FRIDAY! – Wraps of Wednesday night and Thursday – bits here and there…enjoy the weekend of racing
MELNYK SON OF PAYNES BAY WINS STAKES
Grazettes Landing game in Shepperton
TORONTO, August 4 – Melnyk Racing Stables homebred Grazettes Landing captured Wednesday’s $126,200 Shepperton Stakes at Woodbine.
The five-year-old son of Paynes Bay is trained by Mark Casse and was ridden to victory by Corey Fraser in the 6 1/2-furlong dash for Ontario-sired runners.
Grazettes Landing broke well and took charge through a moderate opening quarter in :23.05. He ceded the lead to Paso Doble through the middle stages, but re-rallied gamely in the stretch for the score.
Gypsy Ring closed late to finish second, defeated just three-quarters of a length. Dancer’s Bajan was third.
Grazettes Landing covered the 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:16.16.
“He kicked on,” said Fraser. “I’d like to thank Eugene (Melnyk) for having the confidence to put me on this horse tonight, as well as all the other rocket ships I get to ride.”
The Shepperton was the seventh win in 20 starts for Grazettes Landing, who has now banked $475,433.
NOT BOURBON rode the rail but was all in through the stretch and eventually eased up on his way to a 5th place finish.
The runner-up placing by Gypsy Ring was hard to figure since the gelding, who had been 2nd in the New Providence with a 100 Beyer Figure, had come back with a 55 Beyer Figure in his latest.
Meanwhile, the New Providence winner, Dancingall Thway, had been freshened since his win but was never involevd last night and trailed.
More Wednesday night – SILVER BAG won her maiden in race 1 by a long margin in what can only be described as a weirdly run race.
At the start, ANNA SHE IS, in from Tampa for trainer JIm Hatchett, broke extremely slowly and then quickly go tinto positon as a slow pace dvelopd with Striking Miss leading the way.
Anna She Is then suddenly rolled up wide and fast down the backstretch, led for a few strides and then fell back. By this time. SILVER BAG had a made an early move too and she made it stick while Anna She Is re-rallied to be 3rd.
The winner is a Stanley Baresich pupil by Devil His Due and she won for $32,000 claiming in her 4th outing of the season.
Tough luck for speedball, 8 to 5 shot TIGERHEAT in race 2 when he was deadlocked in a mad pace duel with CLIFF COTTAGE in the $16K claimer. Tigerheat did away with Cliff Cottage on his outside under Patrick Husbands but then could not hold off SIERRA CAT in the late stages. The winner was dropping off the claim by trainer Julia Carey.
Race 3 was the grass debut for MONTROSE AVENUE and the son of Endeavour loved it, darting up the rail to win big over a mish mash group of Ontario sired guys in the allowance race. The winner is a Nock Gonzalez trainee for Tucci Stables and he’s a 3 time winner now and a 4yo.
Race 5 – the game is easy when you claim horses for $20,000 and run them back for $12,500. GIGOLETTE, who has seen much better days, was taken from her latest when fourth as the favourite and dropped by trainer Don MacRae and the One More Time and Centennial Farms Inc. She barely held on to win over Atalanta Velox, another sharp Julia Carey trainee. The winner is an Ontario bred by Northern Afleet.
The Equilease Team of Arthur Abbott won the 6th with the Afleet Alex filly NEW YEAR’S BABY (she was born in February) who was the whopping 3 to 5 fave to win her maiden in the $12m,500 race. She is trained by John Charalambous.
THURSDAY AT WOODBINE
Small fields ruled the day but the folks around OUR LUCKY CHARM are not complaining. The 6yo mare by Crown Attorney, finally won her maiden after some 30 races, in race 3, a maiden allowance for Ontario sired gals, The win was the first in a while for trainer Dan Birtch who co-owns the mare.
Bettors were caught nappin when I GOT THIS won her maiden for $32,000 claiming in her first career start. The 2yo by Borrego was offerd for sale by Tony Bowling but bought back for $125,000. She had worked in 33 2/5 for that 2yo sale in April at OBS. She won her debut for trainer Dan Vella at a whopping 13 to 1.
