Yep, it’s that time of the year when everybody (well, some of us anyway…) start talking about the Triple Crown series.

The 2008 Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, to be run on May 3, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival.

The Kentucky Derby is a one and a quarter mile (2 km) race held at Churchill Downs to kick off the 2008 Triple Crown series. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds and fillies 121 pounds.

It is known in the United States as ‘’the most exciting two minutes in sports'’ for its approximate duration. The first leg of the Triple Crown (to be followed by the 2008 Preakness Stakes and then the Belmont Stakes..) typically draws around 155,000 fans.

The Kentucky Derby is frequently referred to as ‘’The Run for the Roses,'’ because a lush blanket of 554 red roses is awarded to the Kentucky Derby winner each year. The tradition is as a result of New York socialite E. Berry Wall presenting roses to ladies at a post-Derby party in 1883 that was attended by Churchill Downs founder and president…

Read More » Will you watch the 2008 Kentucky Derby?

For all ya’ll familiar with the X-Men comicbooks, NO, this is not the same guy.

The Pyro we’re talking about here is the horse that was proclaimed by his owners as a legitimate contender for the 2008 Kentucky Derby. After the horse’s performance over the weekend, nobody’s telling them otherwise… YET.

After all, Pyro did won the Grade 3, $300,000 Risen Star Stakes by two lengths after passing all 10 of his rivals in a quarter-mile last Saturday. And to think Pyro was last at the top of the Fair Grounds stretch, trailing a very very slow pace.

Pyro, a Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred by Pulpit, keyed a Steve Asmussen-trained exacta, with second-choice Z Fortune three-quarters of a length better than Visionaire, who had a perfect trip. Unbridled Vicar was fourth, and Blackberry Road was a tough-trip fifth.

At the quarter pole, it definitely looked like Pyro won’t be winning his 2008 debut.

Pyro had too much to do and the leaders would have too much energy left after dawdling splits of 49.50 seconds for the half-mile and…

Read More » Is Pyro a contender at the 2008 Kentucky Derby?

The last time we saw Hard Spun, he let Street Sense breeze by to win the 2007 Kentucky Derby.

Now, Street Sense is on the verge of a Triple Crown win with a victory at the 2007 Preakness Stakes. As for Hard Spun, the colt is probably contemplating on what might have been. Then again, we all know that the jockeys do the thinking for them anyway.

And speaking of jockeys, the king of the Pimlico Race Course, home of the 2007 Preakness Stakes this Saturday, Mario Pino, will try not to let Street Sense go pass Hard Spun again.

He found out how sweet it was to lead a 20-horse field at the 2007 Kentucky Derby. To lead the first leg of the Triple Crown series only to have it snatched away by Street Sense like that was just unfortunate and Pino, coming to his own yard at Pimlico, will make sure that doesn’t happen again. Of course, he knows that those moments doesn’t come often, especially in horse racing.

‘’I don’t think I’ll ever have that feeling again. I’ve been around 29 years and never had that thrill,'’ said the 49-year-old veteran jockey who ranks 15th all-time with 5899 winning rides.

Mario Pino talked about what he felt when he lead the 2007 Kentucky Derby before Street Sense passed him.

‘’I'm trying to keep my composure. I’m thinking about all the years when I was little and now I’m turning for home and I’m three in front and I’m still sitting there and I’m trying to keep focused, because I know it’s a long way (in the stretch) at Churchill Downs and the roar of the crowd was just something.'’

‘’You know I’ve heard people tell me that, but you hear it and you feel it. It was a roar just hitting you in the face as you turn for home and I said…'’

Read More » Will Hard Spun CHOKE again at 2007 Preakness Stakes?

Surprise… Surprise…

Street Sense won the 2007 Kentucky Derby and with that win, he instantly became the favorite to win the 2007 Preakness Stakes. Funny how that works right?

Street Sense will be going for the Triple Crown and heading to the second leg of the 2007 Triple Crown series as the heavy favorite to win the Preakness, Street’ sure is looking good to do just that.

The sad part about this whole stuff is, all the other contenders seem ready to lose to Street Sense already even before the big race on Saturday. Yes, they know how talented Street Sense is but to accept defeat already in a race STILL a few days away is just pathetic.

‘’The only way Street Sense gets beat is bad racing luck,'’ said Barry Irwin, the managing partner of Team Valor Stables, owners of King of the Roxy.

‘’The Derby winner is the most talented horse here,'’ said the Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who will saddle Flying First Class.

