JC / Railbird

Races/Results Archive

Purge Upsets in Cigar

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 in Races/Results on November 28, 2005

Mud Frolic

When the rain poured down 90 minutes before post time turning Hawthorne’s track into a muddy mess, trainer Vladimir Cerin worried that Super Frolic wouldn’t like the going. He was wrong: Super Frolic dug into the slop and won Saturday’s Hawthorne Gold Cup by a head over Lord of the Game (Los Angeles Times). “I thought this horse might run big,” said jockey Victor Espinoza. “He ran huge against better horses in the Pacific Classic.” Favorite Perfect Drift finished fourth.

Posted in Races/Results on September 25, 2005

Weekend Racing Recap

“The king lives up to his name” (Globe and Mail). Bobby Frankel’s Leroidesanimaux stretched his winning streak to eight when he won the Atto Mile at Woodbine on Sunday. Frankel was pleased with the way Leroi handled the soft turf and felt certain the colt was headed to the Breeders’ Cup Mile despite not being nominated. “I’m sure the owner wants to supplement [to the Breeders’ Cup] and if he’s doing really well, we’ll probably go. The only concern today, which will be in the Breeders’ Cup, too, at Belmont, was the soft ground. At least that’s one good thing we got out of the way, that he can handle soft ground,” said Frankel (Blood-Horse).
Folklore marked herself the early favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies with a sharp 14 length win in Saturday’s Matron Stakes at Belmont. “She was jumping out of her skin in the post parade; she was ready to run today,” said jockey Edgar Prado after the race (Daily Racing Form).
The Matron didn’t get off to a very good start — Along the Sea, who finished third behind Miss Norman, spooked in the gate, bursting through the door before the start. India tried to follow, striking her head against the gate and knocking one side of her door open. Along the Sea was caught and reloaded; India was backed out, and despite bleeding from her mouth, also reloaded. “India got all shook up there,” said rider John Velazquez. “I knew we should have scratched right then. She was all nervous, and she has never been like that” (Blood-Horse). The field favorite, India broke slowly when the gate opened for real and “threw in the towel early,” finishing last.
The Futurity wasn’t without trouble either. Disco’s Son stumbled breaking from the gate, throwing rider Javier Castellano. The riderless horse then ran along the rail in front of the field for the rest of the race, complicating things. Jerry Bailey, aboard winner Private Vow, found a silver lining in the incident (Daily Racing Form):

Castellano was uninjured. Trainer Steve Asmussen said that Private Vow may start in the Champagne and is likely for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. “He came here to Belmont because if he belonged in the Breeders’ Cup I didn’t want him going anywhere else first, and that’s what we’re trying to get to,” said Asmussen.
Even money favorite Shaniko earned his first stakes win with a four and a half length victory in Saturday’s Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway. Trainer Todd Pletcher, while thrilled by Shaniko’s performance, was decidedly noncommittal when it came to saying whether or not the four-year-old colt’s next race might be the Breeders’ Cup Classic. “Today certainly makes you feel more confident. At some point he will deserve to step up to bigger leagues than today off that performance. But we just have to see where that will be” (Courier-Journal).

Posted in Races/Results on September 19, 2005