Louisville, Ky.
Where are the animal rights activists when you need them?
Eight Belles was entered in the 134th Kentucky Derby on Wednesday. Success would demand that she run 10 furlongs faster than 19 males. There is the most remote possibility that she will succeed, this covered by one of life’s immutable truths: Anything can happen in a horse race.
What is far more likely is that Eight Belles will be permanently scarred by the experience.
Three fillies have won the Derby, in 1915, Genuine Risk, Genuine Risk, in 1981, and Winning Colors, whose victory will mark its 20th anniversary on Saturday.
Regret, though she was generally unsound, was an extremely fast filly whose regularly defeated males. But Genuine Risk and Winning Colors were nothing like Eight Belles. Both were big, rugged fillies who competed against males on even physical terms. Winning Colors defeated males in the Santa Anita Derby before the Derby. Genuine Risk prepped for the Derby in the Wood Memorial, in which she finished third.
Eight Belles has nothing in common with those fillies.
She is, however, a beautifully conformed filly, light-framed and feminine. Her misfortune is not trainer Larry Jones, who skirts the issue uncomfortably. A trainer who criticizes the decisions made by an owner will not be training for long. Though he came here a year ago with Hard Spun, who was runner-up to Street Sense, Jones shows no symptoms of Derby fever and he seems uncomfortable discussing Eight Belles’ chances in the Derby. Owner Rick Porter, however, is apparently beset by Derby fever.
Unlike the three fillies who have won the Derby, Eight Belles has never faced males nor has she attempted a race beyond 1 1/16. She has won her last four races, one in New Orleans, three in Arkansas but none in Grade I company. She would be formidable in the Oaks on Friday, in which Jones has Proud Spell for more reasonable, less vain connections who are probably concerned with the welfare and well being of their prized filly.
There is no reason beyond vanity to run Eight Belles in the Derby, either. As a breeding prospect, her value may be increased but a broodmare can produce only one foal a year. Breeders found it almost impossible for Genuine Risk to conceive and Winning Colors has had no impact as a broodmare.
The only thing that might have saved Eight Belles from the cruelty she is about to endure was a poor post position but the draw put her connections sixth in order of selection, assuring a favorable position in the barrier a day after she drew the outside post in a field of 12 entered in the Oaks. She will face the firing squad from post five.
Porter has enjoyed great success, having owned the very good filly, Jostle, a Grade I winner in 2000, Round Pond, winner of the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Distaff and Hard Spun, who he sold for an enormous amount of money last year. Porter should know better. He should also show a bit of compassion for a very nice, still developing filly who, if he sends her into the teeth of a buzzsaw on Saturday, may very well leave he career in the shadows of the twin spires. If so, it will be a sad, sad day. –PM
The Derby takes shape
Although an outside post is rarely a obstacle in the Kentucky Derby, it does a great deal to determine the dynamic and the luck of the draw in the two-tiered system used to decide position in the barrier put the principal speed horses and the favorite in tough spots, in the case of Big Brown, it was voluntary.
The draw was marked by an unprecedented display of arrogance by the connections of Big Brown, who with several positions still open, chose post 20. Only one Derby winner has overcome the outside post in a field of 20 – Clyde Van Dusen, in 1929. His connections did not choose that post, however. Nevertheless, Big Brown was installed at the 3-1 morning-line favorite.
Since Clyde Van Dusen, 10 horses breaking from the outside post in Derby fields of 20 or more have, with the exception of Caveat, who finished third in 1983, have to crack the top three.
Three speed horses –Cowboy Cal, Recapturetheglory and Gayego – are immediately inside Big Brown in the barrier and Bob Black Jack will depart from post 13, all but assuring a wild run to the first turn and an extremely fast pace. Rick Dutrow and Big Brown’s connections may have left their Derby chances in downtown Louisville on Wednesday.
Two horses will go into the Derby with blinkers on, two others with blinkers off. Surprisingly, one of those with blinkers on, Bob Black Jack, the world-record holder for six furlongs, already has high early speed, a curious decision by an obscure trainer. Court Vision, who breaks from the four post, also goes with blinkers. Removing the hood: Anak Nakal and Z Humor.--PM
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Opening day at Belmont: Divine Park prevails
By Francis LaBelle Jr./ NYRA
Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is not one to disrespect a racehorse, especially one that has shown the toughness that Grasshopper had displayed in his career.
McLaughlin, however, did not believe Grasshopper to be a one-mile horse, and that meant that he felt his own charge, James J. Berry’s Divine Park, had a better than average chance of pulling off an upset in Wednesday afternoon’s 80th running of the Grade 3, $109,100 Westchester Handicap to open Belmont Park’s 59-day Spring/Summer meet.
Divine Park proved McLaughlin right.
Under a confident ride by jockey Alan Garcia, Divine Park was allowed to sit off Saint Daimon’s pace of 22.45; 44.65 and 1:09.14, before taking charge to win by five lengths in 1:32.74 on the fast main track
“He really wanted to go that fast,” Garcia said. “In the early part, he was so relaxed and I was so confident. When I asked him, he was just perfect.”
It was the fifth win in seven starts for the 4-year-old Chester House colt, who had excuses in his two losses, the Grade 1 Malibu at Santa Anita last December and the Grade 2 General George at Laurel on Feb. 18.
“He’s a very nice horse,” said winning trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, as Divine Park paid $7.90 to win. “We’ve always liked him a lot. In the Malibu, he was coming off an eight-month layoff and drew the 14-hole and it wasn’t that bad of a race. In Laurel, he broke through gate. The next two races, however, are great!”
McLaughlin has tentatively set the Grade 1, $600,000 Metropolitan Handicap at a mile here on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, as the next stop for Divine Park.
“The Met Mile is a little quick back for us,” McLaughlin said, “but it is hard to pass off a race like this.”
Grasshopper, the favorite of the Opening Day crowd of 5,451, finished three-quarters of a length ahead of Sightseeing, with Miner’s Lamp Mr. Umphrey and Saint Daimon completing the order of finish.
Grasshopper has now run second in four of his last five starts, a string that started with a half-length loss to Street Sense at Saratoga in last August’s Grade 1 Travers.
“I thought he ran okay his first time going a mile,” said trainer Neil Howard. “I thought he ran well.
Added jockey Robby Albarado: “He just stopped. They ran 1:32 – he’s not that fast, today.”
Also on the day, trainer Billy Turner saddled three winners in a row winning the fourth with Cloud Nine ($18.60); the fifth with Drift King ($66) and the sixth with Just Zip It ($7.80). Jockey Jose Espinoza rode Cloud Nine and Just Zip It, while newcomer Luca Panici rode Drift King.
Espinoza got his third winner of the day in the last race with Mighty Morris ($18) for trainer Richard Schosberg.
Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is not one to disrespect a racehorse, especially one that has shown the toughness that Grasshopper had displayed in his career.
McLaughlin, however, did not believe Grasshopper to be a one-mile horse, and that meant that he felt his own charge, James J. Berry’s Divine Park, had a better than average chance of pulling off an upset in Wednesday afternoon’s 80th running of the Grade 3, $109,100 Westchester Handicap to open Belmont Park’s 59-day Spring/Summer meet.
Divine Park proved McLaughlin right.
Under a confident ride by jockey Alan Garcia, Divine Park was allowed to sit off Saint Daimon’s pace of 22.45; 44.65 and 1:09.14, before taking charge to win by five lengths in 1:32.74 on the fast main track
“He really wanted to go that fast,” Garcia said. “In the early part, he was so relaxed and I was so confident. When I asked him, he was just perfect.”
It was the fifth win in seven starts for the 4-year-old Chester House colt, who had excuses in his two losses, the Grade 1 Malibu at Santa Anita last December and the Grade 2 General George at Laurel on Feb. 18.
“He’s a very nice horse,” said winning trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, as Divine Park paid $7.90 to win. “We’ve always liked him a lot. In the Malibu, he was coming off an eight-month layoff and drew the 14-hole and it wasn’t that bad of a race. In Laurel, he broke through gate. The next two races, however, are great!”
McLaughlin has tentatively set the Grade 1, $600,000 Metropolitan Handicap at a mile here on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, as the next stop for Divine Park.
“The Met Mile is a little quick back for us,” McLaughlin said, “but it is hard to pass off a race like this.”
Grasshopper, the favorite of the Opening Day crowd of 5,451, finished three-quarters of a length ahead of Sightseeing, with Miner’s Lamp Mr. Umphrey and Saint Daimon completing the order of finish.
Grasshopper has now run second in four of his last five starts, a string that started with a half-length loss to Street Sense at Saratoga in last August’s Grade 1 Travers.
“I thought he ran okay his first time going a mile,” said trainer Neil Howard. “I thought he ran well.
Added jockey Robby Albarado: “He just stopped. They ran 1:32 – he’s not that fast, today.”
Also on the day, trainer Billy Turner saddled three winners in a row winning the fourth with Cloud Nine ($18.60); the fifth with Drift King ($66) and the sixth with Just Zip It ($7.80). Jockey Jose Espinoza rode Cloud Nine and Just Zip It, while newcomer Luca Panici rode Drift King.
Espinoza got his third winner of the day in the last race with Mighty Morris ($18) for trainer Richard Schosberg.
Derby notes: Adriano still learning
Trainer Graham Motion sent Adriano to the Churchill Downs paddock for a schooling session before galloping 1 ½ miles under Alice Clapham Wednesday morning.
“I don’t know how he’s going to behave in front of 160,000 people, but I’m really impressed how well he’s done,” said Motion, noting his colt’s improved behavior since arriving at Churchill Downs. “We just walked the paddock 10 minutes now and he’s like an old jumper. He’s really switched off.”
Adriano, who reared up a few times while being saddled before his ninth-place finish in the Fountain of Youth in his only start on a conventional dirt track, has given his trainer a reason to be optimistic.
“I’ve seen the good horses walking in the paddock and they have their heads between their legs, and that’s what you want,” said Motion, who reported that his Lane’s End Stakes (GII) winner would school in the paddock in the afternoon once more on Thursday. “You can’t have a horse walking out there all buzzed up, because they have another 10 minutes on the track to deal with before they run.”
While returning to Barn 42 after Adriano’s gallop, a horse that had dumped his rider ran loose and came dangerously close to Motion and his Derby candidate. Motion, atop his stable pony, saw the horse out of the corner of his eye and instantly led his mount and the accompanying Adriano to safety into the shedrow of Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas’ barn.
“Wayne asked me if I needed a stall,” said Motion, making light of a potentially serious incident. “Hopefully, some of (Lukas’ Derby luck) will rub off on him.”
Motion, who saddled the obstreperous Chilito for an 11th-place finish in the 1998 Derby, is pleased to be back in the picture.
“It’s very exciting. You kind of have to pinch yourself when you’re part of these days, like the Breeders’ Cup and the Kentucky Derby. This is what we all want to be a part of, so when you get here, you’ve got to pinch yourself a little bit.”
Smooth Air on edge
Smooth Air galloped 1 ¾ miles Wednesday morning under exercise rider Susie Milne, looking good for his trainer Bennie Stutts Jr. The colt schooled in the paddock at Churchill Downs on Tuesday, where he was quite a handful.
“He thought he was going to run,” said Stutts. “I haven’t schooled him since before his first (debut) race; I didn’t have to. He’s not a nervous horse, but he was full of himself yesterday.”
Stutts plans to send Smooth Air to the track Thursday for “a combination of a two-minute lick and a breeze. She’ll let him go at the five and a half and in the stretch give him his head and blow him out,” he said. Smooth Air had missed a scheduled work on Sunday because of incurring a low-grade fever on Thursday and Friday. He’s been back galloping since Monday.
The Smooth Air team has been riding various waves of emotion this week, as can be expected when participating in the Kentucky Derby for the first time. Stutts, 70, and his wife Dianne attended the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners’ and Breeders Derby Trainers Dinner Tuesday night and, while Stutts himself was a hit with his on-stage interview, it was Dianne who was presented with roses by the emcees at the end of the evening as the “lady most deserving of them.” The crew hopes it’s a sign of things to come on Saturday.
Barbaro’s birthday
Asked how often he is reminded of Barbaro, his ill-fated 2006 Derby winner, trainer Michael Matz gave an example of the colt’s lasting popularity.
“Yesterday, a guy who never called me in my life called me and said it was Barbaro’s birthday,” Matz said. “That horse touched so many peoples’ lives. It’s just amazing.”
Now Matz is back in the Derby with Gotham Stakes winner Visionaire, who is coming off a fifth-place finish in the Blue Grass. The colt arrived at Churchill Downs last Saturday and worked a half-mile in: 48.40 on Monday for the 11th fastest of 44 moves at the distance. On Wednesday, he jogged twice around the Churchill oval.
“He’s doing fine,” Matz said about Visionaire. “He’s coming into the race the right way, and we’ll find out if he’s good enough.”
“He’s a horse that comes from off the pace,” Matz said about Visionaire. “Hopefully they’ll be enough pace in the race and horses will be coming back. We just hope he can get a mile and a quarter and he can pick the pieces up at the end of the race.”
“I don’t know how he’s going to behave in front of 160,000 people, but I’m really impressed how well he’s done,” said Motion, noting his colt’s improved behavior since arriving at Churchill Downs. “We just walked the paddock 10 minutes now and he’s like an old jumper. He’s really switched off.”
Adriano, who reared up a few times while being saddled before his ninth-place finish in the Fountain of Youth in his only start on a conventional dirt track, has given his trainer a reason to be optimistic.
“I’ve seen the good horses walking in the paddock and they have their heads between their legs, and that’s what you want,” said Motion, who reported that his Lane’s End Stakes (GII) winner would school in the paddock in the afternoon once more on Thursday. “You can’t have a horse walking out there all buzzed up, because they have another 10 minutes on the track to deal with before they run.”
While returning to Barn 42 after Adriano’s gallop, a horse that had dumped his rider ran loose and came dangerously close to Motion and his Derby candidate. Motion, atop his stable pony, saw the horse out of the corner of his eye and instantly led his mount and the accompanying Adriano to safety into the shedrow of Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas’ barn.
“Wayne asked me if I needed a stall,” said Motion, making light of a potentially serious incident. “Hopefully, some of (Lukas’ Derby luck) will rub off on him.”
Motion, who saddled the obstreperous Chilito for an 11th-place finish in the 1998 Derby, is pleased to be back in the picture.
“It’s very exciting. You kind of have to pinch yourself when you’re part of these days, like the Breeders’ Cup and the Kentucky Derby. This is what we all want to be a part of, so when you get here, you’ve got to pinch yourself a little bit.”
Smooth Air on edge
Smooth Air galloped 1 ¾ miles Wednesday morning under exercise rider Susie Milne, looking good for his trainer Bennie Stutts Jr. The colt schooled in the paddock at Churchill Downs on Tuesday, where he was quite a handful.
“He thought he was going to run,” said Stutts. “I haven’t schooled him since before his first (debut) race; I didn’t have to. He’s not a nervous horse, but he was full of himself yesterday.”
Stutts plans to send Smooth Air to the track Thursday for “a combination of a two-minute lick and a breeze. She’ll let him go at the five and a half and in the stretch give him his head and blow him out,” he said. Smooth Air had missed a scheduled work on Sunday because of incurring a low-grade fever on Thursday and Friday. He’s been back galloping since Monday.
The Smooth Air team has been riding various waves of emotion this week, as can be expected when participating in the Kentucky Derby for the first time. Stutts, 70, and his wife Dianne attended the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners’ and Breeders Derby Trainers Dinner Tuesday night and, while Stutts himself was a hit with his on-stage interview, it was Dianne who was presented with roses by the emcees at the end of the evening as the “lady most deserving of them.” The crew hopes it’s a sign of things to come on Saturday.
Barbaro’s birthday
Asked how often he is reminded of Barbaro, his ill-fated 2006 Derby winner, trainer Michael Matz gave an example of the colt’s lasting popularity.
“Yesterday, a guy who never called me in my life called me and said it was Barbaro’s birthday,” Matz said. “That horse touched so many peoples’ lives. It’s just amazing.”
Now Matz is back in the Derby with Gotham Stakes winner Visionaire, who is coming off a fifth-place finish in the Blue Grass. The colt arrived at Churchill Downs last Saturday and worked a half-mile in: 48.40 on Monday for the 11th fastest of 44 moves at the distance. On Wednesday, he jogged twice around the Churchill oval.
“He’s doing fine,” Matz said about Visionaire. “He’s coming into the race the right way, and we’ll find out if he’s good enough.”
“He’s a horse that comes from off the pace,” Matz said about Visionaire. “Hopefully they’ll be enough pace in the race and horses will be coming back. We just hope he can get a mile and a quarter and he can pick the pieces up at the end of the race.”
HLC free selections, May 1
From Handicappers Learning Center
Pimlico, race 8, 4:26 pm et
4- Quick Getaway
2- High Act
Exacta – 4+2 over 8+3
Belmont, race 8, 4:45 pm et
7-El Bandito Rojo
1A-Unrequited
Exacta – 7+1A over 5+1+4
Master1 Complete
The sheet that covers it all!!
Click link on left rail
Pimlico, race 8, 4:26 pm et
4- Quick Getaway
2- High Act
Exacta – 4+2 over 8+3
Belmont, race 8, 4:45 pm et
7-El Bandito Rojo
1A-Unrequited
Exacta – 7+1A over 5+1+4
Master1 Complete
The sheet that covers it all!!
Click link on left rail
HLC free selections, April 30
From Handicappers Learning Center
Penn National, race 4, 7:58 pm ET
1-City Circuit
6- Beit’s Bridge
Exacta- 1+6 over 8+3
Evangeline Downs, race 5, 9:04 pm ET
5-Edwards Rocket
3-Hi Plains Thunder
Exacta 5+3 over 11+8
Master 1 Complete
The sheet that covers it all!!
Includes "Gold and Silver Power Play",
New- Race Rating, easy to read and much more!
Click on link in left rail
Penn National, race 4, 7:58 pm ET
1-City Circuit
6- Beit’s Bridge
Exacta- 1+6 over 8+3
Evangeline Downs, race 5, 9:04 pm ET
5-Edwards Rocket
3-Hi Plains Thunder
Exacta 5+3 over 11+8
Master 1 Complete
The sheet that covers it all!!
Includes "Gold and Silver Power Play",
New- Race Rating, easy to read and much more!
Click on link in left rail
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Derby notes: Watching works -- on TV
Louisville, Ky.
Barclay Tagg was in good form on Tuesday at Churchill Downs.
“You can’t see much of anything unless you watch it on TV,” Tagg said after watching Tale of Ekati work a half-mile in 49.40 seconds – on TV.
“You go to the clockers’ stand and watch it on TV. Corporate America.” Tagg grumbled.”
While the clockers’ stand on the Churchill backstretch is not used by clockers and is an almost impossible vantage point from which to watch a workout, Tagg was looking for nothing that varied from routine. “He went fine; nothing dramatic,” Tagg said. “You just to the same, old routine; nothing fancy. It’s a horse race. You bring him up to it the best you can – the way that works best for him – and hope they run well.”
Dutrow: I got the horse right here
Unless you ask Rick Dutrow, this is as wide open as any Derby in memory.
“I feel very confident that if Big Brown breaks with the field, I think he’s going to run a big race,” Dutrow said after the Florida Derby winner galloped for the first time over the track here yesterday and will work three furlongs on Thursday.
Big Brown arrived at mid-afternoon Monday
“He traveled very good. I was with him the whole way,” Dutrow said. “A lot of horses really like flying; he’s one of them. He ate up everything last night. He trained good this morning. We’re happy with things.”
Dutrow said Big Brown’s hoof problems were resolved in time for the colt to get in his two Gulfstream races and run his unbeaten record to three.
“Since then, every day has been a good day for Big Brown,” Dutrow said. “That’s where we are right now.”
Following the allowance victory, Dutrow said he and the owners, IEAH Stables and Paul Pompa, Jr., elected to step up to Grade I company in the Florida Derby.
“That’s why we ran him back in 24 days,” he said. “Anybody who watches me train horses, I like waiting the 30 to 40 days. When they put in an effort, I like waiting. But the circumstances were different. Everybody dreams of being where we are right now and we had to make some type of move and decide what we wanted to do next.
“After we thought about it, we thought 24 days wasn’t the best kind of scenario, but we watched him run. It didn’t look like he was on his belly that day. It didn’t look like he gave it all that he had. So we figured, `OK, yeah, we can try this. What have we got to lose?’ We went into the Florida Derby very confident. Even though we drew the 12 post, right away I loved it because he wasn’t going to get in trouble. He would have things go his way in the race and that the only way I could see him getting beat was if he got in trouble. I just couldn’t see those horses beating him. He came out of the race really good.”
“I’m training him for a horse race. It doesn’t make me feel anything different just because he’s training for the Kentucky Derby. Even though it’s the biggest race in the world, still, I’m basically training him for a horse race. That’s the only way that I’m looking at it.
“I’ve been dreaming about the Derby all my life. So now I’m here. I don’t want to put more into training him because I think all you have to do is basic stuff around him. His talent and his ability is going to get us there, not my training techniques. Just him. He’s the one’s that’s got us here. Any good-enough horseman can do what I’ve done with this horse. Any jockey can do what Kent (Desormeaux) has done with this horse. Any groom, hotwalker. It’s the horse that is what is making the whole game go here.”
Which way will she go?
Eight Belles drew the outside post in a field of 12 three-year-old fillies entered on Tuesday for Friday’s Kentucky Oaks. She will be entered in the Derby on Wednesday with the choice of races determined by the Derby draw. If she runs in the Oaks, Eight Belles, winner of her last four races including the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park, is the 5-2 overnight favorite. If she runs in the Derby, the more likely scenario, Proud Spell, her stablemate, will be the Oaks favorite.
Barclay Tagg was in good form on Tuesday at Churchill Downs.
“You can’t see much of anything unless you watch it on TV,” Tagg said after watching Tale of Ekati work a half-mile in 49.40 seconds – on TV.
“You go to the clockers’ stand and watch it on TV. Corporate America.” Tagg grumbled.”
While the clockers’ stand on the Churchill backstretch is not used by clockers and is an almost impossible vantage point from which to watch a workout, Tagg was looking for nothing that varied from routine. “He went fine; nothing dramatic,” Tagg said. “You just to the same, old routine; nothing fancy. It’s a horse race. You bring him up to it the best you can – the way that works best for him – and hope they run well.”
Dutrow: I got the horse right here
Unless you ask Rick Dutrow, this is as wide open as any Derby in memory.
“I feel very confident that if Big Brown breaks with the field, I think he’s going to run a big race,” Dutrow said after the Florida Derby winner galloped for the first time over the track here yesterday and will work three furlongs on Thursday.
Big Brown arrived at mid-afternoon Monday
“He traveled very good. I was with him the whole way,” Dutrow said. “A lot of horses really like flying; he’s one of them. He ate up everything last night. He trained good this morning. We’re happy with things.”
Dutrow said Big Brown’s hoof problems were resolved in time for the colt to get in his two Gulfstream races and run his unbeaten record to three.
“Since then, every day has been a good day for Big Brown,” Dutrow said. “That’s where we are right now.”
Following the allowance victory, Dutrow said he and the owners, IEAH Stables and Paul Pompa, Jr., elected to step up to Grade I company in the Florida Derby.
“That’s why we ran him back in 24 days,” he said. “Anybody who watches me train horses, I like waiting the 30 to 40 days. When they put in an effort, I like waiting. But the circumstances were different. Everybody dreams of being where we are right now and we had to make some type of move and decide what we wanted to do next.
“After we thought about it, we thought 24 days wasn’t the best kind of scenario, but we watched him run. It didn’t look like he was on his belly that day. It didn’t look like he gave it all that he had. So we figured, `OK, yeah, we can try this. What have we got to lose?’ We went into the Florida Derby very confident. Even though we drew the 12 post, right away I loved it because he wasn’t going to get in trouble. He would have things go his way in the race and that the only way I could see him getting beat was if he got in trouble. I just couldn’t see those horses beating him. He came out of the race really good.”
“I’m training him for a horse race. It doesn’t make me feel anything different just because he’s training for the Kentucky Derby. Even though it’s the biggest race in the world, still, I’m basically training him for a horse race. That’s the only way that I’m looking at it.
“I’ve been dreaming about the Derby all my life. So now I’m here. I don’t want to put more into training him because I think all you have to do is basic stuff around him. His talent and his ability is going to get us there, not my training techniques. Just him. He’s the one’s that’s got us here. Any good-enough horseman can do what I’ve done with this horse. Any jockey can do what Kent (Desormeaux) has done with this horse. Any groom, hotwalker. It’s the horse that is what is making the whole game go here.”
Which way will she go?
Eight Belles drew the outside post in a field of 12 three-year-old fillies entered on Tuesday for Friday’s Kentucky Oaks. She will be entered in the Derby on Wednesday with the choice of races determined by the Derby draw. If she runs in the Oaks, Eight Belles, winner of her last four races including the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park, is the 5-2 overnight favorite. If she runs in the Derby, the more likely scenario, Proud Spell, her stablemate, will be the Oaks favorite.
Not likely one for the highlight reel
Louisville, Ky.
I’ve seen a lot of things happen in this town, some involving the Kentucky Derby.
Seattle Slew. Affirmed and Alydar, Spectacular Bid. I’ve seen two fillies, Genuine Risk and Winning Colors, win the Derby. I’ve seen Alysheba go to his knees at midstretch, get up and win. I’ve seen Smarty Jones and Barbaro, horses who appeared preordained to win the Triple Crown, rise to the occasion with the greatest races they would ever run; in the case of Barbaro, the last.
But I don’t see anything in the 134th Kentucky Derby that threatens to qualify for the personal highlight reel that lives in memory.
Entries close on Wednesday morning. The field will be full, 19 colts and one filly, who may or may not run in the Oaks on Friday. That would be the wise decision because Eight Belles has no chance on Saturday. Post positions will be drawn late in the day, downtown.
This Derby is an interesting handicapping exercise, the field a mixture of running styles that appears destined to produce a strong pace that affords the opportunity for deep closers and a race as truly run as can be expected when 20 horses are involved. It could be a great race. It could be a melee. But the overwhelming impression is that this is not a group of three years olds likely to move amateur poets to the quill or inspire comparisons to the Derby horses you remember decades later. They make you smile. These make you scratch your head.
The players:
Tale of Ekati raced close behind the strongest early pace seen in any of the nine-furlong preps and was clearly tired, though he prevailed, in the last stages of an oddly run Wood Memorial while running over lifeless, taxing ground, an odd race and difficult to read. His sire, Tale of the Cat, was a sprinter-miler type by Storm Cat and his dam is a daughter of a Derby winner, Sunday Silence, which is probably more stamina influence than most of these. Losing Prado to Adriano is a negative but after a lackluster effort in the Louisiana Derby, this colt is eligible to advance from the Wood Memorial and will benefit from pace likely to be quite strong.
Adriano’s only race on dirt resulted in a troubled effort in the Fountain of Youth in which he finished 17 lengths behind Cool Coal Man. This was followed by a workmanlike synthetic-track win at Turfway Park in March. The Fountain of Youth notwithstanding, there is no reason that a colt by A.P. Indy from a Mr. Prospector mare should not be comfortable on dirt, but his high action led his connections to view him as a turf prospect. He has two wins from four starts on grass. He is essentially once-paced and benefits from a race run strongly in the early stages. He did, however uncork a very fast five-furlong work over the course on Sunday, his second at Churchill, which suggests strongly that the ground will pose no problem. Jockey Edgar Prado’s decision to ride is a strong indication that he believes this to be the right horse.
Colonel John, a winner of both his starts this year, was visually impressive in the Santa Anita Derby while defeating a very suspect runner-up, Bob Black Jack, who was clearly spent in the late stages. He is well equipped to stay 10 furlongs, but fails to impress in terms of final figures. The late-pace figure earned in the Santa Anita Derby is the best of any of his contemporaries. Early pace figures place him far back in this field and uncertainty of his ability to immediately translate synthetic-track form to dirt gives pause as does his deep-closing running style. He will be among the betting favorites despite clear vulnerability.
Big Brown, already anointed the second coming of Hindoo by his trainer and many others, put up impressive numbers while winning the Florida Derby, crushing a suspect group while running over ground manicured and honed to yield fast times. The pace dynamic here will be much less accommodating and this colt has never been more than a half-length off the lead --that while facing four overmatched leftovers in a race taken off the turf at Gulfstream. In fact, he has not shown the ability to rate behind high-class speed horses. He also lacks the pedigree of a stayer – Boundary was a top-class sprinter whose best prior offspring, Pomeroy, was a top sprinter. He is painfully short of seasoning after three starts, has a history of hoof problems, was all over the racetrack in the late stages of the Florida Derby and is suspect at the distance. If he is the freak some believe he is, he will win. If there is even the slightest vulnerability, it will be exposed.
Pyro, another confirmed deep closer, was the second-best two-year-old of last season but has not recaptured his juvenile form. Also lacks a sharp effort in a nine-furlong prep after a dismal performance over Keeneland’s synthetic course. This is impossible to overlook. Expect a better effort in his return to dirt but not sufficiently better to get him home first. While distance is not a problem and Pyro has an established late move, a win under the circumstances by this one, who will be substantially supported in the betting pools, would be a mild surprise.
Smooth Air ran evenly to finish second to Big Brow while well clear of the others in the Florida Derby, a solid if overlooked effort in every respect. He may be compromised by mild illness detected last weekend, which is reason enough to downgrade his chances, and he is suspect at the route. This is a steadily improving miler type who may not be suited to the distance but owns the second-fastest nine-furlong final figure of the year after Big Brown.
Court Vision has failed to replicate his Remsen victory of last fall in two starts this year, both third-place finishes in the Fountain of Youth and Wood Memorial, in which he was unable to reel in the leaders with a wide, late move that has become his trademark despite a suicidal pace. A deep closer, he will be far behind the early leaders here, where lost ground will be especially costly. A potential factor late, but there is no room for error.
Visionaire probably ran the best race of those who disappointed in the Blue Grass and, while last early, made a bit of a run to finish fifth, beating in the main floundering horses. Difficult effort to put into perspective but certainly less than the sharp nine-furlong prep demanded of a Derby contender.
Z Humor was compromised by a painfully slow pace and speed-favoring ground when third in the Illinois Derby but put up a late-pace figure behind a fresh pacemaker that puts him in the late mix. Has shown subtle improvement in each of three starts this season but has so far been a step or two behind the best of these. Certainly capable of hitting the board.
Gayego had done nothing except run very solid races and responded positively when sent from California to the Arkansas Derby, which he won with a typical effort. Leaving behind workmanlike early and final figures. Best when on or near the lead, which does not play well in a field with this much early pace. Nice colt. Too much to do.
Big Truck has trained strongly since moving here from Keeneland, where his steady progression ran aground in the Blue Grass. Though clearly disdainful of Polytrack and eligible to improve, the lack of a sharp race in his final nine-furlong prep remains a huge blemish coming into this race.
Z Fortune, a one-paced lunch-bucket type mid-pack closer had been nothing if not consistent. Comes out of a typical, solid runner-up effort behind Gayego in Arkansas, has advanced incrementally in four starts and with more foundation than most of these and a trip, could very well be in the battle late. Dangerous.
Cool Coal Man ran a pair of solid races, the second a neck victory in the nine-furlong Fountain of Youth, before stalking the pace and backing up in the Blue Grass. A return to the form in which he won in Florida puts him in the mix here but his last-race is difficult to overlook.
Monba found new life on the Polytrack at Keeneland, recovered from a dreadful effort in the Fountain of Youth. Despite being first to the wire in Lexington, comes out of a race meekly run and at every stage and did not show enough to be considered one of the principal threats here.
Cowboy Cal cruised through the Blue Grass on the lead and in no particular hurry but failed to repel Monba when it counted. Consistent but so far overmatched in Grade I company while racing primarily on turf. One dirt effort, last summer at Saratoga, was dismal. Possibly a pace factor but there are too many of those in this group to play to this colt’s strength.
Recapturetheglory was the pacemaker while allowed to set a languid pace in the Illinois Derby and four lengths clear at the wire while putting up the second-fastest late-pace (to Colonel John) figure of any of the nine-furlong preps, the fastest on dirt, and a final figure behind only the first two in the Florida Derby. That dynamic will not repeat itself here and while he is most definitely a pace factor early, is unlikely to survive the squabble.
Denis of Cork found room in the gate with the declaration of Behindatthebar and has trained well since a fifth-place effort in the Illinois Derby. Despite having won three of four career starts, he is clearly a cut below the best of these and several of the others.
Bob Black Jack is very fast if modestly bred and will make a significant contribution to the early pace. Has set moderate fractions on synthetic ground in California and was narrowly beaten by Colonel John in the Santa Anita Derby, but will likely find a hostile pace dynamic in his first start on dirt.
Eight Belles, a filly, has won four straight this year while keeping less than top-class company. Would be a major player in the Kentucky Oaks. Not here. She arrives sans the critical nine-furlong prep, overmatched by any measure and is clearly better equipped to compete in the Oaks.
Anak Nakal has shown nothing in three starts this season to merit even mild consideration in this race. Only positive is an upset win over the course in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes last autumn. Pass.
I’ve seen a lot of things happen in this town, some involving the Kentucky Derby.
Seattle Slew. Affirmed and Alydar, Spectacular Bid. I’ve seen two fillies, Genuine Risk and Winning Colors, win the Derby. I’ve seen Alysheba go to his knees at midstretch, get up and win. I’ve seen Smarty Jones and Barbaro, horses who appeared preordained to win the Triple Crown, rise to the occasion with the greatest races they would ever run; in the case of Barbaro, the last.
But I don’t see anything in the 134th Kentucky Derby that threatens to qualify for the personal highlight reel that lives in memory.
Entries close on Wednesday morning. The field will be full, 19 colts and one filly, who may or may not run in the Oaks on Friday. That would be the wise decision because Eight Belles has no chance on Saturday. Post positions will be drawn late in the day, downtown.
This Derby is an interesting handicapping exercise, the field a mixture of running styles that appears destined to produce a strong pace that affords the opportunity for deep closers and a race as truly run as can be expected when 20 horses are involved. It could be a great race. It could be a melee. But the overwhelming impression is that this is not a group of three years olds likely to move amateur poets to the quill or inspire comparisons to the Derby horses you remember decades later. They make you smile. These make you scratch your head.
The players:
Tale of Ekati raced close behind the strongest early pace seen in any of the nine-furlong preps and was clearly tired, though he prevailed, in the last stages of an oddly run Wood Memorial while running over lifeless, taxing ground, an odd race and difficult to read. His sire, Tale of the Cat, was a sprinter-miler type by Storm Cat and his dam is a daughter of a Derby winner, Sunday Silence, which is probably more stamina influence than most of these. Losing Prado to Adriano is a negative but after a lackluster effort in the Louisiana Derby, this colt is eligible to advance from the Wood Memorial and will benefit from pace likely to be quite strong.
Adriano’s only race on dirt resulted in a troubled effort in the Fountain of Youth in which he finished 17 lengths behind Cool Coal Man. This was followed by a workmanlike synthetic-track win at Turfway Park in March. The Fountain of Youth notwithstanding, there is no reason that a colt by A.P. Indy from a Mr. Prospector mare should not be comfortable on dirt, but his high action led his connections to view him as a turf prospect. He has two wins from four starts on grass. He is essentially once-paced and benefits from a race run strongly in the early stages. He did, however uncork a very fast five-furlong work over the course on Sunday, his second at Churchill, which suggests strongly that the ground will pose no problem. Jockey Edgar Prado’s decision to ride is a strong indication that he believes this to be the right horse.
Colonel John, a winner of both his starts this year, was visually impressive in the Santa Anita Derby while defeating a very suspect runner-up, Bob Black Jack, who was clearly spent in the late stages. He is well equipped to stay 10 furlongs, but fails to impress in terms of final figures. The late-pace figure earned in the Santa Anita Derby is the best of any of his contemporaries. Early pace figures place him far back in this field and uncertainty of his ability to immediately translate synthetic-track form to dirt gives pause as does his deep-closing running style. He will be among the betting favorites despite clear vulnerability.
Big Brown, already anointed the second coming of Hindoo by his trainer and many others, put up impressive numbers while winning the Florida Derby, crushing a suspect group while running over ground manicured and honed to yield fast times. The pace dynamic here will be much less accommodating and this colt has never been more than a half-length off the lead --that while facing four overmatched leftovers in a race taken off the turf at Gulfstream. In fact, he has not shown the ability to rate behind high-class speed horses. He also lacks the pedigree of a stayer – Boundary was a top-class sprinter whose best prior offspring, Pomeroy, was a top sprinter. He is painfully short of seasoning after three starts, has a history of hoof problems, was all over the racetrack in the late stages of the Florida Derby and is suspect at the distance. If he is the freak some believe he is, he will win. If there is even the slightest vulnerability, it will be exposed.
Pyro, another confirmed deep closer, was the second-best two-year-old of last season but has not recaptured his juvenile form. Also lacks a sharp effort in a nine-furlong prep after a dismal performance over Keeneland’s synthetic course. This is impossible to overlook. Expect a better effort in his return to dirt but not sufficiently better to get him home first. While distance is not a problem and Pyro has an established late move, a win under the circumstances by this one, who will be substantially supported in the betting pools, would be a mild surprise.
Smooth Air ran evenly to finish second to Big Brow while well clear of the others in the Florida Derby, a solid if overlooked effort in every respect. He may be compromised by mild illness detected last weekend, which is reason enough to downgrade his chances, and he is suspect at the route. This is a steadily improving miler type who may not be suited to the distance but owns the second-fastest nine-furlong final figure of the year after Big Brown.
Court Vision has failed to replicate his Remsen victory of last fall in two starts this year, both third-place finishes in the Fountain of Youth and Wood Memorial, in which he was unable to reel in the leaders with a wide, late move that has become his trademark despite a suicidal pace. A deep closer, he will be far behind the early leaders here, where lost ground will be especially costly. A potential factor late, but there is no room for error.
Visionaire probably ran the best race of those who disappointed in the Blue Grass and, while last early, made a bit of a run to finish fifth, beating in the main floundering horses. Difficult effort to put into perspective but certainly less than the sharp nine-furlong prep demanded of a Derby contender.
Z Humor was compromised by a painfully slow pace and speed-favoring ground when third in the Illinois Derby but put up a late-pace figure behind a fresh pacemaker that puts him in the late mix. Has shown subtle improvement in each of three starts this season but has so far been a step or two behind the best of these. Certainly capable of hitting the board.
Gayego had done nothing except run very solid races and responded positively when sent from California to the Arkansas Derby, which he won with a typical effort. Leaving behind workmanlike early and final figures. Best when on or near the lead, which does not play well in a field with this much early pace. Nice colt. Too much to do.
Big Truck has trained strongly since moving here from Keeneland, where his steady progression ran aground in the Blue Grass. Though clearly disdainful of Polytrack and eligible to improve, the lack of a sharp race in his final nine-furlong prep remains a huge blemish coming into this race.
Z Fortune, a one-paced lunch-bucket type mid-pack closer had been nothing if not consistent. Comes out of a typical, solid runner-up effort behind Gayego in Arkansas, has advanced incrementally in four starts and with more foundation than most of these and a trip, could very well be in the battle late. Dangerous.
Cool Coal Man ran a pair of solid races, the second a neck victory in the nine-furlong Fountain of Youth, before stalking the pace and backing up in the Blue Grass. A return to the form in which he won in Florida puts him in the mix here but his last-race is difficult to overlook.
Monba found new life on the Polytrack at Keeneland, recovered from a dreadful effort in the Fountain of Youth. Despite being first to the wire in Lexington, comes out of a race meekly run and at every stage and did not show enough to be considered one of the principal threats here.
Cowboy Cal cruised through the Blue Grass on the lead and in no particular hurry but failed to repel Monba when it counted. Consistent but so far overmatched in Grade I company while racing primarily on turf. One dirt effort, last summer at Saratoga, was dismal. Possibly a pace factor but there are too many of those in this group to play to this colt’s strength.
Recapturetheglory was the pacemaker while allowed to set a languid pace in the Illinois Derby and four lengths clear at the wire while putting up the second-fastest late-pace (to Colonel John) figure of any of the nine-furlong preps, the fastest on dirt, and a final figure behind only the first two in the Florida Derby. That dynamic will not repeat itself here and while he is most definitely a pace factor early, is unlikely to survive the squabble.
Denis of Cork found room in the gate with the declaration of Behindatthebar and has trained well since a fifth-place effort in the Illinois Derby. Despite having won three of four career starts, he is clearly a cut below the best of these and several of the others.
Bob Black Jack is very fast if modestly bred and will make a significant contribution to the early pace. Has set moderate fractions on synthetic ground in California and was narrowly beaten by Colonel John in the Santa Anita Derby, but will likely find a hostile pace dynamic in his first start on dirt.
Eight Belles, a filly, has won four straight this year while keeping less than top-class company. Would be a major player in the Kentucky Oaks. Not here. She arrives sans the critical nine-furlong prep, overmatched by any measure and is clearly better equipped to compete in the Oaks.
Anak Nakal has shown nothing in three starts this season to merit even mild consideration in this race. Only positive is an upset win over the course in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes last autumn. Pass.
Monday, April 28, 2008
HLC free selections, April 29
From the Handicapper's Learning Center
Churchill Downs Race 5, 2:43 ET
10- Bounce House
4- Captain Crypto
Exacta – 10+4 over 2+9
Turf Paradise Race 7, 6:37 ET
2- Table Topper
6- Royal Lake
Exacta – 2=6 over 8-10
Master1 Complete
The sheet that covers it all!
Includes "Gold and Silver Power Play",
New- Race Rating, easy to read and much more!
Churchill Downs Race 5, 2:43 ET
10- Bounce House
4- Captain Crypto
Exacta – 10+4 over 2+9
Turf Paradise Race 7, 6:37 ET
2- Table Topper
6- Royal Lake
Exacta – 2=6 over 8-10
Master1 Complete
The sheet that covers it all!
Includes "Gold and Silver Power Play",
New- Race Rating, easy to read and much more!
Derby week in The Ville
Beginning on Tuesday, At The Races will be reporting on Kentucky Derby 134 from Churchill Downs. Paul Moran’s reports, commentary and observations will appear daily, Wednesday through Monday, at ESPN.com, Thuraday through Saturday at kentuckyderby.com here every day and less frequently at the New York Times Triple Crown blog, The Rail.
Derby notes: Denis of Cork joins the party
Behindatthebar to await Preakness;
several put in final training moves
From Churchill Downs
Todd Pletcher stated Monday morning that the Coolmore Lexington Stake winner would bypass the Kentucky Derby and instead point for the Preakness Stakes two weeks later.
“I spoke with Mr. Sanan (Padua Stable owner Satish Sanan) today and we agreed that the best thing for the colt was to pass this race and point instead for the Preakness,” Pletcher said. “The Lexington was just April 19 and he’d run 16 days before that in California (winning an allowance race at Santa Anita) and asking him to come back again this Saturday would have just been too much.
“We’ll go up to Baltimore with him and see what we can do there. We’ll see if we can get lucky.”
The defection now opens the door for Denis of Cork. Calvin Borel, who won last year’s Kentucky Derby aboard Street Sense, has the call on the Harlan’s Holiday colt for trainer David Carroll and was up for a Monday morning, a half-mile in :48.
“He worked so good. Nothing this horse does surprises me,” Carroll said after the work that was the fifth fastest of 44 at the distance Monday morning. Splits on the work were :12.80, :25, :36.80 and out five furlongs in 1:00.20.
“I am over the moon,” Carroll said after hearing the news that there is room in the starting gate. “It’s great news.”
Big Truck demonstrated a distinct fondness for the Churchill Downs racetrack with a bullet five-furlong workout. The Barclay Tagg-trained colt, who finished 11th in the Blue Grass Stakes over Keeneland’s Polytrack surface last time out, was clocked in :59.40, posting the fastest of 22 works at the distance. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.
“He worked very well,’’ said Tagg. “He did everything right. He likes the surface.”
“The Mig” watch went past 9 a.m. at Barn 45, but still no sign of the California-based rider who was jetting in to work the Santa Anita Derby runner-up at. Then a minute later Richard Migliore was there, thanks to a quick ride from the Louisville airport from trainer James Kasparoff.
“Got an 11:30 red eye out of California,” the affable veteran offered, “and this was as early as I could get here. I booked so late I was stuck back in coach between two guys and didn’t get a lot of sleep. But it went OK. Got to get this done, then go grab an 11:30 (a.m.) flight right back.”
The rider and Bob Black Jack made it trackside at 9:30 and registered one of the final works of the morning on the big oval. Breaking off at the four-furlong pole, the dark son of the Bertrando sire Stormy Jack clipped off steady fractions of :12.20, :24.20, :36 and :48.60. The track’s clockers caught him galloping out five furlongs in 1:02.
Steve Asmussen’s Derby duo of Pyro and Z Fortune worked back-to-back fashion. As Z Fortune was pulling up from his half-mile breeze Pyro rolled past him to kick off his half-mile move.
Pyro, the Louisiana Derby winner, posted a time of :49.80 for his half-mile drill, ranking 29th fastest of 44 at the distance on Monday morning. Under regular exercise rider Dominic Terry, the son of Pulpit clicked off splits of :13.20, :25.60 and :38 flat, galloping out in 1:03.40.
Z Fortune preceded that move with a slower breeze in :51 flat, rating the 38th fastest worker at the distance. With Carmen Rosas in the irons, the son of Siphon posted splits of :13.60, :26.20 and :38.80. Official clockers did not give a gallop-out time as Z Fortune eased his way around the clubhouse turn.
“They went over the track well,” Asmussen said of his Derby hopefuls. “We were very fortunate with the weather and the track was in excellent shape this morning.”
Visionaire turned in his final workout Monday morning under jockey Jose Lezcano. The Gotham winner put in a half-mile just after the renovation break in :48.40, 11th fastest of 33 at the distance.
Owned by Team Valor and Vision Racing, Visionaire worked in company with the maiden filly Novel Twist, who will run on Oaks Day. “He just needed a little target to go at; he’s not a very good work horse,” said Matz, who shortly thereafter added, “They don’t give away money for works before the race.”
Matz was in a powerful position with Barbaro in 2006, who came into the Derby unbeaten and one of the favorites, but Visionaire has a longshot look. He was fifth in the Blue Grass last time out.
“The pace was slow and I thought at the end he was the only one gaining on the leader at that point,” Matz said. “If he runs good on Saturday, we’ll all be happy with it (as a final prep). We’re going to take a shot like everyone else is.”
several put in final training moves
From Churchill Downs
Todd Pletcher stated Monday morning that the Coolmore Lexington Stake winner would bypass the Kentucky Derby and instead point for the Preakness Stakes two weeks later.
“I spoke with Mr. Sanan (Padua Stable owner Satish Sanan) today and we agreed that the best thing for the colt was to pass this race and point instead for the Preakness,” Pletcher said. “The Lexington was just April 19 and he’d run 16 days before that in California (winning an allowance race at Santa Anita) and asking him to come back again this Saturday would have just been too much.
“We’ll go up to Baltimore with him and see what we can do there. We’ll see if we can get lucky.”
The defection now opens the door for Denis of Cork. Calvin Borel, who won last year’s Kentucky Derby aboard Street Sense, has the call on the Harlan’s Holiday colt for trainer David Carroll and was up for a Monday morning, a half-mile in :48.
“He worked so good. Nothing this horse does surprises me,” Carroll said after the work that was the fifth fastest of 44 at the distance Monday morning. Splits on the work were :12.80, :25, :36.80 and out five furlongs in 1:00.20.
“I am over the moon,” Carroll said after hearing the news that there is room in the starting gate. “It’s great news.”
Big Truck demonstrated a distinct fondness for the Churchill Downs racetrack with a bullet five-furlong workout. The Barclay Tagg-trained colt, who finished 11th in the Blue Grass Stakes over Keeneland’s Polytrack surface last time out, was clocked in :59.40, posting the fastest of 22 works at the distance. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.
“He worked very well,’’ said Tagg. “He did everything right. He likes the surface.”
“The Mig” watch went past 9 a.m. at Barn 45, but still no sign of the California-based rider who was jetting in to work the Santa Anita Derby runner-up at. Then a minute later Richard Migliore was there, thanks to a quick ride from the Louisville airport from trainer James Kasparoff.
“Got an 11:30 red eye out of California,” the affable veteran offered, “and this was as early as I could get here. I booked so late I was stuck back in coach between two guys and didn’t get a lot of sleep. But it went OK. Got to get this done, then go grab an 11:30 (a.m.) flight right back.”
The rider and Bob Black Jack made it trackside at 9:30 and registered one of the final works of the morning on the big oval. Breaking off at the four-furlong pole, the dark son of the Bertrando sire Stormy Jack clipped off steady fractions of :12.20, :24.20, :36 and :48.60. The track’s clockers caught him galloping out five furlongs in 1:02.
Steve Asmussen’s Derby duo of Pyro and Z Fortune worked back-to-back fashion. As Z Fortune was pulling up from his half-mile breeze Pyro rolled past him to kick off his half-mile move.
Pyro, the Louisiana Derby winner, posted a time of :49.80 for his half-mile drill, ranking 29th fastest of 44 at the distance on Monday morning. Under regular exercise rider Dominic Terry, the son of Pulpit clicked off splits of :13.20, :25.60 and :38 flat, galloping out in 1:03.40.
Z Fortune preceded that move with a slower breeze in :51 flat, rating the 38th fastest worker at the distance. With Carmen Rosas in the irons, the son of Siphon posted splits of :13.60, :26.20 and :38.80. Official clockers did not give a gallop-out time as Z Fortune eased his way around the clubhouse turn.
“They went over the track well,” Asmussen said of his Derby hopefuls. “We were very fortunate with the weather and the track was in excellent shape this morning.”
Visionaire turned in his final workout Monday morning under jockey Jose Lezcano. The Gotham winner put in a half-mile just after the renovation break in :48.40, 11th fastest of 33 at the distance.
Owned by Team Valor and Vision Racing, Visionaire worked in company with the maiden filly Novel Twist, who will run on Oaks Day. “He just needed a little target to go at; he’s not a very good work horse,” said Matz, who shortly thereafter added, “They don’t give away money for works before the race.”
Matz was in a powerful position with Barbaro in 2006, who came into the Derby unbeaten and one of the favorites, but Visionaire has a longshot look. He was fifth in the Blue Grass last time out.
“The pace was slow and I thought at the end he was the only one gaining on the leader at that point,” Matz said. “If he runs good on Saturday, we’ll all be happy with it (as a final prep). We’re going to take a shot like everyone else is.”
Hard Rock for blue hairs at Aqueduct?
(Note: The video lottery terminal crowd, which can be categorized as blue-haired, may not be quite comfortable with the Hard Rock ambiance. Obviously, SL Green has fallen short of due diligence when surveying the potential audience. This is not an under-30 demographic and the casino concept demands cheap food and drink.)
News release
Note 2: SL Green Realty is one of three firms under consideration as operator of the video lottery casino approved long ago for Aqueduct.
SL Green Realtyon Monday announced details of its plans to revitalize the legendary Aqueduct Race Track. The redevelopment plan includes the world-famous Hard Rock brand which will help develop and operate a fully integrated entertainment complex – with racing, gaming, restaurants, retail and hotels.
“We are proud to announce an agreement with Hard Rock Aqueduct that permits two leaders in their respective industries to work together to create live entertainment, hospitality and retail offerings that will complement the core horseracing and gaming enterprise at Aqueduct,” said Marc Holliday, CEO of SL Green Realty Corp.
“Aqueduct has always been one of the world’s best-known tracks but it has fallen on hard times,” Holliday said. “By joining a preeminent real estate company with one of the world’s most recognized names in gaming, hospitality and entertainment venues, we have created a bold and exciting vision for Aqueduct that will preserve a historic Queens landmark and transform it into a global destination.”
SL Green’s proposal, submitted to the State of New York on April 25, leverages its unparalleled reputation in New York City real estate. The company manages the largest portfolio of commercial real estate in New York City -- more than 24 million square feet of the city’s finest properties. It is also an approximately $13 billion public company that directly or indirectly provides jobs to thousands of New Yorkers.
By bringing Hard Rock to Queens, SL Green is providing the best opportunity for New York State to leverage home-grown expertise in real estate with Hard Rock’s global brand.
“Hard Rock Entertainment is proud to be a part of SL Green’s proposal to the State of New York,” said Jim Allen, Chairman of Hard Rock Entertainment, parent of Hard Rock Aqueduct LLC. “Our global presence and operational capabilities, along with SL Green’s proven track record in New York, create an opportunity to turn Aqueduct into an unforgettable destination worldwide.”
SL Green’s vision for Aqueduct includes a gaming floor housing 4,500 video lottery terminals. Future amenities may also entail a Hard Rock hotel designed to 4-Diamond standards which would include restaurants, a spa and fitness center, Hard Rock’s legendary pool experience and a display that would showcase some of Hard Rock’s most valuable music memorabilia; an Aqueduct Entertainment Complex which would include nighttime entertainment and high-end retail and outlet shops; and a Hard Rock Live Entertainment venue that would feature some of the greatest names in the music industry. If selected, SL Green will work with the state and the local communities in realizing this vision for a revitalized Aqueduct.
Simulcast talks at impasse
News release
Mid Atlantic Cooperative LLC, the simulcast purchasing enterprise that represents 16 regional racetracks, has been unable to reach a new simulcast agreement with New York Racing Association.
On Wednesday, Mid Atlantic Cooperative members will cease simulcasting NYRA racing from Belmont Park. The cessation will not affect the simulcast of the Belmont Stakes, for which a separate agreement has been reached.
Mid Atlantic Cooperative could not accept NYRA’s unprecedented monetary demands for its Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga signals. A series of counter proposals, which would have provided significant increases to NYRA, were rejected by it.
“Mid Atlantic Cooperative remains committed to reaching an acceptable contract and minimizing the interruption of simulcasts,” said Executive Director Martin Lieberman. “However, this is a necessary step to protect the long-term interests of our members. NYRA’s unreasonable price demands, if agreed to, will negatively impact our member racetracks’ ability to present live and simulcast racing in the region.”
The Mid Atlantic Cooperative includes 16 member tracks and their off-track wagering entities, including: Meadowlands Racetrack, Monmouth Park, Freehold Raceway, Atlantic City Race Course, Philadelphia Park, Penn National Race Course, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, Charles Town Races, Delaware Park, Dover Downs, Harrington Raceway, Ocean Downs, Rosecroft Raceway, Colonial Downs, Suffolk Downs and Rockingham Park.
News release
Note 2: SL Green Realty is one of three firms under consideration as operator of the video lottery casino approved long ago for Aqueduct.
SL Green Realtyon Monday announced details of its plans to revitalize the legendary Aqueduct Race Track. The redevelopment plan includes the world-famous Hard Rock brand which will help develop and operate a fully integrated entertainment complex – with racing, gaming, restaurants, retail and hotels.
“We are proud to announce an agreement with Hard Rock Aqueduct that permits two leaders in their respective industries to work together to create live entertainment, hospitality and retail offerings that will complement the core horseracing and gaming enterprise at Aqueduct,” said Marc Holliday, CEO of SL Green Realty Corp.
