TUESDAY’S NEWS – Wild racing at Woodbine, wild jockeys at Santa Anita and wild week coming up, get your picks in for the Fantasy Challenge, put on by Woodbine!
They’re off at Woodbine – race 1 on Friday is sent on its way. Dave Landry photo
SUNDAY AT WOODBINE
You knew it was going to be a wild one on Easter Sunday when the first race, a dreadful maiden mares event for $10,000 claiming ended up with a 4 horse blanket finish. Exciting yes, but it was not pretty. Each of the riders involved in the finish was a bug rider with a lot of polishing to do and the start of the race saw at least a couple of them unable to get their horses out of the gate well or straight.
And the favourite, A MOOSE IN LOVE, was a shocking 1 to 5 and was third. The winner, in the last jump was the 5yo maiden HUGGY ROCKS, a Rock and Roll homebred for Mervyn Kirby, who co-owns with A. Alber. Trainer Bill Tharrenos had this one very ready and congratulations to 10 pound bug CAROLINE DUQUET, who is back to ride this season after her first year in 2009.
A claim of foul was disallowed as Meetmeatthegas bar broke a few steps slowly while A Moos In Love bore out badly at the start and Huggy Rocks came in.
IN race 3, it’s not certain if the Dave Cotey team knew exactly what they had when starting RIDING THE RIVER for $16,000 claiming for his debut yesterday but the 3yp Kentucky bred won by a long margin in fast time over an admittedly suspect group. Still, the son of Wisemen’s Ferry – Glow Ruby Go by Rubiano was impressive as he sizzling 5 furlongs in 57 2/5, good for an 81 Beyer Figure.
Oh yes, and he cost just $3,500. His fourth dam is LADY DULCINIEA, dam of HEAVENLY CAUSE and JACQUES WHO.
If you thought race 1 was messy, race 4 was a nightmare for bettors if they had to watch their horses get steadied or checked.
GOLDEN TARIQUE was sending hard up the rail into the turn in the $16,000 maiden claiming race when he was suddenly steadied hard by 10-pound bug rider Brian Cheyne. The Touch Gold colt regrouped himself miraculously and charged inside but well off the rail to win a photo over ICEMAN JACK and leading rider from 2009 Patrick Husbands.
The SAM-SON FARMS team won a pair of races to end the weekend with the promsiing BATTLE AT SEA rallying from off the pace to win an allowance race in almost track record time – 56.56 – good for a 99 Beyer Figure.
This guy, a son of Smart Strike, seems to dislike dirt but likes grass and Polytrack. He was on the wrong lead all the way through the stretch but he has tons of potential.
Later, the Sam-Son first-time starter FIRST WUITH CLASS won a wild finish from far off the pace and became the first winner of the meeting for the new combo of Sam-Son and trainer Malcolm Pierce. The Gone West filly had the rail post, dropped well back but then mowed down the speed under Eurico Rosa Da Silva.
Apprentice Brian Cheyne won a race on Sunday. Norm Files photo
So, after three days…
Trainers
Steven M. Asmussen 10 4 1 1 $124,774
Mark E. Casse 9 2 3 1 $111,162
Sam Di Pasquale 3 2 1 0 $37,540
Ralph J. Biamonte 6 2 0 0 $54,195
Wesley A. Ward 3 1 2 0 $50,620
David Cotey 4 1 1 2 $30,459
Gregory de Gannes 5 1 1 2 $26,515
Reade Baker 5 1 1 1 $73,311
Michael J. Doyle 9 1 1 1 $51,129
Sid C. Attard 8 1 1 1 $43,486
Josie Carroll 3 1 1 0 $53,604
Robert P. Tiller 3 1 0 2 $47,455
Michael P. De Paulo 7 1 0 1 $44,907
Michael V. Pino 2 1 0 1 $42,090
Paul Attard 2 1 0 1 $40,168
Larry Rivelli 2 1 0 1 $21,864
Wray I. Lawrence 3 1 0 1 $19,268
Mark R. Frostad 1 1 0 0 $45,720
Malcolm Pierce 2 1 0 0 $42,258
Norm De Souza 1 1 0 0 $11,700
Jockeys
Eurico Rosa Da Silva 18 6 0 5 $226,664
Patrick Husbands 17 4 4 3 $238,004
Luis Contreras 10 4 1 1 $124,774
Omar Moreno 18 3 3 6 $95,055
Emile Ramsammy 21 3 3 3 $135,010
David Clark 6 2 0 1 $28,185
Jesus Lopez Castanon 4 1 2 1 $48,124
Corey Fraser 6 1 2 1 $44,422
Emma-Jayne Wilson 11 1 2 0 $79,704
Matt Moore 4 1 2 0 $17,340
Caroline Duquet 5 1 1 0 $16,620
James McAleney 9 1 0 0 $49,917
Brian A. Cheyne 4 1 0 0 $14,210
SANTA ANITA DERBY/ WOOD MEMORIAL LAST WEEKEND…
BOB BAFFERT QUOTE AFTER SANTA ANITA DERBY:
“I’m not going to talk about that right now. I cannot believe he rode him that way. It’s ridiculous.”
