Just noticed while capping this card that the 2008 winners from all three supporting stakes are back to try to defend their titles... Pretty cool considering the constant yammering about 'lack of stars' etc. I've said regularly that the 'stars' are there and easy to appreciate if some marketing entity would laud them.
Five year old '08 Shakertown hero Mr. Nightlinger is 19/9-1-4 ($500k) and won 4 stakes last year for likable Bret Calhoun. 6yo Rebellion (21/7-4-4; $740k) never seemed to reach the apex Motion sought with him last year, but he did win the Commonwealth and Ack Ack and place in the Pat O'Brien and BC Synthetic Mile. Finally, enigmatic Rutherienne (17/9-0-6; $921,555) promptly ran third in 6 straight graded stakes last year after homering in her '08 debut in the Jenny Wiley.
Aren't there people out there that are fans of these horses after 19, 21 and 17 starts respectively? Or do 3yo colts have to be the only stars in the game?
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