It was an eventful Saturday program of racing on TVG today.

At Aqueduct and Tampa Bay Downs, several horses in races throughout the day blew the first turn, and one particular early Derby prospect showed brilliant speed and exhibited the kind of skills you usually find in steeplechase horses.

The Contessa-trained Eightyfiveinafifty went off at 1/5, blew the first turn, jumped the inner and outer rails at Aqueduct, dumped his rider Chavez and ran home to his barn. Early reports are that there are no serious injuries for either jockey or horse.

Prior to the race, Gary Contessa made this comment about his runner:

"He might be too fast for his own good"

Winners came in the form of  "impossible"  long-shots ; that definition provided by  those who have yet to admit that "anything" can happen in this sport.

[update: Eightyfiveinafifty, who blew the first turn and failed to finish the race when the bit apparently broke in his mouth in the Whirlaway Stakes on Feb. 6, returned to the track on Sunday, trainer Gary Contessa said. Contessa said no decision has been made on where the speedy 3-year-old would run next.]

Take the Points ran his heart out to cross the finish line first, but he didn't run straight enough when accomplishing that feat. He was  DQ'ed from first to fifth, which made Court Vision the official winner.

Bound to be MVP, a beautiful gray veteran was vanned off the track after breaking down early in the race. His rider did a great job pulling him up. As the field continued on, the head-on shot gave us a glimpse of the injured horse standing calmly near the rail. The results chart read "broke down and vanned off." The fact that [intlink id="7935" type="page"]he didn't fall[/intlink], and the jockey stuck with him is an encouraging sign.

Quality Road proved that he loves Gulfstream Park, and blew away the compeition after loading like a veteran and breaking sharply.