Friday, October 10, 2008
STABLE NOTES, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008
FRANKEL SET TO ADD TO HIS BREEDERS’ CUP RESUME
Bobby Frankel is no stranger to the Breeders’ Cup. The 67-year-old Brooklyn native has started 72 horses in racing’s championship races since its inception in 1984, winning five.
Frankel, Oak Tree’s career leader in victories with 269, is preparing his latest brigade for Breeders’ Cup 25 on Oct. 24 and 25 when the Oak Tree Racing Association hosts the two-day extravaganza at Santa Anita.
“I guess it was a different surface than it is now,” Frankel said. “Who knows?” At any rate, for a $5-million jackpot, Frankel is rolling the dice.
Frankel also plans to run Ginger Punch (Rafael Bejarano) in the Ladies’ Classic on Oct. 24; Ventura (Garrett Gomez) in either the Mile or the Filly & Mare Sprint; and Precious Kitten in the Mile.
Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen, said reigning Horse of the Year Curlin galloped 1 1/8 miles Friday and remained on course for his scheduled public workout at five furlongs in company this Monday, Columbus Day, between the fourth and fifth races. The workout will be televised live on HRTV.
In other Breeders’ Cup news:
Eoin Harty said Edgar Prado will ride Santa Anita Derby and Travers Stakes winner Colonel John in the Classic. Harty added that he was “leaning towards the (Dirt) Mile” for Goodwood Handicap winner Well Armed, “but I’ll make a final decision after I work him here on Tuesday.”
Casino Drive, scheduled to make his Santa Anita debut in Sunday’s eighth race, jogged two miles on Hollywood Park’s Cushion Track Friday after working five furlongs there yesterday in 1:02, breezing.
“He will leave Hollywood Sunday morning for Santa Anita,” said Nobutaka Tada, racing manager for Casino Drive’s owner, Hidetoshi Yamamoto.
Casino Drive, a half-brother to Belmont Stakes winners Rags to Riches and Jazil, has not raced since winning the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont last May 10. A stone bruise in his left hind foot forced him to miss the Belmont Stakes and has sidelined him since.
Trainer Reade Baker was en route from Woodbine early Friday morning to supervise Bear Now’s scheduled work tomorrow at Santa Anita for the Ladies’ Classic. “Everything’s perfect,” the 62-year-old Ontario native said. “All the reports I’ve got on her are great.” Baker has his own website: http://www.readebaker.com.
Speaking from Farmingdale, N.J., near his home base of Monmouth Park, Kelly Breen was ready to board a plane to California early Friday morning to breeze Juvenile candidate West Side Bernie on Saturday. “He’s kicking the barn down,” said the 39-year-old trainer, who won his first race in 1992. He worked as an assistant for Ben Perkins Sr. from 1994 until 2000.
In Summation, prepping for the Sprint, worked four furlongs for Christophe Clement on Pro-Ride Friday in :48.40, while Filly & Mare Sprint hopeful Lady Sprinter went seven furlongs in 1:30.20 for Juan Reviriego.
Daytona is on course for the Mile, although trainer Dan Hendricks recognizes it traditionally is one of the most competitive Breeders’ Cup races.
“I think it’s been tougher over the years than any other race,” Hendricks said. “You always have speed, you always have mid-movers and you always have closers. I’m one of six with speed. Put it this way: if they’re in front of me, they’re going too fast.”
Oak Tree will be hosting the Breeders’ Cup for the fourth time and the first time under its two-day format, which features 14 races with total purses of $25.5 million. Oak Tree will also be the first-ever venue to host the Breeders’ Cup in consecutive years. It will present the Championships again in 2009.
The Horse Racing Radio Network will air the Breeders’ Cup races on Friday, Oct. 24, from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and on Oct. 25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. HRRN’s radio broadcast links are: http://www.horseracingradio.net and at http://www.breederscup.com
BREEDERS’ CUP DRAW ON TUESDAY, OCT. 21
The Breeders’ Cup announced today that post positions for all 14 races of the 25th Breeders’ Cup World Championships will be drawn Tuesday, Oct. 21, at Santa Anita following the closing of entries at 10 a.m.
The Breeders’ Cup, Thoroughbred racing’s most prestigious global event, consisting of 14 races and $25.5 million in purses, will be run Oct. 24 and Oct. 25 at Santa Anita and will be televised live on ABC and ESPN, going to more than 130 countries.
The post position draw will be conducted in two sections. The 10 Breeders’ Cup races to be drawn beginning at 11:15 a.m. in the Baldwin Terrace, located on the second floor of the west grandstand, are the $1-million Sentient Flight Group Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, $1-million Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, $2-million Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, $500,000 Breeders’ Cup Marathon, $1-million Sentient Flight Group Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, $1-million TVG Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, $1-million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, $2-million Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, $2-million Breeders’ Cup Mile and $2-million Sentient Flight Group Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
At 1 p.m. in the FrontRunner Restaurant, the $2-million Emirates Airline Filly & Mare Turf, $2-million Ladies’ Classic, $2-million Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Turf and $5-million Breeders’ Cup Classic will be drawn.
