Star Power at Gulfstream

--Christina Bossinakis

   In my last blog, I mentioned I would jot something down about some of the horses I was lucky enough to see during my stint as the on-air host at Gulfstream Park this past winter. For those of you who know me, it goes without saying that I will start with Let’s Go Stable’s Verrazano. As it turned out, the New Year’s day card at Gulfstream was a pretty spectacular one. Things got cooking pretty quickly with the second race on the card. As was the case with every race, my co-host John DeSantis and I went on air the moment the horses entered the paddock and we had our moment in the spotlight to impart our thoughts on the race. Truth be told, I had heard chatter about a half-brother to El Padrino in the week leading up to the race (kind of a repeating theme throughout the meet with horses from the Todd Pletcher barn), but quite frankly, I wasn’t prepared for what I was about to witness. John and I were in the midst of our pre-race analysis when Verrazano walked by the set the first time, and almost involuntarily, I started gesticulating to the point that I almost jumped out of my seat. My behavior had to be seen to be appreciated. He was the epitome of what you’d want a top racehorse to look like--big, strong and masculine and with the fluidity of a cat. For those who have never seen him in the flesh, there is nothing course or ponderous about him. Needless to say, he won that day, and VERY impressively at that, and would come back and win his next three starts, including the GI Wood Memorial in New York. Funniest story that came out of my initial encounter with him was a story John later told one of his buddies. He was recounting the moment I first laid eyes on Verrazano, dramatically recreating how excited I became when I saw the horse. His comment: “I’ve been sitting next to this woman for a whole month, and I never saw that kind of reaction over a man, never mind a horse!” The best part of that was that he was 100% right, and in fact, we’d go through the rest of the meet without another such reaction--from either the equine or human variety. From that day on, my new name for Verrazano was ‘my boyfriend’ and my appreciation remains to this day.


Pletcher & my boyfriend

   Also running on that New Year’s day card was Kauai Katie--yet another stalwart from the Todd Pletcher barn--in the GIII Old Hat S. and Itsmyluckyday, competing in the Gulfstream Park Derby. Both of them looked like absolute beasts that day and not surprisingly, both went on to win very impressively. Honestly, after a month of hard work and trying to settle into my new role as an on-air host, seeing that caliber of horses strutting around the paddock made it all worth it.
   Another horse that had some pre-race hype swirling around racing circles heading into her career debut was Close Hatches, from the Bill Mott barn. From a very nice Juddmonte family, I chatted quite a lot about her young sire, First Defense, who was trained by Bobby Frankel and had as good a pedigree as you might find in the stud book. She was elegant and refined (quite like dad) and she looked like the real deal in the paddock prior to the race. She made short work of her rivals that day and went on to win her next two, including the Apr. 6 GII Gazelle S. at Aqueduct. Can you say Kentucky Oaks lock?
   Well, I don’t know about that (it’s a brutally tough field this year), largely due to another filly I saw over the winter. Dreaming of Julia (hold on, Pletcher has another good 3-year-old??) won her first three at in New York, including the GI Frizette before finishing third in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Understandably, she was favored for her sophomore bow. Also in the race that day was Mark Hennig’s Live Lively, sent off second choice behind the Stonestreet filly. Truthfully, ‘Julia’ looked good that day but ‘Lively’ looked awesome. My top paddock horse, she was all dappled out and was prancing around like a filly with a mission. John would often joke on how ‘it’s not a beauty contest,’ but all joking aside, when they feel really good, they generally look that way and Live Lively ran to the way she looked in the paddock. As for Julia, she was beaten that day, however, she became the very definition of the importance of looking at horses before the race and observing first hand the development and change in them from race to race. Julia, who I thought looked good prior to her 2013 debut (by the way, there is a different standard to which I held Todd’s horses throughout the meet, since you always expected them to look ‘good’, at least), looked like Pegasus (yes, more Greek mythology in my blogs) prior to her latest start in the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks on Mar. 30. So what was I saying about Close Hatches being a lock come Oaks day? Not so fast.

   I think if I had to pinpoint the most memorable day of the meet, it would be a toss up between the GI Gulfstream Park Turf H. on Feb. 9 (happy birthday to me) and the GI Florida Derby. Guys, if you’ve never made it down to Gulfstream Park, those are the kind of days you’d want to show up for. The electricity and excitement surrounding the GP Turf H., which was featuring Kentucky Derby hero Animal Kingdom and multiple Grade I winner Point of Entry, was positively amazing. The applause that erupted when Animal Kingdom, who was making his final start in the U.S. before heading abroad to race and stand stud, strode into the paddock was unbelievable. For all of those who gripe about how troubled our sport is and seem obsessed with constantly lamenting all that is wrong with the game, this was a glowing reminder of how grossly limited a view that is. Here were two champions who looked the part, ran like titans and gave fans a top class show. The fact that Animal Kingdom went on to take the G1 Dubai World Cup after running second behind Point of Entry is just the cherry on the top.


