– The SoCal filly remains unbeaten after wiring Hollywood’s Wednesday opener as the 3-2 favorite. Fleetheart could start next in a Del Mar stakes race. Considering how well she’s handled everything asked of her so far (up in class, surface change, stretching out, etc.), it’s exciting to contemplate how she might perform at the stakes level …
– Trainer Steve Asmussen is the subject of a lengthy and sympathetic profile that gets right into the doping rumors: “People who say I’m a cheater? Well, that’s the dumbest thing I ever heard,” he says. “On average, mine cost a 100 [thousand], yours cost 10 [thousand], and you’re wondering why I’m beating you? It ain’t any kind of drugs or anything else. The horses are just faster.” Well, that clears things up.
– Paul Moran is right: “[Invasor] may be the most under-appreciated superstar thoroughbred of the modern era.” Invasor was a star on the verge of true greatness in the very classical sense of sheer class dominance. We don’t see much of that anymore.
Posted by JC in Horses on 06/28/2007 @ 8:30 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
Maybe: “Existing and potential owners are being victimized by two market heavyweights that arguably could be considered discouraging to the game’s growth. That’s of far greater importance to the state of horse racing than any personal axes we have to grind as horseplayers yearning to see our favorite stars race into their golden years” (ESPN).
Posted by JC in Owners/Owning on 06/27/2007 @ 8:45 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
Blood-Horse broke the story this afternoon that trainer Patrick Biancone’s Keeneland barn has been searched by the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority, which has opened an investigation:
John Veitch, chief steward for the KHRA, would not comment June 26 on the nature of the investigation or whether the search yielded anything illegal or that violates state racing regulations. Veitch said the search was conducted by KHRA personnel June 22, but also would not say what led to the search.
No comment from Biancone, currently the seventh-leading trainer at Churchill Downs with 11 wins from 50 starters this spring.
The Thoroughbred Times offers this bit of background on Biancone:
Biancone, 55, began training in the United States in 2000 after he was suspended for ten months in Hong Kong for drug positives in two horses. The Hong Kong Jockey Club also fined him in 1997 after a banned substance was found in more than 20 of his horses.
The Times also notes that the California Horse Racing Board filed a complaint against the trainer after his runner Iron Butterfly tested positive for Salmeterol following a second-place finish at Santa Anita on Janauary 7. An asthma medication, Salmeterol is used to treat recurring airway obstruction in horses and is listed as a Class III drug.
Update: Daily Racing Form reports that KHRA searched three of Biancone’s barns and his veterinarian’s truck on Friday.
Posted by JC in Trainers/Training on 06/26/2007 @ 9:00 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
