Thoroughblog kicked off Belmont Stakes week with DEVIL’S BAYOU, a win pick Wednesday night who paid $34!
BELMONT STAKES
Greatness awaits
Owner Jerry Crawford (Keen Ice, PP 7, 20-1): “All of us who are running against American Pharoah on Saturday owe it to history, owe it to prior Triple Crown runners, owe it to American Pharoah, to be here to insure that if he wins the race on Saturday he will have earned it honestly and against great competition. I agree with Ahmed (Zayat), I believe this is one of the great 3-year-old crops and if American Pharoah can get a mile and a half on Saturday, all of our hats will be off to him. But, it’s our job to do what we can to make the race honest.”
Post Horse Trainer Dosage Jockey M/L Odds
1 Mubtaahij Mike de Kock 1.00 Irad Ortiz Jr. 10-1
2 Tale of Verve Dallas Stewart 2.25 Gary Stevens 15-1
3 Madefromlucky Todd Pletcher 3.21 Javier Castellano 12-1
4 Frammento Nick Zito 3.50 Mike Smith 30-1
5 American Pharoah Bob Baffert 4.33 Victor Espinoza 3-5
6 Frosted Kiaran McLaughlin 2.75 Joel Rosario 5-1
7 Keen Ice Dale Romans 2.73 Kent Desormeaux 20-1
8 Materiality Todd Pletcher 2.33 John Velazquez 6-1
Saturday’s 13-race Belmont Stakes program includes a $1.5 million guaranteed late Pick 4 (races 8-11) and $1 million guaranteed Pick 6 (races 6-11), both anchored by the 147th running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million ‘Test of the Champion,’ where Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner American Pharoah seeks to become racing’s 12th Triple Crown champion.
QUEEN’S PLATE NEWS
With the PLATE TRIAL coming up very tough (almost the actual Plate as far as who is expected to race) some other fringe players are in action this weekend.
BREAKING LUCKY, SCORCH, TITAN, SWEET GRASS CREEK, HAMMERSTEIN and NINTH SYMPHONY could all perhaps enter the mix with good runs in 1 1/16 mile Polytrack races on Saturday.
BREAKING LUCKY will have a new rider in an allowance race on Saturday as ANTONIO GALLARDO, a 12-year veteran rider born in Spain, will take over. Gallardo was the runaway winner of the Tampa Bay Downs title, he also already won some 130 races this year and last year he won 268 races.
Scorch and Titan are in a maiden race, SWEET GRASS CREEK is in an allowance and Hammerstein and Ninth Symphony race against Breaking Lucky.
Trainer MARK CASSE told Thoroughblog that 5 runners are on tap for the Trial on June 14 and hoping that the race will split.
His 5 runners with jockeys are:
Conquest Curlinate- Plate Trial- Shawun Bridgmohan
Conquest Typhoon- Plate Trail Mike Smith
Conquest Boogaloo_ Plate Trial – Alan Garcia
Field of Courage – Plate Trial- Patrick Husbands
Danzig Moon- Plate Trial- Julian Leparoux
Casse noted that CONQUEST TYPHOON has been sick and could miss the Trial.
Other than the Casse horses, there are 2 from Roger Attfield’s barn set to run in the Trial, Danish Dynaformer and Billy’s Star and Bear at Last will race for Bear Stables.
Shaman Ghost and Unbridled Juan, from the Stronach Stables, are not certain for the Trial.
WILD N CLEVER aptly named – she’s 3 for 3 at Woodbine this year!
The 4yo filly WILD AND CLEVER is also as game as they come.
She was a bit lucky last night at Woodbine but at 3 to 2, she won for the 3rd straight time this year for Tucci Stables, trained Nick Gonzalez and jockey Emma-Hayne Wilson.
The Denny Andrews-bred is by Offlee Wild and she has 7 career wins from 17 races and over $270,000 in earnings. She was a $25,000 purchase at a 2013 2yo sale in Florida.
She tracked speedy Crysta’s Court in the 5 horse field, took over and then held off the closers. She posted a 77 Beyer Figure.
Favoured ON THE BACKSTREETS had a terrible trip as she was blocked in throughout the stretch run.
