(Muth / Benoit Photo & Courtesy of Santa Anita)

(Trainer Bob Baffert, back when he had a barn on the backside of Churchill Downs / Photo by Gene McLean)

If you know me at all, and if you have read these pages of words over the past couple of years, you know how this pains me to write this morning. The best way to describe it is as if you had to swallow just a bit of the acid reflux debris that hit you in the middle of the night because you have forgotten to take your Nexium.

Yuk. Ugh. Gag. Spit.

Rense. Repeat.

But the best horse in the world, right now, just may be the 3-year-old colt named Muth. And, if I was ever asked to opine on such a thing and give a vote for the prestigious Breeders’ Cup poll for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic? I would vote for Muth. Right now.

Over the next couple of months, Muth may just prove to the Breeders’ Cup “chosen voters” and the racing world why he should be considered a serious contender.

Over the next couple of months, Muth may just prove why he should be considered the top contender.

And, over the next couple of months, Muth may just convince the Breeders’ Cup “chosen voters” they had better look his way. More often. More seriously. More favorably.

Even with a possible kick-back on the ole’ taste buds.

My distaste to admit this in public has zero to do with the horse, mind you. The son of Good Magic has been better than good ever since he made it to the racetrack, and started to show the world the true magic of his legs and heart and how they were capable of taking him — the horse — to winner’s circles. And…Grandeur.

My distaste, mind you, has everything to do with the fact that the horse finds himself stuck in a stall of the infamous, publicly-embarrassed, and often-suspended trainer Bob Baffert and is owned by the same fella who campaigned the ill-fated Medina Spirit.

Yuk. Ugh. Gag. Spit.

Rense. Repeat.

But, to be grown up about it, which is hard for me on any occasion, and especially considering these circumstances, the horse can’t help who owns or trains him.

All the horse can do, mind you, is run when healthy; when able; when asked.

And, when this horse is all those things?

This horse can run.

Fast. Far. And, damn good.

On Sunday, Sept. 1, Muth was asked to run for just the 7th time in his young life. He was coming off a 5-month layoff due to an injury that he sustained after winning the G1 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park. Despite whatever rust he may have accumulated from the time off, he certainly didn’t show it when he ran in the 1-mile Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar.

He broke well, under the direction of rider Juan Hernandez.

He stalked the early leader, Pony Express, very well. Never running off, too early. Never tugging or pulling his patient rider. Always waiting his cue.

When it came time to run, at the top of the stretch, Hernandez asked. Muth delivered. Very well, indeed. The colt put all of the other 6 horses in the field — just pretenders — away. Easily.

In 7 starts now, Muth has won 5 times. He has won those races by a combined 191/4 lengths. That averages about 4 lengths a win.

In the G1 Arkansas Derby, he easily defeated the likes of eventual Kentucky Derby winner Mystic Dan and eventual Preakness Stakes winner Just Steel.

In his last loss, Muth was 2nd to eventual 2YO Champ & most recent Travers Stakes winner Fierceness. Not bad company.

And, if the Shared Belief Stakes was any indication at all? The horse looks like he is just now getting back his stride and the best is yet to come.

While the Breeders’ Cup voters may be stuck on Fierceness for now, and, perhaps, forever, since that one appears to be headed on a path of just works up to the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November, the ultimate vote will come at Del Mar on the first weekend in November. On the track.

That’s the same venue where Muth just won the Shared Belief Stakes.

And, how this pains me to write, I think Bob Baffert may just have a horse that will make everyone believe come Classic time.

Yeah, for the horse.

Yuk. Ugh. Gag. Spit.

Rense. Repeat.

For the connections.

Bradley Weisbord is a Buffoon:

Over the Labor Day weekend, I found both amazement and amusement on the waves of Twitter (I refuse to call it “W,” and, equally, refuse to acknowledge Elon Musk — can I block him?). Seems as if that great equine bloodstock guru and “mind of our time,” wrote this for public consumption:

“How can any knowegable handicapper bet @KYDownsRacing? No clue if the horse is going to handle the track, monster biases and camera angles/video quality is piss poor. Money 💰 is wonderful (for owners/trainers/jockeys), but the gambling product is god awful. There is a way to fix it, but the loyalists will NOT want to hear what I have to say 😂.”

I don’t know about the “loyalists,” or just who the hell makes up this supposed fraternity or sorority, but Bradley Weisbord is a buffoon. And, a damn good one at that.

He is a repeat offender, in fact. A “double buffoon,” if you will.

Let’s tackle the most recent “offensive offense.”

Handicapping at Kentucky Downs is one of the most fun exercises of the entire year for most, if not the great majority, of Thoroughbred racing fans and bettors.

The fields are full to the gills.

The horses are not only capable, but overwhelmingly qualified as some of the best grass runners America has to offer.

Horses from Europe make their way here, too, to try the hills and dales of American’s only undulating grass course. Trainers like Joseph O’Brien and Charlie Hills send some of their finest.

The riders are the best in the land.

The U.S. trainers are some of the best in the land. Including your buddy, Chad Brown, who you picked up from a fine facility in Saratoga after a night in the slammer.

And, the odds are some of the best in the land, too.

If you can’t handicap it, Little Bradley, then simply stay away. Bet New York or New Jersey, where you’re from, and those 6-horse fields that, seemingly, always have a 2-5 shot in them. Or go ask Daddy Barry for a loan. He’s giving you everything else in life, that you seemingly couldn’t or can’t earn on your own.

As for the TV feed, it is better than the DirectTV coverage of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, which were carried on ESPN. After all, DirectTV dumped the ESPN signal right in the middle of American’s best tennis tourney of the year.

But, before we all are too harsh to judge Little Bradley, please remember this is the same “silver spooned child” who wrote this on Twitter, back in the day:

“How brilliant?”

“Not enough people are talking about that.”

Well, it didn’t take people long before they were talking about your buddy, who is now in a federal prison somewhere for his infamous doping scheme.

That makes Little Bradley a “Double Buffoon.”

Rarified air, Little Bradley. Rarified air.

Stay Tuned. I’m Sure There is More to Come Soon. Weisbord May Even Try to Explain …