Wednesday, February 01, 2012

For Gulfstream’s Weekend Stars, What’s Next?

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL., January 31, 2012—Much like the Northeast, South Florida has been on a pretty good weather roll this winter.

It was supposed to rain on the Sunshine Millions parade but didn’t and so fans and players alike were treated to fast and firm conditions and a spectacular show; Awesome Feather and Mucho Macho Man both exceeding expectations. How good is Awesome Feather? I can’t think of a word that trumps perfection; excellence, faultlessness, precision? I suppose it doesn’t matter if the point is made.

The best news concerning the filly, given her past tendon issues, is that she came out of the Sunshine Millions Distaff “real good,” according to trainer Chad Brown, who’s now pondering his next move with the undefeated four-year-old.

“We’ll get her back on the track in the next couple of days, see how she’s doing, and then pick something out.”

In her case, working backward from the Breeders’ Cup is easier said than done. There are spacing and distance issues to consider, in addition to making sure she’s happy and, most of all, healthy. “It’s a delicate situation,” Brown told us after Saturday’s race. “With her it’s one race at a time.”

The question is whether her connections are planning to check out a map of Maryland to find a place named Havre De Grace, or do they just wait for November to do that? At this point, my money’s on Over October.

Meanwhile, Mucho Macho Man’s people are likely to play the same game. Because he is a June 15 foal, the connections are planning on a five-year-old campaign. I probably would, too, especially since he won’t become four on the calendar for another five months.

It was clear watching him paddock last week that time has served him well. As Ramon Dominguez said following his Sunshine Millions Classic performance, last year he was just “a big skinny kid,” now he’s filled out in all the right places and has gotten his mind right.

Trainer Kathy Ritvo noted the same thing Saturday evening before her husband, track president Tim Ritvo, presented her with a trophy commemorating the victory. “He’s gotten more aggressive,” she said was the difference between last year and now.

That kind of attitude will serve the colt’s stalk-and-pounce style well, a tack he has used in his victories and strong runnerup performances. In the clear, out of trouble, and always in position will win lots of horse races. Owing to his name and his trainer’s heart-warming story (pun intended), Mucho Macho Man’s popularity will grow as he continues to do the same.

On balance, the Macho Man is a very sound animal and his development is really starting to show. Nine furlongs in 1:47.91, two fifths of a second off Quality Road’s track record, is happy motoring, indeed. He could continue developing into something really special.

The game surely could use more like him.

What Todd Pletcher probably doesn’t need are more good horses but he has them, anyway. Broadway’s Alibi, winner of Sunday’s Grade 2 Forward Gal, was doing her best Hilda’s Passion impression, Pletcher’s female sprint star last winter.

Unlike Saturday, the track was wet the following afternoon. But a 16 ¾ length victory in 1:21.94 despite drifting out in deep stretch? What manner of filly is this?

The Forward Gal was the middle leg of a personal Pletcher Pick 3 that began with the three year old colt El Padrino, a natural distance runner.

It was the colt’s second wet track win, which may or may not be coincidental, but Pletcher’s audible-- withdrawing him from the LeComte to await this allowance race--obviously was the right move. However, the wet track did Nick Zito’s colt, Casual Trick, no favors. After stumbling at the start and stalking three wide throughout, he began jumping up and down perceptibly on the far turn, obviously disliking what was underfoot.

Johnny Velazquez took care of him through the stretch and now Zito will need to go back to the drawing board. The saving grace, at this point, anyway, is that the colt ran well at Churchill Downs, if indeed he’s good enough to get there this spring.

A colt that’s clearly good enough to each the promised land is Starlight Partner’s Algorithms, who stretched his undefeated career record to three in the Holy Bull, beating juvenile champion Hansen by five lengths in the process.

Pletcher now has two colts, Algorithms and Discreet Dancer, which are 2-for-2 at Gulfstream Park. The trick will be keeping them apart and Discreet Dancer’s people want to point for the Florida Derby. Pletcher now has decisions to make, but he’s not the only one.

Poor Javier Castellano: He has the mount on Algorithms, Discreet Dancer and a colt many believe to be the best of last year’s juvenile crop, Union Rags. The Michael Matz-trainee is being pointed to the Fountain of Youth, as is Discreet Dancer. What to do?

Pletcher said last week that you can’t have enough three year olds if the Derby is your goal. Jockeys feel the same way, as anything can happen and often does. But these are known as good problems to have. It will be interesting to see what tack Castellano and agent Matt Muzikar take.