“Aqueduct has always been one of the world’s best-known tracks but it has fallen on hard times,” Holliday said. “By joining a preeminent real estate company with one of the world’s most recognized names in gaming, hospitality and entertainment venues, we have created a bold and exciting vision for Aqueduct that will preserve a historic Queens landmark and transform it into a global destination.”
SL Green’s proposal, submitted to the State of New York on April 25, leverages its unparalleled reputation in New York City real estate. The company manages the largest portfolio of commercial real estate in New York City -- more than 24 million square feet of the city’s finest properties. It is also an approximately $13 billion public company that directly or indirectly provides jobs to thousands of New Yorkers.
By bringing Hard Rock to Queens, SL Green is providing the best opportunity for New York State to leverage home-grown expertise in real estate with Hard Rock’s global brand.
“Hard Rock Entertainment is proud to be a part of SL Green’s proposal to the State of New York,” said Jim Allen, Chairman of Hard Rock Entertainment, parent of Hard Rock Aqueduct LLC. “Our global presence and operational capabilities, along with SL Green’s proven track record in New York, create an opportunity to turn Aqueduct into an unforgettable destination worldwide.”
SL Green’s vision for Aqueduct includes a gaming floor housing 4,500 video lottery terminals. Future amenities may also entail a Hard Rock hotel designed to 4-Diamond standards which would include restaurants, a spa and fitness center, Hard Rock’s legendary pool experience and a display that would showcase some of Hard Rock’s most valuable music memorabilia; an Aqueduct Entertainment Complex which would include nighttime entertainment and high-end retail and outlet shops; and a Hard Rock Live Entertainment venue that would feature some of the greatest names in the music industry. If selected, SL Green will work with the state and the local communities in realizing this vision for a revitalized Aqueduct.
Simulcast talks at impasse
News release
Mid Atlantic Cooperative LLC, the simulcast purchasing enterprise that represents 16 regional racetracks, has been unable to reach a new simulcast agreement with New York Racing Association.
On Wednesday, Mid Atlantic Cooperative members will cease simulcasting NYRA racing from Belmont Park. The cessation will not affect the simulcast of the Belmont Stakes, for which a separate agreement has been reached.
Mid Atlantic Cooperative could not accept NYRA’s unprecedented monetary demands for its Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga signals. A series of counter proposals, which would have provided significant increases to NYRA, were rejected by it.
“Mid Atlantic Cooperative remains committed to reaching an acceptable contract and minimizing the interruption of simulcasts,” said Executive Director Martin Lieberman. “However, this is a necessary step to protect the long-term interests of our members. NYRA’s unreasonable price demands, if agreed to, will negatively impact our member racetracks’ ability to present live and simulcast racing in the region.”
The Mid Atlantic Cooperative includes 16 member tracks and their off-track wagering entities, including: Meadowlands Racetrack, Monmouth Park, Freehold Raceway, Atlantic City Race Course, Philadelphia Park, Penn National Race Course, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, Charles Town Races, Delaware Park, Dover Downs, Harrington Raceway, Ocean Downs, Rosecroft Raceway, Colonial Downs, Suffolk Downs and Rockingham Park.
HLC free selections, April 28
From the Handicapper's Learning Center
Hawthorne, Race 2, 3:04 ET
5-Tax Exemption
7-Salty Sailor
Exacta – 5+7 over 3+8
Turf Paradise, Race 1, 6:30 ET
1-Awesome Pirate
4- Hopetown Hero
Exacta- 1+4 over 5+6
Hawthorne, Race 2, 3:04 ET
5-Tax Exemption
7-Salty Sailor
Exacta – 5+7 over 3+8
Turf Paradise, Race 1, 6:30 ET
1-Awesome Pirate
4- Hopetown Hero
Exacta- 1+4 over 5+6
If Big Brown wins the Derby ...
There will be no on-the-record statements of uneasiness from racing’s leaders, but there is an undercurrent of speculation concerning what might follow a victory in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday by the currently in vogue colt widely seen as a potential superstar.
Along with discussion of a potential Triple Crown, a victory by Big Brown would trigger examination of the role played by steroids in racing, medication, legal and illegal. It is impossible to ignore these issues in regard to any horse trained by Richard Dutrow Jr.
Think image.
Think perception.
Consider the torrent of scrutiny, innuendo and conjecture that would follow a victory by Big Brown in the Kentucky Derby.
Think four-legged Barry Bonds.
The fact is this: Dutrow’s checkered past is accompanied by an unsavory reputation widely shared by the core of racing fans and horseplayers, who view both him and his success in the dim light of suspicion.
And also this: Dutrow has, in a short period of time, risen from virtual obscurity to build one of the nation’s most powerful stables, one that has produced a Horse of the Year, Breeders’ Cup Classic winner St. Liam, winners of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint and Mile, two races on the Dubai World Cup supporting card and three New York training titles.
But Dutrow has never had a Derby horse until now. He is about to discover that while his past successes have been chronicled for the most part in the trade and niche media, success in the Kentucky Derby brings the world to your doorstep and the subject of is past transgressions will be high on the list of pre-Preakness storylines.
If perception is indeed reality, his critics view Dutrow’s success as evidence of more than misplaced distrust.
There is history.
Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. was slapped with a 14-day suspension and a $25,000 fine by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board for violating the terms of a suspension he served back in 2005.
According to Carmine Donofrio, the NYSRWB steward, Dutrow was found to have had contact with his barn help during the time he was serving a 60-day suspension in the spring and summer of 2005. Trainers on suspension are forbidden from contacting their assistants.
"He was doing things he shouldn't have been doing," Donofrio said.
On June 1, 2005, Dutrow, who that year trained eventual Horse of the Year Saint Liam, Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Silver Train and stakes winners Offlee Wild and Sis City, began serving a 60-day suspension for two past medication positives as well as a claiming rules violation.
"They subpoenaed my help's phone records and my owner's phone records and they said I billed my owners when I was suspended," Dutrow said. "They're doing what they have to do I guess."
Last Thursday, Dutrow returned from a seven-day suspension for an overage of phenylbutazone, a painkiller, found in a post-race sample taken from Privy Seal, who finished fourth in the fourth race at Belmont Park on Oct. 15, 2006.
Dutrow has horses in New York, south Florida and Southern California. His horses in New York will run under the name of assistant Juan Rodriguez.
Daily Racing Form, February, 2007
Dutrow received a 45-day suspension and $3,000 fine for a positive test of the prohibited drug Mepivacaine, found in Farmer Jake after a third-place finish in the sixth race on April 27, 2003, at Aqueduct.
Dutrow received a $2,000 fine and 15-day suspension for a positive test of the prohibited drug clenbuterol, found in Starship Smokester after a win in the second race at Aqueduct on January 11, 2004.
Dutrow also was cited for violating a state rule stipulating that a horse cannot be resold for 30 days after being claimed. Dutrow claimed Cap for owner Sanford Goldfarb out of the first race at Belmont Park on May 16, 2004. The board said Dutrow transferred Cap to Lawrence Roman, who was ineligible to claim, on May 19 and then raced the horse in Goldfarb's name on June 12 at Belmont.
Thoroughbred Times
The New Jersey Racing Commission suspended trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. for 14 days and fined him $5,000 for giving false or misleading statements during the course of an investigation. The suspension began Sunday, one day after Dutrow won the $2 million Breeders' Cup Mile at Monmouth Park.
Jockey Rudy Rodriguez, who works as an assistant to Dutrow, was suspended seven days and fined $1,000.
The suspensions came as a result of an investigation into Wild Desert, who won the 2005 Queen's Plate at Woodbine. Though the horse was actually stabled and training at Aqueduct, he showed a workout at Monmouth Park on May 29, six weeks before his victory in the Queen's Plate. At the time, the New York Racing Association's racing secretary, Mike Lakow, did not want the horse on the grounds of a NYRA track because of a dispute he had with the colt's owner, Daniel Borislow.
While Dutrow is under suspension, his horses in New York will be saddled by Juan Rodriguez.
In September, the New York stewards penalized Rudy Rodriguez, Juan Rodriguez, and Michelle Nevin for obtaining a false workout for Wild Desert.
Daily Racing Form, October, 2007
The perception is that at best Dutrow plays the game on the fringe, that he is one of those whose methods of training revolve around staying a step ahead of the authorities, but his own success now places him in the harsh light of public scrutiny on the game’s biggest stage. A victory in the Kentucky Derby, which Dutrow last week dismissed as just another horserace, would bring new attention to the last thing the Triple Crown needs – examination of one of racing’s most notorious and controversial figures and the most sensitive issues – steroids, medication and the use of prohibited drugs -- by those who would otherwise ignore these issues.
Except among core horseplayers, this is not currently fodder for pre-Derby discussion but were Big Brown to win on Saturday, Dutrow would find two weeks post-race and pre-Preakness news coverage focused on the violations that are a matter of record and the perceived transgressions for which is guilty in the court of horseplayer opinion.
Big Brown has already moved observers to almost surreal hyperbole. One wrote last week, ignoring Triple Crown winners Seattle Slew and Affirmed as well as Spectacular Bid that this may be the best three-year-old since Secretariat. If this colt is capable of inspiring this sort of nonsense before the Derby, the ensuing fortnight, should Big Brown win on Saturday, would be a unprecedented clash of skeptics wondering what’s really going on and cheerleaders too naïve to consider the possibilities. --PM
Along with discussion of a potential Triple Crown, a victory by Big Brown would trigger examination of the role played by steroids in racing, medication, legal and illegal. It is impossible to ignore these issues in regard to any horse trained by Richard Dutrow Jr.
Think image.
Think perception.
Consider the torrent of scrutiny, innuendo and conjecture that would follow a victory by Big Brown in the Kentucky Derby.
Think four-legged Barry Bonds.
The fact is this: Dutrow’s checkered past is accompanied by an unsavory reputation widely shared by the core of racing fans and horseplayers, who view both him and his success in the dim light of suspicion.
And also this: Dutrow has, in a short period of time, risen from virtual obscurity to build one of the nation’s most powerful stables, one that has produced a Horse of the Year, Breeders’ Cup Classic winner St. Liam, winners of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint and Mile, two races on the Dubai World Cup supporting card and three New York training titles.
But Dutrow has never had a Derby horse until now. He is about to discover that while his past successes have been chronicled for the most part in the trade and niche media, success in the Kentucky Derby brings the world to your doorstep and the subject of is past transgressions will be high on the list of pre-Preakness storylines.
If perception is indeed reality, his critics view Dutrow’s success as evidence of more than misplaced distrust.
There is history.
Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. was slapped with a 14-day suspension and a $25,000 fine by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board for violating the terms of a suspension he served back in 2005.
According to Carmine Donofrio, the NYSRWB steward, Dutrow was found to have had contact with his barn help during the time he was serving a 60-day suspension in the spring and summer of 2005. Trainers on suspension are forbidden from contacting their assistants.
"He was doing things he shouldn't have been doing," Donofrio said.
On June 1, 2005, Dutrow, who that year trained eventual Horse of the Year Saint Liam, Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Silver Train and stakes winners Offlee Wild and Sis City, began serving a 60-day suspension for two past medication positives as well as a claiming rules violation.
"They subpoenaed my help's phone records and my owner's phone records and they said I billed my owners when I was suspended," Dutrow said. "They're doing what they have to do I guess."
Last Thursday, Dutrow returned from a seven-day suspension for an overage of phenylbutazone, a painkiller, found in a post-race sample taken from Privy Seal, who finished fourth in the fourth race at Belmont Park on Oct. 15, 2006.
Dutrow has horses in New York, south Florida and Southern California. His horses in New York will run under the name of assistant Juan Rodriguez.
Daily Racing Form, February, 2007
Dutrow received a 45-day suspension and $3,000 fine for a positive test of the prohibited drug Mepivacaine, found in Farmer Jake after a third-place finish in the sixth race on April 27, 2003, at Aqueduct.
Dutrow received a $2,000 fine and 15-day suspension for a positive test of the prohibited drug clenbuterol, found in Starship Smokester after a win in the second race at Aqueduct on January 11, 2004.
Dutrow also was cited for violating a state rule stipulating that a horse cannot be resold for 30 days after being claimed. Dutrow claimed Cap for owner Sanford Goldfarb out of the first race at Belmont Park on May 16, 2004. The board said Dutrow transferred Cap to Lawrence Roman, who was ineligible to claim, on May 19 and then raced the horse in Goldfarb's name on June 12 at Belmont.
Thoroughbred Times
The New Jersey Racing Commission suspended trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. for 14 days and fined him $5,000 for giving false or misleading statements during the course of an investigation. The suspension began Sunday, one day after Dutrow won the $2 million Breeders' Cup Mile at Monmouth Park.
Jockey Rudy Rodriguez, who works as an assistant to Dutrow, was suspended seven days and fined $1,000.
The suspensions came as a result of an investigation into Wild Desert, who won the 2005 Queen's Plate at Woodbine. Though the horse was actually stabled and training at Aqueduct, he showed a workout at Monmouth Park on May 29, six weeks before his victory in the Queen's Plate. At the time, the New York Racing Association's racing secretary, Mike Lakow, did not want the horse on the grounds of a NYRA track because of a dispute he had with the colt's owner, Daniel Borislow.
While Dutrow is under suspension, his horses in New York will be saddled by Juan Rodriguez.
In September, the New York stewards penalized Rudy Rodriguez, Juan Rodriguez, and Michelle Nevin for obtaining a false workout for Wild Desert.
Daily Racing Form, October, 2007
The perception is that at best Dutrow plays the game on the fringe, that he is one of those whose methods of training revolve around staying a step ahead of the authorities, but his own success now places him in the harsh light of public scrutiny on the game’s biggest stage. A victory in the Kentucky Derby, which Dutrow last week dismissed as just another horserace, would bring new attention to the last thing the Triple Crown needs – examination of one of racing’s most notorious and controversial figures and the most sensitive issues – steroids, medication and the use of prohibited drugs -- by those who would otherwise ignore these issues.
Except among core horseplayers, this is not currently fodder for pre-Derby discussion but were Big Brown to win on Saturday, Dutrow would find two weeks post-race and pre-Preakness news coverage focused on the violations that are a matter of record and the perceived transgressions for which is guilty in the court of horseplayer opinion.
Big Brown has already moved observers to almost surreal hyperbole. One wrote last week, ignoring Triple Crown winners Seattle Slew and Affirmed as well as Spectacular Bid that this may be the best three-year-old since Secretariat. If this colt is capable of inspiring this sort of nonsense before the Derby, the ensuing fortnight, should Big Brown win on Saturday, would be a unprecedented clash of skeptics wondering what’s really going on and cheerleaders too naïve to consider the possibilities. --PM
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Derby notes: Adriano, Colonel John breeze
From Churchill Downs
Lane’s End Stakes winner Adriano had his final workout for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, negotiating five furlongs Sunday at Churchill Downs in 1:00.80 in company with stablemate Cherokee Artist.
Regular exercise rider Xavier Azipuru was aboard Adriano, who will be ridden by Edgar Prado in the Run for the Roses.
“Xavier worked him all winter on dirt and turf,” said trainer Graham Motion, whose Derby hopeful produced splits of :12.20, :24.40 and :36.60 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.40. “He said he worked as good or better than he’s worked all year. I caught him in :24 or maybe a little bit better for the last quarter, and I was pleased with that. I wanted to see him finish up like that.”
“I was encouraged to see Dallas’ horse come back and win the Derby Trial, which legitimizes the race somewhat,” said Motion, referring to the Dallas Stewart-trained Macho Again, who struggled on the Polytrack surface at Turfway in the Lane’s End. “But (Adriano) certainly couldn’t have won more comfortably.”
Because Adriano had previously run poorly in his only start on dirt at Gulfstream Park in the Fountain of Youth (GII) and had all of his success on turf, his trainer hesitated to commit to a Derby start directly after the Lane’s End.
“I was trying to make a decision with my head not with my heart. It’s always easy to get caught up in it as soon as you win one of those races, but I wanted to be sure we were doing the right thing,” Motion said. “I think after we analyzed it for three or four weeks and talked it over, it became more and more logical.”
Motion said Adriano’s ninth-place finish in the Fountain of Youth could well have been a result of his colt’s prerace misbehavior in the paddock.
“He’s very hot-blooded. That’s why we brought him here early. We schooled him in the paddock (Saturday) and we brought him to the paddock this morning before he breezed,” Motion said. “I can’t believe the difference in him. I’m not saying he’s going to be perfect on Derby Day with 150,000 people, but I’m really impressed with how he’s handled it the more he’s done it.”
Colonel John put up a sharp five-furlong drill.
The tall colt had exercise rider Karine Lhuillier attached for his move shortly after the renovation break and they proved quite a team on a clear and crisp morning. Breaking off at the five-eighths pole, the son of Tiznow went right about his business and – without any serious urging from his rider – registered a time of :57.80, which was clearly the best of a total of 62 works at the distance.
By anyone’s accounting it was impressive, especially so in light of the fact the California-based youngster had raced and trained almost exclusively on synthetic surfaces in the Golden State since beginning his career at Del Mar last summer.
“I’m happy with the way he did it,” said his conditioner, Eoin Harty. “He did it within himself and that’s what I liked. That track was fast today; maybe faster than it should be. But everyone else was working fast, so that’s part of my thinking. And she (Lhuillier) wasn’t pushing on him.”
Harty was asked if the work dispelled any thoughts about his colt’s possible inability to handle a dirt surface.
“Dirt is not an issue,” the trainer said. “I thought he handled it well today. He trained on dirt as a two-year-old and he handled it well then. I’ve been confident in him in that regard all along.”
Clockers registered split times on the homebred’s drill, catching him along the way in :12, :23.20, :34.60 and :46. He was tabbed at 1:11.20 on the six-furlong gallop out.
The next-best five-furlong work of the morning was turned in by the crackerjack filly Eight Belles, who covered the distance in: 58.20. The tall, gray miss could well be on the track again with Colonel John, as she’s being pointed for a start against all the boys in the Kentucky Derby.
Harty had originally scheduled Colonel John’s work for Monday morning, but the forecast of heavy rains in the area for Sunday night caused him to move it up a day.
“On first take, he appears to have come out of this well,” the trainer said. “He’s blowing some, but that’s to be expected. We’ve got some time to work with him the rest of the week, if need be. But all in all, I’m pleased.”
Trainer Bill Mott reshuffled the schedule with his Derby duo Sunday, moving up workouts he had tentatively slated for Monday or Tuesday. Both WinStar Farm’s Court Vision and Zayat Stables’ Z Humor turned in their final Derby 134 breezes under the Twin Spires at five furlongs.
First up was Court Vision, who drilled the five panels in 1:00.80 while working in company. The son of Gulch rattled off splits of :13, :25.60, :37.20 and :48.80, while galloping out an extra furlong in 1:14.
After the renovation break, Z Humor, with Neil Poznansky up, also worked in company for five furlongs, getting the distance in 1:01.20. The Distorted Humor colt posted splits of :25.40, :37.20 and :49.20, galloping out six furlongs in 1:14.80.
“I had originally wanted to work Monday or Tuesday, but with the forecast, I decided to move them up,” the Hall of Fame trainer said, joking, “and, besides, I didn’t know which day of the week was better in the first place. Now we have six days to recover.
“I asked for a work in the neighborhood of one minute. We just wanted a decent, useful work. On my watch, I had Court Vision in 1:00.20 and Z Humor in 1:00.60, so we were just about right on.”
“Court Vision went well,” Mott said after training hours. “He worked good and cooled out very quickly. He only took one deep breath and everything’s looking pretty good.”
“Z Humor is doing equally as well,” Mott said. “He had a good work this morning, finished up well and looked smooth doing it. Anytime you have a horse on the improve, anything can happen.”
Both colts are expected to walk the shedrow Monday following their breezes, Mott said, adding that each will school in the paddock during raceday sometime in the coming week.
Smooth Air went back to the track Sunday, jogging a little bit more than a mile alongside a pony before the renovation break with Susie Milne up.
The Smooth Jazz colt has been fighting a low grade fever and had not been to the track since Thursday.
“I didn’t sleep well last night, but I will tonight,” trainer Bennie Stutts Jr. said. “I came in this morning and saw that empty feed tub and knew he was all right.”
With owner Brian Burns of Mount Joy looking on, Smooth Air took three and a half turns around the shedrow led by groom Adeladia Geigel before heading to the track. As the colt neared the gap, a black cat ran right in front of the horse.
“He always goes twice around,” Stutts said. “This is probably the first time in more than six months that he hasn’t. He loves to train, but this morning I didn’t want him to get too hot. He will go around twice tomorrow and you will see a different horse.”
On the way back to the barn, another black cat ran behind Smooth Air.
“If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it,” Burns said. “Maybe two black cats mean good luck. I think it was a setup for us that they had the cats in a cage and just let them out when we went by.”
It was “final work” morning for trainer Larry Jones’ high-line fillies, and it turned out to be quite lively.
Both drilled sharply under rider Gabriel Saez with final times that turned heads – Eight Belles covering five furlongs in :58.20 and Proud Spell going the same distance in :58.40.
Jones, riding his huge stable pony Pal alongside the workers, first led Proud Spell out of the six-furlong gap and on to the main track to be the first on track following the mid-morning renovation at Churchill Downs Sunday morning. After a quick backtrack, Jones gave his charge a running start at the five-furlong pole, then cut her loose under the Panamanian Saez for splits that registered :11.40, :22.60, :34.40 and :46.40. The pair finished up with a good gallop-out in 1:12.80.
Jones quickly escorted the bay filly back to Barn 43 and – after Saez dismounted one lassie and climbed aboard the other – he brought the tall, gray Eight Belles to the racetrack for a similar scenario.
The trainer and the pony again got the work filly a head start on the five-eighths pole and the daughter of Unbridled’s Song went about her business with relish. Clipping off fractions of :11.40, :22.60, :34.20 and :45.80, she went by the wire with the second-fastest five-furlong time of the morning, galloping out an additional panel in 1:12 and yet one more after that in 1:25.40.
Only the Kentucky Derby colt Colonel John went quicker than Eight Belles among the 62 runners who rang up five furlongs Sunday. The colt’s time was a rapid :57.80, but the filly – who is likely to see him again in the Derby starting gate next Saturday – wasn’t far behind.
“Proud Spell’s work was exactly what I wanted,” noted Jones after the exercises. “I told Gabriel I wanted a good work in her, something like she did prior to the Breeders’ Cup (in which she finished second). She’s had a couple of slow works over on the ‘Poly’ at Keeneland and she needed this. It was good for her.
“Eight Belles probably went a little quicker than she needed, but it’s fine. She was all run out there today and she’s quite capable of turning in those kind of works.
Saez, a 20-year-old who has been riding in this country since 2006 after making his mark as his native country’s top apprentice the previous year, liked both moves.
“Proud Spell worked well,” he said. “When I worked her over at Keeneland, I had to push on her to get her to go. But here she just went right on with it.
“The other filly (Eight Belles) felt good. She worked well, very well.”
Saez is in line to ride both fillies next out. He’s been the only rider to handle Proud Spell and former Kentucky governor Brereton Jones’ homebred daughter of Proud Citizen is now bound for Friday’s Kentucky Oaks. On Saturday, the rider will go back aboard Eight Belles when she takes on 19 males in the Derby. He has ridden the Fox Hill Farms’ filly four times before, winning on two of those occasions.
Lane’s End Stakes winner Adriano had his final workout for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, negotiating five furlongs Sunday at Churchill Downs in 1:00.80 in company with stablemate Cherokee Artist.
Regular exercise rider Xavier Azipuru was aboard Adriano, who will be ridden by Edgar Prado in the Run for the Roses.
“Xavier worked him all winter on dirt and turf,” said trainer Graham Motion, whose Derby hopeful produced splits of :12.20, :24.40 and :36.60 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.40. “He said he worked as good or better than he’s worked all year. I caught him in :24 or maybe a little bit better for the last quarter, and I was pleased with that. I wanted to see him finish up like that.”
“I was encouraged to see Dallas’ horse come back and win the Derby Trial, which legitimizes the race somewhat,” said Motion, referring to the Dallas Stewart-trained Macho Again, who struggled on the Polytrack surface at Turfway in the Lane’s End. “But (Adriano) certainly couldn’t have won more comfortably.”
Because Adriano had previously run poorly in his only start on dirt at Gulfstream Park in the Fountain of Youth (GII) and had all of his success on turf, his trainer hesitated to commit to a Derby start directly after the Lane’s End.
“I was trying to make a decision with my head not with my heart. It’s always easy to get caught up in it as soon as you win one of those races, but I wanted to be sure we were doing the right thing,” Motion said. “I think after we analyzed it for three or four weeks and talked it over, it became more and more logical.”
Motion said Adriano’s ninth-place finish in the Fountain of Youth could well have been a result of his colt’s prerace misbehavior in the paddock.
“He’s very hot-blooded. That’s why we brought him here early. We schooled him in the paddock (Saturday) and we brought him to the paddock this morning before he breezed,” Motion said. “I can’t believe the difference in him. I’m not saying he’s going to be perfect on Derby Day with 150,000 people, but I’m really impressed with how he’s handled it the more he’s done it.”
Colonel John put up a sharp five-furlong drill.
The tall colt had exercise rider Karine Lhuillier attached for his move shortly after the renovation break and they proved quite a team on a clear and crisp morning. Breaking off at the five-eighths pole, the son of Tiznow went right about his business and – without any serious urging from his rider – registered a time of :57.80, which was clearly the best of a total of 62 works at the distance.
By anyone’s accounting it was impressive, especially so in light of the fact the California-based youngster had raced and trained almost exclusively on synthetic surfaces in the Golden State since beginning his career at Del Mar last summer.
“I’m happy with the way he did it,” said his conditioner, Eoin Harty. “He did it within himself and that’s what I liked. That track was fast today; maybe faster than it should be. But everyone else was working fast, so that’s part of my thinking. And she (Lhuillier) wasn’t pushing on him.”
Harty was asked if the work dispelled any thoughts about his colt’s possible inability to handle a dirt surface.
“Dirt is not an issue,” the trainer said. “I thought he handled it well today. He trained on dirt as a two-year-old and he handled it well then. I’ve been confident in him in that regard all along.”
Clockers registered split times on the homebred’s drill, catching him along the way in :12, :23.20, :34.60 and :46. He was tabbed at 1:11.20 on the six-furlong gallop out.
The next-best five-furlong work of the morning was turned in by the crackerjack filly Eight Belles, who covered the distance in: 58.20. The tall, gray miss could well be on the track again with Colonel John, as she’s being pointed for a start against all the boys in the Kentucky Derby.
Harty had originally scheduled Colonel John’s work for Monday morning, but the forecast of heavy rains in the area for Sunday night caused him to move it up a day.
“On first take, he appears to have come out of this well,” the trainer said. “He’s blowing some, but that’s to be expected. We’ve got some time to work with him the rest of the week, if need be. But all in all, I’m pleased.”
Trainer Bill Mott reshuffled the schedule with his Derby duo Sunday, moving up workouts he had tentatively slated for Monday or Tuesday. Both WinStar Farm’s Court Vision and Zayat Stables’ Z Humor turned in their final Derby 134 breezes under the Twin Spires at five furlongs.
First up was Court Vision, who drilled the five panels in 1:00.80 while working in company. The son of Gulch rattled off splits of :13, :25.60, :37.20 and :48.80, while galloping out an extra furlong in 1:14.
After the renovation break, Z Humor, with Neil Poznansky up, also worked in company for five furlongs, getting the distance in 1:01.20. The Distorted Humor colt posted splits of :25.40, :37.20 and :49.20, galloping out six furlongs in 1:14.80.
“I had originally wanted to work Monday or Tuesday, but with the forecast, I decided to move them up,” the Hall of Fame trainer said, joking, “and, besides, I didn’t know which day of the week was better in the first place. Now we have six days to recover.
“I asked for a work in the neighborhood of one minute. We just wanted a decent, useful work. On my watch, I had Court Vision in 1:00.20 and Z Humor in 1:00.60, so we were just about right on.”
“Court Vision went well,” Mott said after training hours. “He worked good and cooled out very quickly. He only took one deep breath and everything’s looking pretty good.”
“Z Humor is doing equally as well,” Mott said. “He had a good work this morning, finished up well and looked smooth doing it. Anytime you have a horse on the improve, anything can happen.”
Both colts are expected to walk the shedrow Monday following their breezes, Mott said, adding that each will school in the paddock during raceday sometime in the coming week.
Smooth Air went back to the track Sunday, jogging a little bit more than a mile alongside a pony before the renovation break with Susie Milne up.
The Smooth Jazz colt has been fighting a low grade fever and had not been to the track since Thursday.
“I didn’t sleep well last night, but I will tonight,” trainer Bennie Stutts Jr. said. “I came in this morning and saw that empty feed tub and knew he was all right.”
With owner Brian Burns of Mount Joy looking on, Smooth Air took three and a half turns around the shedrow led by groom Adeladia Geigel before heading to the track. As the colt neared the gap, a black cat ran right in front of the horse.
“He always goes twice around,” Stutts said. “This is probably the first time in more than six months that he hasn’t. He loves to train, but this morning I didn’t want him to get too hot. He will go around twice tomorrow and you will see a different horse.”
On the way back to the barn, another black cat ran behind Smooth Air.
“If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it,” Burns said. “Maybe two black cats mean good luck. I think it was a setup for us that they had the cats in a cage and just let them out when we went by.”
It was “final work” morning for trainer Larry Jones’ high-line fillies, and it turned out to be quite lively.
Both drilled sharply under rider Gabriel Saez with final times that turned heads – Eight Belles covering five furlongs in :58.20 and Proud Spell going the same distance in :58.40.
Jones, riding his huge stable pony Pal alongside the workers, first led Proud Spell out of the six-furlong gap and on to the main track to be the first on track following the mid-morning renovation at Churchill Downs Sunday morning. After a quick backtrack, Jones gave his charge a running start at the five-furlong pole, then cut her loose under the Panamanian Saez for splits that registered :11.40, :22.60, :34.40 and :46.40. The pair finished up with a good gallop-out in 1:12.80.
Jones quickly escorted the bay filly back to Barn 43 and – after Saez dismounted one lassie and climbed aboard the other – he brought the tall, gray Eight Belles to the racetrack for a similar scenario.
The trainer and the pony again got the work filly a head start on the five-eighths pole and the daughter of Unbridled’s Song went about her business with relish. Clipping off fractions of :11.40, :22.60, :34.20 and :45.80, she went by the wire with the second-fastest five-furlong time of the morning, galloping out an additional panel in 1:12 and yet one more after that in 1:25.40.
Only the Kentucky Derby colt Colonel John went quicker than Eight Belles among the 62 runners who rang up five furlongs Sunday. The colt’s time was a rapid :57.80, but the filly – who is likely to see him again in the Derby starting gate next Saturday – wasn’t far behind.
“Proud Spell’s work was exactly what I wanted,” noted Jones after the exercises. “I told Gabriel I wanted a good work in her, something like she did prior to the Breeders’ Cup (in which she finished second). She’s had a couple of slow works over on the ‘Poly’ at Keeneland and she needed this. It was good for her.
“Eight Belles probably went a little quicker than she needed, but it’s fine. She was all run out there today and she’s quite capable of turning in those kind of works.
Saez, a 20-year-old who has been riding in this country since 2006 after making his mark as his native country’s top apprentice the previous year, liked both moves.
“Proud Spell worked well,” he said. “When I worked her over at Keeneland, I had to push on her to get her to go. But here she just went right on with it.
“The other filly (Eight Belles) felt good. She worked well, very well.”
Saez is in line to ride both fillies next out. He’s been the only rider to handle Proud Spell and former Kentucky governor Brereton Jones’ homebred daughter of Proud Citizen is now bound for Friday’s Kentucky Oaks. On Saturday, the rider will go back aboard Eight Belles when she takes on 19 males in the Derby. He has ridden the Fox Hill Farms’ filly four times before, winning on two of those occasions.
QEII Cup to Archipenko
From the Hong Kong Jockey Club
Archipenko produced an unstoppable stretch run under Kevin Shea to mow down some of the world's best in the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup on Sunday at Sha Tin.
The South African-trained raider had a comfortable length and three-quarters to spare over French-trained outsider Balius with Hong Kong star Viva Pataca eclipsed in third.
Mike de Kock is becoming an increasingly familiar figure at Hong Kong's International meetings - he won his race two years ago with Irridescence, but despite well-reported confidence from the trainer this week it was Viva Pataca that dominated the betting and Archipenko rewarded his supporters of a return of almost 14-1.
The four-year-old winner had only raced 11 times before today and had only joined De Kock's yard in December but, after an unlucky third in the Dubai Duty Free, he has now stamped himself a serious player on the world stage, something confirmed by the time of today's race, a super-swift 2 minutes 0.8 seconds.
As predicted, the New Zealander Sir Slick went for the early lead, but he had to battle for that position with Viva Macau. Turning into the stretch there were a whole clutch of chances but in the final furlong all the attention focused on the surging Archipenko, with the late charge of Balius, adding to the terrific afternoon of Olivier Doleuze following Good Ba Ba's win, grabbing second place off Viva Pataca late on.
"I know it might sound crazy after winning a Group 1 race, but I think he is still improving and he can go and win another one. We'll be thinking about him in terms of Royal Ascot but I'm not sure what race we will target there yet," winning trainer De Kock said.
"We haven't had the horse very long and he has needed to fill out. He settled in well at our stables in Dubai and I guess a change is as good as a holiday in many respects. I'm hoping he can continue on this upward spiral because he is still improving both mentally and physically."
Reflecting on how the race was won, jockey Shea said: "He settled nicely and it suited him having no horse on his outside. He prefers to have some daylight. When I pulled him out in the straight I gave him a couple of cracks and I knew that it would take a special one to beat us.
"I would agree with what Mike says about this horse being able to go and win another major race like this. He's more mature and more muscled and he seems to have settled better with the blinkers on him."
Darren Beadman put Viva Pataca's defeat down to a poor start from his difficult gate, but a bigger disappointment was Derby winner Helene Mascot, who left Felix Coetzee slightly baffled that the horse simply did not find the same scintillating acceleration as he had done in March.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club's Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges concluded the day a successful one and applauded sponsors Audemars Piguet for their tenth year supporting this very prestigious international event.
Attendance at the Sha Tin Racecourse rose by 13 per cent over the corresponding figure last year to 48,459 and betting turnover increased by HK$5m, from HK$938.4m a year ago to HK$943.1m.
Archipenko produced an unstoppable stretch run under Kevin Shea to mow down some of the world's best in the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup on Sunday at Sha Tin.
The South African-trained raider had a comfortable length and three-quarters to spare over French-trained outsider Balius with Hong Kong star Viva Pataca eclipsed in third.
Mike de Kock is becoming an increasingly familiar figure at Hong Kong's International meetings - he won his race two years ago with Irridescence, but despite well-reported confidence from the trainer this week it was Viva Pataca that dominated the betting and Archipenko rewarded his supporters of a return of almost 14-1.
The four-year-old winner had only raced 11 times before today and had only joined De Kock's yard in December but, after an unlucky third in the Dubai Duty Free, he has now stamped himself a serious player on the world stage, something confirmed by the time of today's race, a super-swift 2 minutes 0.8 seconds.
As predicted, the New Zealander Sir Slick went for the early lead, but he had to battle for that position with Viva Macau. Turning into the stretch there were a whole clutch of chances but in the final furlong all the attention focused on the surging Archipenko, with the late charge of Balius, adding to the terrific afternoon of Olivier Doleuze following Good Ba Ba's win, grabbing second place off Viva Pataca late on.
"I know it might sound crazy after winning a Group 1 race, but I think he is still improving and he can go and win another one. We'll be thinking about him in terms of Royal Ascot but I'm not sure what race we will target there yet," winning trainer De Kock said.
"We haven't had the horse very long and he has needed to fill out. He settled in well at our stables in Dubai and I guess a change is as good as a holiday in many respects. I'm hoping he can continue on this upward spiral because he is still improving both mentally and physically."
Reflecting on how the race was won, jockey Shea said: "He settled nicely and it suited him having no horse on his outside. He prefers to have some daylight. When I pulled him out in the straight I gave him a couple of cracks and I knew that it would take a special one to beat us.
"I would agree with what Mike says about this horse being able to go and win another major race like this. He's more mature and more muscled and he seems to have settled better with the blinkers on him."
Darren Beadman put Viva Pataca's defeat down to a poor start from his difficult gate, but a bigger disappointment was Derby winner Helene Mascot, who left Felix Coetzee slightly baffled that the horse simply did not find the same scintillating acceleration as he had done in March.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club's Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges concluded the day a successful one and applauded sponsors Audemars Piguet for their tenth year supporting this very prestigious international event.
Attendance at the Sha Tin Racecourse rose by 13 per cent over the corresponding figure last year to 48,459 and betting turnover increased by HK$5m, from HK$938.4m a year ago to HK$943.1m.
Champions Mile: It's all Good Ba Ba
From the Hong Kong Jockey Club
Hong Kong's Good Ba Ba on Sunday at Sha Tim won his fourth Group 1 race in a row for trainer Andreas Schutz when he took the Champions Mile in emphatic style under Olivier Doleuze and declared himself as one of the top contenders for the Horse of the Year honours, after completing his clean sweep of Hong Kong's major mile events.
The manner of his victory was simply stunning. Settled towards the rear early, the odds on favourite was always travelling supremely well, and with Doleuze sitting motionless at the head of the stretch, it was only a question of when the jockey asked the Hong Kong Champion to go.
When he shook the reins, Good Ba Ba simply found a different gear, and shot clear to win from market rival Armada, under Douglas Whyte, with the gallant veteran Bullish Luck keeping on for third place for Gerald Mosse.
Afterwards an ebullient Doleuze said: “It’s hard to explain the feeling you get on the back of this horse. I've been lucky enough to ride some very good horses in my career, but this one is something special. Winning today I felt that I was going into the history books - he's now surely the Horse of the Year. He's one of the best I've ever ridden, I'm just lucky to be on his back."
Andreas Schutz, in only his second season in Hong Kong, was equally delighted. "I was fortunate to get him, and I always thought that he was a Group 1 horse. But I never dreamed that he could make a clean sweep of the major mile races here," he said.
"We've always tried to keep something in the tank with this horse and not do too much with him. He's best when he's fresh, and I think he's getting better and better. Halfway down the stretch he was still on the bridle and I was worried that he'd get there too soon, but then in a couple of strides he was two lengths clear and it was all over."
There were no hard luck stories. Douglas Whyte on the runner up said: "The winner was too good for me today while Darren Beadman, fourth on Joyful winner, summed it up succinctly for most when he remarked: "The trouble was my horse found four gears, but the winner found six."
As for the future, Schutz was more reserved to commit his winner to any of the international races that are on offer in Japan or the USA despite a US$1m bonus in the waiting if he could win the Yasuda Kinen in Japan...and a guaranteed Breeders' Cup entry.
"We'll not make any hasty decisions but I'll discuss plans with my owner John Yuen sometime soon, maybe tomorrow after we celebrate tonight," the trainer said.
"However I think we are odds on to stay in Hong Kong, and a big price against us going to the Yasuda Kinen or the Breeders' Cup. If we don't make this horse completely empty by pushing him too hard, then we can keep him going season after season so why not. He's enjoying running and winning," Schutz said.
Good Ba Ba's career record now stands at 13 wins from 26 starts and, for today, it was enough to savour the victory which added another HK$4.5m to a bankroll that now stands at almost HK$32.5 million for the horse bought at the Hong Kong International Sale.
Hong Kong's Good Ba Ba on Sunday at Sha Tim won his fourth Group 1 race in a row for trainer Andreas Schutz when he took the Champions Mile in emphatic style under Olivier Doleuze and declared himself as one of the top contenders for the Horse of the Year honours, after completing his clean sweep of Hong Kong's major mile events.
The manner of his victory was simply stunning. Settled towards the rear early, the odds on favourite was always travelling supremely well, and with Doleuze sitting motionless at the head of the stretch, it was only a question of when the jockey asked the Hong Kong Champion to go.
When he shook the reins, Good Ba Ba simply found a different gear, and shot clear to win from market rival Armada, under Douglas Whyte, with the gallant veteran Bullish Luck keeping on for third place for Gerald Mosse.
Afterwards an ebullient Doleuze said: “It’s hard to explain the feeling you get on the back of this horse. I've been lucky enough to ride some very good horses in my career, but this one is something special. Winning today I felt that I was going into the history books - he's now surely the Horse of the Year. He's one of the best I've ever ridden, I'm just lucky to be on his back."
Andreas Schutz, in only his second season in Hong Kong, was equally delighted. "I was fortunate to get him, and I always thought that he was a Group 1 horse. But I never dreamed that he could make a clean sweep of the major mile races here," he said.
"We've always tried to keep something in the tank with this horse and not do too much with him. He's best when he's fresh, and I think he's getting better and better. Halfway down the stretch he was still on the bridle and I was worried that he'd get there too soon, but then in a couple of strides he was two lengths clear and it was all over."
There were no hard luck stories. Douglas Whyte on the runner up said: "The winner was too good for me today while Darren Beadman, fourth on Joyful winner, summed it up succinctly for most when he remarked: "The trouble was my horse found four gears, but the winner found six."
As for the future, Schutz was more reserved to commit his winner to any of the international races that are on offer in Japan or the USA despite a US$1m bonus in the waiting if he could win the Yasuda Kinen in Japan...and a guaranteed Breeders' Cup entry.
"We'll not make any hasty decisions but I'll discuss plans with my owner John Yuen sometime soon, maybe tomorrow after we celebrate tonight," the trainer said.
"However I think we are odds on to stay in Hong Kong, and a big price against us going to the Yasuda Kinen or the Breeders' Cup. If we don't make this horse completely empty by pushing him too hard, then we can keep him going season after season so why not. He's enjoying running and winning," Schutz said.
Good Ba Ba's career record now stands at 13 wins from 26 starts and, for today, it was enough to savour the victory which added another HK$4.5m to a bankroll that now stands at almost HK$32.5 million for the horse bought at the Hong Kong International Sale.
HLC free selections, April 27
From the Handicapper's Learning Center
Hawthorne Race #9, 5:55 ET
8- Audrey Aliby
1a- Graded Lady
Exacta - 8+1a over 9+4
Bay Meadows Race #2, 4:15 ET
3- Grecian Devil
5- Queen of Troy
Exacta -- 3+5 over 1+4
Master Complete: The sheet that covers it all. Includes "Gold and Silver Power Play",
New- Race Rating, easy to read and much more!
http://www.nvo.com/hdcp/master1completesheet/
Disclamer: Handicapper's Learning Center is not responsible for any wagers made with these selections. Handicapper's Learning Center is also not resposible for any typeographical error. We try our very best to be 100% accurate, but we are human. Please check your numbers carefully before you wager.
Hawthorne Race #9, 5:55 ET
8- Audrey Aliby
1a- Graded Lady
Exacta - 8+1a over 9+4
Bay Meadows Race #2, 4:15 ET
3- Grecian Devil
5- Queen of Troy
Exacta -- 3+5 over 1+4
Master Complete: The sheet that covers it all. Includes "Gold and Silver Power Play",
New- Race Rating, easy to read and much more!
http://www.nvo.com/hdcp/master1completesheet/
Disclamer: Handicapper's Learning Center is not responsible for any wagers made with these selections. Handicapper's Learning Center is also not resposible for any typeographical error. We try our very best to be 100% accurate, but we are human. Please check your numbers carefully before you wager.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Aqueduct: Harlem Rocker rolls in Withers
Harlem Rocker may be a bit short of seasoning to inspire his connections to consider the Preakness but indicated in Saturday’s Withers Stakes at Aqueduct that he may be a good deal more than a pure miler.
Though J Be K, the odds-on favorite, had nothing to offer when challenged, Harlem Rocker showed a quick turn of foot after having stalked a strong early pace and won the Withers with authority in what was only his third career start. He ran the mile in 1:34.50 and was not pressured late by rider Eibar Coa.
Coa: “He’s still green, but he’s one of those improving horses. Every time he runs, he just gets better. He’s not 100 percent yet, which is kind of scary because he can be better than this. I was a little concerned that he was too close to the pace today, but he took me there himself. At the five-sixteenths pole I thought that if J Be K was good enough, he would beat us, but I knew my horse was going to finish. At the end he was playing around because he’s still a little green, but he showed he can compete with these horses.”
Seth Benzel, assistant to winning trainer Todd Pletcher: “He’s still playing around out there. When he puts his mind on business, he dealt with those horses fairly easily. This horse has a lot of talent and ability. It seems like he still has some room to improve.”
While several horses have successfully made the leap from the Withers to the Preakness, Pletcher, with the Met Mile just around the corner, may elect to postpone a longer test for Harlem Rocker until after Memorial Day.
J Be K, meanwhile, undefeated at sprint distances and winless beyond seven furlongs, was convincing while making the point that he is a pure sprinter.
Though J Be K, the odds-on favorite, had nothing to offer when challenged, Harlem Rocker showed a quick turn of foot after having stalked a strong early pace and won the Withers with authority in what was only his third career start. He ran the mile in 1:34.50 and was not pressured late by rider Eibar Coa.
Coa: “He’s still green, but he’s one of those improving horses. Every time he runs, he just gets better. He’s not 100 percent yet, which is kind of scary because he can be better than this. I was a little concerned that he was too close to the pace today, but he took me there himself. At the five-sixteenths pole I thought that if J Be K was good enough, he would beat us, but I knew my horse was going to finish. At the end he was playing around because he’s still a little green, but he showed he can compete with these horses.”
Seth Benzel, assistant to winning trainer Todd Pletcher: “He’s still playing around out there. When he puts his mind on business, he dealt with those horses fairly easily. This horse has a lot of talent and ability. It seems like he still has some room to improve.”
While several horses have successfully made the leap from the Withers to the Preakness, Pletcher, with the Met Mile just around the corner, may elect to postpone a longer test for Harlem Rocker until after Memorial Day.
J Be K, meanwhile, undefeated at sprint distances and winless beyond seven furlongs, was convincing while making the point that he is a pure sprinter.
Derby notes: Pletcher crew gets tightener
From Churchill Downs
Monba and Cowboy Cal worked at Keeneland for the first time since they finished first and second, respectively, in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) on April 12.
Monba, with exercise rider Patti Krotenko aboard, was on the track by 6:45 a.m. and after jogging once the wrong way around the oval worked five furlongs over the Polytrack in 1:02.60 in company with Ready’s Echo. Monba was clocked galloping out in 1:14.60.
“I thought he went well,” trainer Todd Pletcher said about the son of Maria’s Mon. “It was kind of in the norm for him in terms of what he does. He’s not an overzealous work horse. I thought he did fine.
“We normally work him in company,” Pletcher added. “He won’t do much on his own.”
Less than 45 minutes later, Krotenko was aboard Cowboy Cal, who also jogged around the track the wrong way before he worked five furlongs by himself. The Giant’s Causeway colt was clocked in 1:00 and galloped out in 1:12.
“I thought he worked extremely well,” said Pletcher.
Pletcher, who won 14 races during Keeneland’s spring meet that ended on Friday to earn his second training title at the track, said he has not decided when Monba and Cowboy Cal will ship to Churchill Downs and might stay at Keeneland as late as Wednesday. Asked if he would work Behindatthebar, who won the Coolmore Lexington (G2) a week ago, again before a possible start in the Kentucky Derby, Pletcher also said he had not decided.
“He galloped well this morning, and we’re just kind of playing it by ear,” he said about Behindatthebar. The son of Forest Wildcat galloped 1 ¼ miles with exercise rider Valerie Buck aboard.
With a week until the Derby, Pletcher said the race appears to be wide open.
“A lot of times you learn more about the quality of the three-year-old crop a couple of races from now,” he said. “We’re pleased with the way ours went (this morning). There’s some rain over at Churchill; that’s why we stayed here, to work over a safe track. We’re happy with that.”
Colonel John, the Santa Anita Derby, winner took a mile and one half tour of the wet Churchill Downs oval Saturday morning, heading trackside with exercise rider Karine Lhuillier at 8:45 a.m. following the morning renovation break. The gallop was a good one and the 16.2-hands colt acquitted himself well on a strip the clockers were calling “muddy.”
“He handled it well,” agreed trainer Eoin Harty, who handles the homebred Tiznow colt for WinStar Farm.
The Irish-born conditioner was asked about the possibility of a wet track on Kentucky Derby day.
“It’s going to be what it’s going to be,” Harty noted. “He seemed to go fine out there today, so I guess that gives me a bit of confidence (he could handle an ‘off’ track).”
The trainer has his charge’s final Derby drill planned for Monday at five furlongs following the renovation break. For Sunday, he said his four-time winner would again gallop his mile and a half.
“Same routine tomorrow,” he said, “with maybe a visit to the gate, if climatic conditions cooperate.”
“I was very concerned last night; I didn’t sleep too well,” trainer Paulo Lobo noted, prior to sending out his Kentucky Derby charge Gayego for his final drill Saturday at Churchill Downs. “I heard the rain at 2 a.m. and I didn’t know how the track was going to take it. But I talked to some trainers (at the track) this morning and they said it would be fine. They said to go ahead and do my work.”
Lobo, the Brazilian-born conditioner who now works out of his base in Southern California, told his rider – Hall of Famer Mike Smith – that he wanted him to go five eighths in 1:01. “It’s just a maintenance work,” he said. “He doesn’t need much now.”
Smith went trackside with the son of Gilded Time at 8:30 just as the track maintenance crew had finished their break, harrowing and sealing the wet track. The rider held tight; Gayego was full of himself and delighted to be able to stretch his nearly black legs.
When Smith and the Cubanacan Stables’ colt had finished their exercise, Lobo had one word for it: “Perfect.”
With only a short backtrack, Smith broke his mount off at the five-eighths pole and fired a steady clip all the way around to the finish line. The clockers caught the splits at :12.40, :24.40, :36.60, :48.60 and a final time of 1:01. Perfect, indeed. The out time registered at 1:14.80.
“Exactly. Exactly what I wanted,” Lobo offered. “I think it was an awesome work.”
Smith, who has ridden the Kentucky-bred in all five of his lifetime starts, was equally impressed.
“He was very relaxed out there today,” the California-based rider said. “He wanted to please. And when I galloped out with him, he pulled hard on me. He wanted more.”
The rider noted that it surely was a good sign that the horse seemed to like the Churchill strip.
“I know when I galloped Giacomo (Smith’s 2005 Derby winner) here, he loved this track,” he said. “He felt good going over it; he galloped like a champion. This horse puts me in mind of that. I’m hoping that it proves just as good.”
Lobo and Smith both spoke briefly with members of the press following the drill, then dash together to catch a 10 o’clock plane to California. The trainer was planning to return to Kentucky on Tuesday and stay through the Derby.
Monba and Cowboy Cal worked at Keeneland for the first time since they finished first and second, respectively, in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) on April 12.
Monba, with exercise rider Patti Krotenko aboard, was on the track by 6:45 a.m. and after jogging once the wrong way around the oval worked five furlongs over the Polytrack in 1:02.60 in company with Ready’s Echo. Monba was clocked galloping out in 1:14.60.
“I thought he went well,” trainer Todd Pletcher said about the son of Maria’s Mon. “It was kind of in the norm for him in terms of what he does. He’s not an overzealous work horse. I thought he did fine.
“We normally work him in company,” Pletcher added. “He won’t do much on his own.”
Less than 45 minutes later, Krotenko was aboard Cowboy Cal, who also jogged around the track the wrong way before he worked five furlongs by himself. The Giant’s Causeway colt was clocked in 1:00 and galloped out in 1:12.
“I thought he worked extremely well,” said Pletcher.
Pletcher, who won 14 races during Keeneland’s spring meet that ended on Friday to earn his second training title at the track, said he has not decided when Monba and Cowboy Cal will ship to Churchill Downs and might stay at Keeneland as late as Wednesday. Asked if he would work Behindatthebar, who won the Coolmore Lexington (G2) a week ago, again before a possible start in the Kentucky Derby, Pletcher also said he had not decided.
“He galloped well this morning, and we’re just kind of playing it by ear,” he said about Behindatthebar. The son of Forest Wildcat galloped 1 ¼ miles with exercise rider Valerie Buck aboard.
With a week until the Derby, Pletcher said the race appears to be wide open.
“A lot of times you learn more about the quality of the three-year-old crop a couple of races from now,” he said. “We’re pleased with the way ours went (this morning). There’s some rain over at Churchill; that’s why we stayed here, to work over a safe track. We’re happy with that.”
Colonel John, the Santa Anita Derby, winner took a mile and one half tour of the wet Churchill Downs oval Saturday morning, heading trackside with exercise rider Karine Lhuillier at 8:45 a.m. following the morning renovation break. The gallop was a good one and the 16.2-hands colt acquitted himself well on a strip the clockers were calling “muddy.”
“He handled it well,” agreed trainer Eoin Harty, who handles the homebred Tiznow colt for WinStar Farm.
The Irish-born conditioner was asked about the possibility of a wet track on Kentucky Derby day.
“It’s going to be what it’s going to be,” Harty noted. “He seemed to go fine out there today, so I guess that gives me a bit of confidence (he could handle an ‘off’ track).”
The trainer has his charge’s final Derby drill planned for Monday at five furlongs following the renovation break. For Sunday, he said his four-time winner would again gallop his mile and a half.
“Same routine tomorrow,” he said, “with maybe a visit to the gate, if climatic conditions cooperate.”
“I was very concerned last night; I didn’t sleep too well,” trainer Paulo Lobo noted, prior to sending out his Kentucky Derby charge Gayego for his final drill Saturday at Churchill Downs. “I heard the rain at 2 a.m. and I didn’t know how the track was going to take it. But I talked to some trainers (at the track) this morning and they said it would be fine. They said to go ahead and do my work.”
Lobo, the Brazilian-born conditioner who now works out of his base in Southern California, told his rider – Hall of Famer Mike Smith – that he wanted him to go five eighths in 1:01. “It’s just a maintenance work,” he said. “He doesn’t need much now.”
Smith went trackside with the son of Gilded Time at 8:30 just as the track maintenance crew had finished their break, harrowing and sealing the wet track. The rider held tight; Gayego was full of himself and delighted to be able to stretch his nearly black legs.
When Smith and the Cubanacan Stables’ colt had finished their exercise, Lobo had one word for it: “Perfect.”
With only a short backtrack, Smith broke his mount off at the five-eighths pole and fired a steady clip all the way around to the finish line. The clockers caught the splits at :12.40, :24.40, :36.60, :48.60 and a final time of 1:01. Perfect, indeed. The out time registered at 1:14.80.
“Exactly. Exactly what I wanted,” Lobo offered. “I think it was an awesome work.”
Smith, who has ridden the Kentucky-bred in all five of his lifetime starts, was equally impressed.
“He was very relaxed out there today,” the California-based rider said. “He wanted to please. And when I galloped out with him, he pulled hard on me. He wanted more.”
The rider noted that it surely was a good sign that the horse seemed to like the Churchill strip.
“I know when I galloped Giacomo (Smith’s 2005 Derby winner) here, he loved this track,” he said. “He felt good going over it; he galloped like a champion. This horse puts me in mind of that. I’m hoping that it proves just as good.”
Lobo and Smith both spoke briefly with members of the press following the drill, then dash together to catch a 10 o’clock plane to California. The trainer was planning to return to Kentucky on Tuesday and stay through the Derby.
