BLUE DANCER – by Bluegrass Cat – posted an 86 Beyer Figure in his Count Lathum Stakes win at Northlands Park last weekend. He’s the favourite for the Canadian derby next month CINDY PIERSON DULAY PHOTO
NO LASIX – NO PROBLEM FOR SHAMAN GHOST
Lost in the flurry of fans, fashion and furious racing action was the fact that SHAMAN GHOST (Ghostzapper – Getitback Time by Gilded Time) was the first horse to win the Queen’s Plate WITHOUT Lasix (Salix) since ARCHERS BAY in 1998.
More and more horses are racing without Lasix at tracks throughout North America and Stronach Stables is certainly one major outfit that will not administer Lasix to its horses unless absolutely necessary.
It may have been hot and sticky on Plate day but the fact that this colt rallied into a hot pace and surged to victory in the 1 1/4 mile classic sans the diuretic says a whole lot perhaps about what the role of Lasix should be in our sport and industry going forward.
NO JOKE, ARE YOU KIDDING ME IS SERIOUS
93 Beyer Figure for Nijinsky stakes score
(edited Woodbine release) Are You Kidding Me, confidently ridden by Alan Garcia, won his second graded stakes in succession with a brilliant stretch run to capture Sunday’s Grade 2 $209,600 Nijinsky Stakes, at Woodbine.
Trained by Roger Attfield for owners and co-breeders Michael Riordan, Ron Kirk and John Bates, Are You Kidding Me arrived at the 1 1/8-mile grass tilt from a ridden out score in the Grade 2 Eclipse Stakes over the Woodbine main.
Platinum Glory set the tempo in the Nijinsky marking off splits of :24.61 and :48.34 with Excaper on his flank and Are You Kidding Me tracking from third, while Golden Sabre raced along the rail in fourth position.
Are You Kidding Me rallied four-wide into the stretch run while Golden Sabre, looking for running room in the final stages, found an opening and burst through but could not contain an energetic Are You Kidding Me who finished with authority to secure a 1/2-length win. Golden Sabre stayed on strong for place, two lengths in front of a rallying Za Approval who nosed Lucky Speed for show money at the wire. Are You Kidding Me covered 1 1/8-miles in 1:46.99.
It was a leading ninth stakes win of the meet for Garcia, who was content to stalk the early pace in the nine furlong Nijinsky.
“I was very confident,” said Garcia. “He’d been training super in the morning, working very great. I only needed at trip. He did spectacular today. He broke good, and I saw two horses go to the lead. I took my time, because I knew he was going to come with a big run, and he did.”
It was the fifth stakes win of the meet for Attfield, a multiple Hall of Famer, who is enjoying an excellent 2015.
“He’s a really nice horse. He always has been,” said Attfield of Are You Kidding Me. “He’s had some problems with his wind. He’s had some fairly significant (throat) surgeries. I didn’t think they could beat him. The only thing I was concerned about was they said it was supposed to be the hottest, most humid day of the summer. We obviously have (his breathing problems) corrected very well.”
Are You Kidding Me banked $120,000 in victory, while improving his record to 5-3-4 from 20 starts.
He paid $7.20, $4.30 and $3, combining with Golden Sabre ($7.50, $5) for a $45.10 (7-3) exactor. A 7-3-1 triactor (Za Approval, $3.30 to show) was worth $139.80, while a $1 Superfecta [7-3-1-4 (Lucky Speed)] came back $273.90. His Race to Win was scratched.
MORE SUNDAY WOODBINE
NO HICCUP THIS TIME, HER MAJESTY RULES
Her Majesty’s Flag, with Omar Moreno up for the first time, was full of run down the lane to capture Sunday’s co-featured $127,750 Duchess Stakes, at Woodbine.
Trained by David Cotey for owners Dominion Bloodstock and Barry Butzer, the chestnut daughter of Midshipman-Regal Point arrived at the seven furlong ‘Poly’ sprint for sophomore fillies from a disappointing run in the grassy Alywow Stakes.
However, Her Majesty’s Flag overcame a bout with thumps (see definition below) following the Alywow effort and redeemed herself with an energetic stretch run to earn her first added-money score.
Midnight Milley was slow from the gate in the Duchess, but rallied quickly up the rail under Alan Garcia to assume command through splits of :22.96 and :45.29 with her four rivals stalking in close proximity.
