2013 Triple Crown TC PREVIEW A GUIDE TO THE CONTENDERS Special Digital Report brought to you by 1 2013 Triple Crown TC PREVIEW Contents Contents Horses Indexed by Haskin’s numerical RATING Introduction ............................................................. 3 Glossary ................................................................... 3 STEVE HASKIN is an award-winning Turf writer renowned for his Kentucky Derby commentary. He has been a senior correspondent at The Blood-Horse since Masthead ................................................................. 4 1998. When he decided in 2011 to list the top 60 or 70 3-year-olds as sort of a Balance the Books (KY)............................................ 5 guide leading up to his “Derby Dozen” and “Derby Trail” columns featured in the Capo Bastone (KY) ................................................... 6 magazine and on BloodHorse.com, he felt assigning a rating to each horse would Cerro (IRE) ................................................................ 7 be useful. He used a scale of 1-10, based on several factors, including performance, pedigree, and the visual impressiveness of the horses’ races. Code West (VA) ......................................................... 8 Crop Report (KY) ...................................................... 9 9 7 5 Curly Top (KY) ......................................................... 10 ITSMYLUCKYDAY CODE WEST CURLY TOP Delhomme (PA) ...................................................... 11 REVOLUTIONARY DELHOMME FALLING SKY Den's Legacy (FL) .................................................. 12 SHANGHAI BOBBY OXBOW FRAC DADDY VIOLENCE PALACE MALICE HONORABLE DILLON Departing (KY) ........................................................ 13 SHAKIN IT UP ORB Dewey Square (KY) ................................................ 14 8 SUPER NINETY NINE TIZ THE TRUTH Dice Flavor (KY) ..................................................... 15 4 FLASHBACK TREASURY BILL Dynamic Sky (ONT) ................................................ 16 GOLDENCENTS UNCAPTURED CROP REPORT Elmutahid (KY) ....................................................... 17 NORMANDY INVASION Den’s LEGACY \ DEWEY SQUARE Escapefromreality (NY) .......................................... 18 OVERANALYZE VERRAZANO 6 ELMUTAHID Falling Sky (PA) ...................................................... 19 BALANCE THE BOOKS ESCAPEFROMREALITY Flashback (KY) ....................................................... 20 CAPO BASTONE CERRO Frac Daddy (KY) ..................................................... 21 DICE FLAVOR 3 Goldencents (KY) ................................................... 22 DYNAMIC SKY DEPARTING He's Had Enough (KY) ............................................ 23 He’s HAD ENOUGH SIETE DE OROS MYLUTE Honorable Dillon (KY) ............................................. 24 PROUD STRIKE Itsmyluckyday (KY) ................................................ 25 TITLETOWN FIVE Mylute (KY) ............................................................ 26 VYJACK Normandy Invasion (KY) ......................................... 27 Orb (KY) .................................................................. 28 Horses Indexed by NOVak’s analYSIS Overanalyze (KY) .................................................... 29 Oxbow (KY) ............................................................ 30 CLAIRE NOVAK has melded her love for human-interest journalism Palace Malice (KY) ................................................. 31 and the equine breed into a successful Turf-writing career. Winner of the Proud Strike (VA) .................................................... 32 2011 Eclipse Award for Feature/Commentary and the 2008 Louisville Metro Journalism Award for Sports Writing, she currently covers racing Revolutionary (KY) ................................................. 33 for The Blood-Horse. Her byline has appeared in numerous publications Shakin It Up (KY) .................................................... 34 from The New YorkTimes to ESPN The Magazine. Follow her on Twitter Shanghai Bobby (KY) ............................................. 35 @bh_cnovak. Siete de Oros (PA) .................................................. 36 Most Likely The Reserves Prove Me Wrong Super Ninety Nine (KY) .......................................... 37 to Succeed BALANCE THE BOOKS CAPO BASTONE 1-VERRAZANO CERRO DEWEY SQUARE Titletown Five (KY) ................................................. 38 2-ITSMYLUCKYDAY CODE WEST DYNAMIC SKY Tiz the Truth (KY) .................................................... 39 3-SUPER NINETY NINE CROP REPORT FRAC DADDY Treasury Bill (KY) ................................................... 40 4-FLASHBACK CURLY TOP He’s HAD ENOUGH 5-VIOLENCE DELHOMME MYLUTE Uncaptured (ONT) .................................................. 