Stage set in Hong Kong
From the Hong Kong Jockey Club
An early mist on Saturday morning added another twist to the variable weather patterns of trackwork at Sha Tin this week, but cleared as the international contenders for Sunday’s AP QE II Cup and Champions Mile completed their final preparations.
There were no last minute anxieties and trackwork was largely routine ahead of Sunday's big tests.
Hong Kong race fans will be looking to Viva Pataca to bounce back from his gallant second place finish from a wide draw in the Dubai Sheema Classic and assert his superiority once more back on home soil in the APQEII. He will again have to overcome a wide draw on Sunday, but trainer John Moore appeared cautiously optimistic at the track on Saturday morning. "Everything is well in terms of his recovery from the trip Dubai, he is at his right weight and things have gone well. Whether he is at his absolute best only the race itself will reveal," he said.
Simon Stokes, racing manager to Gestut Farhof, the owners of Quijano, was another to express cautious optimism. "I am hoping there will be a strong pace, as that will help our horse settle. I think the New Zealand horse will lead from gate one, and that will suit us. Quijano has won over 2000 metres, but not at this level. This race will tell us whether we go the 2000 metre route or whether we step him back up to 2400 (metres) for the future."
There have been few more enthusiastic visitors to Sha Tin this week than Graeme Nicholson, the 70-year-old trainer and part owner of five times Group One winner Sir Slick. The New Zealander said: "It amazes me how nothing phases this horse and again he has eaten everything. His jockey (Bruce Herd) told me 'Slick looked even bigger today than he was yesterday!' He's weighed in 510 kilos. I don't know if that is good or bad because he's never been weighed back home, let's hope it's good."
Sir Slick breezed round the sand track under Herd, who has ridden 999 winners in New Zealand, and, like Nicholson, was buoyant afterwards: "He's the most intelligent horse I've ever ridden and though tomorrow will be both my and Slick's first race at Sha Tin, I'm feeling great about it."
South African raider Archipenko had been the first of the overseas horses out on the all-weather track under regular rider Trevor Brown, with French mare Musical Way following close behind. Trainer Philippe Van de Poele, who arrived from France last night, seemed happy enough with the mare who had run the race of her life when third, at odds of 100-1, in the Hong Kong Cup in December.
Was Van de Poele expecting another huge Sha Tin run? "That's the idea," he said. "I would be a bit concerned with some of the humid weather this week but was I can say is that you can forget her run at Longchamp (when last of eight) this month. Even by that track's standards the ground was deep. She hated it but did not have a hard race."
Takeshi Okumura for trainer Sakae Kunieda was aboard Meiner Segal on the all-weather for a lap of the track this morning ahead of his Champions Mile bid.
"Generally speaking, he is in a good form and settled well," said Kunieda, who was happy with what he saw.
Matsurida Gogh (AP QE II Cup) had an easy jog and canter in the trotting ring under his regular exercise rider Toshio Fujii this morning.
Kunieda also commented about his AP QE II horse, "He wanted to go faster in his work yesterday, and I did not want to make him overwork before the race. It was also warm and a bit humid this morning as well, so it was good for him to be relaxed. He seems to be in good shape for the race."
"I have had many factors that are a concern as regards the horse, such as the long trip, new surroundings, the different climate etc., plus he is a sensitive horse. Any of these factors might have some effect on his wellbeing. However he has settled better than I expected. If his condition was 100% in the Grand Prix Arima Kinen and Nikkei Sho (G2), I would say he is now 85 to 90% or maybe even more back to the condition he was in for those two races."
"Both of them will be put in a routine work tomorrow morning in the trotting ring. We will plan to do the same thing for this race as we have in Japan. Hopefully he will travel in around third position behind the pacesetter, and show us a brilliant late-kick in the stretch on Sunday.
An early mist on Saturday morning added another twist to the variable weather patterns of trackwork at Sha Tin this week, but cleared as the international contenders for Sunday’s AP QE II Cup and Champions Mile completed their final preparations.
There were no last minute anxieties and trackwork was largely routine ahead of Sunday's big tests.
Hong Kong race fans will be looking to Viva Pataca to bounce back from his gallant second place finish from a wide draw in the Dubai Sheema Classic and assert his superiority once more back on home soil in the APQEII. He will again have to overcome a wide draw on Sunday, but trainer John Moore appeared cautiously optimistic at the track on Saturday morning. "Everything is well in terms of his recovery from the trip Dubai, he is at his right weight and things have gone well. Whether he is at his absolute best only the race itself will reveal," he said.
Simon Stokes, racing manager to Gestut Farhof, the owners of Quijano, was another to express cautious optimism. "I am hoping there will be a strong pace, as that will help our horse settle. I think the New Zealand horse will lead from gate one, and that will suit us. Quijano has won over 2000 metres, but not at this level. This race will tell us whether we go the 2000 metre route or whether we step him back up to 2400 (metres) for the future."
There have been few more enthusiastic visitors to Sha Tin this week than Graeme Nicholson, the 70-year-old trainer and part owner of five times Group One winner Sir Slick. The New Zealander said: "It amazes me how nothing phases this horse and again he has eaten everything. His jockey (Bruce Herd) told me 'Slick looked even bigger today than he was yesterday!' He's weighed in 510 kilos. I don't know if that is good or bad because he's never been weighed back home, let's hope it's good."
Sir Slick breezed round the sand track under Herd, who has ridden 999 winners in New Zealand, and, like Nicholson, was buoyant afterwards: "He's the most intelligent horse I've ever ridden and though tomorrow will be both my and Slick's first race at Sha Tin, I'm feeling great about it."
South African raider Archipenko had been the first of the overseas horses out on the all-weather track under regular rider Trevor Brown, with French mare Musical Way following close behind. Trainer Philippe Van de Poele, who arrived from France last night, seemed happy enough with the mare who had run the race of her life when third, at odds of 100-1, in the Hong Kong Cup in December.
Was Van de Poele expecting another huge Sha Tin run? "That's the idea," he said. "I would be a bit concerned with some of the humid weather this week but was I can say is that you can forget her run at Longchamp (when last of eight) this month. Even by that track's standards the ground was deep. She hated it but did not have a hard race."
Takeshi Okumura for trainer Sakae Kunieda was aboard Meiner Segal on the all-weather for a lap of the track this morning ahead of his Champions Mile bid.
"Generally speaking, he is in a good form and settled well," said Kunieda, who was happy with what he saw.
Matsurida Gogh (AP QE II Cup) had an easy jog and canter in the trotting ring under his regular exercise rider Toshio Fujii this morning.
Kunieda also commented about his AP QE II horse, "He wanted to go faster in his work yesterday, and I did not want to make him overwork before the race. It was also warm and a bit humid this morning as well, so it was good for him to be relaxed. He seems to be in good shape for the race."
"I have had many factors that are a concern as regards the horse, such as the long trip, new surroundings, the different climate etc., plus he is a sensitive horse. Any of these factors might have some effect on his wellbeing. However he has settled better than I expected. If his condition was 100% in the Grand Prix Arima Kinen and Nikkei Sho (G2), I would say he is now 85 to 90% or maybe even more back to the condition he was in for those two races."
"Both of them will be put in a routine work tomorrow morning in the trotting ring. We will plan to do the same thing for this race as we have in Japan. Hopefully he will travel in around third position behind the pacesetter, and show us a brilliant late-kick in the stretch on Sunday.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Derby notes: An eye on the weather
From Churchill Downs
Long-range weather forecast for Louisville call for rain through much of next week, including both Friday and Saturday. Weather forecasters are often laughably inaccurate, but the weather and track conditions are concerns for everyone involved since training schedules as well as race-day conditions are critical.
Fair weather prevailed in Louisville on Friday and Anak Nakal had his final workout, covering four furlongs in :46.60 under Megan Smillie. The work, accomplished over a fast track after the renovation break, was the second fastest of 26 at the distance.
“It was a good work, he likes this track,” trainer Nick Zito said. “I was surprised he worked that fast, but he just likes Churchill Downs. He won the Kentucky Jockey Club here last fall. That’s probably why he worked so good. It is always a good sign when they like the track. He’s got a chance.”
The work was marred when Anak Nakal’s workmate, Aquarian, owned by Tracy Farmer, broke down.
“Heather (exercise rider Heather Stark) felt something at the clocker’s stand and pulled him up right away,” Zito said. “He took a bad step. He has a condylar fracture in the right front and he went straight to Rood & Riddle (Equine Hospital in Lexington). Hopefully he will be all right. As long as it is not life threatening, he’ll be back.”
Aquarian broke his maiden here last fall on closing day in the race after Anak Nakal won the Kentucky Jockey Club. Zito had been planning to run him in an allowance race on Derby Day.
Another trainer watching the weather is Bill Mott, who has two Kentucky Derby hopefuls in Z Humor and Court Vision.
“Monday or Tuesday, depending on the weather,” Mott said Friday morning after the duo had galloped a mile and a half each before the renovation break. Joanna Trout was on Court Vision and Keith Allen on Z Humor.
Court Vision is one of two Kentucky Derby probables to have won stakes here at Churchill Downs. Court Vision, who will be ridden by Garrett Gomez, took the Grade III Iroquois in the fall to join Anak Nakal as a Churchill Downs stakes winner.
With bright, clear skies and warm temperatures, trainer and co-owner Louie Roussel III decided to send Recapturetheglory to work Friday morning instead of waiting a day or two.
He was rewarded with a five-furlong work in 1:01.20, the ninth fastest of 27 at the distance, with Derby rider E.T. Baird up. Churchill Downs clockers caught the colt in fractions of :12.20, :24.40, :35.80, :48.40 and out six furlongs in 1:15.
“I thought it was going to rain late Thursday and all day today, but since it did not, we went and it worked out real good,” said Roussel, who owns the colt in partnership with Ronnie Lamarque.
Roussel said Recapturetheglory would get two days off and return to the track Monday.
“If I don’t give him two days off, he’ll break curfew on me and won’t be here,” Roussel said with a laugh.
Roussel is back in a familiar spot with Recapturetheglory: Barn 41, Stall 17. It was the same spot Risen Star was housed 20 years ago when that colt ran third behind Winning Colors before going on to take the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
Long-range weather forecast for Louisville call for rain through much of next week, including both Friday and Saturday. Weather forecasters are often laughably inaccurate, but the weather and track conditions are concerns for everyone involved since training schedules as well as race-day conditions are critical.
Fair weather prevailed in Louisville on Friday and Anak Nakal had his final workout, covering four furlongs in :46.60 under Megan Smillie. The work, accomplished over a fast track after the renovation break, was the second fastest of 26 at the distance.
“It was a good work, he likes this track,” trainer Nick Zito said. “I was surprised he worked that fast, but he just likes Churchill Downs. He won the Kentucky Jockey Club here last fall. That’s probably why he worked so good. It is always a good sign when they like the track. He’s got a chance.”
The work was marred when Anak Nakal’s workmate, Aquarian, owned by Tracy Farmer, broke down.
“Heather (exercise rider Heather Stark) felt something at the clocker’s stand and pulled him up right away,” Zito said. “He took a bad step. He has a condylar fracture in the right front and he went straight to Rood & Riddle (Equine Hospital in Lexington). Hopefully he will be all right. As long as it is not life threatening, he’ll be back.”
Aquarian broke his maiden here last fall on closing day in the race after Anak Nakal won the Kentucky Jockey Club. Zito had been planning to run him in an allowance race on Derby Day.
Another trainer watching the weather is Bill Mott, who has two Kentucky Derby hopefuls in Z Humor and Court Vision.
“Monday or Tuesday, depending on the weather,” Mott said Friday morning after the duo had galloped a mile and a half each before the renovation break. Joanna Trout was on Court Vision and Keith Allen on Z Humor.
Court Vision is one of two Kentucky Derby probables to have won stakes here at Churchill Downs. Court Vision, who will be ridden by Garrett Gomez, took the Grade III Iroquois in the fall to join Anak Nakal as a Churchill Downs stakes winner.
With bright, clear skies and warm temperatures, trainer and co-owner Louie Roussel III decided to send Recapturetheglory to work Friday morning instead of waiting a day or two.
He was rewarded with a five-furlong work in 1:01.20, the ninth fastest of 27 at the distance, with Derby rider E.T. Baird up. Churchill Downs clockers caught the colt in fractions of :12.20, :24.40, :35.80, :48.40 and out six furlongs in 1:15.
“I thought it was going to rain late Thursday and all day today, but since it did not, we went and it worked out real good,” said Roussel, who owns the colt in partnership with Ronnie Lamarque.
Roussel said Recapturetheglory would get two days off and return to the track Monday.
“If I don’t give him two days off, he’ll break curfew on me and won’t be here,” Roussel said with a laugh.
Roussel is back in a familiar spot with Recapturetheglory: Barn 41, Stall 17. It was the same spot Risen Star was housed 20 years ago when that colt ran third behind Winning Colors before going on to take the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
Thought the superfecta was tough?
Churchill Downs release
Churchill Downs will offer a daily opportunity to win big when it introduces its new Super Hi-5 wager starting with Saturday’s opening day. A special Super Hi-5 wager on the 2008Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands will offer fans a chance of a massive payout and a possible bonus of a new Mercedes Benz SL550 valued at more than $100,000.
The Super Hi-5 is a minimum $1 wager that challenges bettors to select the first five finishers in correct order in a designated race. If there is no winning ticket in that race, the betting pool will be carried over to the next day’s designated Super Hi-5 race. The Super Hi-5 betting pool could grow very large if the wager goes several days without being hit.
The Super Hi-5 Special offered on the 134th running of the $2 million-guaranteed Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands on Saturday, May 3 will provide a new opportunity for fans to win big on America’s greatest race and the best betting opportunity of the year. Fans who correctly select the first five finishers in order in the expected 20-horse field in the “Run for the Roses” not only have a chance for a huge winning payout, but if there is only one winner that bettor will take home a 2009 Mercedes Benz SL550 valued at more than $100,000.
The Mercedes Benz SL550, furnished by Louisville’s Tafel Motors, will be awarded as a bonus only if there is a single winning ticket in the Kentucky Derby Hi-5. If there is no winning ticket, the pool will carry over, as usual, to the first post-Derby racing program at Churchill Downs on Wednesday, May 7.
“Fans of Churchill Downs racing love the prospect of competitive fields and large winning payouts, and the new Super Hi-5 provides a new product with the potential to build to a huge payout if the betting pool carries over for a few days,” said Jim Gates, general manager of Churchill Downs. “The Kentucky Derby Hi-5 is a great addition to an already exciting wagering menu on the Kentucky Derby."
The 2009 Mercedes Benz SL550 that is being offered as the bonus to a lone winning ticket holder in the Kentucky Derby Hi-5 will be on display in front of the centerfield tote board at the track throughout Kentucky Derby Week.
The Super Hi-5 will be offered as a daily betting option.
Churchill Downs will offer a daily opportunity to win big when it introduces its new Super Hi-5 wager starting with Saturday’s opening day. A special Super Hi-5 wager on the 2008Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands will offer fans a chance of a massive payout and a possible bonus of a new Mercedes Benz SL550 valued at more than $100,000.
The Super Hi-5 is a minimum $1 wager that challenges bettors to select the first five finishers in correct order in a designated race. If there is no winning ticket in that race, the betting pool will be carried over to the next day’s designated Super Hi-5 race. The Super Hi-5 betting pool could grow very large if the wager goes several days without being hit.
The Super Hi-5 Special offered on the 134th running of the $2 million-guaranteed Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands on Saturday, May 3 will provide a new opportunity for fans to win big on America’s greatest race and the best betting opportunity of the year. Fans who correctly select the first five finishers in order in the expected 20-horse field in the “Run for the Roses” not only have a chance for a huge winning payout, but if there is only one winner that bettor will take home a 2009 Mercedes Benz SL550 valued at more than $100,000.
The Mercedes Benz SL550, furnished by Louisville’s Tafel Motors, will be awarded as a bonus only if there is a single winning ticket in the Kentucky Derby Hi-5. If there is no winning ticket, the pool will carry over, as usual, to the first post-Derby racing program at Churchill Downs on Wednesday, May 7.
“Fans of Churchill Downs racing love the prospect of competitive fields and large winning payouts, and the new Super Hi-5 provides a new product with the potential to build to a huge payout if the betting pool carries over for a few days,” said Jim Gates, general manager of Churchill Downs. “The Kentucky Derby Hi-5 is a great addition to an already exciting wagering menu on the Kentucky Derby."
The 2009 Mercedes Benz SL550 that is being offered as the bonus to a lone winning ticket holder in the Kentucky Derby Hi-5 will be on display in front of the centerfield tote board at the track throughout Kentucky Derby Week.
The Super Hi-5 will be offered as a daily betting option.
Durkin, Spadaro sidewheeling and dealing
From the Harness Horse Breeders of New York State
Durkin and Spadaro. A new vaudeville team? A fledgling law firm? A poor imitation of Bonnie and Clyde?
None of the above. Tom Durkin - the renown, 57-year-old announcer of Thoroughbred racing at Belmont Park, Saratoga and Aqueduct, voice of the Triple Crown and voice of the Breeders’ Cup for its first 22 years - has joined forces with his buddy Joe Spadaro - a 65-year-old former harness trainer who was the Deputy Executive Director for the New York Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund for 18 years before semi-retiring to become the volunteer web site coordinator for the Harness Horse Breeders of New York State (hhbnys.com) - are buying Standardbreds.
Not a lot, just a handful so far.
Why? “My main motivator in life - for fun,” Durkin said. “Luckily, I earn a decent living and can risk a few bucks on a venture such as this. To see the horse’s progress and eventually race is a pretty good kick, and Joe is a great partner; knows the game inside and out, and is so easy to get along with.”
Durkin, who called harness racing brilliantly at The Meadowlands before moving on to Thoroughbreds, was part of a Thoroughbred partnership stemming from his Breeders’ Cup involvement with NBC TV. “A group of about 10 or 12 of us from our NBC sports team bought a Mt. Livermore filly which we named Conflictofinterest in the hopes she would run in the Breeders’ Cup and we would have a conflict of interest on the broadcast,” Durkin said. “She ran about a half dozen times. She didn’t run at two. She broke her maiden at Kentucky Downs going a mile and a half on the grass. She had a good turf pedigree and we sold her. After expenses, we fell a bit short of even, but had great fun during her modest career.”
To begin their harness racing partnership, Spadaro and Durkin performed due diligence by visiting several farms in New York State last summer and fall. Spadaro is the managing partner; Durkin is responsible for naming the horses.
The duo ponied up $13,000 at the Morrisville College Yearling Sale last Sept. 24th to purchase Gin Fizz Blue Chip, a daughter of Cam’s Card Shark out of Eastern Lady, by Western Hanover. Durkin renamed her Lady Is A Trump, and she is presently training at Gordon Corey’s Equine School of Erudition located at the Pinehurst Training Center in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Spadaro drove Lady Is A Trump in a matinee race April 6th, and she finished third. “She behaved perfectly in every respect and appears to have a promising future,” Spadaro said. She is scheduled to ship to trainer Kelvin “Red” Harrison’s stable at Magical Acres in Chesterfield, New Jersey, and is fully staked for the rich New Jersey Sire Stakes, though Durkin and Spadaro plan to pinhook her.
Last January, they purchased the nine-year-old, in-foal broodmare Electra Hanover, a daughter of Lindy Lane out of Elke Frazer, by Super Bowl, who had been bred to SJs Caviar. She foaled a filly on April 5th, and is booked to be bred to Conway Hall, one of the country’s top trotting sires, who stands at Morrisville College. The baby has yet to be named, although Durkin has supplied three-names for United States Trotting Association’s approval.
Durkin outdid himself naming that filly’s older, full brother, a yearling trotting colt, which was part of the package. He was renamed Eggipus Complex. “I believe Tom used the fact that from Greek mythology, Electra was madly in-love with her father,” Spadaro said. “a reverse Oedipus Complex.” He is by SJs Caviar, thus the ‘egg’ reference.
They won’t have the colt for long. He’s consigned to this year’s Morrisville’s Yearling Sale on Sept. 21st.
“It’s interesting to look over the pedigrees of our horses,” Durkin said. “I remember calling so many of the names. I see a generation or two back in the pedigrees. It brings back old memories.”
Durkin is fully cognizant that going into business with a friend can be perilous, but he has a solution: “It is never a good idea to go into business with a friend, but with Joe I am completely confident. He is Italian. I’m the Italian wannabe. I reintroduced him to his Italian roots during several stays in Italy. He is competent and honest, and if he gets out of line … when the partnership needs to dissolve, let’s just say I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse. I have associates in Sicily, you see.”
Maybe vaudeville isn’t a bad idea.
Durkin and Spadaro. A new vaudeville team? A fledgling law firm? A poor imitation of Bonnie and Clyde?
None of the above. Tom Durkin - the renown, 57-year-old announcer of Thoroughbred racing at Belmont Park, Saratoga and Aqueduct, voice of the Triple Crown and voice of the Breeders’ Cup for its first 22 years - has joined forces with his buddy Joe Spadaro - a 65-year-old former harness trainer who was the Deputy Executive Director for the New York Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund for 18 years before semi-retiring to become the volunteer web site coordinator for the Harness Horse Breeders of New York State (hhbnys.com) - are buying Standardbreds.
Not a lot, just a handful so far.
Why? “My main motivator in life - for fun,” Durkin said. “Luckily, I earn a decent living and can risk a few bucks on a venture such as this. To see the horse’s progress and eventually race is a pretty good kick, and Joe is a great partner; knows the game inside and out, and is so easy to get along with.”
Durkin, who called harness racing brilliantly at The Meadowlands before moving on to Thoroughbreds, was part of a Thoroughbred partnership stemming from his Breeders’ Cup involvement with NBC TV. “A group of about 10 or 12 of us from our NBC sports team bought a Mt. Livermore filly which we named Conflictofinterest in the hopes she would run in the Breeders’ Cup and we would have a conflict of interest on the broadcast,” Durkin said. “She ran about a half dozen times. She didn’t run at two. She broke her maiden at Kentucky Downs going a mile and a half on the grass. She had a good turf pedigree and we sold her. After expenses, we fell a bit short of even, but had great fun during her modest career.”
To begin their harness racing partnership, Spadaro and Durkin performed due diligence by visiting several farms in New York State last summer and fall. Spadaro is the managing partner; Durkin is responsible for naming the horses.
The duo ponied up $13,000 at the Morrisville College Yearling Sale last Sept. 24th to purchase Gin Fizz Blue Chip, a daughter of Cam’s Card Shark out of Eastern Lady, by Western Hanover. Durkin renamed her Lady Is A Trump, and she is presently training at Gordon Corey’s Equine School of Erudition located at the Pinehurst Training Center in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Spadaro drove Lady Is A Trump in a matinee race April 6th, and she finished third. “She behaved perfectly in every respect and appears to have a promising future,” Spadaro said. She is scheduled to ship to trainer Kelvin “Red” Harrison’s stable at Magical Acres in Chesterfield, New Jersey, and is fully staked for the rich New Jersey Sire Stakes, though Durkin and Spadaro plan to pinhook her.
Last January, they purchased the nine-year-old, in-foal broodmare Electra Hanover, a daughter of Lindy Lane out of Elke Frazer, by Super Bowl, who had been bred to SJs Caviar. She foaled a filly on April 5th, and is booked to be bred to Conway Hall, one of the country’s top trotting sires, who stands at Morrisville College. The baby has yet to be named, although Durkin has supplied three-names for United States Trotting Association’s approval.
Durkin outdid himself naming that filly’s older, full brother, a yearling trotting colt, which was part of the package. He was renamed Eggipus Complex. “I believe Tom used the fact that from Greek mythology, Electra was madly in-love with her father,” Spadaro said. “a reverse Oedipus Complex.” He is by SJs Caviar, thus the ‘egg’ reference.
They won’t have the colt for long. He’s consigned to this year’s Morrisville’s Yearling Sale on Sept. 21st.
“It’s interesting to look over the pedigrees of our horses,” Durkin said. “I remember calling so many of the names. I see a generation or two back in the pedigrees. It brings back old memories.”
Durkin is fully cognizant that going into business with a friend can be perilous, but he has a solution: “It is never a good idea to go into business with a friend, but with Joe I am completely confident. He is Italian. I’m the Italian wannabe. I reintroduced him to his Italian roots during several stays in Italy. He is competent and honest, and if he gets out of line … when the partnership needs to dissolve, let’s just say I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse. I have associates in Sicily, you see.”
Maybe vaudeville isn’t a bad idea.
Bob Black Jack turns up the heat
The injury that removed War Pass from the Kentucky Derby mix appeared destined to soften the pace dynamic but it appears now that Bob Black Jack is likely to make the field of 20 and this is a serious, frontrunning one-trick pony.
Regardless of the ridiculous bluster coming from the Big Brown camp, Bob Black Jack complicates matters. Though Big Brown once rated less than a length off the pace in a mile race against a cheap in which he faced only four horses, this is essentially a speed horse. Now, with three other frontrunners in the field, Recapturetheglory, Cowboy Cal and Gayego, Black Jack Bob – a need-the-lead type who has raced only on synthetic surfaces – turns up the heat. This is a colt who once ran a quarter-mile in 20.8 seconds and a half in :42.4 over a bizarrely fast track at Santa Anita. He has not won a race in which he failed to lead from barrier to wire but has been competitive against the leading Southern California horses including Colonel John, who will be among the favorites.
At the moment, Bob Black Jack is 21 on the earnings list, but Lexington Stakes winner Behindatthebar is not likely to be entered and Proud Spell, one of two Larry Jones-trained fillies in the top 20, is more likely for the Oaks. If neither Behindatthebar nor Proud Spell is entered on Wednesday, Denis of Cork would also move into the field.--PM
Regardless of the ridiculous bluster coming from the Big Brown camp, Bob Black Jack complicates matters. Though Big Brown once rated less than a length off the pace in a mile race against a cheap in which he faced only four horses, this is essentially a speed horse. Now, with three other frontrunners in the field, Recapturetheglory, Cowboy Cal and Gayego, Black Jack Bob – a need-the-lead type who has raced only on synthetic surfaces – turns up the heat. This is a colt who once ran a quarter-mile in 20.8 seconds and a half in :42.4 over a bizarrely fast track at Santa Anita. He has not won a race in which he failed to lead from barrier to wire but has been competitive against the leading Southern California horses including Colonel John, who will be among the favorites.
At the moment, Bob Black Jack is 21 on the earnings list, but Lexington Stakes winner Behindatthebar is not likely to be entered and Proud Spell, one of two Larry Jones-trained fillies in the top 20, is more likely for the Oaks. If neither Behindatthebar nor Proud Spell is entered on Wednesday, Denis of Cork would also move into the field.--PM
Aqueduct: Three face J Be K in Withers
By Jason Blewitt/ NYRA
A double dose of stakes action on Saturday, the penultimate day of fhs spring meeting at Aqueduct.
The Withers, for three-year-olds, a race won by eventual Preakness champ Bernardini two years ago, and the Beaugay for fillies and mares on the turf, set the table for a return to Belmont Park next week..
The 129th running of the Grade 3, $150,000 Withers drew just four horses and will be run as race 3 on the 10-race program. The Beaugay goes as race 9.
Despite the additional furlong, J Be K will be the a prohibitive favorite in the Withers on the strength of his victory in the seven-furlong Bay Shore earlier this month. J Be K battled for the lead early on in the Bay Shore through fractions of :22 1/5 and :45 1/5 before he easily kicked clear for an open-length score in 1:23 3/5.
“He came out of the Bay Shore in really good shape,” said Toby Sheets, Asmussen’s top New York assistant. “He’s a classy horse and a pleasure to be around. For a sprinter, he’s pretty easy going and he’ll do what you want in the morning. Obviously, he’s got a lot of ability and I think Steve is doing the right thing with him.”
J Be K, a Silver Deputy colt who was purchased for $350,000 in February of 2007, has drawn post 2 in this tiny cast. He’s definitely the colt to catch as he stretches to one mile.
Champion trainer Todd Pletcher entered two in the Withers, which simple math shows is half the field. Harlem Rocker and Face that Cat of the Pletcher team both spent the winter at Gulfstream Park. Harlem Rocker is the more intriguing of the two on the simple fact he is unbeaten and won both his starts at demanding distances of seven furlongs and one mile.
By Macho Uno, Harlem Rocker displayed a good-looking stretch kick in both his off-the-pace victories at Gulfstream Park.
Face the Cat won two of his first three races for trainer Helen Pitts, then was turned over to Pletcher after he was privately purchased by Padua Stable. Face the Cat put forth a forgettable effort in his Pletcher debut, finishing eighth behind Kentucky Derby favorite Big Brown in the March 29th Florida Derby. Aside from facing a monster like Big Brown, Face that Cat was up against it before the race was even run after drawing post 11.
Face that Cat breaks from post 4 in the Withers with jockey John Velazquez. He carries 116 pounds, seven pounds less than the 123 pound highweight J Be K.
Five older fillies and mares will contest the Beaugay at a mile and a sixteenth over the turf.
Criminologist, a five-year-old trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, is a multiple Grade 3 stakes winner and might go off a slight favorite beneath jockey John Velazquez. Criminologist, by Maria’s Mon, really got good last fall when she won four straight races including the Perfect Sting, Grade 3 Athenia and Grade 3 Cardinal at Churchill Downs. Criminologist makes her second start of the year in the Beaugay after finishing a game and narrow second behind Sharp Susan in a conditioned allowance race at Keeneland earlier this month.
The French-bred All is Vanity starts for the always dangerous barn of Christophe Clement as she looks to improve upon her solid lifetime record of 7-1-3 from 15 starts. All is Vanity, a four-year-old, won a Group 2 stakes in France last June and is thus far perfect in the United States after winning her first and only domestic race last month at Gulfstream Park. All is Vanity led from start to finish in that rich optional claimer at Gulfstream.
A double dose of stakes action on Saturday, the penultimate day of fhs spring meeting at Aqueduct.
The Withers, for three-year-olds, a race won by eventual Preakness champ Bernardini two years ago, and the Beaugay for fillies and mares on the turf, set the table for a return to Belmont Park next week..
The 129th running of the Grade 3, $150,000 Withers drew just four horses and will be run as race 3 on the 10-race program. The Beaugay goes as race 9.
Despite the additional furlong, J Be K will be the a prohibitive favorite in the Withers on the strength of his victory in the seven-furlong Bay Shore earlier this month. J Be K battled for the lead early on in the Bay Shore through fractions of :22 1/5 and :45 1/5 before he easily kicked clear for an open-length score in 1:23 3/5.
“He came out of the Bay Shore in really good shape,” said Toby Sheets, Asmussen’s top New York assistant. “He’s a classy horse and a pleasure to be around. For a sprinter, he’s pretty easy going and he’ll do what you want in the morning. Obviously, he’s got a lot of ability and I think Steve is doing the right thing with him.”
J Be K, a Silver Deputy colt who was purchased for $350,000 in February of 2007, has drawn post 2 in this tiny cast. He’s definitely the colt to catch as he stretches to one mile.
Champion trainer Todd Pletcher entered two in the Withers, which simple math shows is half the field. Harlem Rocker and Face that Cat of the Pletcher team both spent the winter at Gulfstream Park. Harlem Rocker is the more intriguing of the two on the simple fact he is unbeaten and won both his starts at demanding distances of seven furlongs and one mile.
By Macho Uno, Harlem Rocker displayed a good-looking stretch kick in both his off-the-pace victories at Gulfstream Park.
Face the Cat won two of his first three races for trainer Helen Pitts, then was turned over to Pletcher after he was privately purchased by Padua Stable. Face the Cat put forth a forgettable effort in his Pletcher debut, finishing eighth behind Kentucky Derby favorite Big Brown in the March 29th Florida Derby. Aside from facing a monster like Big Brown, Face that Cat was up against it before the race was even run after drawing post 11.
Face that Cat breaks from post 4 in the Withers with jockey John Velazquez. He carries 116 pounds, seven pounds less than the 123 pound highweight J Be K.
Five older fillies and mares will contest the Beaugay at a mile and a sixteenth over the turf.
Criminologist, a five-year-old trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, is a multiple Grade 3 stakes winner and might go off a slight favorite beneath jockey John Velazquez. Criminologist, by Maria’s Mon, really got good last fall when she won four straight races including the Perfect Sting, Grade 3 Athenia and Grade 3 Cardinal at Churchill Downs. Criminologist makes her second start of the year in the Beaugay after finishing a game and narrow second behind Sharp Susan in a conditioned allowance race at Keeneland earlier this month.
The French-bred All is Vanity starts for the always dangerous barn of Christophe Clement as she looks to improve upon her solid lifetime record of 7-1-3 from 15 starts. All is Vanity, a four-year-old, won a Group 2 stakes in France last June and is thus far perfect in the United States after winning her first and only domestic race last month at Gulfstream Park. All is Vanity led from start to finish in that rich optional claimer at Gulfstream.
Hong Kong: Viva Pataca eyes QEII repeat
From the Hong Kong Jockey Club
Viva Pataca is fit and well after his recent return from Dubai where he was a gallant second in the Sheema Classic and Hong Kong's leading stayer will take plenty of beating in his defence of the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup on Sunday, trainer John Moore said at trackwork this morning.
Back surveying his stable after a horse-buying spree in Sydney, Moore also offered positive remarks as regards his Champions Mile duo Joyful Winner and the titleholder Able One, but there is no mistaking which of his four runners Moore believes has the best chance in this weekend's international Gr.1 double header.
"Viva Pataca has come back well from Dubai and he's put back most of the weight he lost in transit. His work of late has been great overall but now he has to translate that to the track on the day," he said.
Commenting on a less-than-ideal barrier in stall 11, Moore added: "It's a bit awkward, but the New Zealand horse [Sir Slick] is set to go to the front and we also run Viva Macau who will be up there as well. So there should be speed on and that should mean everybody gets a fair chance."
Joyful Winner ran third in the Champions Mile in 2006 and placed second a year ago and Moore expects another bold showing.
"I suppose he's getting a bit long in the tooth but he's very genuine, isn't he? His last run was full of merit where he was impeded about 300m out but still ran on well to finish third but he's that kind of horse - he has to go back and he's sometimes liable to run into a bit of trouble. But right now he's a very fit horse and he'll be in the finish again, I believe.
"As for Able One, I'm not sure if he will be able to lead and make all like he did last year because he might have Joy And Fun for company but if he is allowed to dictate terms, well, history has a habit of repeating itself. He worked well this morning [22.9 seconds his final split on the all-weather] for Eric Saint-Martin and pulled up very nicely," Moore added.
Unfortunately, Jackpot Delight has been taken out of the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup. Trainer Caspar Fownes said the gelding had filling in a leg and he did not appear at morning trackwork. Local stewards confirmed his scratching at about 9am on Friday.
However, Fownes was much more upbeat assessing the chances of Green Birdie in the Champions Mile, saying: "I've said many times before that he is a serious international miler in the making and it will be interesting to get a gauge on where he is as regards the future. He's going to have the run of the race from gate two and he's a more mature horse now with an explosive turn of foot. He's in great form so I'm expecting a very respectable run."
Olivier Doleuze leant on the railings and discussed Good Ba Ba's chance in Sunday's Champions Mile, and, though in relaxed mode, one sensed the anticipation was getting to him.
"There is so much pressure at this level but I still can't wait until Sunday," said the French-born rider who has now partnered over 250 winners in Hong Kong.
"It is much less about tactics in a race like this especially with a horse as exceptional as Good Ba Ba when you just don't have to be tactical. This is not a Class Four at Happy Valley where you are trying to save inches here and there! In fact, Good Ba Ba is best when you take him out wide."
The stylish Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile winner is now looking for his fourth consecutive Group One win, but Doleuze is fully aware that most of the talk following Good Ba Ba's victory in the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup last month centred on the poor luck of Sacred Kingdom rather than his horse's win.
"I would have preferred a real fight instead of what happened last time," he said.
Good Ba Ba completed his Champions Mile preparation earlier in the morning and pulled up with "a buck and a kick," trainer Andreas Schutz observed. "It shows he's in great form and certainly not empty."
Later on, Doleuze partnered his Audemars Piguet QEII Cup mount Balius on the turf, doing the fastest work of the day by completing the last 400m in a swift 22.4 seconds under the watchful gaze of trainer Carlos Laffon-Parias, having just jetted in from Paris.
"This is the first time I've sat on this horse and I like him. He gave me a good feel over the last 400m and he was not blowing at all afterwards so he is very fit."
The Hong Kong stipendiary stewards have informed, Balius will be equipped with a new set of blinkers that comply with local standards as his French set are not approved for use in Hong Kong.
Trainer Peter Schiergen, five times champion jockey and three times leading trainer in Germany, was at Sha Tin for the first time this week to cast his eye over his globetrotter Quijano ahead of Sunday's Audemars Piguet QEII Cup.
The six year old son of Acatenango will be making his fifth overseas appearance in a row since his Group I triumph on home soil in the Grosser Preis Von Baden last September. Jockey Andrasch Starke, well known to Hong Kong racing fans, was aboard Quijano this morning as he zipped home his last 400 metres in 23.9 on the dirt.
"I'm really happy with the horse. He's well drawn in two, particularly as the New Zealand horse [Sir Slick] on my inside will go forward which is good for us. I've no worries at all about him coming back to 2000m. We just need a little luck this time around," Starke said.
Trainer Schiergen was also pleased with his charge. "Everything looks to have gone well for him and I'm happy. He'll run well but I do think Viva Pataca and Archipenko will be hard to beat," he said.
New Zealander Sir Slick had, by his standards, a very leisurely morning with an easy canter on the all-weather with raceday jockey Bruce Herd aboard. "Obviously we weren't out to do anything much this morning but he felt really well,' Herd said.
The Kiwi camp remains bullish about the prospects of the front running gelding. "What I love about [Sir] Slick," said trainer Graeme Nicholson, "is that when a horse comes up beside him, he pins his ears back as if to say 'like hell you're going to get past me'".
Nicholson added that 2000m is clearly the horse's best distance and that the Sha Tin surface should suit him. "This is his trip. He puts himself in the picture every time he runs at 2000m and this track looks brilliant to me. He likes good ground but doesn't want it real hard and jarry. A little give in the ground is ideal," Nicholson said.
Matsurida Gogh, who has picked up six of his eight career wins at the right-handed Nakamaya Racecourse, seems to be nearly back to his normal weight and put in a routine canter around the all-weather track under his regular rider Toshio Fujii, while Meiner Segal, the sole overseas runner in the Champions Mile, had an easy canter of one lap around the track this morning.
"We had the very hot days on Monday and Tuesday, so I decided to give my horses gallops on Wednesday. That is because they have three days recovery time to come back to peak condition. The new surroundings have a bit of influence on Matsurida Gogh, but he's almost back to form and I am not concerned about anything so far. I think the 2000m will really suit him," trainer Sakae Kunieda commented.
Kunieda added of Meiner Segal: "He is a very tough horse and he has settled in well since leaving Japan. I hope he is able to make a big run and fight on well in next Sunday's race."
Viva Pataca is fit and well after his recent return from Dubai where he was a gallant second in the Sheema Classic and Hong Kong's leading stayer will take plenty of beating in his defence of the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup on Sunday, trainer John Moore said at trackwork this morning.
Back surveying his stable after a horse-buying spree in Sydney, Moore also offered positive remarks as regards his Champions Mile duo Joyful Winner and the titleholder Able One, but there is no mistaking which of his four runners Moore believes has the best chance in this weekend's international Gr.1 double header.
"Viva Pataca has come back well from Dubai and he's put back most of the weight he lost in transit. His work of late has been great overall but now he has to translate that to the track on the day," he said.
Commenting on a less-than-ideal barrier in stall 11, Moore added: "It's a bit awkward, but the New Zealand horse [Sir Slick] is set to go to the front and we also run Viva Macau who will be up there as well. So there should be speed on and that should mean everybody gets a fair chance."
Joyful Winner ran third in the Champions Mile in 2006 and placed second a year ago and Moore expects another bold showing.
"I suppose he's getting a bit long in the tooth but he's very genuine, isn't he? His last run was full of merit where he was impeded about 300m out but still ran on well to finish third but he's that kind of horse - he has to go back and he's sometimes liable to run into a bit of trouble. But right now he's a very fit horse and he'll be in the finish again, I believe.
"As for Able One, I'm not sure if he will be able to lead and make all like he did last year because he might have Joy And Fun for company but if he is allowed to dictate terms, well, history has a habit of repeating itself. He worked well this morning [22.9 seconds his final split on the all-weather] for Eric Saint-Martin and pulled up very nicely," Moore added.
Unfortunately, Jackpot Delight has been taken out of the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup. Trainer Caspar Fownes said the gelding had filling in a leg and he did not appear at morning trackwork. Local stewards confirmed his scratching at about 9am on Friday.
However, Fownes was much more upbeat assessing the chances of Green Birdie in the Champions Mile, saying: "I've said many times before that he is a serious international miler in the making and it will be interesting to get a gauge on where he is as regards the future. He's going to have the run of the race from gate two and he's a more mature horse now with an explosive turn of foot. He's in great form so I'm expecting a very respectable run."
Olivier Doleuze leant on the railings and discussed Good Ba Ba's chance in Sunday's Champions Mile, and, though in relaxed mode, one sensed the anticipation was getting to him.
"There is so much pressure at this level but I still can't wait until Sunday," said the French-born rider who has now partnered over 250 winners in Hong Kong.
"It is much less about tactics in a race like this especially with a horse as exceptional as Good Ba Ba when you just don't have to be tactical. This is not a Class Four at Happy Valley where you are trying to save inches here and there! In fact, Good Ba Ba is best when you take him out wide."
The stylish Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile winner is now looking for his fourth consecutive Group One win, but Doleuze is fully aware that most of the talk following Good Ba Ba's victory in the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup last month centred on the poor luck of Sacred Kingdom rather than his horse's win.
"I would have preferred a real fight instead of what happened last time," he said.
Good Ba Ba completed his Champions Mile preparation earlier in the morning and pulled up with "a buck and a kick," trainer Andreas Schutz observed. "It shows he's in great form and certainly not empty."
Later on, Doleuze partnered his Audemars Piguet QEII Cup mount Balius on the turf, doing the fastest work of the day by completing the last 400m in a swift 22.4 seconds under the watchful gaze of trainer Carlos Laffon-Parias, having just jetted in from Paris.
"This is the first time I've sat on this horse and I like him. He gave me a good feel over the last 400m and he was not blowing at all afterwards so he is very fit."
The Hong Kong stipendiary stewards have informed, Balius will be equipped with a new set of blinkers that comply with local standards as his French set are not approved for use in Hong Kong.
Trainer Peter Schiergen, five times champion jockey and three times leading trainer in Germany, was at Sha Tin for the first time this week to cast his eye over his globetrotter Quijano ahead of Sunday's Audemars Piguet QEII Cup.
The six year old son of Acatenango will be making his fifth overseas appearance in a row since his Group I triumph on home soil in the Grosser Preis Von Baden last September. Jockey Andrasch Starke, well known to Hong Kong racing fans, was aboard Quijano this morning as he zipped home his last 400 metres in 23.9 on the dirt.
"I'm really happy with the horse. He's well drawn in two, particularly as the New Zealand horse [Sir Slick] on my inside will go forward which is good for us. I've no worries at all about him coming back to 2000m. We just need a little luck this time around," Starke said.
Trainer Schiergen was also pleased with his charge. "Everything looks to have gone well for him and I'm happy. He'll run well but I do think Viva Pataca and Archipenko will be hard to beat," he said.
New Zealander Sir Slick had, by his standards, a very leisurely morning with an easy canter on the all-weather with raceday jockey Bruce Herd aboard. "Obviously we weren't out to do anything much this morning but he felt really well,' Herd said.
The Kiwi camp remains bullish about the prospects of the front running gelding. "What I love about [Sir] Slick," said trainer Graeme Nicholson, "is that when a horse comes up beside him, he pins his ears back as if to say 'like hell you're going to get past me'".
Nicholson added that 2000m is clearly the horse's best distance and that the Sha Tin surface should suit him. "This is his trip. He puts himself in the picture every time he runs at 2000m and this track looks brilliant to me. He likes good ground but doesn't want it real hard and jarry. A little give in the ground is ideal," Nicholson said.
Matsurida Gogh, who has picked up six of his eight career wins at the right-handed Nakamaya Racecourse, seems to be nearly back to his normal weight and put in a routine canter around the all-weather track under his regular rider Toshio Fujii, while Meiner Segal, the sole overseas runner in the Champions Mile, had an easy canter of one lap around the track this morning.
"We had the very hot days on Monday and Tuesday, so I decided to give my horses gallops on Wednesday. That is because they have three days recovery time to come back to peak condition. The new surroundings have a bit of influence on Matsurida Gogh, but he's almost back to form and I am not concerned about anything so far. I think the 2000m will really suit him," trainer Sakae Kunieda commented.
Kunieda added of Meiner Segal: "He is a very tough horse and he has settled in well since leaving Japan. I hope he is able to make a big run and fight on well in next Sunday's race."
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Cool Coal Man sharp in work
Cool Coal Man put in his final Kentucky Derby work Thursday morning, breezing a half-mile in :47.40 in company with stablemate Chris Got Even, who was clocked in the same time, which was the second fastest of 35 at the distance.
Megan Smillie was aboard Cool Coal Man and Julien Leparoux, who will ride Cool Coal Man in the Derby, was on Chris Got Even. The duo did their work over a fast track after the renovation break. Fractions :11.60, :23.40, :35 and out in 1:02.60.
“I was very happy. He was galloping along the right way,” trainer Nick Zito said. “You always worry about the breeze before the Derby, but they were really comfortable. I worked him with a really nice maiden, Chris Got Even, and he won’t be a maiden for long. He is going to run Derby Day. He’s a pretty nice colt. (Bettors: Note undercard tip.)
“I just wanted Julien to see his horse, which is why I had him work the other horse. Basically, I just wanted him to get alongside him and see what kind of horse he’s got instead of being on top of him. Plus, Megan gets on him all the time and I didn’t want to change anything.”
Cool Coal Man followed a similar work pattern before his Fountain of Youth (GII) victory in February with a :47.20 work nine days before the race.
“He’s not a big, giant horse. He’s perfectly built, but not really big,” Zito said. “I don’t think many horses can boast his record as far as conditioning goes. Nobdoy has three mile-and-an-eighth races, so I don’t want to overdo it. I don’t want to underdo it. I’d rather have him gallop all week into the Derby.”
Megan Smillie was aboard Cool Coal Man and Julien Leparoux, who will ride Cool Coal Man in the Derby, was on Chris Got Even. The duo did their work over a fast track after the renovation break. Fractions :11.60, :23.40, :35 and out in 1:02.60.
“I was very happy. He was galloping along the right way,” trainer Nick Zito said. “You always worry about the breeze before the Derby, but they were really comfortable. I worked him with a really nice maiden, Chris Got Even, and he won’t be a maiden for long. He is going to run Derby Day. He’s a pretty nice colt. (Bettors: Note undercard tip.)
“I just wanted Julien to see his horse, which is why I had him work the other horse. Basically, I just wanted him to get alongside him and see what kind of horse he’s got instead of being on top of him. Plus, Megan gets on him all the time and I didn’t want to change anything.”
Cool Coal Man followed a similar work pattern before his Fountain of Youth (GII) victory in February with a :47.20 work nine days before the race.
“He’s not a big, giant horse. He’s perfectly built, but not really big,” Zito said. “I don’t think many horses can boast his record as far as conditioning goes. Nobdoy has three mile-and-an-eighth races, so I don’t want to overdo it. I don’t want to underdo it. I’d rather have him gallop all week into the Derby.”
Now, that's confidence
Trainers who have been to the Kentucky Derby before don't say things like this.
“It’s a horse race, and I have the best horse in the race. It’s that simple. We’re going to Kentucky to win, anything less than that is not going to be OK with us. There’s such good karma going around the stable now that I don’t see how he can get beat.”
-- Rick Dutrow on Big Brown
“It’s a horse race, and I have the best horse in the race. It’s that simple. We’re going to Kentucky to win, anything less than that is not going to be OK with us. There’s such good karma going around the stable now that I don’t see how he can get beat.”
-- Rick Dutrow on Big Brown
Big Brown on the muscle in Florida work
Big Brown breezed five furlongs in 58.60 seconds on Thursday morning at Palm Meadows training center with exercise rider Michelle Nevin up, his final piece of serious work for the Kentucky Derby.
Though the time or the work will be scrutinized as having been excessively fast, trainer Rick Dutrow said he in unconcerned.
"He did exactly what we wanted him to do," said trainer Rick Dutrow. "He did it the right way, looked real good, and did it in racehorse time while well within himself. He went about his business in a smooth and ordinary way. Right now, I'm not concerned in any way. We needed to turn his head loose a little in the lane, because we've kept him covered up in his last couple of breezes. I told Michelle to let him out just a little notch in the stretch, she did just that, the colt took the bit, and just carried her to the wire. With the race 10 days away, this is what we needed and wanted."
Big Brown is tentatively scheduled to be flown from his Florida base to Churchill Downs on Monday. He will likely have an easy three-furlong breeze over Churchill's main track two days prior to the Derby.
Though the time or the work will be scrutinized as having been excessively fast, trainer Rick Dutrow said he in unconcerned.
"He did exactly what we wanted him to do," said trainer Rick Dutrow. "He did it the right way, looked real good, and did it in racehorse time while well within himself. He went about his business in a smooth and ordinary way. Right now, I'm not concerned in any way. We needed to turn his head loose a little in the lane, because we've kept him covered up in his last couple of breezes. I told Michelle to let him out just a little notch in the stretch, she did just that, the colt took the bit, and just carried her to the wire. With the race 10 days away, this is what we needed and wanted."
Big Brown is tentatively scheduled to be flown from his Florida base to Churchill Downs on Monday. He will likely have an easy three-furlong breeze over Churchill's main track two days prior to the Derby.
Churchill: Let the games begin
No winner of the Derby Trial has won a Kentucky Derby since Tim Tam, in 1958, and a half-century-long trend in unlikely ever to be interrupted. Nowadays, the significance on the Derby Trial is that it remains the first stakes race of the week leading to the Derby and the opening-day feature at Churchill Downs. It is also an alternative for those whose seasons to this point have not put them in position to be competitive next weekend.
One of these, Majestic Warrior, winner of the Hopeful Stakes (Grade I) at Saratoga last summer in his second career start, heads a field of 10 3-year-olds entered for Saturday’s 84th running of the Trial.
Trained by Bill Mott, Majestic Warrior comes into the Derby Trial off a sixth-place finish in the March 29 Florida Derby at Gulfstream.
Three other graded stakes winners are in the field, headed by Vinery Stables and Fox Hill Farm’s Kodiak Kowboy, who won the Bashford Manor last summer. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Kodiak Kowboy also won the Saratoga Special and ran third to champion War Pass Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
Zayat Stables’ Eaton’s Gift, trained by Dale Romans, won the Swale at Gulfstream this winter and Turf War was a dead-heat winner of the Delta Jackpot in December at Delta Downs.
The four graded stakes winners will carry 123 pounds, spotting six pounds to their rivals.
International Update/ Hong Kong
From the Hong Kong Jockey Club
Barrier draw discussions arguably overshadowed trackwork at Sha Tin on Thursday morning with the workouts low key and only Sir Slick of the international challengers putting in anything that approached a testing gallop.
Graeme Nicholson watched Sir Slick put in yet another solid hit-out on the all weather track, this time a final breeze in 23.8 seconds, and the New Zealand trainer remains happy with his horse's wellbeing.
"It's a dream to come here, an unbelievable experience," he said. "Everything has gone well, this horse is thriving here; he loves to work and loves to gallop. His temperature has been normal throughout and he's eaten everything he's been given."
If Nicholson was happy then, he was ecstatic a couple of hours later when Sir Slick was handed the number one spot at the barrier draw. "Fantastic, unbelievable, just what he wanted. Couldn't be happier. Look out you others!" the trainer enthused.
With Viva Pataca drawing a tricky outside barrier, the attention of many local fans may turn to Helene Mascot, last month's winner of the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby and allocated stall eight.
"I'm quite all right with that alley," trainer Tony Cruz smiled.
"They say Sir Slick will go off in front and the Japanese horse [Matsurida Gogh] will be close-up, so that should allow ours to tuck into midfield somewhere.
"It's been six weeks since the Derby and he's really improved since - he will run a very big race. I have four runners in the two international races and he's the pick of them, for sure."
Russian Pearl ran third in this race for Cruz in 2005 and his Derby winner of a year prior, Lucky Owners, ran sixth. So it's revealing that the trainer rates Helene Mascot a bracket higher.
"Potentially he's the best stayer I have ever had and he's my best chance so far to win this race as a trainer," Cruz opined.
The Japanese pair of Matsurida Gogh (Audemars Piguet QEII Cup) and Meiner Segal (Champions Mile) remained in their stables after delighting their trainer with their turf work on Wednesday.
Trainer Sakae Kunieda was happy with his draw for Matsurida Gogh in gate seven.
"In Japan, seven is a lucky number and I wanted anything between three and seven, so that is fine," he said. "Meiner Segal's draw in gate eight is okay. There's a long back straight for them to sort themselves out," he added.
The French pair Balius and Musical Way came out on to the all weather for their usual routine canters, with Balius doing the stronger canter of the pair. Balius drew nine and assistant trainer Stephan Duprey said: "It's a little wide, but the favourite is drawn outside us. His jockey Olivier Doleuze will have a sit on the horse on the turf tomorrow."
Meanwhile, the German challenger Quijano looked well, as he has done all week, as he also stretched his legs on the all weather track. His rider Ilke Hildebrand was happy with his draw in gate two.
"That's a good draw, we won't have any excuses from there," she said.
Archipenko did no more than canter on the all weather under assistant trainer Trevor Brown, having put in his major turf work last Tuesday. Archipenko drew awkwardly in ten but trainer Mike de Kock was unfazed.
"I'm happier with ten than one. It's a maturity thing with this horse - he's not the type to take a tight gap inside other horses. It's better that he has some room," the South African maestro commented.
Another man delighted with his draw was trainer Andreas Schutz, whose likely favourite for the Champions Mile, Good Ba Ba, drew gate four - three inside possibly his greatest threat Armada.
"I'm happy to draw low with all his chief rivals out wide. It's a fairly small field and that reduces the chances of him being bottled up. He's in tip-top order. Just one more breeze tomorrow morning and we're all set," Schutz said.
Those chief rivals, of course, include the John Size trained Armada who'll be ridden by champion jockey Douglas Whyte.
"We've drawn out a touch wider than I'd like and the draw is always critical here even with a small field, but we'll make the best of it," Whyte remarked.
"John says the horse is in great shape and that will do for me."
Armada's stablemate Dao Dao drew favourably in three. "This horse might be six months away from his very best but I certainly won't be surprised if he puts himself right in the finish," Size said.
Champion trainer Caspar Fownes was pleased his Jackpot Delight drew six in the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup.
"The draw suits, he's run very well behind smart horses in his past two races and I'm confident he's continuing to improve," Fownes said.
But two major contenders trained by John Moore received less favorable draws in their respective races, as Audemars Piguet QEII Cup defending champion Viva Pataca drew wide at Gate 11, while his stablemate Joyful Winner getting gate nine in the Champions Mile.