Obviously, Street Sense’s trainer Carl Nafgzer likes it when his rivals kiss his ass like that. And Mr. Nafgzer, together with owner Jim Tafel, believe that it is only right and just for their rivals to fear Street Sense. (Jeez… Somebody beat some sense into these guys…)

‘’I was a bull rider for too many years,'’ Carl Nafzger said. ‘’If you got on a bull, you better be ready. It’s a same thing out here on the racetrack. I think we have the best horse. I know he is…'’

Read More » Street Sense is the 2007 Preakness Stakes favorite

Like Michael Jordan in Madison Square Garden, Mario Pino gets at the top of his game every single time he sees the Pimlico Race Course.

For all ya’ll who couldn’t care less about the 2007 NBA and NHL Playoffs, the 2007 FA Cup and UEFA Champions League finals, Barry Bonds’ race for 756 home runs AND the new Lewis Hamilton era brewing in Formula One, I guess there’s really nothing else to look forward to for you but the 2007 Preakness Stakes.

And yeah, if you are STILL in this silly horse races, then you know that round two of the race for the Triple Crown will be at the Pimlico Race Course when the 2007 Preakness Stakes take center stage.

And when you speak of Pimlico, Mario Pino is king. I mean, jeez… the guy had 11,037 mounts at the Pimlico Race Course and has now won a whopping 1,767 times. He will be aboard Hard Spun once it’s time to bust the gates open again and with his success at the Pimlico Race Course, this could be the first time people will start talking about the man instead of the colt.

Of course, Mario Pino NEEDS to win the 2007 Preakness Stakes first and despite coming THAT close from winning the recently held Kentucky Derby, Mario Pino and Hard Spun still look like one formidable combination to upset this year’s Kentucky Derby champ, Street Sense.

To make things even more interesting, Calvin Borel may have won the 2007 Kentucky Derby NOT because of Street Sense but simply because he knows the Kentucky Derby track at Churchill Downs more than…

Read More » Pimlico King, Mario Pino, to win 2007 Preakness Stakes?

Everybody still hates O.J.

No, it ain’t our lovely little world here in OddJack and as much as we love the idea that our initials doesn’t stand for O.J. Simpson by any stretch of the imagination, I feel sorry for O.J. that he still gets all these hatred years after he became the headline of US newsrooms.

It turns out that a steakhouse in Louisville, Kentucky kicked O.J. Simpson out the night before Street Sense won the 2007 Kentucky Derby. No, the steakhouse doesn’t discriminate niggers in general, just O.J.

According to Jeff Rugby, he kicked O.J. Simpson out because of the attention he still attracts. THAT and probably the way he left the Buffalo Bills to become the pathetic franchise it is now. He he…

‘’I didn’t want to serve him because of my convictions of what he’s done to those families,'’ Jeff Ruby said in a telephone interview. ‘’The way he continues to torture the lives of those families, with his behavior, attitude and conduct.'’

The NFL Hall of Famer and Heisman Trophy winner was accused of killing his own wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and a Ron Goldman back in 1995. He was found innocent but then was found…

Read More » O.J. Simpson starved the night before Kentucky Derby

He he… Yep, Street Sense doesn’t make sense at all.

In what could be the colt’s preparation for the 2007 Preakness Stakes, Street Sense, merely hours after winning the 133rd Kentucky Derby, was back on the racetrack for a one-mile jog at Churchill Downs.

He he… This move was rather strange for most trainers in this sport of horse racing. But for Street Sense’s trainer, Carl Nafzger, probably gloating still in his strange own way, it is merely routine.

Let’s see how it will still be routine once Street Sense breaks an ankle or two running these senseless one-mile jogs. He he…

Nafzger said Street Sense won the 2007 Kentucky Derby because his colt was in terrific shape. He also said that they will be pointed to the second leg of the Triple Crown series, the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on May 19.

‘’I realized last night,'’ Carl Nafzger said Sunday morning, ‘’that I had focused so hard on the Derby that I hadn’t looked past it. It doesn’t matter, because the horse will tell you, the horse will take you to the Preakness. The way he looked this morning, we’re on the way.'’

Did it ever occur to this guy that maybe Street Sense was running away from him after having just enough of these one-mile jogs? Nafzger said Street Sense will remain at Churchill Downs until the middle of…

Read More » Street Sense still running after Kentucky Derby win

Of course, ya’ll should know by now that the 2007 Kentucky Derby kicks off the quest for the Triple Crown.

