Road to the Roses - 2006

[Raven Hawk]

I haven't seen a thread on this, so I thought that I'd start one out. Churchill Downs has setup the latest version of the Road to the Roses fantasy games. Supposedly you can setup leagues in this version, but it requires that you finish your stable and send an e-mail to invite people to the league. I'd like to setup an FOF league, but I haven't gotten my horses picked out yet. Hopefully we can get a league going before deadline which is this Friday.

hxxp://www.roadtotheroses.com/

Current Standings:

League Rank	Score	Stable Name
1	41	QuikSand Ranch
2	35	Ravenhawk Stables
3	20	bbors bunch

[bbor]

I'd be in.

[QuikSand]

I'll be in. An FOF league would be fun.

[Raven Hawk]

The FOFC League has been started. I went ahead and made my picks just to get the league off the ground. Here is the join info:

League Name: FOFC
League Identifier: 1233643072
Activation Code: 64657221

[Senator]

Sounds fun.

[Raven Hawk]

Bump. If you're getting in for the first weekend of scored races, make sure you get your stable set before Saturday, noon.

[QuikSand]

I am hoping to get tot his today... have been a bit tied up this week, and have not even looked at the PPs yet. *sigh*

I usually enjoy this thing... hope I get a chance to at least build a stable.

[QuikSand]

Bump. I'm in. Where the hell is rksmurf on this?

[rkmsuf]

He's incredibly lazy at the moment.

[rkmsuf]

I'm registered. Can't seem to figure out how to join the league. Guess I have to pick first which will be tomorrow morning.

[Raven Hawk]

I think we're missing FishFan also, but he hasn't been around for about a month and a half. He's always had some good insight.

[Raven Hawk]

After 1 week of races (2 races) Quiksand leads 8-0-0 over myself and bbor. I suspect that it was from Too Much Bling's win in the San Vincente on Sunday with QS having Baffert as a trainer to Too Much Bling.

I figured that I would post my lineup here, so we know who's doing what:

1) ACHILLES OF TROY - Great speed horse, although he may not have a chance at longer distances.
2) PRIME MERIDIAN (GB) - I wanted to have one International horse in my stables and none of them really dazzled me, so I picked up Prime Meridian who was supposed to race last weekend, but scratched.
3) REALLY INDIAN - Won a two turner earlier this year and shows promise.
4) SCANLON'S SONG - Stable mate to Achilles of Troy. I have heard some good things about this monster of a horse, but he's very unproven. A real wild card.
5) SWEETNORTHERNSAINT - Has looked good thus far this season. Strong horse, could go the distance. Won all three starts since being gelded (ouch), with some good Beyers numbers.


6) BARBARO - Has been good over the turf, let's see how he does on dirt.
7) BROTHER DEREK - Probably the favorite after Stevie Wonderboy got injured and is off the derby path.
8) FIRST SAMURAI - Showed good at Hutcheson, although lost to Keyed Entry. Bred for longer distances than Keyed Entry and should be able to take him at two turns.
9) KEYED ENTRY - Another sprinter stock. We'll see if he can go the distance.
10) SUPERFLY - I had to get one Zito horse into the fold and Superfly looked like the best bet to me.

Jockeys-
1) Prado - Don't really need to explain this one.
2) Albarado - One of my favorites, and good to boot.

Trainiers-
1) Todd Pletcher - Too many horses entered to not pick him
2) Nick Zito - Always comes up with an entry or two in the Derby

[Raven Hawk]

dola -

Still time to enter into the contest. Considering that there was only one graded stakes race last weekend. You can still join the league and have some fun, even if you don't know what you're doing (like me).

[Raven Hawk]

This week's entries into the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs (scored race for RTTR):

10th (4:40)

Sam F. Davis S.

1 1/16 Miles Dirt Open 3 Year Olds

Stakes - Purse:$125,000

Post # Horse Jockey Weight Claim Price Equip. Med. 1 Seaside Retreat Houghton T D 122 0 L 2 Blazing Rate Penalba C 122 0 L 3 Pegasusbystorm Velasquez C 122 0 L 4 R Loyal Man Cruz M R 120 0 L 5 Hesanoldsalt Bejarano R 116 0 L 6 Bluegrass Cat Velazquez J R 122 0 L 7 Sweet Grass Creek Castillo O O 116 0 L 8 Laptop Computer Dominguez R A 116 0 L 9 Deputy Glitters Lezcano J 116 0 L 10 Electrify Castanon J L 118 0 L 11 Little Cliff Rose J 122 0 L 12 Right Flanker Charkoudian J 116 0 L