Though Viva Pataca has drawn wide, Angela Leong, representing Stanley Ho, owner of Viva Pataca and Viva Macau, remains upbeat, saying they would donate any prize-money earned in the HK$14m feature to support the Olympic equestrian competitions to be held in Hong Kong in August.
One of these, Majestic Warrior, winner of the Hopeful Stakes (Grade I) at Saratoga last summer in his second career start, heads a field of 10 3-year-olds entered for Saturday’s 84th running of the Trial.
Trained by Bill Mott, Majestic Warrior comes into the Derby Trial off a sixth-place finish in the March 29 Florida Derby at Gulfstream.
Three other graded stakes winners are in the field, headed by Vinery Stables and Fox Hill Farm’s Kodiak Kowboy, who won the Bashford Manor last summer. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Kodiak Kowboy also won the Saratoga Special and ran third to champion War Pass Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
Zayat Stables’ Eaton’s Gift, trained by Dale Romans, won the Swale at Gulfstream this winter and Turf War was a dead-heat winner of the Delta Jackpot in December at Delta Downs.
The four graded stakes winners will carry 123 pounds, spotting six pounds to their rivals.
International Update/ Hong Kong
From the Hong Kong Jockey Club
Barrier draw discussions arguably overshadowed trackwork at Sha Tin on Thursday morning with the workouts low key and only Sir Slick of the international challengers putting in anything that approached a testing gallop.
Graeme Nicholson watched Sir Slick put in yet another solid hit-out on the all weather track, this time a final breeze in 23.8 seconds, and the New Zealand trainer remains happy with his horse's wellbeing.
"It's a dream to come here, an unbelievable experience," he said. "Everything has gone well, this horse is thriving here; he loves to work and loves to gallop. His temperature has been normal throughout and he's eaten everything he's been given."
If Nicholson was happy then, he was ecstatic a couple of hours later when Sir Slick was handed the number one spot at the barrier draw. "Fantastic, unbelievable, just what he wanted. Couldn't be happier. Look out you others!" the trainer enthused.
With Viva Pataca drawing a tricky outside barrier, the attention of many local fans may turn to Helene Mascot, last month's winner of the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby and allocated stall eight.
"I'm quite all right with that alley," trainer Tony Cruz smiled.
"They say Sir Slick will go off in front and the Japanese horse [Matsurida Gogh] will be close-up, so that should allow ours to tuck into midfield somewhere.
"It's been six weeks since the Derby and he's really improved since - he will run a very big race. I have four runners in the two international races and he's the pick of them, for sure."
Russian Pearl ran third in this race for Cruz in 2005 and his Derby winner of a year prior, Lucky Owners, ran sixth. So it's revealing that the trainer rates Helene Mascot a bracket higher.
"Potentially he's the best stayer I have ever had and he's my best chance so far to win this race as a trainer," Cruz opined.
The Japanese pair of Matsurida Gogh (Audemars Piguet QEII Cup) and Meiner Segal (Champions Mile) remained in their stables after delighting their trainer with their turf work on Wednesday.
Trainer Sakae Kunieda was happy with his draw for Matsurida Gogh in gate seven.
"In Japan, seven is a lucky number and I wanted anything between three and seven, so that is fine," he said. "Meiner Segal's draw in gate eight is okay. There's a long back straight for them to sort themselves out," he added.
The French pair Balius and Musical Way came out on to the all weather for their usual routine canters, with Balius doing the stronger canter of the pair. Balius drew nine and assistant trainer Stephan Duprey said: "It's a little wide, but the favourite is drawn outside us. His jockey Olivier Doleuze will have a sit on the horse on the turf tomorrow."
Meanwhile, the German challenger Quijano looked well, as he has done all week, as he also stretched his legs on the all weather track. His rider Ilke Hildebrand was happy with his draw in gate two.
"That's a good draw, we won't have any excuses from there," she said.
Archipenko did no more than canter on the all weather under assistant trainer Trevor Brown, having put in his major turf work last Tuesday. Archipenko drew awkwardly in ten but trainer Mike de Kock was unfazed.
"I'm happier with ten than one. It's a maturity thing with this horse - he's not the type to take a tight gap inside other horses. It's better that he has some room," the South African maestro commented.
Another man delighted with his draw was trainer Andreas Schutz, whose likely favourite for the Champions Mile, Good Ba Ba, drew gate four - three inside possibly his greatest threat Armada.
"I'm happy to draw low with all his chief rivals out wide. It's a fairly small field and that reduces the chances of him being bottled up. He's in tip-top order. Just one more breeze tomorrow morning and we're all set," Schutz said.
Those chief rivals, of course, include the John Size trained Armada who'll be ridden by champion jockey Douglas Whyte.
"We've drawn out a touch wider than I'd like and the draw is always critical here even with a small field, but we'll make the best of it," Whyte remarked.
"John says the horse is in great shape and that will do for me."
Armada's stablemate Dao Dao drew favourably in three. "This horse might be six months away from his very best but I certainly won't be surprised if he puts himself right in the finish," Size said.
Champion trainer Caspar Fownes was pleased his Jackpot Delight drew six in the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup.
"The draw suits, he's run very well behind smart horses in his past two races and I'm confident he's continuing to improve," Fownes said.
But two major contenders trained by John Moore received less favorable draws in their respective races, as Audemars Piguet QEII Cup defending champion Viva Pataca drew wide at Gate 11, while his stablemate Joyful Winner getting gate nine in the Champions Mile.
Though Viva Pataca has drawn wide, Angela Leong, representing Stanley Ho, owner of Viva Pataca and Viva Macau, remains upbeat, saying they would donate any prize-money earned in the HK$14m feature to support the Olympic equestrian competitions to be held in Hong Kong in August.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
So, you got a better idea?
In each of the last three years, full fields of 20 have contested the Kentucky Derby. Invariably, a horse or two is excluded from the starting lineup, but none comes to memory that qualifies as a miscarriage of propriety resultant from the rule that establishes earnings in graded stakes as the deciding factor.
In the last 20 runnings of the Derby, only the last three have been contested by the maximum number of runners. Four, in 2000, 1999, ’96 and ’95, had 19 starters, some reduced by post-entry declarations, and three, 2004, ’02 and 1992, had 18.
The earnings rule will inevitably be the factor that excludes a few horses otherwise destined to be 50-1, comes under fire. Dennis of Cork and Big Truck sit on the bubble at the moment, both coming off poor efforts in races crucial to their hopes for entry. Neither has won a major race. Big Truck, a starter in four graded races, won the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby but has finished no better than fourth above that level and finished 11th of 12 in the Blue Grass. Blame the Polytrack. But humans made the decision to run at Keeneland. Denis of Cork won the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes in Arkansas, shipped to Chicago for the Illinois Derby and finished fifth. His owner laments the decision, but he knew the rules. Would he have performed more efficiently in the Arkansas Derby? Who knows? Gayego ran very well that day.
When a list is compiled of life’s great injustices, elimination of a horse or two from the Kentucky Derby based on the current rule will not make the compilation.
Some critics harbor the belief that earnings accumulated at age two should not be considered, a curious notion that begs dismissal. This would only penalize precocity and lessen interest in two-year-old racing that is a major focus of the late summer and autumn. A graduated point system based on placement in graded races would mirror the result of the current rule, since purses earned in qualifying stakes are for the most part graduated by grade.
The current rule saddles the owner and trainer with the onus of managing a racing campaign carefully and rewards participation in major graded races for two-year-olds, an ingredient essential to the foundations of many horses who are prominent at age three and common to the campaigns of horses who reach the first Saturday of May with credentials sufficient to gain entry and have a reasonable expectation of success.
Tale of Ekati strong in Keeneland breeze
Tale of Ekati appeared quite comfortable Wednesday morning when he worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 at Keeneland, second-fastest of 12 other works at the distance. Video of important works posted on the Keeneland website is the greatest advance in dissemination of information since the founding of the Daily Racing Form. The Wood Memorial winner had good energy while under restraint throughout the move.
Trainer Barclay Tagg will ship Tale of Ekati and stablemate to Churchill Downs on Saturday, a radical departure from his established pattern of shipping at last available opportunity. While both have been training on Polytrack at Keeneland for most of the month, they have established dirt form, but Tagg’s decision to ship early into the teeth of the media gridlock next week – he keeps track of stupid questions – suggests that his experience with Showing Up and Nobiz Like Shobiz since his successful late arrival with Funny Cide in 2003 has led to the conclusion that fencing with gaggles of reporters is worth gaining a degree of familiarity with the track at Churchill.
In the last 20 runnings of the Derby, only the last three have been contested by the maximum number of runners. Four, in 2000, 1999, ’96 and ’95, had 19 starters, some reduced by post-entry declarations, and three, 2004, ’02 and 1992, had 18.
The earnings rule will inevitably be the factor that excludes a few horses otherwise destined to be 50-1, comes under fire. Dennis of Cork and Big Truck sit on the bubble at the moment, both coming off poor efforts in races crucial to their hopes for entry. Neither has won a major race. Big Truck, a starter in four graded races, won the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby but has finished no better than fourth above that level and finished 11th of 12 in the Blue Grass. Blame the Polytrack. But humans made the decision to run at Keeneland. Denis of Cork won the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes in Arkansas, shipped to Chicago for the Illinois Derby and finished fifth. His owner laments the decision, but he knew the rules. Would he have performed more efficiently in the Arkansas Derby? Who knows? Gayego ran very well that day.
When a list is compiled of life’s great injustices, elimination of a horse or two from the Kentucky Derby based on the current rule will not make the compilation.
Some critics harbor the belief that earnings accumulated at age two should not be considered, a curious notion that begs dismissal. This would only penalize precocity and lessen interest in two-year-old racing that is a major focus of the late summer and autumn. A graduated point system based on placement in graded races would mirror the result of the current rule, since purses earned in qualifying stakes are for the most part graduated by grade.
The current rule saddles the owner and trainer with the onus of managing a racing campaign carefully and rewards participation in major graded races for two-year-olds, an ingredient essential to the foundations of many horses who are prominent at age three and common to the campaigns of horses who reach the first Saturday of May with credentials sufficient to gain entry and have a reasonable expectation of success.
Tale of Ekati strong in Keeneland breeze
Tale of Ekati appeared quite comfortable Wednesday morning when he worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 at Keeneland, second-fastest of 12 other works at the distance. Video of important works posted on the Keeneland website is the greatest advance in dissemination of information since the founding of the Daily Racing Form. The Wood Memorial winner had good energy while under restraint throughout the move.
Trainer Barclay Tagg will ship Tale of Ekati and stablemate to Churchill Downs on Saturday, a radical departure from his established pattern of shipping at last available opportunity. While both have been training on Polytrack at Keeneland for most of the month, they have established dirt form, but Tagg’s decision to ship early into the teeth of the media gridlock next week – he keeps track of stupid questions – suggests that his experience with Showing Up and Nobiz Like Shobiz since his successful late arrival with Funny Cide in 2003 has led to the conclusion that fencing with gaggles of reporters is worth gaining a degree of familiarity with the track at Churchill.
International update:
Midweek notes from Hong Kong, England
From the Hong Kong Jockey Club
A grey drizzle covered Sha Tin on Wednesday morning in sharp contrast to the heat of Tuesday, as the international challengers went about their preparations for Sunday's two feature races, the HK$14m Audemars Piguet QEII Cup and HK$8m Champions Mile.
Sakae Kunieda, one of the leading trainers based at Miho Training Centre in Japan watched his two horses, Matsurida Gogh and Meiner Segal work on the turf and was very happy with what he saw.
Meiner Segal, bound for Champions Mile, set the pace under his regular exercise rider Takeshi Okumura, with jockey Masayoshi Ebina on board Cup runner Matsurida Gogh chasing from the 1000m marker. They both showed good acceleration in the stretch and Matsurida Gogh crossed the line just ahead of his stablemate with Turf Timers clocking the final 400m in 21.8 seconds.
"They both were doing great and a perfect job. I now have a good feeling for Sunday's races."
"This is my third time in Hong Kong and my horses are in good form and have settled in well. They will just walk around the stable area tomorrow to recuperate after today's work."
Jockey Ebina who had just arrived in Hong Kong and was to return to Japan on Wednesday afternoon for next Saturday's meeting, was able to report on Matsurida Gogh after the workout.
"I think he did a good job today. When I was breezing at Niigata Racecourse I was on board Meiner Segal, and watched Matsurida Gogh running next to us, and I was happy with his performance at that time. He also galloped powerfully today as well," Ebina said.
"I hope he can keep his good condition for the rest of the week and the key point is how he can manage his new surroundings without losing weight. But I think he has enough talent to cope."
Archipenko had a quiet day after his impressive workout on Tuesday, visiting the paddock at Sha Tin with Kevin Shea for a gentle paddock school.
"I was chuffed with his work yesterday; his time was okay considering he was working on his own. I didn't want to do too much with him. He's eaten up well and he's very relaxed this morning, he's just taking everything in," Mike de Kock's assistant trainer Trevor Brown said.
The French challengers for the Cup, Balius and Musical Way, continued their established routines on the all weather track, putting in regulation canters ahead of Sunday's race. Stephan Duprey, assistant trainer to Carlos Laffon Parias, was pleased with Balius, who was unstoppable in Listed Race company in France, winning five times.
"He raced a few weeks ago and worked on grass the day he left France so we don't need to be doing too much more with him now. He's been a bit fresh - no surprise considering he has recently made his first journey on a plane - but anyway that is a good sign. We would be worried if he was not fresh," said Duprey.
German raider Quijano was also kept to the all-weather, after which he went for a school in the paddock.
Meanwhile the Kiwi galloper Sir Slick continues to please in his preparation for Sunday's feature according to trainer Graeme Nicholson.
"I know I keep saying this but I just can't believe how well he's doing. Again last night he ate up everything in front of him. It's just as if he's at home," Nicholson said.
John Size, on course for a fifth trainers' title in seven Hong Kong seasons, fields his first international runners for over 16 months in the Champions Mile and there's no doubt that Armada, runner-up in the 2006 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile, is the pick of his duo.
Last season's Champion Miler in Hong Kong, Armada faces his third run after a year's layoff and by winning the Chairman's Trophy on 6 April indicated that a return to his very best form is imminent.
"His win last time did not surprise me as he had done everything perfectly in the two months leading up. On his first run back [the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup] he got held up in the final part of the race but that probably worked in his favor in the final part of the race," Size remarked.
"He looked very good in the paddock that day and he ran accordingly. He probably got a little tired in the end but he had a good blow and hopefully he can improve marginally and run well again."
How much Armada can improve from his last start win in the Chairman’s Trophy is open to conjecture “but if he can repeat his last start or find a length or two I would be happy with that,” Size said, not underestimating the value of fresh legs when several of his rivals enter the final stretch of the season with a few more miles on the clock.
Speaking of his likely chief rival, Size added: “I wouldn’t be confident that we can beat a horse like Good Ba Ba who is flying but I’ll enjoy the challenge for sure. I also think there will be further improvement in Armada after this race because this will be only his third run after a 12-month break.”
In the same race Size also relies on Dao Dao “hoping he can run a strong mile” on the back of a career best performance last start when he carried top weight over 1400m.
“I couldn’t say a mile is his best distance after a run like that at 1400m. He has progressed very quickly this season and I think there will be more in him for the future - perhaps after the summer when he has had a break. We will see him at his best as a five-year-old and hopefully in the international races in December. But he seems okay after his last run. I have been riding him myself and he seems fresh and well for this race," the trainer added.
At the time of writing, weather forecast is cloudy with scattered showers. In the event of a wet track, trainer Andreas Schutz queried how his likely race favorite Good Ba Ba would handle the changed conditions.
"All his wins have been on good or fast ground and that could make a difference but I'm hoping he can handle it if the ground changes," he said.
Schutz agreed with the consensus "on paper" that the Champions Mile appears between Good Ba Ba and Armada but also wouldn't rule out Joyful Winner either "because he was perhaps a bit unlucky not to beat Armada last time as he was boxed in at the top of the straight."
Invaders set for Royal Ascot invasion
Royal Ascot release
This year’s Royal Ascot Meeting, which runs from Tuesday, June 17, to Saturday, June 21, boasts international representatives in all of the seven Group One events, entries for which are released on Wednesday.
For the first time in Royal Ascot’s history, the five-day meeting will begin with three Group One contests on Tuesday, June 17, with the Queen Anne Stakes (2.30pm) followed by the upgraded King’s Stand Stakes (3.05pm) and the St James’s Palace Stakes (3.45pm). Each is worth £250,000.
With the last three renewals having been won by overseas-trained horses, it is no surprise that this year’s King’s Stand Stakes has again attracted a truly international entry, with 18 of the 47 potential participants hailing from outside Britain.
Last year Australia had three of the first four home in the five-furlong contest, including the winner, Miss Andretti, third-placed Magnus and the fourth Takeover Target, who triumphed in the race 12 months previously.
Trainer Joe Janiak looks set to send his star nine-year-old back to Royal Ascot for a third time and he could be joined by Magnus along with exciting three-year old sprinter Universal Ruler, who is trained by Darren McAuliffe.
New Zealand could have its first Royal Ascot runner courtesy of multiple Group One scorer Seachange, trained by Ralph Manning, while Hong Kong, successful in the 2005 Golden Jubilee Stakes with the David Oughton-trained Cape Of Good Hope, could be represented by Group One Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint victor Sacred Kingdom (formerly known as Jumbo Star in Australia).
South African trainer Sean Tarry is hoping to run his six-year-old National Colour in the race and is looking forward to seeing the former South African horse of the year return to action after an absence of over a year due to the mare chipping a bone in her knee.
Tarry explained: "We have entered National Color in the King’s Stand Stakes. She’s already at Newmarket, having arrived on Monday and is staying at Geoff Wragg’s stables at the moment. I will be over-seeing her preparation for the race when I come over next month.
"She won three Group One races back to back in South Africa, the Computaform Sprint over 1000 meters, the SA Fillies Sprint over 1200 meters and the Mercury Sprint over 1200 meters, before going on to Dubai. She won her first race there like we expected but she needed knee surgery after her failure in the 2007 Group One Golden Shaheen on World Cup night.
"She’s very highly rated. We have taken our time with her and we are hoping that she will be right for the King’s Stand Stakes or, if not, the Coolmore Nunthorpe at York. She won her last start over five furlongs on turf, the Computaform Stakes, and I think she is brilliant over that trip. She does get six, but I would like to race her sparingly this season.
"Her ability is not going anywhere, but she needs four legs. Let’s hope that she comes back to her best."
Maryland-based trainer John Fisher is also aiming his star sprinter Smart Enough at the King’s Stand Stakes and is hoping that the five-year-old gelding, who has won 10 of his 16 starts in the United States, will make an impact on his European debut.
Fisher said: "We have entered Smart Enough in both the King’s Stand and the Golden Jubilee Stakes. We are leaning towards the five-furlong race but we don’t want to preclude the fact that he might run very well and therefore take his chance four days later.
"He’s a very good shipper, putting on weight in most cases, and he comes out of his races well. He likes travelling around and we will aim to bring him over four or five days before the race, but the plans have yet to be finalized.
"He ran his first race for five months at Keeneland on April 13 and he got blocked and clipped heels coming round the turn, so he got shuffled back and still ran really well to finish second. John Velazquez rode him there for the first time because I want him to be on board at Ascot, but he just met bad luck on that occasion.
"There aren’t many Group One sprints around Maryland and I didn’t want to take him to California so we will go to Ascot instead. He’s won 10 races and the only time he finished out of the frame was when he threw a shoe coming into the turn and was pulled up.
"He holds five track records and we haven’t got to the bottom of him. He could even set a record at Ascot because he is such a legitimate and lovely horse."
The home challenge looks set to be headed by last year’s runner up Dandy Man, now trained by Saeed bin Suroor, Group One Darley July Cup winner Sakhee’s Secret, Group One Prix de l’Abbaye scorer Benbaun, and Kingsgate Native, who triumphed as a juvenile in last season’s Group One Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes.
The King’s Stand Stakes is the second leg of the Global Sprint Challenge and 27 of those engaged in that race have also been entered in the Challenge’s third leg, the £375,000 Golden Jubilee Stakes (3.45pm) on Saturday, June 21, the final day of Royal Ascot. The six furlong contest has received an entry of 68, of whom 22 are trained overseas.
Smart Enough, Takeover Target, Magnus, Universal Ruler, Seachange and Sacred Kingdom are in the race, along with Benbaun, Sakhee’s Secret and Kingsgate Native. Godolphin has entered Dandy Man alongside the talented quartet of Diabolical, Elusive Warning, Greek Renaissance and Wingbeat.
The last two winners of the Golden Jubilee Stakes, Les Arcs and Soldier’s Tale, have been entered, while Aidan O’Brien, bidding to give the Irish their first victory since College Chapel in 1993, has a total of 10 horses, including last year’s Group Two Coventry Stakes scorer Henrythenavigator and Group Three Jersey Stakes runner-up US Ranger.
Nick Smith, Ascot’s Head of Public Relations, was pleased with the international quality of the entries for both the King’s Stand Stakes and the Golden Jubilee Stakes and is looking forward to seeing some high quality sprinters in action at the Royal Meeting.
Smith explained: "We have witnessed some of the world’s superstars at Royal Ascot in recent times, especially in the sprint events where we have been treated to the likes of Choisir, Cape Of Good Hope and Miss Andretti.
"I am delighted that 2006 King’s Stand winner Takeover Target and last year’s third Magnus will return this summer having run so well here last year and I am also excited about the prospect of seeing the likes of Sacred Kingdom, Seachange and Smart Enough take on the best that Europe has to offer.
"It’s a shame that Daiwa Scarlett, probably the most exciting horse in Japan at the moment, has had a slight setback as she was to be entered for the Prince of Wales's Stakes. We will now concentrate on trying to entice her connections to the King George and the Juddmonte International. We are also talking to representatives of Roc De Cambs, Meisho Samsom, Matsurida Gogh and Asakusa King with the King George in mind as the July slot does generally suit them better than June."
The Queen Anne Stakes returns to its traditional place as the first race of Royal Ascot for the first time since 2002 and this year’s superb entry of 35 looks certain to produce another fantastic contest following on from last year’s thrilling contest which saw a four-way photo-finish with the game Ramonti prevailing by a short-head from Jeremy, with Turtle Bowl and George Washington in close proximity.
The possible French challenge this year is headed by Alain de Royer-Dupre’s Darjina, who finished third in last season’s Coronation Stakes, while Ramonti spearheads the four-strong Godolphin challenge, which also includes Blue Ksar, Creachadoir and Diabolical. Their trainer Saeed bin Suroor is seeking a seventh victory in the mile event. South African trainer Mike de Kock has entered Bad Girl Runs.
Seventy-seven entries have been received for the St James’s Palace Stakes, including 12 from the Aidan O’Brien stable, which has triumphed in the mile contest with Giant’s Causeway (2000), Black Minnaloushe (2001), Rock Of Gibraltar (2002) and Excellent Art (2007).
Henry Cecil has entered the impressive Group Three Craven Stakes winner Twice Over, while the famous Khalid Abdulla silks could also be represented by Cecil’s Timetable, Confront, trained by Sir Michael Stoute, and recent Leopardstown Group Three scorer Famous Name.
Godolphin, successful in the race with Sharmadal in 2005, has a dozen horses, including Group One Racing Post Trophy scorer Ibn Khaldun and Rio De La Plata. Saeed bin Suroor could also run Fast Company, who chased home Irish entry New Approach in the Group One Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket in October.
The £375,000 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (3.45pm), highlight of the second day of the Royal Meeting on Wednesday, June 18, has attracted 45 entries, including Ramonti and Champion Stakes victor Literato, who are among the eight entries from Godolphin, victorious in the race with Dubai Millennium (2000), Fantastic Light (2001), and Grandera (2002).
The Mike de Kock-trained Sun Classique is set to make her European debut in the 10-furlong contest following an excellent win in the Group One Dubai Sheema Classic at Nad Al Sheba on March 29, while the South African handler has also entered Archipenko, who finished a close third in the Group One Dubai Duty Free on the same card.
Archipenko’s former handler Aidan O’Brien could aim for his first Prince Of Wales’s Stakes victory with prolific Group One winning filly Peeping Fawn and last year’s St James’s Palace Stakes runner-up Duke Of Marmalade. He may also be represented by Group One Irish Derby victor Soldier Of Fortune and Haradasun, who has joined the Ballydoyle stable following two Group One triumphs in Australia.
Manduro defeated the subsequent Arc winner Dylan Thomas in Prince Of Wales’s Stakes last season, and the Andre Fabre-trained colt was judged by the world’s official handicappers to have put up the best performance of a horse anywhere in the world in 2007.
O’Brien also looks to have a strong hand in the £250,000 Gold Cup (3.45pm), run over two and a half miles on the third day of the Royal Meeting, Thursday, June 19, which has attracted 39 entries.
The champion trainer has entered five horses, including Yeats, who is set to bid to become the first horse since Sagaro to win three consecutive Gold Cups, as well as dual Group Two scorer Septimus and Melbourne Cup second Mahler, who scored in the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot last season.
The £250,000 Coronation Stakes (3.45pm), highlight of the fourth day of the Royal Meeting on Friday, June 20, was last year contested by the winners of the English, Irish, French and German 1,000 Guineas, and this season’s renewal will undoubtedly be another high-quality affair, with 65 fillies entered for the mile contest.
Alain de Royer-Dupre has engaged Zarkava, who was an impressive winner of the Group One Prix Marcel Boussac at Longchamp in October, while Pascal Bary could be represented by Group One Cheveley Park Stakes heroine Natagora.
John Gosden, successful in the race with Nannina in 2006, has entered recent impressive Group Three scorer Infallible and she could be joined by Muthabara, who took the Group Three Dubai Duty Free Stakes in eye-catching fashion at Newbury over the weekend.
Charles Barnett, Ascot’s Chief Executive, commented: "We are very pleased with the Group One entries for Royal Ascot. Nick’s hard work in talking to owners and trainers around the world has again been a great success with the King’s Stands Stakes and the Golden Jubilee Stakes having very strong international representation."
From the Hong Kong Jockey Club
A grey drizzle covered Sha Tin on Wednesday morning in sharp contrast to the heat of Tuesday, as the international challengers went about their preparations for Sunday's two feature races, the HK$14m Audemars Piguet QEII Cup and HK$8m Champions Mile.
Sakae Kunieda, one of the leading trainers based at Miho Training Centre in Japan watched his two horses, Matsurida Gogh and Meiner Segal work on the turf and was very happy with what he saw.
Meiner Segal, bound for Champions Mile, set the pace under his regular exercise rider Takeshi Okumura, with jockey Masayoshi Ebina on board Cup runner Matsurida Gogh chasing from the 1000m marker. They both showed good acceleration in the stretch and Matsurida Gogh crossed the line just ahead of his stablemate with Turf Timers clocking the final 400m in 21.8 seconds.
"They both were doing great and a perfect job. I now have a good feeling for Sunday's races."
"This is my third time in Hong Kong and my horses are in good form and have settled in well. They will just walk around the stable area tomorrow to recuperate after today's work."
Jockey Ebina who had just arrived in Hong Kong and was to return to Japan on Wednesday afternoon for next Saturday's meeting, was able to report on Matsurida Gogh after the workout.
"I think he did a good job today. When I was breezing at Niigata Racecourse I was on board Meiner Segal, and watched Matsurida Gogh running next to us, and I was happy with his performance at that time. He also galloped powerfully today as well," Ebina said.
"I hope he can keep his good condition for the rest of the week and the key point is how he can manage his new surroundings without losing weight. But I think he has enough talent to cope."
Archipenko had a quiet day after his impressive workout on Tuesday, visiting the paddock at Sha Tin with Kevin Shea for a gentle paddock school.
"I was chuffed with his work yesterday; his time was okay considering he was working on his own. I didn't want to do too much with him. He's eaten up well and he's very relaxed this morning, he's just taking everything in," Mike de Kock's assistant trainer Trevor Brown said.
The French challengers for the Cup, Balius and Musical Way, continued their established routines on the all weather track, putting in regulation canters ahead of Sunday's race. Stephan Duprey, assistant trainer to Carlos Laffon Parias, was pleased with Balius, who was unstoppable in Listed Race company in France, winning five times.
"He raced a few weeks ago and worked on grass the day he left France so we don't need to be doing too much more with him now. He's been a bit fresh - no surprise considering he has recently made his first journey on a plane - but anyway that is a good sign. We would be worried if he was not fresh," said Duprey.
German raider Quijano was also kept to the all-weather, after which he went for a school in the paddock.
Meanwhile the Kiwi galloper Sir Slick continues to please in his preparation for Sunday's feature according to trainer Graeme Nicholson.
"I know I keep saying this but I just can't believe how well he's doing. Again last night he ate up everything in front of him. It's just as if he's at home," Nicholson said.
John Size, on course for a fifth trainers' title in seven Hong Kong seasons, fields his first international runners for over 16 months in the Champions Mile and there's no doubt that Armada, runner-up in the 2006 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile, is the pick of his duo.
Last season's Champion Miler in Hong Kong, Armada faces his third run after a year's layoff and by winning the Chairman's Trophy on 6 April indicated that a return to his very best form is imminent.
"His win last time did not surprise me as he had done everything perfectly in the two months leading up. On his first run back [the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup] he got held up in the final part of the race but that probably worked in his favor in the final part of the race," Size remarked.
"He looked very good in the paddock that day and he ran accordingly. He probably got a little tired in the end but he had a good blow and hopefully he can improve marginally and run well again."
How much Armada can improve from his last start win in the Chairman’s Trophy is open to conjecture “but if he can repeat his last start or find a length or two I would be happy with that,” Size said, not underestimating the value of fresh legs when several of his rivals enter the final stretch of the season with a few more miles on the clock.
Speaking of his likely chief rival, Size added: “I wouldn’t be confident that we can beat a horse like Good Ba Ba who is flying but I’ll enjoy the challenge for sure. I also think there will be further improvement in Armada after this race because this will be only his third run after a 12-month break.”
In the same race Size also relies on Dao Dao “hoping he can run a strong mile” on the back of a career best performance last start when he carried top weight over 1400m.
“I couldn’t say a mile is his best distance after a run like that at 1400m. He has progressed very quickly this season and I think there will be more in him for the future - perhaps after the summer when he has had a break. We will see him at his best as a five-year-old and hopefully in the international races in December. But he seems okay after his last run. I have been riding him myself and he seems fresh and well for this race," the trainer added.
At the time of writing, weather forecast is cloudy with scattered showers. In the event of a wet track, trainer Andreas Schutz queried how his likely race favorite Good Ba Ba would handle the changed conditions.
"All his wins have been on good or fast ground and that could make a difference but I'm hoping he can handle it if the ground changes," he said.
Schutz agreed with the consensus "on paper" that the Champions Mile appears between Good Ba Ba and Armada but also wouldn't rule out Joyful Winner either "because he was perhaps a bit unlucky not to beat Armada last time as he was boxed in at the top of the straight."
Invaders set for Royal Ascot invasion
Royal Ascot release
This year’s Royal Ascot Meeting, which runs from Tuesday, June 17, to Saturday, June 21, boasts international representatives in all of the seven Group One events, entries for which are released on Wednesday.
For the first time in Royal Ascot’s history, the five-day meeting will begin with three Group One contests on Tuesday, June 17, with the Queen Anne Stakes (2.30pm) followed by the upgraded King’s Stand Stakes (3.05pm) and the St James’s Palace Stakes (3.45pm). Each is worth £250,000.
With the last three renewals having been won by overseas-trained horses, it is no surprise that this year’s King’s Stand Stakes has again attracted a truly international entry, with 18 of the 47 potential participants hailing from outside Britain.
Last year Australia had three of the first four home in the five-furlong contest, including the winner, Miss Andretti, third-placed Magnus and the fourth Takeover Target, who triumphed in the race 12 months previously.
Trainer Joe Janiak looks set to send his star nine-year-old back to Royal Ascot for a third time and he could be joined by Magnus along with exciting three-year old sprinter Universal Ruler, who is trained by Darren McAuliffe.
New Zealand could have its first Royal Ascot runner courtesy of multiple Group One scorer Seachange, trained by Ralph Manning, while Hong Kong, successful in the 2005 Golden Jubilee Stakes with the David Oughton-trained Cape Of Good Hope, could be represented by Group One Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint victor Sacred Kingdom (formerly known as Jumbo Star in Australia).
South African trainer Sean Tarry is hoping to run his six-year-old National Colour in the race and is looking forward to seeing the former South African horse of the year return to action after an absence of over a year due to the mare chipping a bone in her knee.
Tarry explained: "We have entered National Color in the King’s Stand Stakes. She’s already at Newmarket, having arrived on Monday and is staying at Geoff Wragg’s stables at the moment. I will be over-seeing her preparation for the race when I come over next month.
"She won three Group One races back to back in South Africa, the Computaform Sprint over 1000 meters, the SA Fillies Sprint over 1200 meters and the Mercury Sprint over 1200 meters, before going on to Dubai. She won her first race there like we expected but she needed knee surgery after her failure in the 2007 Group One Golden Shaheen on World Cup night.
"She’s very highly rated. We have taken our time with her and we are hoping that she will be right for the King’s Stand Stakes or, if not, the Coolmore Nunthorpe at York. She won her last start over five furlongs on turf, the Computaform Stakes, and I think she is brilliant over that trip. She does get six, but I would like to race her sparingly this season.
"Her ability is not going anywhere, but she needs four legs. Let’s hope that she comes back to her best."
Maryland-based trainer John Fisher is also aiming his star sprinter Smart Enough at the King’s Stand Stakes and is hoping that the five-year-old gelding, who has won 10 of his 16 starts in the United States, will make an impact on his European debut.
Fisher said: "We have entered Smart Enough in both the King’s Stand and the Golden Jubilee Stakes. We are leaning towards the five-furlong race but we don’t want to preclude the fact that he might run very well and therefore take his chance four days later.
"He’s a very good shipper, putting on weight in most cases, and he comes out of his races well. He likes travelling around and we will aim to bring him over four or five days before the race, but the plans have yet to be finalized.
"He ran his first race for five months at Keeneland on April 13 and he got blocked and clipped heels coming round the turn, so he got shuffled back and still ran really well to finish second. John Velazquez rode him there for the first time because I want him to be on board at Ascot, but he just met bad luck on that occasion.
"There aren’t many Group One sprints around Maryland and I didn’t want to take him to California so we will go to Ascot instead. He’s won 10 races and the only time he finished out of the frame was when he threw a shoe coming into the turn and was pulled up.
"He holds five track records and we haven’t got to the bottom of him. He could even set a record at Ascot because he is such a legitimate and lovely horse."
The home challenge looks set to be headed by last year’s runner up Dandy Man, now trained by Saeed bin Suroor, Group One Darley July Cup winner Sakhee’s Secret, Group One Prix de l’Abbaye scorer Benbaun, and Kingsgate Native, who triumphed as a juvenile in last season’s Group One Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes.
The King’s Stand Stakes is the second leg of the Global Sprint Challenge and 27 of those engaged in that race have also been entered in the Challenge’s third leg, the £375,000 Golden Jubilee Stakes (3.45pm) on Saturday, June 21, the final day of Royal Ascot. The six furlong contest has received an entry of 68, of whom 22 are trained overseas.
Smart Enough, Takeover Target, Magnus, Universal Ruler, Seachange and Sacred Kingdom are in the race, along with Benbaun, Sakhee’s Secret and Kingsgate Native. Godolphin has entered Dandy Man alongside the talented quartet of Diabolical, Elusive Warning, Greek Renaissance and Wingbeat.
The last two winners of the Golden Jubilee Stakes, Les Arcs and Soldier’s Tale, have been entered, while Aidan O’Brien, bidding to give the Irish their first victory since College Chapel in 1993, has a total of 10 horses, including last year’s Group Two Coventry Stakes scorer Henrythenavigator and Group Three Jersey Stakes runner-up US Ranger.
Nick Smith, Ascot’s Head of Public Relations, was pleased with the international quality of the entries for both the King’s Stand Stakes and the Golden Jubilee Stakes and is looking forward to seeing some high quality sprinters in action at the Royal Meeting.
Smith explained: "We have witnessed some of the world’s superstars at Royal Ascot in recent times, especially in the sprint events where we have been treated to the likes of Choisir, Cape Of Good Hope and Miss Andretti.
"I am delighted that 2006 King’s Stand winner Takeover Target and last year’s third Magnus will return this summer having run so well here last year and I am also excited about the prospect of seeing the likes of Sacred Kingdom, Seachange and Smart Enough take on the best that Europe has to offer.
"It’s a shame that Daiwa Scarlett, probably the most exciting horse in Japan at the moment, has had a slight setback as she was to be entered for the Prince of Wales's Stakes. We will now concentrate on trying to entice her connections to the King George and the Juddmonte International. We are also talking to representatives of Roc De Cambs, Meisho Samsom, Matsurida Gogh and Asakusa King with the King George in mind as the July slot does generally suit them better than June."
The Queen Anne Stakes returns to its traditional place as the first race of Royal Ascot for the first time since 2002 and this year’s superb entry of 35 looks certain to produce another fantastic contest following on from last year’s thrilling contest which saw a four-way photo-finish with the game Ramonti prevailing by a short-head from Jeremy, with Turtle Bowl and George Washington in close proximity.
The possible French challenge this year is headed by Alain de Royer-Dupre’s Darjina, who finished third in last season’s Coronation Stakes, while Ramonti spearheads the four-strong Godolphin challenge, which also includes Blue Ksar, Creachadoir and Diabolical. Their trainer Saeed bin Suroor is seeking a seventh victory in the mile event. South African trainer Mike de Kock has entered Bad Girl Runs.
Seventy-seven entries have been received for the St James’s Palace Stakes, including 12 from the Aidan O’Brien stable, which has triumphed in the mile contest with Giant’s Causeway (2000), Black Minnaloushe (2001), Rock Of Gibraltar (2002) and Excellent Art (2007).
Henry Cecil has entered the impressive Group Three Craven Stakes winner Twice Over, while the famous Khalid Abdulla silks could also be represented by Cecil’s Timetable, Confront, trained by Sir Michael Stoute, and recent Leopardstown Group Three scorer Famous Name.
Godolphin, successful in the race with Sharmadal in 2005, has a dozen horses, including Group One Racing Post Trophy scorer Ibn Khaldun and Rio De La Plata. Saeed bin Suroor could also run Fast Company, who chased home Irish entry New Approach in the Group One Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket in October.
The £375,000 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (3.45pm), highlight of the second day of the Royal Meeting on Wednesday, June 18, has attracted 45 entries, including Ramonti and Champion Stakes victor Literato, who are among the eight entries from Godolphin, victorious in the race with Dubai Millennium (2000), Fantastic Light (2001), and Grandera (2002).
The Mike de Kock-trained Sun Classique is set to make her European debut in the 10-furlong contest following an excellent win in the Group One Dubai Sheema Classic at Nad Al Sheba on March 29, while the South African handler has also entered Archipenko, who finished a close third in the Group One Dubai Duty Free on the same card.
Archipenko’s former handler Aidan O’Brien could aim for his first Prince Of Wales’s Stakes victory with prolific Group One winning filly Peeping Fawn and last year’s St James’s Palace Stakes runner-up Duke Of Marmalade. He may also be represented by Group One Irish Derby victor Soldier Of Fortune and Haradasun, who has joined the Ballydoyle stable following two Group One triumphs in Australia.
Manduro defeated the subsequent Arc winner Dylan Thomas in Prince Of Wales’s Stakes last season, and the Andre Fabre-trained colt was judged by the world’s official handicappers to have put up the best performance of a horse anywhere in the world in 2007.
O’Brien also looks to have a strong hand in the £250,000 Gold Cup (3.45pm), run over two and a half miles on the third day of the Royal Meeting, Thursday, June 19, which has attracted 39 entries.
The champion trainer has entered five horses, including Yeats, who is set to bid to become the first horse since Sagaro to win three consecutive Gold Cups, as well as dual Group Two scorer Septimus and Melbourne Cup second Mahler, who scored in the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot last season.
The £250,000 Coronation Stakes (3.45pm), highlight of the fourth day of the Royal Meeting on Friday, June 20, was last year contested by the winners of the English, Irish, French and German 1,000 Guineas, and this season’s renewal will undoubtedly be another high-quality affair, with 65 fillies entered for the mile contest.
Alain de Royer-Dupre has engaged Zarkava, who was an impressive winner of the Group One Prix Marcel Boussac at Longchamp in October, while Pascal Bary could be represented by Group One Cheveley Park Stakes heroine Natagora.
John Gosden, successful in the race with Nannina in 2006, has entered recent impressive Group Three scorer Infallible and she could be joined by Muthabara, who took the Group Three Dubai Duty Free Stakes in eye-catching fashion at Newbury over the weekend.
Charles Barnett, Ascot’s Chief Executive, commented: "We are very pleased with the Group One entries for Royal Ascot. Nick’s hard work in talking to owners and trainers around the world has again been a great success with the King’s Stands Stakes and the Golden Jubilee Stakes having very strong international representation."
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Louie and Ronnie back at The Show
The Kentucky Derby experience will be richer for the return of Louis Roussel, who has been absent for a very long time. Roussel, once owner of the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, is a combination trainer, breeder, lawyer, raconteur, who brought Risen Star to the 1988 Derby and finished third to Winning Colors, the last filly to win the first leg of the Triple Crown.
A couple of things worked against Risen Star in the Derby, foremost of which was a slow start and typical bad Derby trip. The other was Pat Day’s decision to not challenge Winning Colors early. Though running on even terms with the filly early, Day took back on Forty Niner entering the first turn. Winning Colors, loose on the lead, survived Forty Niner’s late run by a neck.
The same horses put the Preakness in Risen Star’s lap. With D. Wayne Lukas and Woody Stephens trading barbs not made in good humor, Forty Niner carried out the task assigned and took Winning Colors by the throat early, a confrontation that blossomed into a half-mile in 47 seconds. Both gave way and Risen Star was nothing if not a strong finisher.
Risen Star’s tour de force would be the Belmont, which he would win 14 ¼ lengths with Forty Niner absent and a spent Winning Colors last of six.
“I brought the best horse in America here in 1988,” Roussel said on Tuesday. “I was 5-1 and the best I could do was third.”
In 1988, Risen Star, who did not race again after the Belmont, was not the best horse in America. Alysheba was a four-year-old on his way to being Horse of the Year. Personal Ensign, also four, was in the last season of a perfect career that would end with a victory for the ages over Winning Colors in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Nevertheless, Risen Star was a very good horse and the characters around him, Roussel and partner, Ronnie Lamarque, a good-timing New Orleans auto dealer, and a cast of characters not far removed from the French Quarter made that spring memorable.
“There’s going to be a crayfish party at the Derby,” said Ed Fountaine, the gentleman from the New York Post, after Recapturetheglory, the last horse nominated to the Triple Crown, won the Illinois Derby.
Not so, Roussel said, reminded of the party he and Lamarque hosted 20 years ago on a grassy area outside the clubhouse turn, transporting menu, chefs and whatever else, from New Orleans to Louisville. There was also the occasional afternoon crayfish and shrimp at the barn. Covering the Derby was never before or ever again such a feast for anyone who happened to be nearby at the right time. Nor had any other trainer brought his personal chef to the Derby.
The Derby is drawn in the evening nowadays, happy-hour-ish, downtown, midweek. The grassy is no longer green.
“The crayfish party was on Wednesday, that’s the draw,” he said. “Wish there was; love those crayfish.”
There’s more bad news. Lamarque, noted composer of several songs about his horses, has written no music in honor of Recapturetheglory, whose name, he claims, is impossible to rhyme.
A couple of things worked against Risen Star in the Derby, foremost of which was a slow start and typical bad Derby trip. The other was Pat Day’s decision to not challenge Winning Colors early. Though running on even terms with the filly early, Day took back on Forty Niner entering the first turn. Winning Colors, loose on the lead, survived Forty Niner’s late run by a neck.
The same horses put the Preakness in Risen Star’s lap. With D. Wayne Lukas and Woody Stephens trading barbs not made in good humor, Forty Niner carried out the task assigned and took Winning Colors by the throat early, a confrontation that blossomed into a half-mile in 47 seconds. Both gave way and Risen Star was nothing if not a strong finisher.
Risen Star’s tour de force would be the Belmont, which he would win 14 ¼ lengths with Forty Niner absent and a spent Winning Colors last of six.
“I brought the best horse in America here in 1988,” Roussel said on Tuesday. “I was 5-1 and the best I could do was third.”
In 1988, Risen Star, who did not race again after the Belmont, was not the best horse in America. Alysheba was a four-year-old on his way to being Horse of the Year. Personal Ensign, also four, was in the last season of a perfect career that would end with a victory for the ages over Winning Colors in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Nevertheless, Risen Star was a very good horse and the characters around him, Roussel and partner, Ronnie Lamarque, a good-timing New Orleans auto dealer, and a cast of characters not far removed from the French Quarter made that spring memorable.
“There’s going to be a crayfish party at the Derby,” said Ed Fountaine, the gentleman from the New York Post, after Recapturetheglory, the last horse nominated to the Triple Crown, won the Illinois Derby.
Not so, Roussel said, reminded of the party he and Lamarque hosted 20 years ago on a grassy area outside the clubhouse turn, transporting menu, chefs and whatever else, from New Orleans to Louisville. There was also the occasional afternoon crayfish and shrimp at the barn. Covering the Derby was never before or ever again such a feast for anyone who happened to be nearby at the right time. Nor had any other trainer brought his personal chef to the Derby.
The Derby is drawn in the evening nowadays, happy-hour-ish, downtown, midweek. The grassy is no longer green.
“The crayfish party was on Wednesday, that’s the draw,” he said. “Wish there was; love those crayfish.”
There’s more bad news. Lamarque, noted composer of several songs about his horses, has written no music in honor of Recapturetheglory, whose name, he claims, is impossible to rhyme.
Horseplayers, unite!
NTRA release
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced on Tuesday the formation of the Horseplayers' Coalition, a consortium of horseplayers whose common objective is to seek legislative and regulatory solutions to tax and business issues that impact racing fans and pari-mutuel racetracks.
The Horseplayers' Coalition will provide grass roots support for the NTRA's lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill. Participants can track the progress of legislation online at www.horseplayerscoalition.com, where they will also find legislative news, press releases and position papers on a variety of legislative issues. The Web site will also be the portal for Coalition members to send grass roots communications to members of Congress using stylized message points.
"Our nation's horseplayers provide the capital that fuels so much of the horse industry, and the new Horseplayers' Coalition will finally give this group a means of speaking with a unified voice in Washington, D.C.," said Alex Waldrop, President and CEO of the NTRA.
"The concerns of horseplayers are an important part of the NTRA's lobbying efforts," said Peggy Hendershot, Senior Vice President of Legislative Affairs for the NTRA. "We encourage all fans to take an active role in these efforts by joining the Coalition. Together we can make a real difference in addressing the many issues, like withholding and taxation that affect players on a daily basis."
The cost to join the Horseplayers' Coalition is $25. Individuals may enroll online at www.horseplayerscoalition.com
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced on Tuesday the formation of the Horseplayers' Coalition, a consortium of horseplayers whose common objective is to seek legislative and regulatory solutions to tax and business issues that impact racing fans and pari-mutuel racetracks.
The Horseplayers' Coalition will provide grass roots support for the NTRA's lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill. Participants can track the progress of legislation online at www.horseplayerscoalition.com, where they will also find legislative news, press releases and position papers on a variety of legislative issues. The Web site will also be the portal for Coalition members to send grass roots communications to members of Congress using stylized message points.
"Our nation's horseplayers provide the capital that fuels so much of the horse industry, and the new Horseplayers' Coalition will finally give this group a means of speaking with a unified voice in Washington, D.C.," said Alex Waldrop, President and CEO of the NTRA.
"The concerns of horseplayers are an important part of the NTRA's lobbying efforts," said Peggy Hendershot, Senior Vice President of Legislative Affairs for the NTRA. "We encourage all fans to take an active role in these efforts by joining the Coalition. Together we can make a real difference in addressing the many issues, like withholding and taxation that affect players on a daily basis."
The cost to join the Horseplayers' Coalition is $25. Individuals may enroll online at www.horseplayerscoalition.com
Best 9-furlong Derby preps
Big Brown, Florida Derby, 110
Smooth Air, Florida Derby, 105
Recapturetheglory, Illinois Derby, 104
Adriano, Lane’s End, (synthetic), 101
Gayego, Arkansas Derby, 101
Z Fortune, Arkansas Derby, 100
Tale of Ekati, Wood Memorial, 100
Cool Coal Man, Fountain of Youth, 100
Z Humor, Illinois Derby, 99
Colonel John, Santa Anita Derby, (synthetic), 98
Court Vision, Wood Memorial, 98
(Speed figures: BRIS)
Smooth Air, Florida Derby, 105
Recapturetheglory, Illinois Derby, 104
Adriano, Lane’s End, (synthetic), 101
Gayego, Arkansas Derby, 101
Z Fortune, Arkansas Derby, 100
Tale of Ekati, Wood Memorial, 100
Cool Coal Man, Fountain of Youth, 100
Z Humor, Illinois Derby, 99
Colonel John, Santa Anita Derby, (synthetic), 98
Court Vision, Wood Memorial, 98
(Speed figures: BRIS)
Hong Kong update
From the Hong Kong Jockey Club
Kevin Shea arrived in Hong Kong late Monday evening minus his luggage, but that did not stop him borrowing the necessary kit from here and there to work his Audemars Piguet QEII Cup mount Archipenko at Sha Tin on the turf on Tuesday morning.
In trainer Mike De Kock's absence, his assistant Trevor Brown watched the workout clocking a final split of 23.3 seconds, and both he and Shea were happy enough with the effort. Speaking as the horse paused in the straight to take in his surroundings on the way back to his stables, Brown was looking forward to Sunday's race.
"I am very pleased with the horse. He only came to us in Dubai in December, and it has taken time for him to come to himself. What I like about him is that he's progressive, and he's shown improvement in each of his last starts. He had the chance to take a gap in the Dubai Duty Free, but wouldn't take it - Kevin [Shea] shifted him out and he went the second time he was asked - if he he'd gone first time, he'd just about have won."
"The extra furlong here will be in his favour. There's some form line between our stable's Sun Classique and Viva Pataca and Quijano from the Sheema Classic, and I think he's up there with them. Viva Pataca is obviously going to be tough on his home patch, and I like the chances of the local Derby winner [Helene Mascot] as well, but I think we'll be on top of them in the finish."
New Zealand galloper Sir Slick's workload was stepped up when a full stretch 22.4 gallop for the final 400m on the turf followed a cantering lap on the dirt, prompting trainer Graeme Nicholson to declare the gelding looking "pretty good".
"He thrives on his work and simply revels in whatever you ask him to do. It's pretty warm this morning but he didn't mind it. He has a marvellous temperament, ate everything we put in front of him last night and just looks to be in great shape.
Nicholson predicted his six-year-old would set a strong tempo, one that may even test the 2000m course record of 2 minutes 0.1 seconds set by Jim And Tonic in this very race nine years ago.
"He will set a very fast pace and if the track is good he'll run close to 2 minutes. He will be right there, I'm confident of that. If he wins on Sunday, trust me there will be tears rolling down this face."
Balius and Musical Way, who will be trying to emulate 1999 winner Jim And Tonic and take the prize home to France, both continued their preparation with some light activity on the all-weather track.
Balius was calmer than on Monday and did not attempt to unseat work rider Maurice Richard as he had done the previous day. Richard reported: "No problems at the moment."
However a change of jockey is anticipated with Miguel Blancpain unable to make the journey to Hong Kong. Olivier Doleuze is expected to take over.
Quijano was also out on the track, looking much less sweaty than he had the previous day. As usual he was ridden by assistant trainer Ilke Hildebrand who is maintaining her enthusiasm ahead of Sunday's big race: "I love this horse," she said.
Japanese trainer Sakae Kunieda arrived in Hong Kong on Tuesday afternoon with two horses aiming for international glory on Sunday.
Matsurida Gogh in the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup and Meiner Segal, bound for the Champions Mile, prepped with laps of the all weather track to the satisfaction of racing manager for 'Team Kunieda', Masamitsu Tsuchiya.
"Both horses have put back on the weight they lost since they left Japan," Tsuchiya reported after watching the pair paddock school.
"I am very impressed how well they travelled, despite some turbulence from the typhoon on the way over. They are very settled now.
"In the paddock ring, the horses walked no problem. We will breeze both horses over five furlongs on the turf track tomorrow with our jockey Masayoshi Ebina on board. But we may consider a slightly easier breeze seeing how hot it is today."
Good Ba Ba's bid for the Champions Mile may involve a special sliver of history. Not content with trying for the fifth straight victory and his fourth consecutive at Gr.1 level, the Andreas Schutz-trained gelding will also attain the unique status of becoming the first Hong Kong horse to win two international Gr.1 races in Hong Kong during the same season.
"He worked yesterday [Monday] with Olivier Doleuze riding and I was very happy with what I saw. He pulled up well and even gave a little buck and a kick afterwards so you'd have to look on that as a pretty positive sign.
"He will have one more blow between now and Sunday but that will be a more straightforward, lighter canter," he said.
Looking ahead to the HK$8m third leg of the Asian Mile Challenge, Schutz had no hesitation in nominating Armada as the horse to beat.
"He has beaten the rest of these horses a few times now. Armada is the only one we haven't met at his peak this season but we beat him last year in the Chairman's Trophy and I'm hoping he can do it again. A good draw will be important. We beat Sacred Kingdom last time but maybe we were a bit lucky that day.
"Having said that, Good Ba Ba started his run at the 800m and was very wide and he did well to win. He's in the same sort of form now so I am looking forward to another big run."
Kevin Shea arrived in Hong Kong late Monday evening minus his luggage, but that did not stop him borrowing the necessary kit from here and there to work his Audemars Piguet QEII Cup mount Archipenko at Sha Tin on the turf on Tuesday morning.
In trainer Mike De Kock's absence, his assistant Trevor Brown watched the workout clocking a final split of 23.3 seconds, and both he and Shea were happy enough with the effort. Speaking as the horse paused in the straight to take in his surroundings on the way back to his stables, Brown was looking forward to Sunday's race.
"I am very pleased with the horse. He only came to us in Dubai in December, and it has taken time for him to come to himself. What I like about him is that he's progressive, and he's shown improvement in each of his last starts. He had the chance to take a gap in the Dubai Duty Free, but wouldn't take it - Kevin [Shea] shifted him out and he went the second time he was asked - if he he'd gone first time, he'd just about have won."
"The extra furlong here will be in his favour. There's some form line between our stable's Sun Classique and Viva Pataca and Quijano from the Sheema Classic, and I think he's up there with them. Viva Pataca is obviously going to be tough on his home patch, and I like the chances of the local Derby winner [Helene Mascot] as well, but I think we'll be on top of them in the finish."
New Zealand galloper Sir Slick's workload was stepped up when a full stretch 22.4 gallop for the final 400m on the turf followed a cantering lap on the dirt, prompting trainer Graeme Nicholson to declare the gelding looking "pretty good".
"He thrives on his work and simply revels in whatever you ask him to do. It's pretty warm this morning but he didn't mind it. He has a marvellous temperament, ate everything we put in front of him last night and just looks to be in great shape.