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

The House Always Wins

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL., January 28, 2012—For a defending champion, albeit one year removed, you don’t hear much about Awesome Feather. She’s an kind of inside baseball kind of Thoroughbred.

That is until she reached the finish line of the Sunshine Millions Distaff in 1:49.17, 5¾ lengths in front of Delightful Mary.

It was the kind of wow performance that left fans breathless and the bay filly by Awesome of Course from the Gone West mare Precious Feather undefeated at 9-for-9.

“Tell you the truth, I don’t know how many gears she has,” said winning trainer Chad Brown. “I’m afraid to press on the gas pedal.”

Jeffrey Sanchez, the only jockey the filly’s ever had, isn’t. The 24-year-old, talented rider is even more obscured from the limelight than his talented mount and might be under more pressure than Brown to keep the filly unbeaten.

When and if that day ever comes, Javier Castellano is just a phone call away.

But if Frank Stronach’s filly keeps performing the way she did in the Sunshine Millions, the point may be moot.

Stronach, who conceived the Sunshine Millions 11 years ago and counts Gulfstream Park and Santa Park among his holdings, was in his native Austria where he owns a major casino. Stronach purchased Awesome Feather following her juvenile campaign for $2.3 million.

The well meant second choice, Tiz the Argument, went to the front immediately beneath Ramon Dominguez but was stalked very step through lively fractions by the winner.

“I was a little concerned when I saw the fast fractions but Jeffrey is part of the team and executed perfectly,” said Brown. “She just hit another gear and it was over. I’m not sure we’ve seen every gear she’s got.”

What is amazing is that she’s come back from a serious tendon injury maybe better than she’s ever been.

“She was training great, but you just never know. She’s just a real pro. Her body type, athleticism, [helps her deal with issues]. It’s a delicate situation with her,” admitted Brown.

“The biggest thing with her is to see how she comes back. She seemed to grab a right hind quarter. We’ll tend to that and go on from there. With her it’s one race at a time.”

With that in mind, Awesome Feather is likely to be managed cautiously this season, on a schedule that likely works its way backward from the Breeders’ Cup.

“She’s certainly in a class with the best fillies I’ve been around,” said the former Bobby Frankel assistant. "She reminds me most of [champion] Ginger Punch. They ran the same way. She was an overachiever, a street fighter with a big heart, just like [Awesome Feather].”

It’s no sure thing that horses return to the races following tendon injuries. The fact she came back as good as she has is nothing short of amazing.

It’s fun to conjure up her going to Santa Anita on the first Saturday in November still undefeated and with a chance to become the fourth straight female Horse of the Year. Wow; just like her Sunshine Millions Distaff.

Here's Your Trophy; You Paying for Dinner?

In winners’ circle ceremonies following the Sunshine Millions Classic, fans saw something they don’t see every day. In fact, it’s possibly something no one has ever seen; a newly installed track president making a presentation to his wife after winning the feature race.

In a short time, former trainer Tim Ritvo has climbed the Stronach corporate ladder and by the end of 2011 was promoted to President and General Manager of Gulfstream Park, about one year after he had turned over the training of Mucho Macho Man to his wife Kathy.

Today, Ritvo presented the winner’s trophy to Kathy, majority owners Dean and Patti Reeves, and a gaggle of Dream Team syndicate members after their Macho Man stalked the moderate pace of Turbo Compressor, took command approaching headstretch, and held off tough-tripping Ron the Greek to win the Classic beneath Ramon Dominguez by 1½ lengths in 1:47.91, 42/100s off Quality Road’s track record.

It was a macho performance by a colt that indeed has become a man at age 4. Shackleford notwithstanding, Mucho Macho Man was the only colt to race in all three legs of the 2011 Triple Crown series.

Mucho Macho Man finished a good third in the Kentucky Derby before tough trips compromised his performances in both the Preakness and Belmont, especially the Belmont when his former rider, replaced by Dominguez, angled in sharply and the start forcing MMM to check, effectively eliminating any chance he might have had.

What was remarkable is that he competed in all three Triple Crown legs as a 2-year-old according to the calendar. Mucho Macho Man was foaled on June 15, 2008. His Belmont Stakes run came four days before his third birthday.

Having last run of November 9, the son of Macho Uno from the Ponche mare, Ponche de Leona, showed no signs of rust or extreme freshness that might have compromised his chances.

The bay colt has grown into his generous frame from 3 to 4, and he won the Sunshine Millions Classic in what has become his best style in two turn races: stalking from close range.

