REGISTRATION NOW OPEN AT NTRA.COM FOR FREE "BREEDERS' CUP PICK 'EM CHALLENGE"
Registration is open at games.ntra.com for the "Breeders' Cup Pick 'Em Challenge", a free, online handicapping contest that offers a grand prize of four tickets to the 2010 Breeders' Cup next November at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.
Before you can play the NTRA 2009 Breeders' Cup Pick 'Em Challenge , you will need to establish a NTRA Inside Track ID and password. Register now for your free NTRA Inside Track membership. There is a limit of one entry per person, and one entry per email address. Multiple entries from the same person through multiple email addresses will be voided.Contestants must place one hypothetical $2 win and place wager on each of the 14 Breeders' Cup World Championships races to be held Friday and Saturday, November 6-7, at Oak Tree at Santa Anita Park.
Contest race schedule will follow the Breeders’ Cup World Championships race schedule , but is subject to change. IMPORTANT: Selections must be placed no later than 5 minutes prior to the contest’s listed post times for each race. Post times WILL NOT be adjusted due to minor track delays.
You must be 18-years-old or older to enter this contest. For complete contest rules please visit games.ntra.com.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
NTRA Thoroughbred Notebook
News and notes from around the Thoroughbred racing world, compiled by NTRA Communications.
ZENYATTA APPEARS LIKELY TO RISK UNDEFEATED STREAK AGAINST MALES AS CUP PRE-ENTRIES ARE ANNOUNCED
Led by the undefeated Zenyatta, Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, Belmont Stakes and Travers winner Summer Bird, and European standouts Goldikova (IRE) and Rip Van Winkle (IRE), 166 horses, including 10 defending or former Breeders’ Cup Champions, have been pre-entered for the 2009 Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
The 26th Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing’s richest and most prestigious global event, consisting of 14 races and purses totaling $25.5 million, will be held at Santa Anita Park on Friday, Nov., 6 and Saturday, Nov. 7 during the Oak Tree Racing Association meeting. This will mark the first time that the Breeders’ Cup will be held at the same track in consecutive years.
“Based on the strength of the pre-entries, in a little more than a week at Santa Anita, racing fans around the world will be treated to full fields of the best horses from both the U.S. and abroad,” said Breeders’ Cup President and CEO Greg Avioli.
Zenyatta, the 5-year-old supermare, winner of all 13 of her career starts including last year’s Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic, has been pre-entered to race against an outstanding international lineup of male horses in the 1 ¼-mile, $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. Owned by Jerry and Ann Moss and trained by John Shirreffs, Zenyatta has won all four of her starts this year against female competition. Zenyatta, who has also been pre-entered in the Ladies’ Classic on Championship Friday, has never before raced against males. If Zenyatta can win at the Breeders’ Cup again this year, she will surpass the mark of Personal Ensign, who also won all 13 of her career starts while facing top competition.
For Shirreffs, the race selection for Zenyatta will come down to her training and not the strength of her prospective opponents in the two races. “I haven’t seen all the pre-entries, but I’m familiar with most of the horses in there,” he said. “Really, the only factor will be Zenyatta. We knew the Classic would be tough no matter who enters in the race. So if she’s doing well, and that’s the direction the Mosses want to go in…then we’ll go.”
Zenyatta’s main challengers in the Classic come from an array of international standouts led by Summer Bird, winner of three grade I races. Trained by Tim Ice, Summer Bird got rolling during the second half of the year, capturing the Belmont Stakes, Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup.
Last year, European horses won five Breeders’ Cup races and ran one-two (Raven’s Pass and Henrythenavigator) in last year’s Classic. This year, there are 37 horses from Europe pre-entered. Trainer Aidan O’Brien brings two 3-year-old standouts for this year’s Classic in Rip Van Winkle (IRE) and Mastercraftsman (IRE). Rip Van Winkle captured the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood in July and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in September. Mastercraftsman won the St. James’s Palace at Royal Ascot in June and most recently took the Diamond Stakes at Dundalk in Ireland by five lengths. Mastercraftsman has also been pre-entered in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
Also in the Classic field is this year’s Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, who is winless in three starts since capturing the Run for the Roses.
Zenyatta is one of a record 10 defending or former Breeders’ Cup Champions to be pre-entered. Ventura (Filly & Mare Sprint); Forever Together (Filly & Mare Turf); Maram (Juvenile Fillies Turf); Muhannak (IRE) (Marathon); Desert Code (Turf Sprint); Goldikova (Mile); Midshipman (Juvenile); Conduit (IRE) (Turf) and Red Rocks (IRE) (2006 Turf) are the others. Final entries for all 14 Breeders’ Cup races will be taken on Tuesday, November 3.
NEW JOCKEY WAGER HIGHLIGHTS BC WAGERING MENU, RACE ORDER ANNOUNCEMENT
The race order and wagering menu was announced today for the 26th Breeders’ Cup World Championships, to be held on Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. This year’s wagering menu includes two all Breeders’ Cup Pick Sixes, $5.5 million in guaranteed pools, 10-cent Superfectas, rolling Pick 3’s, and two new betting propositions: a Ladies’ Classic - a Breeders’ Cup Head2Head Jockey Bet, and a Ladies’ Classic-Breeders’ Cup Classic daily double bet, which combines the winner of Friday’s featured event with the winner of Saturday’s marquee race.
The Breeders’ Cup Head2Head Jockey Bet challenges fans to select which rider will win the most races among the 14 Breeders’ Cup Events. The bet will offer 13 individual betting entities plus a field option consisting of all jockeys not individually named. Should two or more jockeys tie for most wins, the result will be treated as a dead heat.
There will be a total of 9 races (including six Breeders’ Cup races) worth $8.8 million on the Championship Friday program and 10 races (eight Breeders’ Cup races) worth over $17 million on Championship Saturday. Championship Friday begins with two Oak Tree allowance races beginning at 11:15 a.m. Pacific Time. The first Breeders’ Cup race on the program will be the $500,000 Breeders’ Cup Marathon (12:35 p.m.) followed by the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (1:08 p.m.); $2 million Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (1:45 p.m.); $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (2:23 p.m.); $1 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (3:02 p.m.) and the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (3:45 p.m.). The Las Palmas Stakes (4:25 p.m.) concludes the Friday program.
On Championship Saturday, first post time is 10:05 a.m. Pacific Time starting with the Damascus Stakes, followed by the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (10:45 a.m.); $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (11:23 a.m.); $2 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Sprint (12:10 p.m.); $2 million Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (12:49 p.m.); $2 million TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile (1:28 p.m.); $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (2:12 p.m.); $3 million Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Turf (2:57 p.m.) and the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (3:45 p.m.). The Oak Tree Derby at 4:25 p.m. follows the Classic.
Each Breeders’ Cup World Championships race will feature a maximum of 14 horses and wagering interests, with the exception of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, which have a maximum of 12 horses. In addition to the standard Win, Place and Show betting, there will be Exacta, Trifecta and 10-cent Superfecta wagering on every race; and rolling Pick 3 wagers beginning with the first race and continuing through all races on both Championship Friday and Championship Saturday. Each day’s Breeders’ Cup Ultra Pick Six wager will have a guaranteed pool and feature only Championships races. Friday’s Ultra Pick 6 will have a guaranteed gross pool of $500,000 and Saturday’s Ultra Pick 6 will feature a $2 million guaranteed gross pool. If no one hits the Friday Ultra Pick 6, the pool will carry over into Saturday’s Ultra Pick 6. The wager will be paid out at the end of the Saturday program. There will also be three guaranteed Pick 4 pools over the two days. Friday’s all-Championships Pick 4 will have a guaranteed pool of $500,000. On Saturday, the early all-Championships Pick 4 will have a $1 million guaranteed gross pool and the late all-Championships Pick 4 will have a $1.5 million gross pool.
BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST TOUR UNDERWAY
Breeders’ Cup Or Bust – a fundraising “drive” of the online publication “The Paulick Report” – kicked off its 10-day, seven-city tour yesterday with a close-to-home first stop at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. Breeders’ Cup Or Bust’s ultimate destination is the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on November 6-7 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.
The drive, undertaken by racing journalist Ray Paulick and his Paulick Report partner Brad Cummings, will raise money for Breeders’ Cup Charities benefiting the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and The V Foundation for Cancer Research. Already, more than $20,000 has been raised by the effort.
At Keeneland yesterday, 10 members of the jockey colony autographed 2009 Breeders’ Cup hats that were sold for $15.00 each. Later in the day, Paulick participated in a handicapping challenge with money provided by Breeders’ Cup and TVG.
“We have been blessed with enough success to be able to give back to our community,” Paulick said. “Not only will we have the opportunity to support our own athletes, but we will be able to raise funds for one of the top cancer research charities in the country. It’s important as an industry that we show charitable leadership both inside and outside our community.”
The tour also will include special promotions at Hawthorne Race Course in the Chicago area; Remington Park in Oklahoma City; Zia Park in Hobbs, New Mexico; Turf Paradise in Phoenix and a sports book in Las Vegas. The Paulick Report will chronicle its journey at paulickreport.com.
Paulick and Cummings will be making fundraising appeals to the public and accepting donations on a per-mile basis. Individuals, businesses or charitable foundations also may sponsor each segment of the drive, with 100 percent of proceeds going to the two charities. Donations also can be made online at breederscup.com/bccharities2.aspx. Additional information about Breeders’ Cup Or Bust is available at paulickreport.com or by email at info@paulickreport.com.
TICKETS FOR 2010 CUP AT STAKE AS NTRA PRESENTS “BREEDERS’ CUP PICK EM CHALLENGE”
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) will host a free, online handicapping competition -— the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Pick ‘Em Challenge -— in which contestants will make a mythical $2.00 win and place wager on each of the 14 Breeders’ Cup World Championships races to be run at Oak Tree at Santa Anita on November 6-7. The person accumulating the highest mythical bankroll from the 14 races will receive four tickets to the 2010 Breeders’ Cup next November at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.
There is no cost to play the Challenge, which can be accessed by visiting www.ntra.com.
“The Pick ‘Em Challenge provides an easy, straightforward way for both casual and core fans to test their handicapping skills at picking winners over two of the best betting days in all of sports,” said Keith Chamblin, Senior Vice President of the NTRA. “We look forward to hosting the winner and his or her guests in Louisville next year.”
