JC / Railbird

Belmont Archive

Meanwhile, at Belmont

Jockey Mike Luzzi earned his 3000th career win in the nightcap aboard Too Tough Pete, making his second start for trainer Richard Schosberg, another whose barn is running well this spring (he’s now 11-4-2-1 through Saturday). Luzzi scored win number 2999 the race before, when Cowgirls Don’t Cry captured the Shuvee Handicap by 2 1/4 lengths over favored Rite Moment. (Aside: Add Shuvee to the list of great distaffers who raced males without problem. The Triple Tiara-winning filly took the Jockey Club Gold Cup not once, but twice. Brooklyn Backstretch recounts.)

Posted in Belmont on May 17, 2008

The (Next to) Last Foal*

… of the great racemare (and equally great broodmare) Personal Ensign makes his debut in the fourth at Belmont this afternoon. Listed at 8-1 on the morning line and showing three April works, Baronial, a 3-year-old Kingmambo colt, attempts six furlongs over the Widener turf** for trainer Shug McGaughey. He’s an unlikely winner today — McGaughey takes time with his blueblood stock, and the field includes Bedford Arch, who finished third in his March debut at Gulfstream, as well as 4-year-old Forest of Dreams, returning from a lengthy layoff for trainer Jimmy Jerkens, and the live Just a Warning from Frank Alexander’s barn — but could be one for the watch list, being a 3/4 brother to G1 winners Miner’s Mark and and Traditionally.

*I mistakenly called Baronial the last foal, but according to Wikipedia, Personal Ensign’s final foal is a 2006 Forest Wildcat colt¹. She was pensioned in September of that year.

**That is, if races don’t come off the turf² and the horse isn’t scratched. There’s a lot of rain in New York City this morning.

¹Alan reports in the comments that Pedigree Query lists the 2006 colt as dead. So, beautifully bred Baronial is the last foal of his champion dam to race.

²And so the races are, unsurprisingly, given the weather. Only two scratches in race four, but race seven is gutted.

Posted in Belmont on May 9, 2008

At Belmont Today

– Trainer Pat Reynolds (the man who lost Big Brown) is in a slump, with only one winner out of his 15 horse stable this year, and I have some reservations that Money Manager, breaking from post 12 on Belmont’s inner turf, will turn things around, but despite being on the outside the horse looks good today in race four, a competitive 1 1/16 mile maiden claiming event. In his last start, dropping out of maiden special company and trying turf for the first time, Money Manager showed more speed and interest than he had in his two previous races, finishing third, 2 1/2 lengths behind Maddy’s Crowd, who came back to win an allowance at Atlantic City last Friday with a 90 Beyer. Money Manager is the tepid 7-2 morning line favorite in the race; Footloose Man, entering off back-to-back seconds for trainer Mark Hennig, is second at 4-1. Also of interest: Ghazi the Great, making his second start for trainer Barclay Tagg. Fans of Cornelio on the grass will note he picks up the mount.
– Preliminary necropsy results on Eight Belles indicate the filly didn’t die of heart failure or an aneurysm, said owner Rick Porter. “It came from the leg injuries” (DRF). The filly is also being tested for steroids, at trainer Larry Jones’ insistence, in response to intimations from post-Derby critics that Eight Belles was on performance-enhancing supplements. “I guarantee there were no steroids ever on the horse,” an emotional Jones told reporters gathered for a press conference on Tuesday at Delaware Park (AP).
– The Preakness field is looking thin, with only seven confirmed starters as of Tuesday. San Rafael Stakes winner El Gato Malo is the latest defection, pointing to the Lone Star Derby instead of taking on Big Brown at Pimlico.

Posted in Belmont on May 7, 2008

Opening Day at Belmont

– Low-key Billy Turner leads the Belmont trainer standings after winning three races in a row on opening day, one of those with Just Zip It, part of the Left at the Gate stable.
– In the day’s feature, 5-2 Divine Park won the Westchester Handicap by five lengths, upsetting favored Grasshopper, who finished second. “He’s a very nice horse,” said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin after. He’s so understated. Divine Park has been a favorite of mine since he broke his maiden at Aqueduct over the inner dirt last year. I love his pedigree — his damsire is the late Canadian sire Ascot Knight, also the sire of one of my all-time favorite racehorses, sweet and scrappy Ascot Doll, and he’s by the late Chester House, whose offspring have been good to me at the windows, especially on the grass. (It’s tangential and sentimental, but this game can’t be all about logic.) McLaughlin mentioned the Met Mile as a possible next start for Divine Park, but after that — with Chester House on top, Ascot Knight on the bottom — this is a horse I hope gets a chance on the turf. [5/5 Update: Divine Park earned a career best 111 Beyer in the Westchester.]
– Improvements: Belmont now boasts flat-screen TVs in the backyard, a hospitality center, and renovated bathrooms.

Posted in Belmont on May 1, 2008