Friday Evening Notes
– Jockey Cornelio Velasquez won four races today at Belmont, including one for trainer Linda Rice, who continued her hot streak with Meriwether Jessica in the day’s sixth. Making her debut, the two-year-old Freud filly with a modest string of works was no secret, getting bet down to 4-5 by post time and winning by 12 1/2 lengths. I was more interested in Saratoga Chance, also making her debut, who ambled out of the gate, angled out in the stretch, and still rallied for second. She’s by late sire American Chance, a decent miler with 54 winners from 100 runners, and out of a Private Account mare named Pierpont Account, whose 2004 foal, Saratoga Jet, won at Aqueduct last winter. She’s one for the watch list, eligible for a big improvement next start.
– For the second straight year, Naughty New Yorker defeated the favorite to win the General MacArthur Handicap at Belmont. “We got the old ‘Naughty’ back,” said trainer Pat Kelly. “He was right there at the quarter pole in 1:09. He just dragged Javier up there; that’s what he does when he’s good” (DRF) It’s alway nice to see a veteran like Naughty New Yorker in the winner’s circle, even if he’s one of those horses I can never time right. If I play him, he’s sure to finish out of the money. If I pass, he’s sure to win.
– Has any other rider pulled off this minor feat? On Saratoga’s closing day, jockey Garrett Gomez rode Majestic Warrior to an upset win in the G1 Hopeful for two-year-olds. He then flew cross-country to spring a mild upset on Del Mar’s closing day with Georgie Boy in the G1 Futurity for two-year-olds. Trained by Kathy Walsh, Georgie Boy defeated rival Salute the Sarge by coming off the pace, a tactical change Walsh credited to Gomez. “[Gomez] knew [Georgie Boy] wanted to come from off the pace,” Walsh said (Blood-Horse). Georgie Boy is by modest California sire Tribal Rule, whose offspring, like those of In Excess, Event of the Year, Lit de Justice, and Unusual Heat, showed an affinity for the Del Mar Polytrack surface.
– So, no, to answer commenter J.S., I didn’t hit the closing day Del Mar pick six. As soon as 13-1 shot Westerly Magic hit the wire in the first leg, I was playing for consolation money only, and that disappeared when neither Patch of Blue nor Chancellor won the meet’s final race. To je skoda, as my Czech landlady used to say in response to any complaint.
– Street Sense won’t run in the MassCap. Trainer Carl Nafzger said the Derby winner won’t run again until the last weekend in September (ThoroTimes).
Wednesday Evening Notes
– Del Mar will open next Wednesday with a Trakus system in place. Like Keeneland, the track will replace the first four runners display with “an instantaneous, full-field running order posted throughout all races” and post the Trakus data to their web site.
– Alpena Magic, the 17-year-old gelding entered to run at Ellis Park today, was purchased by track president Ron Geary, scratched, and retired. “It’s time for a new career for Alpena Magic,” said Geary. “This horse enjoys being around people and the racetrack. His new role will allow him to be our ‘equine ambassador’ for our new ‘Early at Ellis’ and backside tour programs” (Blood-Horse).
– Film rights to this flowery Vanity Fair article about Barbaro by Buzz Bissinger have been purchased by director Peter Berg and Universal Pictures.
– Dominican’s post-Derby career begins Saturday at Arlington (DRF). Also, Tiago returns in the Swaps at Hollywood, King of the Roxy in Sunday’s Barbaro Stakes, and a competitive field of eight will go to post in the Delaware Handicap (BRIS).
Friday Morning Notes
– There’s a pick six carryover of $303,367 at Belmont this afternoon. The sequence begins and ends with maiden special weight races for state-bred fillies and mares three and up. Good luck with those to anyone playing.
– Declan’s Moon, 2004 champion two-year-old male, snapped a seven-race losing streak with a three-length win in a six-furlong allowance/optional claiming at Hollywood on Thursday (ThoroTimes).
