UPDATING the blog late Monday morning..keep refreshing as I continue to pile in racing notes!
MICHAEL BURNS captured CALGARY CAT just getting up in time over PARISE in the Jacques Cartier Stakes on Sunday
CAT FEVER – Champion Sprinter has miraculous rally in Jacques Cartier
It looked grim for CALGARY CAT, the reigning Champion Sprinter who received his award just 16 days ago and was making his 2015 debut in the Jacques Cartier Stakes on Sunday.
Bottled up along the rail and well back of the remarkably quick but very delicate, PARISE, Calgary Cat got clear and angled out in early stretch but it did not look like he could catch Parise, who was running away with the event. In fact, Parise went 44 flat for half a mile and simply looked like he was going to win until the champion, under Eurico Rosa da Silva, dropped his head and surged in the last few strides.
Track announcer Dan Loiselle had a stirring race call of the finish, which was so exciting it was too bad there had to be a loser.
Calgary Cat was the predictable favourite and his time of 1:08 4/5 was good for a 99 Beyer Speed Figure.
This flashy chestnut gelding, now a 5-year-old, has been a remarkable story for Stephen Chesney and Cory Hoffman, who, with Kevin Attard, claimed the fellow in November 2013 for $25,000 from none other than John Oxley and Mark Casse, He was a non-winners of 3 lifetime at that time.
The gelding was bred by WinStar and foaled at Anderson Farms.
Last year, the gelding went from a claiming win to allowance wins to two graded stakes wins and $315,000 in earnings.
Parise had not raced since last May when he ran a 100 Beyer in an allowance win. That was only his 2nd outing of 2014 and he only raced once in 2013.
Owned by Mario Forgione and bred by Blazing Colours Farm (which foaled the mares of the late Charles Laloggia), Parise trained at Payson Park and he is conditioned by John Charalambous.
More Sunday
Sign of things to come as Stephen Chesney and Cory Hoffman were in the winner’s circle with another claim, PECAN PIE, whom they scooped up for $16,000 from her last outing of 2014. The Sligo Bay (Ire) filly had placed in 6 of 13 races and then won his opener at 6 1/2 furlongs. Riding the rail on the turn and waiting patiently, she was angled out by jockey Jesse Campbell, who had a big day, and she nabbed favoured Lady St Clements. Pecan Pie won this maiden allowance for trainer Kevin Attard and she was bred by Box Arrow Farm and Gord Colbourne.
race 2- nice allowance race at 1 1/16 miles and it marked the Woodbine return of BIG BAZINGA, 2nd in the Grade 3 Grey Stakes in 2013 but sent on a journey around the US for 5 races before he disappeared last April.
He finally reappeared in Florida for a grass race and was 11th but it was his return to his home track and easier company that made all the difference to his Bluegrass Cat gelding. Under Alan Garcia, Big Bazinga tracked the slow pace set by Downey Gap and Maritime Pulpit and then pushed himself into the picture into stretch. He got past a tough Downey Gap to win in 1:44 4/5, good for an 85 Beyer Figure.
The gelding used to be owed by Derby Dreamers Stable but now is owned by Bull and Bear Stable (although the silks appear to the the same) and Katerina Vassilieva trains.
Race 3- a lovely maiden allowance race at 5 furlongs and there was a Mark Casse trained entry of firsters Dreamaker and Battleofburlington that predictably took most of the betting support.
Ninth Symphony, who had a terrible trip in his one race last year in the Simcoe Stakes, was virtually everyone’s pick and he probably should have own this race except he had a bad start from the gate and had to use a bit more energy earlier in the race. At the wire he was edged by BATTLEOFBURLINGTON, a son of the super debut sire Blame (he was 8 for 39 with firster winners).
Owned by John Oxley and trained by Mark Casse, this colt was the selection of jockey Patrick Husbands,
The colt was bred by none other than Christine Hayden, whose family already have bred a litany of winners this year including their owner stakes winner Unspurned and graded stakes placed Conquest Curlinate,
Race 4 – This was always going to be a 2 horse race and it sure was, right down to the wire. RIVER MAID carrying the Very Dry Stable silks, won by a long nose over INTERNAL BOURBON, owned by Charles Fipke in this allowance race for Ontario sired fillies and mares. The pair were 3-year-olds taking on older horses.
River Maid was making her season debut for Very Dry and Tiller and the team lost one of its most avid and wonderful members recently. Jack Kenney passed away suddenly and it was a poignant moment when the other members of the syndicate went to the winner’s circle. River Maid is by Where’s the Ring from the good mare Rivermaid Dancing by Riverman. She is 2 for 4 in her career and and was ridden by Jesse Campbell, his 2nd winner of the day.
Race 5 – From a win to a scary incident for Robert Tiller. His trainee REFRESHINGMEMORIES reared up before the gates opened and became tangled in herself and the starting gate person as she nearly flipped right over. Eurico Rosa da Silva was caught out the back by a quick thinking gate worker and he was okay. Wagers on the filly were refunded.
The favourites won anyway – the entry of GEISHA’S DANCE and Thesignoftheangel, owned by Julie Fedelsdi and trained by Bill Tharrenos. Funny, since ‘Angel won off an almost 2 year layoff on April 19 and was the more fancied runner but, hey Tharrenos’ horses plus a red-hot Jesse Campbell = win! Geisha’s Dancer is by Tomahawk and she also missed all of 2014 of racing, This was her 2nd race off the layoff.,
race 6 – vet scratch on post parade of YER BLUES. This was a $20,000 claiming race, 5 furlong sprint and class dropper ORO VERO was pounded in the betting and the Norm McKnight trainee romped over a very tough Weather Bill. 5 wins for the McKnight stable.
race 7 – This is a bit of a messy race and after,there was a very long inquiry. Katya broke very awkwardly in this allowance race for Ontario sired fillies and mares. Once underway, the heavy favourite TA BACK YA POILS was sitting a lovely trip under Jesse Campbell and had a lot of power as she looked for room off the turn for home. But front runner Letter Fly shifted out a bit from inside and in front of ‘Poils’ while a wide, rallying CATCH SOME ZS (Thoroughblog’s pick of the day!) came in.
