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Entries after October 2008.
Big Stretch Move Rewards America's Friend
America's Friend, running a race resembling her career, kicked into gear late and moved from last to a third-place finish in the $65,000-added Dance in the Mood Stakes Wednesday at Hollywood Park.
Last in the field of eight coming out of the turn in the six-furlong turf race, the 4-year-old daughter of Unusual Heat accelerated powerfully through the stretch under jockey Jose Valdivia Jr. to move all the way to third for the second black-type finish of her late-blooming career.
America's Friend has started 27 times over two campaigns and, remarkably, ran the first 16 of those in maiden races. She didn't win for the first time until February 28 of her 4-year-old season, and after that she won just twice in six starts. The second of those wins was an allowance race at Del Mar, and the victory earned her a promotion into stakes company.
She made the most of that opportunity, taking the $100,000 Solana Beach Handicap at Del Mar at one mile on the turf. She's remained in stakes company, racing unplaced twice before coming back in Wednesday's race to certify her stakes status in the Dance in the Mood.
Her career earnings now total $274,288, with all but $26,176 earned as a 4-year-old this year. In her 27 starts, she has four wins, four seconds and eight thirds.
Disproving the belief that committees rarely get anything done, America's Friend was bred in California by Madeline Auerbach, David Abrams and Vincenzo Loverso and is owned by Loverso, Auerbach, Barry Abrams, Peter Joe and Hal Wilson. She's trained solely by Barry Abrams. Her dam is Bel Air Belle, by Runaway Groom.
Unusual Heat, California's leading sire of 2008 by a wide margin, stands at Old English Rancho in Sanger, California. - October 31
Capsized Gets His Seventh Multiple Winner
Starting slowly but finishing swiftly, Ex Angel became Capsized seventh multiple winner Wednesday at Golden Gate Fields.
The 2-year-old daughter of Capsized raced last in the field of six to mid-turn of the six-furlong race before being roused by jockey Francisco Duran and moving to challenge the leaders in the stretch before shifting to the outside, seizing the lead and pulling away to victory, drawing away at the finish.
It was the second victory in six career starts for Ex Angel, who hasn't been off the board since finishing fifth in her first race. Six other runners by Capsized have won against winners. One has won four races and another has won three.
Capsized, among California's leading freshman sires of 2007 and sophomore sires of 2008, is represented by 14 winners and earners of more than $450,000.
Ex Angel, bred in California by Jim and Michelle Gustafson, is owned by Curt and Lila Lanning and trained by Ed Moger Jr. She's out of Cimply a Lady, by Alysheba.
Capsized, a graded stakes-winning son of Summer Squall, stands at Eagle Oak Ranch in Paso Robles, California - October 31
Suances Colt Still Unbeaten, Unheaded
After the first two races of his blossoming career, Feisty Suances still has to taste defeat and still has to pursue another horse.
The 2-year-old son of freshman sire Suances (GB) won his second consecutive wire-to-wire victory when he scored by 5 3/4 lengths Thursday at Santa Anita, following a two-length triumph on September 25 in his first career start.
After winning at 6 1/2 furlongs in his debut, Feisty Suances stretched out to one mile Thursday and performed even more impressively, holding a half-length lead through the backstretch, then kicking clear turning for home to pull away by three lengths before almost doubling that lead in the stretch under a hand ride by David Flores.
Feisty Suances, whose earnings total $30,420, is the first winner from three starters from the first crop of Suances, a champion in France and a Grade 2 winner in the United States.
Feisty Suances was bred by his owner, Red Baron's Barn LLC, and is trained by Darrell Vienna. His dam is Good and Hot, by Good and Tough.
Suances, a Group 1 winner of $402,559, stands at Rancho Temescal in Piru, California. - October 25
Muqtarib's Runners Score
Again in Chile
In four-day period, they win a stakes
race and finish second in a Grade 2 clasico.
Complete story below.
Muqtarib's Runners Score Again in Chile
The impressive performance of runners from
Muqtarib's first and only Chilean crop has become
even more impressive in recent days.
Last Friday, Campeona Eterna finished second
in the Grade 2 Clasico Independencia at Hipodromo Chile in Santiago and
three days later Maklube won the Premio Octavio Rios Espinoza at Club Hipico
de Concepcion in Concepcion.
The Clasico Independencia was run at 1,800
meters (about nine furlongs), the Premio Octavio Rios Espinoza at 1,500
meters (about 7 1/2 furlongs).
They are among the 30 winners from that crop,
now 3-year-olds. They are the produce of the one season in which Muqtarib
shuttled to the South American country.
That crop also includes stakes winner El Siete
Mete, twice Grade 3-placed Blue Shell, and stakes-placed Via Romana.
In the U. S., Muqtarib is the sire of 89 winners,
including stakes winner Whatsthenameman and stakes-placed Light of a Star.
Muqtarib,
a son of Gone West out of a champion daughter of The Minstrel, ran second
in the Group 2 Chester Stakes at 2 in England and won an allowance race
at Belmont Park at 4.
He stands at Victory Rose Thoroughbreds, Vacaville.--October
23.
Private Gold Increases Freshman Sire Lead
Gulches Dancer, making her first career start,
closed with a rush Sunday at Zia Park to become the sixth winner from Private
Gold's first crop and enable him to extend his lead in the Washington
freshman sire race.
The Oregon-bred, unhurried in the early stages
of the 5 1/2-furlong race, entered the stretch fourth in the field of six
but accelerated through the lane and finished three quarters of a length
in front.
Her winning purse of $9,000 increased Private
Gold's first-crop sire earnings to $59,940 and increased his lead among
Washington first-crop sires. Second-place Waiting Game has one winner and
earnings of $12,841.
Private Gold is on track to become El Dorado
Farms's third Washington champion freshman sire in fourth years, following
Liberty Gold in 2005 and deceased Tribunal in 2006.
Private Gold, with six winners, is the only
current Washington first-crop sire with more than one winner.
Gulches Dancer was bred by her owners, Dwight
and Janell Bailey, and is trained by Robert Gregory. Her rider was Jorge
Carreno.
Private Gold,
a multiple stakes-winning, graded-placed son of Seeking the Gold, stands
at El Dorado Farms, Enumclaw,Wash.--October
21.
Birdonthewire Son Scores Grade 3 Victory
It's a Bird won a fierce stretch-long battle
and came away with his third consecutive victory and his first graded stakes
win Saturday in the $100,000 Spend a Buck Handicap at Calder Race Course.
The Grade 3 triumph for the 5-year-old son
of Birdonthewire is undefeated in three
starts at Calder, with Saturday's win following victories in an allowance
race on August 30 and the Plagiarize Stakes on September 20.
His win in the Spend a Buck didn't come easily.
He engaged the leader at the top of the stretch, put his head in front,
and kept it there all the way to the wire, winning by that margin--a head.
It's a Bird is experiencing the most successful
of his four racing seasons, with $134,450 of his career earnings of $234,485
coming this year at 5. He made his first stakes start last year in the
final race of his 4-year-old season, unplaced in the Grade 2 Malibu Stakes
at Santa Anita, and after three unsuccessful stakes efforts this year has
scored two added-money wins in a row.
In 23 starts, he's won eight races with three
seconds, a third, and four fourths.
He was bred in Florida by White Cross Farm,
is owned by Edmund A. Gann, is trained by Martin Wolfson, and was ridden
by Jermaine Bridgmohan. His dam is Faithful City, by Hooched.
Birdonthewire,
among California's leading sires in numerous categories, stands at Madera
Thoroughbreds, Madera, Calif.--October 20.