Nicholson predicted his six-year-old would set a strong tempo, one that may even test the 2000m course record of 2 minutes 0.1 seconds set by Jim And Tonic in this very race nine years ago.
"He will set a very fast pace and if the track is good he'll run close to 2 minutes. He will be right there, I'm confident of that. If he wins on Sunday, trust me there will be tears rolling down this face."
Balius and Musical Way, who will be trying to emulate 1999 winner Jim And Tonic and take the prize home to France, both continued their preparation with some light activity on the all-weather track.
Balius was calmer than on Monday and did not attempt to unseat work rider Maurice Richard as he had done the previous day. Richard reported: "No problems at the moment."
However a change of jockey is anticipated with Miguel Blancpain unable to make the journey to Hong Kong. Olivier Doleuze is expected to take over.
Quijano was also out on the track, looking much less sweaty than he had the previous day. As usual he was ridden by assistant trainer Ilke Hildebrand who is maintaining her enthusiasm ahead of Sunday's big race: "I love this horse," she said.
Japanese trainer Sakae Kunieda arrived in Hong Kong on Tuesday afternoon with two horses aiming for international glory on Sunday.
Matsurida Gogh in the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup and Meiner Segal, bound for the Champions Mile, prepped with laps of the all weather track to the satisfaction of racing manager for 'Team Kunieda', Masamitsu Tsuchiya.
"Both horses have put back on the weight they lost since they left Japan," Tsuchiya reported after watching the pair paddock school.
"I am very impressed how well they travelled, despite some turbulence from the typhoon on the way over. They are very settled now.
"In the paddock ring, the horses walked no problem. We will breeze both horses over five furlongs on the turf track tomorrow with our jockey Masayoshi Ebina on board. But we may consider a slightly easier breeze seeing how hot it is today."
Good Ba Ba's bid for the Champions Mile may involve a special sliver of history. Not content with trying for the fifth straight victory and his fourth consecutive at Gr.1 level, the Andreas Schutz-trained gelding will also attain the unique status of becoming the first Hong Kong horse to win two international Gr.1 races in Hong Kong during the same season.
"He worked yesterday [Monday] with Olivier Doleuze riding and I was very happy with what I saw. He pulled up well and even gave a little buck and a kick afterwards so you'd have to look on that as a pretty positive sign.
"He will have one more blow between now and Sunday but that will be a more straightforward, lighter canter," he said.
Looking ahead to the HK$8m third leg of the Asian Mile Challenge, Schutz had no hesitation in nominating Armada as the horse to beat.
"He has beaten the rest of these horses a few times now. Armada is the only one we haven't met at his peak this season but we beat him last year in the Chairman's Trophy and I'm hoping he can do it again. A good draw will be important. We beat Sacred Kingdom last time but maybe we were a bit lucky that day.
"Having said that, Good Ba Ba started his run at the 800m and was very wide and he did well to win. He's in the same sort of form now so I am looking forward to another big run."
Monday, April 21, 2008
Kentucky Derby notes:
Everything you need to know about what happened on Monday at Churchill Downs and many things you don't.
From Churchill Downs
Courtlandt Farms’ Adriano had an easy morning on Monday, walking the shedrow at Barn 42 a day after working five furlongs in 1:01.80 in preparation for a start in the $2 million-guaranteed Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI).
Alice Clapham, assistant to trainer Graham Motion, said Adriano would return to the track in the morning to jog with his final pre-Derby work scheduled for Sunday.
Edgar Prado, who won the 2006 Kentucky Derby aboard Barbaro, has the riding assignment.
Trainer Nick Zito confirmed riders for his two Kentucky Derby hopefuls Monday morning, naming Julien Leparoux to ride Robert LaPenta’s Cool Coal Man and Rafael Bejarano to ride Four Roses Thoroughbreds’ Anak Nakal.
“I’ve got two good kids that I’ve had success with,” Zito said. “Rafael won his first stakes for me on Sir Shackleton and Julien won the last two races of the fall here last year to win the riding title.”
Bejarano has not ridden Anak Nakal, but did post an allowance win on Cool Coal Man here last fall. Leparoux has not ridden Cool Coal Man, but did win the Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) last fall aboard Anak Nakal.
Both of Zito’s hopefuls galloped after the renovation break with Heather Stark on Anak Nakal and Megan Smillie on Cool Coal Man. Zito plans to work Cool Coal Man on Thursday and Anak Nakal on Friday.
Zito’s third Kentucky Derby hopeful, 2007 juvenile champion War Pass, was knocked off the Derby trail Saturday with an injury.
“I am going to show my age a little bit, but I remember reading in the papers about horses like First Landing and Graustark getting hurt before the Derby and hoping it doesn’t happen to anybody else,” Zito said.
Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott was at Churchill Downs on Monday to take a peek at his Kentucky Derby contenders – IEAH Stables and WinStar Farm’s Court Vision and Zayat Stables’ Z Humor – along with other members of his local stable.
Mott, Churchill Downs’ all-time leading trainer with 583 wins, is still looking for his first victory in the premier race at the Louisville track. He said on Monday that the final pre-Kentucky Derby works for his pair of contenders would come in the next few days.
“We’ll have one more serious work in Court Vision – probably Monday or Tuesday (of Derby Week),” Mott said. “We’ll probably have a good open gallop in between. We’ll probably do a little something with Z Humor maybe on Wednesday.”
Garrett Gomez is scheduled to ride Court Vision, winner of the Iroquois (GIII) at
Churchill Downs and the Remsen (GII), in the Kentucky Derby. Rene Douglas will ride Z Humor.
Mr. and Mrs. William Warren’s Denis of Cork, a well-beaten fifth as the favorite in the Illinois Derby (GII), showed signs of a return to top form on Monday as the son of Harlan’s Holiday breezed five furlongs in 1:00 under jockey Calvin Borel.
The David Carroll-trained colt, who suffered his only loss in four races in that most recent start, was timed in fractions of :12.80, :25, :37.20 and :48.60. He galloped out six furlongs in a strong 1:12.40 and seven furlongs in 1:26.
“I let him finish up a little bit from the quarter pole to the wire,” Borel said. “I was very impressed with the last quarter of a mile – very impressed.”
Carroll was ill and did not make it to Churchill Downs to witness the work by Denis of Cork, but he has been very pleased with the colt’s progress in recent days and liked what Borel had to say about the move.
“He’s been training good over the last four to five days,” said Carroll. “Just looking at him out there, he seems to have picked it up again. I just wanted to get a nice five-eighths in him, stretch his legs, and basically let him do what he wanted to do.”
Earnings in graded stakes remain a concern for Carroll, but Denis of Cork is close to making the maximum 20-horse field for the Kentucky Derby. The winner of Oaklawn Park’s Southwest Stakes (GIII) currently ranks 21st on Churchill Downs’ most recent list of Kentucky Derby contenders with $165,000.
Borel piloted Denis of Cork to wins in his first two career starts, and would likely be back aboard the colt should he make the field for Kentucky Derby 134.
WinStar Farm’s Colonel John, winner of the Santa Anita Derby (GI) in his most recent start, arrived at Churchill Downs around 1:40 p.m. (EDT) after he flew into Lexington from Southern California, then took a short van ride up Interstate 64 to the Louisville track.
The bay son of two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) winner Tiznow took a few spins around Barn 41 for trainer Eoin Harty before the colt settled into his new surroundings. Harty, who was an assistant to trainer Bob Baffert for his Kentucky Derby victories with Silver Charm (1997), Real Quiet (1998) and War Emblem (2002) – said Colonel John handled the journey from Southern California well. Harty accompanied the horse on the plane.
“It was an early start for everybody out there (in California), but once we got on the road it was pretty uneventful,” said Harty. “Everything was pretty smooth. It was the quickest way from Los Angeles to Louisville by far.”
Although he had extensive Kentucky Derby experience with Baffert, Colonel John will be Harty’s first Derby starter since he went out on his own five years ago.
“It’s still two weeks out and the pressure hasn’t really kicked in yet,” Harty said. “But I’m sure as the days go by and we get closer to the kickoff, I’ll be a little more anxious than I am right now.”
Colonel John is coming into the Kentucky Derby off a dazzling come-from-behind victory in the Santa Anita Derby. He won the Sham (GI) over Cushion Track at Santa Anita, and Harty has no major worries about whether his colt – who has never competed on a tradition dirt track like the one-mile oval at Churchill Downs – will handle the footing under the historic Twin Spires.
“I think the (synthetic) tracks are safer and certain horses have a chance of staying sound longer,” said Harty. “From what I’ve seen, horses can ship off of the synthetic surfaces and run competitively.” Colonel John worked five furlongs in :59.40 at Santa Anita on Sunday morning. Corey Nakatani has the riding assignment.
Cubanacan Stables’ Gayego galloped 1 ½ miles after the renovation break with exercise rider Jody Pieper up.
Trainer Paulo Lobo, who won the Kentucky Oaks in 2002 with Farda Amiga, shipped Gayego to Churchill Downs two days after the colt won the April 12 Arkansas Derby.
“With Farda Amiga, we did not come here until three days before the race,” Lobo said. “With only three weeks between the Arkansas Derby and Kentucky Derby, I did not want to ship him twice.”
Gayego is scheduled to have his morning exercise earlier Tuesday as Lobo is planning to fly back to Southern California, where he has the rest of his horses stabled at Hollywood Park. Lobo plans to return to Louisville on Thursday, staying through the colt’s scheduled work on Saturday before another quick trip to California with an April 29 return to Louisville to stay through the Derby. Mike Smith has the riding assignment.
“We are planning to run if we can get in,” trainer Dale Romans said Monday morning of Zayat Stables’ Halo Najib.
With $157,996 in graded stakes earnings, Halo Najib sits in 22nd place in graded money among horses under consideration for the Kentucky Derby. The list of 22 includes the fillies Proud Spell and Eight Belles.
Should Halo Najib make the field, he would give Zayat three starters in the race along with Z Humor and Z Fortune.
The Halo’s Image colt galloped after the renovation break Monday with exercise rider Gennero Garcia up. Romans, who has not named a Derby rider, said Halo Najib could work Tuesday.
An uncharacteristic 10th-place finish by Louisiana Derby winner Pyro in the April 12 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (GI) left numerous horseplayers in the fog. The mystery surrounding the colt undoubtedly will continue into Kentucky Derby 134 after heavy fog early Monday morning prevented Keeneland Race Course clockers from recording his six-furlong workout in company with graded stakes-winning sprinter Noonmark.
“I was on horseback and it was so foggy that I only saw the last 50 feet of the work,” trainer Steve Asmussen said of the 6:30 a.m. move. “But from what I saw, it looked fine.”
The Louisiana Derby (GII) winner, with exercise rider Dominic Terry aboard, was positioned inside of the Shaun Bridgmohan-ridden Noonmark, according to Asmussen. Noonmark is slated to start in the $250,000-added Churchill Downs Handicap (GII) on the Kentucky Derby undercard on Saturday, May 3.
“When you work three-quarters (of a mile) with Noonmark, I’d call it a serious drill,” Asmussen said. “Their instructions were to go in 1:14 and they usually hit their mark. Pyro seems just fine to me.”
The son of Pulpit, owned and bred by Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC, is scheduled to vacate Keeneland on Tuesday and will arrive at Churchill Downs in the afternoon. Bridgmohan has the return call aboard both Pyro and Noonmark.
Asmussen’s other Derby charge, Arkansas Derby runner-up and Lecomte (GIII) winner Z Fortune, also worked Monday. His four-furlong breeze in :50.20 took place just after 6:45 a.m. at Churchill Downs with Corey Lanerie in the irons.
Churchill Downs’ clockers caught Z Fortune through fractions of :13.20, :25.60 and :38. The Siphon colt galloped out five furlongs in 1:04.20.
“He worked good,” Lanerie said. “I was told to go in :52 and I thought we went in :52. He did it that easy.” Robby Albarado will have the mount on Z Humor in the Derby.
Ronnie Lamarque and trainer Louie Roussel III’s Recapturetheglory jogged a mile and then galloped two miles with Lara Van Deren up Monday morning after the renovation break.
Recapturetheglory would mark Roussel’s third Kentucky Derby starter. Beau Rit, who finished 13th in 1981, was Roussel’s first starter and Risen Star, the third-place finisher in 1988 before winning the Preakness and Belmont Stakes was the other.
Roussel came back in 1994 with Kandaly, but he scratched him the afternoon of the race because of track condition.
“The track was a sea of mud that day and I had a horse that couldn’t stand up in a puddle,” Roussel said. “Go for Gin won that day and I was happy for (trainer) Nick (Zito).”
E.T. Baird, who was aboard Recapturetheglory for the first time when the Cherokee Run colt won the Illinois Derby (GII), has the Kentucky Derby mount. Recapturetheglory is scheduled to work Thursday.
Mount Joy Stables’ Smooth Air enjoyed the morning walking around his new surroundings in Barn 35 at Churchill Downs, a day after arriving from Florida.
“This horse is a trainer’s dream,” trainer Bennie Stutts Jr. said as the colt walked by led by groom Adelaida Geigel. “He’s a little horse that doesn’t think he’s so little.”
Stutts said that Susie Milne, Smooth Air’s regular exercise rider, would be here
Tuesday to handle the regular morning duties and Jodi Gelb, who handles the colt’s works, would be here Sunday for Smooth Air’s work. Smooth Air is scheduled to jog two miles in the morning.
Manoel Cruz, who has ridden Smooth Air in all of his starts, has the Derby mount.
Smooth Air comes into the Kentucky Derby off a runner-up finish in the Florida Derby (GI) behind Big Brown.
“I told people there were two Florida Derbys that day,” Stutts said. “Big Brown won one and we won the other. We couldn’t get near that horse.”
From Churchill Downs
Courtlandt Farms’ Adriano had an easy morning on Monday, walking the shedrow at Barn 42 a day after working five furlongs in 1:01.80 in preparation for a start in the $2 million-guaranteed Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI).
Alice Clapham, assistant to trainer Graham Motion, said Adriano would return to the track in the morning to jog with his final pre-Derby work scheduled for Sunday.
Edgar Prado, who won the 2006 Kentucky Derby aboard Barbaro, has the riding assignment.
Trainer Nick Zito confirmed riders for his two Kentucky Derby hopefuls Monday morning, naming Julien Leparoux to ride Robert LaPenta’s Cool Coal Man and Rafael Bejarano to ride Four Roses Thoroughbreds’ Anak Nakal.
“I’ve got two good kids that I’ve had success with,” Zito said. “Rafael won his first stakes for me on Sir Shackleton and Julien won the last two races of the fall here last year to win the riding title.”
Bejarano has not ridden Anak Nakal, but did post an allowance win on Cool Coal Man here last fall. Leparoux has not ridden Cool Coal Man, but did win the Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) last fall aboard Anak Nakal.
Both of Zito’s hopefuls galloped after the renovation break with Heather Stark on Anak Nakal and Megan Smillie on Cool Coal Man. Zito plans to work Cool Coal Man on Thursday and Anak Nakal on Friday.
Zito’s third Kentucky Derby hopeful, 2007 juvenile champion War Pass, was knocked off the Derby trail Saturday with an injury.
“I am going to show my age a little bit, but I remember reading in the papers about horses like First Landing and Graustark getting hurt before the Derby and hoping it doesn’t happen to anybody else,” Zito said.
Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott was at Churchill Downs on Monday to take a peek at his Kentucky Derby contenders – IEAH Stables and WinStar Farm’s Court Vision and Zayat Stables’ Z Humor – along with other members of his local stable.
Mott, Churchill Downs’ all-time leading trainer with 583 wins, is still looking for his first victory in the premier race at the Louisville track. He said on Monday that the final pre-Kentucky Derby works for his pair of contenders would come in the next few days.
“We’ll have one more serious work in Court Vision – probably Monday or Tuesday (of Derby Week),” Mott said. “We’ll probably have a good open gallop in between. We’ll probably do a little something with Z Humor maybe on Wednesday.”
Garrett Gomez is scheduled to ride Court Vision, winner of the Iroquois (GIII) at
Churchill Downs and the Remsen (GII), in the Kentucky Derby. Rene Douglas will ride Z Humor.
Mr. and Mrs. William Warren’s Denis of Cork, a well-beaten fifth as the favorite in the Illinois Derby (GII), showed signs of a return to top form on Monday as the son of Harlan’s Holiday breezed five furlongs in 1:00 under jockey Calvin Borel.
The David Carroll-trained colt, who suffered his only loss in four races in that most recent start, was timed in fractions of :12.80, :25, :37.20 and :48.60. He galloped out six furlongs in a strong 1:12.40 and seven furlongs in 1:26.
“I let him finish up a little bit from the quarter pole to the wire,” Borel said. “I was very impressed with the last quarter of a mile – very impressed.”
Carroll was ill and did not make it to Churchill Downs to witness the work by Denis of Cork, but he has been very pleased with the colt’s progress in recent days and liked what Borel had to say about the move.
“He’s been training good over the last four to five days,” said Carroll. “Just looking at him out there, he seems to have picked it up again. I just wanted to get a nice five-eighths in him, stretch his legs, and basically let him do what he wanted to do.”
Earnings in graded stakes remain a concern for Carroll, but Denis of Cork is close to making the maximum 20-horse field for the Kentucky Derby. The winner of Oaklawn Park’s Southwest Stakes (GIII) currently ranks 21st on Churchill Downs’ most recent list of Kentucky Derby contenders with $165,000.
Borel piloted Denis of Cork to wins in his first two career starts, and would likely be back aboard the colt should he make the field for Kentucky Derby 134.
WinStar Farm’s Colonel John, winner of the Santa Anita Derby (GI) in his most recent start, arrived at Churchill Downs around 1:40 p.m. (EDT) after he flew into Lexington from Southern California, then took a short van ride up Interstate 64 to the Louisville track.
The bay son of two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) winner Tiznow took a few spins around Barn 41 for trainer Eoin Harty before the colt settled into his new surroundings. Harty, who was an assistant to trainer Bob Baffert for his Kentucky Derby victories with Silver Charm (1997), Real Quiet (1998) and War Emblem (2002) – said Colonel John handled the journey from Southern California well. Harty accompanied the horse on the plane.
“It was an early start for everybody out there (in California), but once we got on the road it was pretty uneventful,” said Harty. “Everything was pretty smooth. It was the quickest way from Los Angeles to Louisville by far.”
Although he had extensive Kentucky Derby experience with Baffert, Colonel John will be Harty’s first Derby starter since he went out on his own five years ago.
“It’s still two weeks out and the pressure hasn’t really kicked in yet,” Harty said. “But I’m sure as the days go by and we get closer to the kickoff, I’ll be a little more anxious than I am right now.”
Colonel John is coming into the Kentucky Derby off a dazzling come-from-behind victory in the Santa Anita Derby. He won the Sham (GI) over Cushion Track at Santa Anita, and Harty has no major worries about whether his colt – who has never competed on a tradition dirt track like the one-mile oval at Churchill Downs – will handle the footing under the historic Twin Spires.
“I think the (synthetic) tracks are safer and certain horses have a chance of staying sound longer,” said Harty. “From what I’ve seen, horses can ship off of the synthetic surfaces and run competitively.” Colonel John worked five furlongs in :59.40 at Santa Anita on Sunday morning. Corey Nakatani has the riding assignment.
Cubanacan Stables’ Gayego galloped 1 ½ miles after the renovation break with exercise rider Jody Pieper up.
Trainer Paulo Lobo, who won the Kentucky Oaks in 2002 with Farda Amiga, shipped Gayego to Churchill Downs two days after the colt won the April 12 Arkansas Derby.
“With Farda Amiga, we did not come here until three days before the race,” Lobo said. “With only three weeks between the Arkansas Derby and Kentucky Derby, I did not want to ship him twice.”
Gayego is scheduled to have his morning exercise earlier Tuesday as Lobo is planning to fly back to Southern California, where he has the rest of his horses stabled at Hollywood Park. Lobo plans to return to Louisville on Thursday, staying through the colt’s scheduled work on Saturday before another quick trip to California with an April 29 return to Louisville to stay through the Derby. Mike Smith has the riding assignment.
“We are planning to run if we can get in,” trainer Dale Romans said Monday morning of Zayat Stables’ Halo Najib.
With $157,996 in graded stakes earnings, Halo Najib sits in 22nd place in graded money among horses under consideration for the Kentucky Derby. The list of 22 includes the fillies Proud Spell and Eight Belles.
Should Halo Najib make the field, he would give Zayat three starters in the race along with Z Humor and Z Fortune.
The Halo’s Image colt galloped after the renovation break Monday with exercise rider Gennero Garcia up. Romans, who has not named a Derby rider, said Halo Najib could work Tuesday.
An uncharacteristic 10th-place finish by Louisiana Derby winner Pyro in the April 12 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (GI) left numerous horseplayers in the fog. The mystery surrounding the colt undoubtedly will continue into Kentucky Derby 134 after heavy fog early Monday morning prevented Keeneland Race Course clockers from recording his six-furlong workout in company with graded stakes-winning sprinter Noonmark.
“I was on horseback and it was so foggy that I only saw the last 50 feet of the work,” trainer Steve Asmussen said of the 6:30 a.m. move. “But from what I saw, it looked fine.”
The Louisiana Derby (GII) winner, with exercise rider Dominic Terry aboard, was positioned inside of the Shaun Bridgmohan-ridden Noonmark, according to Asmussen. Noonmark is slated to start in the $250,000-added Churchill Downs Handicap (GII) on the Kentucky Derby undercard on Saturday, May 3.
“When you work three-quarters (of a mile) with Noonmark, I’d call it a serious drill,” Asmussen said. “Their instructions were to go in 1:14 and they usually hit their mark. Pyro seems just fine to me.”
The son of Pulpit, owned and bred by Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC, is scheduled to vacate Keeneland on Tuesday and will arrive at Churchill Downs in the afternoon. Bridgmohan has the return call aboard both Pyro and Noonmark.
Asmussen’s other Derby charge, Arkansas Derby runner-up and Lecomte (GIII) winner Z Fortune, also worked Monday. His four-furlong breeze in :50.20 took place just after 6:45 a.m. at Churchill Downs with Corey Lanerie in the irons.
Churchill Downs’ clockers caught Z Fortune through fractions of :13.20, :25.60 and :38. The Siphon colt galloped out five furlongs in 1:04.20.
“He worked good,” Lanerie said. “I was told to go in :52 and I thought we went in :52. He did it that easy.” Robby Albarado will have the mount on Z Humor in the Derby.
Ronnie Lamarque and trainer Louie Roussel III’s Recapturetheglory jogged a mile and then galloped two miles with Lara Van Deren up Monday morning after the renovation break.
Recapturetheglory would mark Roussel’s third Kentucky Derby starter. Beau Rit, who finished 13th in 1981, was Roussel’s first starter and Risen Star, the third-place finisher in 1988 before winning the Preakness and Belmont Stakes was the other.
Roussel came back in 1994 with Kandaly, but he scratched him the afternoon of the race because of track condition.
“The track was a sea of mud that day and I had a horse that couldn’t stand up in a puddle,” Roussel said. “Go for Gin won that day and I was happy for (trainer) Nick (Zito).”
E.T. Baird, who was aboard Recapturetheglory for the first time when the Cherokee Run colt won the Illinois Derby (GII), has the Kentucky Derby mount. Recapturetheglory is scheduled to work Thursday.
Mount Joy Stables’ Smooth Air enjoyed the morning walking around his new surroundings in Barn 35 at Churchill Downs, a day after arriving from Florida.
“This horse is a trainer’s dream,” trainer Bennie Stutts Jr. said as the colt walked by led by groom Adelaida Geigel. “He’s a little horse that doesn’t think he’s so little.”
Stutts said that Susie Milne, Smooth Air’s regular exercise rider, would be here
Tuesday to handle the regular morning duties and Jodi Gelb, who handles the colt’s works, would be here Sunday for Smooth Air’s work. Smooth Air is scheduled to jog two miles in the morning.
Manoel Cruz, who has ridden Smooth Air in all of his starts, has the Derby mount.
Smooth Air comes into the Kentucky Derby off a runner-up finish in the Florida Derby (GI) behind Big Brown.
“I told people there were two Florida Derbys that day,” Stutts said. “Big Brown won one and we won the other. We couldn’t get near that horse.”
Hall of Fame class of '08: Nafzger, Prado, Valenzuela, Manila, Inside Information
Racing Hall of Fame release
The prescribed complement of three horses, two jockeys and one trainer – have been elected to the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame.
Edgar Prado, two-time Derby winner Ismael “Milo” Valenzuela, regular rider of Kelso; and trainer Carl Nafzger, who developed champions Unbridled, Banshee Breeze and Street Sense are members of the Hall of Fame’s class of 2008.
Prado, Valenzuela and Nafzger and the horses Inside Information, Manila and Ancient Title will be inducted on Monday, August 4 in Saratoga Springs in a ceremony at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion.
Inside Information, Manila, Prado and Nafzger were elected in the contemporary categories by the 184 members of the Hall of Fame’s voting panel. Valenzuela and Ancient Title were selected for induction by the Historic Review Committee, which considers candidates who have not been active in the sport for more than 25 years.
Prado and Nafzger were elected the first year that their names appeared on the ballot. They had been eligible in previous years, but had not received enough votes in the nominating committee selection process to become finalists and appear on the ballot.
Manila was elected in his 11th time on the ballot. It was Inside Information’s fourth time on the ballot.
Prado finished first in the voting in the contemporary jockey category ahead of Randy Romero and Alex Solis. Nafzger and the late Robert Wheeler were the finalists in the trainers’ category. Manila finished ahead of Best Pal and Tiznow in the male horse voting. Inside Information received more votes than Open Mind, Silverbulletday and Sky Beauty in the female horse division.
Nafzger, 67, was a top rodeo competitor in the 1960s before turning to training horses. He handled quarter horses for a few years before switching to Thoroughbreds. His first Thoroughbred winner was the 2-year-old filly Pretty Li’l Bessie in 1971 at Santa Fe Downs. Later that season, he saddled his first stakes winner, Speedy Karen, in the Fiesta Derby Handicap at Santa Fe Downs.
In 1990, Unbridled became the second of two horses to win the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the same year. Banshee Breeze was the 3-year-old filly champion of 1998. She won five Grade 1 races in her career. Street Sense is the only horse to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and the Kentucky Derby. The colt owned by James Tafel won the 2006 Juvenile at Churchill Downs. Seven months later, he won the 2007 Derby over the same track.
For 40 years, Nafzger and his wife, Wanda, have operated a relatively small stable. Their highest number of starters in a year was 449 in 1988. Through December 31, 2007, available computer records show he has 1,068 victories from 8,041 starts and purse earnings of $50,203,640. Since 1976, he has won 68 graded stakes and 140 total stakes. He saddled at least one stakes winner every year from 1980 through 2007.
This year, Equibase statistics show that through Sunday Nafzger has won with four of 16 starters and earned $125,501 in purses. His career totals 1,072 victories from 8,057 starts and purse earnings of $50,329,141.
In 2006, Nafzger began moving toward retirement and turned over the bulk of his stable to longtime assistant Ian Wilkes. Last year, Nafzger won with 18 of 77 starters and finished 24th nationally with purse earnings of $4,378,855. He was the only trainer in the top 100 in earnings with fewer than 100 starters.
Though aware that he had a “50-50 shot” since the late Robert Wheeler was the only other trainer on the ballot, Nafzger was silent for a moment when told he had been elected.
“That’s good,” he said, softly. “That’s really good.”
Nafzger summoned a line he said he had used before to describe his reaction to being elected.
“If you don’t believe in God, study my life. It’s been a miracle,”’ he said.
The Olton, Texas resident said it was the highest tribute to be honored by voters from within racing.
“The other thing is that you must remember that these people have elected you now to be a representative of a sport that has been very good to Wanda and me. Horses have taken us to places you just can’t go,” he said. “I’ve been very blessed, very fortunate.
“You’ve also got to remember the responsibility of where you are now. You represent a sport and you better represent it good. I just hope I can represent it as good as some of the people who are in the Hall of Fame.”
Prado, 40, led the nation in victories for three consecutive years, from 1997 to 1999 while based in Maryland. Since relocating to New York in the summer of 1999 he has been among the leaders in purse money won and has added dozens of graded stakes wins – including the Kentucky Derby and two Belmont Stakes – to his resume. He won the Eclipse Award as the champion jockey of 2006.
“I’m just speechless. I’m shaking like a leaf,” he said when told of his election. “Just to be nominated for the Hall of Fame among all my peers, was great. To win is amazing.”
Prado grew up in a racing family of 11 children in Peru and began his riding career there as a 16-year-old. His first winner was Tatin in October 1983. He moved to the United States in 1986 and rode in Florida and Massachusetts before settling in Maryland. His first graded stakes win was on Pappas Swing in the Grade 3 Hawthorne Derby on July 16, 1988. Prado became the fourth rider in history with more than 500 victories in a season when he rode 535 in 1997.
In Equibase statistics for North American races through December 31, 2007, Prado had 5,978 victories from 31,188 starts, purse earnings of $200,915,884 and 254 graded stakes wins. He won his 6,000th race this year.
This year in North America, Prado has a record through Sunday of 62 victories from 351 starts and purse earnings of $4,367,577. His career totals in North America are 6,040 victories from 31,539 starts, earnings of $205,283,461 and 261 graded stakes. He ranks seventh on the career earnings list.
Prado said he has realized in recent years that reaching the select 500-victory club was not the pinnacle of his time in the saddle, but one of many accomplishments.
“I thought that was the highlight of my career, until I went to New York,” he said. “There I reached another level, where I ride better horses and ride Grade 1 winners and meet so many great people. That makes it really special. This sport is very, very special because you never know who you can meet around the corner and which one will have the next champion for you to ride.”
Among the champions Prado has ridden are Horse of the Year Saint Liam, Folklore, Smuggler, Lemon Drop Kid and Kitten’s Joy.
Valenzuela, a resident of Arcadia, California, rode from 1951 through 1980. He finished in the top ten in purse money won in a season nine consecutive years, from 1956 to 1964. His highest finish was third in 1963 with $1,922,339. During his career, he rode 2,545 winners from 21,203 mounts to earn purse money of $20,122,760.
In 1958, he won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness with Tim Tam. Ten years later, he completed the Derby-Preakness double with Forward Pass. He was a regular rider of Hall of Famer Kelso and they won 22 stakes together.
“I am the happiest man today knowing that I have been recognized and accepted to the Hall of Fame,” Valenzuela said. “It would have been even a happier moment if my wife Rosa could have been here to share this dream. This was my last chapter in my racing career that I wanted to complete. My last ride across the finish line, at 73 being inducted into the Hall of Fame.”
Inside Information won 14 of 17 races in three seasons of competition for owner-breeder Ogden Mills Phipps. The Private Account filly, a 1991 foal, closed her career for Phipps and trainer Shug McGaughey with three Grade 1 victories. In the final start of her career, the 1995 Breeders’ Cup Distaff, she beat stablemate Heavenly Prize by 13 lengths, a Breeders’ Cup record. That performance at Belmont Park helped secure the Eclipse Award as the champion older filly of 1995.
“She was a marvelous filly who had her problems,” Phipps said. “She had some impingement in her neck and Shug trained her extraordinarily well and got around that. Her big race, of course, was in the Breeders’ Cup, which she won by a greater distance than any filly has ever won the Distaff. She was a wonderful mare and she was a great racehorse.”
Inside Information is a member of the Phipps family’s broodmare band at Claiborne Farm.
Manila, one of the most successful grass horses in American racing history, made his first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot in 1992. He was a finalist 10 other times before being elected this year. The son of Lyphard, now standing at stud in Turkey, won 12 of 18 career starts and earned $2,692,799 for trainer Leroy Jolley.
“I’m totally astounded to hear that he was elected,” said owner Bradley “Mike” Shannon of Lexington, Kentucky. “It’s a great thrill.”
Shannon purchased Manila from owner-breeder Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. after the colt’s winless 2-year-old season of 1985. Shannon’s timing proved to be ideal, as Manila compiled a 12-3-0 record in the final 15 starts of his career. He won nine consecutive races between June 7, 1986 and July 15, 1987.
Following a half-length loss in the Bernard Baruch at Saratoga that ended his streak, Manila won the Arlington Million, which turned out to be the final race of his career. Among the horses he defeated in the Million were Sharrood, and Theatrical.
“Manila was a very, very special horse,” Shannon said. “It was the greatest thrill to have owned him and been associated with him. And to be associated with his breeder, Eduardo Cojuangco, was a great, great thrill.
“He was a really good horse. He won the Breeders’ Cup as a 3-year-old. He ran against everybody. I always said my life was AM and PM: prior to Manila and after Manila. It was all about Manila.”
Ancient Title, a durable and versatile California-bred gelding, was bred and owned by the late William and Ethel Kirkland. He competed for seven seasons, from 1972 to 1978, and won 24 of 57 starts – 20 of them stakes – earning $1,252,791 in purse money. At the time of his retirement he ranked 10th in career earnings.
During his career, Ancient Title successfully carried weight in major stakes races. As a 5-year-old in 1975, he won the Grade 1 Californian and Hollywood Gold Cup while spotting the competition weight. Though Ancient Title primarily raced in California, trainer Keith Stucki brought him to the East in 1975 for three major events. He won the Whitney Handicap by a neck over Group Plan, who was carrying 13 fewer pounds. He was third by two lengths to Wajima in the Governor Stakes while conceding 15 pounds and was third to Wajima and Forego in the Marlboro Cup while again conceding weight to the winner.
Stucki, who had a 50-year training career, handled Ancient Title for the Kirklands. Now retired and living in Bradbury, California, Stucki, 88, said Ancient Title deserved to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
“I’m very proud of it,” Stucki said. “I thought he should have gone in there two or three years ago, but I’m glad to hear that’s he made it.”
The prescribed complement of three horses, two jockeys and one trainer – have been elected to the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame.
Edgar Prado, two-time Derby winner Ismael “Milo” Valenzuela, regular rider of Kelso; and trainer Carl Nafzger, who developed champions Unbridled, Banshee Breeze and Street Sense are members of the Hall of Fame’s class of 2008.
Prado, Valenzuela and Nafzger and the horses Inside Information, Manila and Ancient Title will be inducted on Monday, August 4 in Saratoga Springs in a ceremony at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion.
Inside Information, Manila, Prado and Nafzger were elected in the contemporary categories by the 184 members of the Hall of Fame’s voting panel. Valenzuela and Ancient Title were selected for induction by the Historic Review Committee, which considers candidates who have not been active in the sport for more than 25 years.
Prado and Nafzger were elected the first year that their names appeared on the ballot. They had been eligible in previous years, but had not received enough votes in the nominating committee selection process to become finalists and appear on the ballot.
Manila was elected in his 11th time on the ballot. It was Inside Information’s fourth time on the ballot.
Prado finished first in the voting in the contemporary jockey category ahead of Randy Romero and Alex Solis. Nafzger and the late Robert Wheeler were the finalists in the trainers’ category. Manila finished ahead of Best Pal and Tiznow in the male horse voting. Inside Information received more votes than Open Mind, Silverbulletday and Sky Beauty in the female horse division.
Nafzger, 67, was a top rodeo competitor in the 1960s before turning to training horses. He handled quarter horses for a few years before switching to Thoroughbreds. His first Thoroughbred winner was the 2-year-old filly Pretty Li’l Bessie in 1971 at Santa Fe Downs. Later that season, he saddled his first stakes winner, Speedy Karen, in the Fiesta Derby Handicap at Santa Fe Downs.
In 1990, Unbridled became the second of two horses to win the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the same year. Banshee Breeze was the 3-year-old filly champion of 1998. She won five Grade 1 races in her career. Street Sense is the only horse to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and the Kentucky Derby. The colt owned by James Tafel won the 2006 Juvenile at Churchill Downs. Seven months later, he won the 2007 Derby over the same track.
For 40 years, Nafzger and his wife, Wanda, have operated a relatively small stable. Their highest number of starters in a year was 449 in 1988. Through December 31, 2007, available computer records show he has 1,068 victories from 8,041 starts and purse earnings of $50,203,640. Since 1976, he has won 68 graded stakes and 140 total stakes. He saddled at least one stakes winner every year from 1980 through 2007.
This year, Equibase statistics show that through Sunday Nafzger has won with four of 16 starters and earned $125,501 in purses. His career totals 1,072 victories from 8,057 starts and purse earnings of $50,329,141.
In 2006, Nafzger began moving toward retirement and turned over the bulk of his stable to longtime assistant Ian Wilkes. Last year, Nafzger won with 18 of 77 starters and finished 24th nationally with purse earnings of $4,378,855. He was the only trainer in the top 100 in earnings with fewer than 100 starters.
Though aware that he had a “50-50 shot” since the late Robert Wheeler was the only other trainer on the ballot, Nafzger was silent for a moment when told he had been elected.
“That’s good,” he said, softly. “That’s really good.”
Nafzger summoned a line he said he had used before to describe his reaction to being elected.
“If you don’t believe in God, study my life. It’s been a miracle,”’ he said.
The Olton, Texas resident said it was the highest tribute to be honored by voters from within racing.
“The other thing is that you must remember that these people have elected you now to be a representative of a sport that has been very good to Wanda and me. Horses have taken us to places you just can’t go,” he said. “I’ve been very blessed, very fortunate.
“You’ve also got to remember the responsibility of where you are now. You represent a sport and you better represent it good. I just hope I can represent it as good as some of the people who are in the Hall of Fame.”
Prado, 40, led the nation in victories for three consecutive years, from 1997 to 1999 while based in Maryland. Since relocating to New York in the summer of 1999 he has been among the leaders in purse money won and has added dozens of graded stakes wins – including the Kentucky Derby and two Belmont Stakes – to his resume. He won the Eclipse Award as the champion jockey of 2006.
“I’m just speechless. I’m shaking like a leaf,” he said when told of his election. “Just to be nominated for the Hall of Fame among all my peers, was great. To win is amazing.”
Prado grew up in a racing family of 11 children in Peru and began his riding career there as a 16-year-old. His first winner was Tatin in October 1983. He moved to the United States in 1986 and rode in Florida and Massachusetts before settling in Maryland. His first graded stakes win was on Pappas Swing in the Grade 3 Hawthorne Derby on July 16, 1988. Prado became the fourth rider in history with more than 500 victories in a season when he rode 535 in 1997.
In Equibase statistics for North American races through December 31, 2007, Prado had 5,978 victories from 31,188 starts, purse earnings of $200,915,884 and 254 graded stakes wins. He won his 6,000th race this year.
This year in North America, Prado has a record through Sunday of 62 victories from 351 starts and purse earnings of $4,367,577. His career totals in North America are 6,040 victories from 31,539 starts, earnings of $205,283,461 and 261 graded stakes. He ranks seventh on the career earnings list.
Prado said he has realized in recent years that reaching the select 500-victory club was not the pinnacle of his time in the saddle, but one of many accomplishments.
“I thought that was the highlight of my career, until I went to New York,” he said. “There I reached another level, where I ride better horses and ride Grade 1 winners and meet so many great people. That makes it really special. This sport is very, very special because you never know who you can meet around the corner and which one will have the next champion for you to ride.”
Among the champions Prado has ridden are Horse of the Year Saint Liam, Folklore, Smuggler, Lemon Drop Kid and Kitten’s Joy.
Valenzuela, a resident of Arcadia, California, rode from 1951 through 1980. He finished in the top ten in purse money won in a season nine consecutive years, from 1956 to 1964. His highest finish was third in 1963 with $1,922,339. During his career, he rode 2,545 winners from 21,203 mounts to earn purse money of $20,122,760.
In 1958, he won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness with Tim Tam. Ten years later, he completed the Derby-Preakness double with Forward Pass. He was a regular rider of Hall of Famer Kelso and they won 22 stakes together.
“I am the happiest man today knowing that I have been recognized and accepted to the Hall of Fame,” Valenzuela said. “It would have been even a happier moment if my wife Rosa could have been here to share this dream. This was my last chapter in my racing career that I wanted to complete. My last ride across the finish line, at 73 being inducted into the Hall of Fame.”
Inside Information won 14 of 17 races in three seasons of competition for owner-breeder Ogden Mills Phipps. The Private Account filly, a 1991 foal, closed her career for Phipps and trainer Shug McGaughey with three Grade 1 victories. In the final start of her career, the 1995 Breeders’ Cup Distaff, she beat stablemate Heavenly Prize by 13 lengths, a Breeders’ Cup record. That performance at Belmont Park helped secure the Eclipse Award as the champion older filly of 1995.
“She was a marvelous filly who had her problems,” Phipps said. “She had some impingement in her neck and Shug trained her extraordinarily well and got around that. Her big race, of course, was in the Breeders’ Cup, which she won by a greater distance than any filly has ever won the Distaff. She was a wonderful mare and she was a great racehorse.”
Inside Information is a member of the Phipps family’s broodmare band at Claiborne Farm.
Manila, one of the most successful grass horses in American racing history, made his first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot in 1992. He was a finalist 10 other times before being elected this year. The son of Lyphard, now standing at stud in Turkey, won 12 of 18 career starts and earned $2,692,799 for trainer Leroy Jolley.
“I’m totally astounded to hear that he was elected,” said owner Bradley “Mike” Shannon of Lexington, Kentucky. “It’s a great thrill.”
Shannon purchased Manila from owner-breeder Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. after the colt’s winless 2-year-old season of 1985. Shannon’s timing proved to be ideal, as Manila compiled a 12-3-0 record in the final 15 starts of his career. He won nine consecutive races between June 7, 1986 and July 15, 1987.
Following a half-length loss in the Bernard Baruch at Saratoga that ended his streak, Manila won the Arlington Million, which turned out to be the final race of his career. Among the horses he defeated in the Million were Sharrood, and Theatrical.
“Manila was a very, very special horse,” Shannon said. “It was the greatest thrill to have owned him and been associated with him. And to be associated with his breeder, Eduardo Cojuangco, was a great, great thrill.
“He was a really good horse. He won the Breeders’ Cup as a 3-year-old. He ran against everybody. I always said my life was AM and PM: prior to Manila and after Manila. It was all about Manila.”
Ancient Title, a durable and versatile California-bred gelding, was bred and owned by the late William and Ethel Kirkland. He competed for seven seasons, from 1972 to 1978, and won 24 of 57 starts – 20 of them stakes – earning $1,252,791 in purse money. At the time of his retirement he ranked 10th in career earnings.
During his career, Ancient Title successfully carried weight in major stakes races. As a 5-year-old in 1975, he won the Grade 1 Californian and Hollywood Gold Cup while spotting the competition weight. Though Ancient Title primarily raced in California, trainer Keith Stucki brought him to the East in 1975 for three major events. He won the Whitney Handicap by a neck over Group Plan, who was carrying 13 fewer pounds. He was third by two lengths to Wajima in the Governor Stakes while conceding 15 pounds and was third to Wajima and Forego in the Marlboro Cup while again conceding weight to the winner.
Stucki, who had a 50-year training career, handled Ancient Title for the Kirklands. Now retired and living in Bradbury, California, Stucki, 88, said Ancient Title deserved to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
“I’m very proud of it,” Stucki said. “I thought he should have gone in there two or three years ago, but I’m glad to hear that’s he made it.”
International update/ QEII, Champions Mile : Hong Kong stars braced for invasion
From the Hong Kong Jockey Club
The international challengers for Sunday's HK$14-million Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup and Champions Mile had their first sight of Sha Tin race track on a humid Monday morning at a little after 8.40.
They followed the locals who look to have an exceptionally strong hand in the two features this year and jockey Darren Beadman confirmed that view with an enthusiastic report about the highly rated Viva Pataca.
"I've had a gallop on him and he feels great since he's come home from Dubai. He's put on a little weight in the last week or so and is getting back to his right racing weight, which is always a good sign. Back on his home ground he's going to be hard to beat," Beadman said.
The Hong Kong-based Australian is not concerned about Viva Pataca coming back to 2000 meters from the 2400 of the Dubai Sheema Classic. "The mile and a quarter (2000m) is really his pet distance. The 2400 probably stretches him a touch. He runs it alright, no problem, but he has more turn of foot at 2000. I really don't see it as a problem at all coming back in distance," he said.
Beadman will ride Joyful Winner in the Champions Mile but this morning was aboard the stablemate Able One in trackwork. Able One won the Champions Mile last year with Joyful Winner in second place.
"Joyful Winner probably needs the breaks his way but he's been a very consistent horse here over the years. You know that if the others are down on their game or find some trouble, he'll be there to capitalize. He is in good form and ran well last start."
"Able One felt good this morning but he's coming off a bit of a lay-off following an injury problem. He looks to have recovered from that, and he did lead all the way to win this race last year. Perhaps he's not quite in the same form this time around but I'm sure he'll still give a sight," Beadman said.
None of the visitors did more than routine canters on the all weather track, although New Zealand's Sir Slick made an unscheduled jog of a lap of the turf track before crossing over to the all weather surface.
Sir Slick's track rider Roxanne Rattley apologised for misunderstanding this morning's trackwork schedule but was, at least, able to report that the gelding 'felt great' after his diverted flight to Hong Kong on Saturday.
"The plane was diverted to Macau and we were grounded there for three hours but fortunately no harm was done. We'll pick his work up later in the week," she said after a cantered lap of the all-weather was added to his surprise feel of the turf.
Trainer Graeme Nicholson was similarly unconcerned about the flying misadventures. "I'm blown away with how relaxed this horse is and he's settled in well," he said.
Germany's Quijano, trained by Peter Schiergen, led the way with a lap of the all weather track under assistant trainer Ilke Hildebrand. She said: "He had a smooth 11 hour flight from Amsterdam and missed the storm. As you can see he looks a bit warm and sweaty this morning, but don't worry about that. He has spent a lot of time in Dubai and likes it hot."
"I'm not worried about the drop in distance; he is a real speed horse who needs a lot of speed in his races. I know that is what both his trainer and jockey (Andrasch Starke) think. They'll both arrive in Hong Kong on Thursday."
South African trainer Mike De Kock has Archipenko pointed at the APQE II Cup, and assistant trainer Trevor Brown was on board as Archipenko, who arrived from Dubai last Saturday, took in his new surroundings. “We arrived at 4.00pm on Saturday in the middle of the most unbelievable storm, “said Brown, "but he didn't turn a hair. I can't believe how well he has travelled, as I was a little worried as to how he'd handle it all – he can get a little stirred up, but he's taken it well. He'll do a little bit on the turf tomorrow."
French challengers Balius, trained by Carlos Laffon-Parias, and Musical Way, back in Hong Kong after her third place finish at Sha Tin in December in the CX HK Cup, put in routine canters around the track.
The two Japanese runners for the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup and Champions Mile, Matsurida Gogh and Meiner Segal came out on the all-weather track this morning for the first time since their arrival at Sha Tin.
The two horses are trained by Sakae Kunieda, who has won three graded-races recently, and both just cantered easily on the track this morning.
Toshio Fujii, work rider for the 2007 Grand Prix Arima Kinen winner, Matsurida Gogh, said about his horse, "We had a kind of long trip from Japan to Hong Kong, because the flight was late and we had to wait for about an hour before landing as the weather was not good. But he was patient throughout the long flight and has settled in since he arrived."
Work rider Takeshi Okumura said of Meiner Segal, the only foreign challenger in the Champions Mile, “Actually, the two horses were shying and a bit nervous about their first time in new surroundings at Sha Tin, and the other foreign horses around them made them a bit tense, but as for my horse's condition, he has been in a good form so far
The international challengers for Sunday's HK$14-million Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup and Champions Mile had their first sight of Sha Tin race track on a humid Monday morning at a little after 8.40.
They followed the locals who look to have an exceptionally strong hand in the two features this year and jockey Darren Beadman confirmed that view with an enthusiastic report about the highly rated Viva Pataca.
"I've had a gallop on him and he feels great since he's come home from Dubai. He's put on a little weight in the last week or so and is getting back to his right racing weight, which is always a good sign. Back on his home ground he's going to be hard to beat," Beadman said.
The Hong Kong-based Australian is not concerned about Viva Pataca coming back to 2000 meters from the 2400 of the Dubai Sheema Classic. "The mile and a quarter (2000m) is really his pet distance. The 2400 probably stretches him a touch. He runs it alright, no problem, but he has more turn of foot at 2000. I really don't see it as a problem at all coming back in distance," he said.
Beadman will ride Joyful Winner in the Champions Mile but this morning was aboard the stablemate Able One in trackwork. Able One won the Champions Mile last year with Joyful Winner in second place.
"Joyful Winner probably needs the breaks his way but he's been a very consistent horse here over the years. You know that if the others are down on their game or find some trouble, he'll be there to capitalize. He is in good form and ran well last start."
"Able One felt good this morning but he's coming off a bit of a lay-off following an injury problem. He looks to have recovered from that, and he did lead all the way to win this race last year. Perhaps he's not quite in the same form this time around but I'm sure he'll still give a sight," Beadman said.
None of the visitors did more than routine canters on the all weather track, although New Zealand's Sir Slick made an unscheduled jog of a lap of the turf track before crossing over to the all weather surface.
Sir Slick's track rider Roxanne Rattley apologised for misunderstanding this morning's trackwork schedule but was, at least, able to report that the gelding 'felt great' after his diverted flight to Hong Kong on Saturday.
"The plane was diverted to Macau and we were grounded there for three hours but fortunately no harm was done. We'll pick his work up later in the week," she said after a cantered lap of the all-weather was added to his surprise feel of the turf.
Trainer Graeme Nicholson was similarly unconcerned about the flying misadventures. "I'm blown away with how relaxed this horse is and he's settled in well," he said.
Germany's Quijano, trained by Peter Schiergen, led the way with a lap of the all weather track under assistant trainer Ilke Hildebrand. She said: "He had a smooth 11 hour flight from Amsterdam and missed the storm. As you can see he looks a bit warm and sweaty this morning, but don't worry about that. He has spent a lot of time in Dubai and likes it hot."
"I'm not worried about the drop in distance; he is a real speed horse who needs a lot of speed in his races. I know that is what both his trainer and jockey (Andrasch Starke) think. They'll both arrive in Hong Kong on Thursday."
South African trainer Mike De Kock has Archipenko pointed at the APQE II Cup, and assistant trainer Trevor Brown was on board as Archipenko, who arrived from Dubai last Saturday, took in his new surroundings. “We arrived at 4.00pm on Saturday in the middle of the most unbelievable storm, “said Brown, "but he didn't turn a hair. I can't believe how well he has travelled, as I was a little worried as to how he'd handle it all – he can get a little stirred up, but he's taken it well. He'll do a little bit on the turf tomorrow."
French challengers Balius, trained by Carlos Laffon-Parias, and Musical Way, back in Hong Kong after her third place finish at Sha Tin in December in the CX HK Cup, put in routine canters around the track.
The two Japanese runners for the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup and Champions Mile, Matsurida Gogh and Meiner Segal came out on the all-weather track this morning for the first time since their arrival at Sha Tin.
The two horses are trained by Sakae Kunieda, who has won three graded-races recently, and both just cantered easily on the track this morning.
Toshio Fujii, work rider for the 2007 Grand Prix Arima Kinen winner, Matsurida Gogh, said about his horse, "We had a kind of long trip from Japan to Hong Kong, because the flight was late and we had to wait for about an hour before landing as the weather was not good. But he was patient throughout the long flight and has settled in since he arrived."
Work rider Takeshi Okumura said of Meiner Segal, the only foreign challenger in the Champions Mile, “Actually, the two horses were shying and a bit nervous about their first time in new surroundings at Sha Tin, and the other foreign horses around them made them a bit tense, but as for my horse's condition, he has been in a good form so far
Sunday, April 20, 2008
The herd moves on to Louisville
Two Saturday’s days at Keeneland have produced three likely starters in the Kentucky Derby – all trained by Todd Pletcher -- not even on the radar 10 days ago. First Monba and Cowboy Cal gave Pletcher the Blue Grass exacta, then, on Saturday, Behindatthebar put himself in the frame by winning the Lexington Stakes. Meanwhile, the leading contenders going into the Blue Grass – Pyro, Visionaire, Cool Coal Man, Big Truck -- floundered – big red flag – in their last nine-furlong prep and the two prospective Derby starters before the Lexington – Tomcito and Salute the Sarge, who was always a peripheral figure – are out of the picture.
So is War Pass, the defending divisional champion, who probably will benefit long-term from what his connections view as an untimely injury and is now spared the possibility of finding himself with six furlongs to run after 44-second opening half-mile in Louisville, an experience that can leaves scars. When healed -- a minor fracture will cost him a good deal of the season-- War Pass can get back to more reasonable pursuits – the King’s Bishop or Vosburgh, perhaps, or the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. When in form, War Pass may be the best of these three-year-olds at distances up to 8 ½ furlongs. But that’s not the issue here. The issue is 10 furlongs in less than two weeks.
The Derby picture is a jigsaw puzzle; all the pieces are the same color and some are missing.
Behindatthebar, one of a record-equaling four winners at Keeneland on Saturday for Pletcher, went into the Lexington on 16 days rest, now faces 10 furlongs, which is probably beyond his range, with 14 days rest. Even with reliable dirt form, which is a glaring void on his and the racing records of others who will line up at Churchill Downs on May 3, his is not remotely the profile of a Derby winner.
Synthetic surfaces in California and Kentucky have added mightily to the confusion, sometimes at great coast to the participants, who having failed to handle such footing are denied the opportunity to move forward in the critical last prep. Other high-profile contenders will be racing on dirt for the first time in the Derby – the enthusiastically supported Colonel John being the most prominent of these.
There is but a handful of horses coming to the Derby off good efforts at nine furlongs on dirt – Big Brown, Tale of Ekati, Smooth Air, Court Vision, Gayego, Z Fortune and Recapturetheglory. At least that’s a start.
The last pre-Derby ranking:
Tale of Ekati
Big Brown
Z Fortune
Smooth Air
Court Vision
Pyro
Gayego
Cool Coal Man
Visionaire
Adriano
Colonel John
Monba
Kentucky Derby betting
So is War Pass, the defending divisional champion, who probably will benefit long-term from what his connections view as an untimely injury and is now spared the possibility of finding himself with six furlongs to run after 44-second opening half-mile in Louisville, an experience that can leaves scars. When healed -- a minor fracture will cost him a good deal of the season-- War Pass can get back to more reasonable pursuits – the King’s Bishop or Vosburgh, perhaps, or the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. When in form, War Pass may be the best of these three-year-olds at distances up to 8 ½ furlongs. But that’s not the issue here. The issue is 10 furlongs in less than two weeks.
The Derby picture is a jigsaw puzzle; all the pieces are the same color and some are missing.
Behindatthebar, one of a record-equaling four winners at Keeneland on Saturday for Pletcher, went into the Lexington on 16 days rest, now faces 10 furlongs, which is probably beyond his range, with 14 days rest. Even with reliable dirt form, which is a glaring void on his and the racing records of others who will line up at Churchill Downs on May 3, his is not remotely the profile of a Derby winner.
Synthetic surfaces in California and Kentucky have added mightily to the confusion, sometimes at great coast to the participants, who having failed to handle such footing are denied the opportunity to move forward in the critical last prep. Other high-profile contenders will be racing on dirt for the first time in the Derby – the enthusiastically supported Colonel John being the most prominent of these.
There is but a handful of horses coming to the Derby off good efforts at nine furlongs on dirt – Big Brown, Tale of Ekati, Smooth Air, Court Vision, Gayego, Z Fortune and Recapturetheglory. At least that’s a start.
