In First Test on Grass, Curlin Finishes 2nd
Curlin went to Belmont Park with the well-earned reputation as the best horse in the world. He lined up there Saturday alongside six others in the Grade I Man o' War Stakes at a decided disadvantage. They were established turf horses; he was a newcomer to the grass.
Curlin, a strapping chestnut, hardly embarrassed himself by finishing second, two lengths behind the 2006 Breeders' Cup Turf champion, Red Rocks. Still, Curlin's performance appeared to give his connections much pause about their intended plan to point him to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in October and a showdown with Europe's best in the world's premier turf race.
"He didn't look like he was having much fun in the backstretch where he usually is really stretching out," said Curlin's owner, Jess Jackson. "He may need another race on the grass to define him as a turf horse. Or we can return him to dirt where we know he's already a champion."
Steve Asmussen, Curlin's trainer, seemed to be discouraged. He cautioned that before any decisions were made about Curlin's future, he would wait to see if the 4-year-old came out of the race in good order. But asked if Curlin looked like a horse that may relish the new surface and earn a trip to Paris, Asmussen's curt response indicated that he expected a better performance.
"He looked like he ran second to a Breeders' Cup winner," he said.
Curlin, the reigning Horse of the Year, never looked as dominant as he had in winning 9 of his previous 12 races. He loped down Belmont's backstretch in fourth place as a pair of speedballs, Sudan and Mission Approved, set a fast and inadvisable pace through a mile.
This was a mile-and-three-eighths marathon, after all. Still, when it was time to turn for home, Curlin's rider, Robby Albarado, knew the colt was spinning his wheels.
"Obviously, he didn't grab me like he normally does," Albarado said. "It wasn't an awful race. He's got tons of talent and maybe that's what got him second today."
Instead, it was Javier Castellano and Red Rocks who found another gear in the stretch.
"I sat behind the speed, made my move and then waited for the late kick of Curlin," Castellano said. "I didn't see Curlin for a while. I thought I would be able to hold on."
Another former Breeders' Cup Turf champion, Better Talk Now, was barreling down the lane behind Curlin. The trainer of that 9-year-old war horse, Graham Motion, made it clear that if Better Talk Now could not win, he was rooting for Curlin.
"It's a shame for them that it didn't work out," Motion said. "People just don't take risks anymore. It was a tough assignment. I admire that they took a shot."
Although Red Rocks finished the race on top in 2:12.60 (and at generous odds --- his backers collected $14.40 for a $2 bet to win), it was Curlin who warmed the hearts of an appreciative crowd. Thousands crowded around the paddock as Curlin was being saddled, and applause followed him to the racetrack.
His rider, Albarado, is one member of Team Curlin who would like another spin on the grass.
"I'd like to see him get another shot on the turf," he said. "It's like a first race for him today, a new chapter. He felt comfortable over it. But to say he loves it? Maybe next time will be his show up race."
(c) 2008 The New York Times Company
Horse racing | Presious Passion triumphs in United Nations Stakes
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Presious Passion led from wire to wire in the $750,000 United Nations Stakes at Monmouth Park on Saturday, holding off Strike a Deal by a neck in the Grade I race on a yielding turf course.
Trained by Mary Hartmann and ridden by Eddie Castro, the 5-year-old gelding covered 1-3/8 miles in 2 minutes, 13-4/5 seconds. The victory earned Presious Passion a berth in the $3 million Turf race on Oct. 25 at the Breeders' Cup Championships at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.
Presious Passion paid $29.60 to win.
Champs Elysees, favored at 11-10 odds, was sixth in the field of eight.
Castro said, "I got the early lead pretty easily and I didn't have to use too much horse. I was able to relax on the front end and at the three-eighths pole, I just let him go and he kept on going."
Huge day at Hollywood Park
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Betting favorites Pure Clan, Zenyatta and Street Boss each won Grade I races on a high-quality card at Hollywood Park.
Pure Clan, ridden by Julien Leparoux and trained by Robert Holthus, won the $750,000 American Oaks Invitational for 3-year-old fillies on turf.
She paid $7 to win and covered 1-1/4 miles on a firm course in 2:00-2/5, beating 14-1 Satan's Circus by three-quarters of a length.