Also on Wednesday, BET ON JACK won his 2nd straight race for Joshua Attard in race 1 for $32,000 claiming. The sleek dark bay was always ready to power home in front and once he angled out in the stretch he was up to nab Colleen’s Sailor for his 9th career win. Alan Garcia rode for trainer Kevin Attard.
His Beyer Figure of 82 was the biggest of the night.
Owner and trainer ROBERT ROSE wom his first race of the season with IRISH GEM who powered home to win for $10,000 claiming in race 4 at 7 to 1. The Sam-Son Farms bred is by Dance for Destiny and she was winning for the 2nd time in 19 races.
The 5yo was well rideen by Erika Smilovsky. Irish Gem had had 4 previous trainers since 2013.
HUGE OPENING DAY FOR FORT ERIE
The sun was certainly shining on Fort Erie Race Track for its 118th season opener on Tuesday, June 2nd. Perfect weather, great racing, strong support from racing fans and hard work by staff and horsepeople all combined to make this season’s opening day one for the record books.
All totaled, the opening day handle for wagering was $1,086,218.00, an increase of 107 percent over the 2014 season opener which was also held on a Twilight Tuesday. Remote wagering also showed a massive swell of 124 percent over 2014 proving that Fort Erie Race Track has been positioned in the right market with racing fans across the globe.
“Our staff, our management team, our horsepeople, our fans and our community continue to set records and beat performance milestones because we are a family that believes in this racetrack,” said CEO Jim Thibert.
On the racetrack, local trainer Gary Chudobiak enjoyed a great day at the office with two winners on the 9 race card. His horses Save the Sinner and Cinder Tyme won the early double to start off the day.
“My horses were well rested for the last six months and that time off served them well,” said Chudobiak. “I have to thank my jockey Brad Wilson who helps us every morning to get the horses ready. Both my riders Brad and Kirk Johnson rode great races.”
Live racing returns on Tuesday, June 9th at 4:15pm. The track will host a rainwater barrel drive with proceeds benefitting Habitat for Humanity. The free summer concert series continues with Back in the Daze performing at the Tiki Bar after the races.
MORE BELMONT STAKES DAY stuff
Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks runner-up Shook Up has been installed as a mild 7-2 favorite in a competitive field of 12 for the 85th running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Acorn Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on Saturday at Belmont Park.
After breaking her maiden by 13 ½ lengths on January 3 at the Fair Grounds, Shook Up faced at least one of Larry Jones’ powerhouse duo of I’m a Chatterbox and Lovely Maria in each of her three subsequent starts on the Louisiana circuit this spring. The grey daughter of Tapit finished fifth behind the Jones girls in her stakes debut and only off-the-board finish in the Grade 3 Rachel Alexandra, and followed up with a second-place finish in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks on March 28, 2 ½ lengths behind a heavily favored I’m a Chatterbox.
In the Kentucky Oaks, Shook Up split her familiar rivals, this time finishing 2 ¾ lengths behind Lovely Maria at odds of 26-1. With only a maiden win to her credit, Shook Up has hit the board an additional four times, earning more than $300,000 in her career. Trained by Steve Asmussen for Regis Racing, Shook Up will be ridden by her regular jockey, Robby Albarado, from post 8.
MET MILE IS LOADED!
Canadian-bred Private Zone third choice
One year after his upset victory over California Chrome in the 146th Belmont Stakes, Tonalist returns to Belmont Park as the horse to beat in a star-studded renewal of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Metropolitan Handicap.
The 122nd running of the Met Mile is one of six Grade 1 races, nine graded stakes and 10 overall stakes on Saturday’s 13-race Belmont Stakes Day program, capped by the $1.5 million ‘Test of the Champion,’ where American Pharoah seeks to become the 12th Triple Crown winner and first since 1978.
Carded as the ninth race, post time for the Met Mile is 4:49 p.m. EST as part of NBC’s 2 ½-hour national telecast from 4:30-7 p.m. The race is also a Breeders’ Cup ‘Win and You’re In’ qualifier for the Dirt Mile.
