RE - CAP
JOHN KC'S photo album at FLICKR.COM has a bunch of photos from racing yesterday at Santa Anita in the fog. HEATSEEKER found a way to win the SANTA ANITA HANDICAP and change from an allowance horse once trained by Bobby Frankel, to a grade 1 winner for Jerry Hollendorfer.
SEEK AND DESTROY
Heatseeker runs 110 Beyer in Big Cap
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer scores biggest win
The SANTA ANITA HANDICAP was an interesting race to watch but the antics of favoured MONTEREY JAZZ, the speed maniac, made watching for the horse you bet tough.
The latter took off on Russell Baze down the backstretch and screamed through 6 furlongs in
Meanwhile, the rest of the field was strung out almost half a mile behind him.
Once the Jazz-man started to flounder, the ralliers came from everywhere and HEATSEEKER (
The LOS ANGELES TIMES has a good wrap up:
Heatseeker wins Santa Anita Handicap
Bejarano wins aboard the 7-1 shot as favored Monterey Jazz fades to 12th.
By Larry Stewart,
On a dreary afternoon at Santa Anita on Saturday, many in the crowd of 41,377 sought cover from a light rain and warm protection from the cool weather.
Fittingly, a 7-1 shot named Heatseeker found the weather and the track to his liking, chasing down front-running Monterey Jazz in the stretch to win the $1-million Santa Anita Handicap by three-quarters of a length over Go Between.
Monterey Jazz, sent off as the 7-2 favorite in the field of 14, led by 12 lengths after three-quarters of a mile in the 1 1/4 -mile race but faded badly in the stretch and finished 12th.
Heatseeker, an Irish-bred 5-year-old son of Giant's Causeway ridden by Rafael Bejarano, paid $16, $7 and $4.80. Go Between, with Garrett Gomez up, paid $7 and $5.20. Champ Elysses, who broke slowly and trailed the field, got up for third and paid $7.80 to show.
Heatseeker's trainer, Jerry Hollendorfer, said the key was Bejarano's getting his horse to the middle of the track going into the first turn and keeping him clear of trouble.
Said Bejarano: "He got excited a little bit before the race, so when we broke from the gate, I just let him go. But after that, I was able to find a good position for him and we were able to hold it the whole race.
"I heard the other horse [Go Between] coming at the end. That's why I kept riding as hard as I could. But I was confident we were going to hold on because my horse was still running, he was still giving me a lot of power."
Monterey Jazz covered the first six furlongs in a blistering 1:10.11, and jockey Russell Baze said there wasn't much he could do to hold him back.
"They told me that the harder you pull on him, the faster he is going to go," said
That opened the door for Heatseeker, who provided Hollendorfer with the biggest win of his long career.
Hollendorfer has saddled more than 5,000 winners, mostly in
But right after the Big 'Cap, he listened on his cellphone to a stakes race at Bay Meadows to see how another one of his horses was doing while reporters waited to interview him.
Later, when asked how he might celebrate his win in the Big 'Cap, the low-key Hollendorfer said, "I've got things to line up for tomorrow, and I also have to see how Heatseeker came out of this race."
He said he wasn't sure what was next for Heatseeker but indicated the ultimate goal is the Breeders' Cup Classic, to be run Oct. 25 at Santa Anita.
Heatseeker, owned by breeder William de Burgh of Rancho Santa Fe, finished a strong second to Well Armed in the San Antonio Handicap at Santa Anita on Feb. 9.
When he won the Native Diver Handicap at
The win aboard Heatseeker was Bejarano's second of the day. He now leads Gomez, 46 wins to 44, in the Santa Anita jockey standings.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Earlier in the card, Kentucky Derby hopeful EL GATO MALO lost for the first time in the Sham Stakes to Tiznow’s son COLONEL JOHN, trained by Eoin Harty. The winner, out of a Turkoman mare, ran an 86 Beyer Figure.
DAAHER OUT OF SORTS
LEO NOT GREAT AT GULFSTREAM
Well, he’s a one dimensional front runner who needs things his own way, or he is a one-turn horse and that’s it. Or something has happened in the training of DAAHER since last year that the stable he is has missed or can’t figure out.
Either way, the colt who many thought would be a contender in the Dubai World Cup, has bombed in 2 consecutive races now, one in Florida and then yesterday in the 4-horse field of the Stymie (he was 3rd, not 4th as reported by most during and after the race).
While he has been trained to run off and try to keep going (since he added blinkers), that style does not work anymore for him as he has had company on the pace.
