Any Given Saturday wins the Haskell

Any Given Saturday

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Any Given Saturday was the right pick 3 months later...

Three Months Too Late

I have to admit I felt a bit of vindication when Any Given Saturday drew off to win the Haskell Invitational on August 5. Regular readers of the Blog this past spring are well aware that the son of Distorted Humor was my pick in the Kentucky Derby. Having been smack dab in the middle of the Derby chaos that day, I didn’t actually get a good look at the Derby replay until some days later. I knew he had finished eighth by then, but he ran a much better race than I had realized watching on the infield jumbo-tron. For the first eighth of a mile of the Churchill Downs stretch run Any Given Saturday was right there. Was it the foot bruise that caused him to falter during the last furlong? Was it that last furlong itself? Or was it simply just not his day?

I mentioned several times last spring that it really doesn’t matter what the excuses or reasons are on Derby Day. The only goal is to pick the Derby winner, not the best horse (necessarily), not the three-year-old champion. I’m not about to go back on that premise. But in the Haskell, Any Given Saturday at least proved that he was talented enough to have won the Derby. His 113 Beyer Figure in the Haskell is better than the both Street Sense and Curlin have run this year.

His Haskell win, with a lackluster Curlin back in third, was also boon to Street Sense’s championship aspirations. As things stand now neither Curlin nor Any Given Saturday (nor Hard Spun) appear headed to the Travers, which means Street Sense should have that Grade 1 fixture at his mercy. With he and Curlin seemingly running neck and neck for year-end honors going into the second half of the year, his solid win in the Jim Dandy and Curlin’s loss probably gives him the edge now. A Travers win would likely put Street Sense clearly in front in voters minds.

Of course there still is some big fall racing to come. Any Given Saturday is expected to run against older horses in the Grade 2 Brooklyn at Belmont in September. That race was formerly a Belmont summer fixture and part of the old handicap Triple Crown along with the Met Mile and the Suburban Handicap. The Brooklyn was moved to the Fall Meet this year to fill the void left when the Woodward Stakes was moved to Labor Day weekend at Saratoga two years ago.

I don’t think any of these top three-year-old colts have anything to fear from the remaining ranks of the older males in America. Del Mar’s Pacific Classic will be the first indication of how the sophomores stack up against their elders when Tiago takes on Lava Man and company on August 19.

It’s certainly not out of the question that Any Given Saturday could state his case for champion three-year-old and even Horse of the Year case by defeating the right horses in the Brooklyn and then in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. I’m ok with the fact that I didn’t pick the Derby this year. It’s just nice to know my selection isn’t a bum afterall. And he just might prove to be the best of a strong bunch of three-year-olds.

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