A great morning as Sumwonlovesyou breezes 3f Wednesday after 19 months sick and injured

From the Dee Tee Stable "Facebook" page.....

18 months after last appearing in a recorded racetrack performance, Sumwonlovesyou today officially returned with a 3f breeze at Trackside.

Slated to go a quarter mile between the three-eighths and eighth poles, our 5 year old Came Home mare was clocked at :25.0 for the quarter and :38.3 to the wire on the gallop out. The splits were 13.0,: 12.0 and :13.3, and Chuck promptly declared that it couldn't have been drawn up any better.

The drill came without urging, as Cherie never asked the stable standardbearer for run. Cherie said that SWLY tired predictably at the end and was a bit clunky in her mechanics, but felt strong and eager under her.

It has been an arduous year and a half since Sumwon's last race the day after Travers 2007. Starting with a muscle tear early in 2008 and a subsequent bout with a hoof infection that flirted with laminitis, having Dee Tee's first runner reach the worktab again represents the welcome next step in having her back.

With no residual fitness to rely on, she has a long way to go to get race ready, but she was in no hurry to drink any water after the work, which is a good sign that she is already gained some condition.

Without hyperbole, it's easy to say that this was as special a 3f workout as those connected with a horse will get to see. Ashley has pictures that she will hopefully put up later today.

Remembering Alysheba

As I listened to the home opener at the “new” Yankee Stadium on Thursday afternoon and heard the legends of the pinstripes announced to the roar of the crowd. I thought back to the days of my youth in the mid seventies when I first fell in love with the New York Yankees. Being a fan of major league baseball since I started collecting baseball cards thirty five years ago in 1974, baseball was my passion and the Yankees were my team. I can remember every stat on the back of those TOPPS baseball cards right up until I graduated from high school in 1982. A few years later, the same passion continued with thoroughbred racing and one of those horses from that time era was Alysheba.

On March 27th, the 1987 Kentucky Derby champion was euthanized at Kentucky Horse Park’s Hall of Champions in Lexington Kentucky. Alysheba had recently returned from Saudi Arabia after serving stud duty for Saudi King Abdullah for eight years. When returning stateside nearly five months ago, he took up residence at the park but was injured in a stall accident and the twenty five year old stallion could not survive his injuries. While I wasn’t a big fan of this horse, the impact he make on the sport when I was first getting interested in it was major when the sport was at a crossroads.

I really followed the Triple Crown trail for the first time in 1987. That year the lukewarm favorite was a runner named Demon’s Begone, who took the Arkansas route to the derby. I fancied a horse named Bet Twice, who was ridden by Craig Perret for New Jersey connections. Hall of Famer trainer; Jack Van Berg brought a runner to the first Saturday in May that year off of a race in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. In the race, Alysheba was disqualified from first in running and came into the derby with only a maiden victory. This son of Alydar was dismissed at 8-1 odds and over came nearly falling in the stretch to win the 113th Kentucky Derby. Bet Twice was second and those two runners would hook up again in the Preakness Stakes in which Alysheba once again was victorious. In the Belmont Stakes; three weeks later, Alysheba was entered without the use of lasix (which at the time was not allowed in New York) and this time Bet Twice turned the tables on Alysheba who was never a factor and denied him the Triple Crown. After the triple crown, he would run second in the Haskell Stakes and once again “up the track” in the Travers Stakes (again because without lasix). He would finish his three year old campaign with a Super Derby victory and a nose defeat to 1986 Kentucky Derby winner; Ferdinand in the Breeder's Cup Classic, but the best was yet to come the following year.

Alysheba would win seven out of nine starts as a four year old in 1988, winning races in California (Strub, Santa Anita Handicap and San Bernardino) in New Jersey (Iselin and Meadowlands Cup) and the Woodward at Belmont Park. But, his biggest victory was at the spot where he achieved his great feat; Churchill Downs in the 1988 Breeder’s Cup Classic. He retired with 11 victories in 26 lifetime starts and earned nearly 6.7 million dollars. At stud, he wasn’t that good as he was on the track, but did sire; Alywow who was a champion in Canada. Three year old champion of 1987 and 1988 Horse of the Year, Alysheba was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1993. He was horse that I never played, but one that I respected and now he is gone along with fellow Derby winner; Lil E Tee who passed away just days before. Now, Strike the Gold is the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner and as time goes by the memories of my youth following thoroughbred racing seem to go farther and farther away. But there will ALWAYS be the memories.

