Friday stuff on Thoroughblog – DUBAI WORLD CUP live blogging here tomorrow morning..FLORIDA DERBY and LOUISIANA DERBY are big races on the road to the Kentucky Derby, Fort Erie hanging in the balance..and more…
THE FUGUE, Dubai Duty Free starter and one of the world’s top grass fillies in 2013, is a strong choice to win the 1 1/8 mile event. DUBAI RACING CLUB PHOTO
DUBAI WORLD CUP – TOMORROW MORNING
watch and wager through Horseplayer Interactive (HPI)
Thoroughblog will have ‘live blogging’ on this site from 9 a.m. on the Dubai World Cup card Watch and wager on the races through Woodbine’s HORSEPLAYERINTERACTIVE/HPI TV, the best racing wagering and TV platform in North America.
RON THE GREEK is soon headed to stud in Saudi Arabia but the Grade 1 winner from the US is gearing up for the DUBAI WORLD CUP first. DUBAI RACING CLUB PHOTO
Woodbine favourite JOSHUA TREE, a three time winner of the Canadian International, is ready to roll for trainer Ed Dunlop. He competes in the Dubai Gold Cup.
Ron the Greek, 16th different track
The first 29 races of his career saw Ron the Greek (USA) compete at 14 different US racetracks. Start number 30 landed him clear across the globe.
A multiple graded stakes winner with more than $2.7m in the prize-money bank, the now 7yo son of Full Mandate was targeted for a repeat run in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic, but hoof issues forced a cancellation of plans.
Shortly thereafter, Ron the Greek was purchased privately by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, shipped to Saudi Arabia and placed under the care of trainer, Nicholas Bachalard.
“They bought him with Dubai World Cup day in mind,” said Bachalard, who spent 16 years as an assistant to Christophe Clement. “It didn’t take long to get over the foot issue.
“He missed the Breeders’ Cup and had to spend 30 days in quarantine at Payson Park before coming over. We took it easy for a week or two. After that it was straight forward. We carried on with his training.”
Under the name Watani, a Saudi word for “my country”, Ron the Greek returned to the races on February 15, defeating 12 rivals in an 1800m allowance by two-and-a-half lengths.
“It was allowance in name but the competition was good and the horse who ran second is solid,” Bachalard explained. “It was a perfect comeback race. He needed it, the timing was right and the distance suited. We thought about running back [before the World Cup], but a race three weeks out was the only option and the timing wasn’t perfect.”
Bachalard, who is completing his fourth season in Saudi Arabia, trains roughly 50 horses.
“I’m very fortunate to be in this position,” he said. “The facilities and the dirt track at Riyadh are second to none. When they come over, the European and American riders love it.”
American-based jockey, Jose Lezcano, who has piloted Ron the Greek in half his previous starts, has the World Cup riding assignment.
“He probably knows the horse better than we do,” Bachalard said of Lezcano. “It’s a very competitive field, but there are no standouts. You have Dubai World Cup Carnival horses who are proven over the surface and some classy ones who have been laid off. We haven’t run on the all-weather, but he is a good horse and you don’t know until you try.”
Bachalard indicated that the plan is for Ron the Greek to run “at least part of next year” before heading to stud in Saudi Arabia.
DUBAI WORLD CUP starter SEISMOS is a happy guy as he trains at Meydan. VANESSA NG photo from www.horse-races.net
FORM GUIDE FOR DUBAI RACES:
http://www.dubaiworldcup.com/race/racing-info/form-guide
FLORIDA DERBY NOTES
WILDCAT RED AND GENERAL A ROD TACKLE THE PRINCE
MATADOR (Malibu Moon) won the Cup & Saucer at Woodbine on very soft grass last year. The John Oxley Canadian-bred is in the Florida Derby for a shot at Cairo Prince. NORM FILES PHOTO
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Given a strict budget for the Ocala Breeders Sales Co. 2-year-old in training sale last March, trainer Jose Garoffalo wasn’t sure what he would be able to afford.
Husband-and-wife owners Salvatore Delfino and Josie Martino of Honors Stable Corp. wanted Garoffalo to find them a colt to race, having already had success with the filly Trippi Honor.
It wasn’t long before Garoffalo found the horse he wanted, but didn’t think his maximum allowance of $30,000 was going to be enough to get him.
“I was worried about that. I was thinking we couldn’t buy the horse because we had a very limited budget, but we got lucky,” he said. “Things happen for a reason.”
The hammer went down at exactly $30,000, and Garoffalo had a son of Grade 1-winning sprinter D’wildcat with what he felt was a bright future. His foresight has proven correct, as Wildcat Red has won back-to-back graded stakes at Gulfstream Park and earned $490,850.
