{"id":9699,"date":"2011-10-19T21:15:03","date_gmt":"2011-10-19T21:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blacktypebugler.com\/?p=9699"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"oldbtb_1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/?p=9699","title":{"rendered":"Famous quotes from Leonardo"},"content":{"rendered":"
By ITCH<\/b><\/div>\n
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As fitting a horse race sharing a name with everyone’s favorite Leo, the stars have come out for Italy’s $500,000 Grade I DiCaprio Handicap<\/b><\/i>, a mile turf race for all horses three and up.<\/div>\n
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Not that Leonardo DiCaprio ever needed a huge supporting cast, but we’ve got one here in Italy in week 4841, two weeks before Breeders Bowl day in Kentucky.<\/div>\n
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At the top of the bill is none other than the all-time greatest trainer in the history of the Sim, Dixie. Follow that up with Balata, Given, Lenny and Mtk, along with other capable actors, and we’ve got the makings for a horseracing blockbuster here on Saturday.<\/div>\n
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The timing of the race twists the plot. So close to Breeders Bowl day, this race fits the exact conditions of the Breeders Bowl Mile. As expected, none of the Top 20 in the division are entered here. Nobody would want to run in the Breeders Bowl on two weeks rest if they did not have to.<\/div>\n
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But, there are at least three horses among the top qualifiers here who could make a late leap into Breeders Bowl eligibility with a victory and the 128 stakes points to go along with it.<\/div>\n
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If Dixie’s<\/i> WALTZING IN<\/b> were to win here, the 4yo brown son of Kingmambo would jump from No. 29 in the division all the way into the Top 10, pending changes in the stakes point totals of the other ranked horses. As mentioned last week in the preview of Lenny’s Last Ditch race for 3yo fillies, these Breeders Bowl spots are extremely coveted, even among veteran superstars like Dixie who have raced in many of them. Without speaking to the champion trainer, it is impossible to know if he intends a jump to the BB with Waltzing In. It must be a little frustrating for Dixie to see this horse at No. 29, as he has come so tantalizingly close in his races this year of winning the stakes points that could have him eligible already. After successfully doing the Wango Tango the Grade 2 Ted Nugent, with a 117 speed figure to boot, it looked like all systems go for another big Dixie horse. Instead, Waltzing In has lost five in a row in a hard-luck run that has seen him contend for the win in four of those races. The most narrow defeat was three back in the Grade 2 Fried Rice mile, in which the horse ran a 115 and was beaten a head. Dixie has been lucky enough to find some decent spots at his horse’s preferred distance, catching multiple graded fields this year with less than 10 runners, but the results have just not been there with this colt. He’s a standout, to be sure, but somehow found himself on the outside looking in two weeks from the Breeders Bowl. Win and he’s in, but he’d have to race on short rest. With the name Waltzing In, the horse rather reminds me of a DiCaprio quote The Blood Diamond, in his role as Danny Archer: “You come here with your laptop computers, your malaria medice and your little bottles of hand sanitizer and think you can change the outcome?” Maybe Dixie will come Waltzing In and change the outcome of the Breeders Bowl.<\/div>\n
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“I prefer ordinary girls – you know, college students, waitresses, that sort of thing,” says the famous DiCaprio, who may share a trait or two with the young golf pro from Calgary, Canada. Filing a late entry into this Grade I, none other than Balata<\/i> submitted the name of ALBERTA TORNADO<\/b> a scant 30 minutes before entries were drawn on Wednesday. “I entered late simply because I only looked at my stables at lunchtime. Saw I had a stable trained so entered them.” The pro must be part of a big 3 man team this week with this stable. All nine horses in holeinone are entered to run this week. Not surprisingly, three of them are stakes runners. In addition to Alberta Tornado in this Grade I, the pro, as we like to call Balata in chat in recognition of his golfing abilities, has two other stakes runners, WINDSOR BALLET and UNBRIDLED SMARTLY. \u00a0Also in the lot are four maidens and two allowance runners. With winter fast approaching in Calgary, Balata’s course is shutting down, and he’s going to have to get his competitive juices flowing for the Sim instead of his golf ball for a few months. “My ponies have pretty well had five months off so I am starting back for the winter,” said the pro. Balata’s father, Reg Heenan, was a great hockey player in Canada and probably would have been gearing up at this time of year. But, Rick’s game is golf, and horses of course. For years, Balata has had golf-related names for his homebreds, many of which featured the Nijinsky bloodline and excelled on the greens, just like Balata. We send a salute in appreciation of our longtime chat friend Balata, in appreciation with all the golf advice over the years. Cheers, Rick! And hope your horse runs fast. As a speed horse, he’ll have to in the Grade I DiCaprio because there are two more confirmed speedball types in here. It looks like the early pace is going to be very hot indeed. A late piece of information reveals that Alberta Tornado may not be cranked all the way up for this race. “He’s only ready to go and is running just to start his cycle up again,” Balata said. “Leave it to me to run him in a Grade I.”<\/div>\n
