Sunday, July 27 2008

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.

PACE THE `KEY’ IN AMSTERDAM

Key members of the field for Monday’s 16th running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Amsterdam for three-year-old sprinters may be light on experience they make up for it with potential and plenty of speed.

Desert Key, lead contender in the 6 ½-furlong contest, will be making only his fifth start in the Amsterdam for Centennial Farms. The son of E Dubai out of the Storm Cat mare, Storm Key, finished a well-beaten sixth in his debut at Gulfstream Park on March 5th before breaking his maiden next time out at Aqueduct.

BIG BROWN SIZZLES IN BIG A MOVE

Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown breezed six furlongs in 1:10.86 under exercise rider Michelle Nevin this morning at Aqueduct Racetrack, his best move since returning to training following the June 7 Belmont Stakes.

“Every work since he’s come back has been better than the one before it,” said Michael Sherack, vice-president of IEAH Stables, which owns the son of Boundary with Paul Pompa, Jr. “From everything we’ve been told, from [trainer] Rick [Dutrow], Michelle, the clockers, it was an exceptional move. Michelle didn’t ask him for much of anything and he finished up strong and galloped out strong.”

Frostad’s latest turf ‘Kraze’ takes Wonder Where

TORONTO, July 26 - Northern Kraze rallied gamely in the final furlong to capture Saturday's $250,000 Wonder Where Stakes at Woodbine.

The 1 1/4-mile turf event is the third jewel of the Triple Tiara series for three-year-old fillies, foaled in Canada.

Northern Kraze wore down 15-1 shot Roses 'n' Wine in the final 40 yards to tally her first career added-money event by three-quarters of a length. Money My Honey, the 3-1 favorite, finished third, almost 11 lengths behind the runner-up.

Monmouth Park Recap for Saturday, July 26, 2008

OCEANPORT, N.J. * Maggi Moss’s Shopton Lane took charge out of the gate and never looked back, scoring by two and a half lengths in the $70,000 Skip Away Stakes at Monmouth Park Saturday.

In the day’s second feature, Fellow Crasher rallied in the stretch to capture the $65,000 Tyro Stakes for 2-year-olds.

No one picked all six winners in the 60-Minute Six wager, and there will be a carryover of $46,881 into next Saturday’s 60-Minute Six pool.

LOCAL HOPES WILL SQUARE OFF IN OCEANPORT ON HASKELL DAY

The 62nd running of the $150,000 Oceanport Stakes (G3) at a mile and a sixteenth will be one of the highlights of the Haskell Day undercard on Aug. 3, and three Monmouth-based runners are expected to be among the main rivals.

Topping the local contingent is Patricia Generazio’s Presious Passion, who is coming off a victory in the Grade 1 United Nations Stakes. Trainer Mary Hartmann said the Oceanport will serve as a prep for Presious Passion’s run at another Grade 1 turf event * the $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational at a mile and a half on August 16 at Saratoga.

WOLFSON SENDING PAIR FOR TAYLOR MADE MATCHMAKER

Florida-based trainer Marty Wolfson, whose horses always bear watching at Monmouth, is sending two fillies up from his Calder base for the $150,000 Taylor Made Matchmaker Stakes (G3), which highlights the Haskell Day undercard.

Wolfson will be represented by Edmund A. Gann’s Eclisse and Howard Roberts Farm’s Dancing Band in the mile and an eighth turf race for fillies and mares.

BIG BROWN, ATONED, NISTLE’S CRUNCH BREEZE FOR HASKELL

OCEANPORT, N.J. * Big Brown, Atoned and Nistle’s Crunch, all contenders for the $1 million Haskell Invitational, had sharp breezes on Saturday * Marty Wolfson will send two fillies up from Florida for the Grade 3 Taylor Made Matchmaker * Three local heroes will head the field in the Grade 3 Oceanport Stakes on Haskell Day.

Big Brown, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner who will kick off the second half of his season in the $1 million Haskell Invitational Presented by Vonage on Sunday Aug. 3, and Dogwood Stable’s Atoned and Alien Farm’s Nistle’s Crunch all turned in fast breezes Saturday morning.

Action Figure Dominates Robert F. Carey Jr. Memorial Preview

Stickney, IL---The Robert F. Carey Memorial Preview held Saturday, July 26, at Hawthorne Race Course was the stage for a powerful performance by Hazel Park invader Action Figure, as the 5-year-old gelding held off 4-5 favorite Load The Dice and scored by one and three-quarter lengths in a career best time of 1:49.4. Last year’s Carey Memorial winner Thisbigdogwilfight finished third, beaten more than two lengths by the winner.

Record $1,561,987 Pick Six Carryover at Del Mar

An almost unprecedented string of longshots Saturday led to a record Pick Six carryover at Del Mar of $1,561,987, which will be added to Sunday’s Pick Six pool. The track’s previous high carryover was $1,117,973 on July 29, 1990.

The six-race sequence saw every favorite defeated, several by stout outsiders. The upsets mean Sunday’s Pick Six Pool at the track is likely to surpass the track’s all-time Pick Six total pool of $3,555,771 established on August 15, 1998.

EASTERN INVADER STORM MESA WINS SAN CLEMENTE HANDICAP

Storm Mesa, an invader from the East who won the Iowa Oaks at Prairie Meadows in her previous race, made a successful leap into racing's major leagues today with an upset victory in Del Mar's featured $150,000 San Clemente Handicap for three-year-old fillies.

Ridden by veteran Eddie Martin, Jr., who was making his Del Mar debut, Storm Mesa overcame traffic trouble to rally wide and wear down the leaders to score a convincing 1 1/4–length triumph in stakes record time of 1:33.54 for the mile over the infield Jimmy Durante Turf Course. The previous mark was 1:33.62 by Katdogawn in 2003.