Fun to watch the REINDEER GAMES (see below)….Snow on the ground this morning up here in north Brampton, it’s cold and grey but a feeling of coziness and warmth as friends and family start to get together…more wine please! The results of the stakes race at Gulfstream could mean a lot to Sovereign award voters…
JOLLY SAINT NICK!
Owner MIKE AMBLER, trainer NICK GONZALEZ and jockey EMMA-JAYNE WILSON had some Christmas cheer yesterday as they won the first race at GULFSTREAM with the Ontario bred gal TWIN CITIES.
The homebred by City Zip out of Matching Sox overcame a slow start to rally for a neck win at 2 to 1.
She was claimed for $20,000 by Frank Calabrese.
Later, Gonzalez and Wilson had a 2nd with the tough mare TWO WONDERS, owned by Lorna Possler, in a turf optional claiming/allowance race on the grass.
EXCAPER in POST 2
American owned and bred EXCAPER could boost his chances for the Sovereign Award for champion 2yo colt if he were to win the Dania Beach Stakes on Sunday at Gulfstream. The steel grey colt was 2nd in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Churchill Downs and is in a fight for the Sovereign with Maritimer, the Coronation/Display winner.
Ian Black trains for the Kaster family and Emma-Jayne Wilson will ride.
The field:
Race 10 – 4:45 PM
Dania Beach S.
Purse $100,000. For Two Year Olds. Free nomination by Saturday, December 3, 2011, $1,000 to pass the entry box and $500 additional to start, with $100,000 Guaranteed. All fees shall be paid prior to the start of the race. The owner of the winner to receive $60,000, $20,000 to second, $10,000 to third, $5,000 to fourth,$3,000 to fifth and $2,000 to sixth. Supplemental nominations may be made at time of entry at a fee of $5,000, which includes entry and starting fees. Weight: 122 Lbs. Non-winners of a graded stakes on the turf allowed 2 Lbs.; a sweepstakes at a mile or over, 4 Lbs., two races other than maiden or claiming 6 Lbs. Starters to be named through the entry box by the usual time of closing.Trophy to the winning owner. Closed Saturday, December 3, 2011 with 48 Nominations. (If deemed inadvisable to run this race over the turf course, it will be run on the main track at One Mile) . One Mile. (Turf) (Rail at 48 Feet)
PP Horse Virtual
Stable A/S Med Jockey Wgt Trainer
1 Csaba (KY) 2/C L J Castellano 116 P A Gleaves
2 Excaper (KY) 2/C L E Wilson 116 I Black
3 Empire Builder (KY) 2/C L A A Gallardo 116 L Duco
4 Brother Pat (KY) 2/C L R Silvera 116 S Dwoskin
5 Burning Time (FL) 2/C L L Saez 120 D Fawkes
6 Vee One Rotate (KY) 2/C L M R Cruz 116 K G McPeek
7 Coalport (IL) 2/C L J R Leparoux 116 W M Catalano
8 Finale (KY) 2/C L J R Velazquez 122 T A Pletcher
9 Summer Front (KY) 2/C L R A Dominguez 120 C Clement
10 Italo (FL) 2/G L J Sanchez 116 W A Ward
11 Starforce (KY) 2/C L J L Castanon 116 M Nihei
12 Silver Menace (KY) (MTO) 2/C L K J Desormeaux 116 J P DiVito
FROM HANA – THE GELDING RULE…
Thursday, December 15, 2011
$56 Newly Gelded Winner in California Prompts Potential Rule Changes
Recently at Hollywood Park, a horse who was only reported gelded 30 minutes before post time (giving no chance for horizontal handicappers to change their tickets, or use the information) won, paying $56. According to the CHRB agenda (pdf) of today’s meeting, this has been going on for some time. Currently the trainer is fined $1000 for not giving the race office the information on time, so the betting public has full disclosure.
Jeff Platt sent the following letter on behalf of HANA to the CHRB. We hope they take a look at protecting the customers even more than they propose.
WAR HORSE, THE HORSE
“Steven Spielberg has admitted that directing his animal actors in War Horse was an unprecedented challenge for him”
DAILY MAIL STORY:
War Horse superstar: The Mail tracks down the unsung star of Spielberg’s blockbuster – and the Hollywood ‘horse whisperer’ with whom he has an almost telepathic bond
By DAVID GARDNER, in Acton, California
Those who gathered in New York to watch the stars arriving at the world premiere of the film War Horse last week could have been forgiven for feeling that someone was missing from the glittering event.
Big names aplenty trotted up the red carpet into the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, spruced up in their evening attire and posing for photographers.
Among them was director Steven Spielberg along with Midnight In Paris actor Tom Hiddleston and newcomer Jeremy Irvine.
AUSTRALIAN AI CASE UNDERWAY
Horse-Sex Rules Must Be Repealed for Being Unfair, Australian Lawyer Says
By Joe Schneider – Dec 14, 2011 11:00 PM ET
International rules adopted in Australia requiring thoroughbreds to physically mate to produce offspring eligible for racing are seen to illegally curb competition and a lawyer said they should be abolished.
The industry’s “self-regulation has become anti- competitive and exclusionary,” Ian Tonking, a lawyer for Bruce McHugh, the former Sydney Turf Club chairman who sued to allow artificial insemination for race horses, told a judge today. “This court cannot conclude the rules do not substantially lessen competition or amount to a constraint on trade.”
McHugh’s lawsuit challenges a multibillion-dollar industry for breeding that sees owners of the world’s most-prized horses, including Dubai’s ruler Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, send so-called shuttle stallions around the globe to breed with mares. Tonking was commenting during the first of three scheduled days of closing arguments before Sydney Federal Court Justice Alan Robertson, who will rule on the case.
