R2KyD tomorrow: Withers Stakes at AQU & Bob Lewis at SA

Tomorrow is the Rnd 1 of the Twinspires SHOWdown, with 2 events for decision. The first is R8 at AQU, with a field of 7 for the 141st running of the Withers, a Gr3 dirt route for 3yo and named for David Dunham Withers, a prominent NYC owner breeder in the 19th century. #7 El Khabier will probably win but won't be anything like the M/L 8-5. Expect this "double fig" to quickly cross from the outside gate and wire it, winning easing down. I would take as little as 2/5 ($2.80). Of the others, I would consider #1 & #6 to hit the board. At 15/1 ML, I'll play #6 General Bellamy in the contest, 3rd in the Jerome here L/S. I give #2-4 less of a chance. David D. Withers (January 22, 1822 – February 18, 1892) was an American businessman and a Thoroughbred horse racing track owner and an owner/breeder. His 800-acre (3.2 km2) Brookdale Farm in the Lincroft section of Middletown Township, New Jersey was the home of some of the finest bloodstock in the world. Heavily involved in the horse racing industry, David Withers served as the first president of the Board of Control which became The Jockey Club. In 1878, he partnered with Gordon Bennett, Jr., George L. Lorillard and George P. Wetmore, to purchase Monmouth Park Racetrack near Red Bank, N.J. Withers died in 1892 and was buried in the Marble Cemetery in New York City. According to his obituary in the February 27, 1892 edition of the Live Stock Record Withers "was the best racing authority in America. "Racing historian, H.P. Robertson, wrote of Withers: “...he brought racing jurisprudence to a position of respect it never had held before.” The Withers Stakes, named in his honor, has been run in New York since 1874.

In the 2nd leg, the 77th running of the Robert B. Lewis (nee Santa Catalina, inaugurated 1935), I also have 4/5 M/L chalk #6 Dortmund on top. I think it's possible he'll win but would be wanting better than even money. He'll probably hit the board. Of the others, #2 will possibly hit the board, #1,3,5 are less likely and #4 unlikely. So for the SHOWdown, I'll play #2 Rock Sandy, 6/1 on the M/L, and 2nd in the Sham here L/S. Bob Lewis was a prominent owner who died in 2006, the race being re-named in his honor since 2007. He won the Eclipse Award of Merit and his filly Serena's Song is in the racing Hall of Fame. Here's Bob (right) leading in Commendable, winner of the 2000 Belmont and trained by D. Wayne Lukas, in the slightly more colorful green & gold colors. His wife Beverly is still active in racing.

The other eponymous graded stakes tomorrow include the first Gr 1 of the year, the Donn Hcp at GP, named for the family who owned and operated GP for many years, and the Fred W. Hooper, also at GP, inaugurated in 1984 and renamed in 1997 in honor of the prominent Thoroughbred owner/breeder, Fred W. Hooper who operated Circle H Farm, a horse breeding operation in Ocala, Florida.