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FRIDAY, JULY 3, 2009
Racing Headlines
Quality Road eyes first breeze for Pletcher
Florida Derby (G1) winner QUALITY ROAD (Elusive Quality), who missed the Triple Crown because of quarter-crack issues, has been galloping steadily for new trainer Todd Pletcher. The Edward Evans homebred is on the verge of breezing as his connections look toward a possible start in the $500,000 Jim Dandy S. (G2) at Saratoga on August 1. more... |
River Downs celebrates 'Jockeys Across America'
A trifecta of events will be taking place at River Downs on Saturday for July 4. The first Saturday in July is traditionally dubbed "Jockeys Across America Day" and that title activity will be joined by a "BBQ and Blues" event in the track's paddock area. more... |
Gozzip Girl, Mrs Kipling bookend American Oaks
Sunday's $700,000 American Oaks Invitational (G1) has attracted an overflow field of 16 fillies, including two also-eligibles. Contested at 1 1/4 miles on the Hollywood Park turf, the eighth running of the American Oaks serves up another fascinating clash between domestic hopefuls and foreign shippers. more... |
Rachel memorabilia to raise money for cancer research
Kendall-Jackson Winery announced Thursday a five-month-long charity auction that will take place on its web site (www.kj.com) and will feature items, donated by winery owner and co-founder Jess Jackson, that are related to RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d'Oro). A new item and new auction will be introduced every month through November. more... |
Golf tournament to benefit Douglas
A golf tournament to benefit injured Arlington Park jockey Rene Douglas and his family has been scheduled for July 20 at Indian Lakes Golf Course in Bloomingdale, Illinois. more... |
First winner for the late Saint Liam
Horse of the Year SAINT LIAM (Saint Ballado), who died after just one season at stud, was represented by his first winner when Draw a Blank captured the 1ST race at Presque Isle Downs on Wednesday. more... |
De Francis Dash returns to Maryland schedule
The Maryland Jockey Club and Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (MTHA) have agreed to the live racing dates and stakes schedule for the balance of 2009, including the return of the Frank J. De Francis Dash (G1) after a one-year hiatus. more... |
Sellers returns from 4 1/2-year hiatus
Jockey Shane Sellers, who announced his retirement 4 1/2 years ago due to a severe knee injury, will return to the saddle on Thursday night at Evangeline Downs. The 42-year-old Louisiana native will ride the Mark Guidry-trained Ide Ball (Ide) in the 1ST race. more... |
Romanet the keynote speaker at Jockey Club Round Table
Louis Romanet, chairman of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA), will discuss the importance of and need for international harmonization of medication policies when he delivers the keynote address at The Jockey Club's 57th annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing at the Gideon Putnam Resort in Saratoga Springs, New York., on August 23. more... |
Art Preservation exhibit featured at Museum
The National Museum of Racing's new exhibit, Preserving our Past, is open in the von Stade Gallery. Featuring several paintings and trophies from the permanent collection, the exhibit, staged by Museum Curator of Collections Beth Sheffer, will run until December 31. more... |
Mine That Bird works half-mile at Churchill
Kentucky Derby (G1) winner MINE THAT BIRD (Birdstone) worked a half-mile in :51 over a fast track Monday morning at Churchill Downs in his first serious training move since a third-place finish to Summer Bird (Birdstone) in the Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 6. more... |
Rachel Alexandra settles in at Saratoga
Scarcely 12 hours after her record-setting victory in Saturday's Mother Goose S. (G1) at Belmont Park, RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d'Oro) stepped onto a van that carried her up the Northway to Saratoga, which will be the base for her summer campaign. more... |
Euphony holds on in Iowa Distaff; Ez Dreamer wires Sprint
Pin Oak Stable's homebred EUPHONY (Forest Wildcat) was content to allow Bear Now (Tiznow) to set the pace in Saturday night's $125,000 Iowa Distaff S. at Prairie Meadows, but took over in the stretch and recorded a one-length score over that mare to move her current win streak to six. With Clifton Berry aboard, the Donnie Von Hemel-trained four-year-old stopped the clock in 1:42 3/5 for 8 1/2 furlongs on the fast track. more... |
Summer Bird works, prepares to ship to Monmouth
Belmont S. (G1) winner SUMMER BIRD (Birdstone) will make a brief return to Churchill Downs on Thursday. Trainer Tim Ice is vanning Summer Bird from his home base at Louisiana Downs to Monmouth Park for the August 2 Haskell Invitational (G1). more... |
Rachel Alexandra schools in the paddock
Trainer Steve Asmussen continued to put the finishing touches on RACHEL ALEXANDRA's (Medaglia d'Oro) preparations for Saturday's $300,000 Mother Goose S. (G1) at Belmont Park, as the filly went to the gate in the morning and schooled in the paddock in the afternoon. more... |
PDJF receives $1 million pledge
The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF) announced Thursday that the William Stamps Farish Fund has pledged $1 million to the PDJF, which supports some 60 former riders who are permanently disabled as the result of on-track catastrophic injuries. more... |
NTRA radio campaign wins at Cannes
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association's (NTRA) radio advertising campaign won a Gold Lion Award at this week's 56th International Advertising Festival in Cannes, France. more... |
Graded Previews
Graded Recaps
Porte Bonheur just gets up in First Flight
Johanna Murphy-Leopoldsberger's PORTE BONHEUR (Hennessy) managed to stick her nose in front in a three-way finish in Sunday's $150,000 First Flight H. (G2) at Belmont Park. With jockey Ramon Dominguez aboard, the four-year-old lass completed the seven-furlong fast dirt test in 1:22 2/5 as the 2-1 favorite, paying $6, $3.40 and $2.40. more... |
Jonesboro scores in Cornhusker