On Saturday, Wildcat Red will be one of the favorites for Gulfstream’s signature race, the 63rd running of the $1 million Besilu Stables Florida Derby (G1). He is second choice in the program at 3-1 behind 9-5 favorite Cairo Prince.
“The first thing that I saw was his attitude,” Garoffalo said. “He was a very, very calm horse, a very focused horse. Despite being around a lot of horses and a lot of noise because of the sale, he kept his attitude, his calm. He was very smart, looking at everything. He had a good-looking body, very muscular, very athletic. I saw the video and that caught my attention, too. He was very straightforward.”
Wildcat Red has run exclusively at Gulfstream, winning his unveiling by eight lengths on Sept. 14. He beat winners at first asking the next month and finished first in the Juvenile Sprint Stakes on Nov. 9, but was disqualified for interference in the stretch and placed second.
Second by a head to Florida Derby rival General a Rod in the Gulfstream Park Derby on Jan. 1, Wildcat Red swept the seven-furlong Hutcheson (G3) and 1 1/16-mile Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth (G2) 21 days apart in February.
“From day one he always showed the class, the quality, since his first time on the track,” Garoffalo said. “We just had to educate him a little bit, relax him a little and teach him how to be a racehorse. But he did everything right and he is the horse he is now.”
East Hall Looking to Rebound in Besilu Stables Florida Derby
East Hall finished a never-threatening eighth in the Tampa Bay Derby (G2) while turning in the only bad performance on dirt since the son of Graeme Hall broke his maiden by 4 ½ lengths at Gulfstream Park last October. The poor showing at Tampa on March 8 will likely cause some handicappers to quickly dismiss him as a contender in Saturday’s $1 million Besilu Stables Florida Derby, but they should be aware that the Florida-bred colt came out of that race with an issue.
“We weren’t planning on going because we encountered a minor injury in Tampa that turned into an infection in a little cut in his ankle. He got bounced sideways in Tampa and that’s why he ran so poorly there,” offered trainer Bill Kaplan, who trains East Hall for Jack Hendricks and Roger Justice. “We doctored that and he healed real quickly and he breezed really good. He’s doing great. We’re throwing out Tampa, legitimately, because he encountered a problem in the Tampa Bay Derby. We’re giving him another chance here.”
After breaking his maiden impressively in October, East Hall finished off the board in the $100,000 Juvenile Turf before winning an entry-level allowance by disqualification after being impeded in the stretch.
The 3-year-old gelding came right back to finish third behind General a Rod and Wildcat Red in the one-mile Gulfstream Park Derby on Jan. 1 before running in the $100,000 OBS Championship, in which he closed with a rush to finish third, a neck behind the winner, after racing extremely wide.
On. Feb. 22, East Hall closed from last to finish fourth behind Wildcat Red, General a Rod and Top Billing in the $400,000 Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth (G2).
“He was in an outside post in a large field. We had to take all the way back to last. We were last from the middle of the backstretch and he moved steadily from the half-mile pole and was finishing best of all at the end,” Kaplan said. “He showed his tremendous capabilities. He has great endurance and he is a great finishing horse.” Following his subpar showing at Tampa Bay Downs, Kaplan had planned to point East Hall to the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) at Keeneland April 12. After East Hall’s ankle issue healed quickly, his trainer opted for the Florida Derby.
“It was coming up a shorter field and it’s his home course that he loves. He’s won here. He ran well in both of his last two races; he ran third in the Gulfstream Derby and fourth in the Fountain of Youth,” Kaplan said. “We decided this was his best spot for Derby qualifying.”
Juan Leyva has the return mount.
Maker to Rosario: “Get to the Wire First”
Though Joel Rosario will have never been aboard General a Rod prior to Saturday’s $1 million Besilu Stables Florida Derby (G1), trainer Mike Maker won’t have much in the way of instruction for the most successful Dominican jockey in history.
Rosario will be the fifth rider in as many starts for General a Rod, who will break from post six in the eight-horse field. Most recently, he finished second in the Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth (G2) under Javier Castellano, who is committed to ride Constitution in the Florida Derby.
“Joel’s ridden plenty for me, so I’ll give him a leg up and say, ‘Good luck,’” Maker said. “He’ll say, ‘Any instructions?’ and I’ll tell him, ‘Get to the wire first.’”
