Friday, August 29 2008

DARK EQUATION MAKES HIS TURN COUNT IN NY TURF WRITERS CUP

Beverly R. Steinman’s Dark Equation bounced back from a loss to his stablemate earlier this meet to take the 67th running of the Grade 1, $159,300 New York Turf Writers Cup Steeplechase Handicap by a half-length over Be Certain. Stablemate High Action, who defeated Dark Equation in the Grade 2 A.P. Smithwick Memorial here on August 7, finished third.

Trained by Paul Fout and ridden by Matt McCarron, who teamed up to win this race in 2005 with Hirapour, 7-year-old Dark Equation completed the two miles and three-eighths over national fences in 4:31.28 on the firm course. He paid $19 to win.

LUCKY ISLAND SCARES NO ONE OUT OF FOREGO

Saturday’s 29th running of the Grade 1, $250,000 Forego was to have been a battle royal between Benny the Bull and Lucky Island, who would have put their respective five- and four-race win streaks on the line in this seven-furlong event that is the last major sprint on Saratoga Race Course’s 2008 calendar.

Wednesday, it was announced that a chip was discovered in Benny the Bull’s right-front ankle, essentially ending his racing career. Yet, his defection has not thinned the field and now Lucky Island will face nine others in the Forego. The Forego, always an entertaining race, figures to get the crowd warmed up for the day’s biggest race, the 55th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward and the Saratoga debut of 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin (MSG; 5:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. Eastern).

HORSE OF THE YEAR CURLIN MAKES SARATOGA DEBUT IN WOODWARD

Hall of Fame jockey Angel Cordero, Jr., a six-time winner of the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes, put it this way: “The Woodward has been a race that’s always been won by a good horse, and this year will be no different.”

Unless it is won by a great horse.

And that horse just might be Stonestreet Stable’s Curlin, the reigning Horse of the Year, Breeders’ Cup Classic champion and Dubai World Cup hero who is making his historic debut at Saratoga Race Course in Saturday’s 55th running of the $500,000 Woodward at a mile and an eighth..

Keeneland September Sale Coverage Available

Lexington, KY (August 28, 2008) – Keeneland Productions and HRTV are partnering to provide live coverage of the opening two days of the September Yearling Sale, September 8-9. The entire 15-day sale, which runs through September 23, will be streamed live on Keeneland.com.

Jeff Lifson will host the opening coverage, which will be up-linked both days through Roberts Communications Network LLC (“RCN”) and be available on Kentucky racetrack decoders and broadcast live by HRTV. Any RCN commercial location interested in receiving the broadcast should call (702) 227-7590, option 2.

THUNDERS DOVE TAKES THURSDAY FEATURE AT MONMOUTH

OCEANPORT, N.J. * Windmill Manor Farm’s Thunders Dove romped home a 5 ¼ length winner in the $47,000 allowance/optional claiming event at Monmouth Park on Thursday, stepping the six furlongs in 1:09 flat.

Trained by Nick Zito and ridden by Elvis Trujillo, Thunders Dove returned $4, $2.40 and $2.10 as the odds-on favorite in the field of five fillies and mares. Dicey Girl rallied to complete the $7.40 exacta and paid $2.60 and $2.10. It was another three-quarters of a length back to Sheets, who returned $2.40 to show.

Thursday’s win was the second in five starts this year for the 4-year-old by Thunderello from the Pulpit mare Preachtothechoir.

WAKE UP MAGGIE WINS ADORATION HANDICAP

Irish-bred Wake Up Maggie, a 15-1 outsider ridden by Tyler Baze, seized the opportunity to rally between horses entering the stretch and went on to a decisive victory Thursday in the featured $86,000 Adoration Handicap for older fillies and mares.

Wake Up Maggie, a five-year-old mare owned by Bloodstock Management Services and trained by Julio Canani, drew out in the final sixteenth to win by almost three lengths, setting a Polytrack record of 1:35.42 for one mile. The old mark was 1:36.12 by Muny July 28.

Super Freaky, another longshot at 27-1, closed well through the stretch to be second, 1 ½ lengths in front of the 6-5 favorite, Model, with Lemon Chiffon fourth in the field of ten distaff runners.