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“Being dubbed as a hunk sort of annoys me,” Leonardo DiCaprio once famously said. “It gives me a yucky feeling.” Like a Hollywood movie studio with an up-and-coming leading man, Given<\/i> is anxious to put VORRIOR<\/b> on the big stage. This good-looking 5yo son of Smart Strike has a huge late run and has won two in a row in powerful fashion. Vorrior unleased a huge stretch run last out to get up from 10th and win by a nose in the Grade 2 Stepson. He’s a “now” horse. We’ve got two big 113 speed figures in two of his last three. After racing the horse at longer distances, Given’s cutback to the mile distance last out is another indicator that he’s shooting for a late Breeders Bowl Mile entrant here. Ranked at No. 54 with 126 stakes points coming into the race, Vorrior would add 128 with a win, adding up to 254 and a place in the Top 15, pending changes in the stakes point totals of the other ranked horses. There may be more than one trainer with horses on the bubble of the Breeders Bowl Mile who will not necessarily be in the cheering section of either Dixie or the Fire and Blood Stables in the Grade I DiCaprio. If Vorrior gets in, that means somebody is getting bumped. This horse will be taking far back and making a huge late rush. That’s his running style at longer distances, and especially when shortened to a mile. If he’s in contention late he’s dangerous because he’ll be flying at the end.<\/div>\n
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TREMBLE BEFORE ME<\/b> sounds like something you might hear in a movie about Rome, so let’s go with “Romeo and Juliet” for our DiCaprio quote for My Man Otis<\/i>‘ unpredictable 5yo brown son of Street Sense. “Is love a tender thing?” It is too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorns from my lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again!” Or, as Otis might be saying, “I hope my horse feels like running on Saturday.” This horse has a very odd racing record, especially of late. He either fires or he does not. You’ve never seen a horse with such brilliant victories sandwiched between dismal, up-the-track losses. In his last six starts, Tremble Before Me has two big graded stakes victories going this distance, with twin high speed figures of 114. But, where has that horse been his last two? He’s doing his disappearing act again, up the track in ninth both times. But, lest you think this horse is washed up, he was up the track in 12th in the race before his twin-114 victories. Those two big numbers are sandwiched between four races in which the horse did not crack 100 and never ran a step. Which horse will show up on Saturday? His trainer may not even know, because Otis is just proceeding as if nothing is wrong with Tremble Before Me, running right back in graded company. He might wake up anytime,and if he does, it might as well be in a Grade I. Currently, Tremble Before Me is ranked No. 84 in the division. A win would vault him to No. 19, pending changes in the stakes points totals of the other ranked horses. Maybe Otis has no eye on the BB at all, or maybe he’s thinking two huge races in a row again.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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With 72 stakes points, MTK’s Shamrock Stables<\/i>‘ QUE SURREY SURREY<\/b> would jump from a rank of No. 125 in the division to No. 20 with a win, perhaps right on the bubble to make the Breeders Bowl. I am sure that MTK would love to have the decision to make! But, whatever happens, happens, right Mr. DiCaprio (as Billy Costigan in “The Departed.”) “Maybe it would have done you some good to have some ‘questions’ from time to time, you know?” Like maybe, what are the leading attractions of Surrey, England? If you go, be sure and visit the historic Hampton Court Palace, home of King Henry VIII. A question a handicapper might ask of this brown 4yo son of Montjeu would be: “Is a mile really your best distance?” It seems an odd question to ask, being as the horse just ran his lifetime-best speed figure of 113 last out going eight panels. But, the Shamrock Stables have raced this horse quite a bit at sprint distances. He has lost his last four in a row going a mile. including that inexplicable fifth-place finish four back going a mile in a listed stake. It’s hard to make a knock against a horse who’s earned more than half a million in only 22 starts, but Que Surrey Surrey always has had a bit of a problem finishing his races the way his trainer would like. If a big closer gets near him late, he’s going to have a hard time finding that extra gear to get home in front. But, look for this horse to have the class and tactical speed to contend throughout. We’ll see if he’s up to a leading role on Saturday.<\/div>\n
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From this point forward, none of the trainers can harbor aspirations of making the Breeders Bowl. Even with the 128 stakes points for a Grade I win, the most any runner has to date from this point forward is 45. What these trainers are doing is taking advantage of a Grade I spot so close to the Breeders Bowl that is almost guaranteed to be absent any Top 20 horses.<\/div>\n
