Lost in Space

Danger Will Robinson!

Kentucky Downs kicks off Thursday afternoon.

Horseplayers look at Kentucky Downs as they are lost in space and have landed on a new planet.

Handicappers are not James T. Kirk, Zulu, Capt Picard or even 'Bones' Doctor McCoy when it comes down to understanding alien cultures, and at times deal with new tracks like they are Romulans, Borg or Klingon.

Kentucky Downs might as well be Vulcan to some, and think there is a special handling of the different layout and uphill stretch.

Kentucky Downs is 'kidney shaped' and is all turf.

There is no training in the morning at Kentucky Downs, no workouts, everybody ships in.

I can assure handicappers that no alien horses run at Kentucky Downs, they are flesh and blood like the horses that are running at Saratoga, Keeneland, etc.

I have gotten many 'how you handicap the Kentucky Downs turf?'

Like any other turf course, turf rider, turf breeding, and simply horse flesh.

We have a tendency of making a simple task of handicapping a turf race into an interplanetary trek.

Handicappers have gotten lazy, they want figures, tips, easy peezy.

"I start looking at trainers whom do well there and horses with success over the layout" said Amy Kearns, whom spent the summer handicapping Colonial Downs and Ellis Park, and now is tasked to collaborate on the Kentucky Downs product.

I, Racingwithbruno, handle the works from all across the nation, grass horses from Del Mar, Saratoga, Keeneland, Churchill Downs and Fair Hill are converging at Kentucky Downs.

Amy and I have been discussing the Ky Downs phenom over a number of tele calls the last week.

The average field size is 11 horses, "there is a lot of horses that come to Kentucky Downs that don't belong, but the monies is too much to pass up'' Amy correctly stated, everybody wants to take a shot and that's what racing is all about. The right to dream big.

Handicapping is a different story, you have to be honest with yourselves and if you believe that magical elves spread dixie dust on longshots, you have already lost.

Nothing is better than a sharp horse, bred for the sod with a trainer with experience at Kentucky Downs.

There is a level playing field as everybody has to take a van ride to race.

Last year, we had hot trainers at Saratoga that shipped and left with the tail tucked between the axle of the horse vans. They were shut out, did poorly.

The trainer form doesn't translate, a hot trainer from Ellis, Saratoga, Colonial, comes in and grows icicles at this meet and viceversa, a cold trainer comes in a ice cube and leaves with a pot of gold.

Kentucky Downs is just another turf course, another track, no pixie dust, no handicapping potions, a sharp horse will win, a dull horse will lose, a classy horse will prevail, no phasers, no warp coils, tycheon emissions or interspacial anomalies.

Let's go to Kentucky Downs, beam me up Scotty!