“I really don’t know what I’m going to do,” said Frankel, who watched the race from Keeneland Race Course. “I don’t know where I’m going to put him.”
The Champagne was part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, offering Vineyard Haven, who also won the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga Race Course, a berth in the Grade 1 Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile should his connections opt to pony up the $180,000 fee to supplement him. Another option is the Hollywood Futurity (G1).
Saturday evening, Torre’s Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs to sweep their National League Divisional playoff series. If Vineyard Haven makes it to the Kentucky Derby on May 2, 2009, Torre may want to consider a substitute manager as the Dodgers are scheduled to play the San Diego Padres on the first Saturday in May.
“I spoke with (Torre) and he was very excited,” said Frankel. “He’s an exciting horse to have. We’ll see how far he can go, distance and quality-wise.”
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Trainer Steve Klesaris reported that Jeffrey Puglisi’s Sky Diva will be on her way to California later this month following her “Win and You’re In,” Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies division, victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette.
“She’s fantastic,” said Klesaris, who earlier Saturday notched his 1,000th career victory when Tanganyika took the first race at Delaware Park. “Sky Diva is Breeders’ Cup-bound, but she will be heading out later, rather than sooner. She’s been training on the synthetic surface at Fair Hill (Maryland), so I don’t feel the need to rush out there with her, especially with the heat they’ve been having.”
Klesaris said that Mani Bhavan, the winner of the Grade 1 Spinaway and Grade 2 Adirondack at Saratoga Race Course who was last as the favorite in Friday’s Darley Alcibiades at Keeneleand, was finished for the year.
“She did not take to the synthetic surface at all,” said Klesaris. “Her performance was not the norm for her. Being that the (Juvenile Fillies) is on synthetic we are going to shut her down and get her ready for a spring campaign.”
Although he was in Kentucky and suffering from a bad cold, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott managed to sound chipper about Court Vision’s victory over Gio Ponti in the Grade 2 Jamaica.
The son of Gulch now owns victories over three different surfaces, having broken his maiden over Polytrack at Keeneland, taken the Grade 2 Remsen over dirt at Aqueduct last fall and now the Jamaica over a yielding turf course.
“Word is he’s fine,” said Mott. “It was a good race, a good, solid effort.”
Court Vision’s next start will be out-of-town, although Mott said he had not yet decided on a destination.
“The Hollywood Derby (G1, $500,000) on November 30 is a possibility,” he said.
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Trainer Rick Violette was mulling his options for Cribnote, who was third behind Vineyard Haven and Munnings as the favorite in the Champagne.
“There are a couple of different things we can do, but we’re not looking at the Breeders’ Cup,” said Violette. “We’ll let him cool his jets for a while and maybe think of the Nashua ($100,000-added, Grade 3, Aqueduct, November 2, one mile) and Remsen ($200,000, Grade 2, Aqueduct, November 29, nine furlongs).”
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Trainer Shug McGaughey said that the Phipps Stable’s Persistently, beaten favorite in the Frizeette, came out of the race in good order.
“She came out of the race fine, but I don’t know where she’s going next,” said the Hall of Fame trainer. “I’ll make a decision sometime this week.”
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Racing industry people, racing fans and their friends are invited to participate in a Horsemen’s Golf Tournament to benefit the Backstretch Employees Service Team (B.E.S.T) at Wheatley Hills Golf Club in East Williston, NY, on Tuesday, October 21, 2008.
Located a few miles from Belmont Park in East Williston, Wheatley Hills is an 18-hole, par 72 golf course with a slope of 130 from the middle tees and a course rating of 71.1. Wheatley Hills has hosted six Long Island Amateurs and two Long Island Opens over the years. (Wheatley Hills is at 147 East Williston Ave. in East Williston, NY. Phone number is (516) 747-8822
The all-inclusive golf entry fee is $260 per person; please make checks payable to Horsemen’s Golf & remit to Bill Hirsch, 27010 Grand Central Pkwy, Suite 2C • Floral Park, NY 11005, For more information contact Tournament Director Bill Hirsch at:
Home: 718.428.5167, Cell: 516.356.6678, Email: .