Funny Cide Hits the Road
Funny Cide travels to Finger Lakes for the Wadsworth Memorial Handicap on Wednesday, and his upstate fans, even those who’ll be running or riding horses against him in the race, are feeling pretty excited about the Derby winner’s appearance:
Of course, Davila is going to spend most of his time in the paddock before the race gawking at Funny Cide.
“You see him race on TV and it’s one thing but to see him in person, it’s great,” Davila said. “I feel so good that that horse is coming here to run. It’s a thrill to ride in the same race with that horse.”
Jockey John Grabowski, who will ride Tommasi for breeder, owner and trainer Jim Bond, will be a fan before post time as well.
“I’m just like everyone else, I’m going to take a long look at him,” Grabowski said. “It’s an honor to be there with him” (Democrat and Chronicle).
The Wadsworth drew a field of eight; Funny Cide’s main competition will be Johnie Bye Night, a local speedball and winner of last year’s Wadsworth.
Lava Man Three-Peats
The only knock on Lava Man is his 0-for-5 record when racing anywhere other than Southern California. “I hate traveling and apparently he does too,” said co-owner Jason Wood after Lava Man won his third straight Hollywood Gold Cup (Blood-Horse), matching the record held by Native Diver, with a gutsy, tough performance in which he was challenged hard by A.P. Xcellent, to whom he conceded nine pounds (quite a bit these days). Final time for the 10-furlong race was 2:03.21, a Hollywood Cushion Track record. Given the current state of the older horse division post-Invasor’s retirement (see: Belmont, Suburban Handicap), Lava Man may well be honored with an Eclipse Award this year on the strength of victories like this one, without having to travel anywhere ever again.
Weekend Notes
– Trainer Todd Pletcher swept Belmont’s Sunday baby stakes with Glacken’s Gal in the Astoria and Ready’s Image in the Tremont (Blood-Horse). Glacken’s Gal earned an 84 Beyer for her second start; Ready’s Image an excellent 99 Beyer for his 7 3/4 length win.
– In winning the Mother Goose on Saturday, Octave became the sixth filly to come out the Kentucky Oaks and win a stakes next start. The others include Rags to Riches (Belmont Stakes), Dreaming of Anna (Double Delta Stakes), and Cotton Blossom (Acorn Stakes).
– There’s a massive pick six carryover of $3.2 million at Hollywood on Monday (DRF), thanks to longshot Bright Prediction, who paid $172.80 to win today’s sixth. Monday will be the fourth straight day there’s been a pick six carryover; the pool is the largest in the track’s history.
– Interesting: At Churchill’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday, CEO Robert Evans revealed the company is analyzing more than 150,000 races run in the past three years, looking for what makes handle jump. “We need better races to compete more effectively for the bettor’s dollar,” said Evans (Courier-Journal).
Intriguing Entry
The most intriguing horse running at Belmont on Saturday may well be Forest Jazzy in the seventh, a six furlong allowance N1X on the inner turf. The three-year-old filly galloped to a 24-length victory in her debut at River Downs six weeks ago, earning an 89 Beyer for the effort. (Check out the race on CalRacing and try not to feel sorry for the horse who ran second.) Starting for Bill Mott, the daughter of Forestry (sire of Discreet Cat and Diplomat Lady, the longest shot to ever win the G1 Hollywood Starlet) will try turf for the first time, the surface on which her dam, Pomona, scored a couple of allowance wins and finished second to female turf champion Fiji in the 1998 G2 Santa Barbara.
Results: It might be back to River Downs for Forest Jazzy after the filly set the pace in Saturday’s seventh then tired badly in the stretch as the 3-2 favorite, finishing last.
Corinthian Works for Suburban
Trainer Jimmy Jerkens sent the Met Mile winner out for a stamina building seven furlong work this morning, which he did in 1:25.74 over Belmont’s main track, getting the last eighth in :11.74 (DRF). Corinthian is being prepped for the June 30 Suburban, where he and at least three others are expected to take on Invasor, reigning horse of the year and defending Suburban winner.
Weekend Notes
Catching up after a few days on Cape Cod …
– Flashy Bull posted a mild upset in the Stephen Foster Handicap on Saturday, barely holding off Magna Graduate and giving West Point Thoroughbreds president Terry Finley a huge thrill. “Finley, in the company of other West Point members, was trembling moments after the tight finish. He said the win was easily the richest in the syndicate’s history ‘by about three times’” (DRF).
– Kept in the saddling stall until it was time to head to the track, and then excused from the post parade, high-strung Take D’ Tour ran big in the Ogden Phipps Handicap. After pressing pacesetter Teammate through wicked fast first half fractions of :23.07 and :44.97, Take D’ Tour drew away to win, becoming only the third horse to take back-to-back runnings of the race (Blood-Horse). Ginger Punch made a valiant late run, but couldn’t catch the six-year-old mare.
