Trainer Todd Pletcher may have struck out in the Demoiselle Stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday despite having three of the five starters in the race (which was won by the Richard Dutrow-trained Wonder Lady Anne L), but the loss was more than made up for with wins in the day’s two other stakes. Heavy favorite Bluegrass Cat easily won the Remsen going gate-to-wire. The two-year-old has now won three straight and is Pletcher’s early Kentucky Derby hope. In the Cigar, longshot Purge scored an upset with an impressive come from behind rally in the stretch. It was the last race of the four-year-old’s career, which must be something of shame for his trainer. “I realize more why he did what he did today and why we didn’t do better with him the rest of the year,” Pletcher said. “Last year … I felt he could be as good as any older horse in the country. Things just didn’t jell early in the year.” At least things came together at the end. With a grade one win in his record, Purge is retiring to stud at the Vinery.
At Churchill Downs on Saturday: The unbeaten French Park ran down She Says It Best to win the Golden Rod Stakes. “She worked hard,” said jockey Mark Guidry. “She never gave up, just never gave up.” Private Vow redeemed his disappointing turn in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with a win in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes and trainer Steve Asmussen is looking ahead to May. “He won a nice race,” said Asmussen. “He’s 4–for-6, a multiple graded-stakes winner and won a two-turn stakes at Churchill…. Now, without a doubt, you figure out how do you get back here on the first Saturday in May with the most horse possible? That’s definitely our quest.”
Posted by JC in Races/Results on 11/28/2005 @ 10:00 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
It was hardly a Hollywood ending, but Gary Stevens’ last ride wasn’t a bad one. The jockey announced his retirement on Friday, citing injuries and difficulty making weight as reasons for ending his successful riding career, in which he won 5,005 races and more than $220 million in purses. On Saturday, he finished second in his final race, aboard the Patrick Biancone-trained Louve Royale. Despite the loss, Stevens told the thousands of fans that gave him a standing ovation at Churchill Downs that he was leaving as “the happiest guy in the world“:
“I’ve absolutely loved what I’ve done for the past 27 years, but I’m not sad about leaving the saddle. I’m walking into a new chapter of my life, and I’m very excited about that.”
Stevens isn’t out of racing entirely. The Hall of Fame rider will begin working for TVG in January as an on-camera analyst.
Posted by JC in Jockeys on 11/27/2005 @ 9:30 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
As of today, the Boston Globe will no longer publish entries and results for area dog and harness tracks or entries and results for New York thoroughbred tracks. “The Globe sports section has to evolve along with the changes that have taken place in sports,” writes sports editor Joe Sullivan in explanation of the decision. The paper does intend to print entries and results for Suffolk Downs when it reopens in the spring, and apparently will run “a Sunday box on feature races” throughout the year. Well, I guess that’s better than nothing.
Elsewhere in the paper: The Globe reprints, in its entirety and unchanged, a downer of an article about slots and the future of Suffolk Downs that was originally published on November 10. You’d think an editor would have at least updated the text about the “upcoming” end of the legislative session, which closed on November 18 without passing the slots-simulcasting bill discussed in the piece.
Moving in the opposite direction: The Boston Herald, which announced that it’s expanding its racing entries and results to include Calder.
Posted by JC in Media/TV/Film on 11/27/2005 @ 9:15 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
