Jon Stettin’s Blog
The Grade 3 Jockey Club Oaks Invitational
That was a tough beat last week with Wakanaka. It is never fun losing, but it is harder to swallow when you think you had the best horse. I think Wakanaka was clearly best for a few reasons, but I will just turn the page. The Jockey Club Oaks is a mile and three eighths on the grass. It is for three-year-old fillies and 7 are scheduled to line up. This is not the strongest
The Grade 2 Ladies Turf Sprint, When a Sprint is not a Sprint
I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time calling any race at Kentucky Downs a sprint. I don’t care if it is 4 furlongs, over that course to me nothing is a sprint. That includes The Grade 2 Ladies Turf Sprint to be run on Saturday. A nice cool mil purse drew a field of 9 to race six and a half furlongs through the meadows and over the hills about 35
The 2023 Pacific Classic
The Pacific Classic drew a full field of 11 including three promising three-year-olds tackling older foes as the Breeders’ Cup Classic get closer. With Arcangelo stamping himself at the head of the three-year-old class, at least for now with a win in The Travers at Saratoga over Mage, National Treasure and Forte, it will be interesting to see how these west coast youngsters fare against older runners and what that does if anything to shake
The Travers 2023
The Travers turned out to be quite the race this year. We have The Derby winner, The Preakness winner, and The Belmont winner. The others are not exactly slouches either. It is an exciting race and will go a long way to determining the best three-year-old in the land. Let’s get right to it. Forte breaks from the rail after his hard-fought Jim-Dandy win many thought he was lucky to keep. He is steady, solid,
The Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks
It is Alabama Day at Saratoga, but you’d be hard pressed to argue the racing at Del Mar this year has not been better than the Spa and I decided to go west where the turf meets the surf. The Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks drew a competitive field of 10 fillies with two that appear to have quite bright futures. I’ll run down the field and see where we land. And Tell Me Nolies