Saturday, August 02, 2008

Breeders’ Stakes Notes for Friday, August 1, 2008

Marlang looks to shake off sub-par showing

Marlang, who looked impressive in taking the Charlie Barley Stakes in June, will try and get back to his winning ways in Sunday's Breeders' Stakes, at Woodbine.

A bay son of Langfuhr, it was splendor in the grass for the bay colt in his first try on the turf, a 2 3/4-length score in the one-mile Charlie Barley.


In his latest start, though, Marlang, sent off as the mutuel favourite, was off poorly and finished a flat third, 7 1/4 lengths behind Secret Getaway in the 1 1/8 mile Toronto Cup Stakes on July 12.

Jockey Richard Dos Ramos is confident the Gus Schickedanz homebred will be back in top form in the 1 1/2-mile turf race.

"You can throw out that last race," said Dos Ramos. "He didn't like the soft turf at all. He's trained really well heading into this and Debbie (trainer England) is really happy how he's coming into the Breeders'."

Dos Ramos has one Breeders' win to his name, that coming in 1986 with Kinghaven Farms' Carotene.

"I think he'll come back with a big effort," he said. "He's a very talented horse and he loves the turf."

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Pronger tries turf again after decent POW effort

Pronger is one of two Mike DePaulo trainees attempting to get the Toronto native his first Breeders' Stakes win.

The son of Stormin Fever finished third in the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes, five lengths behind Harlem Rocker. DePaulo said he finished strong.

"He galloped out about 10 lengths in front, if you watch the replay," he said. "Pronger is a lean kind of guy. I think he can get the 1 1/2 miles."

In two turf attempts, the Mario Forgione charge has finished ninth and seventh.

"Pronger handles the grass well. He hasn't run any good on it. He's trained really well on it. When he ran on it, I just don't think he was in really great form," explained DePaulo.

Pronger, who broke his maiden in a seven-furlong dash on June 20, is a one-time winner from nine starts. He hits the board at a 44 per cent clip.

Eurico Rosa da Silva will ride the gelding for the first time in the Breeders'.

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Mamma's Knight makes turf debut

Mike Kowalski's Mamma's Knight returns to stakes action in Sunday's Breeders' Stakes.

The chestnut son of Ascot Knight will try turf for the first time in the 1 1/2-mile feature, which is the third jewel of the Triple Crown of Racing.

"He's an Ascot Knight," said trainer Sam DiPasquale. "Every Ascot Knight has an opportunity to try the turf. We galloped him (Monday over the turf training track). Jim McAleney spent a great deal of time on his back. He came back and said, 'The horse likes the turf.'"

A two-time winner from 10 starts, Mamma's Knight closed late to finish seventh in the 1 1/4-mile Queen's Plate, proving that distance is no obstacle for this run-on type.

"He ran a really good race in the Plate. They were compact for a good three-eighths of a mile. He was in pretty tight. They all started sweeping wide and we went through the field. I thought with a little racing luck, I thought he might have been able to thread the field and get a little closer."

Most recently, in a shorter 1 1/16-mile allowance test, a tardy start and slow fractions compromised his chances and he finished third.

"The early fractions were crawling. He still accelerated down the lane and ran third. They all sprinted home and he was sprinting with them," said DiPasquale.

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