Zenyatta, a 4-year-old filly who paid $2.60, won the $300,000 Vanity Handicap by a half-length over Tough Tiz's Sis. Zenyatta, trained by John Shirreffs and ridden by Mike Smith, ran 1-1/8 miles in 1:49-2/5.
Street Boss, a 4-year-old colt trained by Bruce Headley and ridden by David Flores, prevailed in the $300,000 Triple Bend Handicap. Street Boss, who paid $3.40, ran 7 furlongs in 1:22-2/5 to beat Elite Squadron by a half-length.
In a rich Grade II event, 4-year-old filly Diamond Diva ($6.60 to win) beat Ventura by a nose in the $750,000 CashCall Mile Invitational. Diamond Diva, trained by James Cassidy and ridden by Flores, ran a mile on turf in 1:34.
Boosted by a three-day carryover, the total pick-six pool exceeded $4.975 million. There were 257 perfect tickets, each returning $12,827.80 for $2.
Indian Blessing romps
ELMONT, N.Y. - Indian Blessing, North America's champion 2-year-old filly last year, ended a two-race losing streak with a dominant victory in the Grade I Prioress Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Belmont Park.
John Velazquez was aboard her for the first time as Indian Blessing powered to a 5 1/4-length victory over By the Light on a muddy track.
"I rode her like she was the best horse, and that was the way she ran," Velazquez said. "It was really easy."
Indian Blessing, who is trained by Bob Baffert, ran 6 furlongs in 1:09-1/5 and paid $3.30 to win in the $245,000 race.
(c) 2008 The Seattle Times Company
Brown Ran Race With Dislodged Shoe
Each day brings new entries in the "Brown Shoe Diaries." The latest photos from the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) reveal Big Brown was stepped on by Guadalcanal leaving the gate, and that the shoe did not re-set itself during the race as previously thought; the colt ran the entire way with the shoe dislodged and the nail protruding from it.
Even trainer Rick Dutrow, who had a hard time accepting the possibility that the incident hampered the colt, now believes after seeing the photos that it could have been an issue.
In a photo taken by Eliot Schechter (shown below) that originally appeared as part of the Belmont race sequence in The Blood-Horse issue dated June 14, you can clearly see Guadalcanal stepping on the back of Big Brown's right hind foot as the colt was bearing out into him. A slow motion look at the video of the start shows Big Brown's head jerk sharply to the left just as he is struck from behind.
Another photo (above left), taken by free-lance photographer Bob Mayberger, shows Big Brown turning into the stretch while being eased by jockey Kent Desormeaux. The shoe is still dislodged just as it was in the original photo taken shortly after the break. So, the colt ran the entire race with a dislodged shoe (that had a bend or turn-down) and the nail still in it.
Hoof specialist Ian McKinlay at first thought the shoe had re-set itself upon impact with the ground during the race, because it was securely attached to the colt's foot, although slightly spread, when it was removed by blacksmith Alex Leaf after the race. Knowing now that the shoe had not re-set during the race, McKinlay has a different take on it.
"For him to run the entire race with the shoe dislodged and the nail still in, it had to cause some havoc," McKinlay said. "My wife had the best analogy. She said it's like losing the heel on one of your shoes. You've now basically got two totally different shoes, and yes you can get along, but you have to change the way you walk. It's just another thing to confuse him that day. You'd figure that nail would have fallen off early. Probably, when he was walking back on that hard going is when it re-set."
Mike Iavarone, co-president of IEAH Stables, firmly believes Mayberger's photo is conclusive proof that the dislodged shoe was the main cause of Big Brown's performance.
"This is unbelievable," he said after seeing the photo. "Now it's a different game. I spoke to Ian and he thinks now that the horse had the shoe pulled off coming out of the starting gate. He stepped back down on it, bent the nail, so it remained lodged in the shoe, but didn't go back into the same hole. He ran around on it, then got onto the pavement and re-set the shoe. Ian originally thought the nail would have broken off, and if anything, he would have just run on a loose, wobbly cleat, which was a problem in his eyes anyway. I just talked to Rick about it and after seeing the photos for the first time he's now starting to change his outlook on it, too."
