Madison's Derby List | Retama Ruffian

1. Texas Red

• Had a dominating Breeders' Cup Juvenile
• May have been a fluke BUT he did follow it up with a 2nd in the San Vicente Stakes (gr. II)
• Liked him since his maiden
• Found him by his name and he was originally my "dark horse" Derby pick

2. Frosted

• He's come second in both the Remsen and the Holy Bull
• he just needs his "breakthrough race"

3. American Pharoah

• You really can't ignore a horse who won two back-to-back grade one stakes in the same month as a two-year old

4. Mr. Z

• He just needs a breakthrough race and, possibly, a two month break
• His record is as followed:
• 2nd- Sanford Stakes (gr. III)
• 2nd- Toyota Saratoga Special Stakes (gr. II)
• 5th- Iroquois Stakes (gr. III)
• 2nd- Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (gr. I)
• 5th- Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I)
• 2nd- Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes (gr. III)
• 3rd- Lost Alamitos Futurity (gr. I)
• 3rd- Smarty Jones Stakes (black-type)

Mr. Z is in the blue cap

Side note: Each week I will add another slot to the list until I get to twelve horses. 

Thanks for reading,
Madison

Eclipse Award Winners | Retama Ruffian

I'm sure by now, the vast majority of you have seen or heard about the Eclipse Award winners. My plan was to post my picks for each of the categories, but that did not happen. So, to make it up to you I will be posting the winners (as I originally doing) AND I will be starting a new blog series that only one person knows of besides myself. The series will be posting by the end of tomorrow (hopefully) or early Tuesday morning.

Female Turf Horse-
Dayatthespa
Dayatthespa has been a favorite of mine for quite awhile and I'm 100% for her at all times.

Male Turf Horse-
Main Sequence
The underdog, Main Sequence, has been exceptional this whole year and four grade one wins really screams something to me.

Female Sprinter-
Judy the Beauty
Her Breeders' Cup win was one of my favorites. She is extremely deserving of her title.

Male Sprinter-

Work All Week
I've seen better. That's all I'll say.

Older Female-
Close Hatches
Her final two races made me want to stab my eyes out. I'm not a fan.

Older Male-
Main Sequence
Again, extremely deserving and dominate.

Three-Year Old Filly-
Untapable
No competition here.

Three-Year Old Male-
California Chrome
Shared Belief was my pick. I don't want to start a rant so I'm shutting up.

Two-Year Old Filly-
Take Charge Brandi
TCB was my Oaks underdog until she won the Breeders' Cup because then everyone knew about her.

Two-Year Old Male-
American Pharoah
After the FrontRunner, he dropped of the face of the earth. Texas Red was the same situation as TCB.

Horse of the Year-
California Chrome
Main Sequence all the way. BUT because Bayern didn't win, I'm perfectly fine.

California Chrome Coasts in the Derby

After Untapable's win yesterday, where she was the 4-5 favorite, I automatically knew I would not be picking California Chrome. In my mind there is an teeny, tiny chance that a morning-line favorite (filly or colt) will win two major races that are held on the same weekend.

Recap:

#1. (2-1) California Chrome-
The first thing that came out of the announcer's mouth after "And their off!" was "It was a good start for California Chrome." Having a more than slight chance of the colt breaking slowly was a nail-biting experience and one of the main reasons I refused to chose 'Chrome. After he broke 'Chrome ran into Samraat before he recollected himself and moved towards the rail. He kept close to the pace-setting horses, one of which was Uncle Sigh. 'Chrome faded in-and-out of 2nd and 3rd place, and he even dropped to fourth place. Once the horses came around the second turn California Chrome opened up and proved me wrong.

#2. (37-1) Commanding Curve-
Commanding Curve left the gate perfectly but got bumped around a bit. In the backstretch he came from 11th to 2nd. Quite a move for a horse that got in because Ring Weekend was sick.

#3. (8-1) Danza-

Danza broke cleanly and stayed in his own lane. He came up from way back in the pack and over-took Wicked Strong, Samraat and narrowly missed Commanding Curve. If the race had been any longer I believe Danza would have won the race or, just maybe, Commanding Curve could have taken the lead.

Final Placings:

1. California Chrome

2. Commanding Curve

3. Danza

4. Wicked Strong 

5. Samraat

6. Dance with Fate

7. Ride on Curlin

8. Medal Count

9. Chitu

10. We Miss Artie

11. General A Rod

12. Intense Holiday

13. Candy Boy

14. Uncle Sigh

15. Tapiture

16. Harry's Holiday

17. Vinceremos

18.  Wildcat Red

19. Vicar's In Trouble