Post Time: Racing Kreskin wrap up for 2023

This year’s Racing Kreskin predictions are in the books.

After batting .300 for the last two years, the Racing Kreskin was looking to enter Ted Williams country, at least making it to .400. He showed some midseason success before riding into the sunset after the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita Park earlier in the month.

His New Year’s Day selections well before the racing season gets into gear are a tradition that will continue in this corner and his 2024 edition in six weeks is already percolating.

Hopefully, Western New York will continue to believe in the Racing Kreskin, while their football team’s hopes got a boost in the hunch bet arena. 

Billieve in Josh, who turned in a stunning 30-1 win in his debut at Finger Lakes last year,  and did it again this week at the Canandaigua track. He won the second race on Tuesday at a whopping 65-1 for trainer Brooke Ficarella, paying $133 for a $2 win bet. The Racing Kreskin thinks it might be time to start believing in a certain local quarterback after that performance by his namesake.

Let’s get right down to business and review each of this year’s predictions and results:

Cyberknife carves out a win in the Pegasus. A 3-year-old star in his 2022 campaign, the son of Gun Runner, the 2018 Pegasus winner, came up short in South Florida in the kickoff race of the 2023 year for older horses. Instead, Art Collector sprung the upset at 15-1, as the favored Cyberknife finished in sixth-place before heading to Spendthrift Farm for his next career in the breeding shed. Whiffed on the opener.

We have a dead heat in one of the Derby prep races. The crystal ball must have been a little murky when he saw this happening. None of the preps gave us a photo finish in any of the top three spots. The Racing Kreskin is in a bit of a rut on the onset.

The Kentucky Derby winner will come from an inside gate between 1 and 6. This prognostication has been fruitful for the Racing Kreskin over the years, but not this year. Mage won with saddle cloth No. 8, but hold all tickets, there were five scratches, unfortunately none was a horse located inside of Mage. We’re 0-for-3, folks.

The Derby winner will come out of the Florida Derby. We’re on the board! Mage, who finished second behind Forte in the Florida Derby, took advantage of his rival’s scratch to win at Churchill Downs, giving jockey Javier Castellano his first win in the Run for the Roses. Upward to .250 on the scorecard.

First time training winner in this year’s Derby. With previous winners Todd Pletcher and Brad Cox having a third of the field, this one wasn’t looking so good. However, Mage’s trainer, Gustavo Delgado Sr., picked up his first win in the Derby to give the Racing Kreskin two in a row. At the halfway point, we’re 2-for-5.

We have a shot at a Triple Crown winner. This one is always in play if the Derby winner runs back in the Preakness. In fact, he was the only horse that ran in Louisville to show up in Baltimore. To the Racing Kreskin’s chagrin, the pace of the race didn’t materialize for the late-closing colt, who settled for a decent third behind National Treasure and Blazing Sevens. Hot streak ends.

The Haskell Hat is Gray. The Racing Kreskin historically has struggled with the Haskell Hat selection, and 2023 was no different. Lavender, yes…lavender, was the color of choice in ’23 down by the shore, putting us at 2-for-7. 

Canadian Triple Crown is in play after the Prince of Wales. Only once since 2003, when Wando captured the Canadian triple, has a horse swept the first two legs of the Triple Crown, and that was in Covid-19-year 2020. For a change, the King’s Plate winner didn’t skip the Prince of Wales at Fort Erie, he just didn’t win, finishing third in the slop at the border oval. The comeback has been thwarted, and the wheels are starting to loosen on ole Kreskin.

Chad finally gets his Travers. Other than the Derby, this is the race that continues to elude perennial Saratoga training leader Chad Brown. His best hope for the Travers, Blazing Sevens, threw a clunker in the Curlin Stakes, a prep for the Travers, finishing third at 3-5 odds.

Controversy at the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita. Not quite chaos at the Cup in Southern California, but enough to earn a nod for this prediction. A scratch of Belmont/Travers winner Arcangelo from the Classic, Derby winner Mage staying home, the sudden cardiac death of Practical Move while training for the Dirt Mile, and an eruption of emotion by European trainer Aidan O’Brien after two of his horses were vet scratched the morning of the races, including Juvenile Turf favorite River Tiber. We’ll claim a half-point for this one.

The crystal ball toting Racing Kreskin ends up at .250 on this year’s slate, just short of the last two years’ efforts and his best of .500 in 2010, 2012 and 2017.

The Racing Kreskin will be back around New Year’s Eve to ring in the New Year with his 2024 predictions.

Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer, is a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, and tweets on X@EquiSpace.