– It was nice to see a couple of familiar names break long-time losing streaks this weekend. Lemons Forever, winless since she upset the 2006 Kentucky Oaks at 47-1, scored a 3 1/4 length allowance victory at Churchill on Friday. And at Belmont on Sunday, stakes-placed Reverberate, winless since 2005, dueled with Diamond Isle to prevail by a nose in the third.
– It’s official: After a two-year hiatus, Suffolk Downs’ big race will return this year. The MassCap is scheduled for September 22 (Boston Globe).
– Terrible news about jockey Andrew Lakeman, injured when his mount clipped heels with another in a race last month at Belmont: The rider is paralyzed from the waist down as a result of the accident. The Backstretch Employee Service Team has established a fund to help with his medical and living expenses. Information on contributing can be found on the NYRA site.
Distaff Division
A few good efforts worth pointing out from three-year-old fillies across the country on Saturday:
– At Arlington, Dreaming of Anna finally returned to the winner’s circle after three losses, her last a sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks. While her performance in the Double Delta Stakes was hardly brilliant, it was solid, with Dreaming of Anna tracking the moderate pace set by Devil House and then drawing away on the final turn, finishing more than a length ahead of the closer Nice Inheritance.
– The Sands Point at Belmont ended in a Bit of Whimsy-Rutherienne dead heat (DRF). Both fillies ran well, with Rutherienne overcoming a pace unsuited to her late run style, but it was Bit of Whimsy who really impressed in her finish. Making only her third career start and coming off a MSW win, Bit of Whimsy went a little wide on the first turn, stalked the pace, dueled in the stretch and then drew away to meet Rutherienne, who was charging down the center, at the wire.
– And at Hollywood, in her fourth career start and her first on the turf, the promising Sindy With an S rebounded from her third-place finish in the Railbird Stakes with a win in the Manhattan Beach.
Corinthian vs. Invasor?
– Now, that’s a matchup to look forward to this June. According to owner Don Little, Jr., the Suburban Handicap is an option for Corinthian following his game, determined win in the Met Mile. “I would say as of today our next race would be the Suburban,” said Little. “It’s probably a good opportunity to try to do something” (DRF). It was nice to see Corinthian get the win on Monday. A talented, but somewhat nutty three-year-old, Corinthian has really developed into a good handicap horse as a four-year-old.
– “Just take a look at this horse move. No need to call it,” said Belmont announcer Tom Durkin, lapsing into silence as Commentator easily galloped to a win in Monday’s Richmond Runner Stakes for NY-breds. Jockey Corey Nakatani looked back to the right, then the left for the competition at the sixteenth pole and found none. Commentator earned a Beyer of 108 for his six-year-old debut.
Friday Notes
– The Saratogian picks up on the Blood-Horse story from earlier this week about a wild plan being floated for New York racing that includes splitting the franchise, closing Aqueduct, and turning Belmont into a slots palace. All that could never happen, right?
– Calvin Borel’s first ride at Pimlico is a winning one: Unbridled Sidney romped on the turf in the Very One stakes this afternoon.
– Nobiz Like Shobiz got back to work this morning, breezing four furlongs in :48.42 at Belmont.
– As soon as the Preakness is over, speculation about which horses might be entered in the final leg of the Triple Crown is sure to begin. According to NYRA stakes coordinator Andrew Byrnes, possibles for the Belmont include Rags to Riches, Imawildandcrazyguy, Tiago, and Slew’s Tizzy. Hm … Tiago and Rags to Riches. If Street Sense wins the Preakness, either of those two could make the Belmont stretch run pretty interesting.
– Carryover alert: There’s a Preakness day pick six carryover of $123,631 at Belmont.
Fleetheart Rising
– Watch mail this week brought notice of an entry for the Southern California filly Fleetheart, who caught my attention in February after an impressive starter allowance win. “Second career start, first off layoff, up in class, tough, drew off to win with ease,” say my notes on the race. She’s making her third start in Hollywood’s seventh on Wednesday. It’s another class jump and off another layoff, but Fleetheart’s been training great over the Hollywood Cushion Track, has the field’s best Beyers, has shown a willingness to tussle for the lead, and her competition’s a little weak. She’s 5-2 on the morning line, but looks more like 8-5 to me.
– Even though Liquidity broke my heart with his poor showing in the Santa Anita Derby, and did nothing to redeem himself in the Derby (bye-bye, future wager), I’ll be looking forward to his next race (DRF), the June 2 Ohio Derby at Thistledown, where he could meet up with undefeated Withers winner Divine Park (DRF).
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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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