Michael Langford's JONESBORO (Sefapiano) stalked the pacesetter in Friday night's $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker H. (G2), took over in midstretch and pulled off for the 1 3/4-length victory under jockey Clifton Berry. more... |
Zenyatta shows her class in Vanity
Jerry and Ann Moss' ZENYATTA (Street Cry [Ire]) overcame her toughest assignment to date on Saturday when giving 13-16 pounds to her rivals in the $287,000 Vanity H. (G1) at Hollywood Park. Going for a title defense in the 1 1/8-mile test, the dark bay mare had to carry 129 pounds for the first time in her career and, for a brief moment in the stretch, appeared on the verge of suffering her first loss. more... |
Decelerator another Debutante for Lukas
Westrock Stables' DECELERATOR (Dehere) gave Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas a seventh victory in Churchill Downs' $111,300 Debutante S. (G3) on Saturday, rallying from slightly off the pace in the stretch and gradually wearing down second choice Wild Forest Cat (D'wildcat) to prevail by a neck as the 6-5 favorite under Julien Leparoux. more... |
Rachel rules the roost in Mother Goose
With the scratches of Hopeful Image (Gulch) and Don't Forget Gil (Kafwain), superstar filly RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d'Oro) was left with only two rivals in the $270,000 Mother Goose S. (G1) at Belmont Park on Saturday and, as anticipated, the 1 1/8-mile event turned into a virtual walkover for the massive bay. more... |
Mary's Follies gets serious in Boiling Springs
MARY'S FOLLIES (More Than Ready) had never raced on turf before Saturday's $150,000 Boiling Springs S. (G3), but the John Forbes pupil looked like a natural on the surface when recording her first career stakes victory. more... |
Hightap dances to Iowa Oaks victory
Winchell Thoroughbreds and Gainesway Thoroughbreds' HIGHTAP (Tapit) settled into the second flight of runners down the backstretch of Friday night's $200,000 Iowa Oaks (G3) at Prairie Meadows, came with her wide run rounding the turn and held on by three parts of a length under jockey Shaun Bridgmohan to score her second straight graded victory. more... |
Features
Ladies' Classic Diary
This year's Triple Crown produced some great stories, but none more so than that of RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d'Oro). The massive filly towers over her rivals, male and female, in stature, talent and maturity. But her biggest challenge may come, not on the racetrack, but in the ballot box. more... |
Handicapping Insights
The mind is a funny thing. It wants to be objective and is convinced that it weighs all factors before coming to a decision. But the reality of how the mind works is quite different. more... |
Thoroughbred Beat
Rachel Madness: RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d'Oro) was a beauty to behold in Saturday's Mother Goose S. (G1). It was a glorified public workout for the brilliant filly, who posted an effortless 19 1/4-length decision over two overmatched rivals and completed 1 1/8 miles in a stakes record 1:46 1/5. more... |
Filly & Mare Turf Diary
In this edition, we'll review all of the major stakes action since Memorial Day weekend, and wrap up with a look at the prospective field for Sunday's American Oaks (G1) at Hollywood Park. more... |
International Diary
June 6, 2009, was a date for history lovers to savor. On that 65th anniversary of D-Day, a colt whose very existence might have been unthinkable, but for the storming of those beaches at Normandy, sallied forth into the record books at Epsom. more... |
For the Record
When YEATS (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) swept to the front in Thursday's Gold Cup (Eng-G1) at Royal Ascot, the eight-year-old was powering toward an historic milestone that had never previously been achieved -- a fourth victory in the premier contest for stayers. more... |
Classic Diary
The Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) picture is muddled due to a lack of quality in the older horse division. EINSTEIN (Brz) (Spend a Buck), an authoritative winner of the Santa Anita H. (G1) in his lone attempt on a synthetic track, rates as the leading contender among older horses, and he wouldn't even be considered for the Classic on a dirt track; he would be pointed to one of the turf events. more... |
Triple Crown Wrap-Up
The Triple Crown concluded with an upset from the lightly raced SUMMER BIRD (Birdstone), who recorded his second career win by rallying to a 2 3/4-length decision in Saturday's Belmont S. (G1). more... |
Turf Diary
In this issue, we'll identify the divisional leader pro tempore, recap the notable stakes action, highlight a couple of significant allowances, and take stock of the emerging three-year-olds. more... |
For the Record
When RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d'Oro) romped by 20 1/4 lengths in last Friday's Kentucky Oaks (G1), her astounding margin sent interested observers scurrying to find out if it were, in fact, a stakes record. more... |
Pedigree Handicapping
The 1 1/2-length victory in last Saturday's English Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) by Sea The Stars (Cape Cross [Ire]) at Newmarket continued the remarkable success of his dam, URBAN SEA (Miswaki). more... |
Notebooks
Belmont Notebook
For the most part, the weather cooperated during the previous week and the main track was labeled "fast" for the eagerly anticipated return race of Preakness (G1) heroine RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d'Oro). more... |
Hollywood Notebook
Vanity H. (G1): Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Moss' homebred ZENYATTA (Street Cry [Ire]) made it 11 straight with another measured win for John Shirreffs. The champion mare, who was toting a hefty 129 pounds, was not as fluid as she's been in races past but it didn't matter, as she powered home late to win by 2 1/2 lengths. more... |
Churchill Downs Notebook
On June 26, another Friday night program ensued at Churchill presenting 11 races and again the joint was jumping with new and old fans. This was the second evening program in the 135-year history of the classic Louisville, Kentucky, facility. more... |
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