Overmatched? Secret Gypsy's Doing All Right
Secret Gypsy would win more races if she didn't
have to run in graded stakes all the time, but nevertheless she's doing
all right.
In her brief six-race career, the 3-year-old
daughter of Sea of Secrets has raced just
twice in ungraded races, and she's won both of them. In four graded starts,
she's run second, third, fourth, and fifth.
Her best finish of the four came Saturday
when she took second in the $300,000 Lexus Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland,
a Grade 2 race at seven furlongs in which she led from the start to the
sixteenth pole before yielding to the eventual winner.
It was her second graded placing. She ran
third in May in the Grade 3 Dogwood Stakes at Churchill Downs. Her non-graded
starts came in a maiden special weight race at 2--by 6 1/4 lengths--and
an allowance race at 3, both at Saratoga.
In just six starts, she's earned $165,643
with two wins, a second, a third, and a fourth.
Bred in Kentucky by Norman Cheng, she's owned
by Richland Hills Stable and John Kuehl and trained by Ron Werner. She
was ridden by Robby Albarado. She's out of Miss Utaha, by Rahy.
Sea of Secrets,
sire of earners of more than $11,000,000 and 26 stakes horses, stands at
Ballena
Vista Farm, Ramona, Calif.--October 20.
My Main Starr Places in Another Stakes Race
My Main Starr closed stoutly in the stretch
Friday to record her third stakes placing in her last four starts, a third-place
finish in the $50,000-added HBPA Charles Town and Ranson Mayor Stakes at
Charles Town.
After lingering near the back of the eight-horse
field through the backstretch of the seven-furlong event, the 3-year-old
daughter of Deputy Commander moved up
on the turn and closed through the stretch to finish only a neck and a
length back of the winner.
After spending almost all but one of her first
10 starts in allowance races, My Main Star stepped into stakes company
for the first time on June 28 at Delaware Park and in her four starts since
then has run second in two stakes at that track and third in Friday's race
at Charles Town.
In between, she took second in an allowance
race at Laurel Park. Consecutive allowance wins at Charles Town and Delaware
Park had earned her an entry into stakes competition.
In 16 career starts, My Main Starr has four
wins, six seconds, two thirds, and three fourths, off the board just once,
for earnings of $146,097.
She was bred in Kentucky by John Sullivan
and Hargus and Sandra Sexton out of Olatha, by Miswaki, is owned by Partners
Stable, is trained by Gary Capuano, and was ridden by Travis Dunkelberger.
My Main Starr is one of 35 North American
stakes horses sired by Deputy Commander
in addition to a stakes winner in Japan and champions in two other countries.
He stands at Ballena Vista Farm,
Ramona, Calif.--October 19.
Another Three-Time Winner for Stormy Jack
Stormy Jack added
his second three-time winner to his sire record Sunday when Stormy Racer
moved late in the stretch for victory at Santa Anita.
Only seven days earlier, the young sire had
recorded his first triple winner when Stormy Taters scored at Charles Town.
Both are 3-year-old California-breds.
In all, Stormy Jack has sired 10 winners of
$616,970, led by stakes winner Bob Black Jack (3 wins, $442,925), who set
a world record for six furlongs and a track record for seven furlongs,
both at Santa Anita. He's a double stakes winner and ran second in the
Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby.
He was California's second-leading freshman
sire of 2007 and is second in this year's second-crop race.
In registering her third win at six furlongs, Stormy
Racer raced in the middle of the seven-horse pack to the stretch, where
she moved up to second, remaining there until the final sixteenth before
surging ahead to win by three quarters of a length.
With one win at Del Mar and two at Santa Anita,
Stormy Racer has three wins and a third in 11 starts for earnings of $45,884.
She was bred by John B. Crook from T. G.'s
Girl, by Smokester. She's owned by Neil O'Shea and Judi Partridge and trained
by Jorge Periban and was ridden by Luis Contreras.
Stormy Jack,
a multiple stakes winner of $596,673, stands at Harris
Farms, Coalinga, Calif.--October 14.
Poteen Filly's Stakes Win Makes Her 3 for 4
Epitome of a Lady took charge in the stretch
and pulled away to an easy victory in the $50,000-added Harvest Futurity
Friday at Fresno, maintaining her near-perfect record and becoming the
first stakes winner sired by international stakes performer Poteen.
It was the third victory in four starts for
the 2-year-old California-bred, who won her first career start at Hollywood
Park, then slipped to fifth in an allowance race at Del Mar before shipping
north for an allowance win at the Bay Meadows fair and Friday's stakes
win at Fresno.
She won by 3 1/2 lengths at Bay Meadows and
did even better at Fresno, breezing home 3 3/4 lengths in front, both times
at six furlongs. At Fresno, she was content to race in second place down
the backstretch, slipping behind as far as four lengths through the turn,
then moving quickly to the lead and pulling away under jockey Catalino
Martinez.
In her four starts--three wins and a fifth--she's
earned $58,140.
Epitome of a Lady, bred by Old English Rancho,
is owned by her trainer, Jerry Hollendorfer, in partnership with Mark Schlaich
and George Todaro. She's out of Perfectly Perfect, by Perfect Mandate.
Poteen, who placed
in two Group 1 stakes in England, won a stakes race at Del Mar and placed
in a Grade 2 race at Golden Gate Fields. He stands at Old
English Rancho, Sanger, Calif.--October 12.
Capsized Filly Wins Allowance Race by 6 3/4
California-bred 3-year-old Antelope blew away
an allowance field Thursday at Remington Park to become the fourth three-time
winner from the first crop of graded stakes-winner Capsized.
Three members of his crop of 2005 have won
three races each and another has won even more--four. Seven of the 10 winners
from that crop have won against winners.
In Thursday's race at a mile and 70 yards,
Antelope was first out of the gate and maintained a contested lead through
the second turn, but she took charge when the field reached the stretch
and steadily drew away to reach the finish 6 3/4 lengths in the clear.
Although she was foaled in California, Antelope
has raced only in Texas and Oklahoma. She's raced twice at Sam Houston
Race Park, four times at Lone Star Park, and three times at Remington Park,
winning three with two seconds, a third, and a fourth, off the board just
once, when she ran fifth in her second start.
Unraced at 2, Antelope has earned $40,805
this year at 3.
Bred by BnD Chase Thoroughbreds, Greg James,
and Gray Castle Farm, she's owned by Tigertail Ranch and trained by Danny
Pish. She was ridden Thursday by Eddie Martin, Jr. Her dam is Slick Trick,
by Phone Trick.
Capsized, sire
of earners of $439,553, stands at Eagle Oak Ranch, Paso Robles, Calif.--October
11.
Unusual Heat, Sire of 51 Six-Figure Earners
Guts drove hard in the stretch to come from
behind to win by a head in Sunday's $50,000 California Cup Starter Handicap
at Santa Anita, but the finish of his move to become Unusual
Heat's 51st $100,000-plus earner wasn't close at all.
The 3-year-old gelding went into the gate
with career earnings of $90,880, and his $30,000 winning purse Sunday catapulted
him through the $100,000 barrier all the way up to $120,880.
Although he's won only two races in 18 starts,
the aptly-named Guts has reported for work dutifully and put together a
steady stream of purses that brought him his present earnings total. He
made his first start last August at Del Mar and raced four more times in
2007. At 3 this year, he's started 13 times in a few days more than six
months. He's raced only in Southern California.
Bred in California by his owners, David Abrams
and Team Green, Guts is out of Creme Carmela, by Proud Irish. He's trained
by Barry Abrams and was ridden by Victor Espinoza.
