Wise Dan

Racing fans were treated to some thrilling stretch runs on both sides of the Atlantic last weekend. The performances of Treve taking her second straight Arc and Wise Dan winning…again…were most remarkable. So let’s honor both greats in this week’s Horse of the Week post.

Both champions have overcome physical ailments to climb back to the pinnacle of the racing world in North America and Europe. Treve, the victim of hoof and back issues, had been absent from the winner’s circle until Saturday at Longchamp. Wise Dan landed on the operating table after a serious bout of colic over the summer.

The Blood-Horse lead their coverage of Treve’s Arc triumph with this sentence: ‘Treve left both detractors and admirers in awe’. Those words equally apply to Wise Dan’s performance in the Shadwell Turf Mile, the first seven figure race ever run at Keeneland. While he had previously returned a winner in Saratoga’s Bernard Baruch Handicap his razor-thin victory that day left many wondering if he was still the same animal. Some doubts began to manifest even before his surgery when he downed Seek Again by just a head (after a brutal trip) in the Turf Classic on Derby Day.

Treve goes out a winner. Her owner, Sheikh Joaan confirmed via Twitter on October 7 that his great mare was done racing and would visit the court of leading European stallion Dubawi next year. Wise Dan, however, is on to the Breeders’ Cup. But which race? Wise Dan’s connections have flirted with the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the past before collecting a pair of Breeders’ Cup Mile trophies. After the Shadwell Turf Mile trainer Charlie LoPresti was interviewed by Mike Battaglia and said ‘you don’t know how many more Breeders’ Cups he has left’, indicating that a run on dirt in the Classic is being more seriously considered this time around.

Imagine a Breeders’ Cup Classic with the unbeaten Shared Belief, dual Classic winner California Chrome, Belmont/Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Tonalist, the speedy Bayern AND Wise Dan? It’s easy if you try. Let’s hope LoPresti and owner Morton Fink are dreaming along with us.

So we say ‘merci, au revoir’ to Treve and ‘thanks for another thrill, see you in Cali’ to Wise Dan, two all-time champions riding off to different sunsets.

-originally posted on http://www.myfantasystable.com

We’re halfway through 2014 so it’s time for the Mid-Year Awards:

Older Male

Two-time defending Eclipse Award Horse of the Year Wise Dan earned a pair of Grade 1 victories in Kentucky this spring before his scary bout with colic. However, we’ll give this one to Palace Malice who has four graded wins this year by a combined 16 1/2 lengths. He overcome some trouble to conquer a stellar field in the Met Mile on Belmont Stakes Day and that win puts him over the top.

Older Female

The Belmont Stakes undercard had a very Breeders’ Cup feel to it and the Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) essentially decided the Mid-Year Award in this division. Close Hatches fended off Princess of Sylmar with Eclipse Champion Beholder back in fourth. The First Defence filly is unbeaten in three starts this year, including another Grade 1 tally in the Apple Blossom Stakes (G1) at Oaklawn Park.

3YO Male

Three Grade 1 wins, including the Derby and Preakness make California Chrome a no-brainer here. But…we’ve always thought Shared Belief was a superstar and these two could meet twice later this year in California. It’s been over 40 years since a dual Classic winner didn’t get the Eclipse Award for champion 3YO male, but…

3YO Female

Untapable, no other filly is close. No other filly is a threat to her the second half of the year.

Sprinter

This division is very much up in the air. 2014 Grade 1-winning sprinters like Dads Caps (Carter S.) and Declassify (Triple Bend S.) don’t have an additional graded win to back up their claims. Dads Caps was in the field when Clearly Now dominated the Belmont Sprint Championship (G2) on July 5. There have been an awful lot of good horses who have run 7 furlongs at Belmont Park over the years but the track record for the distance now belongs to Clearly Now. Let’s give nod to him. Honorable mention goes to the three-year-old Bayern who posted perhaps the most impressive sprint performance of the year in the Woody Stephens Stakes (G2) on Belmont Day.

Turf

Two Grade 1’s for champ Wise Dan in 2014 keeps him on top of this division.

Filly & Mare Turf

A slight nod to the much-improved Coffee Clique here. Although both at a mile, she does have Grade 2 and Grade 1 wins over strong fields this year.

Horse of the Year

Califorina Chrome’s three important Grade 1 wins are certainly formidable but it’s hard to go with him when I think Palace Malice is simply a better horse. Palace Malice is the pick while for Mid-Year Horse of the Year while we look ahead to an exciting second half of 2014!

(originally published on http://www.myfantasystable.com)

Horse(s) of the Week: Treve & Wise Dan

The Mid-Year Awards