Alan is right: you’ve got to check out the replay of Thursday’s eighth race at Aqueduct, Be Bullish’s must-be-seen-to-be-believed victory. Way back on September 22nd, Be Bullish caught my attention in a maiden race at Belmont, which he won after crashing his way through horses on the way to the wire. It was a bad beat for me (good handicapping, bad betting), and I’ve kept my eye on Be Bullish ever since. He was pretty awful in his next three starts and came back to win last time out, but on Thursday, he showed the same spirit and toughness that I saw back in September. The line in Thursday’s chart—“Tough trip, going away”—doesn’t begin to do justice to the race Be Bullish ran. You can see it for free (registration required) at CalRacing or NYRA race replays. Dave Grening also writes about it in the Daily Racing Form. I took Alan’s advice and watched the head-on at CalRacing…must-see TV!

Today’s feature at Aqueduct is the Correction, first run in 1940. Correction was an accomplished filly trained by R.W. Walden, and I infer from this May 1891 article in the New York Times that Walden boiled the food and water of his horses, so that they wouldn’t be at risk from bacteria, and that technique is given credit for Correction’s win. The tone of these old racing articles cracks me up; they are wry, tongue-in-cheek, and seem to be full of inside jokes (though I can’t be sure, not having been around at the time).

Today’s race is for fillies and mares, three and up, run at six furlongs. Magnolia Jackson has won the race the last two years; past notable winners are Ta Wee (1970) and Affectionately (1964 and 1965), who also has a race named for her. Mulligatawny, the favorite, comes in on a four-race winning streak, all since being claimed by Gary Contessa. She’s won five of her ten starts and is 2-2 at Aqueduct.

Aqueduct SHOWdown begins this Thursday; for a $10 entry fee, pick one horse every card to hit the board. . The game ends on Sunday, April 13th. The homepage of the Thoroughbred Bloggers’ Alliance offers free past performances for today’s multiple Derby preps, along with the Magna 5.