Thursday, September 11 2008

Jessluvchicks favored in Quarter Horse Sprint

Multiple stakes winner Jessluvchicks is the 8-5 morning line favorite for the $25,000 John Deere Turfway Park Sprint Stakes at Turfway on Friday, September 12. The race marks the national debut for racing American Quarter Horses on Polytrack. The sprint is carded as race 11, with post time at 11:21 p.m. First post Friday is 7 pm.

Jessluvchicks will break from the outside post 10, with regular rider Harold Collins up for trainer Ron Raper and owner Jeannette Hoover. A six-year-old gelding by Chicks Beduino, Jessluvchicks has five wins in his last six starts, including the John Deere Lexington Challenge Sprint Stakes at The Red Mile July 18 and the Don Boyd Memorial Handicap, also part of the John Deere Series, at Mt. Pleasant Meadows in Michigan on July 6.

Big Brown Draw Post 4, Meets 10 Older Runners in Saturday’’s $500,000 Monmouth Stakes on Gras

OCEANPORT, N.J. * Big Brown, winner of four Grade 1 races this year including the Haskell Invitational and undisputed leader of the 3-year-old division, drew Post 4 Thursday as a field of 11 was entered for Saturday’s inaugural running of the $500,000 Monmouth Stakes Presented by IEAH Stables.

Big Brown, owned by IEAH Stables in partnership with Paul Pompa Jr.,Gary Tolchin, Andrew Cohen and Pegasus Holdings Group, will carry 120 pounds as a 3-year-old racing against older horses. He will be ridden again by Kent Desormeaux, who has been aboard in all of the colt’s seven lifetime races except the first last September at Saratoga, when Big Brown broke his maiden on turf.

TWO-YEAR-OLDS TO TEST LAUREL PARK TURF IN OLIVER’S TWIST STAKES

Put up $50,000, scramble in some precocious 2-year-olds, set the distance at 5-1/2 furlongs and the result is Saturday’s feature offering at Laurel Park, the grassy Oliver’s Twist Stakes.

Mike Trombetta trains undefeated Peace Town, the 9-5 morning line favorite. Peace Town won his debut race by eight lengths at Delaware Park in mid-June, and then on August 14 at Laurel stumbled from the gate in his second career start only to rally to win by three-parts of a length. Julian Pimentel is named to ride.

Arlington Park Barn Notes: Sept. 11

SWEET DREAMS WISHED FOR ‘CANDYMAN’ IN SATURDAY’S FUTURITY

Can Joseph Rauch and David Zell’s Capt. Candyman Can justify his 5-2 morning line favoritism in Saturday’s Grade III Arlington-Washington Futurity?

Dr. Rauch, 65, an emergency physician living in Umatilla, Florida, who has dabbled in Thoroughbred ownership since graduating from medical school, is keeping his fingers crossed.

Capt. Candyman Can has only run once, and wasn’t expected to do much in that race. He went to the post at nearly 20-1 in that Saratoga start on Aug. 13, and Rauch stayed in Florida to watch the race on TVG.

Mr. Greeley Colt Sells for $875,000 During Strong Wednesday Session

A colt by Mr. Greeley brought a final bid of $875,000 from Zayat Stables to top a strong third day of selling at Keeneland’s September Yearling Sale.

The colt is the first foal from the unraced Old Trieste mare Chinoe Road. Chinoe Road is out of 1987 champion juvenile filly Epitome and a half-sister to stakes winners Essence of Dubai and Danjur. The colt was consigned by Gainesway, agent.

“He is a beautiful horse; he looked exactly like his father,” said Sobhy Sonbol, racing manager for Ahmed Zayat.

Major Film Awards to Gulfstream-Based ‘The Art of Road Kill’

“Team Chaos,” a film-making team led by noted writer, director and Northern Star contributor Alyn Darnay, won four major awards last weekend in the recent 48-Hour Film Festival for “The Art of Road Kill,” a short movie with many of its major scenes shot at Gulfstream Park.

Of the contest’s 12 awards, “Team Chaos” won for Best Direction, Best Editing, Best Musical Score and Best Screenplay.

Churchill Downs Incorporated, FTBOA Reach Slots Agreement at Calder Race Course

Officials of Churchill Downs Incorporated (“Company” or “CDI”) (NASDAQ: CHDN) and representatives of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association, Inc. d/b/a the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association (“FTBOA”) have come to agreement on a slots contract for when Calder Race Course (“Calder”) begins slots operations on a yet-to-be-determined date.