All other Oak Tree Racing Association races on the Friday and Saturday programs also will be drawn Oct. 21, in the racing office.
DOLLAR DAY AT OAK TREE THIS MONDAY, COLUMBUS DAY
There will be special holiday racing at Oak Tree this Monday, Columbus Day, which also is Dollar Day. General admission, programs, hot dogs, beer, soft drinks and popcorn are $1 each.
First post time Monday will be 12:30 p.m. Gates open at 10:30 a.m.
LIVING LEGENDS REUNION AT OAK TREE PRIOR TO OCT. 18 RACE
Eddie Delahoussaye is looking forward to a “class reunion,” if you will, on Friday, Oct. 17. That’s when a Living Legends gala will take place at Santa Anita Park, prior to a live sprint race on Saturday, Oct. 18, featuring eight Hall of Fame riders: Angel Cordero Jr., 65; Jacinto Vasquez, 64; Sandy Hawley, 59; Pat Day, 55; Chris McCarron, 53; Jerry Bailey, 51; Gary Stevens, 45; and Julie Krone, 45.
The Living Legends Race, an unprecedented event, is Oak Tree’s prelude to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships the following weekend. The Living Legends gala, hosted by the Oak Tree Racing Association in conjunction with racing’s new Legends on Tour, will include a silent auction to benefit Jockeys’ Choice Charities and will lead into the most prestigious race for retired jockeys in the history of the sport, the Living Legends Race, featuring live pari-mutuel wagering the following day.
Each rider’s mount on Oct. 18 will be a California-bred selected by draw and will be assigned 126 pounds. With live pari-mutuel wagering approved by the California Horse Racing Board, the race has the specter of an Old-Timers Game that actually counts in the standings.
The combined career winnings of the eight competing Legends is more than $1.5 billion from 49,163 victories.
“It will be fun to get together with everybody again and to see the race, too,” said Delahoussaye, who retired on Jan. 13, 2003, due to head and neck injuries suffered in a spill at Del Mar in August of 2002. “It’s fun to reminisce and talk about the old times and the good times.”
Delahoussaye, 57, remembers his peers as keen competitors. He, Laffit Pincay Jr., and Jorge Velasquez won’t ride but serve as living legend ambassadors.
“They were all tough to ride against,” he said. “Even though Laffit won’t be in the race, he was a strong rider and always tough to get by. Angel, he was a rider that always liked to maneuver everybody around the race track. I won’t get in trouble (saying it). I tell it like it is, and he knows it’s true, anyway.
“But he was great. He got away with a lot of stuff because he did it with finesse. You knew who you were riding against with him. You knew what to expect and you tried to avoid it if you could.”
MISSOURI WOMAN WINS VIP TRIP TO BREEDERS’ CUP AT SANTA ANITA
Susie Wright, a 45-year-old construction worker from Holt, Missouri, will enjoy a VIP trip to this year's 25th running of the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita after being selected as the winner of HRTV’s recent online contest, "Capture the Cup," which was co-sponsored by Twinspires.com and XpressBet.
Wright's name was selected from over 1,200 entries during HRTV's live coverage last Saturday. Online entries were accepted for a two-week period (Sept. 17-Oct. 1) via http://www.hrtv.com.
Wright will receive four round-trip airfares, three nights’ accommodations in the Los Angeles area, as well as four tickets for both days of this year's Breeders' Cup. In addition, Wright and guests will receive four tickets to Horse Society Magazine's VIP launch party.
"This is an awesome opportunity of a lifetime, and I'm very excited," said Wright about her first-ever trip to a Breeders' Cup. "My grandfather got me started with horses years ago, and Majestic Prince is the first horse I remember following. I follow racing on a daily basis on HRTV."
FINISH LINES: Alex Solis attributes his recent resurgence in large part to former riding great Fernando Toro. “He’s my mentor,” said the 44-year-old jockey, tied with Joe Talamo for third in the Oak Tree standings at nine wins each through Thursday. “I talk to Fernando at Del Mar, where he lives. He advises me about my riding more than anything else. I call him at least once or twice a week and go over my rides. We’ve had a long association. He’s a great friend, a great mentor and, best of all, a great teacher. As for me, I’m riding good horses and having fun.” . . . The father-son handicapping duo of Terry and Toby Turrell will be host Jack Disney’s guests at Sunday’s Fans’ Forum, 11:15 a.m., in the East Paddock Gardens . . . Trainer Sean McCarthy said naming the first-time starter in Friday’s sixth race was a no-brainer. The 2-year-old son of Roar is called Loud.
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