Nutmegged
- Bruno@Racingwithbruno
- Jun 26
- 3 min read
The last time we saw Sovereignty, he got nutmegged and he wasn't alone.
In World Cup speak, that's when someone slips the ball right through your legs and leaves you standing there wondering what just happened.
But more on that in a minute.
Let's start with what's hot—and that's tomorrow's Churchill Downs card. Red hot. One of the best race cards I've seen in a long time. We've got a full workout report loaded with videos, so you can judge for yourself.
The day crescendos into the Stephen Foster, featuring White Abarrio, Magnitude,
Sovereignty, and Baeza.
Now here's the chess match.
Is Bill Mott going to use Baeza to keep Magnitude honest?
The last time White Abarrio won, he took advantage of an absolutely suicidal speed duel. Sovereignty and Journalism figured they could ride Oaklawn's speed bias all the way around. Well...that didn't happen. White Abarrio came rolling right by them.
That was the nutmeg.
The Sovereignty camp got caught looking.
To be fair, they'd been winning just about every race they shipped into. Confidence is a wonderful thing...until somebody slips one through your legs.
Now Mott has sharpened Baeza's early speed with a gate work. That tells me they aren't playing for a draw.
In World Cup terms, Mott and company may be planning to double-team this field.
We've seen it before in racing. The blocker. Student Body Right into the first turn. Team tactics aren't new.
We already saw the nutmeg at Oaklawn.
Now don't be surprised if Magnitude answers with a bicycle kick—breaking like a shot, clearing the field, and finding himself exactly where he wants to be: all alone on the lead.
That's when Magnitude is at his absolute best. Leave him alone up front and he becomes a completely different horse.
The undercard isn't exactly hurting either.
Cornucopian returns after that stellar performance on May 30. The only question is the quick turnaround. He's back in less than 30 days, and historically he hasn't strung together back-to-back wins on that kind of schedule. His only consecutive victories were separated by nearly 60 days.
But here's the twist.
It's been raining for two straight days.
Churchill's main track is as good as any in America when the weather turns ugly. The surface handles moisture beautifully. We may still get good turf, but if conditions deteriorate, expect the main track to play wet fast.
And now...
The part you simply can't make up.
Breaking news this morning.
A former outrider was arrested in Kentucky over an incident involving a 20-year-old woman....and a dog.
This is even better than the morning at Gulfstream Park where Peter Walder showed up at the track 9:55 am with horses ready to breeze on the rail at the finish line waiting, with a dog and a grocery bag from Publix.
Yep, better than that.
A former outrider, a 20 year old woman and dog, the first two got arrested.
That's the kind of headline that sounds like it got rejected by Duck Dynasty for being a little too much. Maybe Swamp People. Maybe Deliverance.
Yup somebody including the dog got nutmegged.
I'll keep this PG because, well...some stories don't need much embellishment to be rated X, but all of the involved, including the dog may have gotten, indeed, nutmegged.
One thing is certain.
From the starting gate to the finish wire—and sometimes long after the horses are back in the barn—there's never a dull moment in the horse racing business, where anyone could take it in the shorts.
