My Baby! Albertus Maximus Wins the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park. Next Stop, Dubai.

I'm verklempt. Hurray for Albertus Maximus's win in the Donn Handicap. He ran just like his pop, a complete professional, and has really moved up in the world. He's now owned by Shadwell Stables (which paid a substantial sum for him), trained by Invasor's trainer, Kieran McLaughlin, and pointed towards the Dubai World Cup. I could listen to McLaughlin say nice things about Albertus Maximus all day. Congratulations also to the almost too-aptly-named runner-up, FinallyMadeIt, a horse who was partially paralyzed behind at birth, and who has successfully propelled himself from sprinting to going long. FinallyMadeIt runs his heart out and is a joy to watch.

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I didn't know what to expect from Nicanor's first start, but I never considered that he'd grab a quarter out of the gate, turn his first race into a toss out, and remain a mystery when the race was over. Talk about anti-climactic. I feel badly for this lovely horse, and I hope both the media and the Barbaro fans forgive him. It's not Nicano's job to "finish Barbaro's story."  We don't now how Barbaro's story would have turned out -- even if he'd been able to stick around. Nicanor should be allowed to write his own.