Full of Run

After such a Christmas present headlne would come a story about how Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stable purchased Big Brown and handed him over to Bob Baffert.

“He deserves a run at the Classic at Santa Anita,” says Jackson. “That horse should run.”

The story goes on to say that Jackson decided to have Baffert train Big Brown because of “What he did with Midnight Lute. He won his Breeder’s Cup on something less than four feet.” When asked why he did not choose Steve Asmussen after the tremendous success they enjoyed together with Curlin, Jackson replies, twinkle in eye, that “Steve will be busy with Curlin in 2009.”

Christmas present, indeed.

I am sure it will never come up. But, just in case it does, I hope somebody reminds me NOT to play poker with Steve Asmussen or Jess Jackson.

Asmussen is the master of understatement. I remember last year during the Triple Crown a reporter asked him if Curlin was the best horse he had ever trained. “That would be an accurate statement,” he replied. And as to what makes Curlin special he said, “He runs faster than they do.” Here’s a guy who I am sure is aware that he may never even see, let alone train, a horse of this caliber again. I’d be jumping out of my skin shouting from the mountain tops, and Asmussen is cool as can be.

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In all sports, from Thoroughbred Racing to Soccer, we love to make comparisons. Is David Beckham on par with Pele? Does Barry Bonds really stack up to Hank Arron? If Curlin win the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) on Saturday, will he honestly occupy a place in history once held by “the unconquerable, invincible, unbeatable Cigar?”

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As I stated in Handicapping Part One, I firmly believe that one can make long-term profits wagering on Thoroughbred Racing. There are, of course, many factors to be considered when undertaking such a challenge. You will notice that this is my second post about handicapping that does not contain any actual handicapping information. That is, I have not yet addressed the actual process of selecting horses. It might seem that picking winners is the most important part of this game, but I believe it is actually less than 50% of the game. There are larger challenges to be conquered. And, the largest of these is money management.

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