– Suffolk Downs opens this Saturday, April 30, after a long, dark winter. First post time is 12:45. Season passes will be given out with all paid admissions on opening day.
– Silent Witness won his 17th straight race Sunday, setting a modern record for consecutive wins (BH) … Photos from the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
– Celebrities RSVP for Derby parties. Ruben Studdard, Ashley Judd, Tori Spelling among those heading to Louisville on May 7. (LHL)
– Send links, comments to railbird at jessicachapel dot com
Posted by JC in Miscellany on 04/25/2005 @ 10:00 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
Coin Silver wins the Lexington and pays $28.80; big favorite Rockport Harbor finishes sixth out of seven. It was clear as the field entered the stretch that Rockport had lost — he was too far back, didn’t seem to like the sloppy track, and would have had to make an amazing come-from-behind move to take the lead, and he just didn’t seem to have the energy or the heart to do any such thing this afternoon. Trainer John Servis was circumspect when asked after the race where Rockport Harbor would go next. “I’ll have to talk to Mr. Porter,” said Servis, adding, “You haven’t heard the last of [Rockport Harbor] yet.” Servis had said before the race that Rockport would have to win the Lexington convincingly to go to the Derby, otherwise, he would probably be pointed to the Preakness.
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The Lexington Stakes, aka “The last chance to make the Kentucky Derby,” is scheduled for today (Globe), with a field of eight — including Rockport Harbor, Sort It Out, and Going Wild — trying to prove they belong in Louisville two weeks from now. Rockport needs to win to prove he’s ready for the challenge of the Derby, Sort It Out needs to win so he has the graded stakes earnings to enter the Derby, and Going Wild needs to win to redeem his unexplainably bad performance in the Wood. Who will win, though, is anyone’s guess (I’m staying away from handicapping this race, which looks like a mess with horses coming off layoffs, out of difficult-to-interpret races, moving into stakes company for the first time, etc.). If Rockport shows up in even his Rebel form, his likely favorite status is justified, but Going Wild does fit a Lexington Stakes pattern trainer D. Wayne Lukas has established (DRF — sub. req.)…
Tangentially related: Galloping Grocer, who ran second to Rockport Harbor in the Remsen last November and who was talked about as “the next Funny Cide” early in the Triple Crown season, drops back into restricted stakes company. (Daily Racing Form)
Posted by JC in Racing on 04/23/2005 @ 10:40 am / Tagged Kentucky Derby / Follow @railbird on Twitter
No mention of this in the Boston Globe or the Boston Herald, but a Derby lister reports that Massachusetts state treasurer Tim Cahill and Suffolk Downs COO Robert O’Malley were on the local TV news show “Greater Boston” Thursday night, discussing the state lottery’s plan to introduce a virtual horseracing Keno game this fall. The most interesting point: That Cahill said the lottery commission will postpone the game’s introduction until further notice, apparently because of the fuss kicked up by state legislators in a public hearing on April 14.
Posted by JC in Suffolk Downs on 04/23/2005 @ 10:35 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
