It’s Breeders’ Cup week…and it’s ZENYATTA FRENZY!!
QUALITY ROAD, yesterday morning, on the outside in his workout for the Breeders’ Cup Classic – Reed Palmer Photography
(Aikenite is on inside)
MISS THE ZENYATTA FEATURE ON 60 MINUTES?
HELMET CAM IS VERY VERY COOL…
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7009219n&tag=mncol;lst;1
AND MICHELLE BONIFACE helps Producers understand the magic..
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-20021187-10391709.html?tag=component.0
ZENYATTA, before her latest race, the Lady’s Secret. Eugene Viti photo
VELLA ON A TEAR
Is there a hotter trainer in the country than Dan Vella? His barn has won 9 races in less than a month and took the first yesrerday with ALPHA BETTOR,a 2yo by Alphabet Soup, and then the Kennedy Road prep with FIELD COMMISSION.
The latter, last year’s champion sprinter, had not won all year but suddenly came to life yesterday for his trainer who has been winning races at an alarming rate lately.
It is a good time for the Vella barn to be a roll – his trainee WYOMIA, a large filly, is headed out today to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly Turf on Friday at Churchill Downs fresh off a super workout yesterday morning.
The Vindication filly is owned by Ed Seltzer and Beverly Anderson.
The Mark Casse Stable is also hot, it won 3 races yesterday with three different jockeys in various events. Casse trainee DELIGHTUFL MARY is getting rave reviews on her training from railbirds at Churchill Downs.
Casse won with the 2yo Lion Heart colt SARDONICUS, bred by Robert Slack, in a maiden allowance that got a 64 Beyer. The $6,000 purchase led all the way in his 2nd career race. Later, Venus Bay won a turf event and the Mobil filly was only a $15,000 purchase.
Every fall the Fidlestone Farm – Analisa Delmas group start to heat up and tha is the case again this year. It won on Saturday and it won yesterday when PERFECTTO ROSA won her maiden for $10,000 at 7 to 1 after 3 consecutive declining Beyer Figures. She is a Rossini filly bred by Box Arrow Farm and she cost about $1,000.
More OLD FORESTER ACTION! The firster OKIYAMA, trained by the suddenly hot John Mattine, won his debut in race 6 and was one of 2 debut winners for the red-hot freshman sire Old Forester. Okiyama, owned by R. Okihiro, W. Paterson and partner came from 12th and last to beat the only 2yo in the large field that had raced – Oh Boy. The winner, a $15,000 yearling, was bred by Racehoss Inc and sold by maria Garrigan. The mare, Sangoma, is a half sister to sprinting stakes winner Sariphone.
The winning Beyer was 54.
JOCKEY RACE AT WOODBINE – IT’S GETTING INTERESTING…
1 Eurico Rosa Da Silva 787 155 121 111 $7,667,280 20% 387 49%
2 Patrick Husbands 810 148 121 120 $7,925,017 18% 389 48%
3 Chantal Sutherland 730 116 106 113 $6,922,005 16% 335 46%
4 Omar Moreno 821 111 113 118 $4,448,621 14% 342 42%
5 Emile Ramsammy 738 95 85 77 $4,340,677 13% 257 35%
6 Luis Contreras 467 78 77 80 $3,373,736 17% 235 50%
7 James McAleney 486 69 69 61 $3,886,611 14% 199 41%
8 Emma-Jayne Wilson 441 61 72 51 $3,335,309 14% 184 42%
9 Jono C. Jones 466 56 62 60 $3,617,233 12% 178 38%
10 Justin Stein 560 52 56 66 $2,503,990 9% 174 31%
11 Corey Fraser 387 45 46 42 $2,484,880 12% 133 34%
12 Tyler Pizarro 415 42 50 47 $1,971,346 10% 139 33%
13 Gerry Olguin 403 38 51 40 $1,851,906 9% 129 32%
14 David Clark 367 37 42 36 $1,852,310 10% 115 31%
15 Richard Dos Ramos 352 36 28 19 $1,998,756 10% 83 24%
16 Steven Bahen 421 35 30 45 $1,555,565 8% 110 26%
TRAINERS
1 Mark E. Casse 480 71 61 66 $3,822,375 15% 198 41%
2 Reade Baker 307 52 59 44 $3,180,990 17% 155 50%
3 Roger L. Attfield 182 38 30 21 $3,233,141 21% 89 49%
3 Sid C. Attard 237 38 41 27 $2,273,649 16% 106 45%
5 Steven M. Asmussen 232 37 35 33 $1,352,408 16% 105 45%
6 Robert P. Tiller 243 33 31 38 $2,045,682 14% 102 42%
6 Nicholas Gonzalez 199 33 28 18 $1,869,332 17% 79 40%
8 Michael P. De Paulo 195 30 28 24 $1,327,125 15% 82 42%
9 Laurie Silvera 159 27 23 18 $1,086,327 17% 68 43%
10 Scott H. Fairlie 191 26 26 29 $983,688 14% 81 42%
11 Michael J. Doyle 207 25 27 23 $1,555,928 12% 75 36%
12 Mark R. Frostad 92 23 12 11 $2,186,349 25% 46 50%
12 Daniel J. Vella 142 23 21 20 $1,087,884 16% 64 45%
14 Malcolm Pierce 161 22 15 27 $1,408,466 14% 64 40%
15 Josie Carroll 148 21 17 19 $1,290,979 14% 57 39%
15 Michael V. Pino 53 21 11 7 $536,274 40% 39 74%
17 Ian Black 181 20 27 20 $2,072,954 11% 67 37%
17 Paul M. Buttigieg 97 20 13 9 $899,211 21% 42 43%
17 Sam Di Pasquale 124 20 32 16 $772,589 16% 68 55%
HORSES, BY WINS, at WOODBINE
1 Impossible Time 6 5 1 0 $326,228 83% 6 100% 99
1 Safety Zone 8 5 3 0 $167,387 63% 8 100% 103
1 Certain Pride 7 5 2 0 $133,154 71% 7 100% 92
1 Preakness Laugher 7 5 1 0 $79,532 71% 6 86% 97
WOODBINE WEEKEND WRAP
GRAND STYLE – 71 BEYER, Princess Elizabeth
FANTASIA – 94 BEYER River Memories
INDIAN APPLE IS 86, Ontario Fashion
SAFETY ZONE 92 Labeeb S.
