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FAIR GROUNDS NOTEBOOK DECEMBER 5, 2008 by Steve Collison Saturday SECRET GETAWAY (Skip Away) took command in upper stretch and drew off to a convincing 2 3/4-length win in the $60,000 Tenacious H. this past weekend. The three-year-old returned mutuels of $9, $4.40 and $3 as the second choice in the wagering while increasing his career earnings to $299,014. The 44th Tenacious, for three-year-olds and up, was run on a sloppy main track as rain fell at Fair Grounds for a second consecutive day. The winner covered the 1 1/16-mile distance in 1:45.06. "What a monster!" said jockey James Graham, who combined with trainer Michael Stidham for back-to-back wins on Saturday's card. "This is a big, happy horse and you're going to be hearing a lot more from him." "He (Secret Getaway) just keeps improving," Stidham said. "He seemed to be traveling a lot better today. He's running the right way, now." Friday CLASSIC CAMPAIGN (Rahy) drew clear in the final strides for a 1 1/4-length victory in the third running of the $60,000 "Buddy" Diliberto Memorial H. on Friday. The winner paid $9.80 and $4.20, while favored Wise River (Belong to Me) returned $4.20 to place in the field reduced to four horses after the race was moved from the turf to a sloppy main track because of early afternoon showers. Due to three late scratches, there was no show or superfecta wagering. The winner toured the 1 1/16-mile distance in 1:44.83, increasing his career earnings to $512,298 with his fourth victory in 12 career starts under a well judged ride by Brian Hernandez Jr. "I had him tucked in behind horses, but I don't think he liked the dirt in his face," said Hernandez, who won his third stakes race in seven days, "so I took him to the outside. I thought I could catch the No.1 horse (Wise River), but I didn't know how long it would take." Track Surface Rain forced all races off the turf this past weekend while making for an extremely sloppy surface over the main oval on Saturday. By Sunday, the dirt surface had been upgraded to fast with management still electing to keep the grass course empty. As is typically the case with any dirt surface that has been inundated with heavy rain, there was a bias but ironically not on Saturday when the track was actually wet, but on a drying out strip come Sunday. The sloppy surface on Saturday played fair throughout, but the same cannot be said for the following day. The heavy going on Sunday made winning on the front end a tough proposition with only favorite, DANCING REBECCA (Gold Tribute) in the 8TH, being able to accomplish the feat. Jockey Notes Popular Louisiana-born jockey E.J. Perrodin moved to within two victories of a career milestone Sunday after winning aboard DRAGUM (Menifee) in the off-the-turf allowance/optional claiming feature here. The win gave Perrodin's 2,998th trips to the winner's circle in a career recently slowed by an extended layoff following a pre-race injury last November. Riding for trainer Pat Mouton, his brother-in-law, Perrodin closed boldly in the later stages of Sunday's 1 1/16-mile headliner as Dragum paid mutuels of $17.20, $5.80 and $3.60. Valenzuela Again Jockey Pat Valenzuela missed three days of riding this past weekend due to a yet undetermined illness that hasn't been explained. For the sake of all concerned, here's hoping he was really "sick" this time around. I personally have never seen a more capable rider yet sadder case in my life. But at the same time, this tune has gotten far too old. Trainer Notes Trainer Bret Calhoun has picked up where he left off last year after winning four races here on Sunday. That included stomping the opposition with recently claimed ANTRIM COUNTY (Giant‘s Causeway), who won a starter allowance after getting haltered for the hefty sum of $50,000. It takes guts to drop that much money into the claiming box, but thus far it has paid of for Calhoun. "I thought he'd win," a grinning and relieved Calhoun said. As for the other three winners, "they all had a chance, but they were far from cinches." Trainer Profile W. BRET CALHOUN has gotten off to another fine start here at the Fair Grounds, having won with seven-of 22 starters thus far. However, isolating his winners is difficult as Calhoun has so many areas of expertise it's hard to single out any particular one. Still, Bret is one of the