Trainer Tim Ice isn’t known throughout racing circles the way that some of his peers are. That’s quite alright by him. After all, he just got his racing license about two years ago and Summer Bird is his only charge. It’s difficult to have a big head as a trainer when you only have one horse in your stable.
What a horse though. Summer Bird is easily one of the top horses going into the Breeders’ Cup Classic. There’s just no other way to describe the Travers and Belmont Stakes winner of 2009. Ice has done about as good of a job bringing Summer Bird up to the Breeders’ Cup Classic as any horse being brought up to a race in recent memory. The fact that his arch nemesis, the super filly Rachel Alexandra, won’t be running in the Classic means that Summer Bird will go off the favorite in the race and win as the favorite.
Let’s take a look at Summer Bird’s progression up to this point. It’s a terrific study in how thoroughbred trainers get their horses ready to peak at the exact right moment.
Summer Bird was born in April of 2006 in Kentucky. He was bred by the retired cardiologist Dr. Kalarikkal Jayaraman and his wife retired pathologist Dr. Vilasini Jayaraman. The good doctor and his good doctor wife bred Summer Bird at their farm in Ocala, Florida. Summer Bird is the son of Kentucky Derby winner Grindstone. His dam is the mare Hong Kong Squall, herself a daughter of Preakness winner Summer Squall.
Summer Bird’s bloodlines are exceptional. On his dad’s side are both Unbridled and the brilliant Northern Dancer. On his mother’s side are the great Alydar and the even greater Secretariat. His mother’s father, Alysheba, a son of Alydar, won the Kentucky Derby in the late 1980’s.
Good breeding obviously gave Tim Ice something to work with, but the trainer still had to get Summer Bird to where he is today, on the verge of winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic. How did he do that?
Summer Bird first showed signs of possible greatness when losing the Arkansas Derby. Summer Bird went 5 wide at the quarter pole and, once he switched leads, was gaining on both Old Fashioned and Papa Clem, but he just ran out of real estate. He ran past both of those after crossing the finish line. It was a huge, huge race for Summer Bird who showed that he had a ton of upside.
His next race, the Kentucky Derby, was actually a much better run than it looked at first. He finished 6th, losing to his half-brother Mine That Bird by 13 lengths, but while Mine That Bird took the inside on his way to Derby glory, Summer Bird went 7 wide around the final turn. It was a breathtaking move that came up short. On that day, the inside was playing perfectly while the outside was a mess. Mine That Bird got the better trip and thumped him, but Summer Bird’s performance was amazing. Even though the race was out of reach, Summer Bird kept running hard down the lane and passed enough of his foes to finish 6th.
After skipping the Preakness Stakes, Ice decided to run Summer Bird in the final leg of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes. Trip horseplayers had caught on to Bird’s awesomeness. He was bet fairly well in the Belmont and ran to his odds. The running line will show that Summer Bird dominated Dunkirk and Mine That Bird by 2 ¾ lengths. Watching the Belmont again, most gamblers would have to agree that the margin of victory could have been much more. Summer Bird was near the back of the pack pretty much around the final turn and had to wait for an opening at the top of the stretch before unleashing his powerful late kick. It was an eye-opening performance.
Even in his loss to Rachel Alexandra in the Haskell Invitational, Summer Bird showed that he had turned into a horse to be reckoned with. Running on mud for the first time in his life, Summer Bird had a built in excuse for running a bad race, but he didn’t run a bad race. Jockey Kent Desormeaux, after surveying the field, put Summer Bird near the lead. It was a risky move as Summer Bird’s best running had been from off the pace. The move paid off as Summer Bird finished 2nd in the Haskell. There’s nothing wrong with getting dueled into submission by Rachel Alexandra and a replay of the race shows that Summer Bird actually accelerated in the lane to out run Munnings to the wire.
Summer Bird has run two more times since the Haskell Invitational. In both races, he was absolutely brilliant. In the Grade I Travers, the Mid-Summer Derby, Summer Bird beat Hold Me Back and Quality Road by 3 ½ lengths. He did so by stalking the pace instead of closing into it. In the Jockey Gold Cup, Ken Desormeaux put him near the lead again and once again, Summer Bird responded with a fantastic victory.
Summer Bird is ready to roll in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He has beaten every horse he has faced in his last three races save for the unbeatable Rachel Alexandra. He has the ability to stalk, run near the lead, or from the back of the pack, and his breeding suggests that he will only get better the more he runs.
From race to race, Summer Bird has learned something new, excelled in one way or another. All of it is due to the steady handling from trainer Tim Ice. For having only one horse in his stable, Ice sure knows how train. I suppose if your lone horse is Summer Bird, you really don’t need to train anything else.

