A day of celebration not only for HRP who reach a milestone that would be the envy for many online endeavors, but a day to remember a man who gave so much of his time and love to the game.

It will be for others to talk of Mike, I knew him only as a ‘boss’ but in my limited contact with him he was always a fair and tolerant man whose enthusiasm for the game shone through in every correspondence. I remember a time when I had written something from my rebellious heart which in hindsight was really, really baddly thought out. He had fielded the compliant about it and dealt with me in a way that reflected his kindness and fairness.
In truth, I have never been the easiest employee, I tend to write with a bit of an edge and will take any opportunity to explore some rather controversial theories, hopefully with humor and fairness, but I will never not say something that crossed my mind. That can be hard for anyone trying to maintain a popular newspaper, but Mike only ever encouraged me and occasionally had to pull on the reins but always did so with equal humor and fairness.
Thank you, Mike, for everything you will be truly missed but always part of our lives.

So, onto HRP, well I think we will all agree HRP is like an annoying Sibling. You love it beyond comprehension, but it makes you as mad as hell on a regular basis. It would be lovely for HRP to open up and take us through the whole story of HRP, how it was developed, where it is going but in a way its mystery is in many ways its appeal.
There are plenty of players that have been here for a large majority of the life of the game and if we look back, we can see just how far the game has come and just how thankless we all are at times. I remember when I first arrived, there were a handful of players, none of whom would talk to me or help and all of whom were trying to make hay whilst the sun was shining. There were BC’s with small fields and grade ones being won by 20 lengths, there were a handful of races a day filled by the same names, it was a long, long way from what we see today. You could purchase an autogen four-year-old and have it winning a grade one in its second race and a month after it was born, you didn’t have to worry about getting your horse in a stakes race if it had won $3,000 because the fields were never full.
So, for once today let’s send HRP a message, thank you. Thank you for bringing us together in this wonderful game and thank you for bringing us all on this journey. Go on, start a thread on the forum, send a PM, but do it without prejudice, because just sometimes you have to tell that annoying sibling you love them.

Well onto the day at FG and what a great day it is. We have six races starting with a three and up maiden claimer and ending in The Mike La Rosa Stakes which has drawn a field worthy of the man himself. I know that Cozman will be covering the day live so I won’t be covering each race in detail but here are my thoughts on each race.

Race one: Kindly sponsored by Smokey Stover.

The three-year-olds get a handy weight allowance here and we are just starting to see that three-year-old dominance we are used to come to fruition. It is not like the old days where a three year old claimer could beat a stakes quality four-year-old, but there is still some advantage that can be seen growing as the year moves on. The two three-year-olds that stand out here are Payday Sunset who worked a sub 1.11 dirt six furlongs after two very close seconds and maybe Explosion who, whilst he doesn’t have the same work times to shout about, he was only beaten a half-length in a big-ticket BEL maiden last time. Derby Glory is another with some nice works and solid form at a better level than this, but he carries a bit more weight thanks to a jockey who forgot where the sauna was. A similar thing for plenty Good which has chosen to take the weight instead of a lower claiming price and whilst he looks a very good winning chance that may be a burden that sees him defeated. The older horses are pretty well presented here with Open Heart Surgery and Antiquity looking solid and with only 119Lbs they may still have the edge over their younger rivals.

Result for me: 2 – 8 – 1

Race two: Kindly sponsored by HRP.

Williams 9 throws three runners into this race in the hope of picking up the bonus credits and of the three Fox New Looks the most likely to come out on top. But though they have increased their chances of winning I am not sure any of their runners can beat Hurried who looked very sharp in her first work after a decent debut run. Palmy North is another who looked good pre-race and did well on debut and should be right in this along with Double Zee and Katmandu. The SRF part of me will be cheering for Little White Feather from Paradise Stable who would be a popular winner but as with all these two-year-old races it is really hard to know how quickly or slowly they are progressing.

Result for me : 6 – 7 – 10

Race three; Kindly sponsored by HRP.

Another really hard race to call, there aren’t really any stand outs here but I rather like Charismatic Leader and Finishing Post. The SRF is represented again by Paradise with Twentyone Guns who I have heard is Silky Whites pick, but I wouldn’t be throwing out my own runner here who was pretty good on debut.

Result for me: 2 – 4 – 1

Race Four: Kindly Sponsored by the SRF writers.

These last three races are where we start to see some real quality and in this race the quality of Canary For One is a standout. Third in last season’s BC Fillies and Mares Sprint she probably represents the best form on paper and a good draw, and her class could well be enough. Her form this year hasn’t been at its best though so that brings in the likes of Her World and Creepy Chill with Frosty Song on the outside for odds. Good Intentions has the form to win and may be a bit forgotten on the rail, but we all know the race engine has to be on its best behavior these days for the rail gate to get a fair run.

Result for me: 6 -1 – 5

Race Five: Kindly sponsored by the SRF writers.

Eye Witness and Daddys A Baller catch my eye in the top half of the draw both are working strongly and have good gates to work with but as we push out wider, we come to White Sunshine a graded stakes winner for Tinkey who I have always thought highly of. Federation and R Lopez are right in it and Night Rider seems to have the Midas touch at times, so I wouldn’t be writing off Battle City.

Result for me: 6 – 8 – 2

Race six, Kindly sponsored by the SRF writers.

We have a great field for this with the stand outs on achievement being Always Condottieri, Affirmed Authority and Quiet Hero with Casper Point, Immookielee and Phar Lap right there too. All of those horses have proven stakes ability with probably Always Condottieri and Affirmed Authority being the best of those. On the works front there isn’t much between them as usual, but Casper Point has been working some really nice dirt mile times and being a five-year-old he could be on his way up the improvement curve. Broad Bush is also tearing up the track in his works and may also be a five-year-old on the up. You can never leave out an Mb runner and Quiet Hero was fourth in the WO Mile last year and is working well so he must be in calculations too.

Result for me: 3 – 7 – 11

Categories: EDITORIAL, FEATURED STORIES