Today’s news JAPAN CUP comin up, winners at Woodbine as it winds down, and other Bicks and bites
BELLE OF THE BALL
Tribal Belle wins again
TRIBAL BELLE, with a 92 Beyer Figure on Sunday in the Bessarabian Stakes, is the leading candidate to win champion female sprinter honours at the Sovereigns in late January.
The B.C. bred, by the late Tribunal, owned and bred by Canvasback Farms, won her 5th race in her 6th outing of the season (she’s now 10 for 15) and it was her 3rd stakes score. She is trained by Terry Jordan.
Tribal Belle had to sit off a rapid pace set by Silver Z and Sweet Lorena. The former hung tough until very late in the race before the soon-to-be-champ edged past.
The 4yo filly is always ridden by Jim McAleney.
Also on Sunday, Canadian-bred 2yo watchers would be intrigued by 2 time winner DIXIE TROUPER, a Dixieland Band colt bred by Jo
sham Farms and owned by David Ross. Trained by Mike Pino, Dixie Trouper ran an 88 in his allowance win from off the pace. He is out of the Bold Executive mare TOULA, a half sister to SWEETEST THING.
AWESOME ACTION won at the age of 9 on Sunday for $60,000 claiming. Owned by Don Meehan and Curtis Joseph and Sue Leslie, the old timer is 12 for 57 in his career and over $800,000 in earnings.
Rob Landry almost always rides but on Sunday, Slade Callaghan was aboard. Dave Landry photo
FLICK YOUR BICK!
Canadian bred wins at Hollywood, 88 Beyer
BICKERSONS, before the Breeders’ Cup by www.-horse-races.net
The 2yo Silver Deputy -Dancehall Floozy gal BICKERSONS won the Moccasion Stakes at Hollywood Park yesterday for her first stakes win. The Ontario bred is from a mating orchestrated by her breeder Robert G Harvey, who owns the top 2 yo of this year, Hollinger.
from the THOROUGHBRED TIMES:
Bickersons scores first stakes win
in Moccasin at Hollywood
by Steve Bailey
Bickersons picked up her first stakes victory on November 22 with a front-running victory under jockey Joe
Talamo in the $100,000 Moccasin Stakes at Hollywood Park.
The two-year-old Silver Deputy filly showed good early speed before angling in and drawing clear in the stretch under firm handling by Talamo. Bickersons won by 2 1/2 lengths and covered seven furlongs in 1:22.49 on the Pro-Ride surface.
Miss Heather Lee closed willingly to take second, 2 1/2 lengths in front of third-place finisher It Tiz in a
field of six.
“I don’t know if they’re going to ship her out, but wherever they go, let me know,” said Talamo, who won five
races on the card. “She really impressed me today. This was my first time on her.
“For a race like that, they really weren’t going all that fast, but they pressured her all the way. Around the
turn, she was just taking deep breaths and I knew they’d have to run to catch her. I had a lot of horse and, at
the top of the stretch, she just kicked instantly.”
SON OF CHIEF BEARHART in Japan Cup (G1) – Preview (2)
from Japan racing Association website
The five horses from abroad led by Conduit for the 29th Japan Cup present a formidable proposition for the host country, but the quality of this year’s group of Japanese horses is top notch – arguably the best ever the race has seen.
There are nine Grade 1 winners in the Japanese camp, among them cup holder Screen Hero, Tenno Sho (Spring) winner Meiner Kitz, 2009 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) champion Logi Universe and Vodka, winner of six races at the top level. Who will take home the winner’s check of 250 million yen is shaping up to be anyone’s guess.
The following are (some of) the big names set to appear for the host nation:
ASAKUSA KINGS: Time is running out for the 2007 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) champion to reestablish himself as a Grade 1 winner. Asakusa Kings finished 18th out of 18 in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) after falling behind early, and for a horse whose style is to be near the lead, the lag proved fatal. The 5-year-old son of White Muzzle started 2009 well, winning a pair of Grade 2 races – the Kyoto Kinen and Hanshin Daishoten –
back-to-back. But in the spring version of the Tenno Sho, he was ninth and didn’t run again until the fall
version of the race. The distance of the Japan Cup should work to his favor, and the new partnership with
jockey Yasunari Iwata – Hirofumi Shii chose to ride 3-year-old filly Red Desire – is very intriguing. Yet
despite some positives and for all his past success, Asakusa Kings will need a good showing here to retain his
status as among the elites of Japanese racing.