Yesterday, trainer Bruce Levine came on before the race and said his horse Tempoary Saint would be sent to the lead (can jockey CC Lopez ride any other way?) – he did, they went 22 1/5 for the first two furlongs of the 9 furlong race and yada, yada, yada, the longest shot on the board, MALIBU MOONSHINE, was the rallying winner.
From DAILY RACING FORM’S David Grening today..
“(Mike)Luzzi, the rider of Daaher, said he knew he was in trouble at the three-eighths pole.
"I was trying to motivate him again, but he was lugging in so bad, it was hard to push him forward," Luzzi said.
While (trainer Kiaran) McLaughlin wasn't happy about Daaher having to run a first quarter in 22.26 seconds he said "he should have been able to run with those."
At Gulfstream, LEONNATUS ANTEAS seemed to be pushed along all the way in the 1 1/8 mile GULFSTREAM PARK HANDICAP and he pressed the average pace under a ride but finally tired to be 4th in the small field. He was beaten just over 6 lengths.
The front runner, Kiss the Kid, also faded. The Knob Hill Stable 4yo is trained by Kevin Attard.
COOL AND GLORIOUS!
COOL GATOR (Macho Uno-It’s Ruby, Rubiano) had a super 3yo debut for owner breeder Garland Williamson at Gulfstream yesterday. The Queen’s Plate hopeful, who was stakes placed at 2 last year, was ridden by Edgar Prado to a 2nd place finish in a tough allowance race at 1 1/8 miles. He earned a career best 86 Beyer Figure and galloped out in front.
The chestnut wears blinkers and has made a habit of being 2nd but he certainly appears to have improved over last year.
The colt is trained by Dan Vella.
Trainer MARK CASSE unleashed a nice prospect yesterday with Canadian-bred GLORIOUSLY, an $81,000 (US) Canadian sale yearling who won her debut at Fair Grounds yesterday.
Bred by Tony and Jennifer Monk’s Royal Oak Farm, GLORIOUSLY (Indian Charlie-Glory’s Story, Defensive Play) went fast on the pace (21 2/5) and led all the way to win in 1:11.18. No Beyer Figure was available this morning.
The news was not as good for Casse at
Woodford Racing’s colt (they also own Gloriously) raced wide under Patrick Husbands, who travelled up from
ABSOLUTELY CINDY, the only filly in the field (!!) won the race at almost 20 to 1. The Arch-Ms. Boucheron, L’Enjoleur filly is owned, trained and bred by Keith Kinmon. She ran an 89 Beyer Figure with her last-to-first score.
Queen’s Plate eligible TACITO was a very game 2nd in an allowance race at Gulfstream yesterday. The Trajectory-Barlee Mist, Charlie Barley colt was a distant 2nd to front runner Pluracity, but he held 2nd in game fashion while racing on his wrong lead throughout the stretch. TACITO is one of a litany of Plate prospects for Centennial Farms Niagara and trained Alec Fehr.
A TEMPTING
Jones wins a pair on card of racing, Dos Ramos shut out
PURE TEMPTATION (A. Ward up) won the $200,000 Barbados Gold Cup yesterday at Garrison Savannah in
The winner is a 4yo colt by PURE PRIZE out of VOLITORIA, by Unbridled. He was previously named VOLITORIA’S PRIZE.
John Brian was 2nd and Apostle was 3rd.
JONO JONES’
Jones won 2 races on the big card of racing while another Woodbine chap, Rick Dos Ramos, was unplaced a few mounts.
HERE'S A STORY FROM thePure temptation wins ...Lord Michael Taylor/Clifton Racing owned horse runs golden race
The Lord Michael Taylor/ Clifton Racing owned, Pure Temptation, trained by leading trainer William Clarke, and ridden by Andy Ward, put a gold plating on the day for Lord Michael Taylor/ Clifton Racing at the Garrison yesterday.
Ward piloted Pure Temptation to victory in the feature XXVII Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup, on the fifth day of the Barbados Turf Clubs (BTC) first racing season for 2008.
Lord Michael Taylor/Clifton Racing had earlier in the day won no less than four other races on the card, and could not have asked for more, other than to see their United States-bred four-year-old bay colt, Pure Temptation, out of Volitoria, by Pure Prize, capture the feature event.
When starter Mark Batson sent the 12 horses representing Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, France and Martinique, on their way, the first to show was the Elias Haloute & Sir Charles Williams owned crack creole, Apostle, with Anderson Trotman in the saddle.
Apostle was followed by Zarad, with Paul Leacock, and Whos Wavering, with Keven Nicholls in third, while Pure Temptation, with Ward was tracking in fourth.
Turning the paddock bend for the first time, the Andrew Nunes trained Apostle was locked in a battle for the lead with the Elizabeth Liz Deane trained Whos Wavering, while the William Clarke trained Pure Temptation, racing in blinkers for the first time, was right on their heels in third, with Zarad fourth.