Unusual Heat,
whose 230 runners have average earnings of more than $72,000, stands at
Old English Rancho, Sanger, Calif.--October 9.
Free At Last Son Remains at Stakes Level
After sailing to victory in his first move
into stakes competition last month, Free At Last's
3-year-old son Emancipated demonstrated that he belongs in that company
by taking third in the Inaugural Handicap, Sunday's opening-day feature
at Portland Meadows.
In his first 12 career starts, Emancipated
worked his way up the ladder, through the claiming ranks into allowance
races and finally into the $50,000 Trooper Seven Stakes on the Washington
Day program at Emerald Downs.
That was his first stakes start, and he made
the most of it, breezing home three lengths in front of the pack. The opening-day
feature at Portland Meadows was his next start, and he snared a stakes
placing in spite of fading after forcing the pace into the stretch.
His record now shows four wins, two seconds,
seven thirds, and one fourth in 14 starts--never off the board. He's earned
$65,645.
Emancipated, out of Artic Mist, by Son of
Briartic, was bred in Washington by David and Elaine Parks. He's owned
by Betty and the Boys, is trained by Robert Baze, and was ridden by Michael
Lopez.
Free At Last,
a champion 2-year-old in Canada, stands at El
Dorado Farms, Enumclaw, Wash.--October 8.
Stormy Jack Has His First 3-Time Winner
Taking the lead out of the gate and, hugging
the rail all the way, Stormy Taters was never headed as she became Stormy
Jack's first three-time winner with a 5 1/2-length victory Sunday at
Charles Town.
Unraced at 2, California-bred 3-year-old Stormy
Taters began her career in her home state this year and after six starts,
including a win at Santa Anita, shipped east as part of a division of owner-trainer
Doug O'Neill's stable.
She's started four times after a cross-country
trip in early July, racing unplaced at Delaware Park in her first start,
finishing second and then winning at Penn National, and scoring her third
win Sunday at Charles Town.
Sunday's 4 1/2-furlong race presented no challenge
for Stormy Taters as she topped a 10-horse field by decisive margin.
In 10 starts this year, she has three wins
and two seconds for earnings of $31,770.
Bred by James G. and Ginny Johnston out of
Carnival Caper, by Carnivalay, Stormy Taters is owned and trained by Doug
O'Neill and was ridden Sunday by Travis Dunkelberger.
Stormy Jack,
California's second-ranking freshman sire of 2007, holds the same position
in the second-crop sire race this year. The star of his first crop is Bob
Black Jack, a Grade 1-placed stakes winner of $442,925.
He stands at Harris
Farms, Coalinga, Calif.--October 8.
A Big Day for Unusual Heat at California Cup
Sons and daughters of Unusual
Heat had a banner day Sunday at the festive California Cup celebration
at Santa Anita with two wins, two seconds and a third, including the featured
$250,000 California Cup Classic Handicap.
Five-year-old Mr. Chairman, who'd neither
won nor placed in a stakes race before Saturday, got up in the final strides
to take the Classic by a head, giving him his first black type and increasing
his career earnings to $338,578.
Add Heat, a 5-year-old, took third in the
same race, giving him his third stakes placing and boosting his bankroll
to $305,210.
Unusual Heat's other winner was another 5-year-old,
Lightmyfirebaby, who also closed late to win the $150,000 California Cup
Distaff Handicap by a half-length over an Unusual Heat 4-year-old, Christiana's
Heat. Lightmyfirebaby has earned $444,437, Christiana's Heat $168,232.
The fifth Unusual Heat runner to score was
still another 5-year-old, Rushen Heat, who led to midstretch in the $100,000
California Cup Distance Handicap before falling back to finish second,
a length and a quarter behind the winner. She's earned $179,501.
Mr. Chairman, Christiana's Heat, and Rushen
Heat all were earning their first black type, bringing their sire's stakes-horse
total to 29.
Here's the personal information on the five
California-breds:
Mr. Chairman: Bred by David Abrams
and Tom Roberts out of Chairwoman, by Corporate Report, owned by Great
Friends Stable, trained by Doug O'Neill, ridden by Michael Baze.
Add Heat: Bred by Madeline Auerbach
out of Chemolo, by Be a Native, owned by Barry Abrams, M. Auerbach, LLC,
Wilson et al, trained by Barry Abrams, ridden by Alex Solis.
Lightmyfirebaby: Bred by David Abrams,
Victor Johnson, Jack Nakkashian and Paul Wick out of True Melody, by Valid
Appeal, owned by Richard J. O'Neill, trained by Barry Abrams, ridden by
Joel Rosario.
Christiana's Heat: Bred by Abrams,
P. Johnson, V. Johnson, Nakkashian and Roberts out of Silverstrike, by
Tiffany Ice, owned by Albert and Kathleen Mattivi, trained by Steve Knapp,
ridden by Michael Baze.
Rushen Heat: Bred by David Abrams out
of Penpont (NZ), by Crested Wave, owned by Barry Abrams, M. Auerbach LLC,
and Chris Perez, trained by Barry Abrams, ridden by Jose Valdivia.
Unusual Heat,
California's leading sire of 2008, has sired earners of $17,038,931. He
stands at Old English Rancho, Sanger, Calif.--October
7.
Atticus Colt Captures Cal Cup Juvenile Stakes
The arrival of runners from the first California
crop of Atticus was emphatically announced Saturday
at Santa Anita when Lucky Primo took charge in the stretch and proved best
in a field of 13 in the $125,000 California Cup Juvenile Stakes.
Atticus is now the sire of two winners from
the first crop that he's sired since arriving from Kentucky, but Lucky
Primo is the star of the group. He's started four times and boasts a maiden
special weight win and a third in the $100,000 Im Smokin Stakes at Del
Mar and now a stakes victory at Santa Anita.
He's earned $119,104
in those four starts for owners J B K Stable and Jason L. Litt, the latter
the breeder of Lucky Primo along with Joshua Litt and Dennis O'Neill. He's
trained by Martin Jones and was ridden in the Juvenile by Joel Rosario.
He's out of Live Free or Die, by Personal Flag.
Atticus, who retired
with earnings of $1,205,933, ended his racing career on a high note,
winning both of his starts at 5, the Grade 1 Oaklawn Handicap at Oaklawn
Park and the Grade 2 Arcadia Handicap at Santa Anita in which he set a
world record of 1:31.89 for one mile.
In the stud, he's sired 21 stakes horses,
five of them graded winners, including High Fly, earner of $927,300 and
winner of the Grade 1 Florida Derby.
Atticus, a son of
Nureyev out of a Secretariat mare, stands at Magali
Farms, Santa Ynez, Calif.--October 7.
Beau Genius Welcomes His 79th Stakes Horse
Beau Genius added
the 79th stakes horse to his lengthy sire record Sunday when Partywithlarryz
took third in the $150,000 California Cup Sprint Handicap at Santa Anita.
On the same afternoon, in New Mexico, another
California-bred by Beau Genius added to her growing list of stakes accomplishments
when Snowdrop finished second in the $60,225-added Chaves County Stakes
at Zia Park.
Partywithlarryz, a 4-year-old, had raced only
once previously in a stakes race and was unplaced in that. Snowdrop had
won two stakes and placed in two others.
After the California Cup Sprint, Partywithlarryz
has blacktype and career earnings of $131,228. Snowdrop, a 5-year-old,
has earned $226,040.
Partywithlarryz was bred by Haagsma and Haagsma
Jr., is owned by the Beckett Family Trust and Robert Long, is trained by
John Saddler, and was ridden by Tyler Baze. His dam is Excessive Theresa,
by In Excess (Ire).