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The first among these is Gowans<\/i> with HUMOROUS TAP<\/b>, a 3yo light gray son of Tapit. As the lone 3yo in the field, Humorous Tap will be taking his second shot at competing against older horses. After capping a marvelous summer with a 113-speed-figure win in his final race against 3yo only, Gowans of Blazing Saddles fame decided it was time to risk his horse against the big boys. It did not work out. After moving into position turning for home in third, Humorous Tap did not have the same acceleration against the older ones and was flat to finish fifth. He was passed in the homestretch for the first time all year. “I was expecting a lot last time out of my colts, he was fifth, but he only got beat a length fire time agaisnt older horses,” his trainer said. Undeterred, Gowans fires right back in this spot. Why not? This horse has run well enough all year to deserve a second chance. After two unimpressive runs on the main track, Gowans switched him to turf, and then the horse started to impress. He won five of his next seven, most of them at Saturday’s distance of a mile. But now, like a young Leonardo DiCaprio, it’s time to grow up and be a man. “I want to be a jerk like the rest of my friends, and have fun, and not care about the consequences, but I just can’t now,” Leo once said. It’s not a completely relevant quote as it concerns this horse. He really does not have consequences in this race. If he doesn’t win, so what? He’ll have plenty of time later to prove he can compete against older horses. There is no changing the fact that Humorous Tap already has had a tremendous 3yo campaign. He may well be on his way to an equally successful career as an older horse.Saturday’s race is a chance to get a head start. Even with his loss last out, Gowans still believes this horse can handle older. “I switched from the Grade 3 at 7.5 furlongs in New Zealand for 3yo only this week to the Grade 1 because I thought I had a legit shot to run well,” he said.<\/div>\n
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Next is EMPIRE CAUSEWAY<\/b>, a 5yo brown son of Empire Maker. Whatever happens here Saturday, let’s congratulate the Universal Racing Club’s Tazdevil<\/i> for an amazing training job with this horse to get him where he is today. Tazdevil claimed this horse for only $2,000 back in January 2010, and has taken a long, perhaps even unlikely, path to Sim success. After all, the horse broke down his first race for Tazdevil, distanced and running a 19 speed figure. What’s more, the horse did not recover right away. He was beaten three in a row at margins of at least nine lengths before finally jumping to triple digits and winning an allowance on an off turf track. Off track or no, that win was just what Empire Causeway needed and he’s been off and running ever since. Tazdevil has been rewarded handsomely for his patience with this $2,000 claim, watching him develop into a stakes winner with twin 112 top career speed figures. He’s yet to prove himself capable of competing in graded races, off the board in three straight tries. That class ceiling also includes a fifth-place finish last out in a race of identical conditions, the Grade 1 Canada Mile going a mile on turf. So, this horse does not find the worst spot to try to finally get over the graded hump. Whether or not he ever does it, just an amazing training job and really an amazing horse. At the time of his breakdown, things looked pretty bleak for this horse, just like they did for Jack Dawson in “Titanic”: “I mean, I got got everything I need right here with me,” DiCaprio famously said to Kate Winslet.<\/div>\n
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Imagine meeting my old hillbilly buddy Pgpg<\/i> all the way over here in Italy. Then, consider the last name of one of the leading jocks in Massachusettts, Garbaccio, and then realize it’s not so unlikely. Paul, along with his late father, GeeGee, and brother Bob, was a leading player in our old West Virginia stakes contest. He returns to the country of his descent with PGPG FILLY’S GHOST<\/b>, a 4yo brown son of Ghostzapper. This is a fast, fast horse, but one who has to figure out a way to make his advantages last in the lane. Pgpg Filly’s Ghost, the son of Paul’s Grade A Forestry mare PGPG’S FILLY, almost always has the lead at the head of the lane, and almost always gets beat. He’s had the lead turning for home in 16 of his career 26 starts, yet owns only five wins. That’s 11 times now this horse has been defeated in the homestretch. Still, he’s a good earner and a good representative of Pgpg’s Filly, Paul’s grand champion mare. It’s hard to believe she is 12yo now, retired long ago. In her day, she was among the best in the history of the Sim. Pgpg’s Filly won 25 career races, earning $2.69 million and winning three Grade I races. She had a total of six graded victories, all on the turf. Not surprisingly, Paul has bred this mare every year since she was retired in 2004. Of her seven progeny so far, only her first baby, PGPG’S FILLY II, failed to win a race. The mare has done very well in the shed indeed, giving multiple winners in five of her seven foals so far. Of of the seven, PGFILLY’S LEMONDROP, a 5yo horse, appears to be the best, a stakes winner with $235,000 in earnings. However, the 4yo Pgpg Filly’s Ghost has a chance to become the mare’s best runner yet if he can figure out a way to get home in front. It’s just like for Mr. DiCaprio, who never escapes the public eye: “Everywhere I go, somebody is staring at me,” Leo said. “I don’t know if people are staring because they recognize me or because they think I’m a weirdo.”<\/div>\n