STRETCH RUNNERS DOMINATE
Safety Zone wins again, 5 for 8 in 2010
MELNYK RACING STABLES rarely claims a horse but when the owner and trainer Mark Casse dipped in for SAFETY ZONE, for $40,000, they had a race in mind for the King Cugat fellow. The Barbados Gold Cup, which Melnyk won this year with Sterwins, was the main reason they claimed Safety Zone but in the meantime, the 6yo managed to win the Labeeb Stakes on Sunday at Woodbine.
The gelding was down to $16,000 claiming this year when trainer Terry Jordan had him. He was recently trained by Scott Fairlie for his stable and Gary Wellwood. Gerry Olguin rides the horse and kept the mount for Melnyk and Casse. The pair managed to win a wild finish, typical of races on the turf at Woodbine. He edged another former claimer, Woodbourne (interestingly enough, he used to be owned by Melnyk too) and invader Tybalt.
GRAND DAY FOR G. WATTS HUMPHREY
American owner sends Ontario bred to Woodbine, wins maiden in PE
Trainer Mike Doyle has won 2 of the biggest 2yo races of the year in 2 weeks – yesterday his new arrival GRAND STYLE, an impeccable bred Giant’s Causeway gal out of a daughter of DANCE SMARTLY was the winner of the $250,000 Princess Elizabeth Stakes for Canadian-bred 2yo fillies. The $250,000 yearling was bred by Sam-Son Farms.
While a maiden after 3 races (2 on grass), the filly was easy to like in a field that had just 2 weak winners of 10 entrants.
Eurico Rosa Da Silva rode the winner, who had been 3rd in her lone Woodbine outing.
It was a big day for Sam-Son Farms as it won 2 races and bred the winner of the stakes event.
RIVER MEMEORIES, MEMORABLE
The $100,000 River Memories Stakes was a thriller even if the race was decimated by scratches. Lots of shippers were emtered but few ran. But there was a 3 horse photo in the 8 horse field and the winner was FANTASIA, an Augustin Stable shipper for trainer Jonathan Sheppard. A white faced dark bay by Sadler’s Wells, the filly was a close 4th in a Grade 1 in her last start (Proviso was the winner) but she really had to work to win this race.
What was apparent, however is that jockey Anna Napravnik was very confident as she did not resort to flailing the whip in the late stages and simply pushed her gal to victory.
MORE FROM SATURDAY…
Race 1 kicked off a series of races of close finishes and some hard-to-figure results – MS SARAVA BLUE, fresh off a layoff of 7 weeks, was up to beat favoured NEED TO KNOW in the maiden 2yo filly race for $20,000 claiming. The winner had shown little in 3 races in the summer for Gritstone Stable – 22 being her best Beyer Figure; but she was a different horse off the layoff under apprentice Ryan Pacheco. Wray Lawrence trains the Florida bred by Sarava.
TALKNOW was a predictable winner of race 2 as he was 2nd beaten a neck for $12,500 and in for $10K yesterday, except that the grey 3yo won by inches over Disclosure, a recent maiden winner. Paul Attard trains the winner.
In race 3 there was another close finish and despite a great deal of whipping and flailing, big favouriute Squeeze the Fox did not win his maiden on the drop from maiden allowance to $10,000 claiming. Instead it was VANEASTO, a Fieldstone Farms homebred trained by Analisa Delmas who came back from 8th beaten 17 last time for $11,500 to win for $9,500 on Sturday. The bay 3yo is by Dance to Destiny.
A promising first time starter won the 4th race on the grass – THESPIAN’S FATE, a full brother to debut winner Born to Act, followed suit and won the 1 mile maiden event after stalking the pace, He is by Theatrical out of Brave Destiny and is a Sam-Son Farms homebred.
There were some strange goings- on in race 5 as Show Me the Ring drifted down halfway through the 1 1/16 mile race and let 4 horses pass her and then she was eased, before being hard ridden once she dropped back to last. The winner of that allowance race for Ontario sired runners was Knob Hill Stables’ EXECUTIVE PICK, making her 4th start of the year. She is a Gardiner Farms bred by Bold Executive.
THE MELBOURNE CUP STOPS AUSTRALIA TOMORROW
The favourite has raced wice in the last week!
So You Think 3 1.6
Maluckyday 9 3
Shocking 11 3.5
Americain 14 4.25
Descarado 14 4.25
Harris Tweed 23 6.25
Holberg 23 6.5
Precedence 26 6.75
Manighar 26 6.75
Zipping 26 6
Monaco Consul 29 8
Shoot Out 29 7.25
Linton 29 8
Once Were Wild 31 8.5
Profound Beauty 31 8.5
Illustrious Blue 61 16
Mr Medici 61 14
Campanologist 71 18.5
Tokai Trick 91 23.5
Bauer 91 23.5
Zavite 101 26
Master OReilly 151 38.5
Buccellati 301 76
Red Ruler 301 76