Race-times: Bold Ruler at 1:32 pm EST and Fayette Stakes at 5:05 pm EST
The Breeders’ Cup is just around the corner. Right now, the best in the world are beginning to descend upon Santa Anita Park for the greatest two days of horse racing action in 2009.
Aqueduct and Keeneland won’t ever be Breeders’ Cup sites, but they still provide great racing on the weekends. Both tracks also happen to have the two most intriguing stakes races of Saturday on their cards.
Let’s take a look at the Grade III Bold Ruler Handicap at Aqueduct on Saturday and the Grade II Fayette Stakes at Keeneland on Saturday.
Aqueduct – Race 4
Grade III Bold Ruler Handicap
$150,000
For Three Year Olds and Upward
7 furlongs on dirt
There isn’t a whole lot of speed in this race which is one of the reasons Lucky Island could turn around his recent terrible form. After winning 4 races in a row, Lucky Island hasn’t hit the board in his last 5. His last race was horrendous, but he figures to turn things around in this. Lucky Island likes Aqueduct and if Garcia decides to go to the front with him, then he could wire this field.
Cherokee Country has busted two impressive speed ratings in a row. Both of those races were at Philadelphia Park but he doesn’t face that much better competition in this and he could be the horse to beat. Bettors should expect his odds to come down from that 4 to 1 morning line. Le Grand Cru can be an exceptionally fast horse at times and a slow horse at other times. Cru is coming off of a nice pressing victory and deserves a shot in this.
1. Lucky Island
2. Cherokee Country
3. Le Grand Cru
Keeneland – Race 9
Grade II Fayette Stakes
$150,000
For Three Year Olds and Upward
1 1/8 miles on Polytrack
National Pride hasn’t been that great in his last two starts and he does try the Polytrack for the first time in his career, but trainer Kieran McLaughlin has been awesome at Keeneland winning with 43% of his starters and National Pride has some back class. He’s worth a shot at the 12 to 1 morning line odds. Blame is one heck of a racehorse. He just lost to Regal Ransom, another good horse, in the Grade II Super Derby but he didn’t lose by much. He’s the class of this field and could easily win it with some luck. Parading returns to Keeneland after failing out at Southern California. He’s a good horse, but the odds will be short and three losses in a row may have taken away his competitive edge.
1. National Pride
2. Blame
3. Parading