"I saw the pictures and there's no way I can rule out the possibility that it hampered the horse," Dutrow said. "It's extremely possible that it bothered this horse. Two things I don't get. Right after the race I was all over the horse, and the only thing I saw was that back shoe had spread a little bit. As I walked back I called the blacksmith and said I need to take this back shoe off. He walked sound on it in the test barn and after we took the shoe off. The blacksmith even had to use his tools to pry the shoe off. And the jock said he didn't feel anything, so this is too much for me to handle. But now that I've seen the pictures I have to keep an open mind to it. The pictures don't lie. The bottom line is, tomorrow is another day."
(c) 2008 The Blood-Horse, Inc.
Belmont Stakes results mean bigger money pool
Big Brown's Belmont Stakes debacle helped spice up the Wednesday program at the Elmont, N.Y., track.
The shocking win by Da' Tara in the final jewel of the Triple Crown led to a pick six carry-over, so there is a massive pool of $1,186,625 awaiting bettors.
Four of the races in the sequence are on turf, including the day's richest contest, a $55,000 allowance at seven furlongs.
Pennington, who has finished first and second in his initial two races on grass, will look for his second win in a row versus against nine opponents.
Owned by breeder Michael Martin and trained by Rick Violette Jr., the 4-year-old Western Expression gelding will be ridden by Eibar Coa. In his most recent start, Pennington won an optional claimer against fellow New York breds by 4 3/4 lengths as the 7-5 choice.
Main track races begin and end the pick six. In the opener, New York bred fillies and mares will run one mile in a $52,000 optional claimer. The finale features $25,000 claimers going six furlongs.
My Dinah, who has run in consecutive stakes, might be the one to defeat in the first race of the pick six. Both of her wins for owner Akindale Farm and trainer Kathleen Feron were on dirt. Jose Espinoza will ride the 3-year-old daughter of 1998 Belmont Stakes winner Victory Gallop.
Race of the day: Bahama Mama, who won the Lawndale in her Hollywood Park debut May 9, will look for her second win in three U.S. starts in the $75,000 Great Lady M. in Inglewood. David Flores will ride the 4-year-old Invincible Spell filly for owner Forging Oaks Farm and trainer Jim Cassidy in the race at six furlongs on the turf. Other contenders include Silky Smooth, Lightmyfirebaby and Coco Belle.
One for the road: Bedford Galls can fire off the bench for a top trainer over a track he likes in the second race at Golden Gate Fields. David Lopez has the mount on the 5-year-old Forestry horse for owners David and Jill Heerensperger, who won the Charles Whittingham Memorial with Artiste Royal on Saturday at Hollywood Park, and trainer Greg Gilchrist in the $40,000 claimer at six furlongs. Gilchrist, who is winning at a 30% clip in 2008, won with six of his first 12 starters at Golden Gate.
Exotically speaking: An early pick four using Mananan McLir and Preachintothechoir in the first, Street Match in the second, Surprises Welcomed and Aspen Diamond in the third and Toasted, Kris Silver and Minister Blair in the fourth.
(c) 2008 Los Angeles Times
Belmont Stakes Looks Like 9 Horse Field But May Be a Match Race
It looks like Big Brown will face eight other horses when he tries to become the twelfth horse in history to win the Triple Crown. The Belmont Stakes, which will be held late Saturday Afternoon, currently has Anak Nakal, Big Brown, Casino Drive, Da' Tara, Denis of Cork, Icabad Crane, Macho Again, Ready's Echo, and Tale of Ekati in Big Browns way to racing immortality.
Big Brown has already decimated much of the Belmont field and Rick Dutrow Jr thinks that the race is a shoo-in for his super horse telling reporters late last week:
"I feel like it's actually a foregone conclusion," he said. "To me, I just see the horses he's in with, and I see our horse, so I expect him to win this race."
History, however, is against Dutrow and his bold claims. There has been a number of near misses in the past decade in the Triple Crown and Big Brown has yet to face Casino Drive who has already won on the Belmont track and is the brother of the previous two winners of the Belmont Jazil and filly Rags to Riches. Dutrow is dismissing Casino Drive, who flew in from Japan to win the Grade II Peter Pan Stakes last month, and dominated the field by five lengths. Dutrow said of the 5-1 morning line horse that will be ridden by Edgar Prado who has played spoiler in two other Triple Crown bids:
"This Japanese horse has got so much to prove," he said. "I don't know if he is on top of his game training. I'm getting different kinds of reports from people that think they know. I would not depend on that horse to be second."