Snowdrop was bred by David and Mary Ann Sawyer,
is owned by Double Eagle Ranch and Garth McLeon, is trained by Bennie Woolley,
Jr., and was ridden by Alfredo J. Juarez, Jr. Her dam is Sioux River, by
Half a Year.
Beau Genius,
sire of earners of more than $31,000,000, stands at Ballena
Vista Farm, Ramona, Calif.--October 7.
Cal Cup Placing Adds to Decarchy's Sire Lead
Decarchy extended
his lead in the California second-crop sire race Sunday when his 3-year-old
daughter Stroppy took third in the $150,000 California Cup Matron Handicap
at Santa Anita.
Her $18,000 purse increased Decarchy's second-crop
sire earnings to $706,999 and stretched his lead to $293,099 over second-place
Stormy
Jack at $415,900.
Although she's started only four times, Stroppy
already was stakes-placed when she left the gate in the Matron. In her
fourth start, she'd taken third in the $65,000 CTBA Marian Stakes at Fairplex
Park. She was unplaced in the race before that, but she'd won her first
two starts.
With two wins and two thirds in five starts,
she's earned $57,400.
Stroppy finished third in the Matron, but
she came close to becoming a stakes winner. She closed from fifth place
entering the stretch to finish just two necks behind the winner.
Stroppy was bred in California by J. Paul
Reddam, who owns her in partnership with John Fuller and Lee Kovel. She's
trained by Craig Dollase and was ridden by Tyler Baze. Her dam is Moonfest,
by Irish River (Fr).
Decarchy, a multiple
graded stakes winner of $703,862, stands at Magali
Farms, Santa Ynez, Calif.--October 7.
Atticus Son Becomes a Graded Stakes Horse
Four-year-old Starticus, who moved up to added-money
competition just six weeks ago, proved that he belongs at that level with
a competitive third-place finish in a Grade 2 race, the $500,000 Nearctic
Stakes Saturday at Woodbine.
On August 23, he became the 21st stakes horse
sired by Atticus when he finished second in the
$200,000 Arlington Sprint Handicap at Arlington Park, but Saturday's graded
was a stiffer test, and he passed it.
Starticus made a strong bid to become a graded
stakes winner Saturday, taking the lead out of the gate in the six-furlong
turf race and holding it to the final sixteenth before weakening and finishing
a nose and three-quarters of a length back of the winner.
In only 10 starts, Starticus has earned $241,793,
with four wins, two seconds, and two thirds, never running in a claiming
race. Unplaced in his first start at Woodbine at 3 last year, he devastated
a maiden special weight field at Fort Erie in his next outing, winning
by 15 1/4 lengths.
Moving back to Woodbine, he ran second and
fifth in allowance races before finding his groove at that level and reeling
off three wins in a row. A third-place finish in an allowance race and
his Arlington Park stakes-placing brought him to Saturday's Nearctic Stakes.
Bred in Kentucky by George M. DeYoung, he's
owned by Danny M. Lococo and trained by Ralph Biamonte. He was ridden by
Corey Fraser. He's out of Evening Stardrift, by Fly So Free.
Atticus, who already
has sired a stakes horse in his first California crop, now 2-year-olds,
stands at Magali Farms, Santa
Ynez, Calif.--October 6.
Redattore (Brz) Racks Up First U. S. Winner
Joining his successful South American relatives,
Then Play On became the first winner from Redattore
(Brz)'s first California crop when he moved strongly through the stretch
at Golden Gate Fields to top a seven-horse field of 2-year-olds and a mile
on the turf.
With a six-month head start because of the
difference in the breeding seasons in the two hemisphere, Redattore (Brz)'s
first runners in Brazil have made an impressive debut, with six stakes
horses, including winners of Grade 1 and Grade 3 stakes as well as a Grade
1-placed winner.
Then Play On was making only his second start
when he reached the winner's circle. In his first outing, he finished third
on September 18 in a 5 1/2-furlong race on the all-weather surface at Golden
Gate Fields.
Bred in California by Goessler and Johnson,
Then Play On is owned by Betty and Robert G. Irvin and trained by Greg
James. He was ridden by Kyle Kaenel.
Redattore (Brz), a Grade 1 winner in his native
Brazil, won seven stakes races in the U. S., including the Grade 1 Eddie
Read Handicap at Del Mar and the Grade 1 Shoemaker Breeders' Cup Mile Handicap
at Hollywood Park.
Redattore (Brz),
earner of $1,799,883 in Brazil and the U. S., stands at Harris
Farms, Coalinga, Calif.--October 6.
Unusual Heat Gets 50th $100,000-Plus Earner
Mean Heat hasn't won a race in more than a year,
but she keeps bringing home checks, and Saturday at Santa Anita she became
the 50th runner sired by Unusual Heat to
surpass $100,000 in earnings.
Now a 4-year-old, Mean Heat has won just two
of 15 starts, but she's earned $100,340 for owner-breeder First Run Stable,
with four seconds, and thirds. After winning a maiden $40,000 claiming
race at Santa Anita in the second start of her 3-year-old season, she's
never raced lower than one $50,000 claiming race and has made the majority
of her starts in allowances.
She's been a high-level blue-collar laborer,
competing only at Hollywood Park, Del Mar, Santa Anita, and--once--at Fairplex
Park, bringing home paychecks that demonstrate that money can be earned
beneath the stakes level.
Her one start at $50,000 was made Saturday,
and her $4,800 third-place purse pushed her career earnings into six figures.
Although she was last in the 11-horse field after the first quarter of
the one-mile race on the turf and 10th at the half, she moved strongly
through the stretch and finished just a length and a half back of the winner.
Mean Heat, a California-bred, is out of Ameena
(NZ), by Oak Ridge (Fr). She's trained by Roger Stein and was ridden Saturday
by Joel Rosario.
Unusual Heat,
whose 230 starters have average earnings of more than $72,000, stands at
Old English Rancho, Sanger, Calif.--October 6.
Decarchy Filly Defies Odds, Wins at 'Anita
Santa Anita bettors didn't think so, but Grace
Gryder was ready to win, and she proved it yesterday with a late drive
that carried her from deep in the field of 12 to a 1 1/4-length victory.
The 2-year-old daughter of Decarchy
had run third and then twice second in her three most recent races at the
same $40,000 maiden claiming level, but she went off as only the third
favorite at 5-to-1 odds.
Ninth at the quarter and seventh at the half
in the six-furlong race, she moved up to fifth at the head of the stretch,
split horses to reach the rail, and, under urging by jockey Joseph Talamo,
rallied to reach the wire as the clear winner.
Her victory made her the 21st winner from
the first two crops of California's champion freshman sire of 2007 and
the third winner from his second crop.
Unplaced in two starts at Hollywood Park,
Grace Gryder improved with a third and two seconds at Del Mar and reached
the winner's circle in her first start at Santa Anita. She's earned $26,160
in six starts.
Bred in California by Magali Ventures, LLC,
she's owned by Stein Stables, Inc., and trained by Roger Stein. She's out
of Iknowalittlegirl, by Gilded Time.
Decarchy, currently
California's leading second-crop sire, stands at Magali
Farms, Santa Ynez, Calif.--October 4.
Decarchy Filly Makes It Three Out of Four
Quisisana, the brightest new star in the skies
of young sire leader Decarchy, scored the third
victory of a near-perfect career Wednesday at Santa Anita, racing stoutly
through the stretch to prove best by 2 3/4 lengths in a nine-horse allowance
field.