MICHAEL’S BAD BOY won for the 12th time in his career in his 31st start ina $50K claimer on turf in the next race on Thursday. The son of Wonneberg is owned and and bred by Joan Agro and Nick Gonzalez trains. The winner scorched 6 1/2 on turf in 1:14 2/4.
BRIDGETOWN IS BACK
Melnyk colt wins seasonal debut
Summer Stakes winner BRIDGETOWN, a top 2yo last year on the grass who is owned by Eugene Melnyk, won his first race as a 3yo at Saratoga yesterday:
result courtesy of Thoroughbred Daily News:
LATHAM S., $70,000, SAR, 8-5, (R), 3yo, 5 1/2fT,
1:03 3/5, yl.
1–BRIDGETOWN, 123, c, 3, by Speightstown
1st Dam: Ellesmere (SP), by Tabasco Cat
2nd Dam: Empress Aly, by Alydar
3rd Dam: Majestic Gold, by Hatchet Man
O-Melnyk Racing Stables Inc; B-Eugene Melnyk (FL);
T-Kenneth G McPeek; J-Julien R Leparoux; $42,000.
Lifetime Record: GSW, 6-3-2-0, $434,198. *1/2 to
Carnacks Choice (Carson City), MSW & GSP,
$264,905.
COMING UP SUNDAY…
ALFRED G. VANDERBILT H.-GI, $250,000, 3yo/up, 6f
PP HORSE SIRE JOCKEY TRAINER WT
1 Gayego K Gilded Time Garcia bin Suroor 120
2 Mambo Meister King Cugat Cruz Gleaves 117
3 Temecula Creek Gulch Velasquez Rodriguez 113
4 Big Drama Montbrook Coa Fawkes 120
5 Majesticperfection Harlan’s Holiday Bridgmohan Asmussen 116
6 Bribon (Fr) Mark of Esteem (Ire) Gomez Pletcher 120
7 Smokey Fire Smoke Glacken Castellano Attard 120
ROGER ON A ROLL
Canadian trainer cleaning up the Spa turf
From PERFECT SHIRL to MISS KELLER and today it’s PERFECT SHOWER, Roger Attfield is sweeping the Spa.
From the Glens Falls
SARATOGA SPRINGS — After a clump of grass cut Miss Keller’s eye last time out in the Grade II Nassau at Woodbine, trainer Roger Attifield came up with a piece of head gear to offer a solution.
The protective blinkers with windshield-like clear cups worked as Javier Castellano rode the Irish-bred filly to victory in the seventh running of the $70,000 De La Rose on Wednesday. It was Castellano’s fourth victory in the nine-card day.
“Roger seems to come up with some interesting head gear,” said Joe Miller, assistant racing manager for Three Chimneys Racing. “… He always seems to have something new. He’s very innovative. That was just Roger being an incredibly good trainer.”
Attifield sent Miss Keller down from Canada to compete against nine others, and Castellano led her to a tactical first. With a furlong to go in the 1-mile turf race, she pulled ahead and had enough left to beat the runner-up, Keertana.
http://poststar.com/news/regions/saratoga/track/article_1914de20-a048-11df-841d-001cc4c03286.html
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Winnipeg Sun feature
KEN WIEBE
Even in horse racing, sometimes a name is just a name.
Back in January of 2009, veteran trainer Carl Anderson purchased a horse at an auction at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., which was known as Smiling at the time.
“What caught my eye was her racing form,” said Anderson, who bought the horse for himself and then sold it to the Dark Cloud Racing Stable, a group he trains for. “She had won three races at Lone Star in Texas and that’s hard to do. She looked sound.”
After a successful season at Assiniboia Downs last summer, Smiling spent the winter at Rivard Stables in Elie, came back in better condition and was ready to roll.
Then in May, the Manitoba Jockey Club informed Anderson that Smiling might be racing in Puerto Rico and his horse might actually be named Anna Bella.
“We had to get the blood type and send DNA in,” said Anderson. “The horse that I saw was Anna Bella but it was called Smiling at the time. I got what I wanted. The horses were mixed up as yearlings. There were two brown fillies on that farm and registered at the same time.
http://www.winnipegsun.com/sports/othersports/2010/08/05/14938106.html
