So, 18 days and 172 races down, 18 days and 172 races to go. Some midpoint fun with numbers:
*Beyers: 17 of the 172 races have earned triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures. The leaderboard(winners only):
116--Lawyer Ron (Whitney)
106--Diabolical (Vanderbilt), My Typhoon (Diana), Burmilla (Honorable Miss)
104--Grasshopper(N2x), City Attraction (N2x), Street Sense (Jim Dandy), Shakespeare (AC), Lord Snowdon (N2x), Ready's Image (Sanford), Silver Tree (Fourstardave), Grand Couturier (Sword Dancer)
103--Most Distinguished (Amsterdam)
102--Gold and Roses (Morrissey)
101--Dream Rush (Test)
100--Digger (3M C75), Posted (NYB N1x)
*Trainers: Bill Mott leads the standings with 13 winners, followed by Rick Dutrow and Todd Pletcher with 9 each and Tom Bush with 7. Of Mott's 13 winners, 11 have paid less than $10. So have 8 of Pletcher's 9, including 6 at 2-1 or less. Of Bush's 7, however, 4 have been 10-1 or better.
*Jockeys: This has been the most crowded and evenly-matched riders' race in recent memory, with six jockeys having won between 15 and 20 races: Cornelio Velasquez (20), Kent Desormeaux (18), Edgar Prado (17), Garrett Gomez (16), John Velazquez (16) and Javier Castellano (15). Add 'em up and you'll see that sextet has won 102 of the 172 races (59.3 percent).
Velasquez's achievement is all the more remarkable for the number of longshots he has ridden and the number of different trainers he has won with, none of them named Mott or Pletcher. Six of his winners have paid $29 or more, which constitutes a full third of the 18 biggest prices at the meeting. He has won his 20 races for 16 trainers: two each for Bush, Divitto, Penna and Rice, and one each for Albertrani, Arroyo, Dollase, Dutrow, Englehart, Hernandez, Jolley, Lauer, Miceli, Serpe, Tagg and Ward.
*2-year-olds: 28 of the 172 races have been for juveniles, 26 of them maiden races. The fastest on Beyers (winners only):
Colts--104-Ready's Image, 94-The Leopard, 92-Sargent Seattle, 89-Maimonides, 83-War Pass
Fillies--94-Irish Smoke, 88-J Z Warrior, 84-Predate, 82-Twisted Tale, 75-Subtle Aly
--Otherwise, I recovered from a dismal weekend with a buck of both Monday pick-fours, and we've got a little $59k carryover into Wednesday. More on yesterday and tomorrow later tonight.