The 3-year-old has won three of her four lifetime
starts. missing the winner's circle only in the $100,000-added Fleet Treat
Stakes in July at Del Mar in her second career race. Since then, she's
won an allowance race at Del Mar and another Wednesday at Santa Anita.
After racing second, pressing the early leader
through the first half-mile of the six-furlong race, Quisisana moved into
the lead in midstretch and pulled away to win under a hand ride by Joseph
Talamo in the brisk time of 1:08.62.
In four career starts, Quisisana has amassed
winnings of $100,692 to become the second-biggest earner representing Decarchy,
California's leading freshman sire of 2007 and leading second-year sire
of 2008 as well.
She is one of 20 winners from Decarchy's first
two crops. They include Harlene, a stakes winner of $202,497 who captured
the Cal National Snow Chief Stakes, the featured race of Hollywood Park's
Gold Rush Day program, and finished third in the California Cup Juvenile
Stakes.
Quisisana was bred by Todd Gerbovaz, is owned
by Ran Jan Racing, Inc., and is trained by Mike Puype. Her dam is Mink
Kiss, by Distinctive Cat.
Decarchy, a multiple
graded stakes winner of $703,862, stands at Magali
Farms, Santa Ynez, Calif.--October 3.
Noosa Gold Second in Prestigious Gottstein
Harbor the Gold's
Noosa Beach confirmed his standing as one of the top
Washington-bred 2-year-olds of 2008 with a second-place finish in the
$100,000 Gottstein Futurity Saturday at Emerald Downs.
Noosa Beach's runner-up finish in the Gottstein,
the centerpiece of the Washington juvenile stakes program, gave him his
third stakes-placing in three starts in blacktype company at Emerald Downs.
After winning his first start by 4 1/2 lengths,
Noosa Beach stepped immediately into stakes company and took third in the
WTBA Lads Stakes. He followed that with a 5 1/4-length victory in the Captain
Condo Stakes, sending him into the Gottstein as the favorite.
He raced evenly through the 1 1/16-mile race,
running second all the way, but after tracking down the early leader he
was immediately overtaken by the eventual winner and wound up six lengths
behind at the finish.
With two wins, a second, and a third in four
starts, Noosa Beach has earned $55,375 for the Harwood family of Kent.
Wash. He was bred by Jeffery O. and Doris A. Harwood, is owned by Jeff
Harwood, and is trained by Doris Harwood. He was ridden in the Gottstein
by a non-Harwood, Juan Gutierrez.
Although he's a Washington-bred and has Washington
connections, Noosa Beach has made Harbor the
Gold the leading Oregon freshman sire of 2008. He stands at Bar
C Racing Stables, Hermiston, Ore.--September 29.
Suances (GB) Gets First Winner, Wire to Wire
Taking the lead out of the gate and never
relinquishing it, Feisty Suances won the first start of his career to become
the first winner from the first crop of champion Suances
(GB) Thursday at Santa Anita.
Although he bumped a rival coming out of the
gate, Feisty Suances was undeterred and led throughout the 6 1/2-furlong
race to win by a comfortable two lengths under a hand ride by jockey David
Flores.
Bred and owned by Red Baron's Barn, the California-bred
2-year-old is trained by Darrell Vienna.
Suances (GB), a son of Most Welcome (GB),
a stakes-winning sire of champions in six countries, won the Group 1 Emirates
Airline Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly and the Group 3 Prix de Guiche at Longchamp
and was named the highweighted 3-year-old of his crop in France, undefeated
in two starts.
Earlier, he won four allowance races in five
starts in Spain at 2 and 3.
Imported to the United States to race at 5,
he won the Grade 2 San Francisco Breeders' Cup Handicap at Bay Meadows
and the Dallas Turf Cup Handicap at Lone Star Park. At 6, he placed in
the Wickerr Handicap at Del Mar and retired with international earnings
of $402,559.
Suances (GB) stands
at Rancho Temescal, Piru, Calif.--September
27.
It's a Bird Finds the Key, Gets a Stakes Win
It's a Bird, unplaced in four previous stakes
starts, found the key to victory and breezed to a five-length, wire-to-wire
triumph in the $55,000 Plagiarize Stakes Saturday at Calder Race Course.
But the 5-year-old son of Birdonthewire
may have difficulty duplicating the conditions that paved the way for that
first stakes win, because the race was run over the rarely-offered distance
of a mile and a half on the dirt.
In 21 starts before Saturday's Plagiarize,
It's a Bird hadn't raced past a mile and an eighth, but he had no difficulty
at all with Saturday's added distance, racing in the lead under pressure
to the stretch, then drawing away to win by a wide margin.
It's a Bird, Birdonthewire's 22nd stakes horse,
has earned $174,965 in 22 starts from 3 to 5. He's won seven races with
three seconds and one third. His wins include three allowances at Calder
and one at Hollywood Park.
Bred in Florida by White Cross Farm, It's
a Bird is owned by Edmund A. Gann and trained by Marty Wolfson. He was
ridden in the Plagiarize by Jermaine Bridgmohan. He's out of Faithful City,
by Hooched.
Grade 1-winner Birdonthewire
stands at Madera Thoroughbreds, Madera,
Calif.--September 23.
Another Stakes Placing for Swiss Current
Swiss Yodeler's
4-year-old daughter Swiss Current hasn't won a stakes race in a year, but
she's placed in five of them, most recently the $100,000 Las Madrinas Handicap
Sunday at Fairplex Park.
In securing the seventh stakes placing of
her 26-race career, Swiss Current had to come from last in the eight-horse
field in the 1 1/16-mile event. She'd made it only up to seventh entering
the final turn, but she accelerated at that point and, racing four wide,
reached fifth entering the stretch and second in the final run to the wire.
Swiss Current won the CTBA Marian Stakes at
Fairplex Park at 3 and has placed in five stakes at 2, 3, and 4 at Santa
Anita, Sunland Park, Golden Gate Fields, Bay Meadows, and Del Mar.
She's won only three of her 26 starts, with
six seconds, and four thirds, but she's amassed earnings of $294,937.
Swiss Current was bred in California
by her owner, Tailwind Racing, Inc., is trained by Doug O'Neill, and was
ridden by Martin Garcia. She's out of Brilliant Thunder, by Thunder Gulch.
Swiss Yodeler,
a Grade 1-winning sire of earners of more than $17,000,000, stands at Harris
Farms, Coalinga, Calif.--September 23.
Second Time Around Works in Fairplex Stake
My City by the Bay has raced in only one stakes
race in his 14-race career, the Governor's Cup Handicap at Fairplex Park,
in which he's started twice.
He finished fourth in the Governor's Cup last
year and earned his first black type this year with a competitive second-place
finish in the 2008 renewal, providing him with his first black type and
his sire with his 12th stakes horse..
Sunday's race continued a string of six starts
since August, 2007, in which the 4-year-old son of Perfect
Mandate hasn't been off the board. He's had one win, three seconds,
a third, and a fourth in that period, increasing his career earnings to
$164,064. Overall, he's started 14 times, with three wins, seven seconds,
and one third.
He put up a good fight in Sunday's 6 1/2-furlong
renewal of the Governor's Cup, leading from the start to midstretch, where
he was overtaken and forced back to the runner-up position, finishing 1
3/4 lengths behind the winner.
My City by the Bay, bred in California by
Mr. and Mrs. John J. Cayer and Old English Rancho, is out of Shes Enchantingtoo,
by Publicity. He's owned by La Canada Stables, LLC and trained by Jack
Carava. Martin Pedroza was his rider.
Perfect Mandate,
a stakes-placed son of Gone West, stands at Old English Rancho, Sanger, Calif.--September 23.
