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CALDER NOTEBOOK JUNE 5, 2010 All-Terrain Mambo Meister scores again at Calder Quantum Racing Team #1 LLC's five-year-old gelding MAMBO MEISTER (King Cugat) left his rivals in the Calder main track dust winning Monday's $100,000 Memorial Day H. (G3) by 7 3/4 lengths under jockey Manoel Cruz for trainer Phil Gleaves. He had posted a hard-fought head victory in the $100,000 Miami Mile H. (G3) on turf in his previous start on opening day, April 25. Bred in Kentucky by longtime Ocala horseman J.R. Cavanagh, who retains an interest, Mambo Meister is by turf specialist King Cugat but has handled all assignments with nearly equal efficiency, including a very good fifth in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) on the Pro-Ride synthetic surface at Santa Anita in November when he was beaten only two lengths for it all with trouble in the stretch run. After winning Calder's only two regularly scheduled stakes to date, Mambo Meister will be back on the road this summer to find appropriate races, most likely at Monmouth Park and Saratoga, before returning in the fall to defend his title in the $100,000 Spend a Buck H. (G3) in mid-October, a race that could earn him another trip to the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile this year at Churchill Downs. Mambo Meister's summertime schedule is mirrored by quite a few other stakes runners based at Calder in that opportunities are limited to overnight stakes at best unless they are sprinters with the annual Summit of Speed coming up next month, or two-year-olds, particularly those eligible for the track's restricted Florida Stallion Stakes series. This weekend (June 5-6), accomplished three-year-olds Bim Bam (Deputy Wild Cat) and Joanie's Catch (First Tour) will get a final chance at home in companion overnight turf stakes before likely traveling northeast for their next starts while the powerful Marty Wolfson stable has six horses entered in the graded stakes on the Belmont Day undercard in New York Saturday. Jockeys & Trainers competition in contrast The rivalry between 18-year-old apprentice Luis Saez and 40-year-old veteran jockey Manoel Cruz continues as they dominate the top of the leader board. Coming out of the holiday weekend, Saez opened up a 36-30 lead, buoyed by five wins on Saturday. Four others are tied for third well behind top two with 12 victories each. In sharp contrast to the jockeys, the trainers' title chase couldn't be more competitive with Steve DiMauro and Chris Gatis tied for the lead after sending out seven winners each, one more than five tied for second with six apiece and four more with five in a wide-open contest that appears likely to continue through the summer months. HORSES TO WATCH Thursday (5/27) 5TH -- ASIATIC PEARL (Black Mambo) made a good run to finish runner-up behind odds-on choice Dubai's Connection (E Dubai), the current queen of the local starter/allowance division, after the race was forced off turf to the main track. Asiatic Pearl appears to want more distance than less. Friday (5/28) 10TH -- DECAF AGAIN (Wised Up) rallied from last of 10 over a sloppy track that was playing to speed and stalkers and decidedly not to deep closers. He is a threat in this season's interesting starter/allowance ranks here. Saturday (5/29) 5TH -- VEES ACCOLADE (Proud Accolade) rallied well through stretch to finish second in her career debut behind wire-to-wire winner and should move forward going another furlong or so for veteran trainer Steve Towne. Monday (5/31) 4TH -- MISS MARY FINN (Congrats) spotted the leaders too much ground going 4 1/2 furlongs, but ran on well in the deep stretch to finish fourth behind a speedy much-the-best winner. Miss Mary Finn is by promising freshman sire Congrats and trained by veteran horseman Joe Calascibetta, widely-acknowledged for developing several top prospects in recent years.
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