Monday, July 28 2008

DESORMEAUX GETS 5,000 ON A RAINY SARATOGA AFTERNOON

Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux reached a historic milestone at Saratoga Race Course on Sunday afternoon when he guided Gumpster Stables’ Bella Attrice to win the seventh race and notch his 5,000th career victory.

“Last week, I was thinking it was just another number, but I got to dwell upon it and to think about it all week,” said Desormeaux, who had reached win No. 4,999 here on Opening Day, July 23. “I’m in awe of the number. Five thousand, WOW! It’s a long way from 10,000 (Russell Baze, all-time leading rider). Those numbers were attained in California and New York, the “A” league, so I am proud of that.”

`MACHO’ COMES UP MUCHO IN JIM DANDY

West Point Thoroughbreds’ Macho Again ended a two-race losing skid and stamped himself as a major player this summer, holding off favored Pyro by a half-length to win the 45th running of the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy for three-year-olds at nine furlongs on Sunday afternoon at Saratoga Race Course.

The Macho Uno colt will now point for the meet’s biggest race, the 139th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Travers presented by Shadwell Farm on Saturday, August 23. The last three Jim Dandy winners – Street Sense (2007), Bernardini (2006) and Flower Alley (2005) – went on to win the Travers, the 1 ¼-mile “Mid-Summer Derby” that is the nation’s oldest stakes race for three-year-olds.

SARATOGA NOTES, Sunday, July 27, 2008

Saturday’s Whitney Day card produced a total handle of $25,017,332, the third-highest, non-Travers Day total in Saratoga Race Course history.

Additionally, the $500,000 guaranteed all-stakes Pick 4 resulted in a total pool of $734,523.

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Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito gave every credit to Commentator after the 7-year-old gelding won his second Grade 1 Whitney Handicap by 4 ¾ lengths over Student Council and Grasshopper. Zito was thrilled that the New York-bred, owned by Tracy Farmer, can now be counted alongside multiple Whitney winner Kelso.

Artie Hot rides rail to Seagram victory

TORONTO, July 27 - Artie Hot bravely held off an all out challenge from True Metropolitan to capture Sunday's Grade 3, $151,200 Chinese Cultural Centre Seagram Cup Stakes at Woodbine.

The four-year-old son of Black Minnaloushe finished a half-length in front of two-time champion older male to give trainer Nick Gonzalez his sixth stakes win of the season at the Toronto oval.

MONMOUTH CANCELS AFTER 5TH RACE DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER

OCEANPORT, N.J. * Monmouth Park Racetrack cancelled live racing following the running of the 5th race on Sunday due to inclement weather that included heavy rains and lightning.

“The safety of our riders and our horses is our paramount concern,” said Dennis Dowd, senior vice president of racing for the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority. “With the weather conditions we experienced, and no break in sight, we were left with not other option than to cancel the remainder of the card.”

STREET BOSS WINS BING CROSBY HANDICAP

Stretch-running Street Boss confirmed his status as the West's best sprinter today with a stylish come-from-behind victory in the featured Grade I $300,000 Bing Crosby Handicap.

With David Flores in the saddle, Street Boss dropped back to last place in the early stages of the six-furlong dash, content to bide his time as the front-runners battled for command.

Del Mar Stable Notes 7/27/8

WEDNESDAY'S LONG COUGAR HANDICAP DRAWS FIELD OF SEVEN

Seven marathoners are scheduled to go to the post in Wednesday's Cougar II Handicap at 1 1/2 miles on the main track.

The race has been designated as part of the "Win and You're In" program of the Breeders' Cup, and a victory insures the winner a spot in the Breeders' Cup Marathon, one of three new races this year.

‘Luckie Mann’ Makes Imposing Debut for Wolfson

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (July 27, 2008) – Saturday at Calder Race Course was a good day for trainer Marty Wolfson’s powerful stable with Edmund Gann’s 6-year-old Olympic winning the $55,000 Mataji overnight stakes by 4 ½ lengths early in the program and Kramer Stable’s 2-year-old You Luckie Mann making a sensational career debut in the 12th race, drawing off to score by 14 lengths.

The victory by Olympic came on the main track at 1 ¼ miles after the race was forced off turf, originally scheduled for 1 3/8 miles, and was particularly important for his future as a potential stud prospect as a son of Danzig out of 1991 Eclipse champion mare Queena. Olympic has won three races here since joining the Wolfson barn last summer, but this was his first in a race with ‘Black-Type’ status.

Arlington Park Barn Notes: July 27, 2008

ARLINGTON MILLION’S STREAM CAT GETS SUNDAY BREEZE AT KEENELAND

Arlington Handicap hero Stream Cat, owned by Fab Oak Stable, Bobby Hurley and John Goldthorpe, breezed five furlongs in 1:02 over Keeneland’s Polytrack course Sunday morning in preparation for the Grade I Arlington Million on Aug. 9.

“(Stream Cat’s) work was excellent,” said trainer Rusty Arnold, speaking over the phone from his Lexington headquarters Sunday morning. “He’s right on schedule for the Arlington Million as of today.”

Sunday, July 27 2008

GINGER PUNCH DELIVERS KNOCKOUT IN THE GO FOR WAND

At the top of the stretch, shuffled back to fourth and with seemingly nowhere to go, Ginger Punch did what any champion would do.

She found a way to win.

Splitting rivals with a gutsy move in deep stretch, the 5-year-old mare muscled her way to the front and pulled clear for a 1 ¼-length win over Copper State in the 55th edition of the Grade 1, $250,000 Go for Wand Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.

BY GEORGE, 7-YEAR-OLD COMMENTATOR WINS THE WHITNEY

Earlier in the week, Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito compared Tracy Farmer’s 7-year-old Commentator to retired heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman, saying “He gets older but keeps coming up at a high level.”

Saturday afternoon, before a crowd of 27,297, Commentator came up big again, leading all the way to win the 81st running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney Handicap, the Opening Weekend feature at Saratoga Race Course by four and three-quarter lengths.

FOREVER TOGETHER PROVES HER TURF PROWESS IN DIANA

No matter what he does, Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard always seems to wind up in the same place – in the winner’s circle following a stakes race on the turf at Saratoga Race Course. And Saturday’s 70th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Diana was no exception.

In only her third start on grass, the Sheppard-trained Forever Together barreled from last to surge past Dynaforce in deep stretch, posting a three-quarters of a length victory to earn a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf as part of the “Win and You’re In” series.