JC / Railbird

Races/Results Archive

Sunday Racing

Here’s my last minute pick in the Vanity Handicap at Hollywood this afternoon: Splendid Blended. She won the Hollywood Starlet last December over Sharp Lisa, who won her next start. Splendid Blended also did fairly well in the Acorn on June 4. That race was her first start in six months, and she finished fourth, about three lengths behind winner Round Pond and a couple back from runner-up Smuggler, winner of the Mother Goose Stakes last Saturday. Ten minutes before post time, Splendid Blended is 4-1. Favorite Andujar is 2-5.
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That was a nice way to start the afternoon, even if Splendid Blended’s odds were knocked down to 5-2 and she only paid $7.40 to win. The race was a good effort from the three-year-old filly, as was the second place finish of Island Fashion, who has been badly off form since running second in the Santa Monica Handicap at Santa Anita last January. Andujar finished third. All three looked a bit tired at the end — “It was more like a staggering contest, the last part,” said Splendid Blended rider Jerry Bailey in a post-race interview.
I’m passing on the American Oaks — I’m sure it’ll be a great race to watch, but trying to handicap the international cast of fillies is too much work for this holiday weekend. That, and the only one I’m drawn to is the undefeated Melhor Ainda, 2-1 on the morning line.
Looking ahead to Monday …
Turf champion Kitten’s Joy will make his 2005 debut in the Firecracker Handicap at Churchill Downs (Courier-Journal). “If he’s going to get beat, this is probably the time to do it, with him coming off an eight-month layoff,” said trainer Dale Romans. “But he came back great, seems stronger than last year, and I’ll be very disappointed if he doesn’t win.”
The Dwyer at Belmont has a field of seven, and Roman Ruler is the expected favorite. He’s making his first start since March, when he was pulled off the Triple Crown trail due to a quarter crack. “At this point he’s doing well, and his feet look good … The thing about that horse is the talent is there. He’s a really good horse if he shows up,” said trainer Bob Baffert (Daily Racing Form). The foot problems and the fact that he’s had one race — in which he was eased — in the past eight months makes Roman Ruler an easy horse for me to play against. The Nick Zito-trained Middle Earth is another. He’s attracting a lot of press, largely because he ran third to Lost in the Fog in the Riva Ridge three weeks ago, but that was a sprint, as have been eight of his nine starts. Middle Earth has only raced at 1 1/16 once, in the Whirlaway last February, where he finished fifth (and not a good fifth). I’m thinking the race could go to Flower Alley, who hasn’t run since the Kentucky Derby, followed by Mr. Congeniality and Proud Accolade. The former is a recent Belmont allowance winner; the latter won the Champagne at Belmont last fall.
Looking back to Saturday …
The Sackatoga crew is disappointed with Funny Cide. “He’s not the same horse we have seen the last three years … We have to regroup,” said owner Jack Knowlton (New York Daily News). Funny Cide will be given time off to freshen up and “for his connections to figure out what is wrong.”

