Trainer Steve Asmussen will send out the likely favorites in both the Debutante Stakes and the Bashford Manor at Churchill Downs this afternoon (Courier-Journal). In the filly stakes, he’ll be represented by Wonderful Luck and Rated Fiesty, who looms over the rest of the field with a 102 Beyer earned in the G3 Kentucky Breeders’ Cup, the race favored Ready’s Image finished third in before winning the 5 1/2 furlong Tremont at Belmont last week by 7 3/4 lengths in 1:02.86, getting a 99 Beyer. In the more competitive Bashford, Asmussen will send out three, including Kodiak Kowboy, winner of an ungraded stakes at Woodbine and son of first crop sire Posse, 9-for-17 with his offspring so far this year. Also entered is the improving Blackberry Road, a Gone West colt out of Strawberry Reason, dam of 2002 champion juvenile Vindication, and the Todd Pletcher-trained Motovato, adding Lasix for the first time.
Posted by JC in Horses on 07/07/2007 @ 9:00 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
Impressive romp by the Rick Violette-trained Phantom Income in Belmont’s second today. Making her debut, the two-year-old filly finished the 5 1/2 furlong maiden special in 1:03.79 under a handride and more than 10 lengths ahead of place horse Shining Sea, paying $11.60 to win. Todd Pletcher’s firster, Crosswater, bet down to an absurdly low 3-4, finished third. Phantom Income, out of Catch the Ghost, a half-sister to 2004 champion Ghostzapper, is a daughter of Montbrook, who’s 12% with debut winners and 5-for-11 with his two-year-olds to race so far this year.
Posted by JC in Horses on 07/06/2007 @ 4:00 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
– There’s a pick six carryover of $303,367 at Belmont this afternoon. The sequence begins and ends with maiden special weight races for state-bred fillies and mares three and up. Good luck with those to anyone playing.
– Declan’s Moon, 2004 champion two-year-old male, snapped a seven-race losing streak with a three-length win in a six-furlong allowance/optional claiming at Hollywood on Thursday (ThoroTimes).
– Beyers from Wednesday’s races: High Finance earned 111 for the Tom Fool; Idiot Proof a big 113 for his record-setting Jersey Shore win at Monmouth. In the Dwyer, Any Given Saturday earned a figure that puts him at the top of the three-year-old division, writes Steven Crist. “Any Given Saturday’s winning figure of 110 is right there with Street Sense’s Derby (110), Curlin’s Preakness (111), and Rags to Riches’s Belmont (107)” (DRF+).
– Jockey Frankie Dettori has been handed a two-week suspension for whipping Queen Anne Stakes winner Ramonti excessively in the stretch. “Dettori was found to have whipped five-year-old Ramonti 25 times inside the final two and a half furlongs, with a high percentage of strikes coming inside the last 200 yards” (Independent).
– Empire Racing Associates will challenge what it calls “factual errors” in the New York inspector general’s integrity report to the governor on the four entities bidding for the New York racing franchise, reports the Saratogian. Integrity report details, and an especially good overview of the section on Empire, can be found on Left at the Gate.
Posted by JC in News on 07/06/2007 @ 9:00 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