ZENYATTA APPEARS LIKELY TO RISK UNDEFEATED STREAK AGAINST MALES AS CUP PRE-ENTRIES ARE ANNOUNCED
Led by the undefeated Zenyatta, Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, Belmont Stakes and Travers winner Summer Bird, and European standouts Goldikova (IRE) and Rip Van Winkle (IRE), 166 horses, including 10 defending or former Breeders’ Cup Champions, have been pre-entered for the 2009 Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
The 26th Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing’s richest and most prestigious global event, consisting of 14 races and purses totaling $25.5 million, will be held at Santa Anita Park on Friday, Nov., 6 and Saturday, Nov. 7 during the Oak Tree Racing Association meeting. This will mark the first time that the Breeders’ Cup will be held at the same track in consecutive years.
“Based on the strength of the pre-entries, in a little more than a week at Santa Anita, racing fans around the world will be treated to full fields of the best horses from both the U.S. and abroad,” said Breeders’ Cup President and CEO Greg Avioli.
Zenyatta, the 5-year-old supermare, winner of all 13 of her career starts including last year’s Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic, has been pre-entered to race against an outstanding international lineup of male horses in the 1 ¼-mile, $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. Owned by Jerry and Ann Moss and trained by John Shirreffs, Zenyatta has won all four of her starts this year against female competition. Zenyatta, who has also been pre-entered in the Ladies’ Classic on Championship Friday, has never before raced against males. If Zenyatta can win at the Breeders’ Cup again this year, she will surpass the mark of Personal Ensign, who also won all 13 of her career starts while facing top competition.
For Shirreffs, the race selection for Zenyatta will come down to her training and not the strength of her prospective opponents in the two races. “I haven’t seen all the pre-entries, but I’m familiar with most of the horses in there,” he said. “Really, the only factor will be Zenyatta. We knew the Classic would be tough no matter who enters in the race. So if she’s doing well, and that’s the direction the Mosses want to go in…then we’ll go.”
Zenyatta’s main challengers in the Classic come from an array of international standouts led by Summer Bird, winner of three grade I races. Trained by Tim Ice, Summer Bird got rolling during the second half of the year, capturing the Belmont Stakes, Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup.
Last year, European horses won five Breeders’ Cup races and ran one-two (Raven’s Pass and Henrythenavigator) in last year’s Classic. This year, there are 37 horses from Europe pre-entered. Trainer Aidan O’Brien brings two 3-year-old standouts for this year’s Classic in Rip Van Winkle (IRE) and Mastercraftsman (IRE). Rip Van Winkle captured the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood in July and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in September. Mastercraftsman won the St. James’s Palace at Royal Ascot in June and most recently took the Diamond Stakes at Dundalk in Ireland by five lengths. Mastercraftsman has also been pre-entered in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
Also in the Classic field is this year’s Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, who is winless in three starts since capturing the Run for the Roses.
Zenyatta is one of a record 10 defending or former Breeders’ Cup Champions to be pre-entered. Ventura (Filly & Mare Sprint); Forever Together (Filly & Mare Turf); Maram (Juvenile Fillies Turf); Muhannak (IRE) (Marathon); Desert Code (Turf Sprint); Goldikova (Mile); Midshipman (Juvenile); Conduit (IRE) (Turf) and Red Rocks (IRE) (2006 Turf) are the others. Final entries for all 14 Breeders’ Cup races will be taken on Tuesday, November 3.
NEW JOCKEY WAGER HIGHLIGHTS BC WAGERING MENU, RACE ORDER ANNOUNCEMENT
The race order and wagering menu was announced today for the 26th Breeders’ Cup World Championships, to be held on Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. This year’s wagering menu includes two all Breeders’ Cup Pick Sixes, $5.5 million in guaranteed pools, 10-cent Superfectas, rolling Pick 3’s, and two new betting propositions: a Ladies’ Classic - a Breeders’ Cup Head2Head Jockey Bet, and a Ladies’ Classic-Breeders’ Cup Classic daily double bet, which combines the winner of Friday’s featured event with the winner of Saturday’s marquee race.
The Breeders’ Cup Head2Head Jockey Bet challenges fans to select which rider will win the most races among the 14 Breeders’ Cup Events. The bet will offer 13 individual betting entities plus a field option consisting of all jockeys not individually named. Should two or more jockeys tie for most wins, the result will be treated as a dead heat.
There will be a total of 9 races (including six Breeders’ Cup races) worth $8.8 million on the Championship Friday program and 10 races (eight Breeders’ Cup races) worth over $17 million on Championship Saturday. Championship Friday begins with two Oak Tree allowance races beginning at 11:15 a.m. Pacific Time. The first Breeders’ Cup race on the program will be the $500,000 Breeders’ Cup Marathon (12:35 p.m.) followed by the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (1:08 p.m.); $2 million Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (1:45 p.m.); $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (2:23 p.m.); $1 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (3:02 p.m.) and the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (3:45 p.m.). The Las Palmas Stakes (4:25 p.m.) concludes the Friday program.
On Championship Saturday, first post time is 10:05 a.m. Pacific Time starting with the Damascus Stakes, followed by the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (10:45 a.m.); $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (11:23 a.m.); $2 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Sprint (12:10 p.m.); $2 million Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (12:49 p.m.); $2 million TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile (1:28 p.m.); $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (2:12 p.m.); $3 million Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Turf (2:57 p.m.) and the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (3:45 p.m.). The Oak Tree Derby at 4:25 p.m. follows the Classic.
Each Breeders’ Cup World Championships race will feature a maximum of 14 horses and wagering interests, with the exception of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, which have a maximum of 12 horses. In addition to the standard Win, Place and Show betting, there will be Exacta, Trifecta and 10-cent Superfecta wagering on every race; and rolling Pick 3 wagers beginning with the first race and continuing through all races on both Championship Friday and Championship Saturday. Each day’s Breeders’ Cup Ultra Pick Six wager will have a guaranteed pool and feature only Championships races. Friday’s Ultra Pick 6 will have a guaranteed gross pool of $500,000 and Saturday’s Ultra Pick 6 will feature a $2 million guaranteed gross pool. If no one hits the Friday Ultra Pick 6, the pool will carry over into Saturday’s Ultra Pick 6. The wager will be paid out at the end of the Saturday program. There will also be three guaranteed Pick 4 pools over the two days. Friday’s all-Championships Pick 4 will have a guaranteed pool of $500,000. On Saturday, the early all-Championships Pick 4 will have a $1 million guaranteed gross pool and the late all-Championships Pick 4 will have a $1.5 million gross pool.
BREEDERS’ CUP OR BUST TOUR UNDERWAY
Breeders’ Cup Or Bust – a fundraising “drive” of the online publication “The Paulick Report” – kicked off its 10-day, seven-city tour yesterday with a close-to-home first stop at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. Breeders’ Cup Or Bust’s ultimate destination is the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on November 6-7 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.
The drive, undertaken by racing journalist Ray Paulick and his Paulick Report partner Brad Cummings, will raise money for Breeders’ Cup Charities benefiting the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and The V Foundation for Cancer Research. Already, more than $20,000 has been raised by the effort.
At Keeneland yesterday, 10 members of the jockey colony autographed 2009 Breeders’ Cup hats that were sold for $15.00 each. Later in the day, Paulick participated in a handicapping challenge with money provided by Breeders’ Cup and TVG.
“We have been blessed with enough success to be able to give back to our community,” Paulick said. “Not only will we have the opportunity to support our own athletes, but we will be able to raise funds for one of the top cancer research charities in the country. It’s important as an industry that we show charitable leadership both inside and outside our community.”
The tour also will include special promotions at Hawthorne Race Course in the Chicago area; Remington Park in Oklahoma City; Zia Park in Hobbs, New Mexico; Turf Paradise in Phoenix and a sports book in Las Vegas. The Paulick Report will chronicle its journey at paulickreport.com.
Paulick and Cummings will be making fundraising appeals to the public and accepting donations on a per-mile basis. Individuals, businesses or charitable foundations also may sponsor each segment of the drive, with 100 percent of proceeds going to the two charities. Donations also can be made online at breederscup.com/bccharities2.aspx. Additional information about Breeders’ Cup Or Bust is available at paulickreport.com or by email at info@paulickreport.com.
TICKETS FOR 2010 CUP AT STAKE AS NTRA PRESENTS “BREEDERS’ CUP PICK EM CHALLENGE”
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) will host a free, online handicapping competition -— the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Pick ‘Em Challenge -— in which contestants will make a mythical $2.00 win and place wager on each of the 14 Breeders’ Cup World Championships races to be run at Oak Tree at Santa Anita on November 6-7. The person accumulating the highest mythical bankroll from the 14 races will receive four tickets to the 2010 Breeders’ Cup next November at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.
There is no cost to play the Challenge, which can be accessed by visiting www.ntra.com.
“The Pick ‘Em Challenge provides an easy, straightforward way for both casual and core fans to test their handicapping skills at picking winners over two of the best betting days in all of sports,” said Keith Chamblin, Senior Vice President of the NTRA. “We look forward to hosting the winner and his or her guests in Louisville next year.”
Thursday, October 22, 2009
NTRA Thoroughbred Notebook
VINEYARD HAVEN TOPS NINE IN SATURDAY’S GRADE I DE FRANCIS DASH
Nine sharp sprinters have been entered in Saturday’s Grade I, $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md. The De Francis Dash is one of just three Grade I races contested in Maryland, along with the Preakness Stakes, the middle jewel of racing’s Triple Crown, and the historic Pimlico Special.
Introduced in 1990, the De Francis Dash is one of the elite six-furlong sprints in the country with four of the 18 winners -- Housebuster (1991), Cherokee Run (1994), Smoke Glacken (1997) and Thor’s Echo (2006) -- earning Eclipse Award honors for champion sprinter.
Favoritism for this year’s renewal has been bestowed upon Godolphin Stable’s talented three-year-old Vineyard Haven (8-5 in the morning line), who was disqualified from first and placed second in his last start, the Grade I King’s Bishop Stakes at Saratoga on August 29. Vineyard Haven will break from the rail under Alan Garcia.
“He’s had an easy time for a couple of weeks after that race but once he got back at Belmont we gave him a couple of easy half miles and then we had him stride along and he looked great doing that. [Yesterday] he went 47 and 1 and I’m very happy with his preparations,” said assistant trainer Rick Mettee. “We think he’s fit, sound and ready to run another big race. It is not going to be easy from the rail but we are 8-5 in a Grade I so we’ll take our chances.”
The son of Lido Palace (CHI) won a pair of Grade I races during his two-year-old campaign. Last time out, Vineyard Haven ran a career-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure in the King’s Bishop. However, three of his competitors also produced triple digit numbers in their last start, including the 9-2 second choice Fleet Valid.
Fleet Valid ran a 100 Beyer in an easy score in the Icecapade Stakes at Monmouth Park on September 7. The son of Montbrook, who won the 1993 De Francis Dash, has won four straight since being claimed by trainer Scott Volk for $14,000.
