Thoroughbred Beat

THOROUGHBRED BEAT

FEBRUARY 8, 2007

by James Scully

Donn agility -- INVASOR (Arg) (Candy Stripes) nearly went down in

Saturday's Donn H. (G1), clipping heels and stumbling as he exited the far turn.

The 2006 Horse of the Year had rallied up the rail into contention, but he ran

out of room. As jockey Fernando Jara went to swing him outside of pacesetter

Barcola (Old Trieste), that rival drifted off the rail, right into Invasor's

path. It was a scary situation, and most horses would be through at this point.

It clearly cost Invasor his momentum, but the five-year-old quickly recovered

and took off again after straightening into the stretch, reaching the front at

the sixteenth pole and easily drawing clear. Invasor didn't beat much in the

Donn and his 106 BRIS Speed rating is subpar for his standards. But his Donn

victory was very memorable.

Wire-to-wire -- NOBIZ LIKE SHOBIZ (Albert the Great) opened his 2007

campaign with a front-running score in Saturday's Holy Bull S. (G3), recording a

1 1/2-length victory as the 3-5 favorite. The once-beaten colt got away with a

slow opening half-mile (:47) while in hand on a clear lead and had plenty left

to withstand the surprising late challenge of 27-1 outsider Drums of Thunder

(Concerto). Nobiz Like Shobiz remains one of the leading Kentucky Derby (G1)

contenders, but the Holy Bull came around only one turn with a false pace. Look

for him to revert to rating tactics next time. The 1 1/8-mile Fountain of Youth

S. (G2) on March 3 should be his first true test of the year.

Promising -- RAVEL (Fusaichi Pegasus) drew attention when impressively

breaking his maiden at Hollywood Park in early December and easily passed his

first test against winners in Saturday's Sham S. (G3), rallying from off the

pace to a one-length win. As was the case with Notional (In Excess [Ire]) in the

San Rafael S. (G2) a couple of weeks back, I'm not sure what Ravel beat, but he

did it the right way. New Mexico shipper Song of Navarone (Sultry Song), exiting

a runner-up finish in the Riley Allison Futurity at Sunland Park, threw a brief

scare into his Sham rivals with a strong bid into the stretch, but the longshot

couldn't match strides late with Ravel and runner-up Liquidity (Tiznow),

settling for third, beaten a total of four lengths. Ravel improved his record to

3-2-1-0 and earned a commendable 102 BRIS Speed rating, notching his third

straight triple-digit Late Pace number as well. There's a lot to like about the

promising Kentucky Derby candidate.

Debuter -- CURLIN (Smart Strike) looked like a sophomore with a future

when making his career debut at Gulfstream on Saturday, sprinting right to the

lead through fractions in :22 3/5 and :45 2/5 before drawing off superbly in the

stretch. Seven furlongs is a tricky distance for first-time starters, but Curlin

handled it with ease, registering a 101 Speed rating for his 12 3/4-length

triumph. The Helen Pitts charge had been working up a storm, posting two recent

bullet moves, and was even more impressive in the afternoon.

Arson Squad's turn -- Very little separated English Channel (Smart

Strike) and Cacique (Ire) last year as the top-class turf horses took turns

beating each other. A similar rivalry appears to be developing on the West Coast

between ARSON SQUAD (Brahms) and MIDNIGHT LUTE (Real Quiet). They squared off

for the third consecutive time (all three legs of the Strub series) in

Saturday's Strub S. (G2), with Arson Squad getting the best of Midnight Lute on

this occasion. In the Malibu S. (G1) and San Fernando Breeders' Cup S. (G2),

Midnight Lute was the better horse. Brother Derek (Benchmark), Awesome Gem

(Awesome Again) and Spring at Last (Silver Deputy) add further depth to a pretty

exciting group of four-year-olds in Southern California's handicap division.

Explanation -- Jockey Rene Douglas returned to work last week after

being embroiled in a secret investigation. That begs the question: Did somebody

get to the witnesses or destroy the evidence? One of 10 jockeys banned in early

December due to the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau (TRPB), Douglas won't

receive any apologies for the financial losses he suffered during his six-week

ban. Racing officials can treat him any way they want to because he doesn't have

the right to due process from tracks, and neither do the other nine

jockeys who are currently on a forced, non-paid vacation. The jockeys looked

guilty when the news broke, but that's no longer the case. Instead, the

investigation is beginning to look like a very bad joke. Does anybody believe

that the TRPB has substantive evidence of wrongdoing? One thing we can count on

is the lack of an explanation when all the jockeys are cleared.