Thursday, October 16 2008
LIVING LEGENDS ADVANCE
ARCADIA, Calif. (Oct. 15, 2008) – According to the Oak Tree Racing Association’s morning line odds, retired Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey will record one more victory, the 5,894th of his career, on Saturday in the unprecedented “Living Legends Race” at Santa Anita Park.
The unique competition, which brings eight Hall of Famers out of retirement for a single pari-mutuel betting race, will be presented as the fourth race on a ten-race program that begins at 12:30 p.m.
STABLE NOTES, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15TH, 2008
FRANKEL TO RUN MAST TRACK IN CLASSIC INSTEAD OF DIRT MILE
Bobby Frankel, adhering to the racing adage that pace makes the race, has switched gears and will run Hollywood Gold Cup winner Mast Track in the $5-million Breeders’ Cup Classic at 1 1/4 miles on Oct. 25 instead of the $1-million Dirt Mile the same day.
“With Big Brown out (of the Classic), it changes the picture,” Frankel said Wednesday morning. “My horse has speed, and he can get the distance. He won the Gold Cup at a mile and a quarter.”
Wednesday, October 15 2008
Nite Lede Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
ARCADIA, Calif. (Oct. 15, 2008) – Australian-import Prince Rexy, installed as the odds-on favorite, ran down second-choice You Got Me Rocking in midstretch of Oak Tree’s $50,960 turf feature run as Wednesday’s second race, to win by two lengths while negotiating 1 ¼ miles in 1:58.69 at Santa Anita.
It was the third win in four starts for the 4-year-old colt trained by Neil Drysdale and owned and bred in Australia by Nick Moraltis. Prince Rexy’s only setback was by one length when finishing second in his last start at Santa Anita on Oct. 1.
Tuesday, October 14 2008
BIG BROWN OUT OF BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC
Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. confirmed that IEAH Stable’s and Paul Pompa Jr.’s Big Brown will not run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on October 25 after he sustained an injury during a workout this morning.
“It looks like he grabbed his hoof in some kind of way,” Dutrow said after Big Brown, the nation’s top three-year-old, returned from Aqueduct’s firm turf course, where he worked six furlongs with defending Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Kip Deville in 1:12.93, breezing. “It is his right-front foot. It happened during the workout. He will not run in the Breeders’ Cup. I’m not sure about the rest of the year.”
Curlin Works Five Furlongs
ARCADIA, Calif. (Oct. 13, 2008)—Under the supervision of majority owner Jess Jackson and trainer Steve Asmussen, reigning Horse of the Year Curlin worked five furlongs in 59.12 breezing, between races four and five today at Santa Anita in preparation for a defense of his title in the $5-million Breeders’ Cup Classic here on Oct. 25.
The work was performed in company, as Curlin and stablemate Hawaii Calls came onto Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride synthetic main track at the top of the stretch in the quarter-mile chute. Curlin, with exercise rider Carlos Rosas up, and Hawaii Calls, with top jockey Shaun Bridgmohan aboard, jogged under the wire and then galloped to the 5/8 pole, where Hawaii Calls broke off from the rail two lengths in front of Curlin.
HURRY UP AUSTIN GAINS SURPRISE VERDICT IN KANGAROO COURT
ARCADIA, Calif. (Oct. 13, 2008) – With apprentice jockey Michael Martinez sitting patiently in the saddle, Hurry Up Austin rallied from a distant last Monday to upset 11-10 favorite Delta Storm in Oak Tree’s $68,300 Kangaroo Court at
6 ½ furlongs over Santa Anita’s downhill turf course.
The Kangaroo Court result in all likelihood knocked Delta Storm out of a potential spot in the starting gate for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita on Oct. 25.
STABLE NOTES, MONDAY, OCTOBER 13TH, 2008
CASINO DRIVE ON COURSE FOR BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC
Casino Drive came out of his 3/4-length victory at Santa Anita yesterday in good order and is on course for the $5-million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 25.
Now unbeaten in three career starts after his win under Victor Espinoza in Sunday’s 1 1/16-mile allowance race, The 3-year-old is on schedule for the 1 1/4-mile Classic.