Something tells me in the end, there will be LESS than 20 horses entered the "first Saturday in May"

1) Pioneerof the Nile
2) Friesan Fire
3) I Want Revenge
4) Quality Road
5) Papa Clem
6) Chocolate Candy
7) Musket Man
8) Dunkirk
9) Hold Me Back
10) Regal Ransom*
11) West Side Bernie
12) Desert Party
13) General Quarters

the other 7

Mr. Hot Stuff
Summer Bird
Mine That Bird
Giant Oak
Win Willy*
Join in the Dance*
Square Eddie*

* still on the fence

or someone else???

Top 20 Derby list - less than one month out

1) Pioneerof the Nile (1)
2) Friesan Fire (2)
3) Old Fashioned (3)
4) I Want Revenge (6)
5) Quality Road (5)
6) Chocolate Candy (7)
7) Musket Man (9)
8) Dunkirk (8)
9) Hold Me Back (new)
10) Regal Ransom (new)
11) West Side Bernie (18)
12) Desert Party (12)
13) Theregoesjojo (10)
14) Papa Clem (14)
15) Giant Oak (re-entry)
16) Mafaaz (new)
17) Terrain (17)
18) Win Willy (20)
19) Flying Private (new)
20) Patena (re-entry)

Illinois Derby, Wood Memorial & Santa Anita Derby action!

Last weekend, Quality Road punched his ticket to the Kentucky Derby with his much the best victory in the Florida Derby . The Todd Pletcher trainee; Dunkirk got second money, but needs help to get into the field on the earnings side. Both Regal Ransom and Desert Party ran one/two in the UAE Derby , so both of them have enough earnings to make the field and will come from the desert. These four horses earned spots, while Louisiana Derby winner; Friesan Fire will just train up to the big race and come there on a three race win streak. Today we should get more contenders for the “Run for the Roses” with prep races in the Illinois Derby , Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and Santa Anita Derby .

The grade II – Illinois Derby at Hawthorne Park drew a field of 11 runners, but the Todd Pletcher trainee; Lord Justice will scratch from this spot and run in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct instead. The mile and an eighth race places two Derby contenders in the field; Giant Oak and Musket Man. Giant Oak comes into the race off of two sub-par efforts at the Fairgrounds. Once thought of a force in the prep races after his runner-up spot last fall in the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs, he has to either win or show a good in-the-money effort today to continue on the Derby trail. Musket Man recently won the Tampa Bay Derby and has finished in the top three in all five career starts. I’ll be going with the Nick Zito runner on top; Nowhere to Hide (#1) who had a wide trip last time out in the Tampa Bay Derby . For second, Todd Pletcher has entered a very obscure and new horse to the Derby trail named; Al Khali who recently won an allowance test at Gulfstream Park . Underneath those two in the exotics, I’ll be using; Musket Man, Perfect Song and Giant Oak.

The grade I – Wood Memorial at Aqueduct has a field of eight runners with seven betting interest (Atomic Rain and West Side Bernie entry). I Want Revenge comes off a huge victory in the Gotham Stakes with Imperial Council running a distant second. These two runners out class the rest of the field and this time out Imperial Council turns the tables on I Want Revenge for victory. Lord Justice will race here instead of the softer spot in the Illinois Derby and will be my third choice to round out the exotics. Lime Rickey could be a “wild card” in the race first time on a dirt surface.

Maybe the most intriguing race of the three preps will be contended on the artificial “pro-ride” surface in the Santa Anita Derby . It’s a showdown between Pioneer of the Nile and The Pamplemousse; a classic match up between speed and the closer. But, I’ll be looking in another direction in this field of ten runners. In the Sham Stakes run at the same mile and an eighth distance, The Pamplemousse set an uncontested pace and won much the best. The third place finisher; Mr. Hot Stuff rallied for third and galloped out well past the wire. This full brother to Colonel John gets my top selection in this race. The Pamplemousse should hold on for second, while Pioneer of the Nile and Take Points will battle for the show spot. Even if Pioneer of the Nile is victorious, I won’t be convinced he can win the Kentucky Derby racing on dirt for the first time in his career. Next week we have the last two major prep races (Arkansas Derby & Blue Grass Stakes) and hopefully the Kentucky Derby field will be decided.