Pohdi Pohdi and Her Majesty’s Flag advanced through the turn with the latter moving best of all to secure a 3/4-length win. Roaming rallied late to earn place money, a neck in front of Pohdi Pohdi. Her Majesty’s Flag covered seven furlongs in 1:22.91.
Moreno was full of praise for Her Majesty’s Flag.
“I thought we were going to be a little further away, but she was so comfortable being up there and when I asked her she just kept going. She felt good today,” said Moreno.
Her Majesty’s Flag graduated at first asking on May 23, 2014 with a rallying effort in a maiden allowance sprint and completed the campaign with a fifth-place run in the Glorious Song Stakes. The chestnut opened the 2015 campaign with a good 1 ¾-length score in an optional claiming sprint, before off-the-board finishes in the Grade 3 Selene and Alywow.
Bred in Kentucky by Sun Valley Farm, Her Majesty’s Flag banked $75,000 in victory while improving her record to three wins from six starts.
She paid $39.70, $14 and $4 combining with Roaming ($3.90, $2.80) for a $143.80 (6-5) exactor. A 6-5-1 triactor (Pohdi Pohdi, $2.10 to show) was worth $223.40. Watch This Cat was scratched.
*THUMPS – A horse can get hiccups just like humans do, although it is not a very common occurrence in the animal. Hiccups are marked by sudden contractions of the diaphragm muscles in both horses and humans, although it sounds very different in horses, more like a cough than a human hiccup. The condition has been called thumps since 1831, when a British veterinarian heard the characteristic thumping noise in the horse’s abdomen and labeled it as thumps.
The scientific name for thumps is synchronous diaphragmatic flutter or SDF. When a human gets the hiccups, you might run up behind him or her and scream “boo” to scare the hiccups away, or blow up a paper bag and explode it. Doing so behind a 1,000 pound horse is definitely not a good idea and should not be attempted. Nor would it work.
Thumps is usually accompanied by twitching spasms across the horse’s entire body, and many times, by a fever. Most of the time the underlying cause is an electrolyte imbalance and fluid loss after strenuous exercise. Low blood calcium levels could be the cause, but a thorough check of all electrolyte levels including magnesium, potassium, sodium and chlorine should be done.
FOR MORE..http://www.horsetopia.com/articles/basics-of-ownership/horse-hiccups—are-they-dangerous.html
HAMMERS VISION – IMPRESSIVE CANADIAN BRED 2-YEAR-OLD WINNER AT BELMONT
First winner for Ontario freshman sire Court Vision
HAMMERS VISION – Canadian/Ontario bred 2yo winner, the first cor Court Vision – NYRA PHOTO
HAMMERS VISION looked like an older horse as he angled his way out of traffic and charged to the lead to win his career debut in a 6 furlong turf race at Belmont on Sunday.
Terry Hamilton’s sizy colt, trained by Brian Lynch, was a $47,000 yearling purchase at Fasig Tipton October last fall after he was bought back for $35,000 in the summer.
Bred by Donver Stables, this colt is the 2nd runner for the mare Baytree, who was placed once in 3 races and is a daughter of Forestry.
Hammers Vision earned a 77 Beyer Figure for the win in 1:08.99.
COURT VISION, by Gulch, has an exciting first crop of runners this season. He is the sire of the stakes placed filly CRUMLIN SPIRIT, who was 2nd in the Shady Well Stakes at Woodbine recently.
He stands as part of Spendthrift Farms’ stallion roster for $7,500.
LONHRO – first North American winner came at Woodbine on Sunday!
They call him the Black Flash. He won 11 Grade 1 races, 26 wins in all. More than $3 million in purses. He was a superstar of Australian racing and the most gorgeous horse you have seen.
He is also a remarkable sire and for one season, he came at stood in Kentucky and boy, you would love to have one of these.
HOLDING GOLD,owned and bred by Live Oak Stud, became his first NA winner and he won at Woodbine on Sunday with a 78 Beyer Figure. Trained by Mark Casse, the sizy 2yo won like a professional and paid a wild $10 considering his works and breeding.
Look for the LONHRO’S, there are others at Woodbine.
BLUE DANCER ROMPS AT NORTHLANDS, CANADIAN DERBY NEXT
86 BEYER SPEED FIGURE FOR TOP 3-YEAR-OLD
CURTIS STOCK story
EDMONTON – Next stop, Canadian Derby.
