There was a great sigh of relief from the MIKE DEPAULO barn on Saturday after 10-pound apprentice Mario Fuentes steered the Ontario bred gelding KRACHENWAGEN to a 5 1/4 length victory in a $14,000 claiming race Mar. 14. The win was the first for trainer DePaulo of 2020 from 26 starts and Krachenwagen is owned by Frank Russo.
The gelding won the non-winners of 3 lifetime race in his second try on dirt. He stopped the timer for 1 mile in 1:37 1/5 and posted a career high 81 Beyer Speed Figure.
Krachenwagen leads all the way in a claiming race at Gulfstream on March 14 to provide owner Frank Russo and trainer Mike DePaulo with a winter win – GULFSTREAM PARK PHOTO
Also at Gulfstream on Mar. 14, BILL THARRENOS sent out his 4th winner of the year as LAPOCHKA won an $8,000 claiming race under one of Woodbine’s leading riders Kazushi Kimura. Lapochka is a 7-year-old by English Channel bred by Richard Lister.
On Friday, Ivan Dalos’ well bred beginner GOLDEN AMI, a 4-year-old, won a maiden allowance by 6 lengths in her debut, posting a 77 Beyer Figure for 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:17.31. The Josie Carroll trainee is by Goldencents from the Sovereign Award winning mare Galloping Ami, by Victory Gallop.
Golden Ami is a half sister to champion and now sire Amis Gizmo and graded stakes winner Ami’s Flatter, a sire in Florida.
*Canadian trainers with horses stabled and racing at Turf Paradise in Arizona and Sunland Park in New Mexico must make alternate plans as the tracks have cancelled racing. Turf Paradise has cancelled the remainder of the meeting while Sunland has suspended racing for at least 3 weeks.
Trainers who have been racing at Turf Paradise this winter include Steve Henson, James Brown and Sandy Gann while Greg Tracy had a litany of entries coming up at Sunland.
Also Woodbine jockey Luis Contreras, who has won 25 races this year, was riding at Sunland and had 13 mounts coming up.
The Arizona Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association opposes Turf Paradise management’s sudden cancellation of the rest of its race meet without any consultation with horsemen nor the required regulatory approval of Arizona’s racing regulators.
We understand how grave the coronavirus is and in no way are trivializing its seriousness and the fact that America faces hardships in battling such a nefarious disease. However, major tracks across the country have chosen to continue running without spectators in the stands and allowing horses to train. The fact that Turf Paradise’s ownership and management unilaterally shut down, leaving horsemen with no place to go, makes us cynical that this is more about the ongoing simulcast dispute.
*GUS SCHICKEDANZ was honoured at the AIKEN TRIALS on Mar. 14 at the Aiken Training Track in South Carolina. Gus, who passed away early in 2019 has a farm and training facility in South Carolina and frequently raced horses in the Aiken Trial Festival.
There were not any Schickedanz entries this year; the stable is trained by Mike Keogh, but the main race of the day was named for Gus. One Canadian who did race a horse in the Trials was JUSTIN NIXON, who started BEYOND THE BUDGET, a son of Frac Daddy, in the Iselin Trophy. The 3-year-old finished a closing third in his Trial and was the ‘pick of the paddock’ according to Nixon. Beyond the Budget was bred by Gord Colbourne and Box Arrow Farm. Read more on the AIKEN TRIALS HERE
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