Orb

   The other race of the meet, without a doubt, was the marquee event, the Florida Derby. I had the pleasure of seeing all of the Derby horses run at Gulfstream earlier in the meet, but the truth was that the horse that had shown the most improvement over the course of the winter was Orb. The first time I saw Orb at Gulfstream was in an allowance on Jan. 26 and he looked very good--pretty much the way he looked prior to the Feb. 23 GII Fountain of Youth S. (maybe a little bigger and stronger on the latter occasion). But quite frankly, the way Orb looked to me while schooling in the days heading into the Derby, not to mention in the moments leading up to the big race itself, he appeared like he was one puff away from breathing fire. His regular rider and longtime Shug assistant Jennifer Patterson was absolutely scarlet in the face on both occasions as she led him around the paddock. And there were two of them! Shug commented how much the horse had grown and flourished in Florida over the course of the winter (it appeared I did too, but not in a good way!), and having seen Orb with my own eyes over a three-month period, I can certainly support that claim. If Orb looks the way he did in Florida come Kentucky Derby day, I would be hard pressed to bet against him.
   I couldn’t wrap up this trip down memory lane without a mention of the queen herself, Royal Delta. Her 2013 unveiling came courtesy of the Feb. 13 GIII Sabin S., a race she finished second in last year. I had the chance to see Royal Delta in New York previously, and without a doubt, she had matured into a much bigger and stronger looking animal than she had ever been before. It was that noticeable. Once again, the crowd embraced their two-time champion with the love and respect that was so rightly deserved. She entered the paddock engulfed by applause and exited exactly the same way, with her loyal subjects cheering her on. She did get beat when going over to Dubai for another shot at the World Cup, but quite frankly, who cares? She is a champion and, on the day I was fortunate enough to see her, she was a
veritable queen.


Royal Delta

    In all honesty, there were a plethora of cheaply run races and inexpensive horses running throughout the meet. In fact, those made up the vast majority of what I saw, day in day out. But when the races were good, they were really good, and on occasion, pretty great. And given the choice as to where I’d like to spend my winters, Gulfstream Park would win every time.

To Gulfstream and Back

by Christina Bossinakis

   For those who may not have noticed (I’m sure there are plenty of you out there) I took a 4 1/2-month hiatus from my regular post as Senior Editor at the TDN to take on the task of handicapper and on-air host during this past winter’s Gulfstream Park meet. And it started with a bang. My co-host, John DeSantis, and I weren’t given much time to settle into our new roles and find our footing before facing opening weekend’s featured event, the Florida Claiming Crown. Yeah, maybe it’s not Florida Derby Day, but trust me, it’s big business down there. I think John would agree with me that it wasn’t really great TV (VERY green down the stretch), but it would eventually get better. And by the end of the meet, infinitely better, if I do say so myself.

   As I continued to work out the kinks, I enjoyed some really amazing events held at the track. In addition to the fete on New Year’s eve, I attended all of the paddock parties hosted by Gulfstream throughout the meet (as you can all tell, I was a complete wall flower while I was down in Florida!), and trust me when I say, they were very well orchestrated. Gulfstream’s paddock area features beautiful Greco/Roman (note the Greco comes first) architecture and a lovely water fountain which is set off by the spectacular lighting, which is lit up after nightfall. In my opinion, Gulfstream offers one of the best venues for a party that I’ve ever seen at a racetrack, bar none. One side note: I stayed in town for the Christmas holidays, the trek to Canada seemed like such a monumental task given all the weather and travel considerations, and I was sincerely touched by the kindness and generosity of trainer Rick Violette Jr. and his lovely family for hosting, entertaining and feeding me on Christmas day. And for those of you who might not be aware, Rick is an absolutely fabulous cook. Move over Bobby Flay!

   Over the course of the meet, I learned several things. First, John was able to mispronounce more trainer’s names than I ever thought humanly possible. Among those he pummeled were Kiaran McLaughlin (you have to hear it to appreciate it), Christophe Clement (think ‘Clement’ Hirsch), Guiseppe Iadisernia (that was a tough one for those unfamiliar with the local scene), and my personal favorite, Eddie Kenneally (he always put the accent on the first part of his last name). He actually had a great sense of humor about it and was always the first one to poke fun at himself for those gaffs.

