Weekend Recap

I was out of the loop this weekend while I participated in my high school reunion.  You know how those things go.  It's always strange to see people you haven't spoken to in 10, 15 or 20 years, and then end up having beers with them all night.

As a consquence of those activities, I only briefly looked at a racing form this past weekend, which is probably good.  It seems that once and a while it helps to pull back, even if it's just for a weekend.  I find that sometimes, my handicapping gets a little to "boxed in' if I'm looking at the form day after day after day.  There is a tendency to look at past performances in the same light.  At least, that's what happens to me on occassion.

By virtue of their wins this weekend, Northern Passion (Juvenile Fillies Turf), Finale (Juvenile Turf) and Turallure (Mile) are now guaranteed a spot in the starting gate at the Breeders' Cup, should they decide to enter.

I'm working on an in-depth look at the races at Woodbine this past weekend using the Trakus data. 

Winter Memories once again found herself in a tight spot and a less-than-ideal trip in the Garden City.  And like she's done in almost every other race in her career, she overcame the trip with a brilliant burst of speed inside the final furlong. 

I don't know how far Winter Memories wants to go (we still haven't seen her past nine furlongs) but there is no denying that she's one of the absolute best turf fillies in the country.  Sadly, we won't see her at the Breeders' Cup as her connections have opted to run her in the QE II Cup at Keeneland and then give her the winter off.  That's a very disappointing development.