“This is as good as it gets,” Volk said. “He’s got a lot of back class and for $14,000 you take a chance. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. He’s gotten better every time he’s run for us. It’s an amazing story. We never dreamed this would happen. He returned to his old form. Somehow he’s come back to life.”
The complete field for the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash, in post position order, is: Vineyard Haven (jockey: Alan Garcia, morning line odds: 8-5); Roaring Lion (Elvis Trujillo, 6-1); Ravalo (Jeremy Rose, 8-1); Fleet Valid (Pablo Morales, 9-2); True Quality (C.C. Lopez, 5-1); Peace Chant (Jorge Chavez, 12-1); Sacred Journey (David Cohen, 15-1); Saratoga Russell (Channing Hill, 20-1); and Ah Day (Sheldon Russell, 12-1).
CALDER dONATES aDDITIONAL $10,000 TO “Pure Thoughts”
Calder Casino & Race Course and the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association have each made strong financial commitments this year to Pure Thoughts Inc. Horse & Foal Rescue and Thoroughbred Rehabilitation & Placement. On Saturday, Oct. 17 – Festival of the Sun day – Calder donated an additional $10,000 to the cause in a winner’s circle presentation.
Pure Thoughts is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization whose mission, in part, is to save horses from slaughter, neglect and abuse. Earlier this year, the Pure Thoughts farm, located in Loxahatchee, Fla., expanded its Thoroughbred division to accept racehorses from South Florida that can no longer compete on the racetrack, and provide them with a safe home and the opportunity to be rehabilitated if needed. The goals of Pure Thoughts also include the proper placement of horses and insuring the safety of the placed horses throughout the rest of their lives.
Along with the FHBPA and donations from fans on special race days at Calder, over $50,000 has been raised for Pure Thoughts, which has serviced 30 intakes and placed 12 adoptions so far this year. Those interested individuals in making a tax-deductible contribution to Pure Thoughts should contact Jennifer Swanson at Pure Thoughts, Inc., at (561) 254-0415. More information can also be found online at www.pthr.org.
RACING TO HISTORY
Oct. 22, 1945: El Lobo and Featherfoot became the first Thoroughbreds to be transported by airplane. They were flown from Los Angeles to San Mateo in a twin-engine Budd transport plane piloted by Maj. William Hoelle of the Flying Tiger Line, who landed the plane in the parking area at Bay Meadows. On Oct. 27, El Lobo won the Burlingame Handicap at Bay Meadows, proving that horses could fly (and win).
Oct. 22, 1955: A rare triple dead-heat for first took place at Mexico’s Caliente in the eighth race. Stormsorno, Chance Speed and Beaufair were the three winners.
Oct. 22, 1964: Jockey Bill Shoemaker won the 5,000th victory of his career aboard Slapstick at Aqueduct Race Track.
Oct. 22, 1973: Secretariat was flown to Woodbine Racecourse, where he would compete in his final career race, the Canadian International Championship Stakes.
Oct. 24, 1877: Congress adjourned to see a race between Parole, Ten Broek and Tom Ochiltree, which was held at Pimlico.
Oct. 24, 1953: Tom Fool won the Pimlico Special Stakes by eight lengths, capping a perfect four-year-old campaign with 10 stakes wins in as many starts. The Special was his fourth consecutive race run as a non-betting exhibition. Tom Fool was voted Horse of the Year for 1953, acing out Native Dancer, who lost only one of his 10 stakes races that year, the Kentucky Derby.
Oct. 24, 2008: Breeders’ Cup conducted its first all-female card, with the colts and geldings races all being held on the second day of the two-day event at Oak Tree at Santa Anita.
Oct. 25, 1870: Pimlico, the nation’s second-oldest Thoroughbred racetrack, began its inaugural meet.
Oct. 25, 1947: After winning the Gallant Fox Handicap at Jamaica, a former $1,500 claimer, Stymie, became the world’s leading money-winning Thoroughbred, with earnings of $816,060. Stymie raced two additional years and retired in 1949, at age eight, with lifetime winnings of $918,485.
Oct. 25, 2003: Trainer Richard Mandella set a single-day record winning four Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships races at Santa Anita. Mandella saddled Halfbridled to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies; Action This Day in the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile; Johar to a dead-heat win in the John Deere Breeders’ Cup Turf; and Pleasantly Perfect in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, Powered by Dodge. The Johar dead heat with High Chaparral in the Turf marked the first dead heat in Breeders’ Cup history. And in guiding Halfbridled to victory, jockey Julie Krone became the first woman to ride the winner of a Breeders’ Cup flat race.
Oct. 26, 1949: Bill Shoemaker rode to his first stakes victory, the George Marshall Claiming Handicap at Bay Meadows, aboard a five-year-old horse named Al.
Oct. 26, 1990: Jockey Julie Krone rode her 2,000th career winner, aboard John Forbes-trained Rainbow Quartz, at The Meadowlands.
Oct. 26, 1996: The Breeders’ Cup was held outside the U.S. for the first time, at Woodbine Racecourse in Toronto, Canada. At Woodbine, Jenine Sahadi became the first female trainer to saddle a Breeders’ Cup winner when she sent Lit de Justice to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
Oct. 27, 1870: Preakness won the Dinner Stakes at the newly opened Pimlico Racecourse. In 1873, the first Preakness Stakes, a race was named in his honor, was held at Pimlico.
Oct. 27, 1990: Bayakoa (ARG) became the second horse to win two consecutive Breeders’ Cup Championship races. Both of her victories came in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Oct. 27, 2001: Tiznow, 2000 Breeders’ Cup Classic champion and Horse of the Year, won the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Classic for a second straight year, outdueling European sensation Sakhee in the stretch at the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships at Belmont Park. Total wagering on the 10-race program was $104,145,186, the second highest Breeders’ Cup total in history, just behind the 2000 total of $108,603,040.
Oct. 27, 2001: Participants in the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships donated more than $2.7 million from their purse earnings to the NTRA Charities - New York Heroes Fund, established to benefit the children and spouses of the firefighters, police officers, emergency workers and other victims who perished in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Sheikh Mohammed’s Dubai-based Godolphin stable, which pledged 100 percent of its Breeders’ Cup earnings to the Heroes Fund, donated approximately $2.5 million on the day, thanks in part to wins by two of his horses, Fantastic Light and Tempera.
Oct. 27, 2001, Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel saw his 0-for-38 streak in Breeders' Cup races come to an end when Squirtle Squirt won the Penske Auto Centers Breeders' Cup Sprint.
Nine sharp sprinters have been entered in Saturday’s Grade I, $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md. The De Francis Dash is one of just three Grade I races contested in Maryland, along with the Preakness Stakes, the middle jewel of racing’s Triple Crown, and the historic Pimlico Special.
Introduced in 1990, the De Francis Dash is one of the elite six-furlong sprints in the country with four of the 18 winners -- Housebuster (1991), Cherokee Run (1994), Smoke Glacken (1997) and Thor’s Echo (2006) -- earning Eclipse Award honors for champion sprinter.
Favoritism for this year’s renewal has been bestowed upon Godolphin Stable’s talented three-year-old Vineyard Haven (8-5 in the morning line), who was disqualified from first and placed second in his last start, the Grade I King’s Bishop Stakes at Saratoga on August 29. Vineyard Haven will break from the rail under Alan Garcia.
“He’s had an easy time for a couple of weeks after that race but once he got back at Belmont we gave him a couple of easy half miles and then we had him stride along and he looked great doing that. [Yesterday] he went 47 and 1 and I’m very happy with his preparations,” said assistant trainer Rick Mettee. “We think he’s fit, sound and ready to run another big race. It is not going to be easy from the rail but we are 8-5 in a Grade I so we’ll take our chances.”
The son of Lido Palace (CHI) won a pair of Grade I races during his two-year-old campaign. Last time out, Vineyard Haven ran a career-best 103 Beyer Speed Figure in the King’s Bishop. However, three of his competitors also produced triple digit numbers in their last start, including the 9-2 second choice Fleet Valid.
Fleet Valid ran a 100 Beyer in an easy score in the Icecapade Stakes at Monmouth Park on September 7. The son of Montbrook, who won the 1993 De Francis Dash, has won four straight since being claimed by trainer Scott Volk for $14,000.
“This is as good as it gets,” Volk said. “He’s got a lot of back class and for $14,000 you take a chance. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. He’s gotten better every time he’s run for us. It’s an amazing story. We never dreamed this would happen. He returned to his old form. Somehow he’s come back to life.”
The complete field for the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash, in post position order, is: Vineyard Haven (jockey: Alan Garcia, morning line odds: 8-5); Roaring Lion (Elvis Trujillo, 6-1); Ravalo (Jeremy Rose, 8-1); Fleet Valid (Pablo Morales, 9-2); True Quality (C.C. Lopez, 5-1); Peace Chant (Jorge Chavez, 12-1); Sacred Journey (David Cohen, 15-1); Saratoga Russell (Channing Hill, 20-1); and Ah Day (Sheldon Russell, 12-1).
CALDER dONATES aDDITIONAL $10,000 TO “Pure Thoughts”
Calder Casino & Race Course and the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association have each made strong financial commitments this year to Pure Thoughts Inc. Horse & Foal Rescue and Thoroughbred Rehabilitation & Placement. On Saturday, Oct. 17 – Festival of the Sun day – Calder donated an additional $10,000 to the cause in a winner’s circle presentation.
Pure Thoughts is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization whose mission, in part, is to save horses from slaughter, neglect and abuse. Earlier this year, the Pure Thoughts farm, located in Loxahatchee, Fla., expanded its Thoroughbred division to accept racehorses from South Florida that can no longer compete on the racetrack, and provide them with a safe home and the opportunity to be rehabilitated if needed. The goals of Pure Thoughts also include the proper placement of horses and insuring the safety of the placed horses throughout the rest of their lives.
Along with the FHBPA and donations from fans on special race days at Calder, over $50,000 has been raised for Pure Thoughts, which has serviced 30 intakes and placed 12 adoptions so far this year. Those interested individuals in making a tax-deductible contribution to Pure Thoughts should contact Jennifer Swanson at Pure Thoughts, Inc., at (561) 254-0415. More information can also be found online at www.pthr.org.
RACING TO HISTORY
Oct. 22, 1945: El Lobo and Featherfoot became the first Thoroughbreds to be transported by airplane. They were flown from Los Angeles to San Mateo in a twin-engine Budd transport plane piloted by Maj. William Hoelle of the Flying Tiger Line, who landed the plane in the parking area at Bay Meadows. On Oct. 27, El Lobo won the Burlingame Handicap at Bay Meadows, proving that horses could fly (and win).