The ultra-schooler, Frac Daddy, coming over to the set to say hello

   Second, I found my calling as the ‘paddock lady.’ (Yes, people actually called me that) I realized that I had a knack for looking at the horses in the paddock prior to a race, shouting out a couple of those ‘paddock horses’ to our viewers and listeners, and wouldn’t you know it, I gave out a fair amount of winners, both favorites and horses at a price. I have always been a big proponent of looking at horses before I bet them, but this experience really underscored just how important body language is before a race. And that goes for the horses--and their trainers (And I’m only half kidding about the trainers..)
   Something else I deduced during my Florida stint was that, like anyone else who has ever made a bet with any type of regularity, I found there were certain trainers, and horses, that I could ‘catch’ on a regular basis and others that I couldn’t. The trainers I seemed to have a good ‘feel’ for: David Fawkes (for those who don’t know him, one of the nicest guys you’ll meet), Ralph Nicks, Eddie Kenneally and Michael Matz. In fact, I would probably have to crown Matz ‘my man’ of the meet since I seemed to be able to catch him with an unusual frequency, which was made even more interesting since most of those we connected on weren’t favorites. In fact, my biggest success with him was an 18-1 shot named Helluva Hunch, who was a filly by Tapit going long for the first time.. But of course! Standing in stark contrast, the trainers that I couldn’t get a solid handle on included Christophe Clement (for those who are paddock watchers like myself, he appears to sponge/hose ALL off before the race which makes it harder to gage who is a nervous type and might have the propensity to melt down or who might be beginning to wash out) and Todd Pletcher. Yes, you heard right, I did say Todd Pletcher. I can already hear the whispers asking how can I fail to consistently connect with a trainer that hits at a 30% clip. Believe me, I’ve asked myself this very same question. His horses always looked spectacular in the paddock, so that effectively neutralized my most effective weapon--my eyes. In the end, I came to a simple conclusion: the key was figuring out when he had a vulnerable favorite, because let’s face it, they all got bet. So, it was that easy. Or was it? The reality is, if he had something live in there, it was a Sisyphean task (you know, that whole rock up the hill thing?) to try and bet against him. Coming from someone who had to put their picks out there day in and day out, he posed the biggest problem because if you chose a Pletcher favorite and the horse won, you were a chalk eating weasel, and if you didn’t have it, you were an idiot. You get my point.
   With the meet in full swing and having finally worked through my nerves, I had encountered early in the meet, the final month and a half offered some pretty awesome days of racing. I was able to witness horses like champions Royal Delta and Animal Kingdom, the very classy Point of Entry, not to mention rising stars Verrazano, Orb, Dreaming of Julia and Close Hatches. Those horses are worthy of a separate blog in themselves, so I’ll be sure to jot something down in the near future, so stay tuned.

Johnny DeSantis & Christina Bossinakis, Florida Derby Day

   Throughout the meet, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to work alongside several top notch people, including the Media Department’s Dave Joseph (this man is a rock star in my opinion), Ed Gray, Jack Will, Ron Nicoletti, Nicki Bernstein, and Mike Welsch, who is actually with the Daily Racing Form, but was there day in and day out and is as much a fixture at Gulfstream as is anyone else. I already mentioned John, and I’ll sum this whole thing up by saying one thing about my co-host and regular partner in crime. Known by many as Johnny D, John is as unique as he is sharp. We didn’t always agree on everything since he is a hard core handicapper while I am very much and industry girl (believe me, there were plenty of spirited debates, on and off air!), but I think we ultimately reached a middle ground that as a result, offered a broad band of information that seemed to appeal to a wider range of bettors. I can honestly say people didn’t always get to see the best of John on air. He can tell a story like nobody’s business (I was present for one such story where he has a room filled to capacity doubled over and in tears) and he has a wickedly sharp sense of humor that is not always meant for public consumption. I can’t tell you how many time we came back on air and I was still cracking up over some silly comment or random observation. Great guy and somebody who I can now call a friend.
   It has been an interesting adjustment trying get back to my life as a writer now that I am back at the TDN offices, not to mention that I don’t need to worry about what I will wear, how my hair will look after a day of intense wind and humidity (ladies, you can probably appreciate this) and who my selection will be in the sixth on the card! It was hell of a ride, that’s for sure, I consider myself much richer for the experience.