We are going to take a circuitous route to get to a point I want to make, but bear with me. In this instance, the long way home is the interesting way home.Lets go back for a moment to Kentucky Oaks Day. Remember how Carina Mia had to run in the Eight Belles Stakes on the undercard because she didnt have enough points to get into the oversubscribed Oaks, not for performance reasons, but because of other circumstances beyond her control (the quarantine at Payson Park, Carina Mias winter quarters)? And remember how Carina Mia was so impressive winning the Eight Belles as miles the best that more than a few people opined the fillies in the Oaks were quite fortunate they didnt have to face Carina Mia that day?Okay, now lets flash back to Belmont Stakes Day, to specifically the Acorn Stakes on that tremendous undercard. The Acorn is a prestigious race; its not the Oaks, but its a terrific event, and it was Carina Mias opportunity to extract revenge on the circumstances that prevented her from competing in the Oaks, not to mention two major Oaks figures -- the winner, Cathryn Sophia, and Go Maggie Go, second-best in the Oaks after finishing a tough-trip fourth, and winner of the subsequent Black-Eyed Susan. And Carina Mia did gain a measure of revenge, winning the Acorn as clearly the best, beating both Cathryn Sophia and Go Maggie Go.Somewhat lost in that intriguing Carina Mia-Kentucky Oaks storyline was the performance of the runner up in the Acorn, Off the Tracks. Off the Tracks showed a lot of potential winning both of her starts last year, including a strong score in the Schuylerville Stakes. She romped in the Margate in her first start this year despite being announced as being nowhere near completely fit. She was then switched over to trainer Todd Pletcher, and followed with what was her only unsatisfying outing, a third as the 4-5 favorite to Go Maggie Go in the Gulfstream Park Oaks.But as flat as Off the Tracks was in the Gulfstream Oaks was as good as she was in defeat in the Acorn. Off the Tracks was held up in traffic from late on the far turn to nearly mid-stretch in the Acorn, costing her momentum, while Carina Mia got the jump on her with a clear, unobstructed run on the outside. Im not suggesting that Off the Tracks would have beaten Carina Mia in the Acorn with a clean trip. No one knows that. But what we do know is, Off the Tracks finished strongly once clear, was beaten only a little more than a length, and, notably, finished ahead of both Cathryn Sophia and Go Maggie Go.That was the setup to Off the Trackss start in Saturdays Mother Goose at Belmont Park, another race that, among other things, put the form of the Kentucky Oaks to the test, and other race that threw shade on the Oaks form.Off the Tracks faced three opponents in the Mother Goose who ran in the Kentucky Oaks -- Lewis Bay, who finished a good third; Mo dAmour, who finished fifth; and Rachels Valentina, the daughter of the heralded Rachel Alexandra who was widely expected to rebound off a sixth in the Oaks as the favorite. And Off the Tracks was simply much, much better than all of them.Off the Tracks set the Mother Goose pace under pressure, and while Belmonts main track was quite fast on Saturday, her fractions of 22.79 seconds, 45.53, and 1:09.62 were very strong for a race for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles. Thats why when Lewis Bay, who did stumble at the start, but who also sat a beautiful inside trip off the pace, tipped out at the top of the stretch with dead aim on Off the Tracks, she looked 2-5 to inhale Off the Tracks and win decisively. Instead, Off the Tracks turned back and ran away from Lewis Bay like she wasnt even there. This was powerful stuff.As for Mo dAmour, she clunked along to finish a non-threatening fourth. And in Rachels Valentinas defense, she also stumbled at the start. But still, she really gave it up in the stretch after holding sweet early outside stalking position and finished fifth, again as the favorite.Its funny. When a division has a leader as dominant as Songbird is in this years 3-year-old filly division, the rest of the division is, far more often than not, weak and uninspiring. Not so with this years 3-year-old filly division, though. Its stunning how there are so many legitimately good ones, even in the face of Songbird.Lucky us.Quick notes* She is a Grade 1 winner and twice Grade 1 stakes placed, so shes set for life. Nevertheless, I honestly feel bad for Rachels Valentina. Given that her mom is Rachel Alexandra, how can she ever live up to expectations?* I like early-season 2-year-old racing. Its good for the game, and its good for 2-year-olds. That said, I usually dont put much stock in early-season 2-year-old stakes results, which is why 2-year-old rankings dont appear in my Watchmaker Watch until mid-August. However, if the resurgence in early 2-year-old racing that seems to have taken place over the last couple of years continues, I might reassess.But my skepticism of early 2-year-old stakes is being put to the test by the Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs. I thought the Bashford Manor was, in relative terms, a very strongly run race. The final time of 1:09.39 for six furlongs is impressive compared with the 1:11.01 fillies needed to complete the Debutante Stakes just 34 minutes later. Classic Empire came from inside, outside, and inside, and from well off the pace to catch the very speedy Recruiting Ready, with the rest of the Bashford Manor field a city block up the track. I think both a very nice prospects.* Its anyones guess if he will improve for the experience, or if he will return to his free, front-running style, but Danzing Candy clearly did not like being rated early in the Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita, and could only finish second at 1-5. It wouldnt matter so much if Danzing Candy werent so talented. But he is very talented, as he showed when he won the San Felipe over Mor Spirit and Preakness winner Exaggerator. Jerseys NFL Wholesale . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. Stitched Cheap Jerseys . LOUIS -- Roman Polak was celebrating even before Alexander Steen scored the winning goal in Saturdays 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. http://www.jerseyswholesale.net/ . In the response filed Wednesday to the complaint by 30-year-old Alexander Bradley, attorneys say the former University of Florida player is invoking his Fifth Amendment right that protects people from incriminating themselves. Cheap Stitched NFL Jerseys . Laudrup revealed Thursday he was notified of his dismissal in "the briefest of letters which gave no reasons why such hasty and final action was deemed necessary. Wholesale Authentic NFL Jerseys . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. ATLANTA -- Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman was in the lineup after having a cancerous mole surgically removed from his upper back three days ago.He received test results Friday that abnormal cells were present, but Freeman returned from the All-Star break saying hes cancer-free following the procedure.The Atlanta fan favorite and two-time All-Star said he regularly gets checkups after his mother died of skin cancer in 2000.They said that with your family history, just take it out, so thats what I did, he said. There were cancerous cells, so I got it just in time.Freeman, in the third season of an eight-year, $135 million contract, knows how important he is to the Braves, but the recent scare gave him a bigger perspective on his life and career.My mom took care of herself, he said, and it still happened.Freeman has a few stitches in his back, but his doctor said theres no risk in playing. The stitches will come out in 10-14 days.They said I couldnt do anything for 48 hours, Freeman said. Thats why I wasnt at the workout yesterday.During the last six weeks, Freeman has shown no signs of wearing down on the field. He leads thhe major leagues since June 1 with 25 extra-base hits.dddddddddddd Hes hitting .286 this season with 34 RBI and a team-high 16 homers.Freeman feels slight irritation from the incision when he swings a bat, but it wasnt enough to make him ask for a day off.Its not hurting, he said. Hopefully I dont get hit by a pitch or anything like that, but I feel fine.Freeman said his mother, Rosemary Freeman, was stricken through a cancerous mole, similar to the one they took off her son. She had red hair, fair skin and freckles, even more so than Freddie.People with those physical traits are often susceptible to abnormal skin growths.We have skin cancer people come (during the season), and doctors come and check it, Freeman said. They said the moles not circular. Thats when you have to go have a look, and mine was jagged.Despite the news, Freeman was in good spirits in the clubhouse. As he shared the information with four reporters, he was upbeat and laughing.Other than that, he said, I had a good All-Star break. 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