Oct. 22, 1955: A rare triple dead-heat for first took place at Mexico’s Caliente in the eighth race. Stormsorno, Chance Speed and Beaufair were the three winners.
Oct. 22, 1964: Jockey Bill Shoemaker won the 5,000th victory of his career aboard Slapstick at Aqueduct Race Track.
Oct. 22, 1973: Secretariat was flown to Woodbine Racecourse, where he would compete in his final career race, the Canadian International Championship Stakes.
Oct. 24, 1877: Congress adjourned to see a race between Parole, Ten Broek and Tom Ochiltree, which was held at Pimlico.
Oct. 24, 1953: Tom Fool won the Pimlico Special Stakes by eight lengths, capping a perfect four-year-old campaign with 10 stakes wins in as many starts. The Special was his fourth consecutive race run as a non-betting exhibition. Tom Fool was voted Horse of the Year for 1953, acing out Native Dancer, who lost only one of his 10 stakes races that year, the Kentucky Derby.
Oct. 24, 2008: Breeders’ Cup conducted its first all-female card, with the colts and geldings races all being held on the second day of the two-day event at Oak Tree at Santa Anita.
Oct. 25, 1870: Pimlico, the nation’s second-oldest Thoroughbred racetrack, began its inaugural meet.
Oct. 25, 1947: After winning the Gallant Fox Handicap at Jamaica, a former $1,500 claimer, Stymie, became the world’s leading money-winning Thoroughbred, with earnings of $816,060. Stymie raced two additional years and retired in 1949, at age eight, with lifetime winnings of $918,485.
Oct. 25, 2003: Trainer Richard Mandella set a single-day record winning four Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships races at Santa Anita. Mandella saddled Halfbridled to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies; Action This Day in the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile; Johar to a dead-heat win in the John Deere Breeders’ Cup Turf; and Pleasantly Perfect in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, Powered by Dodge. The Johar dead heat with High Chaparral in the Turf marked the first dead heat in Breeders’ Cup history. And in guiding Halfbridled to victory, jockey Julie Krone became the first woman to ride the winner of a Breeders’ Cup flat race.
Oct. 26, 1949: Bill Shoemaker rode to his first stakes victory, the George Marshall Claiming Handicap at Bay Meadows, aboard a five-year-old horse named Al.
Oct. 26, 1990: Jockey Julie Krone rode her 2,000th career winner, aboard John Forbes-trained Rainbow Quartz, at The Meadowlands.
Oct. 26, 1996: The Breeders’ Cup was held outside the U.S. for the first time, at Woodbine Racecourse in Toronto, Canada. At Woodbine, Jenine Sahadi became the first female trainer to saddle a Breeders’ Cup winner when she sent Lit de Justice to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
Oct. 27, 1870: Preakness won the Dinner Stakes at the newly opened Pimlico Racecourse. In 1873, the first Preakness Stakes, a race was named in his honor, was held at Pimlico.
Oct. 27, 1990: Bayakoa (ARG) became the second horse to win two consecutive Breeders’ Cup Championship races. Both of her victories came in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Oct. 27, 2001: Tiznow, 2000 Breeders’ Cup Classic champion and Horse of the Year, won the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Classic for a second straight year, outdueling European sensation Sakhee in the stretch at the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships at Belmont Park. Total wagering on the 10-race program was $104,145,186, the second highest Breeders’ Cup total in history, just behind the 2000 total of $108,603,040.
Oct. 27, 2001: Participants in the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships donated more than $2.7 million from their purse earnings to the NTRA Charities - New York Heroes Fund, established to benefit the children and spouses of the firefighters, police officers, emergency workers and other victims who perished in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Sheikh Mohammed’s Dubai-based Godolphin stable, which pledged 100 percent of its Breeders’ Cup earnings to the Heroes Fund, donated approximately $2.5 million on the day, thanks in part to wins by two of his horses, Fantastic Light and Tempera.
Oct. 27, 2001, Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel saw his 0-for-38 streak in Breeders' Cup races come to an end when Squirtle Squirt won the Penske Auto Centers Breeders' Cup Sprint.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
NTRA Thoroughbred Notebook
News and notes from around the Thoroughbred racing world, compiled by NTRA Communications.
WOODBINE HOSTS THREE “WIN AND YOU’RE IN” EVENTS SATURDAY
The 2009 road to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships takes a Saturday detour north of the border to Canada where Woodbine in suburban Toronto will present three big-money grass races, with each guaranteeing the winner a starting berth in the November 7 Breeders’ Cup.
The $2 million Pattison Canadian International, run at 1 ½ miles, will be a rematch of the top four official finishers in the Grade I Northern Dancer Stakes at Woodbine last month: Just as Well, who won the Northern Dancer via disqualification of first-place finisher Marsh Side (who was placed fourth); Quijano (placed second) and third-place finisher Champs Elysees.
The International will also feature a strong contingent of foreign-based horses, including the 5-2 morning line favorite Jukebox Jury, the winner of Germany’s group III Prix Von Europa. Whoever wins will have a spot waiting for him, pending the payment of entry fees, for the November 7 Breeders’ Cup Turf.
The Grade I E.P. Taylor Stakes offer its fillies and mares a $1 million purse and a berth in the November 6 Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf. The morning line favorite is European invader Rainbow View, whose trainer, John Gosden, is actually using the race as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic. For this grass event, Rainbow View will face strong challenges from Princess Haya, who upset champion Forever Together in the Grade I Canadian Stakes last month, and the European based Look Here, who won the Irish Oaks last year.
The Grade II, $500,000 Nearctic Stakes is a turf sprint run at six furlongs, with the winner able to move on to the November 7 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Top contenders include Hero’s Reward, who won the 2007 renewal of this race, Jungle King, who won the Play the King Stakes earlier this year over the Woodbine grass course, and Field Commission who faded to sixth in the $1 million Woodbine Mile.
ESPN2 will televise all three races live in a two-hour telecast that begins at 4:00 p.m. (ET).
GRADE I WINNERS GOZZIP GIRL, MISS WORLD TOP QE II CHALLENGE CUP FIELD
Farnsworth Stables’ Gozzip Girl and Waratah Thoroughbreds’ Miss World head a field of seven 3-year-old fillies entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 26th running of the Grade I, $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup to be run at 1 1/8 miles on the turf at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.
A winner of three graded stakes this year highlighted by a Grade I score in the American Oaks Invitational, Gozzip Girl will break from post position four and be ridden by Kent Desormeaux.
Trained by Tom Albertrani, Gozzip Girl ran second at Keeneland this spring in the Grade I Ashland Stakes on the main track and enters the QE II off a troubled fourth-place finish in the Garden City Stakes at Belmont Park last month.
Miss World has won her past three starts and captured the Garden City in her most recent outing. Trained by Christophe Clement, Miss World will be ridden Saturday by Rajiv Maragh and break from post position two.
The field for the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, from the hedge out, is: Hameildaeme (GB) (jockey: Alex Solis), Miss World (Rajiv Maragh), Hot Cha Cha (James Graham), Gozzip Girl (Kent Desormeaux), Shared Account (Edgar Prado), Lady Shakespeare (Emma-Jayne Wilson) and Blind Date (Robby Albarado). All starters will carry 121 pounds.
DUTROW AIMS FOR HAT TRICK IN MEADOWLANDS CUP
Trainer Rick Dutrow bids for his third straight Meadowlands Cup trophy on Friday night as he sends out the entry of Anak Nakal and Great Debater in the Grade II event at Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, N.J.
The $300,000 Meadowlands Cup has drawn a solid field of nine contenders, including recent upstart Etched, whose only loss in five career starts came in Dubai last February. The field also includes It’s A Bird, winner of the Oaklawn and Lone Star handicaps, and local favorite Kiss The Kid, who will make his last career start in the 1 1/8-mile race. The Nick Zito-trained Cool Coal Man, runner-up in two Grade III events this season, received the slight nod as the 5-2 morning line favorite.
Dutrow won the 2007 Meadowlands Cup with Diamond Stripes and took home a second trophy last year with Arson Squad, who ended a seven-race losing streak in the race. Like Arson Squad, 4-year-old Anak Nakal will make his debut for Dutrow in the Meadowlands Cup. The son of Victory Gallop began his career with Nick Zito and reached top form last fall, winning the Pennsylvania Derby and rallying late to finish second behind Arson Squad in the Meadowlands Cup. He finished last in the $6 million Dubai World Cup on March 28 before being freshened up and transferred to Dutrow’s barn.
“He certainly came to us in the right way and he’s training very good right now,” Dutrow said this morning. “I know he is going to run good tomorrow night. He may need a race, but he is not training that way.”
With earnings of nearly $1 million and a string of bullet works at Aqueduct leading up to the race, Anak Nakal is Dutrow’s best shot at a Meadowlands Cup hat trick. His stablemate Great Debater will set the tempo the stone closer needs in the race.
“The only reason I entered him was to make sure the pace is real in the race,” Dutrow said.
After the Meadowlands Cup, the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs will be the next target for Anak Nakal.
LIKE BROTHER, LIKE SISTER
Full siblings Mount Wilton and East Coaster won consecutive races at Suffolk Downs in East Boston, Mass., yesterday. Both horses are by Graeme Hall out of the Our Emblem mare Eastlynne and were bred in Florida by Eugene Melnyk.
In the sixth race, Mount Wilton earned his first local victory with a two-and-three-quarter length triumph. Ridden by Carlos Quinones and trained by John Rigattieri, the five-year-old gelding returned $9.80 to win.
East Coaster followed that up in the seventh race with a two-length score under Yamil Rosario. It was the four-year-old filly's seventh local victory for New England Hall of Fame trainer George Handy. Like his big brother, East Coaster also went off at odds of 7-2 and paid $9.40 to win.
WOODBINE HOSTS THREE “WIN AND YOU’RE IN” EVENTS SATURDAY
The 2009 road to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships takes a Saturday detour north of the border to Canada where Woodbine in suburban Toronto will present three big-money grass races, with each guaranteeing the winner a starting berth in the November 7 Breeders’ Cup.
The $2 million Pattison Canadian International, run at 1 ½ miles, will be a rematch of the top four official finishers in the Grade I Northern Dancer Stakes at Woodbine last month: Just as Well, who won the Northern Dancer via disqualification of first-place finisher Marsh Side (who was placed fourth); Quijano (placed second) and third-place finisher Champs Elysees.
The International will also feature a strong contingent of foreign-based horses, including the 5-2 morning line favorite Jukebox Jury, the winner of Germany’s group III Prix Von Europa. Whoever wins will have a spot waiting for him, pending the payment of entry fees, for the November 7 Breeders’ Cup Turf.
