Suffolk Downs has added four stakes races to the schedule for the remainder of the meet. The Louise Kimball will be run on October 8, followed by the John Kirby on October 22, and the Amelia Peabody on November 5. The Norman Hall is scheduled for the meet’s final Saturday, November 19. The added races will each have a $40,000 purse and are restricted to Massachusetts-bred thoroughbreds.
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NYRA president Charles Hayward told a state oversight committee that the organization would “go bust” in November unless it was allowed to sell property near Aqueduct (Newsday).
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No surprise here: “Rep. Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, whose subcommittee is investigating the Jockeys’ Guild, said on Monday night that he doubts the guild has fully complied with a subpoena issued two weeks ago that asks the guild to provide financial documents by Oct. 3″ (Daily Racing Form).
Posted by JC in Suffolk Downs on 10/05/2005 @ 1:35 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
With the Breeders’ Cup less than four weeks away, the race for Horse of the Year is on. In the standings (to the right), Saint Liam leads by 25 points over three-year-old filly In the Gold, with Sweet Return, Ashado, and Island Fashion rounding out the top five. Borrego vaulted into sixth place with his win in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Flower Alley, Summerly, Afleet Alex, and Megahertz follow, completing the top 10. What all this means is that Horse of the Year is still wide open — and the Breeders’ Cup results really will decide this year’s champion.
Posted by JC in HOF/Awards on 10/03/2005 @ 5:20 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
I thought Bishop Court Hill was entered as a rabbit for Flower Alley in Saturday’s Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont, charged with luring Lava Man into a speed duel and setting up a pace agreeable to his stalker stablemate. Instead, Flower Alley went head to head with his rabbit down the backstretch, followed by Lava Man. The first fraction was :46.3. A fast pace like that set up the race nicely for a closer — like Borrego. The California-based colt trailed the field in eighth place until reaching the stretch turn, when he smoothly swept past his competition on the outside into the lead, winning by four and half lengths.
“When it happened, I wanted to cry,” trainer Beau Greely said afterward. “It was pretty neat. This is a big deal” (New York Daily News). Borrego will now be pointed to the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Flower Alley, who finished fourth, is also headed to the Classic. Trainer Todd Pletcher explained his colt’s curious performance by saying,
The Classic will have a decidedly California flavor with the additional presence of the Goodwood winner, Rock Hard Ten. Making his first start in seven months, Rock Hard Ten stalked pacesetter Roman Ruler around the Santa Anita track before surging past the three-year-old in the stretch and winning by a length. “By the time we got to the quarter pole, it was just a matter of how far I wanted to win by, and when I wanted to ask him,” said jockey Gary Stevens. “I asked and it was over in two strides” (San Diego Union-Tribune).
Super Derby winner The Daddy could be going to the Classic too. “If we run again this year, we will run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic,” said owner Greg Norman (Shreveport Times). The Daddy, with a bugboy aboard (Star-Telegram) and making only his fourth career start, beat the D. Wayne Lukas-trained A.P. Arrow by a neck in the Derby.
The race was marred by the sudden death of Royal Saint in the stretch (Shreveport Times):
“I liked the way he was going throughout the race up to the point he went down,” a visibly shaken [trainer Cole] Norman said just moments after Royal Saint and jockey Guy Smith plummeted to the ground in midstretch. “I mean, he was changing his leads well, he was doing everything right, and then he just dropped.”
Jockey Guy Smith was uninjured in the spill. “I hit the ground hard and I’m a little weak, but I’m good,” Smith said later.
Also on Saturday …
Ashado bounced back into form with an easy win in the Beldame at Belmont. As good as Ashado looked, it was runner-up Happy Ticket that impressed. “This was the best she had ever run against. She proved herself here,” said trainer Andrew Leggio, Jr. (Courier-Journal). The Louisiana-bred filly is being pointed to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff with a record of 10-for-12. Before the Beldame, Happy Ticket’s only other loss came running second to Madcap Escapade in the Princess Rooney.
Lost in the Fog is now 10-for-10. “That was real hard, huh,” said jockey Russell Baze after Lost in the Fog won the Speed Handicap at Bay Meadows (San Francisco Chronicle).
Beyers: Rock Hard Ten, 112, Goodwood; Borrego, 110, Jockey Club Gold Cup; Lost in the Fog, 114, Speed Handicap; Taste of Paradise, 110, Vosburgh; Ashado, 103, Beldame; Megahertz, 101, Yellow Ribbon Stakes.
Posted by JC in Breeders' Cup on 10/02/2005 @ 9:00 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