Asked about the inquiry: “I didn’t really care. When I saw him on the rail, I said, ‘What is he doing?’ He must not have seen Jerry Bailey’s tape. We’re going to buy him some DVDs.”
JOE DRAPE’S THE RAIL COLUMN
Fight in jocks room, money troubles for owner side stories…
Weekend of Triumphs on Track Offset by Turmoil Off It
By JOE DRAPE
ARCADIA, Calif. — You have to love the color and pageantry of horse racing. Here in Southern California, a horse owned by the weight-loss queen Jenny Craig and tenderly named for her late husband ran off with the Santa Anita Derby on Saturday. Heartwarming? Heck, yes.
But the victory by Sidney’s Candy has been eclipsed by the postrace fisticuffs that erupted after the jockey Garrett Gomez got Lookin at Lucky, last year’s 2-year-old champion, stuck in traffic and had to sharply pull back. Gomez punched his rival jockey Victor Espinoza almost as soon as he dismounted near the winners’ circle, claiming Espinoza, who was aboard the ninth-place finisher Who’s Up, tried to run him into the rail in revenge for a rough riding incident earlier in the week.
Lookin at Lucky’s trainer, Bob Baffert, soon after roasted Gomez for giving the colt a “horrendous ride” that was responsible for the disappointing third-place finish as the odds-on favorite. Baffert also made it clear he was thinking of replacing Gomez on what he still believes is a top Kentucky Derby contender.
In New York, meanwhile, Eskendereya ran away with the Wood Memorial, giving the trainer Todd Pletcher his best hope to fill the biggest hole in his résumé — a Kentucky Derby win, something he has failed to achieve with 24 previous runners.
“And he wins from here to Egypt,” is how the race-caller Tom Durkin described Eskendereya’s 9 ¾-length victory at Aqueduct at the odds of 1-2.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/sports/06racing.html
ESKENDEREYA, an Egyptian dance, is brimming with power for the Kentucky Derby – 109 Beyer Figure says it all.
Vanessa Ng photo
EARNINGS LIST FOR DERBY HOPEFULS
1 Lookin At Lucky Bob Baffert $1,480,000
2 Noble’s Promise Kenneth McPeek $708,000
3 Rule Todd Pletcher $645,000
4 Sidney’s Candy John Sadler $630,000
5 Eskendereya Todd Pletcher $600,000
6 Mission Impazible Todd Pletcher $473,434
7 Ice Box Nicholas Zito $457,500
8 Endorsement Shannon Ritter $400,000
9 Conveyance Bob Baffert $386,000
10 American Lion Eoin Harty $378,000
11 Discreetly Mine Todd Pletcher $340,000
12 Dean’s Kitten Michael Maker $326,475
13 Awesome Act Jeremy Noseda $285,000
14 Dublin D. Lukas $273,208
15 Interactif Todd Pletcher $270,450
16 Homeboykris Richard Dutrow, Jr. $250,500
17 Jackson Bend Nicholas Zito $230,000
18 Backtalk Thomas Amoss $225,916
19 Aikenite Todd Pletcher $218,000
20 Make Music for Me Alexis Barba $215,000
21 Mendip Saeed bin Suroor $200,000
22 Radiohead (GB) Richard Dutrow, Jr. $196,332
23 Uh Oh Bango R. Owens $187,952
24 Odysseus Thomas Albertrani $180,000
25 Setsuko Richard Mandella $180,000
26 A Little Warm Anthony Dutrow $180,000
27 Super Saver Todd Pletcher $163,832
28 Pleasant Prince Wesley Ward $162,500
29 Tempted to Tapit Steve Klesaris $156,000
30 Caracortado Michael Machowsky $153,000
QUEEN’S PLATE FANTASY CHALLENGE
get your team in at Woodbine website..
Win cash and prizes by putting together the best team for the July 4 Queen’s Plate (www.queensplatefantasychallenge.com) and follow any Plate news here on Thoroughblog.
Plate fave HOLLINGER is at KEENELAND, hacing worked there a few days ago in good time over the all-weather surface. Below are his 4 preps this season:
04/02/2010 KEE 5F 1:01.40 All Weather Track Fast B
03/25/2010 PAY 3F :37.40 Dirt Fast B
03/21/2010 PAY 3F :39.00 Dirt Fast B
03/15/2010 PAY 2F :27.60 Dirt Fast B
From the Ian Black barn, D’sWANDO prepped:
D’s Wando :48.40 H 6
Other Plate nominees to work include:
f – Roan Inish :51.80 B 14
IN THE WORKS
Some stars of local racing are buzzing around the track these days and how about the move on Monday by last year’s hot-horse SOUTHDALE? The dark bay Street Cry colt was everyone’s pick for the Queen’s Plate before he got injured. He’s back on track right now for owner Rod Ferguson and trainer Ian Black with this move:
Southdale :46.60 B 1
On Sunday, stakes winner BENT ATTORNEY sizzled 4 furlongs in :45.80
while co-champion 2yo filly BIOFUEL sped 5 furlongs in 59.00
On Sunday, champion FIELD COMMISSION also prepped: Field Commission 1:01.00 H 6
MORE DERBY STUFF…COMING UP SATURDAY, – THE BLUE GRASS STAKES
FROM KEENELAND..