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Congratulations to the Shagadelic Farms<\/i> for developing a stakes runner in an stc barn. Like many players in the old stc contest run by Squirrel and won by Kaif, Shag has kept going with this stcshag stable and now has 340 races in the outfit. A member of Comedy Central, Shag has been rewarded for sticking to his stcshag barn with FAST TAPPER<\/b>, a talented 4yo dark gray son of Fast Tapper. Before his last race, Fast Tapper had experienced mostly allowance-level success. As a 4yo, he had blossmed into a regular runner of triple-digit speed figs, but had gotten beat, fading off the board in his most recent three stakes tries. But, Fast Tapper loaded up on confidence two back when cruising to a runaway allowance win, and parlayed that into a career-topping race last out, leading and holding second in the Grade 3 Lost Episode. The horse is graded-placed now so he’s reached a new level. Anxious to do more, Shag has entered him here in the Grade I DiCaprio Handicap. Can he rise to another level? He’ll have to deal with Pgpg’s horse early to do so. Like Pgpg Filly’s Ghost, Fast Tapper is a need-the-lead type. It’s a fight to the finish on the front end with these two, which makes the race more attractive to late-closing types like Given’s Vorrior. Of the two speed horses in here, Fast Tapper is in better form. Sometimes he gets beat in the lane, but not with the regularity of Pgpg’s horse. He’s actually hot right now, hitting the exacta in three of his last four. Fast Tapper’s best chance will be to put Pgpg Filly’s Ghost away early and hold them off late. Like the real-life Leo, Fast Tapper will have company everywhere he goes on the track: “I get a friend to travel with me,” DiCaprio said. “I need somebody to bring me back to who I am. It’s hard to be alone.”<\/div>\n
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What would a Grade I race be without evil? “Everybody works for you, Howard,” Noah Dietrich said to Leonardo DiCaprio’s Howard Hughes in “The Aviator.” Actually, everybody in the Sim is more likely trying to take Lenny<\/i> down, but good luck with that. With a little BTB experience under your belt, you will come to realize that the Evil Empire<\/i> has perhaps the most powerful operation on the Sim planet. Once again, we see evidence of that with THE GRAY AEGIS<\/b>, a light gray 4yo son of A.P. Arrow. When the Evil Empire is hitting home runs with more affordable breedings like this one, with Borrego as the DS, it’s almost not fair. It’s like a power hitter for the Yankees hitting a home run on a perfect 0-2 changeup down and away. When most of the Sim qualifies this far down the list, they’re not with a huge chance in a Grade I race But, always beware of Evil. Here lurks yet another dangerous horse, which may strike fear into the trainers of the top contenders. The Gray Aegis, despite his meager bloodlines (by Lenny’s standards, anyway), has twin 113 speed figures back-to-back entering this race. He’s parlayed improving form in allowance races into a listed stakes win last out, and Lenny sees an opportunity in this Grade I so close to the Breeders Bowl. He knows he’s not catching any of the heavy heads here, and might be able to make a big jump with A.P. Arrow. It looks like the time is now for this horse, who’s won 3 in a row now and four of five. Beware.<\/div>\n
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Seamhead’<\/i>s INVINCIBLEKINDNESS <\/b>made a big splash last out in running strong second in his graded racing debut. It invites another quote from “Titanic,” does it not?: “I love waking up in the morning not knowing what’s gonna happen or, who I’m gonna meet, where I’m gonna wind up,” DiCaprio said as Jack Dawson. Unlike that character, Invinciblekindness may have given his trainer a little foreshadowing as to where he might wind up as he exploded to an unexped 109 early in his career. As a 3yo, Invinciblekindness was competing successfully in owner-restricted company, with a lifetime-best speed figure of 91 after seven career races. Then, on Dec. 4 of 2010, he jumped way up to a 106. Lebowski unveiled the colt to open competition in May, and his last four starts have been non-restricted. The horse has run great! He’s four-for-four in the exacta in open company, topping his great run off with a terrific second, beaten only a quarter length, last out in the Grade 2 Central Park Stakes going seven furlongs. He stretches out in distance here, which will challenge him because he’s going to have two fast speed horses winging out in front of him. It will not be easy for this horse to be patient, pass the leaders and hold off the talented late runners. But, he’s improving and he may be able to handle this big job.<\/div>\n
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GOOD LUCK EVERYBODY!!!!<\/b><\/div>\n
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Stars come out for Grade I DiCaprio<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9699\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}