Cindy Pierson Dulay photo
STERWINS TO BARBADOS!
One of the top Canadian-bred runners in recent years, STERWINS, is headed to the BARBADOS GOLD CUP on March 6 at the Garrison Savannah in Bridgetown, Barbados.
The Eugene Melnyk-bred 7-year-old was recently moved to trainer Mark Casse from Malcolm Pierce, raced once in an allowance race at GUlfstream and will be on his way to the caribbean for that island’s biggest race.
A Runaway Groom-Sweet Vale gelding, Sterwins is 8 for 28 i his career and less than $30,000 away from being a millionaire.
Melnyk, who lives in Barbados and is essentially an ambassador to the island for Canada, has won the race once after a few tries and that winner, Kathir in 2004, was actually disqualified 10 months later because of a drug test but then re-instated soon after by the courts.
Melnyk has not raced a horse in the Gold Cup in several years since then.
Also nominated to the Gold Cup is MET MILE winner BRIBON, recently sold to top Barabdos owner Gay Smith.
The following horses have been nominated at the 1st subscription stage for the XXIV SANDY LANE BARBADOS GOLD CUP (GR.1. – INT. – BAR) scheduled to be held on Saturday March 6, 2010.
APOSTLE (Mr. Elias Haloute & Sir Charles Williams)
AREUTALKINTOME (Mr. Attie Joseph 111 & Mr. Saffie Joseph Jnr.)
BAD ACTION (Mrs.Gay Smith)
BIRD WATCH (Aysha Syndicate)
BORDER SECRET (Sir Charles Williams)
BRIBON (Mrs. Gay Smith)
BOUNCEBAK (Lord Michael Taylor)
CHARGE IT (Aysha Syndicate)
DAYLIGHT EXPRESS (Lord Michael Taylor)
GRACE CHAPEL (Lady Williams)
HARLOW’S COURT (Melnyk Racing Stables Inc.)
JOHN BRIAN (Sir David Seale)
PEACEFUL ENVOY (Lord Michael Taylor)
PREACH TO ME (Sir David Seale)
PURE TEMPTATION (Lord Michael Taylor)
RING TIME (Mr. Christopher Gibbs)
SPICEY TIGER (Mrs. Gay Smith)
STERWINS (Melnyk Racing Stables Inc.)
121!!!
THE DIFFERENCE QUALITY MAKES
Wow, we have another fun one to watch in 2010 (if the girls are in action all season) as QUALITY ROAD, almost everyone’s pick for the Kentucky Derby last year (he didn’t make it to the race) won the GRADE 1 DONN HANDICAP by a pile of lengths with a Beyer Figure of 121, putting him near the likes of Easy Goer. MIDNIGHT LUTE ran a 124 3 years ago.
Quality Road – by Sarah K. Andrew
OTHER RACES SATURDAY
Football lovers betting hunches would have good news, briefly, and then bad after TAKE THE POINTS won the
Gulfstream Park Turf ‘Cap on the Donn card. The small field of 6 was a curious affair with one dominant pace runner, LE GRAND CRU, who actually went too fast on the pace in the nine-furlong event.
But the action began in early stretch once that one was done along the inside and did not offer much room for YATE’S BLACK CAT (Black Minnaloushe) to rally between that one and Take the Points who was strutting to the front. Tate’s Black Cat, under big pressure from jockey Kent Desormeaux, lost a path, steadied and then stumbled/clipped heels and lost all chance when Take the Points started to drift in – also under heavy
whipping.
It was not very Edgar Prado-like aboard Take the Points (Even the Score) who continued to slam the colt
right-handed through the stretch. Placed first was the big favourite COURT VISION, who was rallying mildly
anyway.
The new winner is a Gulch 5yo horse bought by IEAH last fall right before he won the Shadwell Mile (GI). The horse is 7 for 20 now in his career.
ANNA WINS FOR DEPAULO, BUT QUESTIONS RAISED
The victory by BOLD ANNA in the first race at Gulfstream Park on Saturday was nice for the Woodbine-based owner and trainer as well as for the ONtario bred filly by Bold Executive.
The filly, a one-time winner in 2009 at Woodbine, was dropping from $15,000 claiming all the way down to $6,250 but had been pulled up in her first start of the season and that was unsettling.
The fact that she came back to battle hard and win just over 2 weeks later at just 5 to 2 as the favourite.
DAILY RACING FORM’S MIKE WELSCH brings the occurance up and, just as this site has done many- a -time in the past is standing up for the bettors who are helpless in this instance.
Hey, if a horse is pulled up or has a bizarre running line for any reason, this should be addressed by the
stewards right away and made available to the public immediately (website and race office and hung up throughout track with the scratches and changes) so that when the horse runs again, we know what the heck happened.
Maybe the tongue tie fell off, maybe the bit broke – it doesn’t matter JUST TELL THE FANS!