ODYSSEUS ARRIVES, GETS FEEL
FOR KEENELAND SURFACE
Padua Stables’ Odysseus arrived Sunday afternoon at Keeneland from South Florida and wasted little time Monday morning getting acquainted with the Keeneland racing surface.
With assistant trainer Dan Blacker up, Odysseus went to the track around 7:30. He jogged a mile and then stood near the paddock runway for a few minutes taking in all the morning’s activities before a leisurely 1 ½-mile gallop.
Looking on was jockey Rajiv Maragh, who has been aboard Odysseus in all four of his starts that include victories in his past three starts. Odysseus is trained by Tom Albertrani, who is expected to arrive in Lexington on Wednesday.
Blacker has been with Odysseus since the son of Malibu Moon arrived in the barn last summer.
“I got on him the first day he arrived at Saratoga,” Blacker said. “He’s got a lot of class about him and a great feel. The owners are very high on him.”
Odysseus ran second in his first start last October at Aqueduct and then broke his maiden on January 14 at Gulfstream Park. He exploded onto the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (G1) trail with a 15-length victory in allowance company at Tampa Bay Downs on February 17 in his first start around two turns and followed that with a narrow victory in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) on March 13.
Odysseus has had two works since the Tampa Bay Derby victory, the final one coming last Wednesday when he turned in a five-furlong move in 1:01.40 at Palm Meadows. Blacker said Odysseus would have a paddock schooling session this week as he prepares for his racing debut on an all-weather surface.
“He trained and breezed on the all-weather last spring at the sale in Ocala,” Blacker said.
In other Toyota Blue Grass news, Donegal Racing’s Paddy O’Prado jogged two miles under Mary Doser at 6:30 on Monday morning. … Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Pleasant Prince jogged a mile under Brian Pena at 9:45, a day after working five furlongs in :58.40. … Bred to Win Partners’ Codoy jogged twice around the Keeneland Training Track with exercise rider Mimi Davis aboard. … Ellen and Peter Johnson’s Make Music for Me had his final tuneup for Saturday’s race by working six furlongs in 1:13 on Sunday morning at Hollywood Park. The move was the best of eight at the distance. Make Music for Me, who ran fourth here last fall in the Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity (G1), is scheduled to arrive at Keeneland on Tuesday.
KEENELAND 2YO SALE
Earle Mack paid $100,000 for the only Ontario bred to sell at yesterday’s single day Keeneland April 2yo sale. The colt is from the first crop of TRavers Stakes winner FLOWER ALLEY and out of the Regal Classic mare Classical Romance, a stakes winner at Woodbine. The chestnut colt was selling just a couple of days after his April 2 birthday.
WINNER IN BRITAIN:
ACADEMY BLUES, a 5yo gelding by Fusaichi Pegasus--Lover’s Talk, by Vice Regent. won a 7 furlong turf handicap at Redcar on Monday. The gelding was bred in Ontario by Kinghaven Farms and is a half brother to Love Grows (Steady Growth), MSW-Can, $165,454; Barley Talk (Charlie Barley), SW-Can, $207,292; Torrid Affair (Alydeed),
MSW & GSP-Can, $367,829; Wild Whiskey (Whiskey Wisdom), SW-Can, $297,073; and Lyrically (Thunder
Gulch), MSP-Can, $189,727.
notes from Thoroughbred Daily News
HEY, BIG FELLA IS NATIONAL FAVE
Saturday’s race still has 65 entrants
excerpt from:
Big Fella Thanks remains the 7-1 favourite with Coral for Saturday’s John Smith’s Grand National, after there were no major surprises at the latest entry stage for the Aintree highlight.
Last year’s 100-1 winner Mon Mome is 10-1 for a repeat win, ahead of the well-backed Arbor Supreme at 12-1, while Whinstone Boy has been supported today and is 20-1 (from 25-1).
“As the most successful National jockey riding, the presence of Ruby Walsh in the saddle should ensure Big Fella Thanks starts favourite on Saturday, but after the 100-1 victory of Mon Mome twelve months ago, we’re expecting to see a spread of money for a host of runners, regardless of their odds,” Coral’s David Stevens told Bettingpro.
The Paul Nicholls-trained Nozic, the mount of last year’s winning jockey Liam Treadwell and owned by Coral, is 40-1 for the big race with the Barking-based firm.