That caused big problems for Reliably Royal, a longshot, and Poils, who really lost her path and ad to check sharply. Catch Some Z’s surged past for the win but then was deemed the only horse guilty of an infraction after some 15 minutes of waiting during an inquiry. Kudos to jockey Skye Chernetz who rode hard for 2nd place on Reserve Love and then was awarded the win.
Race 9 – Tons of betting support early for the Wesley Ward shipper ON THE BACKSTREETS and that was a bit surprising. The filly had been in poor form in California and was meeting up with Polytrack lover and confirmed come-from-behind sprinter BLACK BIRD ROCK. Owned by Gary Barber and trained by Mark Casse, Black Bird Rock rallied in time to win over Copper Kitten. Interestingly, Barber and Casse claimed On the Backstreets for $62,500.
Race 10 – Money poured in late on Lucky Melissa, who raced with no shoes. She looked like a sure winner around the turn and into the stretch but really got late in deep stretch and Two Brews to Go, who had inside speed under Jesse Campbell looked like she was going to win. Then REEL GOOD MOVIE, who was coming off a win at Tampa for Sharon and John Simms, rallied hard under Alan Garcia, who got done and pushed this filly to the win. Tom Grimes also owns this daughter of Silent Name. Reel Good Movie actually knocked Sure Would off stride coming out of the gate but there was no inquiry.
AMERICAN PHAROAH FLIES
Here is his Saturday workout at Churchill Downs:
KENTUCKY DERBY TOP CONTENDERS -with JILL BYRNE
A CLASSIC – 103 RD KENTUCKY DERBY, Jim McKay,Howard Cosell, Chick Anderson
and the great SEATTLE SLEW
Network coverage of the 1977 Kentucky Derby. This video is 20 minutes long but is so cool to watch the coverage. And how great Seattle Slew was an even Canadian-bred GIBOULEE, who gallops out like a wild horse after the race.
DINO SOARS AT HASTINGS
Trainer, Swift Thoroughbreds wins both stakes races in opening weekend
VANCOUVER SUN:
Veteran trainer Dino Condilenios came dressed for a party Sunday at Hastings Racecourse and wasn’t disappointed.
Wearing a trainer’s non-traditional suit, dress shirt and tie, Condilenios was in the winner’s circle not once but twice celebrating victories following the opening stakes races of the Hastings season: the $50,000 George Royal and $50,000 Brighouse Belles.
“What a way to start the year,” he beamed with his Swift Thoroughbreds owners sharing the limelight. “What a great day. This doesn’t happen very often.”
The aptly named Rather Beautiful started the consecutive streak in the Brighouse Belles for fillies and mares with a two-length victory over favoured Hollywood Miss, paying $11.80, $5.20, $3.40. Ridden by Rico Walcott, Rather Beautiful finished the six and one half furlongs in an impressive 1:15.79.
ANNOUNCEMENT ON ANNOUNCER expected soon
Social media was abuzz yesterday with the news that ROBERT GELLER, from Australia and now a US Citizen, was leaving Emerald Downs after 20 years of race calling. He has been Emerald Downs’ only race caller.
Following that news item sent out by press release on Saturday, Geller’s followers on Facebook and other sites such as the Paulick Report congratulated him on his new job at .. Woodbine.
No announcement has been made by Woodbine Entertainment Group, however, although track announcer Dan Loiselle is nearing his final day at the job – May 30.
Geller has an impressive resume other than announcing races and I have attached an interview with him with Jason Beem last year:
Robert Geller has been the announcer at Emerald Downs since the track opened in 1996. He’s also been the race caller at Sunland Park for the last decade and before coming to the US he was the announcer in Hong Kong and before that was in Australia. He’s one of my favorite announcers to listen to and one of my favorite people in horse racing. So glad to get to share this interview with you!
How did you get into horse racing?
RG: It wasn’t that at a certain point I suddenly “got into horse racing” as I was always in it, from having been an avid spectator. I was taken to the track as a kid when I was four. It was a ritual every Saturday of my life so it really wasn’t something that I even necessarily thought about as a choice and not as a professional path until I was 21. My childhood was just one big obsession about horse racing. Part of that obsession included creating a mock racetrack on the floor boards of my bedroom. I used toy cars, buttons and “Monopoly”, “Totopoly” or “Life ” board-game pieces as horses then rolled the die to create margins for fictitious races I would call. By the time I decided to pursue race-calling, after graduating college as a qualified speech pathologist, I was highly seasoned as a race fan. I would drive over 200 miles both there and back to do harness trials and had secured practice spots in the grandstands of several country or provincial tracks to begin calling into a tape. If racing is in the blood then our family has it in the DNA. One grandfather was a bookmaker in Brighton, England and the other had at one time owned a dog track. When we emigrated to Australia
http://jasonbeem.com/2014/03/21/behind-the-mic-guest-robert-geller/
http://www.paulickreport.com/news/the-biz/emerald-seeking-new-announcer-after-geller-announces-departure/
http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Trainer+Dino+Condilenios+saddles+stakes+pair+Sunday+Hastings+Park/11006343/story.html
