– The two best stakes races this weekend are at Colonial Downs on Saturday, where both the Virginia Oaks and the Virginia Derby drew full fields. In the Oaks, Dreaming of Anna, coming off a win at Arlington in the Double Delta Stakes, will try to regain her graded stakes form. The 9-5 morning line favorite, she’ll face Ashland Stakes winner Christmas Kid and trainer Barclay Tagg’s Bit of Whimsy, who finished in a dead heat with Rutherienne after a difficult trip in the Sands Point. In the Derby, Circular Quay tries turf for the first time. “This isn’t necessarily a permanent thing, but we thought it was a good option at this stage. We thought it would be worth taking a shot,” said trainer Todd Pletcher (DRF). Well, Circular Quay does have that late kick … maybe he’ll find that gear more useful on the grass than it’s been on the dirt.
– Street Sense worked a brilliant five furlongs in :57.4 at Churchill on Thursday. “I had him on cruise control,” said rider Calvin Borel. “He’s got so much power to him now it’s just unbelievable” (BRIS). The Kentucky Derby winner is scheduled to start next Saturday in the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga.
– One Hot Wish, the two-year-old daughter of little-known sire Bring the Heat who set a world record winning her debut at Keeneland this April, returns to the track today in Del Mar’s seventh (LA Times). Never mind: One Hot Wish will be scratched (DRF). She may start next Wednesday. Is it just me, or is getting hard to follow horses with all these scratches and retirements lately?
Posted by JC in Horses on 07/20/2007 @ 9:00 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
New York governor announces he’ll make recommendation on which group should get the New York racing franchise by September 4 (Blood-Horse).
Posted by JC in NY Racing Issues on 07/20/2007 @ 8:55 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
– Slowly. Race two was the first run over the new surface and the fractions for the six furlong affair were :22.68, :47.09, and 1:00.29, with a final fraction of :13.66. But the surface seemed to play fair through the afternoon. Pressers and stalkers did just fine, closers didn’t dominate. Watching from 3,000 miles away, the track looked firm, the kickback minimal, and only a few horses appeared uncertain about what was under their feet. “They’re gripping it, but it’s a lot different from anything they’ve ever been on,” jockey Richard Migliore told DRF after the second race. “It’s going to take some time for some of them to get used to it.” Migliore also warned handicappers that the surface was “tiring” and “You’re going to want a horse that makes one run. You don’t want a horse that’s going to be fighting you.”
– Trainer Richard Mandella won the day’s third, the two-year-old maiden special Bob Baffert’s Maimonides was scratched from, with 9-1 first time starter Kanan Dume, who tracked early speed Good Man Dan into the stretch, then held off even-money favorite Coast Guard to win by a neck. Look for all three to come back. Kanan Dume is by Malibu Moon, out of the late turf stakes-winning mare Trishdye, euthanized for complications following his birth.
– The unbeaten filly Fleetheart returns on Saturday, when she’ll try turf and stakes company for the first time in the Osunitas Handicap. Fleetheart is a half-sister to turf stakes winner Guardianofthegate, as pointed out in this earlier post, and she’s proven herself a tough, tactical runner in all four of her career starts.
Posted by JC in Del Mar on 07/18/2007 @ 11:00 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