Magali Sires Score in CTBA Marian Stakes
Runners sired by Magali Farms stallions dominated
Saturday's $65,000 CTBA Marian Stakes at Fairplex Park with a daughter
of Lit de Justice winning and a daughter
of Decarchy taking third.
Gambler's Justice, by Lit de Justice, stalked
the leaders all the way in the 1 1/16-mile event for 3-year-old California-bred
fillies before taking the lead in the final sixteenth and pulling away
to win by 2 3/4 lengths.
Stroppy, by Decarchy, entered the final turn
sixth in the field of seven, then moved strongly through the stretch to
take third, two lengths in front of the fourth-place finisher.
It was the first stakes win for Gambler's
Justice, who got to the wire first in the Melair Stakes last April at Hollywood
Park but was disqualified and placed third. In 10 starts at 2 and 3, that
was her only stakes placing before Saturday's victory. She has three wins,
a second, two thirds, and earnings of $145,754.
Stroppy's career has been quite different.
She's started only four times, all this year at 3, and has two wins and
Saturday's stakes placing, unplaced just once. She's earned $39,400.
Gambler's Justice was bred by Suarez Racing,
Inc., is owned by Halo Farms and Allen Magerman, is trained by William
Spawr, and was ridden by Martin Pedroza. Her dam is Monte Carlo Miss, by
Diesis (GB).
Stroppy was bred by J. Paul Reddam, who owns
her in partnership with John Fuller and Lee Kovel. She's trained by Craig
Dollase and was ridden by Brice Blanc. She's out of Moonfest, by Irish
River (Fr).
Lit de Justice
is the sire of 34 stakes horses and earners of more than $17,600,000.
Decarchy
was last year's champion California freshman sire and is the state's leading
second-crop sire of 2008. Both stand at Magali
Farms, Santa Ynez, Calif.--September 22.
Earnings Hit $307,932 But Still No Stakes Win
Smokeyjonessutton, who's won a lot of money
but is still seeking that elusive first stakes win, added another blacktype
placing to his record Saturday when he took third in the $150,000 Tiznow
Handicap at Louisiana Downs.
The son of You and I,
now a 5-year-old, gave it a good try in the 1 1/16-mile Tiznow but weakened
in the stretch and had to settle for third place, but his $15,000 purse
moved him past the $300,000 mark in earnings.
The Kentucky-bred has earned $307,932 in 22
starts--two wins, four seconds, and seven thirds. He's finished second
in the St. Louis Derby at Fairmount Park and third in two Grade 2 events,
the Indiana Derby at Hoosier Park and the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap
at the Fair Grounds. He's never run in a claiming race.
In the eight-horse Tiznow, he took the lead
out of the gate but soon fell into second place, where he battled the front
runner and eventual winner to the stretch, where he gradually yielded and
wound up 1 3/4 lengths and a neck behind at the finish.
Smokeyjonessutton was bred by Chrysalis Stables
and his owner, Stephanie S. Clark. He's trained by Dallas Stewart and was
ridden by Kent Desormeaux. He's out of Andelinian, by Barcelona.
You and I, a Grade
1-winning sire of 42 stakes horses, stands at Woodstead
Farm, Chehalis, Wash.--September 22.
Bythebeautifulsea Nearing a Stakes Victory
Bythebeautifulsea, now five times stakes-placed,
came closer than ever to that long-sought first stakes victory but wound
up third in the $75,000 Lincroft Handicap Saturday at Monmouth Park.
The 4-year-old son of Sea
of Secrets wound up a half-length and a head behind the winner, the
closest to victory that he's come in his five stakes placings. He bobbled
at the start, and that may have cost him the race.
He now has five stakes placings--second in
the Charles Hess III and Colt's Neck Handicaps at Monmouth Park and
the New Jersey Futurity at the Meadowlands and third in the Lincroft Handicap
at Monmouth Park and the Great Falls Stakes at the Meadowlands.
He's started 18 times with four wins, four
seconds, three thirds, and earnings of $191,419. He was bred in New Jersey
by Marianne and Charles Hesse and is owned by Char-Mari Stable. His trainer
is Jason Servis and he was ridden by Charles Lopez. He's out of Boldly
Appealing, by Valid Appeal.
Sea of Secrets,
sire of 26 stakes horses and earners of more than $10,800,000, stands at
Ballena
Vista Farm, Ramona, Calif.--September 22.
Atka Stays in Stakes Races, and Belongs There
Two-year-old Atka hasn't won since breaking
her maiden five months ago, but she's been off the board just once while
racing only in stakes races since then--five races in all.
The daughter of Swiss
Yodeler posted her second stakes placing Wednesday at Fairplex Park
by taking third in the $60,000 Black Swan Stakes. Earlier, she had run
second in the $80,000 Cinderella Stakes at Hollywood Park and fourth in
the Landaluce Stakes at Hollywood Park and the Generous Portion Stakes
at Del Mar.
She's been off the board only once, in the
CTBA Stakes at Del Mar, in which she finished seventh. Her career has consisted
of one maiden special weight race--which she won--followed by five stakes
races.
Atka never threatened to win Wednesday's Black
Swan, but she closed strongly to take third place, finishing 4 3/4 lengths
in front of the fourth-place horse.
Her record now shows one win, one second,
one third, and two fourths in six starts, with earnings of $78,071.
Atka, bred in California by Mikel C. and Patricia
Harrington, is owned and trained by Mike Harrington. She was ridden by
Brice Blanc. She's out of Artica, by Frosty the Snowman.
Swiss Yodeler,
sire of 32 stakes horses, stands at Harris
Farms, Coalinga, Calif.--September 18.
Harbor the Gold Gets His First Stakes Winner
Freshman sire Harbor
the Gold registered his first stakes winner Sunday at Emerald Downs
when Noosa Beach cruised to a 5 1/4-length victory in the $50,000 Captain
Condo Stakes.
The win was Noosa Beach's second in three
starts. His defeat came in his second start, in which he finished third
in the Washington Thoroughbred Breeders Association Lads Stakes at Emerald
Downs.
The Captain Condo was one of seven stakes
races featured on Sunday's annual Washington Day event. Although Harbor
the Gold stands in Oregon, Noosa Beach is a Washington-bred, and thus was
eligible to compete.
In the six-furlong Captain Condo, Noosa Beach
raced third in the field of eight into the stretch. With three-sixteenths
to go, he took the lead and quickly pulled away.
One of three winners sired by Harbor the Gold
to date, Noosa Beach was bred by Jeffery O. and Doris A. Harwood and trained
by Jeff Harwood. He was ridden Sunday by Juan Gutierrez. Julia Rose, by
Basket Weave, is his dam.
In three starts, Noosa Beach has earned $37,375.
Harbor the Gold,
a winning son of Seeking the Gold, stands at Bar C Racing Stables, Hermiston,
Ore.--September 17.
An Odd Career, and Now He's Stakes-Placed
Colorfully-named Scalding Passion wrote the
latest chapter in a strange racing tale Sunday when he stepped up to stakes
company for the first time in 17 starts and came away with a third-place
finish in the $50,000 Muckleshoot Tribal Classic Stakes, the feature of
the Washington Day program at Emerald Downs.
Although he'd won his last start at the 1
1/16-mile Muckleshoot distance, Scalding Passion yielded in the stretch
Sunday after leading earlier and wound up in third place, beaten four lengths.
The racing career of the 4-year-old son of
Game
Plan has followed an unusual trajectory.
He was unplaced in his first and only start
at 2, then raced through 10 starts at 3 and emerged still a maiden. He
finally won for the first time in a maiden special weight race at Bay Meadows
last February in the 14th start of his career.
