Friday, August 15 2008

RED ROCKS OUT OF GRADE 1 SWORD DANCER

J. Paul Reddam’s Red Rocks, the early 9-5 favorite for Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational, will be scratched from the mile and one-half turf race because of filling in his left hock, trainer Mark Hennig said Friday morning.

“Thursday afternoon he had filling in his left hock and we felt like we needed to treat it,” said Hennig, who took over training of Red Rocks last month. “That, and the prospect of running over soft turf with the possibility of further aggravating it, led us to that decision.”

RUN AWAY AND HIDE MAKES IT SPECIAL

Run Away and Hide, unraced since May 1, showed the benefits of a long rest by settling under jockey Robby Albarado and taking the inside path to a 1 ¼-length victory in Thursday’s 103rd running of the Saratoga Special for two-year-olds at six and a half furlongs at Saratoga Race Course.

The Saratoga Special, a traditional prep for the meet’s biggest race for juveniles, the Grade 1, $250,000 Three Chimneys Hopeful Stakes at seven furlongs on September 1, gave Run Away and Hide a chance to do his sire, City Zip, proud. City Zip won the Sanford, Saratoga Special and dead-heated with Yonaguska in the Hopeful to complete the sweep of Saratoga’s graded stakes for two-year-olds in 2000.

TOP FILLIES SQUARE OFF IN PRESTIGIOUS ALABAMA

When Proud Spell arrived at Saratoga Race Course Thursday afternoon from the Fair Hill Training Center, the petite bay filly couldn’t stop looking around at her new surroundings.

“It’s her first time to Saratoga,” explained trainer Larry Jones. “She’s just figuring out the lay of the land.”

Figuring out the lay of the land at the Spa is one thing; figuring out the lay of the land in this year’s three-year-old filly division is something else. But Saturday’s 128th running of the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama Stakes at one and one-quarter miles could go a long way in clearing things up in a division rife with talent.

RED ROCKS FINALLY GETS TOP BILLING IN SWORD DANCER

The reporters flocked around 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin and majority owner Jess Jackson at Belmont Park on July 12 following the running of the Grade 1 Man o’War, which normally would have been expected.

Trouble was that Curlin, making his turf debut, wasn’t the winner.

That distinction belonged to the Irish-bred Red Rocks, whose trainer, Brian Meehan, told anyone in earshot after the race: “Today, (Red Rocks) confirmed he is one of the best middle distance turf horses in the world and has been for the last two, three years.”

NYRA BANS TOE GRABS

NYRA TO LIMIT HEIGHT OF TOE GRABS ON FRONT HORSESHOES AT START OF AQUEDUCT FALL MEETING, OCTOBER 29

Following the recommendation of the Thoroughbred Safety Committee of The Jockey Club, toe grabs with a height greater than two millimeters (.07874 inches) on front horseshoes will be banned from all horses racing at Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park, and Aqueduct Racetrack. The limitation takes effect on October 29 with the opening of the Aqueduct Fall Meeting, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced today.

The committee announced its recommendation to ban all toe grabs other than two-millimeter wear plates on June 17.

SARATOGA RACE COURSE NOTES, Thursday, August 14, 2008

Hostess, who was scheduled to run against males in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational at a mile and a half on the turf, will skip the race, according to trainer H. James Bond.

“There’s been too much rain and the turf is just too soft for her,” Bond said “It really is a shame. We’ll see if the weather lets up and maybe she can run here in the Glens Falls Handicap (Grade 3, $100,000-added, fillies and mares, 3 and up, 11 furlongs, turf, Monday, September 1). If not, then we’ll look at races like the Yellow Ribbon, the Flower Bowl and the Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup.”

Thursday, August 14 2008

MANI BHAVEN PROVES A POINT WITH ADIRONDACK VICTORY

When Mani Bhaven stepped onto the racetrack for the first time in a five-furlong maiden event at Delaware Park last month, she pleasantly surprised her connections with the ease of her 9 ¼-length victory.

When she stepped onto the track at Saratoga Race Course Wednesday afternoon for 92nd running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Adirondack Stakes, she had another pleasant surprise in store. Sent off as the fifth choice at $8.70-$1 in the field of eight two-year-old fillies, the dark bay daughter of Storm Boot popped out on top and was never threatened as she ran off to a seven-length win over Doremifasolatido.

JACKSON RESPONDS TO BIG BROWN CAMP AFTER INVITATION DECLINED TO WOODWARD STAKES

LEXINGTON, KY (August 13, 2008) - Statement by Jess Jackson, majority owner of Curlin, 2007 Horse of the Year, after Big Brown Camp declines invitation to race Curlin at the Woodward Stakes(Gr. I) in Saratoga Springs, New York on August 30, 2008:

“I am delighted that we are talking about Curlin on the day that Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian ever. Great athletes deserve great company. This is what sports is about -- the thrill of competition. And it is my belief that Thoroughbred racing is indeed the greatest sport of all time.

RAW SILK ONE OF FEW SPA VISITORS THAT WANTS MORE RAIN

While the connections of Raw Silk hope that lightning will strike twice, those in charge of managing I Lost My Choo will hope to stay high and dry in Friday’s 25th running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Lake Placid Handicap for three-year-old fillies on the turf.

Raw Silk turned in a huge performance in the rain two back on May 21st when she went box-to-wire on Belmont’s “good” turf course through an easy half in 49.13 to win the Grade 2 Sands Point Stakes by four and a quarter lengths. She covered the nine furlongs in 1:48 2/5 seconds, and will look to take them all the way in the Lake Placid at the same distance.

TRAVERS FESTIVAL, AUGUST 16 - 24

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Nine days of family festivities, live entertainment and community events will permeate the Saratoga region as the 13th annual Travers Festival returns to commemorate the running of America’s oldest stakes race, the Grade 1, $1 million Travers Stakes presented by Shadwell Farm on Saturday, August 23.

The Travers Festival, presented by the New York Lottery and the New York Racing Association, begins on Saturday, August 16 and concludes on Sunday, August 24.

The 2008 Travers Celebration to Honor Travers Stakes Champion Street Sense

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Travers Celebration, Saratoga Race Course’s premier evening event, will return for its eighth edition to honor 2007 Travers Stakes winner Street Sense on Thursday, August 21, just two-days before the running of the Grade 1, $1 million Travers Stakes presented by Shadwell Farm.

The Travers Celebration will feature an outdoor cocktail reception, dinner, dancing, silent fireworks and a silent auction in the “At the Rail” pavilion beginning at 7:30 p.m.

The celebration, which will honor last year’s Travers and Kentucky Derby winner, and his connections, is a major fundraiser for the Backstretch Employee Service Team (B.E.S.T.) and the Double H Ranch for critically and chronically ill children. In its first seven years, the Travers Celebration has raised more than $700,000 for B.E.S.T., the Double H Ranch and other prominent local charities.

SARATOGA NOTES; Wednesday, Augsut 13, 2008

As of Wednesday, Godolphin Stables’ Music Note was still under consideration for the 139th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Travers presented by Shadwell Farm on August 23, although Saturday’s Grade 1 $600,000 Alabama for 3-year-old fillies remains the primary target for both Music Note, winner of four straight including the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks and the Grade 1 Mother Goose at Belmont Park, and her stablemate, Grade 1 Ashland winner Little Belle.

“No final decision has been made,” said Rick Mettee, North American racing manager for Godolphin. “I spoke with Saeed (bin Suroor) yesterday and faxed them the form on both races, and they are still looking. I think they want to make sure they run something. Entering (Music Note) in the Alabama and then scratching is a possibility; anything can happen after they draw.”