Thursday, September 18 2008

Belmont Park Notes - Sept. 18/08

Hal J. Earnhardt’s Indian Blessing will again be the fans’ choice Saturday afternoon when she heads the field in the 15th running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Gallant Bloom Handicap for fillies and mares at six and a half furlongs.

The three-year-old Indian Charlie filly has won seven of nine career starts with two seconds. Last year’s champion juvenile filly, she won the Grade 1 Prioress in the mud here on July 5 and Saratoga’s Grade 1 Test on August 2.

DEFREREST OF ALL WINS FEATURE AT MONMOUTH

OCEANPORT, N.J. * Patricia Generazio’s Defrerest of All took command at the start and then made every pole a winning one en route to a four and a half-length victory in the $50,000 allowance feature at Monmouth Park on Wednesday.

The winner, trained by Tony Wilson and ridden by Carlos Marquez Jr., stepped the one mile and 70 yards over a fast main track in 1:44 1/5 and paid $5, $3.40 and $2.20 across the board as the favorite in the field of nine New Jersey-breds.

Monmouth Park Barn Notes for Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008

WHO’S THE COWBOY WILL MISS JOEY P. IN LINCROFT ‘CAP SATURDAY

OCEANPORT, N.J. * Who’s the Cowboy will be without archrival Joey P. in Saturday’s $60,000 Lincroft Handicap * Cuba, who has won three of five starts at Monmouth this summer, ships to Suffolk Saturday to take on some big guns in the Mass ‘Cap * Trainer Cam Gambolati is busy making plans for A.P. Cardinal, who broke his maiden last Sunday in his much-anticipated debut.

Looks like Who’s the Cowboy will feel certain loneliness in Saturday’s $60,000 Lincroft Handicap, one of the featured events of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Festival program.

Fillies to the Fore at Keeneland September Sale

Lexington, KY (September 17, 2008) – Fillies once again commanded the spotlight at Keeneland’s September Yearling Sale, where on Wednesday a Tiznow filly brought top price of $400,000 from Legends Racing.

Consigned by Eaton Sales, agent for Overbrook Farm, the filly is out of Genuine Risk Handicap (G2) winner Katz Me If You Can, by Storm Cat.

Blandford Bloodstock paid the day’s second-highest price of $250,000 for a filly by Songandaprayer out of the stakes-placed El Gran Senor mare Forty Gran. She was consigned by Anderson Farms, agent for Kinghaven Farms.

ANTONGEORGI CELEBRATES OPENING DAY AT GOLDEN GATE FIELDS WITH HAT TRICK

ALBANY -- Jockey William Antongeorgi III celebrated opening day of the 2008 Golden Gate Fields fall meeting by riding three winners Wednesday.

Antongeorgi scored his victories for three different trainers, taking the fifth race with the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained Warren's Pepe ($7.00), the sixth race with the Lloyd Mason-conditioned Formally Yours ($17.20) and the eighth race with the Greg Gilchrist-trained Snuffy Smith ($6.60).

Hollendorfer and Mason both had training doubles. In addition to winning the fifth race, Hollendorfer took the seventh with Like A Tiger ($5.20). Mason captured the fourth race with Longitude ($3.40) and then completed his double when Formally Yours won the sixth.

AMAZING RESULTS, CHITOZ VIE FOR LAKE MICHIGAN FAVORITISM

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (Sept. 17, 2008) – Team Block’s Amazing Results and Wertheimer & Frere’s Chitoz should vie to be public’s choice in the inaugural edition of the $100,000 Lake Michigan Stakes Saturday at Arlington Park.

Added to the stakes schedule for the first time this season, the Lake Michigan is for 3-year-olds at 5 ½ furlongs on the turf and could be considered a stepping stone for sophomores looking to run in the newly-created $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint to be run at Oak Tree at Santa Anita Park on Saturday, Oct. 25.

Amazing Results, an Illinois-registered son of Grand Slam, switches surfaces and turns back in distance after notching back-to-back wins over Arlington’s Polytrack. On Arlington Million Day Aug. 9, the Chris Block trainee beat open rivals in the Forward Pass Stakes over seven furlongs, and prior to that was victorious in state-bred company in the one-mile Springfield Stakes on Prairie State Festival Day June 21.

Arlington Park Barn Notes: Wed. Sept. 17

BUG BOY BRANDON CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’

Apprentice jockey Brandon Meier, currently leading Arlington’s apprentice ranks with four racing days left in the local season, has packed his tack and headed to California, and should be getting on his first workers at Santa Anita Thursday morning.

“Brandon left me a message at 11:30 this morning,” said Emily Meier, Brandon’s sister and Arlington’s event coordinator early Wednesday afternoon. “At that time, he said he still had 200 miles to go, but he had just passed through Las Vegas.”

Wednesday, September 17 2008

Fillies Rule on Tuesday at Keeneland

Lexington, KY (September 16, 2008) – Fillies by Indian Charlie and Empire Maker topped Tuesday’s session of Keeneland’s September Yearling Sale.

John Brocklebank, as agent, went to $250,000 to purchase a filly by Indian Charlie out of the stakes-winning Dehere mare Her She Kisses. Consigned by Mill Ridge Sales, agent, the filly is from the family of graded stakes winners Crafty Shaw, Shawklit Mint, and Mr. Shawklit.

WOLFF NAMED MEADOWLANDS TRACK SUPERINTENDENT

The New Jersey Sports Exposition Authority has named Gary Wolff as Superintendent of Track and Backstretch Operations at Meadowlands Racetrack.

Wolff will oversee the maintenance of both the Meadowlands harness and thoroughbred racing surfaces and its backstretch properties. He was the track superintendent at Hoosier Park and a consultant for the 2008 Breeders Cup and Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.

Get Ready Horseplayers…Big Money up for grabs as Thoroughbreds return to Hawthorne

No question it seems like a lifetime between the Spring Thoroughbred meet and the Fall Thoroughbred meet, but with idle time comes the opportunity for big ideas, and Hawthorne will offer exciting new handicapping contests to kick off the new season.

Two contests will highlight the Fall campaign which begins on Friday, September 26, and with it, the possibility of making a ridiculous killing, should all things turn out perfect.

GOLDEN GATE FIELDS OPENS 2008 FALL MEETING WEDNESDAY

Golden Gate Fields opens its 2008 fall meeting Wednesday and track general manager Robert Hartman is optimistic heading into the 67-day season.

"I'm very enthusiastic about the fall meeting," said Hartman. "The barns are full and that should translate to large and competitive fields. The Tapeta racing surface and the turf course are both in great shape, and we've made many new fan-friendly and horse-friendly improvements. The Turf Club has been remodeled, the paddock has been redesigned and a new owner/trainer lounge is being built."

Tuesday, September 16 2008

LEZCANO, LEVINE, REPOLE LEAD WITH TWO WEEKS TO GO

With two weeks of racing remaining in the 2008 season at Monmouth Park, jockey Jose Lezcano, trainer Bruce Levine and owner Repole Stable lead the way in their respective categories for top honors come meet-end on Sept. 28.

From 514 mounts, Lezcano has visited the winner’s circle 124 times, winning at a 24% clip. Eddie Castro is second with 100 victories, 15 more than Joe Bravo. Stewart Elliott, with 66 victories, is fourth. Rounding out the top five is Elvis Trujillo with 61 wins.