After a five-month layoff, he resurfaced at
Emerald Downs, running eighth for $40,000 claiming. Two weeks later he
finished second in an allowance race and promptly moved into the first
stakes race of his life.
Now he's stakes placed, still with just one
win in 17 starts. His record shows one win, five seconds, and two thirds
for earnings of $55,175.
Scalding Passion, the 30th stakes horse sired
by Game Plan, was bred in Washington by Passion Thoroughbreds out of the
mare Shadow Brianna, by Polynesian Flyer. He's owned by Charles and Karla
Laird, is trained by Jim Penney, and was ridden by Gallyn Mitchell.
Game Plan, sire
of earners of more than $10,000,000, stands at E.
A. Ranches, Santa Ysabel, Calif.--September 17.
El Dorado, Woodstead Score on 'Day' Card
Runners sired by stallions standing at El
Dorado Farms and Woodstead Farm made
a major impact on the annual Washington Day program for state-breds Sunday
at Emerald Downs.
Offspring of those farms' stallions won three
of the seven races on the program and placed in the other four. Counting
a runner by a deceased sire, the number of winners was four.
In addition, a runner from each of the farms
placed in a stakes race run in another state on the same day.
Here's a summary of the day's accomplishments
by those runners:
EL DORADO FARMS
Cahill Road:
Wasserman, g., 6, 1st $50,000 Muckleshoot Tribal Classic Stakes. Mimis
Road Warrior, 2nd $50,000 Diane Kem Stakes. At Yellowstone Downs, Out,
g., 2, 3rd $12,825 Thoroughbred Futurity.
Free At Last:
Emancipated, g., 3, 1st $50,000 Trooper Seven Stakes.
Flying With
Eagles: Gadget Queen, f., 4, 1st $50,000 Belle Roberts Stakes.
Tribunal (deceased): Sweetheart
Deal, f., 3, 1st $50,000 John and Kitty Fletcher Stakes.
WOODSTEAD FARM
Delineator:
Chickasaw Park, g., 6, 2nd $50,000 Chinook Pass Sprint Stakes.
Katowice: Enumclaw
Girl, f., 3, 2nd $50,000 John and Kitty Fletcher Stakes.
He's Tops: Eighty
Eight, g., 2, 3rd $50,000 Captain Condo Stakes. Angie's Top Dot,
f., 4, 3rd $50,000 Belle Roberts Stakes.
You and I: At
Albuquerque, Youarefun, g., 3, 2nd $50,000 Albuquerque Derby.
Defensive Play (deceased): Firetrail,
f., 4, 2nd $50,000 Belle Roberts Stakes. Diamond Berries, f., 3,
3rd $50,000 John and Kitty Fletcher Stakes.
The breeders, owners, trainers, jockeys, and
dams of those horses:
Wasserman: Breeder-owner-trainer: Howard
Belvoir. Jockey--Jennifer Whitaker. Dam--Share the Knight, by Knights Choice.
Mimis Road Warrior: Breeder--Carlos
Cerna. Owners--Carlos Cerna and Bill Trabold. Trainer--Junior Coffee. Jockey--Seth
Martinez. Dam--Mimi's Racine, by Table Run.
Out: Breeder-owner--Jack Goggins. Trainer--Doug
Johnson. Jockey--Fernando Gamez. Dam--Allie Belle, by Four Bases.
Emancipated: Breeder--David and Elaine
Parks. Owner--Betty and the Boys. Trainer--Robert Baze. Jockey--Leslie
Mawing. Dam--Artic Mist, by Son of Briartic.
Gadget Queen: Breeder--Sharin Lunceford.
Owner--Todd and Shawn Hansen. Trainer--Blane Wright. Jockey--Ricky Frazier.
Dam--Knights Fantasy, by Staff Riot.
Sweetheart Deal: Breeder--Dr. and Mrs,.
Duane F. Hopp. Owner--D K M Stables and Dan Markle. Trainer--Dan Markle.
Jockey--Seth Martinez. Dam--Runaway Lulu, by Runaway Groom.
Chicasaw Park: Breeder--Robert E. Gibson.
Owner--H. R. Pat Mullens, R. A. Larson, and Ed Zenker. Trainer--H. R. Pat
Mullens. Jockey--Seth Martinez. Dam--Chena, by Chisos.
Enumclaw Girl: Breeder--John and Doris
Konecny. Owner--Doris Konecny. Trainer--Rosie Simkins. Jockey--Gallyn Mitchell.
Dam--Seattle Seamstress, by Wolf Power (SAf).
Eighty Eight: Breeder--Bar C Racing
Stables, Inc., and Melodie Bultena. Owner--Swag Stable. Trainer--Vann Belvoir.
Jockey--Wilson Dieguez. Dam--Girls Nite, by Jazzing Around.
Angie's Top Dot: Breeder--Ron Crockett
Inc. Owner--Blue Diamond Stable and Janet Johnson. Trainer--Roy Lumm. Jockey--Juan
Gutierrez. Dam--Cozy Angie, by Cozzene.
Youarefun: Breeder--Wm. L. Currin and
Al Eisman (CA). Owner--Blak Hawk Stable (Allen, et al). Trainer--Chris
Hartman. Jockey--Anthony Lovato. Dam--Fun Project, by Housebuster.
Firetrail: Breeder-owner--Dunn Bar
Ranch LLC. Trainer--Junior Coffey. Jockey--Seth Martinez. Dam--Danza Regio,
by Danzatore.
Diamond Berries: Breeder--Jeff Stoddard.
Owner--Leif S. Nordahl. Trainer--Barbara Heads. Jockey--Ricky Frazier.
Dam--Wild Blackberries, by Free At Last.
El Dorado
Farms is located at Enumclaw, Wash., Woodstead
Farm at Chehalis, Wash.--September 16.
It's Kalookan Day in the Pio Pico at Fairplex
In a battle of Kalookans, Kalookan Year and
Kalookan Dancer dominated Friday's feature at Fairplex Park by finishing
first and third in the $65,000 Pio Pico Stakes.
Friday's result, with Kalookan Year winning
and Kalookan Dancer running third, brought into near-equilibrium the rivalry
between the two successful runners bred by Assistio and Romulo Stables--Kalookan
Year by Event of the Year, Kalookan Dancer
by Olympio. They're out of different mares, but
their breeding is still close; Kalookan Year is out of an Olympio mare.
But going into the race, Kalookan Dancer was
a stakes winner and Kalookan Year was only stakes placed. Now both are
stakes winners and, in still another mark of affinity, they've won the
Pio Pico Stakes in consecutive years.
In addition, both have earnings over $200,000,
Kalookan Dancer at $289,919 and Kalookan Year at $222,402, and both are
California-breds.
For all the similarities in their backgrounds,
Kalookan Year was the better horse on Friday. She rallied late to come
from sixth place in the field of eight to wind up 2 1/4 lengths in front
of the second-place finisher. Kalookan Dancer, after racing second for
most of the race, was pushed back to third, three lengths behind the other
Kalookan.
Kalookan Year's record shows five wins, two
seconds, and a third in 14 starts; Kalookan Dancer has six wins, three
seconds, and three thirds. In addition to winning last year's Pio Pico,
she also has taken the Vacaville Handicap at Vallejo.
Though they have the same breeders, the Kalookans
have different owners and trainers.
Kalookan Year is owned by Shefa Enterprises,
Inc., is trained by Victor Garcia, and was ridden by Alonso Quinonez. Kalookan
Dancer is owned by Robert Gramer, Todd Jones, David Pycz, and her trainer,
Walther Solis. She was ridden by Louis Contreras.