41 DEPARTING OXBOW Verrazano (KY) ....................................................... 42 DICE FLAVOR SIETE DE OROS Best of the Rest ELMUTAHID Violence (KY) .......................................................... 43 Den’s LEGACY FALLING SKY ESCAPEFROMREALITY Vyjack (KY) ............................................................. 44 HONORABLE DILLON GOLDENCENTS All 2012 Triple Crown Nominees .......................46-54 PALACE MALICE NORMANDY INVASION PROUD STRIKE Triple Crown History .........................................55-57 ORB TITLETOWN FIVE OVERANALYZE Track Information ..............................................58-60 TIZ THE TRUTH REVOLUTIONARY UNCAPTURED SHAKIN IT UP SHANGHAI BOBBY Cover photo by Mathea Kelley TREASURY BILL VYJACK Past Performances provided by 2 2013 Triple Crown TC PREVIEW one of the American classic races. Introduction Steve Haskin, of “Derby Dozen” and “Hangin’ with Haskin” fame, reviews each contender’s chances and assigns his own 1 to 10 rating—where 10 is Steve’s THE TRIPLE CROWN TRAIL is a winding road with many obstacles. Po- prediction that the horse not only will run but also be in contention down the 1 tential runners must prove themselves capable at three distances—1 ⁄4 miles for stretch, and 1 means that the horse is an elite sophomore that needs a break- 1 the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), 9 ⁄2 furlongs for the Preak- through before Derby Day to be considered a top contender. 1 ness Stakes (gr. I), and the near-marathon 1 ⁄2 miles for the Belmont Stakes (gr. I). Claire Novak, a familiar face on “That Handicapping Show” and an Eclipse Contenders must stay sound during a rigorous schedule of races against Award-winning Turf writer, serves as a counterpoint to Steve. Claire provides her the top 3-year-olds in the nation. Trainers must balance their horses’ strength own rating and analysis on each sophomore runner. and conditioning with soundness, all while trying to ensure a fresh horse at Profile pages feature a wealth of data, including facts about each con- the start of a grueling five-week, three-race series. An additional challenge for tender’s pedigree and connections. Four-generation pedigree boxes are trainers and owners is the new Road to the Kentucky Derby points system— provided by The Jockey Club Information Systems’ equineline.com ser- new for 2013, the 20 coveted spots in the Churchill Downs starting gate will vice, while BRISnet.com past-performance charts (“PPs”) summarize the be occupied by those with the best records in a series of designated qualifying subject horses’ race careers to date. races. Now consider questions of pedigree, conformation, Shorter statistical overviews starting on page 46 and aptitude and the task of predicting the final Derby field show race records and best performance, the longest is made more daunting. Even Thoroughbred enthusiasts distance the horse has won, and several quantitative find that springtime introduces a slew of new potential runners. figures for all 2012 Triple Crown nominees. One-page re- Ten weeks out from the May 4 kickoff to the Triple Crown, views of past winners of the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont this special report from BloodHorse.com is an early-season guide provide some perspective, and brief histories of the host tracks to the most promising sophomores likely to have an impact in the round out the Triple Crown preview. Derby, Preakness, and Belmont. In these pages you’ll be intro- Racing data, including Road to the Kentucky Derby duced to 40 top 3-year-olds that appear headed toward at least points, are complete through Feb. 18, 2013. Glossary Triple Crown Mania BROODMARE SIRE: The sire of a horse’s dam (i.e., maternal grandfather) See end pages for a complete list of 2013 Triple Crown Nominations, or go to COLOR: Abbreviations are b=bay; blk=black; BloodHorse.com/Horse-Racing/Triple-Crown-Mania/Nominations ch=chestnut; dkb/br=dark bay or brown; wh=white; and gr/ro=gray or roan. DAM: The female parent (i.e., mother) 1 DOSAGE: A technique for classifying Thor- race at 1 ⁄16 miles on dirt. nick rating that utilizes the database of The Jockey oughbred pedigrees by type based on aptitudi- To be eligible for weighting, a 2-year-old must Club—the world’s most complete records of Thor- nal characteristics inherited from selected sires, have finished in the top four in a graded or listed oughbreds and their performances—to produce a called “chefs-de-race.” The degree of inheritance stakes race run in the continental United States. sophisticated rating based on all foals for a given attributed to each of these “chefs” was essentially Listed stakes in 2011 were those with a value of cross. constant in all pedigrees, the