He did it twice as a juvenile, stalking the talented To Honor And Serve in both the Nashua and Remsen Stakes, finishing a good second each time, using that same tack to win the Risen Star and was a willing third in the Louisiana Derby before coming from a bit farther back in Louisville.

“It was the absolute perfect trip,” said Dominguez. “We were right on the outside of the speed. He gave me the feeling every step of the way that whenever I was ready to ask, he was ready to go.”

“When he came up to [Turbo Compressor on the lead] I was confident he would go on from there,” said trainer Ritvo. “We’ll see how he comes out of it and look for another race for him.”

“You can really tell how much he’s grown up since I rode him in the Belmont,” Dominguez said. "Back then he was just a big skinny horse that had a lot of maturing to do. Now he looks like he’s grown up and has everything figured out.”

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Looking Like a Million

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla., January 26, 2012—The Sunshine Millions program has always been one of my favorite race cards, a state’s rights version of the Breeders’ Cup. Same principle, only Kentucky- and New York-bred runners need not apply.

Make no mistake. The event normally draws the best of the best that are born and bred in either Florida or California. This year is no exception, even if Santa Anita was a little late to the table this time around. But all’s well that ends.

The 2012 roster is as strong as any renewal ever offered, including two filly champions, the juvenile heroine of 2010 Awesome Feather and last year’s Filly & Mare Sprint queen, Musical Romance. Both are Sunshine State-breds.

At the Gulfstream venue alone, where six Sunshine Million events will be staged, compared to three at the other Stronach Group track, Santa Anita Park, 17 graded stakes winners will vie for combined purses worth over $1.3 million.

On the Left Coast, meanwhile, two worthy open events, the storied Santa Monica and the Santa Isabel will complete the five-stakes program.

Normally a successful handle generating event, the Sunshine Millions will proud added wagering interest with a promotional “Luck Pick 6,” in recognition of the HBO series of the same name that debuts officially Sunday night.

The Lucky Pick 6 is a $1 wager with a mandatory payout featuring three races from each venue in a separate pool, with no ties to the traditional Pick 6 wagers offered at either venue, so that any existing carryovers apply only to traditional Pick 6 wagers.

The message seems obvious: Bring Money.

The 17 graded stakes winners from the 48 entrants at the Hallandale track have accounted for 30 graded events. Forty eight horses in six races isn’t much by numbers but even the reputation horses won’t have it easy. To wit:

The undefeated Awesome Feather holds a significant edge on her recent performance figure and it’s difficult to knock perfection. But Tiz the Argument is very good now and picks up another recent champion, Ramon Dominguez.

Another filly capable of an upset is Sweet Repent. She has excellent back figures on the Equiform scale and her victory in this race two years ago was significantly faster than Awesome Feather in an Aqueduct 9 furlongs last out. The question is whether she’s the filly now that she was then.

Awesome Feather made the developmental transition from 2 to 3 in her return following a lengthy absence due to a tendon injury. Making her first start for Chad Brown, she won an overnight sprint and parlayed that prep into a winners’ circle visit following the Grade 1 Gazelle.

Brown seems to be carefully managing her 4-year-old season as she tries to extend her undefeated record to nine.

The tendon has not been an issue and Brown was quoted to say her training schedule has gone without a hitch since shipping south. The filly is owned by Frank Stronach; the talented, young Jeffrey Sanchez rides the “house horse.”

The other champion, Musical Romance, is a bit of a throwback, having run 14 times in her Eclipse season. She will pay the price for those prestigious 2011 victories, debuting as a 5-year-old shouldering highweight of 123 under the allowance conditions. There’s that, and the competition, too.

Pomeroys Pistol runs very hard here and retains leading rider Javier Castellano. Then there’s the early gas of either Beat the Blues and/or It’s Me Mom, shipping in from New Orleans and Tampa, respectively, not to mention the solid late kick of the improved Honey Chile beneath the patient Julien Leparoux.

The day at Gulfstream concludes with the Sunshine Millions Classic and the return of a second “house horse,” the very popular and talented Mucho Macho Man trained by Kathy Ritvo, wife of Gulfstream’s president and CEO, Tim Ritvo.

He looked great paddocking between races on Wednesday as he was striding out beautifully as he walked, acted like a complete gentleman, the Florida sunshine making his brown coat glisten, more closely resembling burnt orange.

Dominguez rides the 5-2 second choice. Turbo Compressor, from the Todd Pletcher, shed is the 2-1 early line favorite by virtue of two big-figure scores at the distance. Adios Charlie, 3-1, was an extremely impressive winner over the course going a flat mile, his second Gulfstream victory in as many starts.

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