The Grade I E.P. Taylor Stakes offer its fillies and mares a $1 million purse and a berth in the November 6 Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf. The morning line favorite is European invader Rainbow View, whose trainer, John Gosden, is actually using the race as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic. For this grass event, Rainbow View will face strong challenges from Princess Haya, who upset champion Forever Together in the Grade I Canadian Stakes last month, and the European based Look Here, who won the Irish Oaks last year.
The Grade II, $500,000 Nearctic Stakes is a turf sprint run at six furlongs, with the winner able to move on to the November 7 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Top contenders include Hero’s Reward, who won the 2007 renewal of this race, Jungle King, who won the Play the King Stakes earlier this year over the Woodbine grass course, and Field Commission who faded to sixth in the $1 million Woodbine Mile.
ESPN2 will televise all three races live in a two-hour telecast that begins at 4:00 p.m. (ET).
GRADE I WINNERS GOZZIP GIRL, MISS WORLD TOP QE II CHALLENGE CUP FIELD
Farnsworth Stables’ Gozzip Girl and Waratah Thoroughbreds’ Miss World head a field of seven 3-year-old fillies entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 26th running of the Grade I, $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup to be run at 1 1/8 miles on the turf at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.
A winner of three graded stakes this year highlighted by a Grade I score in the American Oaks Invitational, Gozzip Girl will break from post position four and be ridden by Kent Desormeaux.
Trained by Tom Albertrani, Gozzip Girl ran second at Keeneland this spring in the Grade I Ashland Stakes on the main track and enters the QE II off a troubled fourth-place finish in the Garden City Stakes at Belmont Park last month.
Miss World has won her past three starts and captured the Garden City in her most recent outing. Trained by Christophe Clement, Miss World will be ridden Saturday by Rajiv Maragh and break from post position two.
The field for the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, from the hedge out, is: Hameildaeme (GB) (jockey: Alex Solis), Miss World (Rajiv Maragh), Hot Cha Cha (James Graham), Gozzip Girl (Kent Desormeaux), Shared Account (Edgar Prado), Lady Shakespeare (Emma-Jayne Wilson) and Blind Date (Robby Albarado). All starters will carry 121 pounds.
DUTROW AIMS FOR HAT TRICK IN MEADOWLANDS CUP
Trainer Rick Dutrow bids for his third straight Meadowlands Cup trophy on Friday night as he sends out the entry of Anak Nakal and Great Debater in the Grade II event at Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, N.J.
The $300,000 Meadowlands Cup has drawn a solid field of nine contenders, including recent upstart Etched, whose only loss in five career starts came in Dubai last February. The field also includes It’s A Bird, winner of the Oaklawn and Lone Star handicaps, and local favorite Kiss The Kid, who will make his last career start in the 1 1/8-mile race. The Nick Zito-trained Cool Coal Man, runner-up in two Grade III events this season, received the slight nod as the 5-2 morning line favorite.
Dutrow won the 2007 Meadowlands Cup with Diamond Stripes and took home a second trophy last year with Arson Squad, who ended a seven-race losing streak in the race. Like Arson Squad, 4-year-old Anak Nakal will make his debut for Dutrow in the Meadowlands Cup. The son of Victory Gallop began his career with Nick Zito and reached top form last fall, winning the Pennsylvania Derby and rallying late to finish second behind Arson Squad in the Meadowlands Cup. He finished last in the $6 million Dubai World Cup on March 28 before being freshened up and transferred to Dutrow’s barn.
“He certainly came to us in the right way and he’s training very good right now,” Dutrow said this morning. “I know he is going to run good tomorrow night. He may need a race, but he is not training that way.”
With earnings of nearly $1 million and a string of bullet works at Aqueduct leading up to the race, Anak Nakal is Dutrow’s best shot at a Meadowlands Cup hat trick. His stablemate Great Debater will set the tempo the stone closer needs in the race.
“The only reason I entered him was to make sure the pace is real in the race,” Dutrow said.
After the Meadowlands Cup, the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs will be the next target for Anak Nakal.
LIKE BROTHER, LIKE SISTER
Full siblings Mount Wilton and East Coaster won consecutive races at Suffolk Downs in East Boston, Mass., yesterday. Both horses are by Graeme Hall out of the Our Emblem mare Eastlynne and were bred in Florida by Eugene Melnyk.
In the sixth race, Mount Wilton earned his first local victory with a two-and-three-quarter length triumph. Ridden by Carlos Quinones and trained by John Rigattieri, the five-year-old gelding returned $9.80 to win.
East Coaster followed that up in the seventh race with a two-length score under Yamil Rosario. It was the four-year-old filly's seventh local victory for New England Hall of Fame trainer George Handy. Like his big brother, East Coaster also went off at odds of 7-2 and paid $9.40 to win.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Perefct Bull to Oklahoma Derby
Red Dog Stable's Perfect Bull is entered in Sunday's $400,000 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park. The Minnesota bred is trained by Bernell Rhone and will be ridden by Dean Butler. Perfect Bull was named 3-year-old colt of the mee
t this summer at Canterbury Park. The 1 1/8 mile race is the 9th on the card with a 5:06pm post time.
A Minnesota bred winning the Oklahoma Derby is not unprecedented. Wally's Choice did it in 2004 when it was a Grade 3 event.
UPDATE: WALLY'S CHOICE now entered on Monday in a one mile optional claimer on the lawn.
Speaking of Wally's Choice, he is entered in race 10 at Remington on Sunday: the $150,000 Remington Green Stakes at 1 1/16 mile on the turf. Canterbury Park Hall of Famer Luis Quinonez will ride for trainer Mike Biehler. If Wally wins he would become the all-time leading Minnesota bred money earner. Blair's Cove currently holds that honor with lifetime earnings of $533,528. Wally's Choice has a career bankroll of $489,889.
Biehler trains locally owned Pursue a Dream who also is entered in the Remington Green. Post time for the race is scheduled for 5:33pm.
jm
t this summer at Canterbury Park. The 1 1/8 mile race is the 9th on the card with a 5:06pm post time.A Minnesota bred winning the Oklahoma Derby is not unprecedented. Wally's Choice did it in 2004 when it was a Grade 3 event.
UPDATE: WALLY'S CHOICE now entered on Monday in a one mile optional claimer on the lawn.
Speaking of Wally's Choice, he is entered in race 10 at Remington on Sunday: the $150,000 Remington Green Stakes at 1 1/16 mile on the turf. Canterbury Park Hall of Famer Luis Quinonez will ride for trainer Mike Biehler. If Wally wins he would become the all-time leading Minnesota bred money earner. Blair's Cove currently holds that honor with lifetime earnings of $533,528. Wally's Choice has a career bankroll of $489,889.
Biehler trains locally owned Pursue a Dream who also is entered in the Remington Green. Post time for the race is scheduled for 5:33pm.
jm
Thursday, October 8, 2009
NTRA Thoroughbred Notebook
News and notes from around the Thoroughbred racing world, compiled by NTRA Communications.
MINE THAT BIRD, ZENYATTA SET FOR OAK TREE’S BC CHALLENGE DAY SATURDAY
Mine That Bird, the dramatic 50-1 shot who streaked along the rail to win this year’s Kentucky Derby by 6 ¾ lengths, and unbeaten 5-year-old mare Zenyatta, a paragon of perfection in 12 career starts while earning $2.5 million, provide the star power Saturday for Oak Tree’s Breeders’ Cup Challenge Day at Santa Anita Park.
Three Grade I stakes races and one Grade II stakes -— all “Win and You’re In” competitions ensuring each winner a starting spot in Oak Tree’s two-day, $25.5-million Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Nov. 6 and 7 -- mark Saturday’s elite, 10-race program.
When heading a cast of 10 in the in the 28th running of the $350,000 Goodwood Stakes at 1 1/8 miles over Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride surface, Mine That Bird will become the first Derby winner to compete in Oak Tree’s prestigious event the same year as winning the Run for the Roses, and he’ll become the first non-California based Derby winner to run at Santa Anita since Spectacular Bid in 1980.
Reunited with jockey Calvin Borel, hailed for his rail-skimming ride at Churchill Downs on May 2, the Kentucky-bred gelding by Birdstone will be seeking to become only the third 3-year-old to capture the Goodwood. The race will be his first against older horses. He will break from the outside in post No. 10.
While Mine That Bird faces a contentious lineup that includes Pacific Classic upsetter Richard’s Kid and 2008 Santa Anita Derby winner Colonel John, Zenyatta will be a heavy favorite when defending her title in the $300,000 Lady’s Secret Stakes at 1 1/16 miles, a race she won a year ago by 3 ½ lengths at odds of 7-10.
After her triumph in the Lady’s Secret, the stunning Street Cry mare went on to take last year’s Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic at Santa Anita by 1 ½ lengths under Mike Smith’s hand ride, but her connections presently are leaving the door open for what could be the coda to her brilliant career in the Breeders’ Cup.
Owners Jerry and Ann Moss, along with trainer John Shirreffs, might opt for the $5 million Breeders Cup Classic next month instead of the $2 million Ladies Classic with the possibility of becoming the first female to win that pinnacle event against the likes of Mine That Bird. A decision will follow the 17th running of the Lady’s Secret.
Zenyatta drew post position No. 5 among eight entrants and will carry 123 pounds under the weight-for-age conditions. Her opposition includes Cocoa Beach, second last year in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic, Anabaa’s Creation, who lost by a head to Zenyatta in Del Mar’s Clement Hirsch Stakes last August, and stablemate Life Is Sweet, runner-up to Zenyatta in a pair of graded stakes earlier this year at Hollywood Park.
Saturday’s array of top graded stakes is rounded out by the 33rd running of the $300,000 Yellow Ribbon Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 ¼ miles on turf and the $150,000 Oak Tree Mile on turf. The Goodwood, the Lady’s Secret and the Oak Tree Mile will all be shown live on ESPN Classic from 5:00-7:30 p.m. (ET) as part of the cable network’s “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series” telecast.
KEENELAND OPENS TOMORROW, KICKS OFF MAJOR WEEKEND OF CUP PREPS
Keeneland begins its 2009 fall racing season tomorrow with the first day of FallStars Weekend, a showcase of many potential contenders for the $25 million Breeders’ Cup World Championships on November 6-7 at Oak Tree at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. Friday’s opening-day 10-race card that features two stakes, the 58th running of the Grade I Darley Alcibiades for two-year-old fillies and the 157th running of the Grade III Phoenix Stakes for older sprinters. Both stakes are “Win and You’re In” races for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on November 6 and 7 at Santa Anita.
During Keeneland’s 17-day race meeting that runs through October 31, the track will offer $5.125 million in purses for the 19 stakes races during the season, marking one of the richest stakes programs in North America. FallStars Weekend covers three days (October 9-11) of spectacular Thoroughbred racing, highlighted by nine stakes worth $3.25 million.