“My horse is well,” said Nobutaka Tada, racing manager for Casino Drive’s owner, Hidetoshi Yamamoto, from his Hollywood Park headquarters Monday morning. “Everything is OK with him.
BOB BENOIT MEMORIAL
MEMORIAL SET FOR VETERAN PUBLICIST, EXECUTIVE, BOB BENOIT AT SANTA ANITA ON OCT. 16
ARCADIA, Calif. (Oct. 13, 2008)—A memorial tribute to long-time racing executive and publicist Bob Benoit has been set for Thursday, Oct. 16, at Santa Anita Park. The Oak Tree Racing Association is sponsoring the event, to be held immediately after the races in Santa Anita’s Turf Club Chandelier Room.
“Bob Benoit was a dear friend and an incredibly talented guy,” said Oak Tree Director and Executive Vice President Sherwood Chillingworth. “His mission was to promote our sport and nobody ever did it better than Bob. He loved the game and the people in it. Here at Oak Tree, we had a wonderful relationship with Bob and we’re going to miss him. He was truly one of a kind.”
Monday, October 13 2008
CASINO DRIVE CONVINCING IN VICTORIOUS PREP FOR BREEDERS’ CUP
ARCADIA, Calif. (Oct. 12, 2008) – In an unorthodox approach to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Japan’s unusual 3-year-old, unbeaten Casino Drive, prepped for the $5-million Classic on Oct. 25 with a convincing victory in a $52,000 allowance race over Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride synthetic surface.
With Victor Espinoza doing little more than sitting in the saddle, Casino Drive negotiated 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.14 to defeat runner-up Dakota Phone by three-quarters of a length after not having raced since a dazzling 5 ¾- length triumph in the Grade II Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park on May 10.
The Peter Pan, following an 11 ¼-length maiden win in Japan, was supposed to set up a summit meeting with Kentucky Derby and Preakness champion Big Brown in the Belmont Stakes on June 7. A bruised foot, however, sent Casino Drive to the sidelines.
Saturday, October 11 2008
WIN BY TASHA’S MIRACLE GIVES SIZZLING SADLER TRAINERS’ LEAD
ARCADIA, Calif. (Oct. 11, 2008) – Seeking his third straight training title at a major Southern California race meet, John Sadler gained the lead in Oak Tree’s competition Saturday when favored Tasha’s Miracle won a desperate nose decision over Gorgeous Goose in the Grade III, $106,100 Harold C. Ramser, Sr. Handicap.
With Mike Smith aboard in the one-mile turf event for 3-year-old fillies, Tasha’s Miracle, after wresting the lead from pace-setting stablemate Dawn Before Dawn in deep stretch, gamely withstood the robust rail rally by Gorgeous Goose, ridden by Rafael Bejarano.
CASINO DRIVE SET TO RUN SUNDAY AT OAK TREE
ARCADIA, Calif. (Oct. 11, 2008)—Highly regarded 3-year-old Casino Drive, idle since winning the Gr. II Peter Pan Stakes on May 10 at Belmont Park in New York, has been installed as the even-money favorite in Oak Tree’s eighth race on Sunday, a first condition allowance at 1 1/16 miles which his connections are hoping will serve as a prep for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Oct. 25.
A first-out maiden winner on Feb. 23 in Japan, Casino Drive is undefeated in two lifetime starts and will be making his California debut on Sunday. After winning the Peter Pan, Casino Drive was entered and scratched from the June 7 Belmont Stakes on the morning of the race due to a stone bruise.
STABLE NOTES, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11TH, 2008
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, ESPINOZA RIDES CASINO DRIVE SUNDAY
Casino Drive, scheduled to make his Santa Anita debut in Sunday’s eighth race, had an easy gallop one lap around Hollywood Park’s 1 1/8-mile Cushion Track Saturday morning after working five furlongs there Thursday in 1:02, breezing.
“He should be at Santa Anita around 10 a.m. tomorrow,” said Nobutaka Tada, racing manager for Casino Drive’s owner, Hidetoshi Yamamoto.
Casino Drive, a half-brother to Belmont Stakes winners Rags to Riches and Jazil, has not raced since winning the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont last May 10. A stone bruise in his left hind foot forced him to miss the Belmont Stakes and has sidelined him since.