[Raven Hawk]

Results:

10th Race, Next Post 5:21 Off: 4:51

1 1/16 Miles. 3 Year Olds Stakes Purse: $121,000

# Horse Jockey Weight Win Place Show 6 Bluegrass Cat Velazquez J R 122 3.40 3.00 2.60 9 Deputy Glitters Lezcano J 116 26.40 11.20 4 R Loyal Man Cruz M R 120 4.00

Monday's Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn have been postponed to next Saturday due to frozen track conditions.

Quiksand leads the FOFC board over bbor and I by scores of 11 to 4 to 3 respectively.

[Raven Hawk]

Results - Southwest Stakes:

10th Race, Next Post 5:57 Off: 5:28

1 Mile. 3 Year Olds Stakes Purse: $250,000

# Horse Jockey Weight Win Place Show 3 Lawyer Ron McKee J 122 3.00 2.40 2.20 7 Steppenwolfer Lanerie C J 117 4.20 3.60 9 Red Raymond Quinonez L S 117 7.00 Times in 5ths: :231 :48 1:133 1:27 1:40 Times in 100ths: :23.29 :48.02 1:13.78 1:27.13 1:40.00

Also ran: Music School, Mark of Success, Sharp Attack, Kingsfield, Celluloid Hero, Travelin Leroy and Agrapha

Winning Trainer: Holthus Robert E - Owner: Estate of James T. Hines, Jr. Ron Bamberger, Executor

$2 Exacta (3-7) Paid $10.80

$1 Trifecta (3-7-9) Paid $61.40

[Raven Hawk]

Results - Borderland Derby:

11th Race, Next Post 5:31 Off: 5:04

1 1/16 Miles. 3 Year Olds Stakes Purse: $100,000

# Horse Jockey Weight Win Place Show 7 Indy Wildcat Baze M C 116 20.00 10.20 5.60 1A Wait in Line Juarez A J Jr 118 15.80 6.00 2 Disappearing Trick Tohill K S 122 4.40 Times in 5ths: :223 :453 1:103 1:372 1:444 Times in 100ths: :22.74 :45.69 1:10.62 1:37.58 1:44.82

Also ran: Belligerence, Our Father, Might Be Hooked, El Salvador, Doctor Decherd, Plagiarist and Beck and Call

Winning Trainer: Capestro Paula S - Owner: Bearing Point Ventures or Paula S Capestro

$1 Exacta (7-1) Paid $157.80

$2 Trifecta (7-1-2) Paid $2,396.60

$1 Pick 4 (3-3-3-7) 4 Correct Paid $889.50 Pick 4 Pool $3,558

[QuikSand]

I thought LAWYER RON was the class of the southern tier, and got him into my stable largely on those grounds... but it looks like the 3/18 field is going to attract some of the East Coast runners. We'll find out if he's worth much then, I reckon.

[Raven Hawk]

Results from this weekend:

Fountain of Youth Stakes

10th Race, Next Post 6:02 Off: 5:31

1 1/8 Miles. 3 Year Olds Stakes Purse: $300,000

# Horse Jockey Weight Win Place Show 6 First Samurai Prado E S 120 3.40 2.60 2.20 10 Flashy Bull Bejarano R 116 6.20 3.80 7 DQ-Corinthian Castellano J J 116 4.00 Times in 5ths: :234 :481 1:121 1:36 1:49 Times in 100ths: :23.86 :48.30 1:12.36 1:36.05 1:49.00

Swale Stakes

7th Race, Next Post 4:27 Off: 3:57

7 Furlongs. 3 Year Olds Stakes Purse: $150,000

# Horse Jockey Weight Win Place Show 11 Sharp Humor Guidry M 118 29.60 10.80 6.80 2 Noonmark Bridgmohan S X 116 3.60 2.80 7 Court Folly Decarlo C P 116 4.60 Times in 5ths: :22 :442 1:091 1:22 Times in 100ths: :22.03 :44.58 1:09.23 1:22.14

Santa Catalina Stakes

5th Race, Next Post 2:53 Off: 2:16

1 1/16 Miles. 3 Year Olds Stakes Purse: $200,000

# Horse Jockey Weight Win Place Show 7 Brother Derek Solis A 122 3.00 2.80 2.10 9 Sacred Light Gryder A T 115 6.80 2.10 3 Latent Heat Valenzuela P A 118 2.10 Times in 5ths: :231 :461 1:101 1:352 1:414 Times in 100ths: :23.27 :46.31 1:10.31 1:35.41 1:41.96