And just in case you didn’t, YEAH, the 2007 Kentucky Derby kicks off this year’s quest for the Triple Crown. And if you don’t know what the Triple Crown is, it’s like the Holy Grail of horse racing when one colt wins the 2007 Kentucky Derby on May 5 and win both of this year’s Preakness Stakes AND Belmont Stakes.

Yeah, it sure is one tough deal alright. That’s why in this sport known as horse racing, you really can’t say who are the favorites to win one goddamn race. Yep, it sure is hard to pick winners in horse racing that’s why sportsbooks have no choice but to just label some horses as ‘’favorites'’ depending on their finishes in the previous races.

What’s even more baffling is the fact that horse trainers and owners spend millions and millions of dollars just so they can win a goddamn race with a prize money that is merely a fraction of how much they spent training the goddamn colt. He he… And that’s the brutal truth.

These guys could very well be the wealthy wannabe kings of the modern day sport who each year spend hundreds of millions of dollars on yearlings and two-year-olds trying to buy and train a horse capable of delivering the glory and return on investment that would come with owning the stallion that sweeps all three American classics. That being the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.

Read More » Odds to consider before the 2007 Kentucky Derby

20 horses will compete hoping for a jump start to what would be this year’s race for the 2007 Triple Crown.

And as you all know, handicapping these horse races is not an easy task. They will put 20 horses in the starting gate Saturday for the 2007 Kentucky Derby as evenly matched three-year-olds from the proud US of A play to be Barbaro’s ultimate successor. Oh yeah, none of these horses have ever raced at a mile and a quarter.

How in the hell can you pick a winner from that, even more without Barbaro? (He he… Sorry, just needed to put his name there…)

The Kentucky Derby is already the sport’s most difficult handicapping puzzle, and this year there will be a new twist. For the first time ever, horses that have earned their way into the field after winning major prep races over synthetic racing surfaces will be among the 20 starters in the 2007 Kentucky Derby on Saturday. How will they do? How the hell should I know?

Two major Kentucky Derby preps, the Blue Grass at Keeneland and the Lane’s Stakes at Turfway Park, were run this year on Polytrack. And in case you don’t know what Polytrack ..

Read More » Handicapping the 2007 Kentucky Derby could very well be a puzzling feat indeed and here’s why

The 2007 Kentucky Derby, merely days away.

Yep, from all the huge sporting events happening right now, from the 2007 NBA AND NHL Playoffs, the coming De La Hoya - Mayweather Jr. fight and the UEFA Champions League final, here I am writing about horses. He he… Well, the race is on Saturday and yeah, I’m going to bring it to you anyway like a horny 60-year-old drunk bastard.

20 horses will come out of the gates for the 133rd Kentucky Derby. How about that, they’ve been doing this thing for more than a goddamn century already. And yep, these horses are ready to claim what the late Barbaro left for them. The question now is, who will be that one horse who will be fast enough to be Barbaro’s successor? (Yeah, I’m referring to the one who’ll win the 2007 Kentucky Derby Saturday in case you didn’t get all those cheesy clichés…)

Let’s start with gates 1-5 shall we? We have Sedgefield (1), Curlin (2), Zanjero (3), Storm in May (4) and Imawildandcrazyguy (5). Out of these five, Curlin has the best odds at 7/2 to win the damn thing. Curlin is yet to taste defeat, no wonder the horse is coming in strong at the 2007 Kentucky Derby. The rest looks like roadkill to me. Well, Imawildandcrazyguy STILL has one unique name anyway so my hat’s off to him.

Gates 6-10 have Cowtown Cat (6), Street Sense (7), Hard Spun (8), Liquidity (9) and Teuflesberg (10). Now this is more competitive than what we have in gates 1-5. Cowtown Cat is a horse from the stable of my boy, Todd Pletcher and you just know this horse will be doing well come raceday. Cowtown has 20/1 odds to win the Kentucky Derby.

But in this group, we also have Street Sense, a 4/1 favorite on Saturday. This baby just came out of nowhere. It was the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile where he had a surprising 10-length romp over other two-year-old thoroughbreds dubbed as ‘’the best in their class.'’ Street Sense sure made it clear who’s number one. Hard Spun is a good 15/1 pick too but just because he will be ridden by a guy with a stupid name like Mario Pino…

Read More » J. J. Jack’s pick from the 2007 Kentucky Derby favorites