Come out of the holiday slumber yet? Or still nursing that head cold, cough, flu, or all of the above? Or are you right back at work?
THOROUGHBLOG will dot the posts this week with some fun memories from 2012 but lets get some current issues and news items out of the way
CANADIAN CHAMPION TU ENDIE WEI DIES
Canada’s champion 2yo filly of 2011, TU ENDIE WEI has died. More details to come on Brereton Jones’ wonderful homebred filly.
The Johar filly, a brilliant speedster who won 5 races, all stakes, from 12 races including the Grade 3 Seaway Stakes, is a half sister to Horse of the Year Biofuel.
TRUE NORTH HANDICAPPED?
BARRY ABRAMS ESPN PODCAST – talking Ontario racing
RENEE KIERANS, trainer and TV personality, is a guest on the popular podcast IN THE GATES, hosted by Barry Abrams (no, not the trainer) on ESPN. com.
The racing shown often gives a lot of good coverage to Canadian racing and this time, it addresses the plight of the Ontario racing industry as it heads into 2013 with many questions as to how it will hold meetings without slot revenue.
DAVE PERKINS of the TORONTO STAR is also a guest.
http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=8773750
CANADIANS/LOCALS ELSEWHERE
TESSERON, owned by Vern and Donna Dubinsky, was 4th in the Kentucky Jockey Club to Uncaptured and is headed to an early Kentucky Derby prep. photo from kentuckyderby.com
KENTUCKY DERBY fever for Josie Carroll stable
US breds AVIE’S QUALITY and TESSERON, both Canadian-owned
http://www.drf.com/news/gulfstream-park-carroll-figuring-best-course-pair-derby-hopefuls
Nick and Gonzalez have not lost the rhythm since Woodbine ended. The couple won with MATCHING SKIES yesterday at Gulfstream for $6,250 and lost her via the claim box. The Henny Hughes filly was winning for the 3rd time in the last 5 races. Jermaine Bridgemohan rode the winner.
At Gulfstream, MARK CASSE has won 5 races, BRIAN LYNCH has won 3 and the Gonzalez barn record is a good one:
Nicholas Gonzalez 11 2 4 3 $48,380 18% 9 82%
Speaking of the Gonzalez barn, its recent claim, the 8yo SAFETY ZONE runs for $25,000 claiming having just won for $37,500 at Woodbine. The gelding is approaching $600,000 in earnings and has raced for a variety of different interests over the years.
Did you catch that super run by PRIVATE ZONE, a Canadian bred by MACHO UNO – AUBURN BEAUTY, by SIPHON in the Malibu Stakes on Boxing Day at Santa Anita? The 4yo Ontario bred, from Adena Springs North, led late in the 7 furlong test and was only caught by Jimmy Creed in a Grade 1 that yielded the runner-up a 103 Beyer Figure.
The number was one of the highest by any Canadian-bred horse in 2012.
PRIVATE ZONE is owned by Good Friends Stable (remember that horse that won the Prince of Wales a couple of years back? Golden Moka?) and he is the 3rd foal of an unraced mare. The 3rd dam is AMELIA BEARHART, who produced turf champion CHIEF BEARHART.
The exciting Canadian-bred PRIVATE ZONE
photo by Vanessa Ng.
Thoroughbred Daily News charts of Ontario winners:
8th-LRL, $39,200, NW1X, 3yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:55, gd.
BIG KICK (c, 3, Tiznow–Diamant Lady, by Mr. Greeley) Lifetime Record: 9-2-2-0, $59,781. O-Stronach Stables.
B-Adena Springs (ON). T-Jose Corrales. *$90,000 RNA yrl ’10 FTKJUL. **Won by 6 lengths
6th-HAW, $32,000, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 1:14 3/5, ft.
SELZ (c, 2, Macho Uno–Ever Elusive {SW & GSP, $219,602}, by Forestry) faded to 10th in his career
bow at Hawthorne Dec. 2. The 5-2 chance set the pace along the rail and remained in charge throughout,
finishing a length ahead of Keep on Shining (Indygo Shiner). Sales history: $25,000 yrl ’11 KEESEP;
$21,000 2yo >12 FTMMAY. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $19,328.
O-A Knapczyk & J Zawitz. B-Josham Farms Limited (ON). T-J Lynn.
FINAL RACING CARD IN BARBADOS, DEC. 26
Giant’s Causeway colt wins Grade 1
PATRICK HUSBANDS was in town, a large crowd came out, and the racing was beautiful in Barbados on Boxing Day!
from BARBADOS ADVOCATE:
Nekitta, Aristodemus win feature races
The Diamonds International/Crown of Light Stakes & Trophy Challenge for West Indian bred two-year-olds, going 1 570 metres, was won by the Lewin Godding-owned bay filly Nekitta, which was bred by John Humphrey, trained by Victor Cheeseman and ridden by Antonio Whitehall.
Leaving the gates, it was Cavanak with jockey Patrick Husbands – who recently finished second in the Woodbine jockey standings in Canada – that made the early fractions. She was followed by Koh-I-Noor and High Tide.
http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=sports&NewsID=28413
MORE MARIO MANIA?
VANCOUVER FEATURE, BY DAVE EBNER
The enduring horse-racing image of 2012 will be Mario Gutierrez, an unknown jockey atop I’ll Have Another, winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, charging from the outside and behind, chasing down favourite Bodemeister at the line.
Yet in 2012 Gutierrez didn’t race, or win, all that much. After his trampoline to horse-racing fame, even as I’ll Have Another was scratched just before his shot at the Triple Crown at the Belmont Stakes, Gutierrez has enjoyed life, travelling often, racing here and there up and down the West Coast.
Through 2012, Gutierrez mounted horses in 404 starts – less than half the number of the top jockeys. And Gutierrez scored a win, place or show in only 37 per cent of his outings, the third-lowest winning percentage among the top 50 jockeys by winnings as compiled by Equibase.
FORBES ON DERBY JACKPOT GAME
by Teresa Genaro
Can DerbyJackpot Be Angry Birds With Betting?
In 2011, Tom Hessert went to his first horse race. It was the 2011 Preakness, and, he said, “after trying to figure out the tote machine for half an hour,” he decided to place a wager, $5 to win on a horse whose odds were 5-1. After cashing his winning ticket for $30, he was, as he put it, “instantly obsessed.”
“I had a total blast,” he said recently from his office in New York’s Flatiron district.
Like many first-time bettors, Hessert didn’t make his selection after handicapping the race. He bet the horse because he liked its 5-1 odds and figured that if he won, he’d make enough to buy a couple of drinks.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/teresagenaro/2012/12/27/can-derbyjackpot-be-angry-birds-with-betting/
