Analyze It in Cecil B DeMille Stakes at Delmar Nov 26 2017

What distinguishes superforecasters is the ability to put aside their opinions at least temporarily and just focus on accuracy. - Tedlock in Superforecasters

Analyze It captures the G1 Cecil B DeMille

A quick take this time - The Cecil B DeMille G1 Stakes at Delmar marked the absolute end of this year's Bing Crosby meet where the turf meets the surf*.

These were 2 year olds and hard to rate, having run only a little. And they are rookies, wide on the turns, and traffic can be messy. The pace order projected to be q1: 5-2-3; q:2: 2-5-4; final: 2-3-9-4. Equibase high speed went like: Analyze it (2) 108; Publius Syrus (6) 102; Inscom (9) 102; Armor Plate (5) 100.

A simple semi thoughtless mechanical stab would give you: 2, 6 over 2, 5, 6, 9

And with the exception of the 5 ($26.90) and 9 being out and the 4 being in, that is how it turned out.

Final order: 2-6-4-8

So you had the exacta… but the payout only paid for the bet -- in fact, you would have lost 10 cents.
The chart tells us Number 2 Analyze It, Jose Ortiz, Chad Brown $0.50 had good early speed, dueled inside, inched away leaving the second turn and drew clear under a vigorous mostly hand ride. More than good speed, Analyze It achieved stakes record time of 1:11.94.

 Also, (6) Publius Syrus (Kent Desormeaux/Vladimir Cerin $6.50) was steadied early and 4wd in the lane;    (4) East Rand, (Drayden Van Dyke/Jeff Mullins 80.00) was steadied early and 4wd in the lane;  8 Choo Choo, Joel Rosario/Jerry Hollendoffer, 22.40) was steadied early and again late; and (9) Inscom, Flavien Prat/ Simon Callaghan , 3.70) was steadied at the 4 1/2 pole, and 5 wd in the lane. Hey this sounds like a billiards match! Best watch the vid Wont hear from Trevor Denman for awhile either.




It all boiled down to another turf win for the now vaunted Chad Brown barn. At the moment Analyze It appears like a super horse.

According to Curtis Kalleward at Thoroughbred Racing Dudes, Ortiz said: “I wasn’t expecting to be in front; I thought I’d sit off the speed. But he broke so well and he was going to easy, I just let him roll along. When we went to the 3/8 pole, I knew I had it won. I still had a lot of horse under me. I love riding horses like this; when you ask them to go, they go.”

Funny side note to the weekend: East Coast invaders swept the turf stakes, leading folks to conclude that East Coast turf horses are better these days. Analyze It! - Racetrack Romeo


Cecil B. Demille chart :
http://www.equibase.com/yearbook/Chart.cfm?tk=DMR&rd=2017-11-26&rn=9&de=D&cy=USA

P.S. Redux. The Cecil B DeMille Stakes at Delmar marked the absolute end of this year's Bing Crosby meet where the turf meet the surf. Such names do conjure! With DeMille one (well, one from the dimming golden age) thinks of Sunset Blvd, the absolute all time Hollywood send up. When the pictures were big. One thinks too of Highway 61 Revisited, and Bob Dylan's mournful wish for Brother Bill:

I wish I could give Brother Bill his big thrill
I would set him in chains at the top of the hill
The send out for some pillars, and Cecil B. DeMille
He could die happily ever after.

*Maybe I should keep track of clichés on this blog!