HAPPY SUNDAY – brutal cold continues here in Ontario (see some wild photos below)..first big Kentucky Derby prep race is in the books, just over 3 months until the Kentucky Derby! CARRYOVERS for Pick 6’s at Santa Anita and Gulfstream today…jump in!!
KING FOR A DAY – Cairo Prince crushed the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Saturday – earning a 95 Beyer Speed Figure. GULFSTREAM PARK PHOTO
BONNIE ROWNTREE at Willow Ridge farm, shared this photo on Facebook – taken near Kincardine. Wow.
1,600 CRASHES IN ONTARIO in 24 hours…from NEWSTALK1010..http://www.newstalk1010.com/news/2014/01/26/1600-crashes-in-ontario-in-24-hours..
CAIRO PRINCE ROMPS IN HOLY BULL
95 Beyer Speed Figure for grey 3yo colt
The result of the Holy Bull Stakes- Grade 2 was about as one could have predicted as favoured CAIRO PRINCE, a nose away from being unbeaten, inhaled his rivals in his first 3yo test. He now zooms to near the top of the Kentucky Derby contender list.
The pretty colt is by Pioneer ofthe Nile and from HOLY BUBBETTE, who invaded Woodbine in 2004 and won the Whimsical Stakes for trainer David Fawkes and owner Katherine Elam.
Holy Bubbette is by, incidentally, HOLY BULL.
Mark Casse trainee CONQUEST TITAN came from miles behind to be 2nd and earn an 85 Beyer Figure and he appears to be developing into a possible Derby hopeful.
RACE REPORT FROM GULFTSREAM PARK
Kiaran McLaughlin isn’t the kind of trainer who criticizes jockeys, but he was very upset when overconfident handling from Luis Saez cost him a victory in last year’s Remsen Stakes.
“And maybe the two year old championship,” McLaughlin speculated after Cairo Prince’s completely comprehensive victory in the Holy Bull Stakes, first serious stop on the South Florida Derby trail. But we can’t think about that now. We just have to hope he keep going forward. He made my job look easy.”
So did Saez. After breaking cleanly with Cairo Prince in the 11-horse Grade 2 mile and a sixteenth, he positioned the 2.10-to-1 favorite comfortably wide off a 23.63, 46.75 half-mile pace as Coup de Grace and Almost Famous duked it out on the lead, tracked intently by a surprisingly pumped-up Mr. Speaker.
Approaching the final turn, Almost Famous put Coup de Grace away, took the lead under pressure as Mr. Speaker went up to engage the leader. But just as quickly, Cairo Prince was on them in an instant, Saez virtually motionless as he reached even terms approaching headstretch.
He confidently guided the grandson of Holy Bull only this time he asked his colt for more and Cairo Prince responded with the excellent turn of foot he first displayed winning the Nashua Stakes in his second lifetime start.
“Today he rode him perfectly,” McLaughlin said.
http://www.horseraceinsider.com/John-Pricci/01252014-cairo-prince-top-billing-and-velazquez-rock-gulfstream-park/
CONQUEST TITAN TO CONTINUE ON DERBY TRAIL
FROM GULFSTREAM MEDIA
Mark Casse, trainer (Conquest Titan, 2nd):
“It was a nice run, we were happy with it. We had hoped to not be so far back, but going into the first turn, they sandwiched him, so Shaun (Bridgmohan) did the right thing and took him back. This is not the easiest place to come from out of it. We wanted to know if he fit with these horses and I think he proved that today. He has a special place he likes really well (Churchill Downs) and they run there on the first Saturday in May, so that’s good. I’ll have to talk to the owner, but we’ll probably stay here.”
CONQUEST TITAN won the Swynford Stakes at Woodbine last year. MICHAEL BURNS.WEG PHOTO
KENTUCKY DERBY POINT LEADERS
1. Havana 14 Michael Tabor, John Magnier & Derrick Smith Todd Pletcher $660,000
2. Cairo Prince 14 Namcook Stables (Terry Murray), Paul Braverman, Harvey
Clarke & Craig Robertson III Kiaran McLaughlin $470,000
3. Honor Code 14 Lane’s End Racing (Will Farish) Dell Ridge Farm LLC (Mattie Justice)
Shug McGaughey III $340,000
4. Tapiture 12 Ron Winchell Steve Asmussen $120,738
5. Bond Holder 11 Reddam Racing, LLC (J. Paul Reddam) Doug O’Neill $333,000
6. Rise Up 10 Paul and Andrena Van Doren Tom Amoss $782,633
7. We Miss Artie 10 Ken & Sarah Ramsey Todd Pletcher $262,000
8. Noble Moon 10 Treadway Racing Stable (Jeff Treadway) Leah Gyarmati $145,000
9. Ami’s Holiday 10 Ivan Dalos Josie Carroll $136,145
10. Vicar’s in Trouble 10 Ken & Sarah Ramsey Mike Maker $120,000
11. Cleburne 10 Donegal Racing (Jerry Crawford et al) Dale Romans $102,044
12. Tanzanite Cat 10 James L. & Ywachetta H. Driver Cody Autrey $90,000
13 . Midnight Hawk 10 Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings, Inc. (John Sikura),
Mike Kitchen, Mike Pegram, Mike Tice & Joel Quenneville Bob Baffert $60,000
14. Casiguapo 5 All American Horses (Jorge Wagner) Mario Morales $271,050
15. Conquest Titan 4 Conquest Stables LLC Mark Casse $163,445
16. Dance With Fate 4 Sharon Alesia, Bran Jam Stable (Mike Mellen) or
Ciaglia Racing, LLC (Joe Ciaglia) Peter Eurton $110,000
17. 17. Smarty’s Echo 4 Windy Hill Farm (Pete and Scott Reiman) Anne Smith $82,000
18. Albano 4 Brereton C. Jones Larry Jones $70,000
19. Classic Giacnroll 4 Lisa Guerrero & Joseph E. Besecker Lisa Guerrero $50,000
20. Walt 4 Black Hawk Stable Chris Hartman $45,000
21. Laddie Boy 4 Kevin Jacobsen Chuck Peery $39,719
22. Smart Cover 4 Donegal Racing (Jerry Crawford et al) Dale Romans $32,918
CANADIANS ELSEWHERE
Editor’s note: BIG BAZINGA, who finished 11th in the Holy Bull Stakes, was trained by Barbara Minshall just before he made his career debut for trainer KATERINA VASSILIEVA.
SOUTH TO THE SEA, owned and bred by Sam-Son farms, won his maiden at Fair Grounds on Saturday as a 5-year-old. The gelding won the dirt MSW under Rosie Napravnik and he is a son of Johannesburg out of dance to the Sea. Malcolm Pierce trains.
MR. ONLINE, a super grasser by Silent Name (Jpn) won a stakes race in his last start in December but because he was claimed before that, he was elgiible for a starter allowance yesterday at GUlfstream. He made easy work of that field and won again for Tim O’Donahue.