COSMO BULK: The 8-year-old Cosmo Bulk hasn’t finished in the moneys in the JRA since March 29, 2008, when he came in fourth in the Grade 2 Nikkei Sho. But one has to hand it to the pride of Hokkaido local racing who will be running in the Japan Cup for the sixth consecutive year, and will appear in his 25th race at the top level, domestic and abroad. He will be reunited with Fuyuki Igarashi after more than three years, the locally-basedjockey who rode Cosmo Bulk in his first JRA start back in November 2003 and in the 2006 Singapore Airlines International Cup, the horse’s only Grade 1 title to date. In his previous race, nevertheless, Cosmo Bulk finished 14th in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) as the last choice and any improvement on that this weekend would have to be considered a success for the fading star.
EISHIN DEPUTY: Set to begin his stud career after the season, the 2008 Takarazuka Kinen champion is anxious to win one more Grade 1 title before calling it a career. The Japan Cup will be Eishin Deputy’s third race back from a ligament injury that sidelined the 7-year-old for a year and three months, and the crew at Akira Nomoto’s stable believes he is finally nearing his form of 2008. Under Keita Tosaki from the local racing
circuit, Eishin Deputy set a slow pace in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) before fading on the final straight to finish
ninth. The ownership had plans for him to travel to Hong Kong, but opted to go out on Japanese soil with the
Japan Cup and the Arima Kinen. The French Deputy son has never raced at 2,400 meters in 29 starts, but if he is indeed approaching last year’s condition, Eishin Deputy cannot be dismissed as any retiring horse looking for a little attention on his way out.
LOGI UNIVERSE: Fans and critics alike have long been waiting for the return of this year’s Japanese Derby
winner, and they will finally see him back on the turf in the Japan Cup. But the question is, in what kind of
form will they see him? When the colt steps out on Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday, it will have been close to six
months since Logi Universe’s last race, which was the May 31st Tokyo Yushun, held in the worst going for a
Derby in 40 years. Trainer Kiyoshi Hagiwara thought about the 2,500-meter Copa Republica Argentina, but in the end pulled him out with the idea of channeling all of his unspent energy into the Japan Cup, which will be held
at the same distance and track as the Derby. Apart from the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) in which he inexplicably flamed out at 14th, the Neo Universe son has won five of six starts in comfortable fashion, and
with the two-kilogram allowance for 3-year-olds, one has to like his chances even as he takes on the older
horses for the first time. Not since Jungle Pocket in 2001 has the Derby champion won the Japan Cup in the same year. But under the red-hot Norihiro Yokoyama, Logi Universe offers more hope than pessimism in one of the strongest fields since the turn of the century.
MEINER KITZ: It’s hard to fathom the reigning Tenno Sho (Spring) champion not being a top five pick in the
Japan Cup, but that’s probably what will happen on Sunday in this star-studded field. The 6-year-old Meiner
Kitz lifted the Emperor’s Cup as the 12th choice back in May, but was seventh in the Takarazuka Kinen and
launched the autumn campaign with another seventh-place finish in the Grade 2 Kyoto Daishoten under 59
kilograms. The Tokyo 2,400 meters and a lighter load should boost the son of Chief Bearhart’s chances, but
Meiner Kitz will need a good performance in the Japan Cup before he begins developing a reputation as a flash in the pan.
MEINER KITZ (at left) by Japan Racing Association
Read the entire story here:
http://japanracing.jp/_news2009/091123-02.html
Check out pp’s for all noms here:
http://japanracing.jp/_news2009/pdf/091124.pdf
ROMANCING CHURCHILL
Big effort by Serenading could have Sovereign implications
Canadian-based SERENADING is a one-time stakes winner in Ontario this year but she has done well ingraded events and should she win on the holiday Thursday iin the U.S., she could make a big move for champion older mare in Canada.
Thursday, Churchill Downs
FALLS CITY H.-GII, $150,000, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8m
PP HORSE SIRE JOCKEY TRAINER WT
1 Best Lass Werblin Desormeaux McPeek 114
2 Morena (Per) Privately Held Bridgmohan Matz 115
3 Copper State Jump Start Albarado Werner 116
4 Swift Temper Giant’s Causeway Garcia Romans 122
5 Unbridled Belle Broken Vow Dominguez Pletcher 122
6 Serenading A.P. Indy Leparoux Carroll 116
2009 Hot Canadian-bred Runners
This list and others can be found on the main page of Thoroughblog.
