Sunday, July 05 2009

DRY MARTINI SHAKES UP SUBURBAN HANDICAP

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Dry Martini became a millionaire at Belmont Park Saturday afternoon, rallying from last to post a two-length upset of favored Asiatic Boy in the 123rd running of the Grade 2, $400,000 Suburban Handicap.

Under Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado, who won the Grade 2 Dwyer earlier on the Independence Day card, the 6-year-old gelded son of Slew Gin Fizz sat behind fractions of 47.63 and 1:11.39 set by longshot Finallymadeit, moved up on the turn, then split horses and came fastest of all for the upset as he covered the 1¼ miles in 2:00.80.

CAT MOVES STAYS UNBEATEN WITH PRIORESS VICTORY

ELMONT, N.Y. – Cat Moves, ridden by Ramon Dominguez and trained by Anthony Dutrow, made a strong late move to corral stablemate Light Green by ¾-lengths in the 62nd running of the Grade 1, $300,000 Prioress at Belmont Park on Saturday, July 4. The three-year-old filly finished the six furlongs on Belmont’s main track in 1:08.65.

Light Green, ridden by John Velazquez and trained by Todd Pletcher, sat second early behind the pacesetter Heat Ashley, who went a quarter in 21.56 and a half in 44.01. Light Green took over the lead as they entered the stretch, grudgingly giving way to her stablemate in the final 100 yards, but finishing 2-1/4 lengths clear of third-place finisher Reforestation.

KENSEI POWERS AWAY IMPRESSIVELY IN DWYER

ELMONT, N.Y. – Kensei, ridden by Edgar Prado and trained by Steve Asmussen, made a powerful move on the far turn en route to an impressive 3-1/4 length victory in the 92nd running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Dwyer at Belmont Park on Saturday, July 4. The three-year-old colt finished the 1-1/8 mile distance on Belmont’s main track in 1:40.47.

Warrior’s Reward, the heavy 4/5 favorite, ridden by Calvin Borel, had a slow start before rallying late to finish a well-beaten third, 2-1/4 lengths behind second-place Convocation.

NYRA MATCHES MONEY RAISED DURING CALVIN BOREL AUTOGRAPH SIGNING

ELMONT, N.Y. – Fans lined up at Belmont Park Saturday afternoon to get autographs from jockey Calvin Borel, resulting in more than $4,000 being raised for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF).

The proceeds from the signing, with autographs going for $10 each, totaled $2,170, and The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced it will match that number for a total of $4,340 going to the PDJF.

SARATOGA FASIG-TIPTON JOCKEY-TRAINER CONTEST SET FOR AUG. 8-9

There will be more at stake than usual at Saratoga Race Course the weekend of Aug. 8-9, with the nation’s top jockeys and trainers competing in the first Fasig-Tipton Jockey-Trainer Contest.

All 21 races over the inaugural Fasig-Tipton Festival of Racing weekend will be included in the contest, with trainers and jockeys compiling points on a 5-3-1 system for win, place, and show, with double points for horses that passed through the Fasig-Tipton sales ring.

MR. SIDNEY SPARKLES IN 19TH RUNNING OF THE FIRECRACKER HANDICAP

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Saturday, July 4, 2009) – Circle E Racing’s Mr. Sidney pulled away from Inca King in the final sixteenth of a mile to win the 19th running of the $167,700 Firecracker Handicap (Grade II) by 1 ½ lengths on Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Bill Mott and ridden by Kent Desormeaux, Mr. Sidney covered the mile on a Matt Winn Turf Course rated as “yielding” in 1:37.28 in defeating six rivals. The victory was worth $101,896 and increased Mr. Sidney’s earnings to $407,275 with five wins in 10 starts.

MIKE SMITH TO RIDE MINE THAT BIRD IN WEST VIRGINIA DERBY, TRAVERS

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Saturday, July 4, 2009) – Trainer Chip Woolley announced Saturday afternoon that Mike Smith would ride Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) winner Mine That Bird in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby (Grade II) on Aug. 1 and the $1 million Shadwell Travers (Grade I) on Aug. 29.

“Mike Smith has given us a two-race commitment for the West Virginia Derby and the Travers,” Woolley said.

VERSATILE MONTEREY JAZZ CRUISES UNDER BAZE IN AMERICAN HANDICAP

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (July 4, 2009) — Versatile Monterey Jazz, passing a spot in the Triple Bend Handicap on the main track Sunday, took a commanding lead on the backstretch and rolled to a 3 1/4-length victory under jockey Tyler Baze in Saturday’s $150,000 American Handicap at Hollywood Park.

Monterey Jazz covered 1 1/8 miles on the Lakeside Turf Course in 1:46.11 to register his fifth win in nine starts on grass and his eighth win in 19 starts overall. He is perfect in three starts on the Hollywood course.

PRESIOUS PASSION SETS RECORD IN SCORING UNITED NATIONS

OCEANPORT, N.J. * Presious Passion celebrated the Fourth of July with his own kind of fireworks Saturday, putting on an incredible display of speed and power to win the $750,000 United Nations Stakes (G1) on the Monmouth Park turf.

The 6-year-old son of Royal Anthem thrilled the holiday crowd of 15,210 as he led every step and shattered the course record in winning his second straight U.N., racing the mile and three-
eighths over firm turf in 2:10.97. The previous record was 2:12.89 set by champion grass horse English Channel in 2007. The world record for the distance is 2:10.20 set by With Approval at Belmont Park in 1990.

INFORMED DECISION PREVAILS AS FAVORITE IN CHICAGO ’CAP

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (July 4, 2009) – Augustin Stable’s Informed Decision took the lead shortly after the start, put away rival Authenicat at the start of the stretch, and drew off to a 4 3/4-length victory over Unforgotten in the Grade III $140,000 Chicago Handicap Saturday at Arlington Park.

Julien Leparoux never had to use the whip on the Jonathan Sheppard-trained daughter of Monarchos who ran the seven furlongs in 1:21.49 after posting fractions of 23.56 seconds, 46.70 seconds and 1:09.73 en route to the facile score.

Arlington Park Barn Notes: July 4

TARRAS ENJOYING GIANT OAK’S BID FOR CHICAGO’S MID-AMERICA TRIPLE

Arlington Park’s Mid-America Triple – restricted to 3-year-old Thoroughbreds – has been swept three times since its inception more than four decades ago, but none of its previous champions was owned by residents of Chicagoland.

However, Giant Oak, winner the 75th anniversary edition of the Arlington Classic on May 23, is the only horse with chance to sweep the Chicago Triple this summer and this colt is owned by Rudy and Virginia Tarra of Orland Park.

More Than 34,000 On Hand to See Racing

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (July 4, 2009) – Arlington Park’s new Independence Day weekend event on July 3 – a continuous event consisting of racing, music and fireworks – was warmly greeted by a crowd of 34,704 on a beautiful summer afternoon-evening.

“For 2009, we decided to create a reasonably priced ticked event that included a day of Thoroughbred racing, plus live music and fireworks in order to ensure the best possible experience for those guests purchasing tickets,” said Arlington Park President Roy Arnold. “Our fans responded enthusiastically to this new event and took advantage of our online ticketing system to receive a discounted admission price.”