El Prado

Edgar Prado was just named as the jockey for Casino Drive. Although I hadn't mentioned it before, Casino Drive was having a bit of a jockey problem recently. His rider in the Peter Pan Stakes recently was none other than Kent Desormeaux, Big Brown's regular rider. Casino Drive's jock in his only other start was some Japanese bloke, and the owers were concerned about using a jockey unfamiliar with the track or with American racing ways. Up comes Edgar Prado who, if he can pull off a win next week against Mr. Big, will rightfully earn the title (in my mind at least) of Triple Crown Killer. He was also aboard Sarava, who upset War Emblem's bid for the crown back in 2002, and Birdstone, who ran down Smarty Jones in his Belmont Stakes loss.

In other news

-It hasn't been a good week to be a filly. Hell, it hasn't been a good month to be a filly. Nashoba's Key, a quality turf racemare who I was rather fond of, broke her leg kicking the side of her stall in a freak accident and had to be euthanized. To all those racing detractors that say the sport is dangerous for horses, here's proof that just standing in a safe, homely barn can be dangerous to horses. Meanwhile, Panty Raid (and there is an excellent horse name if I've ever heard one), another good mare, was retired from a non-career threatening injury. Why would she be retired from something that was non-career threatening? I have no idea. Her connections say it was because she wouldn't be able to race until fall. Yeah, well, there are races in the fall. There's races in the winter too, and next spring and...oh, just leave it. If they don't try to rush her into a breeding shed for a late cover then I will just have to shake my head in dismay.

-Curlin returned to the track Monday and worked a smooth six furlongs in 1:12.20 in preparation for the Stephen Foster Handicap on June 14th. Wow, a great racehorse not retired before the prime of his 4-year old career. Who would have thunk it?

Next time I think I'll do another Horse Racing for N00bs installment. So which lesson would you rather have: "Who's Your Daddy?", "What's in a Name?", "Horse Race Slang", or "How to Read a Past Performace Sheet".