Posted in Races/Results on July 3, 2005

Saturday Stakes

What’s next for Funny Cide? That’s the question after his disappointing performance in the Suburban at Belmont this afternoon. Late last week, assistant trainer Robin Smullen told the Daily Racing Form, “If he doesn’t run well in this race we probably will not pursue Grade 1’s unless they come up very, very easy.” Trainer Barclay Tagg said in a pre-race interview that he was looking for Funny Cide to be close to the pace, but he never was, starting in fifth, falling back to seventh, and finishing an indifferent sixth. Funny Cide beat two horses — the longshot Runaway Russy and the inexperienced class-jumper Record Buster (who was fractious in the gate). Unfortunately for Funny Cide, he doesn’t have any excuses for today — he was at the right track, at the right distance, the weather was good, and he’s been training great (he worked a fast five furlongs in :58.2 last week). Jockey Jerry Bailey, who replaced Jose Santos as Funny Cide’s rider, couldn’t come up with an explanation for the race. “He felt perfectly fine warming up, but I never had any horse once the gate opened,” said Bailey (Blood-Horse). Maybe the 2003 Derby winner is burned out on racing and needs a long vacation — something I’ve noticed in Funny Cide’s performances this year is that he doesn’t show the same heart he did last year or the year before. He doesn’t seem as game as he once did.
The Suburban winner was Offlee Wild, at odds of 7-2. Since returning to the track in 2004 after a 10-month layoff, the five-year-old has won three of five starts, including one at Belmont last May (followed by the Massachusetts Handicap in June). He appeared badly beaten in his last start, the Pimlico Special, but it was pretty clear today that he just didn’t like the sloppy track. Tap Day finished second, Pollard’s Vision third.
With a little help from a rabbit, Better Talk Now took the United Nations Stakes at Monmouth (Daily Racing Form). Trainer Graham Motion, concerned that the pace scenario might not be to the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner’s liking, entered Shake the Bank “to ensure an honest pace,” as his wife Anita Motion told ESPN’s Jeanine Edwards this afternoon. The strategy worked, and made for a pretty entertaining race as well, when Shake the Bank opened a 20-length lead on the second run down the backstretch before tiring at the top of the stretch. Better Talk Now and jockey Ramon Dominguez, caught at the back of the pack, made a smart move angling to the inside, surging past Shake the Bank and the rest of the field on the rail to win by three-quarters of a length.
Stellar Jayne made a sensational return to racing in the Misty Galore Stakes at Belmont (Thorougbred Times) and Wend won her fifth straight race (and first graded stakes race) today in the New York Handicap (Blood-Horse).
Unbelievably, that’s not even all the stakes action today or this weekend. I’m still catching up from vacation, but hope tonight to get through the charts for the Vanity Handicap and the American Oaks at Hollywood on Sunday and the Dwyer and Firecracker on Monday.
The Dwyer has lost one starter: Peter Pan winner Oratory is out owing to a fracture in his right front leg (Blood-Horse).
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Rockport Harbor won’t race this year. Owner Rick Porter announced Friday that Rockport will be sent to a farm for two to three months so that his hoof may heal. If all goes well, the colt may run as a four-year-old. Here’s one photo of the gash in Rockport’s hoof and here’s another — this is the injury that he sustained in the November 2004 Remsen and which has been a problem ever since.

Posted in Races/Results on July 2, 2005

Saturday Racing Recap

A rare double disqualification in the Kent Breeders’ Cup Stakes made third place finisher Seeking Slew the winner of the race. Touched by Madness, who finished first, was knocked back to fourth; Spring House, who had been second, was made third. Both were disqualified for separate incidents in the stretch. Touched by Madness was one of six horses double-entered yesterday in the Kent and the Colonial Turf Cup. I didn’t spend much time handicapping either because of that, although I did look at the past performances for the Colonial enough that I liked Touched by Madness to win there. With five defections to the Kent bringing the Colonial field down to six though, big favorite English Channel easily won the Grand Slam of Grass’ first leg. (Daily Racing Form)
Carrying a career-high 124 pounds, Megahertz fended off a challenge from Winendynme in the stretch of the Beverly Hills Handicap to take her third straight stakes race this year. (Blood-Horse)
According to jockey Edgar Prado, Smuggler’s Mother Goose Stakes win was a matter of patience. “We sat right behind the speed,” he said. “I bided my time.” The early speed was the favorite Summerly, who tired in the stretch and finished third by two lengths. To win, Smuggler has to dispatch a stubborn Spun Sugar, who held on for second. (New York Post)
Longshot Kelly’s Landing set a track record in the Aristides Breeders’ Cup. (Lexington Herald-Leader)
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Yesterday was “Family Day,” the first of Suffolk’s Spectacular Saturdays, a series of events and giveaways from now to the end of the meet. I wasn’t there — it was too hot to contemplate taking even a quick subway ride, and I’d promised to attend an afternoon barbecue — but I will be at the track for sure on July 23 when Suffolk 70th anniversary hats will be given out.

Posted in Races/Results on June 26, 2005

Mother Goose Stakes

Only six are entered in Saturday’s Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont. Trainer Steve Asmussen is expecting his filly, Kentucky Oaks winner Summerly, to turn in a strong performance, the kind that will make her a contender for an Eclipse award: “Summerly has every right to improve [in the coming months], even more than Ashado did last year,” he said. Asmussen admits Summerly isn’t quite where she was condition-wise before the Oaks because of missed training time due to the equine herpes quarantine at Churchill Downs,

Summerly will face Spun Sugar (winner of the Black-Eyed Susan), Smuggler, Seeking the Ante, Winning Season, and Lady Pegasus (who may be scratched).
The $300,000 Grade 1 Mother Goose is supposed to be a divisional test, but its field is less than it could be owing to purse competition with Delaware Park, writes Dave Litfin. Sis City and Round Pond are skipping the race and being pointed to the Delaware Oaks with its $500,000 purse. (Daily Racing Form — sub. req.)

Posted in Races/Results on June 24, 2005