Thoroughbred Beat

THOROUGHBRED BEAT

JANUARY 25, 2007

by James Scully

Booze spot -- Trainer Richard Dutrow was touting LIQUOR CABINET (Ire) (Hennessy) prior to the Aqueduct H. (G3), stating that "As long as he stays how

he is, I see a real future for him." He probably didn't expect him to run so big

on Saturday. Liquor Cabinet crushed a decent group of rivals in the 1 1/16-mile

Aqueduct, opening up by more than a dozen lengths before winning by nine, and registered

a sensational 114 BRIS Speed rating. A lightly raced six-year-old, Liquor

Cabinet missed nearly the entire 2005 season and raced very sparingly last year.

He appears to be just starting to reach his potential. Equipped with an aluminum

pad to protect his foot on Saturday, Liquor Cabinet improved his mark to 12-5-5-0

and established himself as an older horse to watch. The New Orleans H.

(G2) on March 10 will be his next stop.

Eclipse surprises -- There weren't any shockers at Monday's Eclipse

Awards, but Edgar Prado, who won best jockey over a deserving Garrett Gomez, and Miesque's Approval (Miesque's Son), who earned his only Grade 1

win in the Breeders' Cup Mile and edged out The Tin Man (Affirmed) for champion

turf horse, were a little surprising. However, I thought the biggest upset was

Wait a While (Maria's Mon), who was named champion three-year-old filly. I'm not

saying she didn't deserve it. I just couldn't believe she won because Wait a

While did most of her damage on the turf, winning the American Oaks (G1), Yellow

Ribbon S. (G1) and Lake Placid S. (G2) on the sod. Those

qualifications will usually limit a filly to consideration for only champion

turf female, but Eclipse voters looked at the big picture with Wait a While.

Sunshine bonanza -- The format works well. Count me among those who

were skeptical five years ago when the Sunshine Millions debuted, but the

eight-race card for horses bred in California and Florida is proving to be a

smashing success. Last year's program included Lava Man (Slew City Slew),

Bordonaro (Memo [Chi]) and Miesque's Approval, and the first two are back this

year along with quality runners like Sweetnorthernsaint (Sweetsouthernsaint),

Take D' Tour (Tour d'Or), Nightmare Affair (Out of Place) and Proud Tower Too

(Proud Irish). Full fields have been assembled for seven of the eight events,

and the Sunshine Millions program has carved out a good niche for itself on the

calendar. I just hope they don't try to stretch themselves too thin in the

future with an extra day that contains three more races.

Just like old times -- Turfway Park canceled on Sunday. I believe they

spent about $10 million to put in the Polytrack, and inclement weather was a big

reason they installed it. But overnight snow (which had been predicted for

several days) was apparently to blame for the loss of racing on Sunday, even

though many roads in the area began to clear up as soon as the sun came up.

Since Polytrack was installed in 2005, Northern Kentucky has experienced two of

the mildest winters ever. On the lone occasion that they received a little snow

last winter, Turfway canceled. Most of their handle doesn't come from the 3,000

or so people who normally attend on a Sunday in January, and their attendance

wouldn't have suffered much last Sunday. Horseplayers at home or in simulcast

facilities were left wondering what's going on.

Old Timers -- A pair of old timers, 11-year-old POPPED CORN (Alwuhush)

and 10-year-old

TRICK BAG (Personal Flag), ran well at Sam Houston last Sunday. The oldest

horses to compete at the Texas track last week, these venerable geldings

finished one-two in the 3RD race, with Popped Corn easily winning on

the lead as Trick Bag closed for the runner-up spot. Both are

well-known to Sam Houston fans, making more than 30 starts each at the track,

and Popped Corn and Trick Bag have combined to post a record of 185-37-43-34.