With just over three furlongs to go, Apostle, still held a slight lead from Whos Wavering. However, Ward on Pure Temptation was taking closer order, while the Sir David Seale owned, John Brian, with Ricky Walcott, was quickly closing on the leaders, and Whos Wavering was beginning to fade.
Two furlongs from home, Apostle was joined by both Pure Temptation and John Brian.
Turning for home the large crowd was screaming for the game creole to hold on, but Pure Temptation, and John Brian were just a little better in final furlong, when it mattered most.
In the end Pure Temptation got up to win by three quarters of a length from John Brian, with Apostle another three quarters of a length back in third, and Duc D Fer, who came from a long way back finished fourth.
It was the day of the reserves, as none of the three were in the original 12 chosen to represent
The V Sandy Lane Spa Sprint, one of the major races on the card, was won by the defending champion, Prime N Loaded, also owned by Lord Michael Taylor-Clifton Racing, trained by William Clarke, and ridden by Andy Ward.
Prime N Loaded, was always on the pace, and picked up the race with 25 metres to go, and went on to an easy victory. Second was the Aysha Syndicate owned, Whos Cruising, trained by Elizabeth Liz Deane, and ridden by Juan Crawford. Third was the Gay Smith owned, Sharp Impact, trained by Edward Walcott Jnr, and ridden by Jono Jones. Finishing fourth was Lightning Pilot.
The V1 Tanglewood Stakes & Trophy, was one of three feature races on the card, and this was won by the Attie Joseph 111 & Saffei Joseph Jnr. four year-old filly, Walk On By, trained by Haydn Nicholls, and ridden by Ricky Walcott.
Walk On By, picked up the running very early in the race, and set the fractions, to go on to score a very easy victory.
Second was the Sir Charles Williams owned Border Secret, trained by Andrew Nunes, and ridden by Anderson Trotman. Third was the Trinidad & Tobago entry, Godspell, owned by Dachin Racing Stables, trained by C. Prime, and ridden by Richard Dos Ramos. Top Lady finished fourth.
The day was a dream come true for Lord Michael Taylor-Clifton Racing, for in addition to winning the feature Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup, with Pure Temptation, they also won one of the other minor feature events on the card The V Sandy Lane Spa Sprint Stakes & Trophy, with Primed N Loaded.
In addition to winning these two feature races, they also won the fourth race with The Welsh Wizard, the sixth race with Arm Candy, and the eighth race with Kingdora, a recent purchase.
Andy Ward was the jockey of the day, as he won four of the races for Lord Michael Taylor-Clifton Racing.
Ward won the Sandy Lane Gold Cup with Pure Temptation, The V Sandy Lane Spa Sprint Stakes with Primed N Loaded. He also won on Arm Candy in the sixth, and Kingdora in the eighth.
Jono Jones also had a good day, winning race two on first time starter, Majors Dream, and race three on Mystical Magic.
Trainer William Clarke was the outstanding trainer of the day, saddling Pure Temptation the winner of the feature Sandy Lane Barbados Gold Cup, and Primed N Loaded the winner of one of the other features The V Sandy Lane Sprint Stakes.
Clarke also won the third race with The Welsh Wizard, and the sixth race with Arm Candy.
Trainer Boston John was the only other trainer to saddle more than one winner. He saddled the winner of the first and last races on the card.
THINGS SEEN AND HEARD YESTERDAY
Tough day for track announcers all over: one in particular called a horse SEE YA LATER ALLIGATOR through the entire race (the horse won) and the horse’s name was SEE YA LATER LITAGATA (sic).
Comments in the DRF yesterday:
HRTV showed the race but that channel is not available in “most cable markets”
It’s incredible that, in an age where we should be trying to get people pumped up about horses and racing, those folks could not see CURLIN race??
We’re lucky up here since HPI is super at providing all of us racing lovers and bettors a chance to watch and wager on virtually anything. We had the entire card that day – and every Thursday.
And then there was JAMES TONER…
“I’m upset about the weights,” said trainer James Toner, in regards to Sir Whimsy’s crushing assignment of 117 pounds in the Gulfstream Park Handicap. Did he see Curlin win under 132 at 1 ¼ miles off a layoff last week?
Oh yes, Sir Whimsy won yesterday. Good grief.
FINAL ENTRIES FOR FRESHMAN SIRE CONTEST
Okay, thanks for the tons of entries, whew. I will set up a link on my sidebar in the coming weeks so that you can click it and see you team plus all the other teams. From there, we’ll try to keep score, as well as we can, as we go along with the final tally to come from a Brisnet.com at the end of the year.
