As promised, Super Sunday turned out to be a day of great racing; not only at Chester Downs but at Flamboro Downs.
In the Valley Forge, Not Enough went down to defeat, upset by 22-1 Special Sweetheart. On the first turn, Not Enough did not look particularly smooth in her stride; the suspicion here is last week's grinding victory in the Mistletoe Shalee at the Meadowlands took a toll on her. A little time off and she should be back in top form.
In the Colonial Trot, Explosive Matter set a new world record in 1:53 in a strong effort. While Explosive Matter never pulled away from the field to win by a wide margin, he showed he is the second best horse in his division. My prediction here is sometime this year, Explosive Matter will turn the tables on Muscle Hill.
Well Said rebounded from his loss in the Adios with a victory in the Battle of the Brandywine in a 1:50 score. As we said earlier, a champion bounces back from a tough loss and Well Said responded as a champion does. While Well Said had a nice win, it was not as dominating victory as he showed earlier this year; Well Said did not strike me as being invincible. While the best in his division, racing luck will be an important factor in upcoming races in this division.
North of the border, the Confederation Cup was held at Flamboro Downs. Fortunately for me, while NJAW did not handle the card from Flamboro, the track offers a live feed of their races along with free programs so I was able to watch the big race. Unfortunately for me, my handicapping of the Confederation Cup day card was better than my handicapping of the Chester card. That being said, the Confederation Cup was a race worth seeing.
In the first division, Bay of Sharks won in 1:52.1, holding off the eventual Cup victor If I Can Dream. If I Can Dream had a rough trip parked most of the mile and he was still coming at the end. After this race, I knew that If I Can Dream was the horse to watch in the final.
In the second division, River Shark won in 1:52.3 in an impressive victory. First of all, he set a blistering pace for the first half mile and then Passmaster Hanover hooked up with River Shark in a duel for the last quarter mile. Unfortunately for River Shark, the tough race would take its toll on him in the final.
In the final, If I Can Dream drew the rail (the Confederation Cup uses an open draw), Bay of Sharks drew post position three and second division winner River Shark drew post position five. The tough elimination took its toll on River Shark as he went for the lead at the start before If I Can Dream took control of the race just before the quarter. At that point River Shark was challenged hard but with the rail was able to finish second in the race. First division winner Bay of Sharks raced second over and had to go three wide to become a factor in the race. If I Can Dream really wasn't challenged and won comfortably. River Shark was actually the most impressive horse in the final finishing second. Bay of Sharks was far back for third.
The connections of If I Can Dream admitted they raced in the Confederation Cup to avoid Well Said but indicated they will be racing in the Little Brown Jug where they will take on Well Said.
As much as the racing was tops at Chester yesterday, fans who ignored the Confederation Cup missed a great race. If you did not get a chance to watch the Confederation Cup please do take the opportunity to watch the race. You will see there is still a place for half mile track racing. The racing is exciting and fans get to see what is going on. Half mile track racing is a great marketing tool to attract new fans to the sport. Hopefully, connections of top horses will recognize the need to let our stars racing on the smaller ovals and will occasionally consider the sport's interest over their own. After all, if the sport disappears, how much is their syndicated horse going to be worth?
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