– Beyers from Wednesday’s races: High Finance earned 111 for the Tom Fool; Idiot Proof a big 113 for his record-setting Jersey Shore win at Monmouth. In the Dwyer, Any Given Saturday earned a figure that puts him at the top of the three-year-old division, writes Steven Crist. “Any Given Saturday’s winning figure of 110 is right there with Street Sense’s Derby (110), Curlin’s Preakness (111), and Rags to Riches’s Belmont (107)” (DRF+).
– Jockey Frankie Dettori has been handed a two-week suspension for whipping Queen Anne Stakes winner Ramonti excessively in the stretch. “Dettori was found to have whipped five-year-old Ramonti 25 times inside the final two and a half furlongs, with a high percentage of strikes coming inside the last 200 yards” (Independent).
– Empire Racing Associates will challenge what it calls “factual errors” in the New York inspector general’s integrity report to the governor on the four entities bidding for the New York racing franchise, reports the Saratogian. Integrity report details, and an especially good overview of the section on Empire, can be found on Left at the Gate.
Tuesday Evening Notes
– Harlington is out of this Saturday’s Surburban with a foot injury (DRF); Hesanoldsalt and Malibu Moonshine are in. Corinthian is still a draw, but honestly, the Suburban has gone from being a race I can hardly wait to see to one I feel pretty meh about. The Mother Goose, also on Saturday, isn’t arousing that much more interest, with a field of five shaping up, including perennial runner-up Octave.
– Only four weeks until Saratoga opens (Saratogian).
– Bill Finley follows up with Andrew Lakeman, paralyzed from the waist down in an accident at Belmont last month, as the rider begins the long rehabilitation process this week.
– “What racing needs, is racing” (Union-Tribune).
– Elliot Spitzer continues to push a plan to close Aqueduct. “Whether or not you have racing at Aqueduct, you have an enormous piece of land there that can and should be used for some other things,” said Governor Spitzer. “That’s a remarkably valuable piece of land from a public perspective” (NY Daily News).
Lava Man, Works, Dettori
– The Belmont Stakes isn’t the only big race this weekend: At Hollywood, Lava Man returns to action in the G1 Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap (Blood-Horse).
– At Belmont this morning, Met Mile winner Corinthian breezed a half-mile over the training track in :48.14, and Horse of the Year Invasor breezed four furlongs over the main track in :48.63. Both are being pointed to the June 30 Suburban Handicap.
– Is Frankie Dettori the best flat jockey ever? (Guardian)
– Washington Post turf writer John Scheinman is on fire this week: Don’t miss his fascinating piece on how jockey Garrett Gomez ended up on Hard Spun for the Belmont or this article on drugs in racing.
Tuesday Hit-and-Run
– The Jockeys’ Guild continues to recover from the frayed relationships and depleted coffers of the Wayne Gertmenian era. “It has been difficult,” said jockey Jon Court, one of 27 jockeys elected to the Guild’s Senate last week. “Some people like to hang on. But we were literally able to take that skeleton and throw it out.”
– At Woodbine, 35-year-old apprentice Dean Deverell wins four races in a week.
– Happy Ticket will face top older distaffer Oonagh Maccool on Saturday in the Fleur de Lis Handicap at Churchill Downs. “Obviously, the other mare is awfully good,” said owner Stewart Madison. “But one thing I know for sure is that my horse will definitely show up.”
– In the first Belmont since 2000 without the Derby or Preakness winner entered, the race’s TV ratings dropped 22% from 2005.
– What people really want to know about racing: “The people out there want to know what a horse eats, how a horse exercises, how he lives, what she does when she’s not training or racing. They long to find out about the people on horses’ backs or at their sides. People want to read Michael Matz’ life story. They want to hear what Edgar Prado thinks. They want Peter Brette to tell them what Barbaro feels like when he trots. What does a Kentucky Derby winner trot like? Now there’s something they can identify with at the PTA meeting.”