Kent Desormeaux, who saddled Casino Drive to victory in the Peter Pan will take his regular mount of Big Brown in the Belmont, had nothing but nice things to say about the presumable second choice after his easy victory last month. Following the win, Desormeaux said:
"I certainly understand how Jazil and Rags to Riches won the Belmont. Yeah, he can run a lot. It's going to be fun. He's a phenomenal talent, and we've got our hands full with this one. It's going to be ultimately exciting for all of the fans. He's got that stride."
Here are videos the two horses that will face off in the Belmont Stakes. First, is the impressive stateside debut of Casino Drive at Belmont last month followed by Big Brown's romp in the Preakness Stakes.
(c) 2006-2008 Cleveland Media Group LLC
Affirmed-Alydar rivalry marked end of an epoch
The events that made the headlines of 1978 in many ways live still in the collective American consciousness.
Israeli forces invade Lebanon.
The first computer bulletin board system is created in Chicago.
Resorts International, the first legal casino in the eastern United States, opens in Atlantic City.
The People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.
A bomb explodes outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia, killing a policeman and several others.
Coastal Road Massacre: Palestinian terrorists kill 34 Israelis.
U.S. President Jimmy Carter decides to postpone production of the neutron bomb -- a weapon which kills people with radiation but leaves buildings intact.
The Blues Brothers make their debut appearance on Saturday Night Live.
Afghanistan President Daoud Khan is killed during a military coup.
Bruce Springsteen releases Darkness at the Edge of Town.
Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds gets his 3,000th major league hit.
These things happened in 1978 before June 10, the day on which Affirmed beat Alydar in the Belmont Stakes and became the 11th winner of the Triple Crown.
The last was also the greatest, the most intense and hair-raising of Triple Crowns, unlike any of the others. The first 10 Triple Crown winners were dominant. Affirmed prevailed over a colt that was very close to being his equal, and rose to the occasion three times with the Belmont defining the most intense rivalry -- the only real rivalry -- in Triple Crown history, one that would send both conjoined into legend.
It may not have been immediately apparent, or apparent at all until a decade, another and yet another passed without the emergence of a Triple Crown winner, but the Affirmed-Alydar rivalry marked the end of an epoch.
Affirmed raced beneath the pink, white and black silks of Harbor View Farm, where he was bred by Louis and Patrice Wolfson. Alydar was a product of Calumet Farm, then owned by Admiral and Mrs. Eugene Markey, who in their declining years maintained the traditions established in the 1930s and '40s by Warren Wright.
Sir Barton and Seattle Slew, raced by owners who were not the breeders, are the exceptions among winners of the Triple Crown.
Gallant Fox and Omaha (Belair Stud), Whirlaway and Citation (Calumet), War Admiral (Glen Riddle Farm and Samuel Riddle), Count Fleet (Mrs. John D. Hertz), Assault (King Ranch) and Secretariat (Meadow Stud) ran in the colors of people who bred horses to race in a time when this was an endeavor dominated by families with roots in the sport as deep as their pockets. Thirty years after the last Triple Crown winner, the private, family-owned breeding and racing operation is almost extinct.
In the quest for stout long-winded horses, Warren Wright traveled to England to buy mares and matched them with Blenheim II, who sired Whirlaway from the Sweep mare Dust Whirl, and Bull Lea, whose mating with the Hyperion mare, Hydroplane II, resulted in Citation.
Whirlaway started 60 times and, at age 3, ran in the Blue Grass on April 24, the Derby Trial on the 29th, the Kentucky Derby on May 3, the Preakness on the 10th, an allowance race at Belmont on the 20th and the Belmont Stakes on June 7.
Despite missing the entire 1949 season, Citation started 45 times and, in the spring of 1948, having been given a breather in March, ran in the Chesapeake Trial at Havre de Grace, in Maryland, on April 12, the Chesapeake Stakes on the 17th, the Derby Trial on the 27th, the Kentucky Derby on May 1, the Preakness on the 15th, the Jersey Derby at Garden State Park on the 29th and the Belmont Stakes on June 12.