Unfortunately, the folks governing racing do not seem to care anymore and certainly tracks do not do anything to persude the governing bodies to help them make the sport look crediable.
Here is Welsh’s comment from the 1st race Saturday:
GULFSTREAM: Some strange doings in the opener
Mike Welsch – Gulfstream
02/06/2010 01:37:45 PM
Wondering if the stewards are looking into circumstances behind the winner of today’s first race, Bold
Anna, who was eased in her local debut on Jan. 20 then returned 17 days later to post a game victory for
owner-trainer Mike De Paulo and jockey Rajiv Maragh. Especially considering all the action this horse took at
the windows getting bet down from her 6-1 morning line to be the 5-2 favorite at post time and while
showing no published work since that previous performance. One would think this mare would have had to
at least worked for the vet before being allowed to run back.
MORE CANADIAN STUFF
BLUE SMOKE BESS, a Smoke Glacken – Wedding Day Blues, by El Prado 4yo filly, was an allowance winner at Fair Grounds yesterday for Duyngalk Inc. The filly was bred in Ontario by Sean Fitzhenry and was a $47,000 yearling purchase in Kentucky. She is 4 for 14 in her career now and has earninged of over $91,000.
She has been racing Beyer Figures in the mid 70s.
TRIPLE CROWN NOMINEES 366
eeks, only 4 Canadian-breds nominated
Dixie Trouper R B Dixieland Band Toula Josham Farms Limited David E. Hofmans Tarabilla Fams Inc.
Giant’s Tomb C CH Awesome Again Song of the Wild Sam-Son Farm Mark R. Frostad Sam-Son Farms
Hollinger G GR/RO Black Minnaloushe Dynamite Cocktail R. Harvey & A. Wortzman Roger L. Attfield Harvey, Robert and Wortzman
Hotep b.c. A.P. Indy Eye of the Sphynx Sam-Son Farm Mark R. Frostad Sam-Son Farms
FULL LIST HERE: http://www.horse-races.net/library/tc10-noms.htm
Norm Files photo, Hollinger in middle
SANTA ANITA, CANCELLED SATURDAY BUT ON YESTERDAY
It’s tough to be a Santa Anita person these days, or a bettor/fan/horseperson for that matter as the Pro-Ride track continues to fail when the rain comes.
Some big races were cancelled Saturday but the San Antonio was run yesterday and was Richard’s Kid’s prep for the DUBAI WORLD CUP.
He won yesterday and earned a 100 Beyer Figure.
story from Pasdena Star News:
HORSE RACING: Richard’s Kid closes the deal at Santa Anita
Wire reports
ARCADIA – An owner and jockey change notwithstanding, Richard’s Kid resorted to what he does best when storming from far behind Sunday to capture the $150,000 Grade 2 San Antonio Handicap.
With Garrett Gomez aboard, the 8-5 favorite exhibited a remarkable burst of late speed while finding an opening along the rail to prevail in a blanket finish and defeat long shot Dakota Phone by a head, running the
1 1/8 miles on the synthetic Pro-Ride surface in 1:49.05.
Purchased privately by Zabeel Racing International following a sixth-place finish behind Zenyatta in the Nov. 7 Breeders’ Cup Classic, the return of Richard’s Kid was reminiscent of his finish when scoring a 24-1 upset in
Del Mar’s $1 million Pacific Classic last September.
He was last in a field of 11 turning for home on Sunday.
“I stayed down inside with him because there wasn’t a whole lot I could do about it,” Gomez said. “Nobody was really stopping today, so the only way we were going to overcome that was to save ground. He’s got a great kick.”
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/sports/ci_14354599
MORE ALBERTA UPDATES
Alberta Horse Racing… Does it have to be this way?
By Curtis Stock Sat, Feb 6 2010 COMMENTS(6) You Bet
In Friday’s Edmonton Journal, which you can still find online, I did a large takeout piece on horse racing in
Alberta.
There were a couple of pieces that, given my tendency to write way too long a lot of the time, there wasn’t
room for.
When I accepted my 10th Sovereign Award I went on a little bit of a Michael Moore rant. Mostly because I firmly believe that most of horse racing’s problems are self inflicted. I pointed out that everyone, who has the slightest interest in horse racing, knows exactly where they were when Zenyatta won last year’s Breeders Cup.
And if you closed your eyes you can still hear the deafening roars that rushed through every teletheatre, every racetrack and probably just about every home when Zenyatta got up just in time to win. It wasn’t just the filly vs. the boys story. It wasn’t just that she was undefeated. It was that this was a horse that everyone seemed to have fallen in love with. On paper, I gave her no chance to win. As did a lot of other handicappers. Yet racing fans and those with just a casual interest bet her down to ridiculously low odds. They were betting, it seemed, with their hearts not their heads. And when she acted up in the paddock, didn’t want to go into the starting gate and then broke about eight lengths behind the field well that feel-good story looked like it had no chance of having a happy ending.
-to-be-this-way.aspx