Rosario is coming off a 2013 where he became the first jockey to win the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Dubai World Cup (G1) in the same year. He won 275 races, 30 graded stakes and a career-high $21.5 million in purses, and was a finalist behind winner Castellano for the Eclipse Award. At the current Champions meet, Rosario is second with nearly $2.7 million in purses and fourth with 54 wins from 356 mounts.
General a Rod has two wins and two second in four lifetime starts, beating Wildcat Red by a head in the Gulfstream Park Derby on Jan. 1. He broke his maiden on Keeneland’s Polytrack in his debut last October, and was second in an entry-level allowance at Churchill Downs on Nov. 30.
“He’s never shown that quick turn of foot. He’s shown a lot of grit and he’s grinding, grinding, grinding. When the distances increase, I think that’s only going to help him,” Maker said. “He has been a little bit (under the radar). He hasn’t had much attention up to this point, but hopefully after this race he gets a lot of attention.”
CANADIAN STAKES WINNER COFFEE CLIQUE RETURNS A WINNER
Coffee Clique, making her first appearance since August, got the nod over a stakes-quality group of older fillies in Wednesday’s $54,500 featured eighth race going a mile on turf. The 4-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro broke alertly under jockey Joel Rosario and raced three wide throughout. She pounced on pacesetter She’s Spooky turning for home and had just enough in the tank to fend off Orion Moon’s late surge by a head. She was timed in 1:34.45. Sent off as the second choice, Coffee Clique ($6.20) is now 4-2-1-0 over the Gulfstream grass course for trainer Brian Lynch.
Coffee Clique broke her maiden in her turf debut at Gulfstream last February before finishing fourth in the Herecomesthebride Stakes (G3) and second in the Secret Grace Stakes. Sent up to join Lynch’s string at Woodbine, the bay filly won the Selene Stakes (G3) on Polytrack in May and was benched following a third in the Ontario Colleen Stakes (G3) on Aug. 17.
“She’s always been a filly that we had a lot of hope for,” Lynch said. “She had a few ankle chips at the end of last season, so we cleaned them up and we’re hoping to have a good year with her up at Woodbine. This was a great start back for her.”
Lynch admitted the final furlong was nerve-wracking.
“I wish Joel hadn’t left it such a nail biter,” Lynch joked. “I’m not really good with that sort of stuff, but thank God the nod of the head prevailed.”
Rainbow 6 Carryover Tops $4 Million
Unsolved for the 54th consecutive racing day, the 20-cent Rainbow 6 will have a carryover of over $4.2 million heading into FRIDAY’S 10-race program.
LOUISIANA DERBY PREVIEW – INTENSE TIME FOR DERBY HOPEFULS
Starlight Racing and Jack Wolf’s Intense Holiday, winner of the Grade II Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots on Louisiana Derby Preview Day Feb. 22, has been installed as the 2-1 morning line favorite for Saturday’s 101st running of the Grade II $1 million Louisiana Derby, centerpiece raceof the historic New Orleans oval’s 84-day meeting.
The nine-furlong Grade II Louisiana Derby – as always a significant gauge for Triple Crown candidates – will be Race 11 of 13 – seven of which are stakes – slated for the penultimate day of the New Orleans oval’s 2013-2014 thoroughbred racing season. First post time is 12:30 p.m. and the Derby will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network as part of a “Road to the Kentucky Derby” broadcast.
Post time for the Louisiana Derby is approximately 6:10 p.m. CDT.
CLOCK IS TICKING ON FORT ERIE
The provincial government owes the Fort Erie Race Track an explanation, says Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath.
For the second week in a row at question period in the provincial legislature, Horwath pressured Premier Kathleen Wynne to follow through on her promise for funding in 2014 at the 116-year-old horse-racing venue.
The Liberal government said during the recent byelection campaign a season would be coming out of the gate in Fort Erie and that funding had been secured.
http://bulletnewsniagara.ca/index.php?p=Sections&id=813
TAX UPDATES FOR HORSE OWNERS
Sect. 31 – Farm Loss Restriction, still hurting owners in Ontario
from Catherine Wilson
Catherine E. Willson is counsel in the law firm, Goldman Sloan Nash & Haber LLP, (www.gsnh.com) a full service law firm in Toronto, Ontario.
For those operating a horse business, the Federal tax system has imposed a barrier unique to the horse industry and other farming industries. Unlike other Canadian business operators, many horse businesses are subject to special rules set out in section 31 of the Income Tax Act, R.S.C. 1985, c.1. (5thSuppl.), as amended (the “Act”), that severely restrict the deductibility of losses against other sources of income. No other industry in Canada faces this kind of barrier to the deduction of legitimate business losses.
http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/notices/3-27-14/tax-changes-horse-owners.html