very few trainers who actually understands what equipment changes are for and when to use them. Take blinkers for instance. The need for blinkers is vastly overrated and far too many conditioners put them on or take them off simply because they don’t know what else to do! But Calhoun understands their relevance which is why he hits 25-percent with a positive rate of return when adding blinkers. That’s because he doesn't just do it on a whim or to impress an owner with his knowledge, which sadly is something that happens frequently. After all, most owners don't know anything either. Calhoun also does just as well when taking off the shades, an angle many players tend to overlook. Another approach that this stable does well with that goes against the conventional wisdom is winning when going route to sprint. Since routes typically dull speed, it's hard to cut back a horse in ground successfully, but this stable does it to a tune of 35 percent. The key element to watch for is that fast morning drill which puts the speed back in the muscles for the sprint. Another approach to watch for during a prep route, he'll have the jockey ask for a crisp turn of speed at some point in the race. When watching the race, it'll look like just a poorly timed middle move when it's in fact a shrewd swift work designed to enhance a runners speed down the road. This is seldom detected by most handicappers, but can be a path to solid payoffs under Calhoun's colors. RECENT CLAIMS TO WATCH Sunday (11/30) 6TH -- MISS ACAPULCO (Malibu Wesley) turned in a deceptively solid effort for trainer Jorge Lara, who is off to a slow start here. The filly was claimed by trainer Steve Klesaris for himself, a move that typically highlights a runner who he simply loves. Figures to be improving after leaving a slumping operation. 10TH -- MATTER OF RECORD (Tale of the Cat) was able to win today in powerful while being claimed by astute trainer Tom Amoss. If Amoss has indeed caught him on the upswing, we'll see the colt in against allowance runner next out and it will be no surprise to see him prove successful at that level for new connections. HORSES TO WATCH Saturday (11/29) 3RD -- ALL TOO SOLID (El Corredor) filly was forced to break from the extreme outside slot today while being asked to navigate a sloppy racing surface. She gave everything she had, but couldn't overcome the handicap placed upon her. Nonetheless stamped herself as a soon to be winner around here. Sunday (11/30) 7TH -- TEMPLAR'S CUP (Devil His Due) was going first time off the claim for Amoss and the five-year-old gelding gave everything he had before just getting beat by the heavy favorite, Antrim County (Giant's Causeway). That rival had already won three straight and looked virtually unbeatable today in this starter allowance. Watch for the Amoss horse to come back victorious next out when not up against such a monster. 9TH -- SWEETNESS N LIGHT (Distorted Humor) is solidly bred filly who came off the shelf today for trainer Michael Stidham, who doesn't do that well with his layoffs to begin with. Despite this fact and being compromised by extreme outside post, the three-year-old still managed to just miss in a game effort that will surely set her up perfectly next time. BEWARE OF THESE Saturday (11/29) 1ST -- INDIAN SILVER (Cherokee Run) faced only three rivals in a race shortened due to rain. One of those broke through the gate and ran off but still was allowed to race. The other two failed to break promptly, allowing Indian Silver to plod along up front at an unbelievably slow pace. He still had trouble holding off Water Mill (Unbridled’s Song) and his victory is certainly more than tainted. YOUNG BLOODS Saturday (11/29) 7TH -- PROTEUS (Canadian Frontier), a roan two-year-old colt, isn't especially bred to handle the sloppy going and his pedigree doesn't suggest that sprints are in his future. Yet today when making career debut at six furlongs, he missed by only five lengths despite having those two very big strikes against him. Be prepared to take a closer look when he stretches out to two turns over a dry surface. Sunday (11/30) 3RD -- RANUNCULA (Candy Ride) is a two-year-old filly out of Grade 3 winner Hattiesburg. After gaining the show today, the filly appears to have a big future ahead of her for new trainer Andrew Leggio.
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