NEWS UPDATE – MONDAY 6:30 P.M. – WE MISS ARTIE TO GO STRAIGHT TO KENTUCKY DERBY after returning to Palm Meadows training centre and trainer Todd Pletcher. ASSERTING BEAR will head to the TOYOTA BLUE GRASS at Keeneland. Trainer READE BAKER was pleased with ‘Bear’s Spiral run, “He was going along well, was pinched back and if he had had a clear run he could have won it.”
PHIL’S DREAM is a remarkable racehorse who came back from a serious injury to be a Horse of the Year contender for 2013. He is working quickly for his 2014 debut. MICHAEL BURNS/WEG PHOTO
TWO-YEAR-OLD SALE AT ADENA FROM FASIG TIPTON TODAY
Highlighted by a bunch of youngsters who worked one furlong in 9 seconds, 4/5, the Fasig Tipton March 2yo sale is today at Adena Springs in Williston, Florida.
One of the horses to watch is a Smart Strike filly, hip 75, who cost $775,000 as a yearling.
The Ontario breds are as follows:
MARCH FASIG TIPTON 2YO SALE MARCH 24 – at Adena Springs, Fla.
Ontario breds in the sale with workout times from the gallop show:
11 3/5 12 C ESKENDEREYA SANIBEL STAR UNBRIDLED’S SONG ONTARIO 7 DON R. GRAHAM AGENT
10 3/5 97 F MUNNINGS FAUX PAS (IRE) SADLER’S WELLS ONTARIO 2 CRUPI’S NEW CASTLE FARM
10 3/5 105 C QUALITY ROAD GENTLE WORDS BERTRANDO ONTARIO 7 DON R. GRAHAM AGENT
10 1/5 122 F MEDAGLIA D’ORO LADY CHARADE PULPIT ONTARIO 7 CLASSIC BLOODSTOCK) AGENT
PHIL’S DREAM SIZZLING
One of 2013’s top Canadian horses, Grade 1 winner PHIL’S DREAM, is obviously ready to go for 2014. The son of Philanthropist had another bullet prep, this time on Sunday when he went 3 furlongs in 34 2/5, the quickest of 27 who preppd at the distance.
Saturday was a busy day on the Woodbine training track as 157 horses had workouts.
JOSE SEA VIEW, a top 2yo in Canada in 2013, worked 5 furlongs in a bullet 1:00 on Saturday, one of 5 horses to work the distance and all are from the Reade Baker barn.
Jose Sea View is owned by Brereton Jones.
Other stakes-class horses to work on Saturday included NORQUAY, 1:00 3/5, PALADIN BAY, 36, QUAESITOR, 50 and ON RAINBOW BRIDGE, 49.
More Canadian stuff
Longtime Woodbine trainer TINO ATTARD notched a win at Gulfstream on Sunday when NOOR UN NISA, a well travelled Kentucky bred mare by Broken Vown, owned by Lawrence Cordes, won a $25,000 claiming race on turf. The mare stumbled out of the gate but tracked the front runner and was up to beat that one, the favoured Sapphire Blue, by a neck under Paco Lopez.
Noor Un Nisa is 7 years-old.
Trainer NICK GONZALEZ is in the midst of a super winter season and he had a second and two thirds on Sunday at Gulfstream.
40 DAYS TO THE DERBY!
Everyday day that THOROUGHBLOG posts from now until the Kentucky Derby, one edition, or aspect of the famous race will be featured here.
Since it is the 50 year anniversary of the win by the greatest Canadian horse of them all, NORTHERN DANCER, let’s relive that moment – the race is shown a few minutes into this 8 minute clip from Brad Diamonds’ racing show that reported on the great horse’s death:
KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS
CHITU, a speedster by Henny Hughes, and his stablemate Midnight Hawk, were 1-2 in the Sunland Derby last evening at Sunland Park in New Mexico and are in the Derby picture.
DERBY PREP RACES THIS YEAR – WINNER AND BEYER FIGURE
2/22/14 Risen Star 1 1/16M Fair Grounds Intense Holiday 97
2/22/14 Fountain of Youth 1 1/16M Gulfstream Wildcat Red 101
3/1/14 Gotham 1 1/16M Aqueduct Samraat 96
3/8/14 Tampa Bay Derby 1 1/16M Tampa Bay Ring Weekend 94
3/8/14 San Felipe 1 1/16M Santa Anita California Chrome 107
3/15/14 Rebel 1 1/16M Oaklawn Hoppertunity 100
3/22/14 Spiral 1 1/8M (S) Turfway We Miss Artie 85
2/23/15 Sunland Derby 1 1/8 miles Sunland Chitu 102
Other major contenders include CAIRO PRINCE (95 Beyer), CANDY BOY, 96 Beyer and TAPITURE, 98 Beyer.
FLORIDA DERBY coming up Saturday!
DUBAI WORLD CUP WEEK
Link to probably fields (see item that says ‘World Cup night entries’:
big-guns-in-line-for-dubai-world-cup-night/1622027/top/#newsArchiveTabs=last7DaysNews
THE STEVE ASMUSSEN /PETA STORY
” The video, however unfair, is sickening in its coarseness and callousness. Racing’s supposed leaders and spokesmen need to formulate a swift and strong response, exposing the more ludicrous insinuations and addressing those with any merit.” – Steve Crist, Daily Racing Form
Thoroughblog comment:
Having read through and viewed the material on Steve Asmussen, Scott Blasi, Gary Stevens, D. Wayne Lukas, etc, that is currently out there, released by the New York Times from PETA it is easy to feel bad for the good horsepeople.
There are thousands of caring and intelligent owners, trainers, grooms, assistant trainers in this sport. Certainly there are Lasix shots and vitamin shots, Bute and more. The PETA video is not showing a lot of procedures that the racing indsutry would be surprised about. Indeed, the context in which some of these snippets is shown has to be considered. And just who is this PETA investigator who is having dinner with Stevens and Lukas and getting all these folks to tall her shocking stories (pardon the pun)?
The video is not fun to watch and the majority of responses in conversations and on social media are not against PETA’s motivation but against the subjects themselves.
Asmussen has already lost his Hall of Fame nomination. Zayat Stables scratched horses from racing yesterday, the ones trained by Asmussen.
Thoroughblog is interested in discussing the following points:
1 – Large, conglomerate, factory-like racing stables – how can any one trainer – or the owner, know what is going on with their horse? Can a horse really get proper, individual care in these situations? The Asmussen story is not happening at every stable, certainly, but it allows one to consider why owners with the big money, simply want to go to the conditioners with the big stats, because they have the most horses, the best horses?
And why don’t owners scrutinize vet bills? If the bills are huge, are owners simply paying them and hoping for a win?
(and no, the suggestion is not that smaller stables don’t try and push the limits of drugs as well)
2 – Steve Asmussen hiring people and then making them change their names? really? That in itself could be the biggest mess he is in from this.
3 – No matter when it happened, listening to Gary Stevens talk about buzzing a horse is very, very disappointing to true, passionate racing fans who have cheered on his horses (and him), for years.
4 – It is not against the law to use profanity in every second word, but Scott Blasi is simply dreadful in the videos. He did not know he was on film, that is the real Scott Blasi. What owner wants these types of people around their horses?
5 – It has been 2 days and we await comment from someone. Asmussen, Stevens, Ricardo Santana – he being the jockey who is called the ‘machine’ rider…if he denies it, then shouldn’t he have already demanded an apology from Asmussen and team? Why the silence?
CP24 VISITS LONGRUN, incl. HOWIE’S OFFICER, a half brother to JOYFUL VICTORY!