The last pre-Derby ranking:
Tale of Ekati
Big Brown
Z Fortune
Smooth Air
Court Vision
Pyro
Gayego
Cool Coal Man
Visionaire
Adriano
Colonel John
Monba
Kentucky Derby betting
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Adding to the confusion
Todd Pletcher has Polytrack figured out, taking the Lexington Stakes yesterday at Keeneland with 5-1 Behindatthebar, who is now three-for-four over synthetic footing. A week ago, Pletcher sent out the first two to finish in the Blue Grass Stakes. This puts him in the Kentucky Derby with three horses, none considered contenders before their wins at Keeneland.
Nowhere in the Lexington and now out of the Derby picture: Peruvian Tomcito, probably Salute the Sarge, whose trainer, Eric Guillot, said would have to win the Lexington to run in Louisville and the others who finished behind Behindatthebar.
It is difficult to recall a year in which a Derby was as muddled as this one a fortnight before the race but is becoming evident either that Big Brown is destined to bury this group or any horse in the inevitable field of 20 can win.
At Aqueduct …
There is no jockey at Aqueduct riding better or with more confidence of late than Channing Hill and Rajiv Maragh. Hill on Saturday rode three straight winners owned by Barry K. Schwartz and trained by Mike Hushion – Grasberg, P.R. Paul and Stalingrad. The streak came to an untimely end after the hat trick when Hill got no response from favored Golden Dawn in the Bed o’ Roses Handicap won by 7-1 Rite Moment, who was partnered by Maragh, his third winner on the day. Maragh rode the winners of the second and third races.
Meanwhile, at this early stage of the turf racing season, the course at Aqueduct is hard, dry and in need of water. Horses on Saturday raised dust at ever point of three races run over the lawn. Fortunately, the opening of Belmont Park is just around the corner.
Nowhere in the Lexington and now out of the Derby picture: Peruvian Tomcito, probably Salute the Sarge, whose trainer, Eric Guillot, said would have to win the Lexington to run in Louisville and the others who finished behind Behindatthebar.
It is difficult to recall a year in which a Derby was as muddled as this one a fortnight before the race but is becoming evident either that Big Brown is destined to bury this group or any horse in the inevitable field of 20 can win.
At Aqueduct …
There is no jockey at Aqueduct riding better or with more confidence of late than Channing Hill and Rajiv Maragh. Hill on Saturday rode three straight winners owned by Barry K. Schwartz and trained by Mike Hushion – Grasberg, P.R. Paul and Stalingrad. The streak came to an untimely end after the hat trick when Hill got no response from favored Golden Dawn in the Bed o’ Roses Handicap won by 7-1 Rite Moment, who was partnered by Maragh, his third winner on the day. Maragh rode the winners of the second and third races.
Meanwhile, at this early stage of the turf racing season, the course at Aqueduct is hard, dry and in need of water. Horses on Saturday raised dust at ever point of three races run over the lawn. Fortunately, the opening of Belmont Park is just around the corner.
Injured War Pass out of Derby
From Churchill Downs (edited)
War Pass, the champion 2-year-old of 2007 and winner of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Monmouth Park, has suffered a leg injury that has knocked the colt out of the Kentucky Derby.
Trainer Nick Zito said on Saturday that x-rays had revealed a small fracture in the sesamoid in the colt’s left front ankle. Veterinarian Dr. Rick Fischer discovered the fracture that Zito said would likely require War Pass to be on the sidelines for “a few months.” Zito said equine surgeon Dr. Larry Bramlage would be consulted on the injury early next week, but it’s too early to know if surgery would be required.
“It’s at the back of the ankle, and it pulled away from the sesamoid,” Zito said. “It’s very small. In fact, [Fischer] took the picture again and had a technician look at the digital images, because there’s no swelling there. He’s actually walking sound.”
Zito said the fracture had occurred recently and Fischer had suggested it the colt had probably suffered the injury during the running of the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 5. War Pass finish second to Tale of Ekati in that race after battling for the lead in rapid early fractions. War Pass had shipped to Zito’s barn at Churchill Downs on the day after the Wood Memorial, and for several days the colt appeared to be thriving in his new surroundings.
But Zito and his staff began to feel that something was amiss with War Pass, but couldn’t put a finger on a problem because of the lack of swelling or other obvious physical symptoms.
“We had some good days, but we started to get some bad days,” said Zito. “We were getting to crunch time and I was getting these funny things, and I just couldn’t get through it. The Wood was a killer – anybody who saw it knows it was a gut-wrenching performance. The race took its toll, but when he got back to the barn at Belmont, he was great – that’s the heart he’s got.
Zito, a two-time winner of the Kentucky Derby, and LaPenta have another Derby contender in Cool Coal Man, the winner of the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park. Another Zito-trained Derby hopeful is Four Roses Thoroughbreds’ Anak Nakal, who won the Kentucky Jockey Club last fall at Churchill Downs. But War Pass, who was unbeaten in four races in his championship campaign and had one win in three starts this year, was Zito’s brightest hope for a third victory in the Kentucky Derby.
“We’ll see what happens – time will tell,” Zito said. “It’s unfortunate – it just wasn’t meant to be, maybe. It’s a shame, because he has all the ability in the world. He’s one of the best I’ve ever had.”
War Pass led all contenders for the Derby 134 in graded earnings with $1.47 million and his defection will open the door for another horse in the crowded field of Derby contenders to make the maximum field of 20 horses in that race. The roster of horses hoping to make the Derby remains at more than 30, but only the 20 horses with the highest totals in graded earnings will be allowed to enter the race.
War Pass, the champion 2-year-old of 2007 and winner of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Monmouth Park, has suffered a leg injury that has knocked the colt out of the Kentucky Derby.
Trainer Nick Zito said on Saturday that x-rays had revealed a small fracture in the sesamoid in the colt’s left front ankle. Veterinarian Dr. Rick Fischer discovered the fracture that Zito said would likely require War Pass to be on the sidelines for “a few months.” Zito said equine surgeon Dr. Larry Bramlage would be consulted on the injury early next week, but it’s too early to know if surgery would be required.
“It’s at the back of the ankle, and it pulled away from the sesamoid,” Zito said. “It’s very small. In fact, [Fischer] took the picture again and had a technician look at the digital images, because there’s no swelling there. He’s actually walking sound.”
Zito said the fracture had occurred recently and Fischer had suggested it the colt had probably suffered the injury during the running of the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 5. War Pass finish second to Tale of Ekati in that race after battling for the lead in rapid early fractions. War Pass had shipped to Zito’s barn at Churchill Downs on the day after the Wood Memorial, and for several days the colt appeared to be thriving in his new surroundings.
But Zito and his staff began to feel that something was amiss with War Pass, but couldn’t put a finger on a problem because of the lack of swelling or other obvious physical symptoms.
“We had some good days, but we started to get some bad days,” said Zito. “We were getting to crunch time and I was getting these funny things, and I just couldn’t get through it. The Wood was a killer – anybody who saw it knows it was a gut-wrenching performance. The race took its toll, but when he got back to the barn at Belmont, he was great – that’s the heart he’s got.
Zito, a two-time winner of the Kentucky Derby, and LaPenta have another Derby contender in Cool Coal Man, the winner of the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park. Another Zito-trained Derby hopeful is Four Roses Thoroughbreds’ Anak Nakal, who won the Kentucky Jockey Club last fall at Churchill Downs. But War Pass, who was unbeaten in four races in his championship campaign and had one win in three starts this year, was Zito’s brightest hope for a third victory in the Kentucky Derby.
“We’ll see what happens – time will tell,” Zito said. “It’s unfortunate – it just wasn’t meant to be, maybe. It’s a shame, because he has all the ability in the world. He’s one of the best I’ve ever had.”
War Pass led all contenders for the Derby 134 in graded earnings with $1.47 million and his defection will open the door for another horse in the crowded field of Derby contenders to make the maximum field of 20 horses in that race. The roster of horses hoping to make the Derby remains at more than 30, but only the 20 horses with the highest totals in graded earnings will be allowed to enter the race.
Friday, April 18, 2008
The Belmont: All in the family
Owner Hidetoshi Yamamoto and trainer Kazuo Fujisawa will ship in Casino Drive and Spark Candle from Japan to Aqueduct, where they will enter quarantine on April 30 – the opening day of Belmont Park’s 49-day Spring/Summer Meet.
If a horse based in Japan running in the Belmont is not sufficiently unusual, Casino Drive is by Mineshaft from the Deputy Minister mare Better Than Honour, dam of the last two Belmont winners by two other sires -- Jazil (by Seeking the Gold) and the filly Rags to Riches (by A.P. Indy).
Half-siblings winning three consecutive Belmonts is as rare a streak as Woody Stephens unprecedented string of five straight Belmont Stakes victories from 1982-86.
Casino Drive has had only one race in his career, that being an 11 ½-length victory at Kyoto on February 23, where he covered the about nine furlongs in 1:54 2/5. He is expected to prep for the Belmont Stakes in the Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan for three-year-olds at nine furlongs on May 10 at Belmont Park.
Spark Candle is a son of A.P. Indy from the champion Serena’s Song, who retired in 1996 with 11 Grade 1 victories. Unraced since December, Spark Candle has a record of 1-2-0 from five starts. All but one of his races have been on turf, but that lone dirt race was a dismal 12th-place finish at Nakayama. His only victory came at a mile and quarter in Tokyo last October.
Casino Drive and Spark Candle are both Kentucky-bred and were purchased at the 2006 Keeneland September Sale for $950,000 and $1.5 million, respectively.
If a horse based in Japan running in the Belmont is not sufficiently unusual, Casino Drive is by Mineshaft from the Deputy Minister mare Better Than Honour, dam of the last two Belmont winners by two other sires -- Jazil (by Seeking the Gold) and the filly Rags to Riches (by A.P. Indy).
Half-siblings winning three consecutive Belmonts is as rare a streak as Woody Stephens unprecedented string of five straight Belmont Stakes victories from 1982-86.
Casino Drive has had only one race in his career, that being an 11 ½-length victory at Kyoto on February 23, where he covered the about nine furlongs in 1:54 2/5. He is expected to prep for the Belmont Stakes in the Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan for three-year-olds at nine furlongs on May 10 at Belmont Park.
Spark Candle is a son of A.P. Indy from the champion Serena’s Song, who retired in 1996 with 11 Grade 1 victories. Unraced since December, Spark Candle has a record of 1-2-0 from five starts. All but one of his races have been on turf, but that lone dirt race was a dismal 12th-place finish at Nakayama. His only victory came at a mile and quarter in Tokyo last October.
Casino Drive and Spark Candle are both Kentucky-bred and were purchased at the 2006 Keeneland September Sale for $950,000 and $1.5 million, respectively.
Brown (and Dutrow) on edge in Florida
Big Brown is a breeze closer the Kentucky Derby after a five-furlong move Friday in 1:00.60 at Palm Meadows training center, his second work since a win in the Florida Derby.
“It was just what I was looking for. It was basic…nothing special,” said trainer Rick Dutrow. “We don’t need to squeeze the lemon dry in the mornings.”
Big Brown galloped out six furlongs in 1:14 2/5. Clockers and observers termed the move workmanlike.
“Since his last race, and more so in the last couple days, he seems to be getting more aggressive,” said Michelle Nevin, who was up for the work... “He seems very happy and he’s enjoying himself out there.”
Dutrow decided to train the undefeated colt at Palm Meadows rather than shipping to Churchill Downs early because of his and his charge’s comfort level at Gulfstream Park’s satellite training facility in Boynton Beach.
“I like the track here and he seems to like the track here,” said Dutrow. “I feel great about running over any racetrack right now, but the weather has been really, really good. I could bring him up there, but I want to keep him where I know he’s doing good.”
Dutrow added that there are no concrete or similarly paved surfaces at Palm Meadows that Big Brown would have to walk over, an important consideration because hoof problems kept Big Brown from racing for six months. Dutrow is cautiously optimistic that those problems are behind the big bay.
“His feet are cold. I’m not feeling a pulse,” he said. “I could not be happier with his feet, or for that matter, with the way the horse is right now.”
Dutrow next plans to work Big Brown on Thurs., Apr. 24 and ship to Churchill on Mon., Apr. 28. “I’m very excited,” said Dutrow. “I feel like he’s the best horse, and we can’t wait for his next race right now.”
“It was just what I was looking for. It was basic…nothing special,” said trainer Rick Dutrow. “We don’t need to squeeze the lemon dry in the mornings.”
Big Brown galloped out six furlongs in 1:14 2/5. Clockers and observers termed the move workmanlike.
“Since his last race, and more so in the last couple days, he seems to be getting more aggressive,” said Michelle Nevin, who was up for the work... “He seems very happy and he’s enjoying himself out there.”
Dutrow decided to train the undefeated colt at Palm Meadows rather than shipping to Churchill Downs early because of his and his charge’s comfort level at Gulfstream Park’s satellite training facility in Boynton Beach.
“I like the track here and he seems to like the track here,” said Dutrow. “I feel great about running over any racetrack right now, but the weather has been really, really good. I could bring him up there, but I want to keep him where I know he’s doing good.”
Dutrow added that there are no concrete or similarly paved surfaces at Palm Meadows that Big Brown would have to walk over, an important consideration because hoof problems kept Big Brown from racing for six months. Dutrow is cautiously optimistic that those problems are behind the big bay.
“His feet are cold. I’m not feeling a pulse,” he said. “I could not be happier with his feet, or for that matter, with the way the horse is right now.”
Dutrow next plans to work Big Brown on Thurs., Apr. 24 and ship to Churchill on Mon., Apr. 28. “I’m very excited,” said Dutrow. “I feel like he’s the best horse, and we can’t wait for his next race right now.”
Derby 134: Wide-open ... squared
Since first becoming aware of Jon White’s history-based parameters for identifying legitimate Kentucky Derby threats a few years ago – I am one of those who embraces the concept of applying historical trends to the process and White happily does the work – his three-strikes and you’re out list has been incorporated into my own Derby handicapping.
The Derby is unique. It does not bend to the daily handicapping process, which is difficult enough. The Derby exists in its own unique sphere. The factors identified by White, the California-based HRTV host, have not manifested themselves by accident. This year, however, it serves to illustrate an amazing degree of inscrutability.
Here’s the problem: White, whose elimination process is based on historical standards of class, stamina and precedence, began the application of 10 qualification factors in 1999 after an enormous amount of research. Since then, every Derby winner has met at least eight of 10 qualifying factors. With the possibility that a horse or two will join the list after Saturday’s Lexington Stakes at Keeneland, 20 horses eligible to start in the 134th running qualify as contenders.
White sets the probability that the Derby winner will have zero or one “strike” at 78 percent. Even elimination of the horses with two strikes based upon statistical probability – which would eliminate Big Brown, Court Vision, Gayego and Monba from consideration – 15 remain before the Lexington is run. Last year, that group was five-deep and included the winner and runner-up.
White’s updated list and details of the criteria appear at Xpressbet.com.--PM
Aqueduct: Finally, Golden Dawn returns
By Eric Donovan/NYRA
For a 20-year-old rider, waiting 63 days for your top horse to come back off a sharp six-length win in a Grade 2 can seem like forever. Factor in that Golden Dawn provided Channing Hill with his first graded stakes win in the Barbara Fritchie, the interval between starts could seem like years rather than months.
“The wait’s finally over,” Hill said in the Aqueduct jockeys’ room. “I haven’t been on her in the mornings since the Fritchie, but I’ve watched her a few times and she looks great. She’s going out there and training like a bearcat.”
An easy guy to root for, usually overshadowed in New York most of the year by the strongest riding colony in the country, Hill will shoot for his second Grade 2 win when he pilots Golden Dawn in Saturday’s 52nd running of the $150,000 Bed o’ Roses for fillies and mares at seven furlongs.
Golden Dawn’s transformation has been rapid. After failing to graduate in races at Ellis Park and Turfway last summer, the daughter of Hennessy showed marked improvement in her first start for trainer Mike Hushion. She won easily, and then followed that performance with a third-place finish and a victory before taking down a solid field in the Barbara Fritchie at Laurel.
“When she broke her maiden, I thought she was going to be a nice horse but I wasn’t sure how good she would be,” Hill said. “She really opened my eyes when she ran third in the Raise Heck in her first start against winners. She was really on when she won the Fiesta Lady, so I couldn’t go into the Fritchie any more confident.”
Sent off at 4-1 in the Fritchie, Golden Dawn stalked the early pace and drew off to a comfortable six-length win.
“I was so impressed by her,” Hill said. “She handled the ship to Maryland real well. I was a little worried she didn’t want to be inside, but she overcame that and it showed how much heart she has.”
One of Golden Dawn’s top rivals is Rite Moment. Like Golden Dawn, Rite Moment flourished when she was transferred to a new barn. Gary Contessa has won four of five starts with Rite Moment for Winning Move Stable, including the Grade 2 Distaff Handicap in her last start.
The last time Stonerside Stable’s Sutra shipped to New York, she returned home with a Grade 1 win in the Frizette two years ago. Back problems cut her three-year-old campaign to two races, but she has already started three times this year.
“She never seemed to run well or train well over the Polytrack at Keeneland,” trainer Mike Stidham said. “We’ve tried to keep her on dirt as much as possible.”
In her last start, Sutra finished second, beaten a length and a half by multiple stakes winner Graeme Six. Stidham said he is pleased with how the filly is training and he is hopeful this ship will have a similar result to the one a couple years ago.
“She ran very well at Oaklawn, but just got outrun by a nice filly,” Stidham said. “She’s trained well since.”
Another threat in the Bed o’ Roses is Lady Marlboro, who comes off a dead-heat victory in the Grade 3 Sabin at Gulfstream.
You Asked and Cowgirls Don’t Cry complete the field of six in the Bed o’ Roses.
The Derby is unique. It does not bend to the daily handicapping process, which is difficult enough. The Derby exists in its own unique sphere. The factors identified by White, the California-based HRTV host, have not manifested themselves by accident. This year, however, it serves to illustrate an amazing degree of inscrutability.
Here’s the problem: White, whose elimination process is based on historical standards of class, stamina and precedence, began the application of 10 qualification factors in 1999 after an enormous amount of research. Since then, every Derby winner has met at least eight of 10 qualifying factors. With the possibility that a horse or two will join the list after Saturday’s Lexington Stakes at Keeneland, 20 horses eligible to start in the 134th running qualify as contenders.
White sets the probability that the Derby winner will have zero or one “strike” at 78 percent. Even elimination of the horses with two strikes based upon statistical probability – which would eliminate Big Brown, Court Vision, Gayego and Monba from consideration – 15 remain before the Lexington is run. Last year, that group was five-deep and included the winner and runner-up.
White’s updated list and details of the criteria appear at Xpressbet.com.--PM
Aqueduct: Finally, Golden Dawn returns
By Eric Donovan/NYRA
For a 20-year-old rider, waiting 63 days for your top horse to come back off a sharp six-length win in a Grade 2 can seem like forever. Factor in that Golden Dawn provided Channing Hill with his first graded stakes win in the Barbara Fritchie, the interval between starts could seem like years rather than months.
“The wait’s finally over,” Hill said in the Aqueduct jockeys’ room. “I haven’t been on her in the mornings since the Fritchie, but I’ve watched her a few times and she looks great. She’s going out there and training like a bearcat.”
An easy guy to root for, usually overshadowed in New York most of the year by the strongest riding colony in the country, Hill will shoot for his second Grade 2 win when he pilots Golden Dawn in Saturday’s 52nd running of the $150,000 Bed o’ Roses for fillies and mares at seven furlongs.
Golden Dawn’s transformation has been rapid. After failing to graduate in races at Ellis Park and Turfway last summer, the daughter of Hennessy showed marked improvement in her first start for trainer Mike Hushion. She won easily, and then followed that performance with a third-place finish and a victory before taking down a solid field in the Barbara Fritchie at Laurel.
“When she broke her maiden, I thought she was going to be a nice horse but I wasn’t sure how good she would be,” Hill said. “She really opened my eyes when she ran third in the Raise Heck in her first start against winners. She was really on when she won the Fiesta Lady, so I couldn’t go into the Fritchie any more confident.”
Sent off at 4-1 in the Fritchie, Golden Dawn stalked the early pace and drew off to a comfortable six-length win.
“I was so impressed by her,” Hill said. “She handled the ship to Maryland real well. I was a little worried she didn’t want to be inside, but she overcame that and it showed how much heart she has.”
One of Golden Dawn’s top rivals is Rite Moment. Like Golden Dawn, Rite Moment flourished when she was transferred to a new barn. Gary Contessa has won four of five starts with Rite Moment for Winning Move Stable, including the Grade 2 Distaff Handicap in her last start.
The last time Stonerside Stable’s Sutra shipped to New York, she returned home with a Grade 1 win in the Frizette two years ago. Back problems cut her three-year-old campaign to two races, but she has already started three times this year.
“She never seemed to run well or train well over the Polytrack at Keeneland,” trainer Mike Stidham said. “We’ve tried to keep her on dirt as much as possible.”
In her last start, Sutra finished second, beaten a length and a half by multiple stakes winner Graeme Six. Stidham said he is pleased with how the filly is training and he is hopeful this ship will have a similar result to the one a couple years ago.
“She ran very well at Oaklawn, but just got outrun by a nice filly,” Stidham said. “She’s trained well since.”
Another threat in the Bed o’ Roses is Lady Marlboro, who comes off a dead-heat victory in the Grade 3 Sabin at Gulfstream.
You Asked and Cowgirls Don’t Cry complete the field of six in the Bed o’ Roses.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Tom Durkin silenced!
Tom Durkin has been conspicuous by his sudden absence from the announcer’s booth at Aqueduct this week.
Less than a month after his return from winter vacation, Durkin has been ordered by an appropriately specialized physician to rest his strained vocal chords for at least a week, a test of will for the loquacious, ebullient, race caller but a penance to which he is reportedly resigned.
A meaningful Lexington? Maybe
It has been quite a long time since the Lexington Stakes, the last chance for horses with borderline graded stakes earnings to make the Kentucky Derby starting in the inevitable event that there are more than 20 entered. Woody Stephens used the Lexington to prepare Swale for the Derby in 1984 and the D. Wayne Lukas-trained Charismatic earned a spot in the Derby in 1999. It is not insignificant that both won two legs of the Triple Crown.
A good race from Tomcito, the Peruvian, in the Lexington would raise his stock significantly after a better-than-it looked race in the Florida Derby that was overshadowed by Big Brown’s performance. Having established dirt form, a sneaky-good nine-furlong prep on dirt and wins in Peru at both 10 and 12 furlongs would make Tomcito a promising longshot in Louisville provided that he runs a strong race over the recycled tires at Keeneland on Saturday.
Meanwhile …
Tale of Ekati worked a half-mile in: 49.20 Thursday morning at Keeneland, “a little maintenance work,” in the words of Barclay Tagg. The Tale of the Cat colt upset champion War Pass in the Wood Memorial in his last start, and currently ranks third on the Derby graded stakes earnings list with $738,000. Tagg confirmed that Eibar Coa will have the mount in the Derby.
Tagg also reported that despite his having come up empty in the Blue Grass, Big Truck continues to be pointed toward a Derby, though he is in danger of elimination on the earnings rule.
Pyro, suffering from lost stature is “doing good,” nevertheless according to Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen. Blasi said plans currently call for the colt to work at Keeneland Monday morning and ship to Churchill Downs on Tuesday. Blasi also reported that Kodiak Kowboy, fourth in the Lafayette at Keeneland on April 6, will make his next start in the $100,000 Derby Trial at Churchill on April 26.
Blue Grass winner Monba, focus of a good deal of recent irrational exuberance, will be ridden in the Kentucky Derby by Ramon Dominguez, reported The Blood-Horse on Wednesday. Edgar Prado, who was aboard the colt in the Toyota Blue Grass, will ride Adriano in the Derby, which is not something to disregard.
Hennegan film well reviewed
Producers John and Brad Hennegan will premiere their award-winning documentary "The First Saturday in May" in 20 theaters on Friday. Five more cities will showcase the movie the following week.
The film has been the subject of generally favorable criticism:
"You don't need to love racing to appreciate these people, sustained over the months by a two-minute dream," wrote Joshua Rothkopf in Time Out New York. "The doc culminates in a sequence of extraordinary power, set to a ghostly choral version of 'My Old Kentucky Home,' the traditional riders-to-post song. We see young boys in their new suits, the smiles of nervous trainers and grooms, the NASCAR-like circus of paparazzi, Southern ladies and jockeys. In mere moments, the film evokes the whole of Americana. The bell rings, and your heart is already in your throat. Essential."
Sports Illustrated also reviewed the film in its current, April 21 issue. "It is a testament to these grounded men," wrote Kostya Kennedy, "that the viewer roots for all of them...The film, directed with a taste for salient, often humorous detail by brothers John and Brad Hennegan maintains a simple tension...The Derby shimmers constantly in the background yet its outcome, we see, is not make or break for the trainers. Their joy comes from the doing. In 'Saturday', spending time with a few majestic horses, and the people who have committed their lives to them, is reward enough."
The Hennegan Brothers have pledged 25 percent of their first-week box office revenues, as well as a portion of revenues generated when the film is released on DVD, to the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation (www.grayson-jockeyclub.org), which raises and distributes funding for research beneficial to horses.
"The First Saturday in May" opens tomorrow in: Austin, Tex. (Dobie Theatre), Berkeley, Calif. (Shattuck), Boston (Kendall Square), Chicago (Century), Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky (Florence Cinemas), Cleveland (Cedar Lee), Columbus, Ind. (Yes Cinema), Denver (Chez Artist), Detroit (Maple Art), Indianapolis (Keystone Cinema), Lexington, Ky. (Kentucky Theatre), Los Angeles (Sunset Laemmle), Louisville (Cinema De Lux 20: Stonybrook), Minneapolis (Lagoon), New York City (Cinema Village), Philadelphia (Ritz at the Bourse), St. Louis (Plaza Frontenac), San Diego (Hillcrest), San Francisco (Opera Plaza) and Washington, D.C. (E Street).
The film will open on April 24 at the Saratoga Film Forum in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and on April 25 at: Milwaukee (Downer), Muskegon, Mich. (Harbor Theatre), Atlanta (Midtown Arts) and Seattle (Varsity).
Less than a month after his return from winter vacation, Durkin has been ordered by an appropriately specialized physician to rest his strained vocal chords for at least a week, a test of will for the loquacious, ebullient, race caller but a penance to which he is reportedly resigned.
A meaningful Lexington? Maybe
It has been quite a long time since the Lexington Stakes, the last chance for horses with borderline graded stakes earnings to make the Kentucky Derby starting in the inevitable event that there are more than 20 entered. Woody Stephens used the Lexington to prepare Swale for the Derby in 1984 and the D. Wayne Lukas-trained Charismatic earned a spot in the Derby in 1999. It is not insignificant that both won two legs of the Triple Crown.
A good race from Tomcito, the Peruvian, in the Lexington would raise his stock significantly after a better-than-it looked race in the Florida Derby that was overshadowed by Big Brown’s performance. Having established dirt form, a sneaky-good nine-furlong prep on dirt and wins in Peru at both 10 and 12 furlongs would make Tomcito a promising longshot in Louisville provided that he runs a strong race over the recycled tires at Keeneland on Saturday.
Meanwhile …
Tale of Ekati worked a half-mile in: 49.20 Thursday morning at Keeneland, “a little maintenance work,” in the words of Barclay Tagg. The Tale of the Cat colt upset champion War Pass in the Wood Memorial in his last start, and currently ranks third on the Derby graded stakes earnings list with $738,000. Tagg confirmed that Eibar Coa will have the mount in the Derby.
Tagg also reported that despite his having come up empty in the Blue Grass, Big Truck continues to be pointed toward a Derby, though he is in danger of elimination on the earnings rule.
Pyro, suffering from lost stature is “doing good,” nevertheless according to Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen. Blasi said plans currently call for the colt to work at Keeneland Monday morning and ship to Churchill Downs on Tuesday. Blasi also reported that Kodiak Kowboy, fourth in the Lafayette at Keeneland on April 6, will make his next start in the $100,000 Derby Trial at Churchill on April 26.
Blue Grass winner Monba, focus of a good deal of recent irrational exuberance, will be ridden in the Kentucky Derby by Ramon Dominguez, reported The Blood-Horse on Wednesday. Edgar Prado, who was aboard the colt in the Toyota Blue Grass, will ride Adriano in the Derby, which is not something to disregard.
Hennegan film well reviewed
Producers John and Brad Hennegan will premiere their award-winning documentary "The First Saturday in May" in 20 theaters on Friday. Five more cities will showcase the movie the following week.
The film has been the subject of generally favorable criticism:
"You don't need to love racing to appreciate these people, sustained over the months by a two-minute dream," wrote Joshua Rothkopf in Time Out New York. "The doc culminates in a sequence of extraordinary power, set to a ghostly choral version of 'My Old Kentucky Home,' the traditional riders-to-post song. We see young boys in their new suits, the smiles of nervous trainers and grooms, the NASCAR-like circus of paparazzi, Southern ladies and jockeys. In mere moments, the film evokes the whole of Americana. The bell rings, and your heart is already in your throat. Essential."
Sports Illustrated also reviewed the film in its current, April 21 issue. "It is a testament to these grounded men," wrote Kostya Kennedy, "that the viewer roots for all of them...The film, directed with a taste for salient, often humorous detail by brothers John and Brad Hennegan maintains a simple tension...The Derby shimmers constantly in the background yet its outcome, we see, is not make or break for the trainers. Their joy comes from the doing. In 'Saturday', spending time with a few majestic horses, and the people who have committed their lives to them, is reward enough."
The Hennegan Brothers have pledged 25 percent of their first-week box office revenues, as well as a portion of revenues generated when the film is released on DVD, to the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation (www.grayson-jockeyclub.org), which raises and distributes funding for research beneficial to horses.
"The First Saturday in May" opens tomorrow in: Austin, Tex. (Dobie Theatre), Berkeley, Calif. (Shattuck), Boston (Kendall Square), Chicago (Century), Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky (Florence Cinemas), Cleveland (Cedar Lee), Columbus, Ind. (Yes Cinema), Denver (Chez Artist), Detroit (Maple Art), Indianapolis (Keystone Cinema), Lexington, Ky. (Kentucky Theatre), Los Angeles (Sunset Laemmle), Louisville (Cinema De Lux 20: Stonybrook), Minneapolis (Lagoon), New York City (Cinema Village), Philadelphia (Ritz at the Bourse), St. Louis (Plaza Frontenac), San Diego (Hillcrest), San Francisco (Opera Plaza) and Washington, D.C. (E Street).
The film will open on April 24 at the Saratoga Film Forum in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and on April 25 at: Milwaukee (Downer), Muskegon, Mich. (Harbor Theatre), Atlanta (Midtown Arts) and Seattle (Varsity).
Keeneland betting handle in decline
Though evidence is entirely anecdotal, the negative effect of racing on Polytrack is becoming evident at the bottom line as frustrated bettors opt for alternative opportunities. Handle is down by 17 percent compared to figures from the first half of last year’s spring meeting.
The Daily Racing Form reports that all-sources handle was averaging $10,348,979 through Sunday at Keeneland, off substantially from the $12,469,609 that was averaged through the corresponding period at the 2007 spring meet, when only seven days were run (one Sunday was dark last year because it was Easter).
On-track attendance has averaged 14,597, up 4 percent over last spring, but the average ontrack handle (which includes simulcast imports) of $1,671,327 is well off the nearly $1.9 million that was averaged during the same time frame last spring.
The comparison between this and last year’s spring meeting, officials note, may be skewed by record figures set in 2007 that would be difficult to match under any circumstance. But the boutique meetings at the landmark track in Lexington have produced an inscrutable racing product that has been erosive and manifests itself slowly as horseplayers opt to pass on races run over Polytrack.
It is becoming evident that the best way to wager on races run over synthetic surfaces is with counterfeit money.
International update: Bullish in Hong Kong
From the Hong Kong Jockey Club
Three times champion German trainer Peter Schiergen does not mince his words when asked why he is sending Quijano to Hong Kong for the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup because it has something to do with Viva Pataca.
"That's why we're coming," he enthuses in response to the direct question of whether his horse can reverse the narrow margin - less than a length - that the Hong Kong star finished ahead of Quijano in the Dubai Sheema Classic at Nad Al Sheba, just 29 days before next weekend's HK$14-million Sha Tin spectacular.
But, Schiergen still sounds rather frustrated by the Dubai race, the joint second richest race in the world, just describing it as “okay” no doubt reflecting on what might have been had Quijano not been shuffled back several times in the early charge.
"With a better run, I'm sure we could have finished second," though he is quick to add: "but that is what can happen in racing."
In fact Quijano is a horse that has enjoyed his fair share of good fortune. With all the talent in the world he must also have had a few lucky breaks to win his races - but things seems to have conspired against lately, not just in Dubai but also at Sha Tin last December. That was his all too late surge into second behind Doctor Dino in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Vase after which jockey Andrasch Starke reflected ruefully: "We were checked three times. Otherwise we would have won."
When it comes to previewing the 2008 Audemars Piguet QEII Cup, one can be sure that many tipsters will focus on Sha Tin's 2000m distance, casting their critical faculties over the winning chance of Quijano whose pedigree appears to scream 2400m stamina ahead of 2000m speed.
In fact his CV includes just two races over as short as the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup distance of 2000m, firstly when conquering weak rivals in a humble Baden Baden handicap and then when running the only stinker of his 19-race career, at Vichy in France.
However these hypothetical arguments do not appear to be giving Schiergen sleepless nights right now. "If you look closely, he has been running too freely early in his races. Going a bit quicker over the Sha Tin 2000m should help him to settle. Plus he has terrific speed from the gates."
Then there is the issue of whether a six-year-old gelding, winner of the Germany's most prestigious race, the Grosser Preis Von Baden last September, can possibly be improving?
Quite possibly yes according to his trainer, who, voices quite a strong opinion on the subject: "Remember, early problems meant this horse started his career very late, first proving himself as a four-year-old gelding. It is very possible that we have not seen the best yet."
Invited to make a comparison with stars such as Boreal and Tiger Hill, champions that have pushed the stable's Group One tally well into double figures, Schiergen, who also rode nearly 1500 winners, says: "He's up with the best of them. He's a complete Group One horse."
As such, the omens seem positive that Quijano, who carries the same yellow and black colors worn by Silvano to victory in this race in 2001 for owners Stiftung Gestt Fährhof, may not be the only German Horse of the Year to triumph in the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup this decade.
The Daily Racing Form reports that all-sources handle was averaging $10,348,979 through Sunday at Keeneland, off substantially from the $12,469,609 that was averaged through the corresponding period at the 2007 spring meet, when only seven days were run (one Sunday was dark last year because it was Easter).
On-track attendance has averaged 14,597, up 4 percent over last spring, but the average ontrack handle (which includes simulcast imports) of $1,671,327 is well off the nearly $1.9 million that was averaged during the same time frame last spring.
The comparison between this and last year’s spring meeting, officials note, may be skewed by record figures set in 2007 that would be difficult to match under any circumstance. But the boutique meetings at the landmark track in Lexington have produced an inscrutable racing product that has been erosive and manifests itself slowly as horseplayers opt to pass on races run over Polytrack.
It is becoming evident that the best way to wager on races run over synthetic surfaces is with counterfeit money.
International update: Bullish in Hong Kong
From the Hong Kong Jockey Club
Three times champion German trainer Peter Schiergen does not mince his words when asked why he is sending Quijano to Hong Kong for the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup because it has something to do with Viva Pataca.
"That's why we're coming," he enthuses in response to the direct question of whether his horse can reverse the narrow margin - less than a length - that the Hong Kong star finished ahead of Quijano in the Dubai Sheema Classic at Nad Al Sheba, just 29 days before next weekend's HK$14-million Sha Tin spectacular.
But, Schiergen still sounds rather frustrated by the Dubai race, the joint second richest race in the world, just describing it as “okay” no doubt reflecting on what might have been had Quijano not been shuffled back several times in the early charge.
"With a better run, I'm sure we could have finished second," though he is quick to add: "but that is what can happen in racing."
In fact Quijano is a horse that has enjoyed his fair share of good fortune. With all the talent in the world he must also have had a few lucky breaks to win his races - but things seems to have conspired against lately, not just in Dubai but also at Sha Tin last December. That was his all too late surge into second behind Doctor Dino in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Vase after which jockey Andrasch Starke reflected ruefully: "We were checked three times. Otherwise we would have won."
When it comes to previewing the 2008 Audemars Piguet QEII Cup, one can be sure that many tipsters will focus on Sha Tin's 2000m distance, casting their critical faculties over the winning chance of Quijano whose pedigree appears to scream 2400m stamina ahead of 2000m speed.
In fact his CV includes just two races over as short as the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup distance of 2000m, firstly when conquering weak rivals in a humble Baden Baden handicap and then when running the only stinker of his 19-race career, at Vichy in France.
However these hypothetical arguments do not appear to be giving Schiergen sleepless nights right now. "If you look closely, he has been running too freely early in his races. Going a bit quicker over the Sha Tin 2000m should help him to settle. Plus he has terrific speed from the gates."
Then there is the issue of whether a six-year-old gelding, winner of the Germany's most prestigious race, the Grosser Preis Von Baden last September, can possibly be improving?
Quite possibly yes according to his trainer, who, voices quite a strong opinion on the subject: "Remember, early problems meant this horse started his career very late, first proving himself as a four-year-old gelding. It is very possible that we have not seen the best yet."
Invited to make a comparison with stars such as Boreal and Tiger Hill, champions that have pushed the stable's Group One tally well into double figures, Schiergen, who also rode nearly 1500 winners, says: "He's up with the best of them. He's a complete Group One horse."
As such, the omens seem positive that Quijano, who carries the same yellow and black colors worn by Silvano to victory in this race in 2001 for owners Stiftung Gestt Fährhof, may not be the only German Horse of the Year to triumph in the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup this decade.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
In Albany: The ($$$) inevitable
It appears that common sense is gaining ground in Albany, at least in regard to the current New York City OTB mess is concerned. Otherwise, the status is quo.
Press release
Governor David A. Paterson, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced today that they have directed their staffs to work with Mayor Bloomberg and the New York City (NYC) OTB to craft a solution that would allow NYC OTB to continue operations. The Board of Directors of OTB voted in February to cease operations by June 16, 2008, at which date the Corporation will be insolvent and the City would be required to infuse cash into it in order to continue to operate. The Governor said that discussions have already commenced among the State, New York City, the Legislature and NYC OTB.
“NYC OTB provides good paying jobs to its 1,500 workers,” said Governor Paterson. “Given the current economic downturn, it is especially important that we take steps to ensure the financial viability of this venture because of the importance of these jobs to these 1,500 families and to the broader economy. In addition, OTBs should generate significant excess funds that local governments can use to provide needed services and reduce property taxes.”
Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno said: “It is clear that this is an important issue that should be addressed. I agree with Mayor Bloomberg that NYC OTB cannot expect the City to provide financial support during these tenuous economic times. The plan that we adopt should include an alignment of the economic interests of the tracks and the OTBs in order to succeed.”
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said: “Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee Chair Gary Pretlow, the Assembly Majority and I will work closely with the Governor, the Senate and New York City to address immediate concerns and come up with a plan for the long term viability of OTB. I see no reason why NYC OTB cannot contribute to the revenues of New York City and the State and be a successful operation that continues to provide good jobs for the 1,500 men and women it employs.”
NYC OTB pays out approximately $90 million annually to New York based thoroughbred and harness racing tracks in return for broadcasting live signals of their races at its facilities. In addition, NYC OTB pays approximately $17 million annually in fees and surcharges to New York City and an additional $17 million to New York State.
“By charging less money from NYC OTB while it gets back on its feet financially, all of the entities that benefit from OTB will benefit in the long run,” said Governor Paterson. “I will ask the Legislature to look not only at the short-term fix that will be needed to stabilize OTB’s operations, but at long-term changes that can make all six of the State’s OTBs more profitable and productive. I am confident that with the cooperation of all affected parties, a solution will be reached that puts NYC OTB on sound financial footing in order to avoid the scheduled close-down date in June.”
Breeders’ Cup Challenge expands to Ascot
From Breeders’ Cup Ltd.
Breeders’ Cup officials announced on Wednesday that the Breeders’ Cup Challenge, a series of qualifying races for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, will for the first time be expanded to Europe, with three “Win and You’re In” races scheduled at Ascot Racecourse in England on September 27 and televised on the BBC and TVG networks. The additions bring the total 2008 Breeders’ Cup Challenge series races to 53 from 24 races in 2007.
The expansion to Europe marks the third continent and third non-US venue to host a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race. On April 27, Sha Tin Race Course in Hong Kong will hold the Champions Mile. Its winner will earn an automatic qualifying position into the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile. This is the second expansion of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series in 2008. After running 24 Challenge races at six racetracks in the U.S. in 2007, the 2008 schedule will be run at 13 North American tracks including seven races in Canada at Woodbine Racecourse. Each Breeders’ Cup Challenge winner gains an automatic starting position into a corresponding divisional race of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, consisting of 14 races and purses totaling a record $25.5 million. This year’s Breeders’ Cup will be held on October 24-25 at the Oak Tree Racing Association meeting at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., and will be televised live on ESPN.
The three new races, all run at one mile on the turf, will be held at the Ascot Festival are: the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1), sponsored by Sony, for 3-year-olds and up; the Meon Valley Stud Fillies’ Mile (G1) for 2-year-old fillies and the Juddmonte Royal Lodge (G2) for colts and geldings.
The Queen Elizabeth II, one of the world’s most prestigious mile races, is an automatic qualifier for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile. The Meon Valley Stud Fillies’ Mile is an automatic qualifier for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and the Juddmonte Royal Lodge is a qualifier for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Since its inception in 1984, 29 horses from Europe have won Breeders’ Cup races.
Three Breeders’ Cup Mile winners, Miesque in 1987, Barathea in 1994 and Ridgewood Pearl (GB) in 1995, ran second in the Queen Elizabeth II.
“Ascot is one of the world’s greatest racing venues, and for centuries has been the hallmark of the finest competition in international racing,” said Breeders’ Cup President and CEO Greg Avioli. "It is an honor and a privilege for us to be able to include these tremendous races from Ascot in this year's Challenge."
Charles Barnett, Chief Executive at Ascot, said: "Ascot is delighted that the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Royal Lodge and Fillies' Mile will this year be a part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge in the run up to the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita. From our point of view, with the additional profile and coverage that this will give them in the United States, this is excellent news for our sponsors, especially for Sony, who we recently announced as new backers of the QEII.”
"We would like to think that this will have a positive effect on nominations for the three races as they are perfectly positioned as launch pads to the new turf races at the expanded Breeders' Cup World Championships, and for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Europe's undisputed Mile Championship and the highest rated race in the world over that trip in 2007, consistently produced runners that go on to contest the Breeders' Cup Mile."
The Breeders’ Cup Challenge begins in the U.S. on July 5 with races from Monmouth Park. Breeders’ Cup Challenge races will be televised on ABC, ESPN, TVG and HRTV in more than 120 countries. Monmouth is one of seven new North American markets and tracks that will hold 2008 Breeders’ Cup Challenge races. The others are Emerald Downs in Auburn, Wash.; Suffolk Downs in Boston; Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del., Calder Race Course near Miami and Woodbine in Canada. Belmont Park, Saratoga Race Course, Arlington Park, Del Mar, Keeneland and Santa Anita will also host Challenge races again this year.
In its first year the Breeders’ Cup Challenge had 14 winners who competed in the 2007Breeders’ Cup World Championships; four horses won - War Pass (Juvenile), Ginger Punch (Distaff), English Channel (Turf), and Curlin (Classic).
The return of Louie Roussel
From Churchill Downs
Illinois Derby winner Recapturetheglory stepped onto the one-mile track at Churchill Downs for the first time since last fall as the contender for the $2 million Kentucky Derby and adjusted to his new surroundings with a Tuesday morning gallop.
Trainer Louie Roussel III, who co-owns the son of Cherokee Run with New Orleans auto dealer Ronnie Lamarque, looked on as Recapturetheglory galloped two miles over a “fast” surface with assistant trainer Lara Van Deren in the saddle. The colt arrived at Churchill Downs on Monday.
“It’s really great to be back,” Roussel said. “To me this is the premier race in America, the people here are great, and we’re looking forward to it.”
If Recapturetheglory makes it into the starting gate in the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby, it will mark Roussel’s third start in the race and his first since Risen Star finished a troubled third to the victorious filly Winning Colors and runner-up Forty Niner in Kentucky Derby 114 in 1988. Roussel and Lamarque came to Churchill Downs with hopes of running Kandaly in the 1994 Derby, but the colt was scratched on the afternoon of the race because of concern about a “sloppy” track. Roussel also saddle Beau Rit to finish 13th in the 1981 Kentucky Derby.
“It’s a very tough race to win,” said Roussel. “You have to have your horse at a peak – not two days before the race, but on the first Saturday in May. He’s got to be able to run his best race, and you’ve got to bring a horse here that is coming off of these other races and hope that he can improve. Because if he’s coming off of these prep races, even though you’re winning and you’re running good, if he cannot improve for that first Saturday in May it’s no good.”
Recapturetheglory, who Roussel said was named with the exploits of Risen Star in mind, is stabled in the same stall in Barn 42 that was home to Risen Star in the days prior to the 1988 Derby. After his third place finish in the “Run for the Roses,” Risen Star would go on to win the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, the final jewels of the Triple Crown.
Roussel’s latest Kentucky Derby hope notched his first career victory in his third career start last fall at Hawthorne Race Course, and followed that win with a strong runner-up finish to Cool Coal Man in an allowance race at Churchill Downs on November 3. Recapturetheglory did not compete again until Feb. 29, when he finished third in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race on grass at Fair Grounds.
“I trained this horse all winter at the Fair Grounds,” said Roussel. “I really had a lot of confidence in him and he was really doing well, but I just couldn’t get a prep race before the Louisiana Derby on the main track. Every time one came up, they couldn’t fill it. The alternative was to try him on turf and he ran a real good race that day. He may have been a little short off the bench, but I really don’t think he got hold of the turf day that – he was slipping a little bit.”
E.T. Baird was aboard Recapturetheglory for his front-running victory in the Illinois Derby, and Roussel said the Chicago-based jockey would be back in the saddle aboard his colt for the Kentucky Derby. He said Recapturetheglory would probably have his first work over the Churchill Downs track on Thursday or Friday.
“I got here with Risen Star about a week before the Derby, but this time I wanted to get here and get at least two or three good weeks galloping on this track,” said Roussel. “I’m going to work him twice here. He’ll go two five-eighths (works) – maybe a three-quarters. And then we’ll be set.”
Recapturetheglory will carry a record of 2-1-2 in six races and earnings of $333,080 into the Kentucky Derby. His earnings in graded stakes total $300,000, which ranks him 13th in order of preference for likely contenders for the Kentucky Derby. The race is limited to 20 starters, with preference given to horses with the largest total of earnings in graded stakes events.
With Monday’s arrival of Recapturetheglory, there are now 13 Kentucky Derby hopefuls on the grounds at Churchill Downs. The top three finishers in the Arkansas Derby – Gayego, Z Fortune and Tres Borrachos – also arrived at the track on Monday. Others stabled at Churchill Downs include four Derby contenders trained by Nick Zito – reigning 2-year-old champion War Pass, Cool Coal Man, Anak Nakal and Stevil – and a pair trained by Bill Mott in Court Vision and Z Humor.
That number is expected to increase on Thursday when trainer Graham Motion ships Courtlandt Farm’s Adriano, winner of the Lane’s End Stakes (GII) at Turfway Park, from Keeneland to Churchill Downs. WinStar Farm’s Colonel John, the Eoin Harty-trained winner of the Santa Anita Derby (GI), is scheduled to ship to Louisville on Monday.
An inside look at the Derby
The award-winning documentary, "The First Saturday in May," one of the best racing pieces ever produced, will open a limited engagement at theaters in several cities on Friday.
An independent film, produced and directed by Brad and John Hennegan, provides a behind-the-scenes look at the stories of six trainers and their colts - including the ill-fated Barbaro - as they take aim at the 2006 Kentucky Derby.
The Hennegan Brothers will donate 25 percent of box office revenues from Truly Indie theaters, to the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, which is committed to equine research.
Details, reviews, theater locations and a trailer at: www.thefirstsaturdayinmay.com.
Big brother for small people
This, in about a year, from Animal Planet, should be good for a few chuckles.
Million-dollar purses, model girlfriends and trips to the mall to shop in the boys’ department.… Animal Planet brings viewers into a world dominated by ferocious rivalries, fierce bonds and extraordinary risk, ruled by short men with silk shirts, oversized personalities and big dreams. Follow the fortunes of a group of jockeys and horses that live together in a "colony" over the course of a 30-day racing season. It’s a month of go-for-broke drama as we see fisticuffs off the track and bone-breaking spills on the track as well as a deepening bond between riders and horses. Big winners who've won horse racing’s richest purses live in the same bunkhouse with jockeys who never won a race and must place in each day’s competitions if they’re to make rent. The series showcases the day-to-day competition where five-foot-tall jockeys weighing 115-pound. fly down the track on 1,500-pound thoroughbreds. Meet the superstar athletes whose livelihoods depend on their relationships with their horses—and whose success depends on knocking the competition out of the winner’s circle.
(Questions: Where do they have 1,500-pound racehorses? Will there be English subtitles? And, do the houses in this colony have statues of tall people with educations on the lawns?)
Press release
Governor David A. Paterson, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced today that they have directed their staffs to work with Mayor Bloomberg and the New York City (NYC) OTB to craft a solution that would allow NYC OTB to continue operations. The Board of Directors of OTB voted in February to cease operations by June 16, 2008, at which date the Corporation will be insolvent and the City would be required to infuse cash into it in order to continue to operate. The Governor said that discussions have already commenced among the State, New York City, the Legislature and NYC OTB.
“NYC OTB provides good paying jobs to its 1,500 workers,” said Governor Paterson. “Given the current economic downturn, it is especially important that we take steps to ensure the financial viability of this venture because of the importance of these jobs to these 1,500 families and to the broader economy. In addition, OTBs should generate significant excess funds that local governments can use to provide needed services and reduce property taxes.”
Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno said: “It is clear that this is an important issue that should be addressed. I agree with Mayor Bloomberg that NYC OTB cannot expect the City to provide financial support during these tenuous economic times. The plan that we adopt should include an alignment of the economic interests of the tracks and the OTBs in order to succeed.”
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said: “Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee Chair Gary Pretlow, the Assembly Majority and I will work closely with the Governor, the Senate and New York City to address immediate concerns and come up with a plan for the long term viability of OTB. I see no reason why NYC OTB cannot contribute to the revenues of New York City and the State and be a successful operation that continues to provide good jobs for the 1,500 men and women it employs.”
NYC OTB pays out approximately $90 million annually to New York based thoroughbred and harness racing tracks in return for broadcasting live signals of their races at its facilities. In addition, NYC OTB pays approximately $17 million annually in fees and surcharges to New York City and an additional $17 million to New York State.
“By charging less money from NYC OTB while it gets back on its feet financially, all of the entities that benefit from OTB will benefit in the long run,” said Governor Paterson. “I will ask the Legislature to look not only at the short-term fix that will be needed to stabilize OTB’s operations, but at long-term changes that can make all six of the State’s OTBs more profitable and productive. I am confident that with the cooperation of all affected parties, a solution will be reached that puts NYC OTB on sound financial footing in order to avoid the scheduled close-down date in June.”
Breeders’ Cup Challenge expands to Ascot
From Breeders’ Cup Ltd.
Breeders’ Cup officials announced on Wednesday that the Breeders’ Cup Challenge, a series of qualifying races for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, will for the first time be expanded to Europe, with three “Win and You’re In” races scheduled at Ascot Racecourse in England on September 27 and televised on the BBC and TVG networks. The additions bring the total 2008 Breeders’ Cup Challenge series races to 53 from 24 races in 2007.
The expansion to Europe marks the third continent and third non-US venue to host a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race. On April 27, Sha Tin Race Course in Hong Kong will hold the Champions Mile. Its winner will earn an automatic qualifying position into the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile. This is the second expansion of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series in 2008. After running 24 Challenge races at six racetracks in the U.S. in 2007, the 2008 schedule will be run at 13 North American tracks including seven races in Canada at Woodbine Racecourse. Each Breeders’ Cup Challenge winner gains an automatic starting position into a corresponding divisional race of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, consisting of 14 races and purses totaling a record $25.5 million. This year’s Breeders’ Cup will be held on October 24-25 at the Oak Tree Racing Association meeting at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., and will be televised live on ESPN.
The three new races, all run at one mile on the turf, will be held at the Ascot Festival are: the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1), sponsored by Sony, for 3-year-olds and up; the Meon Valley Stud Fillies’ Mile (G1) for 2-year-old fillies and the Juddmonte Royal Lodge (G2) for colts and geldings.
The Queen Elizabeth II, one of the world’s most prestigious mile races, is an automatic qualifier for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile. The Meon Valley Stud Fillies’ Mile is an automatic qualifier for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and the Juddmonte Royal Lodge is a qualifier for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Since its inception in 1984, 29 horses from Europe have won Breeders’ Cup races.
Three Breeders’ Cup Mile winners, Miesque in 1987, Barathea in 1994 and Ridgewood Pearl (GB) in 1995, ran second in the Queen Elizabeth II.
“Ascot is one of the world’s greatest racing venues, and for centuries has been the hallmark of the finest competition in international racing,” said Breeders’ Cup President and CEO Greg Avioli. "It is an honor and a privilege for us to be able to include these tremendous races from Ascot in this year's Challenge."
Charles Barnett, Chief Executive at Ascot, said: "Ascot is delighted that the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Royal Lodge and Fillies' Mile will this year be a part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge in the run up to the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita. From our point of view, with the additional profile and coverage that this will give them in the United States, this is excellent news for our sponsors, especially for Sony, who we recently announced as new backers of the QEII.”
"We would like to think that this will have a positive effect on nominations for the three races as they are perfectly positioned as launch pads to the new turf races at the expanded Breeders' Cup World Championships, and for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Europe's undisputed Mile Championship and the highest rated race in the world over that trip in 2007, consistently produced runners that go on to contest the Breeders' Cup Mile."
The Breeders’ Cup Challenge begins in the U.S. on July 5 with races from Monmouth Park. Breeders’ Cup Challenge races will be televised on ABC, ESPN, TVG and HRTV in more than 120 countries. Monmouth is one of seven new North American markets and tracks that will hold 2008 Breeders’ Cup Challenge races. The others are Emerald Downs in Auburn, Wash.; Suffolk Downs in Boston; Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del., Calder Race Course near Miami and Woodbine in Canada. Belmont Park, Saratoga Race Course, Arlington Park, Del Mar, Keeneland and Santa Anita will also host Challenge races again this year.
In its first year the Breeders’ Cup Challenge had 14 winners who competed in the 2007Breeders’ Cup World Championships; four horses won - War Pass (Juvenile), Ginger Punch (Distaff), English Channel (Turf), and Curlin (Classic).