Del Mar Stable Notes 8/28/8

NEW SHOOTER TAKES AIM AT WEDNESDAY'S DEL MAR FUTURITY

Fresh from an undefeated season at Woodbine Race Course in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, comes Southern Exchange to contest the Grade I, $250,000 Del Mar Futurity on Wednesday, September 3.

The son of Exchange Rate will be supplemented to the field for $10,000 at Sunday's entry time.

Owned by Bill and Vicki Poston of Atlanta and trained by Gregory de Gannes, Southern Exchange has compiled a record of three victories, the most important of which came in Woodbine's Colin Stakes. De Gannes describes the Florida-bred as "very uncomplicated, a horse with speed who is a stalker in a race."

Calder Amends Live Schedule to Continue Four-Day Racing Weeks Through Mid-November

Miami Gardens, Fla. (Aug. 28, 2008) – Calder Race Course has amended its 2008 schedule and will conduct four-day live racing weeks instead of its original five-day schedule from September through the middle of November. Florida’s Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering granted its approval for Calder’s request on Thursday afternoon. The track will remain open seven days each week for full-card simulcasting.

The change is a result of the combination of a challenging overall economy, lower than anticipated business levels due to the unavailability of Calder's signal in the simulcast market earlier this year, and the continued unavailability of Calder’s races to advance deposit wagering (ADW) platforms.

During the month of August, the track presented live racing four days a week as part of its original schedule.

Arlington Park Barn Notes: Thurs. Aug. 28

MILLER RACING STABLE MAKING BIG TIME

Everybody on the backstretch knows the husband-and-wife trainer team of Danny and Patti Miller, who recently cracked the top 10 in the Arlington Park owner standings as Miller Racing Stable Ltd. along with their partner Mike Conway.

But who is Mike Conway?

“He’s a pretty high-powered attorney around Illinois – with clients like Muhammad Ali – but he’s also a really nice guy,” said Patti Miller Thursday morning during training hours. “He’s not the kind of guy you see around the barn every morning – he’s a very busy man – but he tries to come to the races every weekend. He loves horse racing and he loves to gamble.”

Thursday, August 28 2008

BENNY THE BULL RETIRED WITH ANKLE CHIP

Sprinter Benny the Bull, who would have been the favorite for Saturday’s Grade 1, $250,000 Forego Handicap at Saratoga Race Course, has been retired because of an ankle injury, according to IEAH Stables’ Michael Sherack.

On Tuesday, the day after a six-furlong workout at Aqueduct in preparation for the seven-furlong Forego, Benny the Bull developed a filling in the ankle and x-rays revealed the chip. A winner of five straight races, including the Grade 1 Frank J. De Francis Memorial dash last November, the Sunshine Millions Sprint, the Grade 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen, the Grade 2 True North, and the Grade 2 Smile Sprint Handicap, Benny the Bull compiled a lifetime record of 9 victories from 17 starts and earnings of $2,221,630.

Breeding plans for the five-year-old son of Lucky Lionel are undecided, said Sherack.

Woodward Tops Saratoga Grade 1 Grand Finale

With 54 runnings to date, the Woodward is a comparative newcomer to the NYRA stakes schedule, but the race quickly established itself as a key stop on the road to championship honors. Named in memory of racing industry leader, Belair Stud’s William Woodward, the race had been run at Belmont Park for most of its history, though Aqueduct also hosted several runnings. In 2006 the Woodward was brought to Saratoga Race Course to be a bookend to the season opening Whitney Handicap and the feature attraction to Saratoga’s closing weekend.

Next weekend promises to be a “Grade 1 Grand Finale” to the 2008 Saratoga season with three other Grade 1 stakes carded along with the half-million dollar, mile-and-an-eighth Woodward.

Authenicat is the real deal in Eternal Search

TORONTO, August 27 - Authenicat was an easy winner of Wednesday's $125,000 Eternal Search Stakes at Woodbine.

In hand through the final 70 yards, the Ontario-bred racked up her third career added-money tally and her second in a row, having entered off a strong Passing Mood score.

After settling in fourth early, the Josie Carroll trainee reeled in her rivals effortlessly on the second turn and opened up impressively for a 3 1/4-length score in the Ontario-sired event.