what the…??
Not a great few days for racing, perception -wise, its taking a beating right now in the news….. but the hopes of a cool weekend of lots of stakes action keeps things bright…
Woodbine had to cancel last night when thunder and lightning was on going for hours…they got 4 races in…Newspaper stories on a Woodbine vet got a lot of attention and also one on Windfields Farm and how is has grown over and appears to be ‘neglected’.
And trainers Stephanie Beattie and former Woodbine trainer Anthony Adamo are in the news again (see below)
BUT FIRST, IT’S TRAVERS TIME!
MOONSHINE MULLIN – Wilson, Baker and lots of Moony love!
Lots of talk about posts at the Travers draw yesterday:
from Saratoga press notes..
trainer Reade Baker, who will start 20-1 shot Moonshine Mullin from post 3, finds all of this amusing.
“The post position means nothing,” said Baker. “I’m getting a kick out of everyone talking about how the race is going to go but the jocks aren’t here. I always say, ‘The jocks don’t tell me how to train and I don’t tell them how to ride.’”
Sounds like Emma-Jane Wilson will be on her own Saturday.
“I’m not about to give up my whole game plan here,” said Roman’s of Shackleford, “but can go fast, and history shows that when you pull a lot of horses out of their race chasing you, they’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
“If they go with you they’re pulling out of their race, and if they let you just keep on cruising they might not be able to catch you turning for home. That’s why speed is always dangerous.”
Moonshine Mullin will try to make up lengths on Stay Thirsty on Saturday…Vanessa Ng photo
Saturday, Saratoga, post time: 5:45 p.m. EDT
TRAVERS S.-GI, $1,000,000, 3yo, 1 1/4m
PP HORSE SIRE JOCKEY TRAINER ML
1 Bowman’s Causeway K Giant’s Causeway Dominguez Brown 12-1
2 Rattlesnake Bridge Tapit Velazquez McLaughlin 8-1
3 Moonshine Mullin Albert the Great Wilson Baker 20-1
4 Ruler On Ice K Roman Ruler Valdivia Jr Breen 6-1
5 Malibu Glow K Malibu Moon Maragh Weaver 20-1
6 Raison d’Etat A.P. Indy Castro Mott 10-1
7 Coil Point Given M Garcia Baffert 3-1
8 J W Blue Sky Mesa Velasquez Dutrow 20-1
9 Stay Thirsty K Bernardini Castellano Pletcher 5-2
10 Shackleford K Forestry Castanon Romans 9-2
All carry 126 pounds.
GLENNS FALLS NEWS…
RACING FORUMS LIGHT UP WITH REMARK BY WOODBINE TRAINER
“SUMMER JOBS STORY’ STORY from TORONTO STAR
On this stifling summer morning, he will step in excrement, be attacked by a 1,300 pound animal, be questioned by drug police and get covered in snot.
And Dr. Brian Van Arem will relish in his work.
Across the main tracks and manicured infield, the bunting clad grandstand seems a gauzy dream from the Woodbine Racetrack backstretch where the veterinarian plies his trade.
But here in the dung blotched tumult of the track’s sprawling stables Van Arem is living his childhood fantasy.
“It’s quite another world back here,” says Van Arem, who fell in love with horses while working on a farm at age 10.
“He (the farmer) told me that if I wanted to work with horses, the only way to do it well was to become a vet,” he says.
That calling is currently causing Van Arem to thrust a meter-long scope up the right nostril of Short Man, a gelding who may be suffering from airway bleeding.
“He might be on my dinner plate by December,” owner Carrie Russiani says of her laggard horse, making it clear Short Man is not likely to contend for racing immortality.
read more at... http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1044635–summer-s-most-challenging-jobs-veterinarian
From the Canadian Horse Coalition site to Facebook and between, there was a ripple effect of comments and notes about the story..e.g.
“In light of the controversy surrounding Thoroubreds going to slaughter by the thousands every year we find this type of comment callous and ill advised.”
WINDFIELDS FARM STORY…
Hero rests among the weeds…
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1044495–hero-racehorse-rests-among-the-weeds
PAULICK REPORT ON STEPHANIE BEATTIE…electrical shock allegations
This is a giant ball of mess at Penn National, a lot of he said – she said, but a lot of investigations and even the RACE OFFICE is being look at!:
Sources said the FBI may be looking into several matters, including racing office activities, doping of horses, as well as the 2009 Pennsylvania HBPA election of officers. – Paulick Report
OCALA BREEDERS’ SALES AUGUST YEARLINGS SESSION 2
Local buyers/Canadian-breds
192 10 C. KAFWAIN /GOOD HEAVENS RALPH BIAMONTE 9,500
BETH BAYER, AGENT
353 10 F. FORESTRY /OCALA SKY RALPH BIAMONTE, AGT. 12,000
SUMMERFIELD, AGENT CCXV
362 (ontaio bred) F. BIRDSTONE /ON THE PODIUM MARK CASSE, AGT. 55,000
SIENNA FARMS LLC
ONTARIO BRED…
278 10 F. BERNSTEIN /LILLIANS CHOICE WILLOWBROOK STABLE 33,000
SIENNA FARMS LLC
