Soul man – PERFECT SOUL (Ire) has arrived at Norse Ridge Farm in King, Ontario. The sire of Breeders’ Cup winner Perfect Shirl was captured by Cindy Pierson Dulay.
CANADIAN STUFF
NICK GONZALEZ is in action today at Gulfstream with a pair of entries – BEDARRA in a starter allowance and the 2yo ROYAL GREATNESS in a 2yo allowance…
HARVEST HOME, an Ontario bred by Smart Strike – Quiet Cheer, won a 5 1/2 furlong turf allowance at Fair Grounds yesterday for Louis Roussell. The 6yo was bred by Sam-Son Farms.
GUITERRTERZ issued warning – Vancouver jockey Mario Guiterrterz, who rode top Canadian filly DASHING DAISY in an allowance race recently at Hollywood Park and was still active heavilly with his whip while the filly was fading badly, has been issued an official warning by Hollywood stewards.
“The mitigating circumstances were, the horse was not struck on the head, and the jockey is allowed to whip on the shoulder. We do feel that he whipped without pursuing a better position, but we have been very consistent with this issue and normally start with a warning. Mr. Guitetterz was very remorseful and unaware of our rule and policy, this also added to our decision”, was the response from the stewards at Hollywood Park.
LYNCH, CONTRERAS IN GRADE 3 ON SATURDAY
Pica Slew Could Give Lynch Special Win in Saturday’s Sugar Swirl
By Jack Will
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Terra Di Sienna Stable’s 4-year-old filly Pica Slew has shown considerable talent in her limited career of six races from coast to coast. But she will likely be a longshot as she makes her first start since January at Santa Anita and first start in the care of trainer Brian Lynch in Saturday’s $100,000 Sugar Swirl Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park.
“It looks like the race is coming up very tough,” said Lynch Wednesday morning from Palm Meadows, “But she’s doing well and we thought we’d try her. She’s been with me at Woodbine most of the year and had a pretty nasty splint bone injury, which we had operated on in May.
“It would be quite a trip to win the race having trained Sugar Swirl through part of her career,” said Lynch, who was a former assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel at Woodbine when Sugar Swirl began her career as a 2-year-old in 2005. Jockey Luis Contreras, leading rider at Woodbine this year, will have the mount on Pica Slew.
Lynch was on his own with a division at Palm Meadows in 2008 when Stronach Stable’s Sugar Swirl, a daughter of Touch Gold, swept the three Graded sprint stakes on the Gulfstream schedule that winter – the First Lady Handicap (G3), now known as the Sugar Swirl, the Hurricane Bertie Handicap (G3) and the Shirley Jones Handicap (G2).
Pica Slew is a Florida homebred daughter of Pico Central and began her career with one start as a 2-year-old at Woodbine, finishing sixth in the My Dear Stakes in late June of 2009 when trained by Greg DeGann(es). She re-surfaced at Calder the next spring with trainer Joe Calascibetta and won three straight, including the $150,000 Azalea Stakes (G3) in July.
In just two more starts since then, Pica Slew finished eighth of nine in the Test Stakes (G1) at Saratoga in August after setting the pace into the stretch when trained by Mike Hushion. She didn’t race again until Jan. 30 this year at Santa Anita when tiring to sixth after setting the pace in the Santa Monica Handicap (G1) for trainer John Shirreffs.
Pica Slew faces seven rival fillies and mares in the six-furlong Sugar Swirl with Hardacre Farm’s 3-year-old Florida homebred Pomeroy’s Pistol will likely be the favorite for owner-breeder-trainer Amy Tarrant in her first start since finishing a good fourth in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4, beaten 3 ¾ lengths by upset winner Musical Romance.
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 WT
1 Pomeroys Pistol Pomeroy Castellano Tarrant 120
2 Pica Slew Pico Central (Brz) Contreras Lynch 117
3 Roman Treasure K Roman Ruler Bravo Iwinski 114
4 Catch a Thief K Flatter Lopez Hills 117
5 Indulgence Macho Uno Leparoux Wolfson 117
6 Strike the Moon Malibu Moon Prado Trombetta 116
7 Moontune Missy K Forest Wildcat Cruz Harty 117
8 Third Chance Kafwain Santana DiVito 116
BETFAIR LOOMING LARGE
report from Standardbred Canada
Stephen Burn, the CEO of TVG and Betfair, said that his company has already spent 10 million dollars on the development of a U.S.-based exchange wagering site for horse racing.
Speaking Wednesday afternoon (December 7) at the Racing and Gaming Symposium in Tucson, Arizona, Burn said that his company, the world’s leader in person-to-person betting, is looking for active participants within the industry to move forward.
“One of the things apparent to me now is that there is a crisis in our industry. When the patient is dying you need to work on solutions and not bleed the patient.”
“We’re going to put together a coalition of the willing and look to collaborate and put the customer first. We need to put it out in the market and see if it works.”
Burn said Betfair is proposing an exchange wagering site with a 10 per cent takeout, versus the three to five per cent takeout rates offered overseas.
“For it to work it needs the racing industry to work with a pricing model that puts the customer first,” said Burn. “We put forward a 10 per cent commission structure. The proposition we have is that for every dollar we earn, we want to give the sport two dollars.”
Burn pointed to legislation in California that will open up that state to exchange betting in the near future.
“We’ve so far spent over 10 million dollars to create a unique exchange for U.S. racing. Racing should recognize that there’s a train coming with relaxed legislation on online betting and racing better make sure it doesn’t get left behind.”
http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/news/12-7-11/betfair-10m-us-racing-exchange-site.html
