HoldMeBackMar2309.jpgALBERT TO THE MAX

• Get ready for tons of racing action this Saturday, just over one week out from the start of WOODBINE’S 2009 season.

SATURDAY MORNING is the DUBAI WORLD CUP CARD with 97 pre-entries for its blockbuster card.

The big favourite for the DUBAI WORLD CUP (see pre-entries below) is DONN HANDICAP winner ALBERTUS MAXIMUS, seen galloping in Dubai yesterday morning.

You can watch and wager on the DUBAI CARD through the Woodbine network beginning at 9:40 a.m. SATURDAY MORNING.

Later in the day, a large Gulfstream Park card will include the FLORIDA DERBY.

Saturday, Nad Al Sheba, Dubai

DUBAI WORLD CUP-G1, $6,000,000, 4yo/up, 2000m

HORSE – SIRE – JOCKEY

Albertus Maximus – Albert the Great – Garcia

Anak Nakal – Victory Gallop – Bravo

Arson Squad – Brahms – Prado

Asiatic Boy (Arg) – Not for Sale (Arg) – Murtagh

Casino Drive – Mineshaft – Ando

Gloria de Campaeo (Brz) – Impression (Arg) – Leme

Happy Boy (Brz) – Ski Champ – Ajtebi

Joe Louis (Arg) – Lode – Ramos

Muhannak (Ire) – Chester House – Moore

Muller (Arg) – El Compinche (Arg) – Marwing

My Indy (Arg) – Indygo Shiner – Dettori

Paris Perfect (SAf) – Muhtafal – Faydherbe

Snaafy – Kingmambo – Hills

Well Armed – Tiznow – Gryder

All pre entries can be viewed here: www.bloodhorse.com/pdf/DWC20090328_PreEntries.pdf

THE LONGEST SHOT

Kentucky Derby winner Lil E. Tee dies at age of 20. The following excerpt is from USA Today but referred to LIL E. TEE as a chestnut…that part has not been included (he was a bay).

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Lil E. Tee, who upset heavily favored Arazi to win the 1992 Kentucky Derby, has died. He was 20.

The horse was euthanized at Old Frankfort Stud on March 18. Farm owner Jim Plemmons said the horse fell ill last month following an operation to repair an obstructed bowel and struggled to recover.

“He was losing his equilibrium and we didn’t want him to suffer,” Plemmons said. “Up to that point he had been fabulous. He looked like he was 10 years old.”

from WIKIPEDIA:

As a weanling, Lil E. Tee had nearly died but was saved by emergency stomach surgery. Considered to have little racing potential, he was sold for $2,000 as a yearling, and at age two his owner tried to sell him again but was rejected by an auction company who deemed the horse unsaleable. Lil E. Tee finally ended up in the hands of a Florida owner and was stabled at Calder Race Course in Miami, Florida where he showed some promise, winning a 7 furlong maiden race.

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JustLeFacts.jpgJUST DESSERTS – JUST LE FACTS RETIRED

From alexbrownracing.com:

To all who have been following this tough little guy’s racing journey, thought you might like to know that Just Le Facts has been retired!

His trainer recently sought out the Turning for Home program. Many of the folks involved with that program have been following Just Le Facts for a long, long time. One of them has adopted Just Le Facts – and Just Le Facts and his new owner couldn’t be happier!

HERE ARE SOME FACTS ABOUT JUST LE FACTS…

(previous posts about him from Thoroughblog)

9-year-old JUST LE FACTS, written about on this site many times, was 7th at Penn National last night in a $4,000 claimer. He won the Red Bank Handicap years ago and has earned over $259,000 from 48 races.

He is a horse that has been pulled up in races and has been written about in many major publications including the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS (JERRY BOSSERT) FEBRUARY – 2008

TRIPPED UP: The quality of racing at Aqueduct during the winter isn’t the best but it may have hit a new low today. Entered in the fifth is Just Le Facts, a 9-year-old gelding who “broke down” at Philadelphia Park in his last start according to the comment issued in the Daily Racing Form on Jan. 19. In his previous start, Just Le Facts was eased at Aqueduct on Dec. 27. Since breaking down, the gelding allegedly worked twice, including a bullet workout on Feb.16 over the Belmont training track.

Anyway, now we can celebrate JUST LE FACTS RETIREMENT FROM THE GAME. Good Luck JUSTIN!

BETFAIR

The Future of horse racing in North America? This is a super interview in the THOROUGHBRED DAILY NEWS TODAY…

Betfair is the pioneer in the field of betting exchanges.

In a betting exchange, customers bet against one

another. In horse racing, for example, a customer posts

odds on a horse and the amount of money he or she is

willing to accept in wagers on that horse. If another

customer wants to bet the horse at the posted price, the

bets are matched, much as buyers and sellers are

matched in traditional stock markets. Betfair accepts

wagering on a number of sports and events, everything

from horse racing, soccer games, and political elections

to whether or not it will snow on Christmas Day in

London…

http://pdfs.thoroughbreddailynews.com/generic_upload/pdf/3-23i%20BetfairQandA.pdf