“It is going to be a very big day. For people who love racing, it’s like a Breeders’ Cup before the Breeders’ Cup,” Tonalist’s trainer, Christophe Clement, said. “I wish I wasn’t running anything so I could enjoy it more. I’m going to be anxious all day.”
Undefeated in four lifetime starts at Belmont Park, Tonalist is the 5-2 program favorite in a field of 10 for the Met Mile that includes nine group or graded stakes winners, among them fellow Grade 1 winners Bayern, Private Zone and Wicked Strong.
“This Met Mile is a serious, serious race,” said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, winner of the 2008 Met Mile with Divine Park, who will saddle both Bay of Plenty and Tamarkuz. “It seems to be one of the toughest ones we’ve had, especially when you’re in it. It’s a very, very good race.”
Robert S. Evans’ Tonalist shares topweight of 123 pounds with Bayern and Private Zone, each giving three to 10 pounds to their rivals. The bay son of Grade 1 winner Tapit opened his 4-year-old season with a 3 ¾-length victory in the Grade 3 Westchester May 2 at Belmont. Despite breaking slowly and racing wide into the stretch, he posted a career-best 111 Beyer Speed Figure.
Tonalist also began last season with a victory, breaking his maiden at Gulfstream Park, before winning the Grade 2 Peter Pan, Grade 1 Belmont and Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, all at Belmont. He finished the year running fifth behind Bayern in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
“He was a very nice horse last year, and I think he’s still a very nice horse. Is he a stronger horse? He’s probably a bit stronger from 3 to 4. I liked him last year. He’s probably grown a little but mostly he’s just filled out more,” Clement said. “He’s training again very well. He’s a very exciting horse. We’re excited for the race.”
Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez will be aboard Tonalist for the first time in the Met Mile, breaking from post 4.
Bayern enters the Met Mile overshadowed by his stablemate, American Pharoah, also trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. Kaleem Shah’s Bayern owns five graded stakes victories and two Grade 1’s topped by the Classic, where he broke inwardly at the start and went on to wire the field and win by a nose.
In his lone start this year, Bayern ran last of six in the seven-furlong Grade 2 Churchill Downs Stakes May 2. He romped to a 7 ½-length score in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens, also at seven-eighths, on the 2014 Belmont Stakes undercard.
“I think he got a bum rap after the Breeders’ Cup,” Baffert said. “He didn’t run well off the layoff. He never has run well at Churchill. I think he really needed it. He came back and worked really strong. We know he likes this track. It’s a really tough race but he’s doing really well so I expect a big effort from him. When he came off the plane yesterday he was breathing fire. When he’s like that, he’s really sharp. It’s a tough race, but he’s a tough horse. He can handle that.”
Regular rider Martin Garcia will be aboard Bayern from post 7 as the 7-2 second choice on the morning line.
Third in the program at 4-1 is Private Zone, trained by Jorge Navarro for Good Friends Stable. The gelded 6-year-old son of Macho Uno lost his season debut by a half-length to Met Mile contender Honor Code in the one-mile, Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap March 7 but came back with a front-running 4 ½-length triumph in the Churchill Downs Stakes.
Winner of the Grade 1 Cigar Mile November 29 at Aqueduct to end last season, Private Zone is 2-for-2 at Belmont Park with back-to-back victories in the Grade 1 Vosburgh, each by a neck. Jockey Martin Pedroza rides from post 1.
COBALT TESTING AUGUST 1
At its meeting on May 28, 2015, the Board of the Ontario Racing Commission (ORC) approved a General Directive ordering that all horses that have been selected to provide an Official Sample (blood) as defined by the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency (CPMA) will also be tested for cobalt.
Once the CPMA has completed the official testing , the ORC will subject the samples to enhanced testing for the presence of cobalt.
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The Directive states that any sample where Cobalt is detected at a level of 50 ng/ml or more in blood will be deemed to be a violation of the Rules of Standardbred Racing 2012, Rules of Thoroughbred Racing 2012 and the Racing Commission Act 2000
Regulatory action against the owner and/or trainer of the horse includes disqualification of the horse from the race and a return and redistribution of all earning
s from that race.
