny Earnings by the Total Fee in order to come up with the final ratio.  An example of this ratio using Afleet Alex:

Afleet Alex has a $15,000 stud fee and 112 starters in 2010, for a total stud fee for all starters of $1.68 million.  Alex's progeny, lead by Travers winner Afleet Express, have won $3,877,708 for a Earnings to Stud Fee Ratio of 2.31.  While the ratio will skew toward low and high stud fee horses on the extreme ends I think it's a quick, non-scientific way to identify sires that have offered a lot of value based on their stud fee*.

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Horseplayers come in all shapes and sizes.  Some of us play every day, some every weekend, others every once and a while.  There are times when it can be difficult to identify where you fit in relations to the most die-hard players in the game.  Thankfully, I've come up with a scientifically accurate quiz to help you determine whether you're a novice or a hardcore gambler.  The margin of error for this quiz is 0%.  The quiz determines all.

The Quiz

Question #1: Which statement best describes how you would celebrate Thanksgiving Day:

A) You spend the entire day with your family enjoying turkey, stuffing, cranberry, and pumpkin pie, with an occasional eye on whatever NFL game is on. No betting because, hey, it's Thanksgiving!

B) You are parked in front of the TV switching between football and TVG/HRTV, tossing an occasional spot play bet down before sitting down at the dinner table.

C) Football? Aqueduct in the morning.  Churchill Downs in the afternoon.  Hollywood in the evening.  You eat your turkey in your recliner with your laptop within easy reach.

D) You spend Thanksgiving in Vegas, at the track or at the OTB.

Question #2: Which statement best describes how you prepare for the Kentucky Derby?

A) You pick up a Form a couple of days before the race and spend the next two days handicapping your picks.

B) You start to follow the prep season during the last month when horses are running in the Santa Anita Derby, the Wood, Arkansas Derby, and the Blue Grass. 

C) Derby preparation begins in January with the first three year old stakes races of the year.  You have a file on your computer that tracks all of the winners from the preps, you have multiple Road to the Roses stables, and by Derby week you can name the jockey, trainer, running style, and recent races for every horse in the field.

D) You follow every maiden race during the summer/fall trying to pick out a two-year old that you can place a huge future wager down on when you are in Vegas....on Thanksgiving.

Question #3: You're at the track having a very successful day at the races and as you are waiting in line to make a bet on you big long shot play of the day, a 30/1 first time starter that you are certain is going to blow the field away.  While waiting in line an older man, obviously going through a long losing streak that day, asks you for advice on who to bet in the next race.  Which statement describes your most likely course of action:

A) You tell him about you live long shot in the next race because everyone deserves to cash a ticket.

B) You tell him to bet the favorite

C) You quickly pick a random horse out of the Form and tell him to bet it so you can get back to figuring out how you want to play the trifecta.

D) You tell him you like a different longest shot in the race because you don't want him to bet your horse and drive down the odds.

Question #4: Which statement best describes how you spend your non-betting dollars when you are at the track:

A) You buy hot dogs and soda, perhaps an ice cream cone and a souvenir hat, plus something for the kids if they are tagging along that day.

B) You'll buy a few beers and a hot dog if you get incredibly hungry, nothing else.

C) You sneak in food and pop so you don't have to spend any money on non-gambling items.

D) Your bankroll is like precious diamonds.  When you are at the track you don't eat and you don't drink.  Food is for the weak.

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-Afleet Alex is having himself quite a time in the breeding shed topped off with the win by Afleet Express in Saturday's Travers Stakes.   Considered a second crop sire for 2010, Afleet Alex is currently at the top of that list for the year.  He was ranked 7^th in 2009 among first crop sires. Among his top runners (via the Blood Horse Stallion Register):

Alfeet Express - G1 Travers, G3 Pegasus
Afleet Again - G3 Withers
Harissa - Sunland Park Oaks, 2^nd G3 Iowa Oaks
Go Ask Alex - 2^nd American 1000 Guineas
Dublin - 3^rd G1 Arkansas Derby, 3^rd G2 Rebel
Sway Away - 2^nd G2 Best Pal
Avatar Day - 2^nd G3 Premiio Primi Passi (Italy)

Not surprisingly, Afleet Alex's offspring are performing well at two-turns.  I was a bit concerned with the bottom half of the pedigree with Afleet Express in the Travers but I was clearly wrong on that notion.  I won't question the AA's progeny at distance anymore!

-There were two juveniles at Saratoga that really caught my eye this weekend.  One was Uncle Mo, who blew away his maiden field to win by 14+ lengths in Saturday's fifth race.  The other is the Afleet Alex filly Alexandra  Rylee, owned by Cash is King Stables, the same owners of Afleet Alex.  The Beyer number was nothing special for Alexandra Rylee, just a 75, but from what I've seen this year, Afleet Alex's offspring have tended to need a bit more seasoning until they are ready to run and win.  This filly, however, was ready to fire from the get go and he showed excellent gate speed and essentially put away the field within the first quarter mile. 

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Rachel Alexandra, 2009 Horse of the Year, ran an all-out and gutsy race in the mile and a quarter Personal Ensign but was run down in the final furlong by 20/1 long shot Persistently.  Life At Ten, the strong second choice, finished third.

1st: Persistently (45.00, 8.10, 3.60)
2nd: Rachel Alexandra (2.30, 2.10)
3rd: Life At Ten (2.10)

Splits: 23.66, 47.73, 1:12.02, 1:37.54, 2:04.49

Chart (via DRF.com)

UPDATE: According to the DRF Formulator charts, Persistently earned a 95 BSF, Rachel a 94.  

I'll have a larger post on this race and all of this weekend's stakes races later on, as there is a lot to talk about, but just a few thoughts on the Personal Ensign:

• Rachel ran her butt off in this race.  She had to do all the dirty work on the front end and she put away a very formidable opponent in Life At Ten.  That, in and of itself, is very impressive.  She ran fast and she ran hard.
• It's hard not to watch Rachel run in that race and not come to the conclusion that she would be extremely vulnerable in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.  The pace in the Classic isn't going to be any lighter than the Personal Ensign (most likely), and she would have to deal with much classier closers, like Zenyatta and Blame, as well as a longer stretch drive.  Unless her connections can turn her into a horse that can rate much more effectively (which somewhat eliminates her biggest strength - her high cruising speed), I think she is going to have trouble getting a mile and a quarter.
• It's always tough to compare times from different days but the final time of 2:04.40 for the Personal Ensign is not good.  Perhaps the track isn't as fast as it was on Saturday but that is a full second slower than the Travers and that wasn't one of the quicker Travers we've seen.

Some preliminary Beyer figures for yesterday's results from the DRF Formulator charts:

106 - El Brujo (Polytrack)
105 - Afleet Express
103 - Rapport
102 - Uncle Mo (an ultra-impressive 2yo maiden winner yesterday at Saratoga)
100 - Rightly So
96 - Enriched (Turf)
95 - Richard's Kid (Polytrack)
99 - Dynaslew
93 - Discreetly Mine