The 2007 Horse Racing Season Begins

Insight and commentary on the world of thoroughbred horse racing.

Thoughts and opinions about the fascinating sport of thoroughbred horse racing from a racing insider.

The First Big Weekend

February 2, 2007

Barbaro’s death has made it an incredibly sad week for racing fans. Six days may or may not be enough time to move on, but this Saturday’s racing, the first of the year with truly important implications, should provide a welcome tonic.

With all the stakes and all the nice horses scheduled to compete, the first Saturday in February will also help move the 2007 racing season out of the shadow of 2006. Some of the stars of yesterday are still around, but there are plenty of other runners, that could well be the talking horses as the year progresses.

On the Gulfstream Park card alone, two recently crowned Eclipse Award winners will be on display - champion Older Male and Horse of the Year Invasor and Turf Male champ Miesque’s Approval.

Invasor will face some nice colts, in the G1 Donn Handicap, although none are yet in his league. Maybe a horse like Chatain, whose only loss in four starts was to Showing Up, or Strong Contender, last year’s Super Derby winner, will pass the grade one test and make their own claims to Invasor’s throne.

The older males will also be showcased in the G2 Strub at Santa Anita on Saturday. Will Brother Derek finally get a clean trip and prove himself as one of the top colts from that stellar 2003 foal crop? Or will Midnight Lute or Awesome Gem sustain their rises to prominence?

And then there are the three year-old races. Sure we’ve already had races like the Santa Catalina and the California Derby this year. But things really start to get serious this on Saturday.

Nobiz Like Shobiz and Scat Daddy were two of last year’s most accomplished juveniles. We’ll get and idea if they’ll be important runners in 2007 after the G3 Holy Bull. The less accomplished Bold Star and Sam P. could very well have something to say about the 2007 Classics and will have the platform to make their case on Saturday.

The G2 Swale has been moved from the Florida Derby day card to early February and it lacks its usual compliment of established three year-old sprinters. However, with promising colts like Cowtown Cat, Adore the Gold and Forefeathers, the race may look strong with the benefit of hindsight.

Gulfstream Park’s second race, a non winners of one allowance for three year-olds, is at least as interesting as the Swale. I’ll bet there is a more than one future stakes winner the race, with Green Secret, Boogie Boggs, Longley and Soaring By the most likely to fulfill that prediction.

They’ll be running the G2 Sham at Santa Anita on Saturday as well. Allowance winner Ravel brings in the hype while Liquidity and Pirates Deputy have the stakes credentials.

And in frigid Northern Kentucky they have carded something called the WEBN Stakes. It too is a race for three year-olds and the first step in a series of preps for Turfway Park’s rich Lane’s End in March. There are no stars in field, at least none that deserve the title at present. But it’s not impossible for a legitimate Derby contender to emerge from the cold Kentucky winter, as Perfect Drift proved in 2002.

So even though New Year’s Eve was over a month ago, racing fans can once again say out with the old and in with the new. The 2007 racing season has now, in effect, begun.

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Matt O'Neil has been a racing enthusiast since the mid-1980's. He is a freelance writer and thoroughbred marketing consultant and editor of the breeding journal Owner-Breeder International. Contact Matt O'Neil