Thursday, August 21 2008

NYRA STATEMENT RE: TAKEOUT

NYRA STATEMENT ON POSTPONEMENT OF ONE-PERCENT TAKEOUT INCREASE ON OUT-OF-STATE THOROUGHBRED RACES

The New York State Legislature has amended the bill passed in June authorizing the state takeover of the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation which would have required a one percent takeout increase on all bets made in New York on out-of-state Thoroughbred races.

The increase, set to become effective on September 15, was postponed until March 15, 2009 and inserted into the state budget cut bill passed by the legislature in a special session this week and signed by Governor David Paterson on Wednesday.

Arlington Park Barn Notes: Thursday, August 21, 2008

MR. NIGHTLINGER TRIES FOR FIVE IN SATURDAY’S ARLINGTON SPRINT

Martin Racing Stable and Carl Moore Management’s Mr. Nightlinger, undefeated since finding a home sprinting on grass in April, shoots for his fifth straight win when he looms as the 8-5 morning line choice in Saturday’s $200,000 Arlington Sprint at five and a half furlongs over Arlington’s world famous turf course.

Although Saturday’s dash will be the 12th running of the Sprint, the race will be on turf for the first time, a fact that should prove to the advantage of Mr. Nightlinger.

BIG BROWN’S NEXT START TO BE ON MONMOUTH TURF, SEPT. 13

OCEANPORT, N.J. * Big Brown, winner of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Haskell Invitational, is expected to return to the Jersey Shore on Sept. 13 to make his next start in the $200,000 Monmouth Stakes, a mile and an eighth turf contest for 3-year-olds and up.

Big Brown rebounded off a last place finish in the Belmont Stakes on June 7 to capture Monmouth Park’s signature race, the $1 million Haskell on Aug. 3.

TOP FIELD ASSEMBLED FOR GRADE 1 NETJETS KING’S BISHOP

The Grade 1 NetJets King’s Bishop at Saratoga Race course is always a contentious race stacked with former Triple Crown aspirants and young up-and-coming speedsters, and Saturday’s 24th running of the seven-furlong sprint for sophomore colts will be no exception.

A glance at the results from the past several years shows the importance and stature of the race; Ghostzapper showed his promise with a third-place finish in the ’03 edition before a Horse of the Year campaign the following year, Lost in the Fog won it in 2005 before being named Champion Sprinter, and last year, hard-knocking Hard Spun turned back in distance to capture an elusive and but well-deserved Grade 1 victory.

ALBANY RECAP

`CUP’ RUNNETH OVER – AND GRABS OTB’S TRIPLE $250K BONUS

By Francis LaBelle Jr.

Tin Cup Chalice, owned, bred and trained by Michael Lecesse, became the first horse to sweep the OTB’s Big Apple Triple on Wednesday afternoon at Saratoga Race Course when he held off a final upset bid by That’srightofficer to win the 31st running of the $150,000 nine-furlong Albany for three-year-old New York-breds by a head.

Now unbeaten in seven career starts, the Crusader Sword colt earned a $250,000 bonus from the New York Thoroughbred Breeding & Racing Program for winning the seven-furlong Mike Lee at Belmont Park, the New York Derby at a mile and a sixteenth at his home track at Finger Lakes and the Albany.

THORN SONG CAN HANDLE WHATEVER COMES HIS WAY IN BARUCH

Zayat Stable’s Thorn Song proved how much he liked Saratoga Race Course by winning a pair of allowance races in his first two starts here. He has also proven that it doesn’t matter what jockey is on his back – he’s had five different ones in his last 10 starts – nor does it matter if the turf is soft, yielding or firm. He always shows up with his `A’ game.

What he doesn’t necessarily like are long races, and trainer Dale Romans plans to keep him focused on what he does best when he sends the 5-year-old Unbridled’s Song horse to post in Saturday’s 50th running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Bernard Baruch Handicap at nine furlongs on the turf.

Le Cinquieme Essai goes for third consecutive Play the King crown

TORONTO, August 20 * Le Cinquieme Essai, whose name is synonymous with the Play the King Stakes, looks for the natural hat trick, in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 turf feature at Woodbine.

A 12-time winner from 31 starts, along with nearly $1.5-million in purse earnings, Le Cinquieme Essai, a nine-year-old son of Fastness, attempts to net another win in the seven-furlong test over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course.

HYSTERICALADY RETURNS TO SEEK REPEAT IN MOLLY PITCHER

OCEANPORT, N.J. * Hystericalady is back at Monmouth to seek a repeat victory in Sunday’s $300,000 Molly Pitcher Stakes (G2) * A sand sculpting competition will be held at Monmouth Saturday and Sunday, with $5,000 in prizes up for grabs * Other activities this weekend include a $300 handicapping contest on Saturday, and a Miller Lite Month of September grandstand pass giveaway on Sunday.

There are horses, there are courses, and there are horses for courses. And then there’s Hystericalady. The 5-year-old chestnut mare, back at Monmouth to seek a repeat win in Sunday’s $300,000 Molly Pitcher Stakes (G2), has won stakes at eight different racetracks in five different states during her career, racking up frequent flyer miles and building her bankroll to $2,110,556.

Keeneland Poised to Become North America’s First High-Definition Racetrack

Lexington, KY (June 18, 2008) – This fall, Keeneland will become the first racetrack in North America to provide live race coverage and limited simulcasts in High-Definition format.

Keeneland is currently putting the finishing touches on a fully-equipped HD production center. It is the second step in a multi-year transition which includes the installation of infrastructure necessary to support HD technology, the purchase of Thomson Grass Valley™ HD cameras and production equipment, and renovation of the track’s existing video control room.

Sunday’s $1-Million Pacific Classic Draws 11 Top Runners

A deep, talented and highly competitive field of 11 older horses was assigned posts for Sunday's 18th edition of the $1,000,000 Pacific Classic at a gala draw party conducted Wednesday evening at The Lodge at Torrey Pines, the deluxe resort hotel along the coast south of Del Mar racetrack.

The lukewarm favorite in the Grade I mile and a quarter that is the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club's centerpiece event is the Eastern invader Go Between, who'll carry a morning line of 3-1 and break from Post 6 in the well-matched lineup. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott shipped his charge to Southern California for the fourth time this year and once again commissioned the saddle services of the 2007 Eclipse Award-winning rider Garrett Gomez for his Pacific Classic run.

HYPERBARIC WINS BRUBAKER ‘CAP

Continuing a parade of favorites, Hyperbaric and jockey Garrett Gomez won the featured $86,360 Harry F. Brubaker Handicap Wednesday in decisive fashion.

Hybaric stalked the pace of leader Canteen until the stretch where he surged away from his rivals, drawing off to win by 2 1/4 lengths in a rapid 1:40.01 for the mile and one-sixteenth over the infield Jimmy Durante Turf Course, with a final sixteenth in 5.3 seconds. The course record for the distance is 1:39.67 set by Mea Domina during the '06 season.

Del Mar Stable Notes 8/20/8

4 MAJOR PROSPECTS ARRIVE; OUT OF CONTROL STAYS HOME; SURF CAT, WELL ARMED, DELOSVIENTOS IN FINAL WORKS

Four top prospects for Sunday's Grade I, $1-million Pacific Classic settled in at Del Mar this morning after arriving Tuesday afternoon from points east and north.

Arriving Tuesday were defending Pacific Classic champion Student Council, trained by Steven Asmussen; Barcola, trained by Mark Hennig; Go Between, trained by Bill Mott and stabled with his Churchill Downs string; and McCann's Mojave, who was vanned south from trainer Steve Specht's barn at Golden Gate Fields in Albany, California.