The return of Louie Roussel
From Churchill Downs
Illinois Derby winner Recapturetheglory stepped onto the one-mile track at Churchill Downs for the first time since last fall as the contender for the $2 million Kentucky Derby and adjusted to his new surroundings with a Tuesday morning gallop.
Trainer Louie Roussel III, who co-owns the son of Cherokee Run with New Orleans auto dealer Ronnie Lamarque, looked on as Recapturetheglory galloped two miles over a “fast” surface with assistant trainer Lara Van Deren in the saddle. The colt arrived at Churchill Downs on Monday.
“It’s really great to be back,” Roussel said. “To me this is the premier race in America, the people here are great, and we’re looking forward to it.”
If Recapturetheglory makes it into the starting gate in the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby, it will mark Roussel’s third start in the race and his first since Risen Star finished a troubled third to the victorious filly Winning Colors and runner-up Forty Niner in Kentucky Derby 114 in 1988. Roussel and Lamarque came to Churchill Downs with hopes of running Kandaly in the 1994 Derby, but the colt was scratched on the afternoon of the race because of concern about a “sloppy” track. Roussel also saddle Beau Rit to finish 13th in the 1981 Kentucky Derby.
“It’s a very tough race to win,” said Roussel. “You have to have your horse at a peak – not two days before the race, but on the first Saturday in May. He’s got to be able to run his best race, and you’ve got to bring a horse here that is coming off of these other races and hope that he can improve. Because if he’s coming off of these prep races, even though you’re winning and you’re running good, if he cannot improve for that first Saturday in May it’s no good.”
Recapturetheglory, who Roussel said was named with the exploits of Risen Star in mind, is stabled in the same stall in Barn 42 that was home to Risen Star in the days prior to the 1988 Derby. After his third place finish in the “Run for the Roses,” Risen Star would go on to win the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, the final jewels of the Triple Crown.
Roussel’s latest Kentucky Derby hope notched his first career victory in his third career start last fall at Hawthorne Race Course, and followed that win with a strong runner-up finish to Cool Coal Man in an allowance race at Churchill Downs on November 3. Recapturetheglory did not compete again until Feb. 29, when he finished third in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race on grass at Fair Grounds.
“I trained this horse all winter at the Fair Grounds,” said Roussel. “I really had a lot of confidence in him and he was really doing well, but I just couldn’t get a prep race before the Louisiana Derby on the main track. Every time one came up, they couldn’t fill it. The alternative was to try him on turf and he ran a real good race that day. He may have been a little short off the bench, but I really don’t think he got hold of the turf day that – he was slipping a little bit.”
E.T. Baird was aboard Recapturetheglory for his front-running victory in the Illinois Derby, and Roussel said the Chicago-based jockey would be back in the saddle aboard his colt for the Kentucky Derby. He said Recapturetheglory would probably have his first work over the Churchill Downs track on Thursday or Friday.
“I got here with Risen Star about a week before the Derby, but this time I wanted to get here and get at least two or three good weeks galloping on this track,” said Roussel. “I’m going to work him twice here. He’ll go two five-eighths (works) – maybe a three-quarters. And then we’ll be set.”
Recapturetheglory will carry a record of 2-1-2 in six races and earnings of $333,080 into the Kentucky Derby. His earnings in graded stakes total $300,000, which ranks him 13th in order of preference for likely contenders for the Kentucky Derby. The race is limited to 20 starters, with preference given to horses with the largest total of earnings in graded stakes events.
With Monday’s arrival of Recapturetheglory, there are now 13 Kentucky Derby hopefuls on the grounds at Churchill Downs. The top three finishers in the Arkansas Derby – Gayego, Z Fortune and Tres Borrachos – also arrived at the track on Monday. Others stabled at Churchill Downs include four Derby contenders trained by Nick Zito – reigning 2-year-old champion War Pass, Cool Coal Man, Anak Nakal and Stevil – and a pair trained by Bill Mott in Court Vision and Z Humor.
That number is expected to increase on Thursday when trainer Graham Motion ships Courtlandt Farm’s Adriano, winner of the Lane’s End Stakes (GII) at Turfway Park, from Keeneland to Churchill Downs. WinStar Farm’s Colonel John, the Eoin Harty-trained winner of the Santa Anita Derby (GI), is scheduled to ship to Louisville on Monday.
An inside look at the Derby
The award-winning documentary, "The First Saturday in May," one of the best racing pieces ever produced, will open a limited engagement at theaters in several cities on Friday.
An independent film, produced and directed by Brad and John Hennegan, provides a behind-the-scenes look at the stories of six trainers and their colts - including the ill-fated Barbaro - as they take aim at the 2006 Kentucky Derby.
The Hennegan Brothers will donate 25 percent of box office revenues from Truly Indie theaters, to the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, which is committed to equine research.
Details, reviews, theater locations and a trailer at: www.thefirstsaturdayinmay.com.
Big brother for small people
This, in about a year, from Animal Planet, should be good for a few chuckles.
Million-dollar purses, model girlfriends and trips to the mall to shop in the boys’ department.… Animal Planet brings viewers into a world dominated by ferocious rivalries, fierce bonds and extraordinary risk, ruled by short men with silk shirts, oversized personalities and big dreams. Follow the fortunes of a group of jockeys and horses that live together in a "colony" over the course of a 30-day racing season. It’s a month of go-for-broke drama as we see fisticuffs off the track and bone-breaking spills on the track as well as a deepening bond between riders and horses. Big winners who've won horse racing’s richest purses live in the same bunkhouse with jockeys who never won a race and must place in each day’s competitions if they’re to make rent. The series showcases the day-to-day competition where five-foot-tall jockeys weighing 115-pound. fly down the track on 1,500-pound thoroughbreds. Meet the superstar athletes whose livelihoods depend on their relationships with their horses—and whose success depends on knocking the competition out of the winner’s circle.
(Questions: Where do they have 1,500-pound racehorses? Will there be English subtitles? And, do the houses in this colony have statues of tall people with educations on the lawns?)
Pick-six sharks circle Aqueduct
A pick-six carryover of more than $200,000 will have the sharks and their bankrolls circling today at Aqueduct, where finding a single will be a test in a maiden-dominated sequence typical of a Wednesday card.
Race 4:
1-3-6-8
A maiden claiming race on turf puts everyone who has not pushed the “all” button immediately at risk. Eulogize will be the favorite despite the 0-for-9 record on the weeds and 0-for-10 overall record. She’s My Sunshine, 0-for-12 with eight of those on turf, is the principal threat. They must have written this race for a day with a double carryover. Cannot stand with those two, so, in of self defense, use the Contessa entry and Fourth Chapter.
Race 5:
1-2-4
Get this: An entry-level allowance restricted to horses who have broken their maidens for $50,000 or less. Bebob will the a single on many tickets but Good Law returns from a freshening that followed a bizarre form reversal and is difficult to dismiss. Buy a Personality makes his first start for Levine following a two-month vacation and could easily be the one.
Race 6:
1-3-4-9
This is a maiden $25,000 claiming race at six furlongs that has the potential to add some juice to the sequence. Really bad races tend to do that but this one is also void of pace. Difficult to like any of these but the Contessa entry, Al The Usher, Jimmy Jump Up and Devilshire make the ticket.
Race 7:
1-2-3-9-10
A full field of maiden fillies and mares racing a mile over turf draws some interesting prospects including four first-time starters and is impossible to pare to one or two. The Pletcher entry (Grand Advice is AE), a Kimmel-trained first starter (Reina Isabella), Raw Silk, who won her last but returns to this class after being disqualified, will be a popular single on small tickets. Allen Jerkens sends out well-bred first-time starter Satilla and Barclay Tagg has entered Tessitura, whose first career start last fall was on turf and good enough to win this.
Race 8:
6
Pluracity hits town in an allowance/optional claimer at nine furlongs and should translate his Florida form to Queens. He’s the single despite the lingering question of distance.
Race 9:
1-4-5-8-9
Another paceless maiden heat, this one for New York-bred, that demands a deep spread. Barclay Tagg sends out Dirty Water, who was heavily bet but unlucky in his first start and has trained sharply but falls into the never single a horse ridden by Eibar Coa rule. Entrymate Bontempi is AE. Sky Dragon, the favorite, is 0-for-13 but fits here. After Colin is probably the speed coming out of dirt sprints and is dangerous at a price. Alpha Dance moves to turf for a hot outfit and Wonderous Day returns to his preferred footing with a past turf form that puts him in the frame.
Total play: $2,400.
Race 4:
1-3-6-8
A maiden claiming race on turf puts everyone who has not pushed the “all” button immediately at risk. Eulogize will be the favorite despite the 0-for-9 record on the weeds and 0-for-10 overall record. She’s My Sunshine, 0-for-12 with eight of those on turf, is the principal threat. They must have written this race for a day with a double carryover. Cannot stand with those two, so, in of self defense, use the Contessa entry and Fourth Chapter.
Race 5:
1-2-4
Get this: An entry-level allowance restricted to horses who have broken their maidens for $50,000 or less. Bebob will the a single on many tickets but Good Law returns from a freshening that followed a bizarre form reversal and is difficult to dismiss. Buy a Personality makes his first start for Levine following a two-month vacation and could easily be the one.
Race 6:
1-3-4-9
This is a maiden $25,000 claiming race at six furlongs that has the potential to add some juice to the sequence. Really bad races tend to do that but this one is also void of pace. Difficult to like any of these but the Contessa entry, Al The Usher, Jimmy Jump Up and Devilshire make the ticket.
Race 7:
1-2-3-9-10
A full field of maiden fillies and mares racing a mile over turf draws some interesting prospects including four first-time starters and is impossible to pare to one or two. The Pletcher entry (Grand Advice is AE), a Kimmel-trained first starter (Reina Isabella), Raw Silk, who won her last but returns to this class after being disqualified, will be a popular single on small tickets. Allen Jerkens sends out well-bred first-time starter Satilla and Barclay Tagg has entered Tessitura, whose first career start last fall was on turf and good enough to win this.
Race 8:
6
Pluracity hits town in an allowance/optional claimer at nine furlongs and should translate his Florida form to Queens. He’s the single despite the lingering question of distance.
Race 9:
1-4-5-8-9
Another paceless maiden heat, this one for New York-bred, that demands a deep spread. Barclay Tagg sends out Dirty Water, who was heavily bet but unlucky in his first start and has trained sharply but falls into the never single a horse ridden by Eibar Coa rule. Entrymate Bontempi is AE. Sky Dragon, the favorite, is 0-for-13 but fits here. After Colin is probably the speed coming out of dirt sprints and is dangerous at a price. Alpha Dance moves to turf for a hot outfit and Wonderous Day returns to his preferred footing with a past turf form that puts him in the frame.
Total play: $2,400.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Last exit on the road to the Derby
Tomcito’s Peruvian connections are serious about moving from Saturday’s Lexington Stakes at Keeneland to the Kentucky Derby. The people around Salute the Sarge, whose progression has been anything but traditional, are not quite as certain.
On Tuesday, Tomcito, who must earn some money on Saturday if he hopes to make the Derby cut, tipped his hand with three-furlong move from the gate over Polytrack in :34.60 and galloped out a half-mile in :46.80 with Manfredy Guzman up Tuesday morning at Keeneland. Apparently, Tomcito likes Polytrack. “I think this horse likes anything,” trainer Dante Zanelli said of the Peruvian star who finished third to Big Brown in the Florida Derby, his U.S. debut.
The gate drill was designed to get Tomcito into the race earlier, unlike the last, in which the colt raced at the rear of the 12-horse field in the early stages.
“He had worked out of the gate before his Grade 1 win at a mile and a quarter in Peru,” Zanelli said. “He was close to the pace that day and he won by 10 (9 ¾ lengths).”
Tuesday’s work was the second for Tomcito in Kentucky since arriving after his third-place finish in the Florida Derby. Tomcito worked five furlongs in 1:01.40 at Churchill Downs on April 9 as Zanelli wanted to give the son of Street a drill over the track for the Kentucky Derby.
Tomcito has accumulated $151,292 in graded stakes earnings, a figure that would not be among the top 20 of horses being pointed to the Run for the Roses.
“I think even if he finishes third (in the Lexington and earns $32,500), I will be all right,” Zanelli said. “I am not worried. I think I have the horse to beat. He is getting better and better and he is not even blowing (after the work).”
Love those mint jubilees
Eric Guillot, trainer of Salute the Sarge, has no earnings concern. His colt earned more than enough in graded stakes at age two to cover admission to the Derby starting gate. But the Lexington may not be his ticket to the Derby. Guillot said he is not convinced that Salute the Sarge will stay beyond 10 furlongs and hinted that the Preakness may be the more reasonable objective.
Guillot:
“If we go, it’s so I can drink mint jubilees and we’ll be there with the other 15 that don’t belong.”
“My partner (owner Michael Moreno) has got $40 million invested in this game and if he wants to buy his wife a big hat and go to the Kentucky Derby, more power to him.”
“I told [Moreno], if you want to go to the Derby – if you want me to run him on the moon – I’ll go.”
Guillot thinks little of this group. After Pyro, Colonel John and Big Brown, “The others are just horses in my opinion.”
Two more prospects from Pletcher
One week after he saddled the one-two finishers in the Blue Grass, trainer Todd Pletcher is positioned to repeat in the Lexington.
Pletcher will enter Atoned and Behindatthebar in the Lexington. No word on his Derby plans should they duplicate the one-two finish of their stablemates.
Behindatthebar already has proven his ability on a synthetic track with two wins and one second at Santa Anita, where he scored a four-length victory on April 3 in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race in his most recent start. At Bay Meadows on dirt, the colt finished sixth in the El Camino Real Derby.
“He particularly liked the track at Santa Anita, so we’ll be interested to see how he handles this one,” Pletcher said. “He’s trained well over it.”
On Tuesday, Tomcito, who must earn some money on Saturday if he hopes to make the Derby cut, tipped his hand with three-furlong move from the gate over Polytrack in :34.60 and galloped out a half-mile in :46.80 with Manfredy Guzman up Tuesday morning at Keeneland. Apparently, Tomcito likes Polytrack. “I think this horse likes anything,” trainer Dante Zanelli said of the Peruvian star who finished third to Big Brown in the Florida Derby, his U.S. debut.
The gate drill was designed to get Tomcito into the race earlier, unlike the last, in which the colt raced at the rear of the 12-horse field in the early stages.
“He had worked out of the gate before his Grade 1 win at a mile and a quarter in Peru,” Zanelli said. “He was close to the pace that day and he won by 10 (9 ¾ lengths).”
Tuesday’s work was the second for Tomcito in Kentucky since arriving after his third-place finish in the Florida Derby. Tomcito worked five furlongs in 1:01.40 at Churchill Downs on April 9 as Zanelli wanted to give the son of Street a drill over the track for the Kentucky Derby.
Tomcito has accumulated $151,292 in graded stakes earnings, a figure that would not be among the top 20 of horses being pointed to the Run for the Roses.
“I think even if he finishes third (in the Lexington and earns $32,500), I will be all right,” Zanelli said. “I am not worried. I think I have the horse to beat. He is getting better and better and he is not even blowing (after the work).”
Love those mint jubilees
Eric Guillot, trainer of Salute the Sarge, has no earnings concern. His colt earned more than enough in graded stakes at age two to cover admission to the Derby starting gate. But the Lexington may not be his ticket to the Derby. Guillot said he is not convinced that Salute the Sarge will stay beyond 10 furlongs and hinted that the Preakness may be the more reasonable objective.
Guillot:
“If we go, it’s so I can drink mint jubilees and we’ll be there with the other 15 that don’t belong.”
“My partner (owner Michael Moreno) has got $40 million invested in this game and if he wants to buy his wife a big hat and go to the Kentucky Derby, more power to him.”
“I told [Moreno], if you want to go to the Derby – if you want me to run him on the moon – I’ll go.”
Guillot thinks little of this group. After Pyro, Colonel John and Big Brown, “The others are just horses in my opinion.”
Two more prospects from Pletcher
One week after he saddled the one-two finishers in the Blue Grass, trainer Todd Pletcher is positioned to repeat in the Lexington.
Pletcher will enter Atoned and Behindatthebar in the Lexington. No word on his Derby plans should they duplicate the one-two finish of their stablemates.
Behindatthebar already has proven his ability on a synthetic track with two wins and one second at Santa Anita, where he scored a four-length victory on April 3 in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race in his most recent start. At Bay Meadows on dirt, the colt finished sixth in the El Camino Real Derby.
“He particularly liked the track at Santa Anita, so we’ll be interested to see how he handles this one,” Pletcher said. “He’s trained well over it.”
International update:
After Dubai tour de force World Cup meeting
De Kock takes aim at Hong Kong prize
From the Hong Kong Jockey Club
Mike De Kock had already established himself as something of a legend in the Emirates, with six victories on Dubai World Cup night before this year. But by the close of the richest race meeting in the world on 29 March, the South African added to the haul two further victories, two runners up spots, a third and sixth place finish and earnings on the night of US$6.42 million – not a bad bit of business, all in all.
If the highlights were the Honour Devil and Royal Vintage quinella in the UAE Derby, Sun Classique’s emphatic Dubai Sheema Classic success, and Asiatic Boy’s gallant but unavailing pursuit of the “monster” (De Kock’s word), American horse of the year Curlin in the Dubai World Cup, the trainer nevertheless derived quiet satisfaction from the running-on third place finish of Archipenko, the horse he has elected to send to Hong Kong for this year’s Audemars Piguet QE II Cup.
“My first Dubai World Cup night was pretty special, you always remember the first one of anything, but I guess this year was something else – the greatest night of my racing career, no doubt about it,” he recalls.
But De Kock doesn’t dwell on past success and he’s already looking forward to this year’s Audemars Piguet QE II Cup, a race he won with Irridescence by a head in 2006 after filling the runner-up spot with Greys Inn the previous year.
“Archipenko has come out of his Dubai Duty Free race really well,” he said on the phone from his homeland.
“I was impressed with his mile race before World Cup night, so his performance in the Dubai Duty Free did not come as a big surprise. He’s a horse that I feel that I haven’t yet got to the bottom of, there’s still improvement in him. I felt he still ran a bit green in the Duty Free, there was a gap that appeared for him, but he wasn’t experienced enough to take it - if he had, he wouldn’t have been far off winning.”
Amongst Archipenko’s many rivals in Hong Kong will be the defending champion Viva Pataca and the German challenger Quijano, himself no stranger to Hong Kong. They finished second and fourth respectively behind the De Kock trained Sun Classique over 2400 metres in the Dubai Sheema Classic, so in theory at least De Kock has some sort of yardstick on the pair of challengers.
“Well, this is over 2000 metres, not 2400, and Viva Pataca is the hometown horse. I’m not saying Archipenko and Sun Classique are the same at all, but I think he’ll be competitive,” De Kock summed up.
With his Audemars Piguet QE II Cup record worthy of the greatest respect, and currently carrying all before him, Mike De Kock might be ready to add another international Group1 success to his already impressive CV.
De Kock takes aim at Hong Kong prize
From the Hong Kong Jockey Club
Mike De Kock had already established himself as something of a legend in the Emirates, with six victories on Dubai World Cup night before this year. But by the close of the richest race meeting in the world on 29 March, the South African added to the haul two further victories, two runners up spots, a third and sixth place finish and earnings on the night of US$6.42 million – not a bad bit of business, all in all.
If the highlights were the Honour Devil and Royal Vintage quinella in the UAE Derby, Sun Classique’s emphatic Dubai Sheema Classic success, and Asiatic Boy’s gallant but unavailing pursuit of the “monster” (De Kock’s word), American horse of the year Curlin in the Dubai World Cup, the trainer nevertheless derived quiet satisfaction from the running-on third place finish of Archipenko, the horse he has elected to send to Hong Kong for this year’s Audemars Piguet QE II Cup.
“My first Dubai World Cup night was pretty special, you always remember the first one of anything, but I guess this year was something else – the greatest night of my racing career, no doubt about it,” he recalls.
But De Kock doesn’t dwell on past success and he’s already looking forward to this year’s Audemars Piguet QE II Cup, a race he won with Irridescence by a head in 2006 after filling the runner-up spot with Greys Inn the previous year.
“Archipenko has come out of his Dubai Duty Free race really well,” he said on the phone from his homeland.
“I was impressed with his mile race before World Cup night, so his performance in the Dubai Duty Free did not come as a big surprise. He’s a horse that I feel that I haven’t yet got to the bottom of, there’s still improvement in him. I felt he still ran a bit green in the Duty Free, there was a gap that appeared for him, but he wasn’t experienced enough to take it - if he had, he wouldn’t have been far off winning.”
Amongst Archipenko’s many rivals in Hong Kong will be the defending champion Viva Pataca and the German challenger Quijano, himself no stranger to Hong Kong. They finished second and fourth respectively behind the De Kock trained Sun Classique over 2400 metres in the Dubai Sheema Classic, so in theory at least De Kock has some sort of yardstick on the pair of challengers.
“Well, this is over 2000 metres, not 2400, and Viva Pataca is the hometown horse. I’m not saying Archipenko and Sun Classique are the same at all, but I think he’ll be competitive,” De Kock summed up.
With his Audemars Piguet QE II Cup record worthy of the greatest respect, and currently carrying all before him, Mike De Kock might be ready to add another international Group1 success to his already impressive CV.
Monday, April 14, 2008
California owners fund equine retirees
By Lucinda Mandella
The Thoroughbred Owners of California Equine Retirement Committee has spent the last several months working with the California Horse Racing Board to get a rule change allowing for a 0.3% contribution from purses to help fund equine retirement. This contribution, one which owners can opt-out of, will be used to help support equine retirement farms in California that care for and retrain retired Thoroughbred racehorses for second careers.
In anticipation of the rule change, the Committee created a new non-profit, charitable organization called California Retirement Management Account, or “CARMA” for short. CARMA will be run by an independent board of directors, chaired by TOC Vice-Chair for Southern California Madeline Auerbach, and will be responsible for overseeing the account, hosting fundraising events, educat¬ing owners and trainers on equine retirement, and working to unify the industry in support of our retired equine athletes. CARMA’s first board meeting will take place in mid-March, and one of the first agenda items will be to gather information on retirement facilities throughout the state. – Reprinted from the TOC Times
The Thoroughbred Owners of California Equine Retirement Committee has spent the last several months working with the California Horse Racing Board to get a rule change allowing for a 0.3% contribution from purses to help fund equine retirement. This contribution, one which owners can opt-out of, will be used to help support equine retirement farms in California that care for and retrain retired Thoroughbred racehorses for second careers.
In anticipation of the rule change, the Committee created a new non-profit, charitable organization called California Retirement Management Account, or “CARMA” for short. CARMA will be run by an independent board of directors, chaired by TOC Vice-Chair for Southern California Madeline Auerbach, and will be responsible for overseeing the account, hosting fundraising events, educat¬ing owners and trainers on equine retirement, and working to unify the industry in support of our retired equine athletes. CARMA’s first board meeting will take place in mid-March, and one of the first agenda items will be to gather information on retirement facilities throughout the state. – Reprinted from the TOC Times
Monday notes: Clean your own saddle
Expect a bit of acrimonious controversy to bubble up at Aqueduct this week when a festering dispute between jockeys and their valets spills into public.
Jockeys, who apparently believe they should actually pay for nothing including personal service, want out of the commission paid to valets, five percent of earnings, while still expecting saddles to be cleaned and carried to and from the saddling enclosure, boots polished, laundry done and other personal tasks to be completed at the expense of others, probably the management, which now contributes a small salary to the equation. Stay tuned.
Derby field in flux
The weekend’s preps for the Kentucky Derby, specifically the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, have both muddled the picture sufficiently to attract the attention of owner Rick Porter, who is now considering his very good three-year-old filly, Eight Belles, as a prospective starter. The Blood-Horse reports that after reviewing the latest performance data and conferring with trainer Larry Jones, he may opt to enter Eight Belles, winner of the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn, in both the Kentucky Oaks and the Derby. She has $308,650 in graded stakes earnings, easily enough to put her in the gate if Porter elects to take that direction.
Gayego’s profile is also significantly higher and the decision to test the California-based winner of the Arkansas Derby on dirt in advance of the Derby has resulted in a strong effort at Hot Springs in a race that has produced three champion three-year olds, Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex and Curlin the last four years.
Lane’s End Stakes winner Adriano, considered a turf/Polytrack horse by his connections, enters the Derby chase after a work on dirt at Churchill Downs over the weekend. Trainer Graham Motion was satisfied after watching Adriano’s exercise that the ground will be compromise the colt. The second interesting development resulting from the work will be the decision made by Edgar Prado, who rode Adriano in the Lane’s End, Tale of Ekati in the Wood and Monba in the Blue Grass. Motion indicated that he will demand a decision almost immediately.
Hey Byrn, winner of the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park over the weekend, is another new face in the frame. He finished third behind Big Brown in the Florida Derby, an effort better than it appears on paper, and was won the Holy Bull convincingly. Where that puts relative to others is unclear at this point, but who knows exactly where any of these horses are at this point?
Jockeys, who apparently believe they should actually pay for nothing including personal service, want out of the commission paid to valets, five percent of earnings, while still expecting saddles to be cleaned and carried to and from the saddling enclosure, boots polished, laundry done and other personal tasks to be completed at the expense of others, probably the management, which now contributes a small salary to the equation. Stay tuned.
Derby field in flux
The weekend’s preps for the Kentucky Derby, specifically the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, have both muddled the picture sufficiently to attract the attention of owner Rick Porter, who is now considering his very good three-year-old filly, Eight Belles, as a prospective starter. The Blood-Horse reports that after reviewing the latest performance data and conferring with trainer Larry Jones, he may opt to enter Eight Belles, winner of the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn, in both the Kentucky Oaks and the Derby. She has $308,650 in graded stakes earnings, easily enough to put her in the gate if Porter elects to take that direction.
Gayego’s profile is also significantly higher and the decision to test the California-based winner of the Arkansas Derby on dirt in advance of the Derby has resulted in a strong effort at Hot Springs in a race that has produced three champion three-year olds, Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex and Curlin the last four years.
Lane’s End Stakes winner Adriano, considered a turf/Polytrack horse by his connections, enters the Derby chase after a work on dirt at Churchill Downs over the weekend. Trainer Graham Motion was satisfied after watching Adriano’s exercise that the ground will be compromise the colt. The second interesting development resulting from the work will be the decision made by Edgar Prado, who rode Adriano in the Lane’s End, Tale of Ekati in the Wood and Monba in the Blue Grass. Motion indicated that he will demand a decision almost immediately.
Hey Byrn, winner of the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park over the weekend, is another new face in the frame. He finished third behind Big Brown in the Florida Derby, an effort better than it appears on paper, and was won the Holy Bull convincingly. Where that puts relative to others is unclear at this point, but who knows exactly where any of these horses are at this point?
Sunday, April 13, 2008
What now?
On Saturday morning, Pyro was the consensus favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, Visionaire was a contender moving forward toward May 3, Cool Coal Man appeared to be trainer Nick Zito’s most dangerous weapon and Big Truck was the other promising three-year-old Derby prospect in Barclay Tagg’s barn.
After the Blue Grass Stakes run over Polytrack at Keeneland, in which Visionaire finished fifth, 6 ¼ lengths behind Monba, with Cool Coal Man, Pyro and Big Truck ninth, tenth and eleventh beaten by 10 ¾, 11 ½ and 11 ¾ lengths respectively, they share a glaring lack of one of the essential qualifications of a potential Kentucky Derby winner – a good race at nine furlongs in the final prep.
Only Visionaire, last of 12 early, managed to close any ground in the Blue Grass. Cool Coal Man, who tracked a soft pace to the stretch turn, backed up. Pyro and Big Truck may as well have had their final Derby prep on a treadmill. Gayego, meanwhile, wisely sent from California to Arkansas to answer the question of the translation of form from a synthetic to dirt surface, answered in the affirmative with a very solid effort in the Arkansas Derby. Z Fortune’s unsuccessful late bid-hung effort at Oaklawn suggests that nine furlongs may have been beyond his range but at least that race served its purpose.
So, either Monba, who is without a stakes win on dirt, was underrated or he is this year’s Dominican. The latter is likely the correct answer. And if Pyro, Visionaire, Cool Coal Man or Big Truck makes an impact in Louisville, it will be the result of an extraordinary training effort since none is likely to have benefitted from the experience in Lexington.
It will be interesting to see the various rankings of this week. The only certainty is that Big Brown‘s position was strengthened by his absence from the Blue Grass. Here’s one:
Big Brown
Tale of Ekati
Gayego
War Pass
Z Fortune
Recapturetheglory
Colonel John
Smooth Air
Tomcito
Pyro
Kentucky Derby betting
After the Blue Grass Stakes run over Polytrack at Keeneland, in which Visionaire finished fifth, 6 ¼ lengths behind Monba, with Cool Coal Man, Pyro and Big Truck ninth, tenth and eleventh beaten by 10 ¾, 11 ½ and 11 ¾ lengths respectively, they share a glaring lack of one of the essential qualifications of a potential Kentucky Derby winner – a good race at nine furlongs in the final prep.
Only Visionaire, last of 12 early, managed to close any ground in the Blue Grass. Cool Coal Man, who tracked a soft pace to the stretch turn, backed up. Pyro and Big Truck may as well have had their final Derby prep on a treadmill. Gayego, meanwhile, wisely sent from California to Arkansas to answer the question of the translation of form from a synthetic to dirt surface, answered in the affirmative with a very solid effort in the Arkansas Derby. Z Fortune’s unsuccessful late bid-hung effort at Oaklawn suggests that nine furlongs may have been beyond his range but at least that race served its purpose.
So, either Monba, who is without a stakes win on dirt, was underrated or he is this year’s Dominican. The latter is likely the correct answer. And if Pyro, Visionaire, Cool Coal Man or Big Truck makes an impact in Louisville, it will be the result of an extraordinary training effort since none is likely to have benefitted from the experience in Lexington.
It will be interesting to see the various rankings of this week. The only certainty is that Big Brown‘s position was strengthened by his absence from the Blue Grass. Here’s one:
Big Brown
Tale of Ekati
Gayego
War Pass
Z Fortune
Recapturetheglory
Colonel John
Smooth Air
Tomcito
Pyro
Kentucky Derby betting
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Absolute chaos in Kentucky
Polytrack rears its ugly head at Keeneland,
where Pyro, other contenders, are buried
It will take a while to digest the Blue Grass Stakes, won by Monba on Saturday over stablemate Cowboy Cal with 27-1 Kentucky Bear third and 68-1 Stevil fourth. In the end, it is likely to be beyond digestion.
Nowhere in the Polytrack-framed picture: Louisiana Derby winner Pyro, the Derby favorite when he left his stall or Visionaire, who won the Gotham but was no factor. Fountain of Youth winner Cool Coal Man tracked the early pace to the stretch turn before fading .Tampa Bay Derby winner Big Truck was prominent at no point. The pace was soft. The final time for nine furlong, 1:49 3/5, is probably meaningless.
This is what happens when important races are run over synthetic surfaces. The horses in the Blue Grass, and for that matter those in every race run at Keeneland on Saturday, looked like salmon swimming upstream while being kept well off the rail. Longshots have won both renewals of the Blue Grass run over Polytrack but at least the principal figure in the last, Street Sense, was upset by only a nose.
The implausible result puts Todd Pletcher in the Derby with the first two. Monba, beaten by 39 ¾ lengths in the Fountain of Youth, and Cowboy Cal, who has run primarily on turf, suddenly have sufficient graded stakes earnings from their shares of the $1-million purse to secure positions in the Derby barrier. Pletcher has moved quickly from the sidelines into the scrum but it is unlikely that the Blue Grass will serve any purpose other than having profoundly confused the issue.
But even if the Blue Grass is dismissed as a Polytrack aberration, since none of the first four past the last pole have ever won a stakes race on dirt, the question of its value as a Derby prep to those who finished far behind the winner will linger unanswered until May 3. Historically, horses coming out of poor efforts have not been successful in the Derby and there is no way that the efforts of the leading pre-race figures can be viewed as beneficial.
Comely: Sherine pulls of an upset
Sherine, one of four fillies eligible to the Kentucky Oaks going into Saturday’s Comely at Aqueduct and, at 13-1, the longest price in a field of five, is the lone survivor after a wire-to-wire upset during which she wore down Lady Chace, then opened a clear lead that was not seriously threatened on the way to a two-length decision beneath Alan Garcia. Ready for Fortune was second.
Sherine, a New York-bred by Precise End had not been particularly effective when pitted against open company in the past but was clearly the best in the Comely. She is by Precise End and may well be at the end of her tether at a mile, the Gazelle distance run in 1:37.25 with a 26.05-second final quarter, but she is the only Gazelle starter who ran well enough to merit consideration for the Oaks. Sherine faded to last. Zaftig, the betting favorite, was fourth of five behind Elusive Lady, the other Oaks prospect not likely eliminated from consideration.
Kentucky many not be in the cards for Sherine, however.
Trainer Tony Dutrow” “I was as surprised with her effort today as I was with her effort in the Dearly Precious [in which Sherine finished sixth at even money]. I thought she was training great going into the Dearly Precious and I thought she looked good coming out of it. I just kind of forgot about that race and freshened her up. She really ran a big race today. She ran fast all the way around there. I knew she was a talented filly and capable of running that way. I was just hoping she was good enough at the top of the stretch. This is a big win for me. With her speed and versatility there are a lot of options for her.”
where Pyro, other contenders, are buried
It will take a while to digest the Blue Grass Stakes, won by Monba on Saturday over stablemate Cowboy Cal with 27-1 Kentucky Bear third and 68-1 Stevil fourth. In the end, it is likely to be beyond digestion.
Nowhere in the Polytrack-framed picture: Louisiana Derby winner Pyro, the Derby favorite when he left his stall or Visionaire, who won the Gotham but was no factor. Fountain of Youth winner Cool Coal Man tracked the early pace to the stretch turn before fading .Tampa Bay Derby winner Big Truck was prominent at no point. The pace was soft. The final time for nine furlong, 1:49 3/5, is probably meaningless.
This is what happens when important races are run over synthetic surfaces. The horses in the Blue Grass, and for that matter those in every race run at Keeneland on Saturday, looked like salmon swimming upstream while being kept well off the rail. Longshots have won both renewals of the Blue Grass run over Polytrack but at least the principal figure in the last, Street Sense, was upset by only a nose.
The implausible result puts Todd Pletcher in the Derby with the first two. Monba, beaten by 39 ¾ lengths in the Fountain of Youth, and Cowboy Cal, who has run primarily on turf, suddenly have sufficient graded stakes earnings from their shares of the $1-million purse to secure positions in the Derby barrier. Pletcher has moved quickly from the sidelines into the scrum but it is unlikely that the Blue Grass will serve any purpose other than having profoundly confused the issue.
But even if the Blue Grass is dismissed as a Polytrack aberration, since none of the first four past the last pole have ever won a stakes race on dirt, the question of its value as a Derby prep to those who finished far behind the winner will linger unanswered until May 3. Historically, horses coming out of poor efforts have not been successful in the Derby and there is no way that the efforts of the leading pre-race figures can be viewed as beneficial.
Comely: Sherine pulls of an upset
Sherine, one of four fillies eligible to the Kentucky Oaks going into Saturday’s Comely at Aqueduct and, at 13-1, the longest price in a field of five, is the lone survivor after a wire-to-wire upset during which she wore down Lady Chace, then opened a clear lead that was not seriously threatened on the way to a two-length decision beneath Alan Garcia. Ready for Fortune was second.
Sherine, a New York-bred by Precise End had not been particularly effective when pitted against open company in the past but was clearly the best in the Comely. She is by Precise End and may well be at the end of her tether at a mile, the Gazelle distance run in 1:37.25 with a 26.05-second final quarter, but she is the only Gazelle starter who ran well enough to merit consideration for the Oaks. Sherine faded to last. Zaftig, the betting favorite, was fourth of five behind Elusive Lady, the other Oaks prospect not likely eliminated from consideration.
Kentucky many not be in the cards for Sherine, however.
Trainer Tony Dutrow” “I was as surprised with her effort today as I was with her effort in the Dearly Precious [in which Sherine finished sixth at even money]. I thought she was training great going into the Dearly Precious and I thought she looked good coming out of it. I just kind of forgot about that race and freshened her up. She really ran a big race today. She ran fast all the way around there. I knew she was a talented filly and capable of running that way. I was just hoping she was good enough at the top of the stretch. This is a big win for me. With her speed and versatility there are a lot of options for her.”
Saturday morning notes:
At Aqueduct: Four of six Comely starters
positioned for advance toward Kentucky Oaks
Kentucky Oaks preps are never scrutinized as closely as Derby preps but while most attention this afternoon is fixed upon the Blue Grass at Keeneland and Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park, four fillies eligible to the May 2 headliner at Churchill Downs will race today in the one-mile Comely Stakes at Aqueduct and it appears that forecasts for rain in Queens are again off the mark.
Elusive Lady won the Tempted last fall at Aqueduct and ran second in the Demoiselle. In two starts this year, she was a troubled last of nine in the Old Hat at Gulfstream and runner-up in the Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs. Cornelio Velasquez has the mount Saturday and will break from the rail and is third choice on the morning line behind two other Oaks prospects, Lady Chace and Zaftig in a race quite likely to be strongly run early considering a preponderance of front-end speed. Sherine, the other Oaks prospect in the field of six, has not started since February, when she was decisively beaten as the favorite in the Dearly Precious Stakes run over the inner track.
Meanwhile, in Florida, Big Brown worked five furlongs this morning in 1:00.60 at Palm Meadows.
positioned for advance toward Kentucky Oaks
Kentucky Oaks preps are never scrutinized as closely as Derby preps but while most attention this afternoon is fixed upon the Blue Grass at Keeneland and Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park, four fillies eligible to the May 2 headliner at Churchill Downs will race today in the one-mile Comely Stakes at Aqueduct and it appears that forecasts for rain in Queens are again off the mark.
Elusive Lady won the Tempted last fall at Aqueduct and ran second in the Demoiselle. In two starts this year, she was a troubled last of nine in the Old Hat at Gulfstream and runner-up in the Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs. Cornelio Velasquez has the mount Saturday and will break from the rail and is third choice on the morning line behind two other Oaks prospects, Lady Chace and Zaftig in a race quite likely to be strongly run early considering a preponderance of front-end speed. Sherine, the other Oaks prospect in the field of six, has not started since February, when she was decisively beaten as the favorite in the Dearly Precious Stakes run over the inner track.
Meanwhile, in Florida, Big Brown worked five furlongs this morning in 1:00.60 at Palm Meadows.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Blue Grass huge test for Pyro
Regardless of what speed figures one applies to the handicapping process, Saturday’s Blue Grass Stakes could only be better were it run on dirt rather than the Polytrack now in place at Keeneland.
The Bloodstock Research final figures for the last races run by the four central Kentucky Derby prospects in the Blue Grass, all coming off wins in races run over dirt courses:
Pyro, Louisiana Derby, 100
Visionaire, Gotham Stakes, 100
Cool Coal Man, Fountain of Youth Stakes, 100
Big Truck, Tampa Bay Derby, 99
The Blue Grass and Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn, leaving only the less than ideally positioned 1 1/16-mile Lexington Stakes next Saturday, effectively draw the curtain on the significant events preliminary to the May 3 Kentucky Derby and will be followed by three weeks of hyperbole, speculation and conjecture that invariably leads to befuddlement.
Pyro is the even-money overnight favorite but has not faced competition this formidable in two starts at the Fair Grounds and may have his feet held to the flame here. Remember, though, that the last Blue Grass, the first run over Polytrack, was won by Dominican at the expense of the eventual Derby winner, Street Sense. That’s was preps are for, even million-dollar preps and there may be a new version of Dominican in this field, too.
Evaluating prep races require a good deal of reading between the lines. To wit;
"We expect [Pyro] to run well," said David Fiske, manager of Corinthia Farm, which owns Pyro. "We just want a good effort and for Pyro to come back happy. The motto of the basketball tournament last week was to survive and advance. That's all we want." This will not inspire those who wager on Pyro at even-money or less. They expect Pyro to win.
"This is a very tough race," said Barclay Tagg, trainer of Big Truck. "It could be the Derby itself. I'm happy with my post; I'm happy with my jock, and I'm happy with my horse. He's gotten over the track very well yesterday and today. Hopefully, he'll take to it wet or dry come Saturday."
A field of 14 at Oaklawn Park is dominated by peripheral figures in pursuit of the graded stakes earnings necessary to secure one of the 20 starting positions in the Derby.
Gayego is the 5-2 morning line favorite on the strength of a second-place finish to Georgie Boy in last month's San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita. In the San Felipe, Gayego finished ahead of Bob Black Jack, who came back to run a strong second to Colonel John in last Saturday's Santa Anita Derby.
The main question surrounding Gayego is his utter lack of experience racing on dirt, which prompted trainer Paulo Lobo to ship to Arkansas.
"For sure," said Lobo. "He has only been running on the synthetic track, and I would like to give him a chance to know the dirt."
Harlington resurfaces
Long absent six-year-old Harlington, who has raced only twice since winning the 2006 Gulfstream Park Handicap with Todd Pletcher at the controls, has resurfaced at Belmont Park and now resides beneath Tom Albertrani’s shedrow.
A son of two champions, Unbridled and Serena’s Song, Harlington appeared on the Belmont work tab on Thursday after several drills at owner Eugene Melnyk’s Winding Oaks Farm in Florida.
After his victory in the Gulfstream Park Handicap, Harlington finished fourth behind Invasor in the Pimlico Special, was sidelined for a year before his next start, which produced an allowance win the Belmont allowance and resulted in another long layoff.
The Bloodstock Research final figures for the last races run by the four central Kentucky Derby prospects in the Blue Grass, all coming off wins in races run over dirt courses:
Pyro, Louisiana Derby, 100
Visionaire, Gotham Stakes, 100
Cool Coal Man, Fountain of Youth Stakes, 100
Big Truck, Tampa Bay Derby, 99
The Blue Grass and Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn, leaving only the less than ideally positioned 1 1/16-mile Lexington Stakes next Saturday, effectively draw the curtain on the significant events preliminary to the May 3 Kentucky Derby and will be followed by three weeks of hyperbole, speculation and conjecture that invariably leads to befuddlement.
Pyro is the even-money overnight favorite but has not faced competition this formidable in two starts at the Fair Grounds and may have his feet held to the flame here. Remember, though, that the last Blue Grass, the first run over Polytrack, was won by Dominican at the expense of the eventual Derby winner, Street Sense. That’s was preps are for, even million-dollar preps and there may be a new version of Dominican in this field, too.
Evaluating prep races require a good deal of reading between the lines. To wit;
"We expect [Pyro] to run well," said David Fiske, manager of Corinthia Farm, which owns Pyro. "We just want a good effort and for Pyro to come back happy. The motto of the basketball tournament last week was to survive and advance. That's all we want." This will not inspire those who wager on Pyro at even-money or less. They expect Pyro to win.
"This is a very tough race," said Barclay Tagg, trainer of Big Truck. "It could be the Derby itself. I'm happy with my post; I'm happy with my jock, and I'm happy with my horse. He's gotten over the track very well yesterday and today. Hopefully, he'll take to it wet or dry come Saturday."
A field of 14 at Oaklawn Park is dominated by peripheral figures in pursuit of the graded stakes earnings necessary to secure one of the 20 starting positions in the Derby.
Gayego is the 5-2 morning line favorite on the strength of a second-place finish to Georgie Boy in last month's San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita. In the San Felipe, Gayego finished ahead of Bob Black Jack, who came back to run a strong second to Colonel John in last Saturday's Santa Anita Derby.
The main question surrounding Gayego is his utter lack of experience racing on dirt, which prompted trainer Paulo Lobo to ship to Arkansas.
"For sure," said Lobo. "He has only been running on the synthetic track, and I would like to give him a chance to know the dirt."
Harlington resurfaces
Long absent six-year-old Harlington, who has raced only twice since winning the 2006 Gulfstream Park Handicap with Todd Pletcher at the controls, has resurfaced at Belmont Park and now resides beneath Tom Albertrani’s shedrow.
A son of two champions, Unbridled and Serena’s Song, Harlington appeared on the Belmont work tab on Thursday after several drills at owner Eugene Melnyk’s Winding Oaks Farm in Florida.
After his victory in the Gulfstream Park Handicap, Harlington finished fourth behind Invasor in the Pimlico Special, was sidelined for a year before his next start, which produced an allowance win the Belmont allowance and resulted in another long layoff.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
The missing link in racing information
This story was told at Aqueduct last Saturday and comes from a very good, long-trusted source whose identity will remain confidential. The names will be eliminated from this version in the interest of avoiding a lawsuit.
The owner of several horses, in the market for a new and more effective veterinarian, approached one whose clients have been prospering. He inquired about inevitably exorbitant fees.
“Fine,” the owner said to the vet, “but I want the same stuff you’re giving (name of trainer).”
“That,” the vet said, “is very expensive and has to be paid for up-front.”
Something about this conversation would suggest that the substance referenced is not one of those approved to therapeutic use in New York or perhaps anywhere – the cobra venom found in trainer Patrick Biancone’s barn at Keeneland last year, for instance, was very expensive -- and brings up the controversial issue of the role of veterinarians in racing.
This brought to mind another story, one very old, but since the subject remains active, he too will remain anonymous.
Years ago, during the usual après-race stop at Esposito’s (the greatest racetrack saloon ever) , a groom who had spend much of the day drinking beer was catching a short nap at the bar when the mention of his employer caused him to regain consciousness.
“What’s going on with (name of Hall of Fame trainer)?” he was asked. “You can’t beat him lately.”
The groom blinked, snorted, took a drink, said, “New vet,” and resumed his nap.
While the issue of steroids has found its way from baseball to racing, more sinister forces are at work on the backstretch, knowledge of which is beyond the reach of most trainers but squarely in the domain of the veterinary profession and while the majority of its practitioners observe the rules, it is not a group without those who color outside the lines. Owners, after all, are more result than method oriented.
There are opposing forces at work here. One on hand, the sport depends on the perception of integrity despite the absence of transparency. On the other, the treatment and medication of horses beyond the most benign and identification of the attending veterinarian is not part of the body of information made available to the public. The resultant perception is that the sport is dominated by those most skilled at avoiding the detection of illegal, performance-enhancing substances.
While much lip service is devoted to transparency, racing is closer to opaque in the area of disclosure of information regarding medication and the identity of those charged with its administration.
Pari-mutuel pools are financial markets and that are unfortunately operated outside the constraints of statutory reporting requirements. The public disclosure of medication and the identification of attending veterinarians would be important tools to handicappers, who demand but receive none of the protection against fraud and manipulation that investors consider their right.
Inclusion of this information – which should include every medication administered to a horse before a race as well as the administering veterinarian -- in program and past performance data is every bit as important as the listing of trainer and jockey, perhaps more so.
The most important goal of racing’s regulators and image makers should be to eliminate the term “juice” from the lexicon. One of the things every horseplayer learns is that the things most injurious to solvency are those that go unseen and the most dangerous individuals in the sport are unknown in the public arena
The owner of several horses, in the market for a new and more effective veterinarian, approached one whose clients have been prospering. He inquired about inevitably exorbitant fees.
“Fine,” the owner said to the vet, “but I want the same stuff you’re giving (name of trainer).”
“That,” the vet said, “is very expensive and has to be paid for up-front.”
Something about this conversation would suggest that the substance referenced is not one of those approved to therapeutic use in New York or perhaps anywhere – the cobra venom found in trainer Patrick Biancone’s barn at Keeneland last year, for instance, was very expensive -- and brings up the controversial issue of the role of veterinarians in racing.
This brought to mind another story, one very old, but since the subject remains active, he too will remain anonymous.
Years ago, during the usual après-race stop at Esposito’s (the greatest racetrack saloon ever) , a groom who had spend much of the day drinking beer was catching a short nap at the bar when the mention of his employer caused him to regain consciousness.
“What’s going on with (name of Hall of Fame trainer)?” he was asked. “You can’t beat him lately.”
The groom blinked, snorted, took a drink, said, “New vet,” and resumed his nap.
While the issue of steroids has found its way from baseball to racing, more sinister forces are at work on the backstretch, knowledge of which is beyond the reach of most trainers but squarely in the domain of the veterinary profession and while the majority of its practitioners observe the rules, it is not a group without those who color outside the lines. Owners, after all, are more result than method oriented.
There are opposing forces at work here. One on hand, the sport depends on the perception of integrity despite the absence of transparency. On the other, the treatment and medication of horses beyond the most benign and identification of the attending veterinarian is not part of the body of information made available to the public. The resultant perception is that the sport is dominated by those most skilled at avoiding the detection of illegal, performance-enhancing substances.
While much lip service is devoted to transparency, racing is closer to opaque in the area of disclosure of information regarding medication and the identity of those charged with its administration.
Pari-mutuel pools are financial markets and that are unfortunately operated outside the constraints of statutory reporting requirements. The public disclosure of medication and the identification of attending veterinarians would be important tools to handicappers, who demand but receive none of the protection against fraud and manipulation that investors consider their right.
Inclusion of this information – which should include every medication administered to a horse before a race as well as the administering veterinarian -- in program and past performance data is every bit as important as the listing of trainer and jockey, perhaps more so.
The most important goal of racing’s regulators and image makers should be to eliminate the term “juice” from the lexicon. One of the things every horseplayer learns is that the things most injurious to solvency are those that go unseen and the most dangerous individuals in the sport are unknown in the public arena
Upon further review
From The Jockey Club
The on-track injury reports and total starts utilized in providing the catastrophic injury rates presented by Dr. Mary Scollay at the March 17 Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit have been revised after being thoroughly reviewed.
The review established that the catastrophic injury reports actually covered longer periods of time with more races and total starts than was previously reported. In addition, further review and follow-up on the individual catastrophic injury reports provided a more accurate number of fatalities on both dirt and synthetic surfaces.
Dr. Scollay reports, “The revised statistics are based upon injury reports from a limited number of racetracks (34) and represent a reporting period of less than one year at some racetracks. Therefore, it is important to remember that these fatality rates are just a snapshot in time from a less than statistically significant number of tracks, and cannot be considered scientifically conclusive at this point.
“However, I would like to report that after a thorough review, the fatality rates I reported at the summit last month should have been 1.47 fatalities per 1,000 starts for synthetic surfaces and 2.03 fatalities per 1,000 starts for dirt tracks.
“As we said when this project was announced in May 2007, the goal of the injury reporting project is threefold: to identify the frequency, type and outcome of racing injuries using a standardized format that will generate valid composite statistics; to develop a centralized epidemiologic database that could be used to identify markers for horses at increased risk of injury; and to serve as a data source for research directed at improving safety and preventing injuries.”
Central to the system is a standardized form, created by Dr. Scollay and a group of participating regulatory and track veterinarians following the original summit, that is now being used at 48 racetracks. In addition, InCompass Solutions, as a service to the industry, has developed the necessary technology tools and created a database that enable track veterinarians to electronically submit injury reports from participating racetracks. The database will become operational in the next couple of months.
“I am proud of what the On-Track Injury Reporting System has accomplished to date, and I sincerely believe that the continued collection of this information is vital for the industry,” Dr. Scollay concluded.
The on-track injury reports and total starts utilized in providing the catastrophic injury rates presented by Dr. Mary Scollay at the March 17 Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit have been revised after being thoroughly reviewed.
The review established that the catastrophic injury reports actually covered longer periods of time with more races and total starts than was previously reported. In addition, further review and follow-up on the individual catastrophic injury reports provided a more accurate number of fatalities on both dirt and synthetic surfaces.
Dr. Scollay reports, “The revised statistics are based upon injury reports from a limited number of racetracks (34) and represent a reporting period of less than one year at some racetracks. Therefore, it is important to remember that these fatality rates are just a snapshot in time from a less than statistically significant number of tracks, and cannot be considered scientifically conclusive at this point.
“However, I would like to report that after a thorough review, the fatality rates I reported at the summit last month should have been 1.47 fatalities per 1,000 starts for synthetic surfaces and 2.03 fatalities per 1,000 starts for dirt tracks.
“As we said when this project was announced in May 2007, the goal of the injury reporting project is threefold: to identify the frequency, type and outcome of racing injuries using a standardized format that will generate valid composite statistics; to develop a centralized epidemiologic database that could be used to identify markers for horses at increased risk of injury; and to serve as a data source for research directed at improving safety and preventing injuries.”
Central to the system is a standardized form, created by Dr. Scollay and a group of participating regulatory and track veterinarians following the original summit, that is now being used at 48 racetracks. In addition, InCompass Solutions, as a service to the industry, has developed the necessary technology tools and created a database that enable track veterinarians to electronically submit injury reports from participating racetracks. The database will become operational in the next couple of months.
“I am proud of what the On-Track Injury Reporting System has accomplished to date, and I sincerely believe that the continued collection of this information is vital for the industry,” Dr. Scollay concluded.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Denis of Cork's owner: My bad
From William K. Warren, owner of Denis of Cork
I take sole responsibility for the decision to run in the Illinois Derby at Hawthorne. Denis of Cork's poor showing was not due to the jockey, Julien Leparoux, or my trainer, David Carroll. The disaster was my fault alone.
I have never made such a bad decision in horse racing as the one I made to take Denis of Cork to Hawthorne. After the race, Suzanne was devastated and I was in total shock. The race was a complete failure and has probably eliminated Denis from the Kentucky Derby.
In mapping out Denis' campaign, I made two very grave errors. First, I paid too much attention to the fact that the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes are three races over five weeks, and I wanted Denis of Cork to participate in all three races.
The five-week schedule is truly a demanding challenge for any three-year old. I worried over that possibility, and thus worked backward from the date of the Kentucky Derby to a race four weeks beforehand and the only two that came up were the Illinois Derby and the Wood Memorial. I did not want Denis of Cork to race this coming weekend because he would have had only three weeks rest before the Kentucky Derby. Hindsight shows we should have raced in The Rebel at Oaklawn.
Second, my research and analysis of the races at Hawthorne in late March showed that 50% of the races were won by horses coming from off the pace and 50% went wire to wire. Thus, I felt the racetrack would be fair to both types of horses.
However, the day of the race, it was evident that in the first six races, the horses that won went to the lead and stayed wire to wire. There was a definite speed bias, particularly along the rail. Simply stated, the Hawthorne racetrack was not a fair track. They never even watered the track between races which would have enabled Denis of Cork to gain traction. The track was cuppy and light, and definitely not suited for any horse coming off the pace. I compromised Denis of Cork's chances of winning by sending him to Hawthorne. He will not do well on a speed bias track.
Those that are invited to participate in the Kentucky Derby qualify by their earnings. At this point in time, I think it is very, very remote that Denis of Cork will be in the Kentucky Derby. I have pre-paid over $86,000 for 18 hotel rooms and transportation. I feel at this time I need to cut my losses and pare back reservations. Thus, I am cancelling everything except for the rooms for my family. Regretably, the best of plans have gone astray, and I herewith apologize to everyone who placed a bet on Denis of Cork. I'm sorry. The only thing we can do now is look forward to his future races where he has an opportunity to win.
Tomcito breezes at Churchill
Tomcito, a well-beaten third in the Florida Derby, his debut, in the United States, traveled to Churchill Downs on Wednesday for a five-furlong work as the son of Street Cry took a test run on the track over which the Kentucky Derby will be run on May 3.