Wagering StrategyRace-day: 10/31/2009
Race-time: 3:35 pm EST
Keeneland’s featured race on Saturday is the Grade II Fayette Stakes. In that race, Parading and Blame figure to take most of the action and if the past performances mean anything, one of them will probably win that race.
It makes more sense for horse betting players to look elsewhere for an overlay. A potentially profitable overlay runs in Race 6 at Keeneland on Saturday.
Let’s take a look at Race 6 at Keeneland on Saturday.
Keeneland – Race 6
$56,000 Allowance
For Three Year Olds and Upward Which Have Never Won a Race Other Than Maiden, Claiming, Starter or State Bred on the Turf
1 mile turf
Mutadda – - 4/1 morning line odds
Trainer Tom Amoss hasn’t been having as good of a Keeneland meet as most gamblers expect of him, but Mutadda could help to turn that around. The son of Muktaddim should relish the stretch out to 1 mile on the turf. Amoss is very good with shippers and this one comes in from Mountaineer. He’s also 26% dirt to turf and 25% second time off of a layoff. There’s a lot to like with this horse.
Mr. Mischief – - 8/1 morning line odds
This son of Stormy Atlantic is coming off of a very nice win at 1 1/16th miles on Arlington Park’s turf course. Mr. Mischief is 4-3-1 out of 13 lifetime races over the turf and has enough speed to stay close in this race. He could end up as a seriously tough overlay to look past if his odds drift past 8 to 1. He’s got a good shot in this at a more than fair price.
Dubious Miss – - 6/5 morning line odds
The 5 year old gelding just finished second to Furthest Land in his last, the Grade II Kentucky Cup Classic. That race was on Polytrack. This race is on the turf. Trainer Paul McGee is only 9% with all weather to turf movers. Dubious Miss is the obvious class of this race and should win this going away but the odds aren’t justified.
I like Mutadda and will bet him to win and place. I will play an exacta and trifecta box with Mutadda, Mr. Mischief and Dubious Miss.

Breeders’ Cup Firsts in the Cards for 26th Renewal
Breeders’ Cup officials, not to be outdone by President Obama, have decided this is the year of change for the 26th renewal of the World Thoroughbred Championships.
Early on two fan friendly changes were made.

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Padding Your Bankroll: Wednesday October 21
The weekend rains in New York washed out the stakes, and both were postponed and show up today and tomorrow, giving us some midweek stakes action for the racebook.
Today at Belmont Park, it is the $100,000 Athenia Stakes (G3), originally scheduled for last Saturday.

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Horses worth watching, a list of runners compiled by handicapper/turf writer Greg Melikov that should improve significantly or do well next time out, won six times, ran second five times and finished third five times since Sept. 10. These thoroughbreds are worth considering when developing your horse betting strategy.

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Horse Pick of the Day: Keeneland – Race 7
Race-day: 10/17/2009
Race-time: 4:05 pm EST
Keeneland continues their fantastic fall meet with another great Saturday card.
Although there is only one Grade I race on the card, horseplayers will be treated to a Grade III that should present an overlay or two.

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Jackson Bend will attempt to become the sixth 2-year-old to sweep all three open Florida Stallion Stakes divisions in the 18th renewal at Calder Race Course on Saturday.
The son of Hear No Evil has won three in a row, including the Affirmed and Dr. Fager. In the Affirmed on Aug. 29, the colt defeated Mr. Green by 1 ½ lengths with Bim Bam another four lengths back in third.

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Race-day: 10/10/2009
Race-times: Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity at 5:10 pm EST, Shadwell Turf Mile at 5:45 pm EST
Keeneland Racetrack is back with a flourish with five graded races scheduled this Saturday.
Keeneland used to be a boon for speed players as almost every horseplayers in the United States knew that there was inside speed bias at Keeneland. With the advent of the Polytrack, what used…

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Mine That Bird attempts to become the first Kentucky Derby champ to win the $350,000 Goodwood Stakes as a 3-year-old during Oak Tree’s 41st meeting at Santa Anita Park.
Two others that triumphed in the Run for the Roses captured the Goodwood as 4-year-olds: Silver Charm in 1998 and Ferdinand in ’87.
Only two sophomores have scored since the inaugural in ’82, including…

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Five new honorees will be inducted into the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame on Saturday at Retama Park.
The new members are racing legends Harold V. Goodman and Jeff Carr, plus three horses. In addition, former Texas Sen. O. H. “Ike” Carr of Dallas will receive the JoAnn Weber Distinguished Service Award.

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It is hard to believe September is just about over, and we are just a little over a month away from the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, which will be contested over two days on Nov.6-7 at Santa Anita Park.
That gives us some time to pad our bankroll sufficiently for the two-day event.

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Woodrow Wilson was president, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 660 and Sir Barton became the first Triple Crown winner when Belmont Park inaugurated the Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational.
The year was 1919. The winner: Purchase.

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