Five stakes will be run on Saturday, October 10: the Grade I, $600,000 Shadwell Turf Mile for 3-year-olds and up at one mile on the turf; the Grade I, $500,000 Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles; the Grade I, $400,000 First Lady for older fillies and mares at one mile on the turf; the Grade II, $250,000 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes for older fillies and mares at six furlongs; and the Grade III, $125,000 Woodford Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at 5 ½ furlongs on turf. The Shadwell Turf Mile and the Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity will each be televised live on ESPN Classic during a two-and-one-half-hour telecast from 5:00-7:30 p.m. (ET) that features a host of top stakes events Saturday from Keeneland and Santa Anita.
The Sunday, October 11, card at Keeneland features the Grade I, $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes for older fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles, and the Grade III, $125,000 Bourbon Stakes for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on turf. Each of those races will be shown live on ESPN from 5:00-6:00 p.m. (ET).
Among the horses to keep an eye on at Keeneland this Saturday are defending Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf champion Forever Together who, for the second straight year, will have her final Breeders’ Cup prep in the First Lady Stakes; and Justenuffhumor, who will bid for his seventh consecutive win in the Shadwell Turf Mile.
BENEFIT FOR INJURED JOCKEY MICHAEL STRAIGHT SET FOR OCTOBER 25
A benefit to assist jockey Michael Straight, who was seriously injured in an August 26 racing accident at Arlington Park, has been planned for Sunday, October 25 from 6:00-11:30 p.m. at Philly G’s Restaurant in Vernon Hills, Ill.
The event, which is open to the public, costs $50 per person and includes an evening of Hors d’Oeuvres, live music by Beatles tribute band Strawberry Fields Forever, singer Victor Pacini and additional entertainment to be announced.
Additional fund raising efforts at the benefit will include raffles, games and a cash bar with proceeds earmarked to help offset the medical costs being incurred by the 23-year-old apprentice rider as he continues to recover from the injuries suffered in the spill.
Reservations/RSVPs are strongly encouraged as a full house is anticipated for this benefit. You can RSVP via e-mail to slapshotracing@comcast.net.
Those unable to attend the event but wishing to make a tax deductible contribution to the Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund earmarked for Michael Straight can do so by sending a check payable to the Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund, in care of Michael Straight, 547 Webford Avenue, Des Plaines, Ill. 60016.
Straight remains hospitalized at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Ill., but it is expected that he will be moved to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago in the coming days to continue his therapy.
TURFWAY’S LEADING RIDERS TO TAKE PART IN REUNION FOR CHARITY TONIGHT
Jockeys who won leading rider titles at Turfway Park over the past 50 years will return to the Northern Kentucky track tonight as the track closes out its historic 50th anniversary meet.
Approximately 25 jockeys are expected to welcome fans and sign autographs from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Most will be available throughout the evening in a designated area near the paddock. Those who have mounts Thursday will be available as time permits between races. The first 300 fans will receive a free poster picturing or naming all 61 jockeys who have won riding titles at the track.
Donations will be taken to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. Established in 2006, the fund provides financial assistance to some 60 former jockeys who have suffered catastrophic on-track injuries.
Among those representing the track’s early days is Mike Manganello, who won leading rider titles in 1964, 1969, and in 1970, the year he also won the Kentucky Derby aboard Dust Commander. Also expected in from the track’s days as Latonia are Billy Phelps, who won meets in 1965, 1967, and 1970; and Ron Herbstreit, winner of the 1965 winter/spring meet and today an accredited racing steward. At 66 years of age, Robert “Cowboy” Jones not only represents the early years, having tied for a 1972 title, but also still exercises horses and occasionally has a mount in a race.
Willie Martinez, who owns the most Turfway titles with nine, is also expected to be on hand for the event. Martinez earned five consecutive fall meet titles from 1995 through 1999 as well as three holiday meet titles and one winter/spring title. Martinez also is tied with Pat Day for the most stakes wins at the track with 37.Also planning to attend is Patricia “P.J.” Cooksey, who holds titles from the winter/spring meets of 1981, 1983, 1985 (tie), and 1995. Cooksey, one of the first women to ride with considerable success, at one time led all female riders nationally in career wins and is one of only three female jockeys to earn riding titles at Turfway.
MINE THAT BIRD, ZENYATTA SET FOR OAK TREE’S BC CHALLENGE DAY SATURDAY
Mine That Bird, the dramatic 50-1 shot who streaked along the rail to win this year’s Kentucky Derby by 6 ¾ lengths, and unbeaten 5-year-old mare Zenyatta, a paragon of perfection in 12 career starts while earning $2.5 million, provide the star power Saturday for Oak Tree’s Breeders’ Cup Challenge Day at Santa Anita Park.
Three Grade I stakes races and one Grade II stakes -— all “Win and You’re In” competitions ensuring each winner a starting spot in Oak Tree’s two-day, $25.5-million Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Nov. 6 and 7 -- mark Saturday’s elite, 10-race program.
When heading a cast of 10 in the in the 28th running of the $350,000 Goodwood Stakes at 1 1/8 miles over Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride surface, Mine That Bird will become the first Derby winner to compete in Oak Tree’s prestigious event the same year as winning the Run for the Roses, and he’ll become the first non-California based Derby winner to run at Santa Anita since Spectacular Bid in 1980.
Reunited with jockey Calvin Borel, hailed for his rail-skimming ride at Churchill Downs on May 2, the Kentucky-bred gelding by Birdstone will be seeking to become only the third 3-year-old to capture the Goodwood. The race will be his first against older horses. He will break from the outside in post No. 10.
While Mine That Bird faces a contentious lineup that includes Pacific Classic upsetter Richard’s Kid and 2008 Santa Anita Derby winner Colonel John, Zenyatta will be a heavy favorite when defending her title in the $300,000 Lady’s Secret Stakes at 1 1/16 miles, a race she won a year ago by 3 ½ lengths at odds of 7-10.
After her triumph in the Lady’s Secret, the stunning Street Cry mare went on to take last year’s Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic at Santa Anita by 1 ½ lengths under Mike Smith’s hand ride, but her connections presently are leaving the door open for what could be the coda to her brilliant career in the Breeders’ Cup.
Owners Jerry and Ann Moss, along with trainer John Shirreffs, might opt for the $5 million Breeders Cup Classic next month instead of the $2 million Ladies Classic with the possibility of becoming the first female to win that pinnacle event against the likes of Mine That Bird. A decision will follow the 17th running of the Lady’s Secret.
Zenyatta drew post position No. 5 among eight entrants and will carry 123 pounds under the weight-for-age conditions. Her opposition includes Cocoa Beach, second last year in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic, Anabaa’s Creation, who lost by a head to Zenyatta in Del Mar’s Clement Hirsch Stakes last August, and stablemate Life Is Sweet, runner-up to Zenyatta in a pair of graded stakes earlier this year at Hollywood Park.
Saturday’s array of top graded stakes is rounded out by the 33rd running of the $300,000 Yellow Ribbon Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 ¼ miles on turf and the $150,000 Oak Tree Mile on turf. The Goodwood, the Lady’s Secret and the Oak Tree Mile will all be shown live on ESPN Classic from 5:00-7:30 p.m. (ET) as part of the cable network’s “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series” telecast.
KEENELAND OPENS TOMORROW, KICKS OFF MAJOR WEEKEND OF CUP PREPS
Keeneland begins its 2009 fall racing season tomorrow with the first day of FallStars Weekend, a showcase of many potential contenders for the $25 million Breeders’ Cup World Championships on November 6-7 at Oak Tree at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. Friday’s opening-day 10-race card that features two stakes, the 58th running of the Grade I Darley Alcibiades for two-year-old fillies and the 157th running of the Grade III Phoenix Stakes for older sprinters. Both stakes are “Win and You’re In” races for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on November 6 and 7 at Santa Anita.
During Keeneland’s 17-day race meeting that runs through October 31, the track will offer $5.125 million in purses for the 19 stakes races during the season, marking one of the richest stakes programs in North America. FallStars Weekend covers three days (October 9-11) of spectacular Thoroughbred racing, highlighted by nine stakes worth $3.25 million.
Five stakes will be run on Saturday, October 10: the Grade I, $600,000 Shadwell Turf Mile for 3-year-olds and up at one mile on the turf; the Grade I, $500,000 Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles; the Grade I, $400,000 First Lady for older fillies and mares at one mile on the turf; the Grade II, $250,000 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes for older fillies and mares at six furlongs; and the Grade III, $125,000 Woodford Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at 5 ½ furlongs on turf. The Shadwell Turf Mile and the Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity will each be televised live on ESPN Classic during a two-and-one-half-hour telecast from 5:00-7:30 p.m. (ET) that features a host of top stakes events Saturday from Keeneland and Santa Anita.
The Sunday, October 11, card at Keeneland features the Grade I, $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes for older fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles, and the Grade III, $125,000 Bourbon Stakes for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on turf. Each of those races will be shown live on ESPN from 5:00-6:00 p.m. (ET).
Among the horses to keep an eye on at Keeneland this Saturday are defending Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf champion Forever Together who, for the second straight year, will have her final Breeders’ Cup prep in the First Lady Stakes; and Justenuffhumor, who will bid for his seventh consecutive win in the Shadwell Turf Mile.
BENEFIT FOR INJURED JOCKEY MICHAEL STRAIGHT SET FOR OCTOBER 25
A benefit to assist jockey Michael Straight, who was seriously injured in an August 26 racing accident at Arlington Park, has been planned for Sunday, October 25 from 6:00-11:30 p.m. at Philly G’s Restaurant in Vernon Hills, Ill.
The event, which is open to the public, costs $50 per person and includes an evening of Hors d’Oeuvres, live music by Beatles tribute band Strawberry Fields Forever, singer Victor Pacini and additional entertainment to be announced.
Additional fund raising efforts at the benefit will include raffles, games and a cash bar with proceeds earmarked to help offset the medical costs being incurred by the 23-year-old apprentice rider as he continues to recover from the injuries suffered in the spill.
Reservations/RSVPs are strongly encouraged as a full house is anticipated for this benefit. You can RSVP via e-mail to slapshotracing@comcast.net.
Those unable to attend the event but wishing to make a tax deductible contribution to the Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund earmarked for Michael Straight can do so by sending a check payable to the Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund, in care of Michael Straight, 547 Webford Avenue, Des Plaines, Ill. 60016.
Straight remains hospitalized at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Ill., but it is expected that he will be moved to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago in the coming days to continue his therapy.