The Peruvian colt traveled by van from trainer Dante Zanelli’s base at Keeneland and worked over a “fast” track. Manfredy Guzman, a former jockey in Peru, was in the saddle as Tomcito covered the distance in 1:01.40. Churchill Downs clockers caught Tomcito in fractions of :13.40, :26.20, :38 and :50 and he galloped out six furlongs in :1:14.40. The move ranked fifth among 18 works at the distance.
“We wanted him to just recognize the track and know where the finish line was,” Zanelli said. “We wanted to do an easy three-quarters, and that’s exactly what he did. He finished strong – he finished 11-and-three the last eighth and he galloped out well. He’s really moving forward big time. He’s improving every day and he’s doing it really well.”
Tomcito has been mentioned as a candidate for the $325,000 Coolmore Lexington at Keeneland on April 19, but Zanelli said he is taking a “wait and see” approach on that race. He would prefer not to run again prior to the Kentucky Derby, but Tomcito might not have sufficient earnings in graded stakes races to make the maximum 20-horse field in the Derby. Tomcito is currently 24th in earnings among eligible horses but several ahead of him are unlikely starters.
“We’re going wait and see what happens this weekend (in Derby prep races),” Zanelli said. “We’ll have to do what we have to do, but we think the five weeks between the Florida Derby and the Kentucky Derby would work for us. He is professional, he knows what to do and he has experience from last year.”
Zanelli said Tomcito would remain at Keeneland until shortly before the Derby.
Tomcito has a career record of 4-1-1 in six races with earnings of $154,139. Unlike his Kentucky Derby rivals, Tomcito has already run and won at the Kentucky Derby distance of a mile and a quarter and the Belmont Stakes distance of a mile and a half. He has graded stakes earnings of $151,292. The Kentucky Derby field is limited to 20 horses, with preference given to horses with the highest total earnings in graded stakes races.
Duh?
At its annual meeting in Austin, Texas, in late March, the board of directors of the Racing Officials Accreditation Program (ROAP) approved a Code of Conduct for licensed accredited stewards and judges.
The Code of Conduct would prohibit wagering on any horse race conducted in the United States, participating in the sale, purchase or ownership of racehorses, and selling equine insurance during their appointment as a steward or judge. These recommendations will be forwarded to the Association of Racing Commissioners International (RCI) Model Rules Committee for formal approval and subsequently to racing commissions for their consideration.
“Stewards and judges must at all times conduct themselves with integrity and act in a professional and ethical manner both professionally and personally,” said ROAP Chairman Stan Bowker. “The Code of Conduct approved by the ROAP board establishes and defines the ethical and behavioral guidelines within which licensed stewards and judges are expected to conduct themselves.
“With the advent of simulcasting and account wagering, there may be some stewards and judges who have wagered on races that occurred outside their jurisdictions,” Bowker said. “While we do not believe we have a serious problem with our stewards and judges, the NBA did not think so either until one of its officials came under scrutiny. The regulation of wagering requires the utmost in integrity and ethical standards and we want to make certain there is no question in the minds of the public and participants that the judgment of our stewards and judges is not being compromised in any way by outside influences tied to wagering.”
I take sole responsibility for the decision to run in the Illinois Derby at Hawthorne. Denis of Cork's poor showing was not due to the jockey, Julien Leparoux, or my trainer, David Carroll. The disaster was my fault alone.
I have never made such a bad decision in horse racing as the one I made to take Denis of Cork to Hawthorne. After the race, Suzanne was devastated and I was in total shock. The race was a complete failure and has probably eliminated Denis from the Kentucky Derby.
In mapping out Denis' campaign, I made two very grave errors. First, I paid too much attention to the fact that the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes are three races over five weeks, and I wanted Denis of Cork to participate in all three races.
The five-week schedule is truly a demanding challenge for any three-year old. I worried over that possibility, and thus worked backward from the date of the Kentucky Derby to a race four weeks beforehand and the only two that came up were the Illinois Derby and the Wood Memorial. I did not want Denis of Cork to race this coming weekend because he would have had only three weeks rest before the Kentucky Derby. Hindsight shows we should have raced in The Rebel at Oaklawn.
Second, my research and analysis of the races at Hawthorne in late March showed that 50% of the races were won by horses coming from off the pace and 50% went wire to wire. Thus, I felt the racetrack would be fair to both types of horses.
However, the day of the race, it was evident that in the first six races, the horses that won went to the lead and stayed wire to wire. There was a definite speed bias, particularly along the rail. Simply stated, the Hawthorne racetrack was not a fair track. They never even watered the track between races which would have enabled Denis of Cork to gain traction. The track was cuppy and light, and definitely not suited for any horse coming off the pace. I compromised Denis of Cork's chances of winning by sending him to Hawthorne. He will not do well on a speed bias track.
Those that are invited to participate in the Kentucky Derby qualify by their earnings. At this point in time, I think it is very, very remote that Denis of Cork will be in the Kentucky Derby. I have pre-paid over $86,000 for 18 hotel rooms and transportation. I feel at this time I need to cut my losses and pare back reservations. Thus, I am cancelling everything except for the rooms for my family. Regretably, the best of plans have gone astray, and I herewith apologize to everyone who placed a bet on Denis of Cork. I'm sorry. The only thing we can do now is look forward to his future races where he has an opportunity to win.
Tomcito breezes at Churchill
Tomcito, a well-beaten third in the Florida Derby, his debut, in the United States, traveled to Churchill Downs on Wednesday for a five-furlong work as the son of Street Cry took a test run on the track over which the Kentucky Derby will be run on May 3.
The Peruvian colt traveled by van from trainer Dante Zanelli’s base at Keeneland and worked over a “fast” track. Manfredy Guzman, a former jockey in Peru, was in the saddle as Tomcito covered the distance in 1:01.40. Churchill Downs clockers caught Tomcito in fractions of :13.40, :26.20, :38 and :50 and he galloped out six furlongs in :1:14.40. The move ranked fifth among 18 works at the distance.
“We wanted him to just recognize the track and know where the finish line was,” Zanelli said. “We wanted to do an easy three-quarters, and that’s exactly what he did. He finished strong – he finished 11-and-three the last eighth and he galloped out well. He’s really moving forward big time. He’s improving every day and he’s doing it really well.”
Tomcito has been mentioned as a candidate for the $325,000 Coolmore Lexington at Keeneland on April 19, but Zanelli said he is taking a “wait and see” approach on that race. He would prefer not to run again prior to the Kentucky Derby, but Tomcito might not have sufficient earnings in graded stakes races to make the maximum 20-horse field in the Derby. Tomcito is currently 24th in earnings among eligible horses but several ahead of him are unlikely starters.
“We’re going wait and see what happens this weekend (in Derby prep races),” Zanelli said. “We’ll have to do what we have to do, but we think the five weeks between the Florida Derby and the Kentucky Derby would work for us. He is professional, he knows what to do and he has experience from last year.”
Zanelli said Tomcito would remain at Keeneland until shortly before the Derby.
Tomcito has a career record of 4-1-1 in six races with earnings of $154,139. Unlike his Kentucky Derby rivals, Tomcito has already run and won at the Kentucky Derby distance of a mile and a quarter and the Belmont Stakes distance of a mile and a half. He has graded stakes earnings of $151,292. The Kentucky Derby field is limited to 20 horses, with preference given to horses with the highest total earnings in graded stakes races.
Duh?
At its annual meeting in Austin, Texas, in late March, the board of directors of the Racing Officials Accreditation Program (ROAP) approved a Code of Conduct for licensed accredited stewards and judges.
The Code of Conduct would prohibit wagering on any horse race conducted in the United States, participating in the sale, purchase or ownership of racehorses, and selling equine insurance during their appointment as a steward or judge. These recommendations will be forwarded to the Association of Racing Commissioners International (RCI) Model Rules Committee for formal approval and subsequently to racing commissions for their consideration.
“Stewards and judges must at all times conduct themselves with integrity and act in a professional and ethical manner both professionally and personally,” said ROAP Chairman Stan Bowker. “The Code of Conduct approved by the ROAP board establishes and defines the ethical and behavioral guidelines within which licensed stewards and judges are expected to conduct themselves.
“With the advent of simulcasting and account wagering, there may be some stewards and judges who have wagered on races that occurred outside their jurisdictions,” Bowker said. “While we do not believe we have a serious problem with our stewards and judges, the NBA did not think so either until one of its officials came under scrutiny. The regulation of wagering requires the utmost in integrity and ethical standards and we want to make certain there is no question in the minds of the public and participants that the judgment of our stewards and judges is not being compromised in any way by outside influences tied to wagering.”
International update:
Japanese brother to Jazil, Rags to Riches
may be shipped to New York for the Belmont
The New York Racing Association reports strong interest from Japanese media in anticipation that Casino Drive will be sent to the Belmont Stakes.
The Kentucky-bred won a maiden race in February at Kyoto, defeating 12 opponents by 11½ lengths while running nine furlongs in 1:54 2/5. (Sounds slow, but we have no Kyoto figs available.)
Casino Drive is by Mineshaft, whose sire, A.P. Indy won the Belmont Stakes and was Horse of the Year in 1992. His dam is the Deputy Minister mare Better Than Honour, who dropped the last two respective Belmont Stakes winners, Jazil and Rags to Riches.
Strong Fields for QEII Cup, Champions Mile in Hong Kong
From the Hong Kong Jockey Club
This year's Audemars Piguet QEII Cup, title-sponsored for the tenth consecutive year by the master Swiss watchmakers, is a HK$14-million International Group 1 event scheduled for Sunday 27 April at Sha Tin.
Originally named the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, the race was first run on in 1975 to commemorate the visit to Hong Kong by Queen Elizabeth II and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip. The inaugural winner, Nazakat, was an outsider and its owner received the Cup from Her Majesty after the race.
The Queen Elizabeth II Cup was open to international competition in 1995, when UAE representative Red Bishop was steered to victory by renowned Irish jockey Michael Kinane.
In 1999, the Queen Elizabeth II Cup was accorded International Group 2 status by the International Cataloguing Standards Committee and secured its first ever sponsorship from world-known Swiss watchmakers Audemars Piguet. Hence, the race was renamed the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup with its prize money raised to HK$5.35 million and Jim And Tonic partnered with Gerald Mosse to win the race on good to fast ground in 2:00.1, setting a 2000-meter turf course record that remains unbroken. The French raider then went on to snatch the International Group 1 Hong Kong Cup in December of that year.
The prize money of the race was increased to HK$7 million in 2000, when Jim And Tonic failed to defend his title going down by a short head to Industrialist. However, he managed to defeat Housemaster by the same margin, preventing the home team from landing a quinella. In a three-way finish, the mounts of Alan Munro, Gerald Mosse and David Harrison battled hard in one of the most typically spectacular endings in the history of Hong Kong racing.
In 2001, the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup was promoted to International Group 1 with prize money increased to HK$10 million. Jim And Tonic competed in the race for the third time but was defeated by Silvano, the only win a German horse has scored in this race.
In 2002, the Cup gained inclusion in the World Racing Championships as the second leg of the series and its prize money was increased to HK$14 million. From 2003 to 2005, the race was run as the first leg of the World Racing Championships.
In the 1999/2000 season, The Hong Kong Jockey Club introduced a HK$- million bonus for the winner of any of the four Hong Kong International Races who goes on to land the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup in the same season.
It was not until 2002 that Eishin Preston, from Japan, finally completed a double in the Hong Kong International Races and the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup. After capturing the Hong Kong Mile in December 2001, the Japanese contender returned in April to start in the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup. He kicked strongly in the straight and defeated his teammate Agnes Digital, victor of the 2001 Hong Kong Cup and, in 2003, Eishin Preston became the first and only horse to win the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup back to back.
In 2005, the then reigning Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby winner Vengeance Of Rain claimed the race from South African representative Greys Inn, another son of his sire Zabeel. The pair by the same sire set a record for the race in achieving a quinella. In December 2005, Vengeance Of Rain landed the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup and was crowned champion of the World Racing Championships that year.
In 2006, Greys Inn's trainer and jockey Mike De Kock and Weichong Marwing returned for the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup with Irridescence. The South African champion mare's original plan had been to race held up, but the running of the race demanded her to make all before defeating local contender Best Gift by a head. Irridescence was the first South African representative to win the race since London News's victory in 1997.
The quality of the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby was once again confirmed in the 2007 Audemars Piguet QE II Cup as the John Moore-trained Viva Pataca was steered by Michael Kinane to produce a brilliant turn of foot to beat two Group 1 winners - Vengeance Of Rain and Admire Moon who prevailed in the Dubai Sheema Classic and the Dubai Duty Free at Nad Al Sheba less than a month earlier.
The standard of the QE II Cup has been drastically raised ever since it was first sponsored by Audemars Piguet. It is now one of the most prestigious races on the international racing calendar. The partnership between Audemars Piguet and The Hong Kong Jockey Club has indeed set a successful example in the world's sporting arena.
Several of world's best milers and middle-distance thoroughbreds are among the selections for this month’s renewal of QEII Cup and Champions Mile.
Top class horses, featuring 11 individual Gr.1 winners from Japan, New Zealand, Europe, South Africa and Hong Kong, will converge at Sha Tin in a terrific Group 1 double-bill on Sunday, 27 April.
"We are looking forward to hosting one of the most important fixtures on the international racing calendar and the quality and diversity of both line-ups hold two fascinating races in store," said Bill Nader, the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Executive Director of Racing.
"Viva Pataca will be strongly fancied to defend his title. Leading the challenge from overseas is Matsurida Gogh who defeated Japan's finest middle distance and staying performers in the country's biggest race, the Arima Kinen, last December. But we should also pay close attention to Archipenko, perhaps a little unfortunate not to win the Dubai Duty Free in which he was a fast finishing third.
"Home-based Good Ba Ba shoots for a remarkable fourth consecutive Group 1 victory in the Champions Mile but will have to be at his very best to beat a resurgent Armada. The local defence is particularly strong and supports the growing belief that Hong Kong is home to some of the very best milers in the world."
Selections for the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup
Group 1 - 2000m - HK$14 million (approx US$1.8m)
The last ten editions of this race place Hong Kong level with their counterparts from overseas with five wins apiece. The foreign raiders have hailed from South Africa, France, Germany and Japan (twice).
o Viva Pataca - Five-time Gr.1 winner, including a comfortable success in this race last year. Runner-up in both Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup and the Dubai Sheema Classic this season.
o Matsurida Gogh - Surprise winner from an all-star line-up in the Arima Kinen in Tokyo last Christmas. Subsequently successful at Gr.2 level.
o Archipenko- Fast finishing third in the Dubai Duty Free last start and was unlucky not to have finished closer. Should relish the extra distance at Sha Tin.
o Quijano -Germany's highest-rated horse; runner-up in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Vase and fourth in the Dubai Sheema Classic.
o Hello Pretty - Back after a long layoff to hint at his potential to reproduce the form that won the Cathay Pacific International Cup Trial in 2006.
o Jackpot Delight - Runner-up to Helene Mascot in the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby last month and then ran Armada to just a neck at his last start.
o Helene Mascot - Confirmed his billing as a star of the future by winning the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby last month, his second major in just three local starts.
o Sir Slick - Five-time Gr.1 winner voted the 'People's Champion' in New Zealand last season where he is also the Champion Middle Distance Horse.
o Balius - Consistent Group performer in France with five Listed successes to his credit.
o Bullish Cash - Very easy winner of the Premier Plate last month and fast improving through the ranks.
o Viva Macau - Gr.1 placed in France and Hong Kong.
o Musical Way - Third in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup on her most recent visit to Sha Tin and she's a multiple Pattern winner, including the Gr.2 Prix Dollar.
Selections for the Champions Mile
Group1 - 1600m - HK$8 million (approx US$1.029m)
Despite being opened to international runners in 2005, this race has developed into a private battle between Hong Kong's best milers with the home-based team filling the first four positions in its three editions to date.
o Armada - Showed he was returning to his best after a year on the sidelines in the Chairman's Trophy and capable of posting further improvement in the Champions Mile.
o Good Ba Ba - Clearly Hong Kong's best miler this season so far and now bidding for a fourth straight victory at the highest level.
o Bullish Luck - Elder statesman of international racing in Hong Kong and successful in this race in 2005 and 2006; he also added a Gr.3 in February.
o Floral Pegasus - Gr.1 winner locally over the mile distance and always figures thereabouts in these major international events.
o Joyful Winner - Third in this race in 2006 and second last year - can this dual Gr.1 winner go one better in 2008?
o Wise Dennis - Dual Listed winner who won twice at this year's Dubai International Carnival.
o Able One - Defending titleholder who benefited from the ride of the season to make all in this event last year.
o Joy And Fun - Last season's Champion Griffin in Hong Kong.
o Green Birdie - Successful in the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby Trial before a creditable third in the Derby itself last month.
o Meiner Segal - Gr.3 winner of the Fuji Stakes over 1600m in Tokyo.
o Dao Dao - Impressive last start winner who has yet to finish out of the quinella in nine runs in Australia and HK up to a mile.
may be shipped to New York for the Belmont
The New York Racing Association reports strong interest from Japanese media in anticipation that Casino Drive will be sent to the Belmont Stakes.
The Kentucky-bred won a maiden race in February at Kyoto, defeating 12 opponents by 11½ lengths while running nine furlongs in 1:54 2/5. (Sounds slow, but we have no Kyoto figs available.)
Casino Drive is by Mineshaft, whose sire, A.P. Indy won the Belmont Stakes and was Horse of the Year in 1992. His dam is the Deputy Minister mare Better Than Honour, who dropped the last two respective Belmont Stakes winners, Jazil and Rags to Riches.
Strong Fields for QEII Cup, Champions Mile in Hong Kong
From the Hong Kong Jockey Club
This year's Audemars Piguet QEII Cup, title-sponsored for the tenth consecutive year by the master Swiss watchmakers, is a HK$14-million International Group 1 event scheduled for Sunday 27 April at Sha Tin.
Originally named the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, the race was first run on in 1975 to commemorate the visit to Hong Kong by Queen Elizabeth II and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip. The inaugural winner, Nazakat, was an outsider and its owner received the Cup from Her Majesty after the race.
The Queen Elizabeth II Cup was open to international competition in 1995, when UAE representative Red Bishop was steered to victory by renowned Irish jockey Michael Kinane.
In 1999, the Queen Elizabeth II Cup was accorded International Group 2 status by the International Cataloguing Standards Committee and secured its first ever sponsorship from world-known Swiss watchmakers Audemars Piguet. Hence, the race was renamed the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup with its prize money raised to HK$5.35 million and Jim And Tonic partnered with Gerald Mosse to win the race on good to fast ground in 2:00.1, setting a 2000-meter turf course record that remains unbroken. The French raider then went on to snatch the International Group 1 Hong Kong Cup in December of that year.
The prize money of the race was increased to HK$7 million in 2000, when Jim And Tonic failed to defend his title going down by a short head to Industrialist. However, he managed to defeat Housemaster by the same margin, preventing the home team from landing a quinella. In a three-way finish, the mounts of Alan Munro, Gerald Mosse and David Harrison battled hard in one of the most typically spectacular endings in the history of Hong Kong racing.
In 2001, the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup was promoted to International Group 1 with prize money increased to HK$10 million. Jim And Tonic competed in the race for the third time but was defeated by Silvano, the only win a German horse has scored in this race.
In 2002, the Cup gained inclusion in the World Racing Championships as the second leg of the series and its prize money was increased to HK$14 million. From 2003 to 2005, the race was run as the first leg of the World Racing Championships.
In the 1999/2000 season, The Hong Kong Jockey Club introduced a HK$- million bonus for the winner of any of the four Hong Kong International Races who goes on to land the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup in the same season.
It was not until 2002 that Eishin Preston, from Japan, finally completed a double in the Hong Kong International Races and the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup. After capturing the Hong Kong Mile in December 2001, the Japanese contender returned in April to start in the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup. He kicked strongly in the straight and defeated his teammate Agnes Digital, victor of the 2001 Hong Kong Cup and, in 2003, Eishin Preston became the first and only horse to win the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup back to back.
In 2005, the then reigning Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby winner Vengeance Of Rain claimed the race from South African representative Greys Inn, another son of his sire Zabeel. The pair by the same sire set a record for the race in achieving a quinella. In December 2005, Vengeance Of Rain landed the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup and was crowned champion of the World Racing Championships that year.
In 2006, Greys Inn's trainer and jockey Mike De Kock and Weichong Marwing returned for the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup with Irridescence. The South African champion mare's original plan had been to race held up, but the running of the race demanded her to make all before defeating local contender Best Gift by a head. Irridescence was the first South African representative to win the race since London News's victory in 1997.
The quality of the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby was once again confirmed in the 2007 Audemars Piguet QE II Cup as the John Moore-trained Viva Pataca was steered by Michael Kinane to produce a brilliant turn of foot to beat two Group 1 winners - Vengeance Of Rain and Admire Moon who prevailed in the Dubai Sheema Classic and the Dubai Duty Free at Nad Al Sheba less than a month earlier.
The standard of the QE II Cup has been drastically raised ever since it was first sponsored by Audemars Piguet. It is now one of the most prestigious races on the international racing calendar. The partnership between Audemars Piguet and The Hong Kong Jockey Club has indeed set a successful example in the world's sporting arena.
Several of world's best milers and middle-distance thoroughbreds are among the selections for this month’s renewal of QEII Cup and Champions Mile.
Top class horses, featuring 11 individual Gr.1 winners from Japan, New Zealand, Europe, South Africa and Hong Kong, will converge at Sha Tin in a terrific Group 1 double-bill on Sunday, 27 April.
"We are looking forward to hosting one of the most important fixtures on the international racing calendar and the quality and diversity of both line-ups hold two fascinating races in store," said Bill Nader, the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Executive Director of Racing.
"Viva Pataca will be strongly fancied to defend his title. Leading the challenge from overseas is Matsurida Gogh who defeated Japan's finest middle distance and staying performers in the country's biggest race, the Arima Kinen, last December. But we should also pay close attention to Archipenko, perhaps a little unfortunate not to win the Dubai Duty Free in which he was a fast finishing third.
"Home-based Good Ba Ba shoots for a remarkable fourth consecutive Group 1 victory in the Champions Mile but will have to be at his very best to beat a resurgent Armada. The local defence is particularly strong and supports the growing belief that Hong Kong is home to some of the very best milers in the world."
Selections for the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup
Group 1 - 2000m - HK$14 million (approx US$1.8m)
The last ten editions of this race place Hong Kong level with their counterparts from overseas with five wins apiece. The foreign raiders have hailed from South Africa, France, Germany and Japan (twice).
o Viva Pataca - Five-time Gr.1 winner, including a comfortable success in this race last year. Runner-up in both Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup and the Dubai Sheema Classic this season.
o Matsurida Gogh - Surprise winner from an all-star line-up in the Arima Kinen in Tokyo last Christmas. Subsequently successful at Gr.2 level.
o Archipenko- Fast finishing third in the Dubai Duty Free last start and was unlucky not to have finished closer. Should relish the extra distance at Sha Tin.
o Quijano -Germany's highest-rated horse; runner-up in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Vase and fourth in the Dubai Sheema Classic.
o Hello Pretty - Back after a long layoff to hint at his potential to reproduce the form that won the Cathay Pacific International Cup Trial in 2006.
o Jackpot Delight - Runner-up to Helene Mascot in the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby last month and then ran Armada to just a neck at his last start.
o Helene Mascot - Confirmed his billing as a star of the future by winning the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby last month, his second major in just three local starts.
o Sir Slick - Five-time Gr.1 winner voted the 'People's Champion' in New Zealand last season where he is also the Champion Middle Distance Horse.
o Balius - Consistent Group performer in France with five Listed successes to his credit.
o Bullish Cash - Very easy winner of the Premier Plate last month and fast improving through the ranks.
o Viva Macau - Gr.1 placed in France and Hong Kong.
o Musical Way - Third in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup on her most recent visit to Sha Tin and she's a multiple Pattern winner, including the Gr.2 Prix Dollar.
Selections for the Champions Mile
Group1 - 1600m - HK$8 million (approx US$1.029m)
Despite being opened to international runners in 2005, this race has developed into a private battle between Hong Kong's best milers with the home-based team filling the first four positions in its three editions to date.
o Armada - Showed he was returning to his best after a year on the sidelines in the Chairman's Trophy and capable of posting further improvement in the Champions Mile.
o Good Ba Ba - Clearly Hong Kong's best miler this season so far and now bidding for a fourth straight victory at the highest level.
o Bullish Luck - Elder statesman of international racing in Hong Kong and successful in this race in 2005 and 2006; he also added a Gr.3 in February.
o Floral Pegasus - Gr.1 winner locally over the mile distance and always figures thereabouts in these major international events.
o Joyful Winner - Third in this race in 2006 and second last year - can this dual Gr.1 winner go one better in 2008?
o Wise Dennis - Dual Listed winner who won twice at this year's Dubai International Carnival.
o Able One - Defending titleholder who benefited from the ride of the season to make all in this event last year.
o Joy And Fun - Last season's Champion Griffin in Hong Kong.
o Green Birdie - Successful in the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby Trial before a creditable third in the Derby itself last month.
o Meiner Segal - Gr.3 winner of the Fuji Stakes over 1600m in Tokyo.
o Dao Dao - Impressive last start winner who has yet to finish out of the quinella in nine runs in Australia and HK up to a mile.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Derby fever trumps prudence -- every time
Here is a clinical example of a person in denial.
Trainer David Carroll said he is simply throwing out Denis of Cork's disappointing racing in the Illinois Derby, in which he failed to pass a horse of the entire nine furlongs, and will train toward the Kentucky Derby hoping that he will be permitted to start.
"I have so much confidence in the horse," Carroll told the Louisville Courier-Journal. "… I'm not going to make excuses (about the Illinois Derby). It was a nonevent as far as I'm concerned."
Ignoring history is never wise and history shows that the Kentucky Derby is not won by horses coming off poor races and by any measure Denis of Cork’s final prep was profoundly dull.
With $165,000 in graded stakes earnings, Denis of Cork is 21st, according to an earnings list Churchill released on Monday. However, that list includes several horses who are extremely unlikely to go in the Derby.
The Green Monkey redux?
Though there is a widely held belief that asking extreme speed from a two-year-old at this stage of life is highly detrimental to long-term soundness, sales of young horses in training continue to be quite popular with horsemen.
With many of the sport’s biggest names in attendance, a half-brother to Blue Grass contender Cool Coal Man breezed an eighth of a mile in a world-record-equaling time of 9.3 seconds during Monday’s Preview Day works, held prior to Keeneland’s April Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale set for Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. It was after a similar breeze that Michael Tabor and partners paid $16-million for the subsequently failed The Green Money, so it will be interesting to see who buys this colt and for how much.
Two other colts posted the fastest times of the day at a quarter-mile, each getting the distance in :20.2. One is a half-brother by Aldebaran to the graded stakes-placed filly Grace Anatomy. The other is by Forestry out of Astarita Stakes-winner Broad Dynamite, by Broad Brush.
Last year’s April Sale produced a number of prominent alumni, including the undefeated Big Brown, who became a leading Kentucky Derby contender with his dominating wire-to-wire win in the Florida Derby. The Boundary colt was purchased for $190,000 by Hidden Brook, as agent for co-owner Paul Pompa Jr., who subsequently sold controlling interest in the colt to the IEAH Stable.
Talkin’ horses and enjoying a smoke
Equidaily Racing Journal, table of contents for the racing media, has unearth a 1957Mike Wallace Interview with the late Eddie Arcaro that is absolutely a must see – a stark reminder that many of the sport’s issues current half-century ago remain current today. It also provides a few nostalgic commercial interludes that will be appreciated by users of tobacco. Our thanks to Equidaily for finding this piece of video, which comes from the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin web site.
http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/multimedia/video/2008/wallace/arcaro_eddie.html
Trainer David Carroll said he is simply throwing out Denis of Cork's disappointing racing in the Illinois Derby, in which he failed to pass a horse of the entire nine furlongs, and will train toward the Kentucky Derby hoping that he will be permitted to start.
"I have so much confidence in the horse," Carroll told the Louisville Courier-Journal. "… I'm not going to make excuses (about the Illinois Derby). It was a nonevent as far as I'm concerned."
Ignoring history is never wise and history shows that the Kentucky Derby is not won by horses coming off poor races and by any measure Denis of Cork’s final prep was profoundly dull.
With $165,000 in graded stakes earnings, Denis of Cork is 21st, according to an earnings list Churchill released on Monday. However, that list includes several horses who are extremely unlikely to go in the Derby.
The Green Monkey redux?
Though there is a widely held belief that asking extreme speed from a two-year-old at this stage of life is highly detrimental to long-term soundness, sales of young horses in training continue to be quite popular with horsemen.
With many of the sport’s biggest names in attendance, a half-brother to Blue Grass contender Cool Coal Man breezed an eighth of a mile in a world-record-equaling time of 9.3 seconds during Monday’s Preview Day works, held prior to Keeneland’s April Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale set for Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. It was after a similar breeze that Michael Tabor and partners paid $16-million for the subsequently failed The Green Money, so it will be interesting to see who buys this colt and for how much.
Two other colts posted the fastest times of the day at a quarter-mile, each getting the distance in :20.2. One is a half-brother by Aldebaran to the graded stakes-placed filly Grace Anatomy. The other is by Forestry out of Astarita Stakes-winner Broad Dynamite, by Broad Brush.
Last year’s April Sale produced a number of prominent alumni, including the undefeated Big Brown, who became a leading Kentucky Derby contender with his dominating wire-to-wire win in the Florida Derby. The Boundary colt was purchased for $190,000 by Hidden Brook, as agent for co-owner Paul Pompa Jr., who subsequently sold controlling interest in the colt to the IEAH Stable.
Talkin’ horses and enjoying a smoke
Equidaily Racing Journal, table of contents for the racing media, has unearth a 1957Mike Wallace Interview with the late Eddie Arcaro that is absolutely a must see – a stark reminder that many of the sport’s issues current half-century ago remain current today. It also provides a few nostalgic commercial interludes that will be appreciated by users of tobacco. Our thanks to Equidaily for finding this piece of video, which comes from the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin web site.
http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/multimedia/video/2008/wallace/arcaro_eddie.html
Monday, April 7, 2008
Pyro has final Blue Grass work
Louisiana Derby winner Pyro turned in his final major trained move for Saturday’s Blue Grass on Monday, a half-mile in: 50.60 at Keeneland.
Ridden by Dominic Terry, Pyro was clocked in: 23.80 for the last quarter-mile in the solo work, his third at Keeneland since arriving from New Orleans after his Louisiana Derby. His first breeze was a five-furlong move on March 24, 1:02.40, followed by a six-furlong work a week later, in company, 1:14.60.
Barclay Tagg will breeze both Big Truck and Elysium Fields four furlongs on Tuesday morning at Keeneland. He reported that he is considering Big Truck, winner of the Tampa Bay Derby, for the Blue Grass. Elysium Fields, second in the Fountain of Youth but a disappointing 11th in the Florida Derby, may run in the Lexington on April 19.
Former Pletcher assistant breaks maiden
No cognac was cracked. But there were doughnuts and a gift of flowers at Barn 49 on Monday morning to mark the Sunday victory of Elisabeth Alexander’s Crack the Cognac, who gave trainer Michelle Nihei her first win at Keeneland.
“It was a big morale booster,” said Nihei, who has eight horses stabled here.
Nihei spent 4 ½ years working as an assistant to Todd Pletcher and spent a bit of time as a member of the New York Racing Association press staff before going out on her own in November 2007. Among the many standout horses she worked with in the Pletcher barn was champion Ashado.
“Her pictures adorn all the walls in my house,” Nihei said about Ashado. “She was the first horse I ever got on for Todd and it was at Saratoga in the summer of 2003. It was great to be around her for her two-, three- and four-year-old years.”
Nihei found it difficult to pinpoint just one thing in particular that she learned from Pletcher.
“There was just so much to work with,” Nihei said. “Having 100 horses and getting the experience and paying attention to all the organizational details, it was like having triple the learning curve of anybody else with 30 or 40 horses. You try to absorb as much as you can, but you still miss a lot. It was a great opportunity and I am grateful to have had that chance.”
Ridden by Dominic Terry, Pyro was clocked in: 23.80 for the last quarter-mile in the solo work, his third at Keeneland since arriving from New Orleans after his Louisiana Derby. His first breeze was a five-furlong move on March 24, 1:02.40, followed by a six-furlong work a week later, in company, 1:14.60.
Barclay Tagg will breeze both Big Truck and Elysium Fields four furlongs on Tuesday morning at Keeneland. He reported that he is considering Big Truck, winner of the Tampa Bay Derby, for the Blue Grass. Elysium Fields, second in the Fountain of Youth but a disappointing 11th in the Florida Derby, may run in the Lexington on April 19.
Former Pletcher assistant breaks maiden
No cognac was cracked. But there were doughnuts and a gift of flowers at Barn 49 on Monday morning to mark the Sunday victory of Elisabeth Alexander’s Crack the Cognac, who gave trainer Michelle Nihei her first win at Keeneland.
“It was a big morale booster,” said Nihei, who has eight horses stabled here.
Nihei spent 4 ½ years working as an assistant to Todd Pletcher and spent a bit of time as a member of the New York Racing Association press staff before going out on her own in November 2007. Among the many standout horses she worked with in the Pletcher barn was champion Ashado.
“Her pictures adorn all the walls in my house,” Nihei said about Ashado. “She was the first horse I ever got on for Todd and it was at Saratoga in the summer of 2003. It was great to be around her for her two-, three- and four-year-old years.”
Nihei found it difficult to pinpoint just one thing in particular that she learned from Pletcher.
“There was just so much to work with,” Nihei said. “Having 100 horses and getting the experience and paying attention to all the organizational details, it was like having triple the learning curve of anybody else with 30 or 40 horses. You try to absorb as much as you can, but you still miss a lot. It was a great opportunity and I am grateful to have had that chance.”
The Derby goes Hollywood
NBC Sports has added 30 minutes of coverage to its exclusive broadcast of the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby. Expanded coverage, two-and-a-half hours in total, will start at 4 p.m. ET with "Access at the Derby" which includes the "Kentucky Derby Red Carpet Show."
"Access at the Kentucky Derby" is the viewer's backstage pass to the greatest day in Horse Racing. "Access Hollywood" host Billy Bush joins the NBC Sports' racing team to bring the spectacle of the Kentucky Derby home to viewers with behind-the-scenes access to the famous parties, celebrities and fashion surrounding the legendary Run for the Roses. The Red Carpet Show will feature celebrity interviews as the stars arrive to Churchill Downs to enjoy the greatest day in Horse Racing.
At 5 p.m. ET, NBC Sports race coverage begins with Tom Hammond and Bob Costas co-hosting the Derby alongside retired jockey Gary Stevens. NBC Sports' broadcast team also includes race-caller Tom Durkin; contributing analysts Mike Battaglia and Bob Neumeier; reporter Kenny Rice and on-track reporter Donna Barton Brothers.
"Access at the Kentucky Derby" is the viewer's backstage pass to the greatest day in Horse Racing. "Access Hollywood" host Billy Bush joins the NBC Sports' racing team to bring the spectacle of the Kentucky Derby home to viewers with behind-the-scenes access to the famous parties, celebrities and fashion surrounding the legendary Run for the Roses. The Red Carpet Show will feature celebrity interviews as the stars arrive to Churchill Downs to enjoy the greatest day in Horse Racing.
At 5 p.m. ET, NBC Sports race coverage begins with Tom Hammond and Bob Costas co-hosting the Derby alongside retired jockey Gary Stevens. NBC Sports' broadcast team also includes race-caller Tom Durkin; contributing analysts Mike Battaglia and Bob Neumeier; reporter Kenny Rice and on-track reporter Donna Barton Brothers.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Sunday notes/ Tagg likes his chances
Trainer Barclay Tagg, fresh off his second consecutive victory in the Wood Memorial, said Tale of Ekati shipped well to Keeneland and was in outstanding shape after Saturday’s win.
“He came with me last night and everything is right,” said Tagg, who will now concentrate on Elysium Fields and Big Truck for this weekend’s stakes. “He’s going into the Kentucky derby the right way. I’ll probably work Elysium Fields and Big Truck on Tuesday. I’m still not sure if I am going to run both of them here in the Blue Grass or run one here and one in the Arkansas Derby (at Oaklawn Park).
“I will say this: I wouldn’t trade my three for any others going into the Derby.”
Expression of confidence is not typical of Tagg, which may be cause to at least arch an eyebrow.
Tagg said that he was more impressed by Tale of Ekati’s race as he reviewed the Wood Memorial.
“That other horse (Inner Light) maybe softened up War Pass, but he didn’t soften him up for long. War Pass hung in there very tough, and he was the horse I thought we had to beat. But Tale of Ekati was up close to that pace; he was a lot closer than I wanted him to be, that’s for sure.
“But it all worked out. We knew he was a much better horse than he showed in Louisiana and he proved that in the Wood Memorial.”
Nick Zito said that War Pass exited his runner-up finish in good order and is on his way to Kentucky. The Robert LaPenta-owned colt set a pressured pace through fast fractions of :22 2/5 and :46 for the first half-mile.
“It was the only big race that I finished second in that I appreciated it as a win,” Zito said. “He ran as tough as he could and showed what kind of horse he is, especially the way the race shaped up. Obviously this sets him up great for the Derby. He got nothing out of his race in Tampa, so he needed this.
“I really wanted to win another Wood Memorial,” said Zito, who has three victories in the Wood. “It’s a special race because I grew up in New York near Aqueduct. Usually you get a break on big days with the track not being as heavy as it was yesterday, but that’s not an excuse.”
Pyro, the probable favorite for Saturday’s Toyota Blue Grass, is scheduled to work five furlongs Monday morning, according to Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen. The work is scheduled for 6:15 a.m.
On Sunday, Pyro took his usual route to the track with a walk through the paddock to the walking ring before a 1 ½-mile gallop under Dominic Terry.
Pyro had a paddock schooling session Saturday afternoon with the horses in the second race. Blasi reported that the pupil’s time in class “went exceptionally well.” (Video of Pyro in the paddock)
There was exceptional value in some corners of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager at the close of betting on Saturday. Favored Big Brown, at 5-2, is a severe underlay considering his inexperience, running style and a history of foot problems. But, in light of the likely hot pace on May 3, established quality closers were the value plays. Pyro may be 5-1 on Derby, probably a square price, but Visionaire at 22-1, Tale of Ekati, 27-1, Cool Coal Man, 21-1 and Big Truck, 32-1, are exactly what you’re looking for when betting a horse a month before the race.
“He came with me last night and everything is right,” said Tagg, who will now concentrate on Elysium Fields and Big Truck for this weekend’s stakes. “He’s going into the Kentucky derby the right way. I’ll probably work Elysium Fields and Big Truck on Tuesday. I’m still not sure if I am going to run both of them here in the Blue Grass or run one here and one in the Arkansas Derby (at Oaklawn Park).
“I will say this: I wouldn’t trade my three for any others going into the Derby.”
Expression of confidence is not typical of Tagg, which may be cause to at least arch an eyebrow.
Tagg said that he was more impressed by Tale of Ekati’s race as he reviewed the Wood Memorial.
“That other horse (Inner Light) maybe softened up War Pass, but he didn’t soften him up for long. War Pass hung in there very tough, and he was the horse I thought we had to beat. But Tale of Ekati was up close to that pace; he was a lot closer than I wanted him to be, that’s for sure.
“But it all worked out. We knew he was a much better horse than he showed in Louisiana and he proved that in the Wood Memorial.”
Nick Zito said that War Pass exited his runner-up finish in good order and is on his way to Kentucky. The Robert LaPenta-owned colt set a pressured pace through fast fractions of :22 2/5 and :46 for the first half-mile.
“It was the only big race that I finished second in that I appreciated it as a win,” Zito said. “He ran as tough as he could and showed what kind of horse he is, especially the way the race shaped up. Obviously this sets him up great for the Derby. He got nothing out of his race in Tampa, so he needed this.
“I really wanted to win another Wood Memorial,” said Zito, who has three victories in the Wood. “It’s a special race because I grew up in New York near Aqueduct. Usually you get a break on big days with the track not being as heavy as it was yesterday, but that’s not an excuse.”
Pyro, the probable favorite for Saturday’s Toyota Blue Grass, is scheduled to work five furlongs Monday morning, according to Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen. The work is scheduled for 6:15 a.m.
On Sunday, Pyro took his usual route to the track with a walk through the paddock to the walking ring before a 1 ½-mile gallop under Dominic Terry.
Pyro had a paddock schooling session Saturday afternoon with the horses in the second race. Blasi reported that the pupil’s time in class “went exceptionally well.” (Video of Pyro in the paddock)
There was exceptional value in some corners of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager at the close of betting on Saturday. Favored Big Brown, at 5-2, is a severe underlay considering his inexperience, running style and a history of foot problems. But, in light of the likely hot pace on May 3, established quality closers were the value plays. Pyro may be 5-1 on Derby, probably a square price, but Visionaire at 22-1, Tale of Ekati, 27-1, Cool Coal Man, 21-1 and Big Truck, 32-1, are exactly what you’re looking for when betting a horse a month before the race.
Derby picture remains a muddle
The only thing made clear by three important, nine-furlong Kentucky Derby preps run on Saturday is that the prevailing muddle will remain in place until the issue is settled or on May 3.
Of the three races, the Wood Memorial was easily the most critical. In defeat, War Pass dispelled the memory of his awful performance in the Tampa Bay Derby with a race typical of his earlier efforts though he was compromised by his own suicidal pace. (Were he my horse, there would be a rider change coming soon. Actually, there would have been a rider change after the Tampa Bay race.) In victory, Tale of Ekati revealed the versatility to rate behind a fast pace – and there will most assuredly be a fast pace in this Derby – and finish strongly. He will be a dangerous horse at Churchill Downs.
Those who finished behind the first two at Aqueduct, including Court Union, are dismissed as is the entire field that made a horse race appear more like a sailing regatta at Hawthorne, where the optimistically named Recapturetheglory took a frontrunning decision. The first five – the fifth being the apparently overrated Denis of Cork -- ran in place from the half-mile call to the wire at Hawthorne. The winner, owned by Louie Roussel and Ronnie Lamarque of Risen Star fame, represents yet another speed element in a Derby field that could—and is likely to include -- both Big Brown and War Pass, which raises the distinct possibility of a dizzying pace for the first six furlongs at Churchill Downs.
The Santa Anita Derby, run over a synthetic course and therefore of little use in evaluating the convincing winner, Colonel John, was truly a mess. The first three horses past the quarter pole were all under drives at that point and one, Bob Black Jack, stayed on to finish second and was not badly beaten by the only horse moving with any degree of authority at the end of nine furlongs.
Though the competition he faced at Santa Anita was highly suspect and generally staggering to the wire, Colonel John may be a legitimate threat in the Derby and will be willingly backed. But until he shows the capacity to translate synthetic track form to a dirt course, his place among the contenders is no more than a matter of conjecture.
The weekend’s racing was useful in the process of culling the herd. Horses do not win the Derby coming off bad races in their final preps. Tale of Ekati is most certainly a contender. Colonel John will go to Kentucky accompanied by many unanswered question and in need of at least one sharp work over the course at Churchill Downs. While War Pass and Recapturetheglory may face a daunting tactical disadvantage in Louisville, their efforts on Saturday are difficult to fault. But Court Vision, Denis of Cork and El Gato Malo are not likely to threaten in Kentucky.
Kentucky Derby betting
This week’s ranking
Note: The reestablishment of War Pass and the likelihood that Recapturetheglory will contribute another speed element in the Derby makes it necessary to downgrade Big Brown’s chances, though it appears quite possible that the mercurial if inexperienced, sore-footed monster will be the betting favorite.
Pyro
Tale of Ekati
Visionaire
Big Truck
Cool Coal Man
Big Brown
War Pass
Colonel John
Of the three races, the Wood Memorial was easily the most critical. In defeat, War Pass dispelled the memory of his awful performance in the Tampa Bay Derby with a race typical of his earlier efforts though he was compromised by his own suicidal pace. (Were he my horse, there would be a rider change coming soon. Actually, there would have been a rider change after the Tampa Bay race.) In victory, Tale of Ekati revealed the versatility to rate behind a fast pace – and there will most assuredly be a fast pace in this Derby – and finish strongly. He will be a dangerous horse at Churchill Downs.
Those who finished behind the first two at Aqueduct, including Court Union, are dismissed as is the entire field that made a horse race appear more like a sailing regatta at Hawthorne, where the optimistically named Recapturetheglory took a frontrunning decision. The first five – the fifth being the apparently overrated Denis of Cork -- ran in place from the half-mile call to the wire at Hawthorne. The winner, owned by Louie Roussel and Ronnie Lamarque of Risen Star fame, represents yet another speed element in a Derby field that could—and is likely to include -- both Big Brown and War Pass, which raises the distinct possibility of a dizzying pace for the first six furlongs at Churchill Downs.
The Santa Anita Derby, run over a synthetic course and therefore of little use in evaluating the convincing winner, Colonel John, was truly a mess. The first three horses past the quarter pole were all under drives at that point and one, Bob Black Jack, stayed on to finish second and was not badly beaten by the only horse moving with any degree of authority at the end of nine furlongs.
Though the competition he faced at Santa Anita was highly suspect and generally staggering to the wire, Colonel John may be a legitimate threat in the Derby and will be willingly backed. But until he shows the capacity to translate synthetic track form to a dirt course, his place among the contenders is no more than a matter of conjecture.
The weekend’s racing was useful in the process of culling the herd. Horses do not win the Derby coming off bad races in their final preps. Tale of Ekati is most certainly a contender. Colonel John will go to Kentucky accompanied by many unanswered question and in need of at least one sharp work over the course at Churchill Downs. While War Pass and Recapturetheglory may face a daunting tactical disadvantage in Louisville, their efforts on Saturday are difficult to fault. But Court Vision, Denis of Cork and El Gato Malo are not likely to threaten in Kentucky.
Kentucky Derby betting
This week’s ranking
Note: The reestablishment of War Pass and the likelihood that Recapturetheglory will contribute another speed element in the Derby makes it necessary to downgrade Big Brown’s chances, though it appears quite possible that the mercurial if inexperienced, sore-footed monster will be the betting favorite.
Pyro
Tale of Ekati
Visionaire
Big Truck
Cool Coal Man
Big Brown
War Pass
Colonel John
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Back on track after the Wood
Two horses who began the afternoon positioned tenuously are squarely in the Kentucky Derby frame after Saturday’s Grade I Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, both reversing recent setbacks to rejuvenate their positions in the pecking order of Louisville-bound three-year-olds.
Tale of Ekati, sixth in the Louisiana Derby in his first start of the season, overtook War Pass, the two-year-old champion of last season who was defeated for the first time in the Tampa Bay Derby last month, in the final strides of nine furlongs.
Behind the first two, none of the seven others showed enough to encourage their connections’ Derby aspirations, but both Take of Ekati and War Pass rose to the occasion with the result heavily influenced by pace.
Inner Light, entered as a rabbit for stablemate Court Vision, who was a nonthreatening third, forced the early pace and though he failed to stay with War Pass for long, incited suicidal early fractions that the 4-5 favorite almost overcame. Still, a 22.46-secong first quarter and a half-mile in :46.07 run over a dull surface put War Pass in extreme jeopardy with five furlongs to run.
Edgar Prado, aboard Tale of Ekati for trainer Barclay Tagg, delivered a patient, tactically flawless ride and the horse beneath him was the only three-year-old at Aqueduct on Saturday to offer a late run despite the perilous pace. War Pass, beaten by a half-length, was 1¼ lengths clear of Court Vision, whose entrymate was far more useful to Tale Of Ekati. “[Prado] is pretty savvy and he knows what he’s doing,” said Tagg, who won the Wood a year ago with Nobiz Like Shobiz. “We’re ready to go on to Kentucky.”
With the exception of the first two, only First Commandment, scratched before the start because of a veterinary problem, avoided embarrassment. Despite a last furlong run in 13.93 seconds with War Pass laboring after his early effort and overtaken five strides from the final pole, no other horse threatened. With Tale of Ekati at the wire in 1:52.35 – the slowest final time for the Wood since 1952, the first year it was run at nine furlongs -- the field was strung out for about 40 lengths. Texas Wildcatter, narrowly beaten in the Gotham Stakes last month, finished in front of only Inner Light. Giant Moon finished fourth and while his effort was clearly improved over his disastrous run in the Gotham, he failed to pose a threat and may be a cut below the best of this generation of three-year-olds.
Tagg, who won the Tampa Bay Derby with Big Truck and still the only trainer to defeat War Pass: “I thought War Pass was the horse so beat so it was nice to see Inner Light go after him. Big Brown [the frontrunning Florida Derby winner] and War Pass are both in the Derby; that might work out well for us.”
“The first quarter was way too fast, said Cornelio Velasquez, who rode War Pass. “But he still ran great. [Inner Light] had no chance in the race. They knew my horse was going to the lead and they didn’t let him get a break.”
Trainer Nick Zito got everything he was looking for from War Pass except the win. “I’m still happy with the way he ran,” Zito said. “There were no excuses. I told [Velasquez] to drift off the fence because the rail was dead all day. It was a tiring track.”
The supporting card:
At the end of the last long losing streak, at the end of the bankroll with no hope in sight, the worse handicappers become weather forecasters. The day-long storms predicted on Friday failed to materialize and while wet weather was again forecast for Saturday, sunny skies prevailed in New York and a track labeled “good” at the outset of an 11-race card at Aqueduct was soon fast. Are these people ever right?
Surprisingly, the inside speed bias the prevailed over the first two days of racing on the main track at Aqueduct had apparently been washed away but horses closing in the middle of the course appeared to be compromised.
Bustin Stones, also ridden by Prado, ran a blistering first quarter and held his position on the lead to win the Grade I Carter Handicap in 1:22.91 for seven furlongs, reaching the wire a half-length in front of Executive Fleet, who pressed the early pace and stayed on stubbornly.
Apparently, J Be K is a limited horse in the very best sense of the term. Having failed badly when tested in the Louisiana Derby, he turned back to seven furlongs for the Bay Shore Stakes, the first of four stakes on the Aqueduct card, stalked Go Go Shoot through a 45.81-second half-mile, took over at that point and was five lengths in front of Gattopardo at the wire. After running the distance in 1:23.67 beneath Garrett Gomez, J Be K is undefeated in three starts at sprint distances, the first at Saratoga last summer. Gomez was able to race the colt at the flank of the speed in the Bay Shore, which suggests that J Be K may under the right circumstance stay a mile in a one-turn race.
Temporary Saint, 11-1, pulled off a mild, frontrunning upset in the Excelsior Handicap with the benefit of a speed-nursing ride from C.C. Lopez. He finished 1½ lengths clear of favored Nite Light. He and 8-1 Tale of Ekati’s upset of War Pass, coupled with two favorites, J Be K and Bustin Stones, resulted in a $5,512 pick-four payoff – nice score, but just over the IRS withholdi
Tale of Ekati, sixth in the Louisiana Derby in his first start of the season, overtook War Pass, the two-year-old champion of last season who was defeated for the first time in the Tampa Bay Derby last month, in the final strides of nine furlongs.
Behind the first two, none of the seven others showed enough to encourage their connections’ Derby aspirations, but both Take of Ekati and War Pass rose to the occasion with the result heavily influenced by pace.
Inner Light, entered as a rabbit for stablemate Court Vision, who was a nonthreatening third, forced the early pace and though he failed to stay with War Pass for long, incited suicidal early fractions that the 4-5 favorite almost overcame. Still, a 22.46-secong first quarter and a half-mile in :46.07 run over a dull surface put War Pass in extreme jeopardy with five furlongs to run.
Edgar Prado, aboard Tale of Ekati for trainer Barclay Tagg, delivered a patient, tactically flawless ride and the horse beneath him was the only three-year-old at Aqueduct on Saturday to offer a late run despite the perilous pace. War Pass, beaten by a half-length, was 1¼ lengths clear of Court Vision, whose entrymate was far more useful to Tale Of Ekati. “[Prado] is pretty savvy and he knows what he’s doing,” said Tagg, who won the Wood a year ago with Nobiz Like Shobiz. “We’re ready to go on to Kentucky.”
With the exception of the first two, only First Commandment, scratched before the start because of a veterinary problem, avoided embarrassment. Despite a last furlong run in 13.93 seconds with War Pass laboring after his early effort and overtaken five strides from the final pole, no other horse threatened. With Tale of Ekati at the wire in 1:52.35 – the slowest final time for the Wood since 1952, the first year it was run at nine furlongs -- the field was strung out for about 40 lengths. Texas Wildcatter, narrowly beaten in the Gotham Stakes last month, finished in front of only Inner Light. Giant Moon finished fourth and while his effort was clearly improved over his disastrous run in the Gotham, he failed to pose a threat and may be a cut below the best of this generation of three-year-olds.
Tagg, who won the Tampa Bay Derby with Big Truck and still the only trainer to defeat War Pass: “I thought War Pass was the horse so beat so it was nice to see Inner Light go after him. Big Brown [the frontrunning Florida Derby winner] and War Pass are both in the Derby; that might work out well for us.”
“The first quarter was way too fast, said Cornelio Velasquez, who rode War Pass. “But he still ran great. [Inner Light] had no chance in the race. They knew my horse was going to the lead and they didn’t let him get a break.”
Trainer Nick Zito got everything he was looking for from War Pass except the win. “I’m still happy with the way he ran,” Zito said. “There were no excuses. I told [Velasquez] to drift off the fence because the rail was dead all day. It was a tiring track.”
The supporting card:
At the end of the last long losing streak, at the end of the bankroll with no hope in sight, the worse handicappers become weather forecasters. The day-long storms predicted on Friday failed to materialize and while wet weather was again forecast for Saturday, sunny skies prevailed in New York and a track labeled “good” at the outset of an 11-race card at Aqueduct was soon fast. Are these people ever right?
Surprisingly, the inside speed bias the prevailed over the first two days of racing on the main track at Aqueduct had apparently been washed away but horses closing in the middle of the course appeared to be compromised.
Bustin Stones, also ridden by Prado, ran a blistering first quarter and held his position on the lead to win the Grade I Carter Handicap in 1:22.91 for seven furlongs, reaching the wire a half-length in front of Executive Fleet, who pressed the early pace and stayed on stubbornly.
Apparently, J Be K is a limited horse in the very best sense of the term. Having failed badly when tested in the Louisiana Derby, he turned back to seven furlongs for the Bay Shore Stakes, the first of four stakes on the Aqueduct card, stalked Go Go Shoot through a 45.81-second half-mile, took over at that point and was five lengths in front of Gattopardo at the wire. After running the distance in 1:23.67 beneath Garrett Gomez, J Be K is undefeated in three starts at sprint distances, the first at Saratoga last summer. Gomez was able to race the colt at the flank of the speed in the Bay Shore, which suggests that J Be K may under the right circumstance stay a mile in a one-turn race.
Temporary Saint, 11-1, pulled off a mild, frontrunning upset in the Excelsior Handicap with the benefit of a speed-nursing ride from C.C. Lopez. He finished 1½ lengths clear of favored Nite Light. He and 8-1 Tale of Ekati’s upset of War Pass, coupled with two favorites, J Be K and Bustin Stones, resulted in a $5,512 pick-four payoff – nice score, but just over the IRS withholdi