Bernardini Will Skip Belmont
– Preakness winner Bernardini will skip the Belmont, said Darley USA president Jimmy Bell. “Bernardini has had three races in quick succession, and Sheikh Mohammed feels that the colt deserves a break before his next target, which will be determined in due course.” Races being considered for the colt include the Haskell and Travers. Without the Derby or the Preakness winners in the Belmont, the last leg of the Triple Crown series will be starless. That’s bad news for TV ratings and NYRA maybe, but good news for horseplayers: This year’s race should be a competitive one.
– Lost in the Fog is headed to Churchill.
– In his first workout since suffering an injury earlier this year, Corinthian breezed three furlongs :38 at Belmont this morning. Trainer Jimmy Jerkens is hopeful that the talented cold will race before the end of the Belmont meet on July 22. As long as there are no setbacks in his training, it’s possible Corinthian could start in the Dwyer on July 4.
– Another possible for the Dwyer is the undefeated Discreet Cat, who would be making his first start since winning the UAE Derby in that race. “The Dwyer is the race we’re kind of pointing for,” said assistant trainer Rick Mattee. “The timing should work out good and it’s a mile and a sixteenth.”
– Balance will have surgery on Saturday to remove a bone chip in her ankle. “They say it’s very small … the way it looks in the x-rays it doesn’t look like she’ll be out too long — maybe 75 days,” said trainer David Hofmans.
– Trainer John Servis and owner Rick Porter split up this week. “I’m all right with it,” said Servis, who declined further comment. “We left on good terms.” The 26 horses that Porter had with Servis will be moved to several other trainers, including Kiaran McLaughlin and Tom Albertrani. Round Pond, winner of the Azeri Breeders’ Cup, will go to Michael Matz’s barn.
Noted: May 9
– Trainer Bob Holthus said Lawyer Ron will likely skip the Preakness because of some inflammation in a hind ankle. “We’re probably going to have to give him a little time off,” said Holthus. “It’s nothing serious but we’re probably going to have to pass up the Preakness.”
– Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Shirocco made an impressive return to racing on Sunday, winning the Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket by 3 1/2 lengths. “This was a good start,” said trainer Andre Fabre. Shirocco is being pointed to the Arc d’Triomphe and may start in the Turf again this year.
– In his first recorded US workout since finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Henny Hughes breezed three furlongs in :37.1 at Belmont on Monday.
Noted: May 3
– Trainer Dave Hofmans may not have a starter in the Derby, but he does have the favorite in the Oaks.
– “Magna Entertainment Corp., Frank Stronach’s labour of love in the sport of kings, warned yesterday that its ability to continue as a going concern is in ‘substantial doubt’ amid high debt, poor cash flow and delays in a key asset sale.”
– “A new generation of jockeys positions itself for the next run toward household fame.”
– Giacomo gets his own casino chip.
Noted: May 2
– A full field of 14 will start in the Kentucky Oaks this Friday, including Ashland upset winner Bushfire and morning line favorite Balance.
– “Officials of Breeders’ Cup Limited and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association have announced that total purses for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships have been raised to $20 million, an increase of $6 million from last year.” That’s not bad, but the increase still falls $1 million short of the world’s richest day of racing, the Dubai World Cup. As Alan observes over on Left at the Gate, “Wouldn’t you think they could scrape up another million or two to match Dubai? Seems kinda like Barry Bonds getting to 754 homers and then going, ‘ah, that’s enough.'”
– TVG is launching 11 new shows and revamping its onscreen graphics beginning May 10.
– Trainer Todd Pletcher has 175 horses in his stable, a third of them three-year-olds, which means Pletcher has more three-year-olds in his barn than most trainers have total horses. “I feel like it’s probably the most powerful stable ever assembled,” said WinStar farm vice president Elliot Walden. “What makes him special is that he’s as young as he is. He has a chance, no question about it, if he stays sober and doesn’t get divorced, to be the all-time greatest.”
– “Eureka Downs is fading away, and the town that supports it might not be far behind.”
– A freak accident kills New York stallion Gold Token and leaves another in critical condition.
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Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
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