Union Rags

The narratives are starting to form. It's too soon for them to be sensible, but there's no fun in being sensible. So now we have a glimmer of hope that our Triple Crown drought may soon be nourished by a horse named Union Rags. He's a big strapping fellow owned by the granddaughter of Andrew Wyeth who painted the above "Christina's World" (sans Union Rags). There's also the Barbaro v. Bernadini track, borne out tangentially in another Matz-trained horse battling a son of Bernardini (El Padrino). And speaking of El Padrino, it's time to recap this weekend's action.

The apex of the excitement over Union Rags' authoritative run is matched by the nadir of Algortithms scratch. It seems like he'll be off the trail, but maybe not. Let's hope for the best. The scratch diminished the field and Discreet Dancer simply couldn't stretch his legs over two turns so Union Rags didn't beat much, but he did look great in doing so; showing some tactical speed and just an overpowering stretch move without much urging after a long layoff. And he's grown. He's a big, powerful looking boy. Not green at all in the stretch, he looked ready to avenge his only loss.

My picks turned out to be pretty good. Not all that useful maybe. Next week I may demonstrate how I would wager.