Baldwin Stakes

4th Race, Next Post 2:16 Off: 1:41

6 1/2 Furlongs. 3 Year Olds Stakes Purse: $110,500

# Horse Jockey Weight Win Place Show 10 Fast Parade Gomez G K 115 15.40 6.00 2.10 12 The Pharaoh Baze T C 114 5.20 2.10 11 Da Stoops Espinoza V 122 2.10 Times in 5ths: :21 :432 1:081 1:15 Times in 100ths: :21.03 :43.40 1:08.36 1:15.11

John Battaglia Stakes

10th Race, Next Post 6:07 Off: 5:40

1 1/16 Miles. 3 Year Olds Stakes Purse: $100,000

# Horse Jockey Weight Win Place Show 2 Laity Lanerie C J 121 15.80 9.20 6.40 5 Pair of Kings Bracho R A 115 23.60 11.60 4 New Awakening Chavez C R 115 21.20 Times in 5ths: :233 :473 1:122 1:394 1:464 Times in 100ths: :23.75 :47.68 1:12.52 1:39.84 1:46.88

[Raven Hawk]

I hit big with the First Samurai/Prado combo this weekend. Brother Derek is the favorite coming out of the first Derby future pool, so it's no surprise that he got a win at Santa Anita. Quik is out in front with 41 and I'm right behind him with 35. bbor has fallen back with 20 pts.

[QuikSand]

It was so naive of me to exclude BROTHER DEREK from my stable -- I still think he's cheap early speed, but that's hat plays well out West, and I shoudl have known that. I opted to use LATENT HEAT instead, which looks like a sucker play. I think DEREK is a total pretender for the Derby this year, and am glad to be in against him in the big picture -- but for this contest I just left too many points on the table.

[Raven Hawk]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

It was so naive of me to exclude BROTHER DEREK from my stable -- I still think he's cheap early speed, but that's hat plays well out West, and I shoudl have known that. I opted to use LATENT HEAT instead, which looks like a sucker play. I think DEREK is a total pretender for the Derby this year, and am glad to be in against him in the big picture -- but for this contest I just left too many points on the table.

Yeah, I got on board with BROTHER DEREK solely for the reason that he was the favorite out west. And we all know how well being a favorite out west is directly related to derby success.

I just looked at the race schedule and saw a lot of scored races at Santa Anita, so I figured that I had to go with the guy.

As another note we can now choose our late additions to the stable. After seeing FLASHY BULL finish a neck behind FIRST SAMURAI at the Fountain of Youth, even being pushed/fouled out wide with FIRST SAMURAI by CORINTHIAN, he looked like he had some good finishing speed.

I still need to figure out who else I'm going with, but LAWYER RON comes to mind right away. The Rebel Stakes will be crowded with some good stock on the 18th.

[Raven Hawk]

I just realized that I've got 3 horses entered in the Gotham Stakes this weekend. That race looks pretty packed. My horses going: ACHILLES OF TROY, SWEETNORTHERNSAINT, and KEYED ENTRY. In addition, HESANOLDSALT is also running at Gotham. Tough field.

[QuikSand]

I have too many horses this week, need to decide who sits on the bench.

[Raven Hawk]

Final Standings:

League Rank	Score	Stable Name
1	183	QuikSand Ranch
2	170	Ravenhawk Stables
3	92	bbors bunch

I almost caught QS with the derby, with Barbaro and Prado. Should have started Bluegrass Cat. If so, I would have had the win. Instead, I decided to go with Bob & John and came up 13 points short.

My ranking: 10613 out of 25821

[QuikSand]

My stable might have been worth a damn had I just not gotten carried away with my firm opinion that BROTHER DEREK is just cheap early speed. Had I woken up long enough that cheap early speed oftren wins lots of races in SoCal, I would have squeezed him in and had a pretty solid entry overall.

I actually forgot to update my active horses for the Derby itself, and managed to leave my own key horse BARBARO inactive. But I did have Prado as well, which kept me from losing this particular contest due to sheer laziness.

[Raven Hawk]

Lol, yeah. I figured with your Derby post that you probably had Barbaro and was wondering how I made up so much ground on you.