TURFWAY’S LEADING RIDERS TO TAKE PART IN REUNION FOR CHARITY TONIGHT
Jockeys who won leading rider titles at Turfway Park over the past 50 years will return to the Northern Kentucky track tonight as the track closes out its historic 50th anniversary meet.
Approximately 25 jockeys are expected to welcome fans and sign autographs from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Most will be available throughout the evening in a designated area near the paddock. Those who have mounts Thursday will be available as time permits between races. The first 300 fans will receive a free poster picturing or naming all 61 jockeys who have won riding titles at the track.
Donations will be taken to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. Established in 2006, the fund provides financial assistance to some 60 former jockeys who have suffered catastrophic on-track injuries.
Among those representing the track’s early days is Mike Manganello, who won leading rider titles in 1964, 1969, and in 1970, the year he also won the Kentucky Derby aboard Dust Commander. Also expected in from the track’s days as Latonia are Billy Phelps, who won meets in 1965, 1967, and 1970; and Ron Herbstreit, winner of the 1965 winter/spring meet and today an accredited racing steward. At 66 years of age, Robert “Cowboy” Jones not only represents the early years, having tied for a 1972 title, but also still exercises horses and occasionally has a mount in a race.
Willie Martinez, who owns the most Turfway titles with nine, is also expected to be on hand for the event. Martinez earned five consecutive fall meet titles from 1995 through 1999 as well as three holiday meet titles and one winter/spring title. Martinez also is tied with Pat Day for the most stakes wins at the track with 37.Also planning to attend is Patricia “P.J.” Cooksey, who holds titles from the winter/spring meets of 1981, 1983, 1985 (tie), and 1995. Cooksey, one of the first women to ride with considerable success, at one time led all female riders nationally in career wins and is one of only three female jockeys to earn riding titles at Turfway.
Friday, October 2, 2009
NTRA Thoroughbred Notebook
News and notes from around the Thoroughbred racing world, compiled by NTRA Communications.
JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP TOPS FIVE GRADE ONE STAKES SATURDAY AT BELMONT
Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird will try to become the first three-year-old since Easy Goer in 1989 to win the Belmont Stakes, Shadwell Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup in the same year when he takes on six opponents in the 91st running of the Grade I, $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.
The 1¼ mile Jockey Club Gold Cup is the centerpiece of “Super Saturday” at Belmont Park, with four other Grade I races and a special first race post time of 12:30 p.m. Also on the card are the $600,000 Beldame, the $400,000 Vosburgh, the $600,000 Flower Bowl Invitational, and the $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, with the latter four comprising a $500,000 Guaranteed All Grade I Pick Four.
“Any Grade I race is important, but when you add onto it the historical significance of Easy Goer being the last 3-year-old to win the Belmont, Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup in the same year, it’s very meaningful,” said Tim Ice, who trains Summer Bird for Drs. Kalarikkal and Vilasini Jayaraman. “Horses like Man o’War and Arts and Letters did it. If Summer Bird could add this to his resume, it would speak volumes for him.”
Although favored in the morning line at 2-1 with Hall of Famer Kent Desormeaux aboard, Summer Bird will have a strong challenge from a cadre of older stakes winners, including Macho Again and Asiatic Boy, as well as another outstanding three-year-old in Quality Road, who was third in the Travers.
The second choice at 5-2 on the morning line, Quality Road set track records in both the Grade I Florida Derby and the Grade II Amsterdam at Saratoga and has been training well since the Midsummer Derby.
“The Jockey Club Gold Cup is a very important race in its own right,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “Our focus is hoping our horse does well.”
In addition to Easy Goer, Man o’War (1920) and Arts and Letters (1969), three-year-olds who have won the Belmont, the Travers and the Jockey Club Gold Cup include Twenty Grand (1931), One Count (1951), Gallant Man (1957), Sword Dancer (1959), Damascus (1967) and Temperence Hill (1980).
Both Macho Again, winner of the Grade II Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs earlier this year, and Asiatic Boy exit an encounter with another three-year-old – the superb filly Rachel Alexandra, winner of the Grade I Woodward at Saratoga Race Course on September 5.
“He’s a top horse, championship caliber,” trainer Dallas Stewart said of four-year-old Macho Again, who has six wins from 20 starts including victories in the Grade II New Orleans Handicap and the Grade II Jim Dandy and a second in the Grade 1 Whitney. “We’re looking forward to running.”
The complete Jockey Club Gold Cup field, in post position order, is: Sette E Mezzo (jockey: Ramon Dominguez, morning line odds: 12-1); Macho Again (Robby Albarado, 7-2); Summer Bird (Kent Desormeaux, 2-1); Tizway (Rajiv Maragh, 15-1); Asiatic Boy (Alan Garcia, 8-1); Dry Martini (Edgar Prado, 8-1); and Quality Road (John Velazquez, 5-2).
LOOKIN AT LUCKY STRONG CHOICE IN NORFOLK; OAK LEAF WIDE OPEN
When California’s stellar juveniles compete in Oak Tree’s pair of Grade I stakes for 2-year-olds on Sunday, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s unbeaten Lookin At Lucky will be a solid favorite in the $300,000 Norfolk Stakes, but the $300,000 Oak Leaf, an event that has produced nine Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies champions, has become unusually unsettled with the recent injury to highly regarded Mi Sueno.
Lookin At Lucky will be seeking his fourth win, second Grade I and third graded stakes victory to take into Oak Tree’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 7. Garrett Gomez rides the son of Smart Strike who will be stretching out to a route for the first time in the mile-and-one-sixteenth Norfolk. He was even-money when taking the Grade I Del Mar Futurity while going seven furlongs on Sept. 7.
Lookin At Lucky drew post position No. 2 among 12 entrants in the competition that Baffert has won four out of the past 12 years. Baffert’s most recent Norfolk triumph came in 2004, with Roman Ruler. The Hall of Fame conditioner was second in the race last year with Midshipman, who went on to take the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
The Oak Leaf turned topsy-turvy when Mi Sueno, California’s top-ranked juvenile filly, was injured while training last Tuesday at Hollywood Park.
Blind Luck, who closed strongly for second in the seven-furlong Del Mar Debutante, will be a leading contender among 13 aspirants in the Grade I at 1 1/16 miles leading up to Oak Tree’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 6.
The Norfolk is scheduled as the eighth race on a nine-race program at the Arcadia, Calif., racetrack, which will have a post time of 12:30 p.m. (PT). The Oak Leaf goes as the sixth race.
GRAZEN EVEN-MONEY CHOICE IN SATURDAY’S CAL CUP CLASSIC
Nick Alexander’s roan homebred Grazen has been established as the even-money favorite to become the fourth 3-year-old to capture Oak Tree’s $200,000 California Cup Classic presented by City National Bank on Saturday when he faces five rivals in the mile-and-one-eighth event that highlights the nine races for California-breds that comprise the 20th Cal Cup at Santa Anita.
This year’s popular Cal Cup extravaganza has been advanced to the first Saturday of Oak Tree’s 41st season in part to allow entrants the possibility of competing in the two-day Breeders’ Cup, to be staged Nov. 6 and 7. This year is the first time the Breeders’ Cup has been held at the same venue for two consecutive years.
If Grazen runs to his notices on Saturday, Alexander said consideration will be given to the Grade I, $1-million Dirt Mile on Breeders’ Cup Saturday. The son of Benchmark’s credentials have been exceptional this year.
Following a troubled debut in September of last year, the Mike Mitchell-trainee has won four of five starts in 2009 including Hollywood Park’s Grade III Affirmed Handicap. His only setback came in the subsequent Grade II Swaps in which he ran second to Misremembered, a victim in the Affirmed.
“It’s really neat to breed something special,” commented owner-breeder Alexander. “Up until now, we’d been known as the king of the $12,500 maiden claimers at Golden Gate.”
Garrett Gomez will ride the colt who has earned $245,400 and will break from post position three in the Cal Cup Classic.
The complete field for the Cal Cup Classic, in post position order, is: Bold Chieftain (jockey: Russell Baze, morning line odds: 5-2); Star Nicholas (Michael Baze, 4-1); Grazen (Garrett Gomez, 1-1); Lethal Heat (Alex Solis, 7-2); Blackbriar (Brice Blanc, 30-1); and One Chin Again (Rafael Bejarano, 30-1).
INDEPENDENT MONITOR TO ISSUE REPORT ON ALLIANCE BY END OF YEAR
Tommy Thompson and the Washington, D.C., law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld have announced in a letter to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) that they will issue a public report assessing the progress of the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance. The report is expected to be issued by the end of 2009. Thompson, the former four-term Governor of Wisconsin and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, has served as the independent monitor of the Alliance since its inception in October, 2008.
“As independent monitor to the Alliance,” Thompson wrote, “it is my responsibility to examine the work of the Alliance and to assess industry progress in achieving the reforms called for by the Alliance…That report will be made available to the public and I will make myself available to the media and to fans to answer any questions concerning that report.”
During the upcoming months, Thompson will preside over a systematic data-gathering phase that includes the submission of a formal questionnaire to racetracks that have undergone the accreditation process; one-on-one interviews with key industry stakeholder groups; the online solicitation of public comment about the Alliance; and a thorough examination of the entire racetrack accreditation process, including a review of all Alliance applications, inspection team make-up, inspection team reports and actions taken on the basis of those reports.
“My partners at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and I take our responsibility to the public and to racing fans very seriously,” Thompson concluded in the letter. “We fully understand that many are relying on us to assure them of the genuineness and effectiveness of industry efforts to implement safety and integrity reforms.”
“Akin Gump and Governor Thompson have been actively engaged in the Alliance since its inception, and we welcome their candid assessment of the industry’s progress to date,” said Mike Ziegler, Executive Director of the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance.
The Alliance, formed last October with the goal of establishing national uniform standards in the areas of safety and integrity, includes 55 racetracks in North America and every major national horsemen’s organization. Alliance certification standards cover five broad areas: injury reporting and prevention; creating a safer racing environment; aftercare and transition of retired racehorses; uniform medication, testing and penalties; and safety research.
SCENES FROM “SECRETARIAT” TO BE FILMED AT CHURCHILL DOWNS NEXT WEEK
Scenes from the Walt Disney Studio’s forthcoming motion picture “Secretariat”, starring Diane Lane as Penny Chenery and John Malkovich as Lucien Laurin, will be filmed at Churchill Downs starting Monday, October 5. Officials say that filming at the historic home of the Kentucky Derby is expected to last five days.
Transformation of the Churchill Downs grounds is underway. Areas that will be used in scenes include the paddock, the paddock runway, sections of the Grandstand, the main track and the barn area. Also, the track’s Matt Winn Dining Room on the third floor of the Clubhouse is being used as an area for makeup and thousands of costume fittings for film extras.