(Based on Beyer, $, SW)
1. Milwaukee Appeal (99)
2. Marchfield (102)
3. Rahy’s Attorney (106)
4. El Brujo (98)
5. Field Commission (105)
6. Sterwins (103)
7. Ice Bear (100)
8. Harlem Rocker (93)
9. Tribal Belle 102
10 Sand Cove (96)
LEADING HORSES BY WINS – ONTARIO
from Equibase.com
Name Starts 1st 2nd 3rd Earnings
Cacouna 12 6 3 1 $47,051
Vikrant 13 5 1 1 $35,470
Chocolateforlunch 6 5 1 0 $58,420
Kilmoganny 7 5 1 0 $47,020
Spread the News 8 5 0 1 $52,800
Step On Up 10 5 2 1 $147,628
Six Pack Sammy 10 5 2 0 $100,938
Spider Rock 9 5 1 0 $86,286
Tribal Belle 6 5 0 1 $360,703
*Bogue Chitto 9 4 4 0 $276,440
Smokey Fire 8 4 3 1 $270,408
Indian Apple Is 9 4 3 1 $209,130
B. B. Jazz 9 4 2 1 $82,669
Phor Philippe 10 4 1 2 $72,158
Jungle Wave 8 4 1 1 $396,200
La Gran Leslie 8 4 1 1 $82,953
Carem Crescent 6 4 1 0 $352,720
Eagle Poise 5 4 1 0 $216,540
Shawanaga 7 4 1 0 $167,160
Air Wolf 9 4 1 0 $107,078
Free to Fly 12 4 0 5 $58,100
Garzon 10 4 0 2 $137,003
Sky Taps 9 4 0 1 $59,084
Almostoutoftheblue 6 4 0 1 $50,144
Hollinger 4 4 0 0 $389,100
*Bogue Chitto will get another win when Hollywood Hit is disqualified from a stakes win last month
396 TO 1 IN JAMAICA MON
396-1 shot stumps Super-6 players
Published: Sunday | November 22, 2009
Ainsley Walters, Gleaner Writer
A WEEK after HOMBRE shocked punters to land the ADL Superstakes at odds of 52-1, resulting in a $2.4 million Super-6 carryover, another long shot, 396-1 first-time runner LADY SHARMEELA, floored hopeful bettors in yesterday’s fifth event, the Super-6 opener.
Almost all bets were crushed when sparingly used jockey Lynford Gayle brought the Patrick Fong-trained
first-timer with a strong run inside the final quarter-furlong of the 1000-metre straight race to nail
DE-BACHELOR at the wire, after the two had attacked and disposed of long-time leader CANTARRA in the rush for the wire.stunning victory
LADY SHARMEELA’s stunning victory at long odds caught even her trainer off guard, and Fong was as shocked as the thousands of punters who were hoping to make a winning start in a shot at the big Super-6 jackpot.
The filly returned $15,878 for a $40 win ticket and $588 to place, stumping most Super-6 bettors, who will now
chase a carryover jackpot of $5.4m next Saturday.
Surprisingly, the Pick-9 a tougher bet than the Super-6,
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20091122/sports/sports4.html
AGENT HAD CANADIAN CONNECTIONS
Bloodstock agent JIM CULLEN, recently barred from sales for one year, has been in the mews a lot lately and the latest study was done by Ray Paulick at the Paulick Report.
Cullen, who did horse sales and dealings for several horse owners at Woodbine including one top name trainer, recently claimed back one of those runners, LOVE YOU CRAZY, who races today at Churchill Downs.
CULLEN: SALES BAN ONLY THE BEGINNING
By Ray Paulick
Know and Trust is a 2-year-old filly owned by some former clients of bloodstock agent Jim Cullen and trained by Cullen’s childhood friend and college roommate William Denzik Jr.
The filly’s name is something of an inside joke: “know and trust” is an expression Cullen often used when communicating with his clients. Today, many of those clients and a variety of others in the Thoroughbred industry feel they have been betrayed or misled by the man who operates Cullen Bloodstock, the Oakland Group advertising and marketing firm, and the now-defunct Four Board Stables. Cullen is currently licensed as a trainer by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. He trains a string of horses for his wife under the name Florence Racing Stable and recently claimed a horse on behalf of Margaux Farm’s Steve Johnson. He also sells horse insurance for Old Colony Insurance Company of Lexington.
“We named the filly as an homage to Cullen,” said John Trumbulovich of Chicago, who first got involved with the Kentucky native in 2006. “Obviously we didn’t know him and certainly shouldn’t have trusted him.”
Read the story at www.paulickreport.com