The American thoroughbred has turned 180 degrees in the last 30 years.
Most agree that Big Brown is sufficiently armed to win the first Triple Crown in 30 years. The Belmont Stakes will be his sixth career start and there is no guarantee of a seventh. Michael Iavarone, of IEAH Stable, said recently that Big Brown will remain in training if he comes out of the Belmont 100 percent. Considering the less than pristine condition of his left-fore hoof, Big Brown will go into the Belmont at less than 100 percent and may never again be seen under tack.
He may be the quintessential example of the modern thoroughbred, a watershed of 30 years of impudent if commercially attractive breeding -- the intensely inbred thoroughbred: Huge, powerful, fast and delicate as lace.
What Affirmed and Alydar brought to the table 30 years ago, the late Woody Stephens once said, "Cannot be bought or manufactured ... the greatest show in racing."
By the time the Triple Crown of 1978 was over, the most celebrated rivals in racing history had run against one another more times than Big Brown will likely have raced on the day he is retired.
Explain to me how this is better.
(c) 2008 ESPN Internet Ventures
The Morning After: Big Brown Scare Off
by Ron Mitchell
Updated: May 4, 2008
Early indications are that none of the horses that finished behind Big Brown in his impressive 4 3/4-length victory in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) will move on to the May 17 Preakness Stakes (gr. I).
Interviews with losing trainers and their connections the morning after the Derby revealed deep respect for the winner and no desire to face him again soon.
David Carroll, the Churchill Downs-based trainer whose Denis of Cork ran third, said the colt will be pointed toward the June 7 Belmont Stakes (gr. I).
"He came out of the race great," Carroll said of the colt who finished 3 1/2 lengths behind the ill-fated runner-up Eight Belles. "We will watch him the next few days, but he will probably run in the Belmont. Big Brown was very impressive."
On having his first Derby starter, Carroll said it was "a tremendous thrill - the walkover (from the stable area), the paddock, everything."
Trainer Barclay Tagg, who won the 2003 Derby with Funny Cide, said both fourth-place finisher Tale of Ekati and Big Truck, who was 18th in the 20-horse field, came of out the race with no problems. He said both would return to his base in New York, with Tale of Ekati pointed toward the Belmont. Since Big Truck is a New York-bred, he will be aimed at state-bred grass races.
Recapturetheglory, who acted up in the paddock and the tunnel leading to the track, will rejoin trainer Louie Roussel III’s stable in Chicago and be given some time off. "He had a tough race in the Illinois Derby and a tough race here (in the Kentucky Derby)."
"He ran most of his race in the paddock," said Roussel, adding that the colt was upset by noise from the Derby crowd. "Next time, he will wear ear plugs."
Roussel said winning trainer Dick Dutrow is to be congratulated for the job he performed with Big Brown. "He did a great job. He knows his horse."
Trainer Eoin Harty said plans for sixth-place finisher Colonel John have not been determined, but that he is "probably not going to Baltimore" for the Preakness. "He (Colonel John) had a pretty rough trip, but that’s the Derby," Harty said.
Mike McCarthy, assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher, told Churchill Downs communications representatives that Cowboy Cal (9th) would go to Stonerside Farm for a break from competition and that Monba (20th) would return to Pletcher's stable in New York.
Churchill officials also said Smooth Air, the 11th-place finisher who was treated for an infection a week before the Derby, would be given some time off by trainer Bennie Stutts Jr.
Trainer Michael Matz said Visionaire (12th), who came out of the Derby fine, would return to the Fair Hill Training Center "for a little bit of rest."
Adriano (19th) will also return to Fair Hill, with trainer Graham Motion pointing him toward grass races. He said one possibility is the Virginia Derby.
Considering the lack of Derby starters moving on to the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness will be comprised of new shooters.
On Maryland Jockey Club's Mike Gathagan short list of Preakness contenders are: Behindatthebar, El Gato Malo, Kentucky Bear, Tres Borrachos, Giant Moon, Stevil, Yankee Victor, and Harlem Rocker a possibility.
Copyright (c) 2008 The Blood-Horse, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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