Under the terms of the slots agreement, Florida breeders would receive 0.75 percent of slot revenue for the duration of the agreement, which has an initial ten-year term. The Company previously reached an agreement with the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association (“FHBPA”) on a 2008 purse contract at Calder Race Course and on a slots contract, which also has a ten-year term.

ARLINGTON-WASHINGTON FUTURITY DRAWS FULL FIELD OF 14

Joseph Rauch and David Zell’s Capt. Candyman Can has been installed as the 5-2 morning line favorite for Saturday’s Grade III $200,000 Arlington-Washington Futurity, the meet’s main event for 2-year-olds at one mile on Polytrack which drew a full field of 14 freshmen.

A son of the Argentine-bred stallion Candy Ride, Capt. Candyman Can enters the Futurity off just one start – an impressive 7 ½-length maiden score at Saratoga on August 13. Since that effort, the Ian Wilkes charge had a useful five-furlong drill over the synthetic surface at Sky Training Center in Kentucky on Sept. 7, getting the distance in 1:01 flat. He will be ridden Saturday by Julien Leparoux.

Wednesday, September 10 2008

PRESTIGIOUS CALIFORNIA CUP XIX TO BE RUN OCT. 5 AT OAK TREE

ARCADIA, Calif. (Sept. 10, 2008)—The 19th running of the prestigious California Cup, a series of races dedicated to horses bred in California, will be staged at Oak Tree at Santa Anita on Sunday, Oct. 5.

The $250,000 California Cup Classic, at 1 1/8 miles, will highlight a total of 10 Cal Cup stakes races. “With the two-day Breeders’ Cup World Championships scheduled here at Oak Tree for Oct. 24 and 25, we’ve front-loaded the Cal Cup this meet to accommodate the Breeders’ Cup,” said Oak Tree Director and Executive Vice President Sherwood Chillingworth. “We are hoping the timing of this year’s event will enable some of our best Cal-bred horses to use the Cal Cup as their final prep for a run in the Breeders’ Cup at the end of the meet.”

BELMONT PARK NOTES - Sept. 10/08

There will be a Pick 6 Carryover today of $63,135 (races 4-9).

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Entering today’s card, jockey John Velazquez has 3,991 career victories. Velazquez was named on five mounts today; however, Beneath the Crown was scratched from today’s fifth race.

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The 113th running of the Grade 1, $250,000 Gazelle for three-year-old fillies at nine furlongs headlines the card for Saturday, September 13 Belmont Park.

Godolphin Racing’s Music Note was riding a four-race winning streak that included Grade 1 victories here in the Mother Goose and Coaching Club American Oaks during the spring meet. The streak was halted at Saratoga Race Course when, as the favorite, she was beaten a head by Proud Spell in the Grade 1 Alabama.

FRENCH RIDER CAPTURES AMATEUR RACE AT MONMOUTH

OCEANPORT, N.J. * Despite losing his irons in deep stretch, French rider Paul-Henri de Quatrebarbes guided Jay Em Ess Stable’s Maven to an 11-length victory in the Amateur Riders Club of America event at Monmouth Park on Wednesday.

Maven, trained by Rick Dutrow Jr., went off the 7-10 favorite in the maiden claiming event, which went off as the second race on the card. The race was part of the FEGENTRI World Championship of Gentlemen Riders competition.

Maven raced the mile and a sixteenth over a fast main track in 1:47 and paid $3.40, $2.60 and $2.20 across the board.

Arlington Park Barn Notes: Wed. Sept. 10

INJURED JOCKEY CAMPBELL DIAGNOSED WITH TORN ROTATOR CUFF

Arlington Park jockey Jesse Campbell, injured in a spill during last Saturday’s $54,600 Honor Glide Stakes, has been diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff and began what will be approximately two weeks of therapy on Tuesday.

“Jesse has been getting a little better each day,” said Campbell’s fiancée Allyson Morrissey Wednesday morning. “Nothing is broken and he has good movement. The plan is to have him undergo physical therapy every day, let him gradually rebuild his strength and then see how quickly he improves. Also, his neck is still sore, but that’s also getting better each day.