From Myckie:
Action this
Lion Heart(Stable Star)
Perfect Soul
Smarty Jones
Speightstown
From Carl N.:
Candy Ride
Chapel Royal
Cuvee
Lion Heart
Medaglio D'Or
Smarty Jones
Speighstown(Stable Star)
Tapit
Tenpins
Toccet
From Kevin K:
Smarty Jones
Speighstown STABLE STAR
Domestic Dispute
Medaglia D'oro
Canadian Frontier
Cuvee
Read The Footnotes
Strong Hope
Lion Heart
Chapel Royal
WOODBINE’S RECYCLING PROGRAM AND HOW IT WILL JOIN EARTH HOUR
On the right track for energy savings
It's tough to hold a standardbred horse race with the lights off, but officials at Woodbine Racetrack are looking at how to play their part during Earth Hour without putting the safety of patrons, jockeys and horses at risk.
"It's on our radar," said Jane Holmes, vice-president of corporate affairs at Woodbine Entertainment Group, which runs the tracks at Woodbine and Mohawk. "We're working with operations to see what we can do."
Expect a symbolic gesture – perhaps just a slight dimming of some lights – rather than darkness when the horses are called to the starting gates on the evening of March 29. But Holmes, recognizing the importance of Earth Hour and the awareness it will create, said Woodbine considers the reduction of its ecological footprint a year-round effort.
In the last two years alone,
It's a big bill. Woodbine, located at the corner of
Anchoring the track's effort is a new building automation system installed by Direct Energy that lets John Marhong, director of facility services, monitor and control energy use throughout Woodbine, whether inside the building or on the track.
Sitting in front of his office computer in the basement, he pulls up a screen.
"I can control all of this from anywhere in the world," said Marhong. "Every minute, every hour that we can shave off using a piece of mechanical equipment saves us energy." Occupancy sensors, for example, will turn off lights in certain parts of the building if no movement is detected. Energy-efficient LED lights are used in all exit signs.
To read more…see today’s
UNPRECEDENTED TASK FORCE FOR THE
Story is from the THOROUGHBRED TIMES
by Paul Post
A state task force has started identifying second careers for retired racehorses, but funding such programs might be a more difficult matter.
The 13-member New York State Task Force on Retired Racehorses, the first of its kind in the nation, held its inaugural meeting on Friday in
The state of
However, Diana Pikulski of the Saratoga Springs, New York-based Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, which has a $3.2-million budget, said those levels are insufficient.
“Horses need to eat every day, and the people who care for them have to be paid,” Pikulski said. “I would be concerned about a program that doesn’t provide enough money, but gives people the feeling that it’s all being taken care of. Funding of programs is something we’re going to have to look at very seriously.”
The New York State Task Force on Retired Racehorses, whose members were appointed by Governor Eliot Spitzer and legislative leaders, is charged with making recommendations to the state by July 2010. In addition to retirement issues, it also must deal with the pros and cons of synthetic all-weather track surfaces.
“It’s so easy for us to place sound horses with people who use them as riding horses,” said Pikulski, who estimated that between 400 and 500 New York Thoroughbreds are retired annually.
Getting even a tiny slice of the gaming revenue pie might be a difficult matter. The state just passed new racing legislation that will see the state’s ailing harness tracks get a larger share of video-lottery-terminal revenues. Also, the percentages due to be paid Thoroughbred horsemen and breeders was a hotly debated negotiating point.
“Who’s going to reopen VLTs?” said state Racing and Wagering Committee Chairman Daniel Hogan, who’s co-chairing the task force.
Legislation allowing for an Aqueduct racino was approved seven years ago, but a facility still hasn’t been built. On the heels of new racing legislation, however, the state is expected to name a gaming operator sometime this month and a 4,500-machine facility could be operational by 2009.
Given the New York Racing Association’s precarious fiscal condition, it appears doubtful that a significant share of VLT revenue, if any at all, would be allocated for equine-retirement programs.
“The charity model, generally speaking, is not working,” Pikulski said. “That’s something I hope we can fix.”
A gift from the Paul Mellon estate created an $8-million endowment for the retirement foundation. But rules stipulate that only 5% ($400,000) may be used each year. Pikulski said the rest of her group’s revenue stream comes through donations.
“I have to go outside of racing for money,” Pikulski said. “The first thing people say is, ‘I thought that sport is so wealthy.’ [Thoroughbred owners] are contributing, but a lot of them just take care of their own horses.”
Karin Bump, a
“You don’t even have to be on these horses,” she said. “Just being around them has a benefit.”
posted by Jen Morrison @ 10:46 AM
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