With another completely dominating performance, Blue Dancer has stamped his ticket to next month’s $200,000 Canadian Derby.
“Pretty impressive,” understated trainer Greg Tracy after Blue Dancer’s wire-to-wire, 9-1/4-length victory in the $50,000 Count Lathum stakes Saturday afternoon at Northlands Park.
Clearly having established himself as the top three-year-old in Alberta, it’s equally clear that someone will have to come from out of town to beat Blue Dancer in the Derby. And even then it’s going to take a very special horse to do that because Blue Dancer is looking more and more like a very special horse himself.
In eight lifetime starts Blue Dancer has only lost one race and that was in the $2-million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile stake last fall in Santa Anita
…read more at
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Blue+Dancer+dominates+earn+Canadian+Derby+berth/11226245/story.html
COUNT LATHUM H., C$50,000, NP, 7-18, 3yo,
1 1/16m, 1:44.15, gd.
1–BLUE DANCER, 124, g, 3, Bluegrass Cat–Two Halos, by Saint Ballado. ($27,000 RNA Wlg ’12
KEENOV; $38,000 RNA Ylg ’13 FTKJUL; $17,000 Ylg ’13 FTKOCT). O-Derby Quest Farms Ltd. & Shot
In The Dark Racing Corp.; B-Keene Ridge Racing, LLC (KY); T-Greg Tracy; J-Rico W. Walcott. C$28,800.
Lifetime Record: 8-7-0-0, $172,217. *1/2 to Trois Aureole (English Channel), SW, $112,366.
Blue Dancer tallied three stakes wins last year as a juvenile in Northlands Edmonton Juvenile S.,
Assiniboia’s Winnipeg Futurity and Hastings= Ascot Graduation S. He finished 10th in the GI Breeders= Cup
Juvenile–the only loss of his career–to wrap up his 2- year-old season. The dark bay kicked off 2015 with a
win in the Western Canada H. here May 23 and annexed the KY Alta H. June 20. The heavy favorite led
early, began to draw away entering the turn and extended his winning margin down the lane.
SARATOGA – TIME FOR THE SPAAAAAA
TIMES UNION’s TIM WILKIN HAS 10 HORSES TO WATCH AT SARATOGA MEETING STARTING FRIDAY
With the 147th summer of thoroughbred racing beginning Friday, here’s a look at 10 horses who should be on everyone’s radar at Saratoga Race Course. Expect most of these horses to run at the Spa. Of course, most people are hoping that one thoroughbred shows up. We shall see about that.
1. American Pharoah
Trainer: Bob Baffert. Jockey: Victor Espinoza. The Triple Crown winner will be the star of the show at Saratoga, if he comes to run in the Travers on Aug. 29. And that is a big if. The gentle colt is scheduled to make his first start since becoming the first Triple Crown champ in 37 years on Sunday, Aug. 2 in the Haskell at Monmouth Park. Owner Ahmed Zayat has said if Pharoah runs big in Jersey, he wants to bring him north to the Spa. Baffert hasn’t said publicly what he wants to do after the Haskell.
2. Frosted
Trainer: Kiaran McLaughlin. Jockey: Joel Rosario. Fourth in the Kentucky Derby, second in the Belmont, the gray colt will likely run twice in the Spa city. The plan is for him to run in the Jim Dandy on Aug. 1 and then wheel back and run in the Midsummer Derby.
3. Texas Red..
read more..http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Ten-horses-to-watch-at-Saratoga-this-summer-6394047.php
SPA WEATHER THIS WEEK – Storms are expected for Tuesday afternoon across the region but forecasters predict a perfect opening day for racing Friday at Saratoga.
Friday will be partly sunny with a high of 77 degrees and low humidity.
VANCOUVER RACING CLUB – A BRILLIANT IDEA
In my business, golf is a luxury – horse racing is like that,” he says. “This makes it more accessible to the regular person.” – owner in the new horse ownership club at Hastings Park
Globe & Mail – by Wendy Struek
On a recent morning at Hastings Racecourse, Dave Bester was standing on a picnic table, using the perch to get a closer look at a two-year-old colt as it galloped by.
Mr. Bester has more than a passing interest in the horse, a dark bay registered as Urban Achiever but known as Bobby. A racing fan for more than 40 years, Mr. Bester recently took the plunge to become a racehorse owner and Bobby is the first horse in which he’s had a stake
