JC / Railbird

Races/Results Archive

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).

Posted in Races/Results on July 1, 2007

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.

Posted in Races/Results on June 29, 2007

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.

Posted in Races/Results on June 21, 2007

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.

Posted in Races/Results on June 17, 2007