The most notable facility changes are period updates to the paddock area and Grandstand signage that signifies the year 1973. Secretariat, of course, ran 1 ¼ miles in a track record 1:59 2/5 on May 5, 1973 to defeat Sham by 2 ½ lengths and win the 99th running of the Kentucky Derby. The two-time Horse of the Year would go on to sweep horse racing’s Triple Crown which culminated in a jaw-dropping 31-length romp in the Belmont Stakes.
Walt Disney Studios is seeking additional extras for the film. They are asking people of all ages to wear clothing from the 1970s and come to Churchill Downs on Monday, October 5 and Tuesday, October 6. Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. on both days. Extras should enter through Parking Gate 12 off Queen Avenue, walk to the Gate 10 admission gate and follow signage to the ITW area on the second floor of the Clubhouse. The first 500 extras will receive free hot dogs and drinks, while all extras will be eligible for prize drawing giveaways.
JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP TOPS FIVE GRADE ONE STAKES SATURDAY AT BELMONT
Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird will try to become the first three-year-old since Easy Goer in 1989 to win the Belmont Stakes, Shadwell Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup in the same year when he takes on six opponents in the 91st running of the Grade I, $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.
The 1¼ mile Jockey Club Gold Cup is the centerpiece of “Super Saturday” at Belmont Park, with four other Grade I races and a special first race post time of 12:30 p.m. Also on the card are the $600,000 Beldame, the $400,000 Vosburgh, the $600,000 Flower Bowl Invitational, and the $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, with the latter four comprising a $500,000 Guaranteed All Grade I Pick Four.
“Any Grade I race is important, but when you add onto it the historical significance of Easy Goer being the last 3-year-old to win the Belmont, Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup in the same year, it’s very meaningful,” said Tim Ice, who trains Summer Bird for Drs. Kalarikkal and Vilasini Jayaraman. “Horses like Man o’War and Arts and Letters did it. If Summer Bird could add this to his resume, it would speak volumes for him.”
Although favored in the morning line at 2-1 with Hall of Famer Kent Desormeaux aboard, Summer Bird will have a strong challenge from a cadre of older stakes winners, including Macho Again and Asiatic Boy, as well as another outstanding three-year-old in Quality Road, who was third in the Travers.
The second choice at 5-2 on the morning line, Quality Road set track records in both the Grade I Florida Derby and the Grade II Amsterdam at Saratoga and has been training well since the Midsummer Derby.
“The Jockey Club Gold Cup is a very important race in its own right,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “Our focus is hoping our horse does well.”
In addition to Easy Goer, Man o’War (1920) and Arts and Letters (1969), three-year-olds who have won the Belmont, the Travers and the Jockey Club Gold Cup include Twenty Grand (1931), One Count (1951), Gallant Man (1957), Sword Dancer (1959), Damascus (1967) and Temperence Hill (1980).
Both Macho Again, winner of the Grade II Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs earlier this year, and Asiatic Boy exit an encounter with another three-year-old – the superb filly Rachel Alexandra, winner of the Grade I Woodward at Saratoga Race Course on September 5.
“He’s a top horse, championship caliber,” trainer Dallas Stewart said of four-year-old Macho Again, who has six wins from 20 starts including victories in the Grade II New Orleans Handicap and the Grade II Jim Dandy and a second in the Grade 1 Whitney. “We’re looking forward to running.”
The complete Jockey Club Gold Cup field, in post position order, is: Sette E Mezzo (jockey: Ramon Dominguez, morning line odds: 12-1); Macho Again (Robby Albarado, 7-2); Summer Bird (Kent Desormeaux, 2-1); Tizway (Rajiv Maragh, 15-1); Asiatic Boy (Alan Garcia, 8-1); Dry Martini (Edgar Prado, 8-1); and Quality Road (John Velazquez, 5-2).
LOOKIN AT LUCKY STRONG CHOICE IN NORFOLK; OAK LEAF WIDE OPEN
When California’s stellar juveniles compete in Oak Tree’s pair of Grade I stakes for 2-year-olds on Sunday, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s unbeaten Lookin At Lucky will be a solid favorite in the $300,000 Norfolk Stakes, but the $300,000 Oak Leaf, an event that has produced nine Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies champions, has become unusually unsettled with the recent injury to highly regarded Mi Sueno.
Lookin At Lucky will be seeking his fourth win, second Grade I and third graded stakes victory to take into Oak Tree’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 7. Garrett Gomez rides the son of Smart Strike who will be stretching out to a route for the first time in the mile-and-one-sixteenth Norfolk. He was even-money when taking the Grade I Del Mar Futurity while going seven furlongs on Sept. 7.
Lookin At Lucky drew post position No. 2 among 12 entrants in the competition that Baffert has won four out of the past 12 years. Baffert’s most recent Norfolk triumph came in 2004, with Roman Ruler. The Hall of Fame conditioner was second in the race last year with Midshipman, who went on to take the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
The Oak Leaf turned topsy-turvy when Mi Sueno, California’s top-ranked juvenile filly, was injured while training last Tuesday at Hollywood Park.
Blind Luck, who closed strongly for second in the seven-furlong Del Mar Debutante, will be a leading contender among 13 aspirants in the Grade I at 1 1/16 miles leading up to Oak Tree’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 6.
The Norfolk is scheduled as the eighth race on a nine-race program at the Arcadia, Calif., racetrack, which will have a post time of 12:30 p.m. (PT). The Oak Leaf goes as the sixth race.
GRAZEN EVEN-MONEY CHOICE IN SATURDAY’S CAL CUP CLASSIC
Nick Alexander’s roan homebred Grazen has been established as the even-money favorite to become the fourth 3-year-old to capture Oak Tree’s $200,000 California Cup Classic presented by City National Bank on Saturday when he faces five rivals in the mile-and-one-eighth event that highlights the nine races for California-breds that comprise the 20th Cal Cup at Santa Anita.
This year’s popular Cal Cup extravaganza has been advanced to the first Saturday of Oak Tree’s 41st season in part to allow entrants the possibility of competing in the two-day Breeders’ Cup, to be staged Nov. 6 and 7. This year is the first time the Breeders’ Cup has been held at the same venue for two consecutive years.
If Grazen runs to his notices on Saturday, Alexander said consideration will be given to the Grade I, $1-million Dirt Mile on Breeders’ Cup Saturday. The son of Benchmark’s credentials have been exceptional this year.
Following a troubled debut in September of last year, the Mike Mitchell-trainee has won four of five starts in 2009 including Hollywood Park’s Grade III Affirmed Handicap. His only setback came in the subsequent Grade II Swaps in which he ran second to Misremembered, a victim in the Affirmed.
“It’s really neat to breed something special,” commented owner-breeder Alexander. “Up until now, we’d been known as the king of the $12,500 maiden claimers at Golden Gate.”
Garrett Gomez will ride the colt who has earned $245,400 and will break from post position three in the Cal Cup Classic.
The complete field for the Cal Cup Classic, in post position order, is: Bold Chieftain (jockey: Russell Baze, morning line odds: 5-2); Star Nicholas (Michael Baze, 4-1); Grazen (Garrett Gomez, 1-1); Lethal Heat (Alex Solis, 7-2); Blackbriar (Brice Blanc, 30-1); and One Chin Again (Rafael Bejarano, 30-1).
INDEPENDENT MONITOR TO ISSUE REPORT ON ALLIANCE BY END OF YEAR
Tommy Thompson and the Washington, D.C., law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld have announced in a letter to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) that they will issue a public report assessing the progress of the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance. The report is expected to be issued by the end of 2009. Thompson, the former four-term Governor of Wisconsin and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, has served as the independent monitor of the Alliance since its inception in October, 2008.
“As independent monitor to the Alliance,” Thompson wrote, “it is my responsibility to examine the work of the Alliance and to assess industry progress in achieving the reforms called for by the Alliance…That report will be made available to the public and I will make myself available to the media and to fans to answer any questions concerning that report.”
During the upcoming months, Thompson will preside over a systematic data-gathering phase that includes the submission of a formal questionnaire to racetracks that have undergone the accreditation process; one-on-one interviews with key industry stakeholder groups; the online solicitation of public comment about the Alliance; and a thorough examination of the entire racetrack accreditation process, including a review of all Alliance applications, inspection team make-up, inspection team reports and actions taken on the basis of those reports.
“My partners at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and I take our responsibility to the public and to racing fans very seriously,” Thompson concluded in the letter. “We fully understand that many are relying on us to assure them of the genuineness and effectiveness of industry efforts to implement safety and integrity reforms.”
“Akin Gump and Governor Thompson have been actively engaged in the Alliance since its inception, and we welcome their candid assessment of the industry’s progress to date,” said Mike Ziegler, Executive Director of the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance.
The Alliance, formed last October with the goal of establishing national uniform standards in the areas of safety and integrity, includes 55 racetracks in North America and every major national horsemen’s organization. Alliance certification standards cover five broad areas: injury reporting and prevention; creating a safer racing environment; aftercare and transition of retired racehorses; uniform medication, testing and penalties; and safety research.
SCENES FROM “SECRETARIAT” TO BE FILMED AT CHURCHILL DOWNS NEXT WEEK
Scenes from the Walt Disney Studio’s forthcoming motion picture “Secretariat”, starring Diane Lane as Penny Chenery and John Malkovich as Lucien Laurin, will be filmed at Churchill Downs starting Monday, October 5. Officials say that filming at the historic home of the Kentucky Derby is expected to last five days.
Transformation of the Churchill Downs grounds is underway. Areas that will be used in scenes include the paddock, the paddock runway, sections of the Grandstand, the main track and the barn area. Also, the track’s Matt Winn Dining Room on the third floor of the Clubhouse is being used as an area for makeup and thousands of costume fittings for film extras.
The most notable facility changes are period updates to the paddock area and Grandstand signage that signifies the year 1973. Secretariat, of course, ran 1 ¼ miles in a track record 1:59 2/5 on May 5, 1973 to defeat Sham by 2 ½ lengths and win the 99th running of the Kentucky Derby. The two-time Horse of the Year would go on to sweep horse racing’s Triple Crown which culminated in a jaw-dropping 31-length romp in the Belmont Stakes.
Walt Disney Studios is seeking additional extras for the film. They are asking people of all ages to wear clothing from the 1970s and come to Churchill Downs on Monday, October 5 and Tuesday, October 6. Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. on both days. Extras should enter through Parking Gate 12 off Queen Avenue, walk to the Gate 10 admission gate and follow signage to the ITW area on the second floor of the Clubhouse. The first 500 extras will receive free hot dogs and drinks, while all extras will be eligible for prize drawing giveaways.
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