JC / Railbird

Races/Results Archive

Rousing Return for Round Pond

Trainer John Servis was right about not keeping Round Pond in the barn for another month:

Posted in Races/Results on February 17, 2006

Rockport’s Back

And showed that he’s ready to be a player in the handicap division, winning Saturday’s Essex Handicap at Oaklawn by 2 1/4 lengths over Cougar Cat in his first start in nine months. Displaying the same toughness and heart he did as a 2-year-old, Rockport Harbor took an early lead and fended off a challenge from the runner-up, who managed to get a nose in front briefly at the top of the stretch. “Turning for home, that horse came to him and I asked him to run and he gave me what he had,” said jockey Stewart Elliott. “He was game. He showed that he was back.” He was also a little rank at the break, appearing to lose focus in the first few yards. “The big thing with him is mentally. This race is going to move this horse way up,” said trainer John Servis after, who suggested that Rockport’s next start could be the March 12 Razorback.

More: Rockport earned a Beyer of 98 for the Essex.

Posted in Races/Results on February 12, 2006

On Saturday

– Rockport Harbor returns from a nine-month layoff in the Essex. “He’s been training very well,” said owner Rick Porter. “He’s gained some weight, and we’ve seen a lot of positive things. All systems are go.”
– This could be the year for California fillies in the Kentucky Oaks, if the Las Virgenes field is anything to go by. Wild Fit, second to Folklore in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, will start, as will Dimplomat Lady, upset winner of the Starlet.
– Count Fleet winner Achilles of Troy looks like a lock in the Whirlaway. A very confident owner Ernie Paragallo says the $65,000 stakes over Aqueduct’s inner track will be Achilles’ last easy start. “After this race we’ll go tackling more talented competition.”

Posted in Races/Results on February 10, 2006

Quick Saturday Results

Barbaro remains undefeated. The Michael Matz-trained colt showed he could handle the switch from turf to dirt (or at least, from turf to slop) and deserved to be considered a legitimate Derby prospect, winning the Holy Bull Stakes by three quarters of a length over Nick Zito’s Great Point, who trailed the field in twelfth through the first half and closed impressively in the final yards to finish second. Barbaro stalked Aventura winner Doctor Decherd to the top of the stretch and then pulled away to briefly open up a three-length lead. It was a nice race, with a final time of 1:49.31. The fractions though show the Holy Bull slowing with each quarter, with splits of :23.1, :24.05, and :25.82. The final furlong was run in a weak :13.16. As Andrew Beyer notes in the Washington Post, Barbaro “was only .25 second faster than a fair group of mares who ran an hour earlier.” Given the numbers, the horse that really comes out looking the best in the race isn’t Barbaro, but Great Point. If he’d had a few more yards, the results could well have been reversed.
More: Barbaro earned a Beyer speed figure of 95 for the Holy Bull.
In the Hutcheson, “First Samurai ran faster than the track record for 7 1/2 furlongs at Gulfstream Park on Saturday. Trouble was, Keyed Entry ran faster.” Todd Pletcher’s colt ran faster from the beginning, speeding from the gate to take the lead from favorite First Samurai, who was making his first start since the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. First Samurai ran about a length behind Keyed Entry for much of the race, and finished one and a half lengths back. At least the colt was capable of staying within striking distance (even if he couldn’t quite mount a strong challenge), unlike the rest of the field, which lagged nine lengths or more back when Keyed Entry and First Samurai hit the stretch.
Wow: Keyed Entry earned a 110 Beyer while setting a track record in the Hutcheson.
Bob and John looked terrific in the Sham Stakes, which was basically another workout for Bob Baffert’s hardworking Derby hopeful. Comfortably stalking the pace-setting Hawkinsville into the stretch, Bob and John easily drew clear to win by four and a half lengths. Disqualified in the Real Quiet last November, the Sham was Bob and John’s first official stakes win. “This will be the last powder puff race he gets,” Baffert said after the Sham. “From here on out, it’s going to be all heavyweights.” The March 4 Santa Catalina may be Bob and John’s next start.
I was wrong about High Limit. Very, very wrong. I said he couldn’t rate, but High Limit has proved that he’s more than capable of sitting off the pace and waiting for the right moment to run. That’s exactly what the four-year-old did in the Strub today, “the finest performance of his career.” Longshot Top This and That finished second, while Giacomo ran in his usual late rallying style to finish third.

Posted in Races/Results, Racing on February 4, 2006 / Tagged Kentucky Derby