READY FOR BLASTOFF!!
ROCKET MAN is ready for the Hong Kong Sprint tonight (races start at 1 a.m. our time here in Toronto) – he was a bear in training yesterday. Thanks to STEVE QUEEN FOR PHOTOS (SEE MORE AT WWW.HORSE-RACES.NET)
HE GETS THE GAME BALL
GAME BALL, the winner of the Fort Erie Tour de Fort, won a strater allowance at GUlfstream yesterday for the first winner for jockey LUIS CONTRERAS at the prestigious meeting. Mark Casse trains the gelding for John Oxley. He is a homebred by Sky Mesa and he posted a whopping 89 Beyer Figure in the grass win yesterday despite clipping heels early in the race.
In other FLORIDA/CANADA news, EMMA-JAYNE WILSON is on her way to Florida today for some work and a few rides for a week before Christmas.
HERE AND THERE
THINKING OUT LOUD, age 8, was last beaten 32 lengths at Penn National for $5,000 claiming yesterday. The son of Regal Classic won the Coronation Futurity for Firestone Farms 6 years ago…
GOLD STRIKE BEGINS was a 12 1/2 length winner at Tampa yesterday for $16,000 claiming for BRUNO SCHICKEDANZ who has Yvon Belsoeur training his horses. Sam-Son Farms’ BORN TO ACT was last in the race beaten 31 lengths.
GOLDEN MOKA, makes his first start for new trainer Marty Wolfson today at Gulfstream in an allowance/optional claiming event. The chestnut won the prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie 2 years ago for the Good Friends Stable and trainer Brian Lynch. The colt has not raced since March when he was last in the an allowance race.
EXETER ROAD, a Candian-bred for Eugene Melynk, is in an allowance race at Gulfstream today with Alex Solis riding.
It’s TWO-YEAR-OLD day at Tampa Bay today and a firster who is interesting is SASSY LITTLE FOX, a beginner by Best of the Bests (Ire) – Clibrig, bred by Kingfield Farms..
LYNCH’S MOB IN FLORIDA
Saturday, Gulfstream Park, post time: 4:45 p.m. EST
SUGAR SWIRL S.-GIII, $100,000, 3yo/up, f/m, 6f
PP HORSE SIRE JOCKEY TRAINER ML
1 Pomeroys Pistol Pomeroy Castellano Tarrant 5-2
2 Pica Slew Pico Central (Brz) Contreras Lynch 8-1
3 Roman Treasure K Roman Ruler Bravo Iwinski 4-1
4 Catch a Thief K Flatter Lopez Hills 8-1
5 Indulgence Macho Uno Leparoux Wolfson 6-1
6 Strike the Moon Malibu Moon Prado Trombetta 10-1
7 Moontune Missy K Forest Wildcat Cruz Harty 15-1
8 Third Chance Kafwain Santana DiVito 3-1
Saturday, Tampa Bay Downs, post time: 4:10 p.m. EST
SANDPIPER S., $75,000, 2yo, 6f
PP HORSE SIRE JOCKEY TRAINER ML
1 All American Star Quiet American J Garcia Fawkes 15-1
2 Given Enchantment Point Given Jurado DaCosta 4-1
3 Silver Arch Silver Wagon Guidry Girten-Drake 12-1
4 Live Every Day Lion Heart Centeno Fawkes 3-1
5 Blue Forty D’wildcat Serpa DiVito 6-1
6 Venetian Sonata Bernardini Allen Jr Helmbrecht 6-1
7 Grand Entry Grand Reward Cintron Griffith 8-1
8 Quick Flip Speightstown Cotto Jr Pompay 8-1
9 Endless Date Intimidator Figueroa Werneth 30-1
10 Red Hot Doll Officer Lynch Homeister 8-1
11 Vicarious Won Elusive Quality Lenclud Clement 12-1
LOUISIANA CHAMPIONS DAY AT FAIR GROUNFD
Preview courtesy of Bob Fortus – The Times-Picayune
At age 6, Star Guitar appears to be at the top of his game as he heads into the Louisiana Champions Day Classic today at the Fair Grounds.
Star Guitar is on a six-race winning streak that began in the Classic last year. He has a chance to become the lone three-time winner of the Classic and extend his record for Champions Day victories to five.
No doubt about it, he’s established at the top of the Louisiana-bred hierarchy. It’s no surprise that he’s the 6-5 morning-line favorite in the Classic.
But Star Guitar will be facing a serious challenger to his position.
The 3-year-old Populist Politics, the third-place finisher in the Super Derby, is the 7-5 early second choice.
http://www.nola.com/horseracing/index.ssf/2011/12/louisiana_champions_day_classi.html
FINISH LINE HORSE PRODUCTS ON HBO – sneak preview tonight!
HBO has a new series about the horse racing world coming out in 2012 called LUCK http://www.hbo.com/luck/about/index.html. The sneak preview is Saturday, December 10 and the premiere is January 29. The show is set at Santa Anita racetrack in Arcadia, California and stars Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte and Dennis Farina, directed by Michael Mann. When filming began their racing consultants told them they needed Finish Line products in the barns if they wanted it to be authentic. The set decoration department contacted Finish Line and the company sent containers of Kool Out and Original Premium poultice, Apple A Day electrolytes, Total Control performance supplement and others for the show’s use. Finish Line has manufactured products for racing and other performance horses for 35 years but the family history goes back over 110 years. Finish Line products are made in the USA and are 100% guaranteed to the horseman every time, making Finish Line’s products a necessary part of many trainers’ barn programs and a factor in racing barns throughout the country. Finish Line is proud to be an integral part of horse racing and a contributing factor in LUCK.
STANDING PAT
Valenzuala retires
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/horses/story/2011-12-10/Patrick-Valenzuela-retires/51774824/1