Kalookan Year is out of Maganda, by Olympio;
Kalookan Dancer is out of Desert Ballet, by Moscow Ballet.
Event of the
Year stands at Magali Farms,
Santa Ynez, Calif.; Olympio stands at Victory
Rose Thoroughbreds, Vacaville, Calif.--September 14.
Decarchy Filly Breezes by 10 1/4 at Calder
Three-year-old Miss Maisy devastated an eight-horse
field Sunday at Calder Race Course to become Decarchy's
ninth multiple winner and extend his lead in the California second-crop
sire race.
Running in a race for 3-year-olds and up,
the California-bred filly took the lead on the backstretch and steadily
pulled away from the field to reach the finish a dominating 10 1/4 lengths
in front at the end of the 5 1/2-furlong sprint.
It was her second victory, and with it she
joined five other two-time winners sired by Decarchy. In addition, he's
sired two winners of three races each and one winner of four.
Miss Maisy's win widened Decarchy's lead over
Stormy Jack in the California second-crop sire race to $202,939--$608,180
to $405,241. In their two racing years, Decarchy's runners have earned
$897,423. Nineteen of them have won.
Since leaving California after her 2-year-old
season, Miss Maisy has toured the East, racing at Calder, Gulfstream Park,
Churchill Downs, Colonial Downs, and Penn National. Her record now shows
two wins, two seconds, and two thirds in 12 starts, good for earnings of
$25,326.
She was bred by her trainer, Wesley Ward,
who owns her in partnership with Steve Romano. She was ridden by Pascacio
Lopez. Her dam is Lonestar Girl, by Houston.
Decarchy, sire
of stakes winners Harlene ($201,517) and Timehascometoday ($77,460), stands
at Magali Farms, Santa Ynez, Calif.--September
9.
Swiss Yodeler 2-Year-Old Second in Stake
Chilliwack followed her maiden victory two
weeks earlier with a second-place finish in the $65,000 Bustles and Bows
Stakes Saturday at Fairplex Park to become the 32nd stakes horse sired
by Swiss Yodeler.
The 2-year-old California-bred project of
the Harrington family raced second, tracking the heavily-favored Kentucky-bred
leader for the entire 6 1/2-furlong distance but could never catch up,
finishing three lengths back.
Bred by Dr. Mikel C. and Patricia O. Harrington
and owned and trained by Mikel Harrington, Chilliwack broke her maiden
on August 20 at Del Mar and promptly earned her first black type in her
next start.
Although she was unable to overtake the winner,
Chilliwack finished with a comfortable 2 1/2-length lead over the third-place
finisher. She was ridden by Agapito Delgadillo.
Chilliwack managed only one second and one
third in her first six starts before finally breaking free in her two most
recent efforts. She's earned $46,556 in her eight starts. She's out of
Alarcity, by Allen's Prospect.
Grade 1 winner Swiss
Yodeler, perennially one of California's leading sires, stands at Harris
Farms, Coalinga, Calif.--September 8.
Decarchy Boosts Cal Second-Crop Sire Lead
Harlene, Decarchy's
top money-winner, boosted his career earnings past
$200,000 and helped extend his sire's lead in California's second-crop
sire race by taking third in Friday's $65,000 Jim Kostoff Stakes at Fairplex
Park.
On the same afternoon, Commanding Spirit contributed
to Decarchy's earnings total by breaking his maiden at Emerald Downs in
his second lifetime start to become his sire's 19th winner.
Both are California-bred 3-year-olds.
Harlene, who won the Snow Chief Stakes, the
featured event of Hollywood Park's Gold Rush Day this spring, has earnings
of $201,517. He also boasts a third-place finish in the California Cup
Juvenile Stakes.
Decarchy leads the California second-crop
sire race over second-place Stormy Jack, $603,380 to $403,744--a margin
of $199,636.
In the 1 1/16-mile Jim Kostoff, Harlene raced
near the leaders all the way but was never able to threaten seriously,
though he moved up to second briefly in deep stretch before settling for
third place, 2 1/4 lengths back.
Up in Washington, Commanding Spirit had a
much different trip, also at 1 1/16 miles, leading from start to finish
while under pressure all the way, finally prevailing by a neck. He was
a longshot, paying $55.80 to win.
Harlene, bred by Magali Ventures, LLC, from
the mare Tiara Glow, by Chief's Crown, is owned by Claimboxdotcom, Royce
S. Jaime Racing Stable, Inc., and W C Racing, is trained by Doug O'Neill,
and was ridden by Martin Garcia.
Commanding Spirit was bred and is owned by
Joan Hadley Thoroughbreds, is trained by Michael Puhich, and was ridden
by Gaillyn Mitchell. He's out of Spiritual Magic, by Hermitage.
Decarchy, a multiple
graded stakes winner of $703,862, stands at Magali
Farms, Santa Ynez, Calif.--September 7.
Beau Genius, Unusual Heat 1-2 at Del Mar
Beau Genius's
Synnin and Grinnin, earning her first black type with her fifth straight
win, scurried home first in the five-furlong $65,000-added Daisycutter
Handicap Wednesday at Del Mar, barely fighting off a late rush by Unusual
Heat's Lightmyfirebaby, who was earning her sixth.
Making her first start in stakes company,
4-year-old Synnin and Grinnin took the lead out of the gate and stayed
in front the entire route but had to dig in stubbornly to hold off Lightmyfirebaby,
who moved from seventh in the field of eight to challenge at the wire,
falling short by just a head.
After racing unplaced in her first five starts
at 2, at 3, and at 4 this year, Synnin and Grinnin found the winner's circle
on April 19 in a maiden $25,000 claiming race at Santa Anita and hasn't
been beaten since.
She won for $25,000 claiming at Hollywood
Park in her next start, then moved on to Del Mar to win two allowance races
and then the Daisycutter Wednesday in her first stakes race. With five
wins in 10 starts, she's earned $161,964.
Synnin and Grinnin is the 78th stakes horse
sired by Beau Genius--34 stakes winners and 44 stakes-placed.
Five-year-old Lightmyfirebaby's career has
followed an entirely different trajectory. She didn't race until she reached
4 last year, then won a maiden $50,000 claimer at Del Mar and an allowance
race at Santa Anita. She started this year with an allowance win at Santa
Anita and has gone on to win two stakes races, including the Grade 3 Las
Cienegas Handicap at Santa Anita, and place in four others. She's earned
$354,437 with five wins, five seconds, and two thirds in 22 starts.
Both were bred in California, Synnin and Grinnin
by S. Matos, F. Matos, and Douzas out of Sassy Synner, by Synastry, and
Lightmyfirebaby by David Abrams, Victor Johnson, Jack Nakkashian, and Paul
Wick out of True Melody, by Valid Appeal.
Synnin and Grinnin is owned by Bradley W.
Penny, is trained by Howard Zucker, and was ridden by Joseph Talamo. Lightmyfirebaby
is owned by Richard J. O'Neill, is trained by Barry Abrams, and was ridden
by Alex Solis.
Beau Genius stands
at Ballena Vista Farm, Ramona,
Calif., Unusual Heat at Old
English Rancho, Sanger, Calif.--September 5.
Sought After Juvenile 2nd in Del Mar Stake
Sought After's
promising 2-year-old son Control Seeker mounted a steady challenge in the
stretch of Monday's $100,000-added Im Smokin Stakes at Del Mar but just
failed to get up in time and came away with a second-place finish in his
first venture into added-money company.
Control Seeker, coming off a three-length
maiden special weight win a month earlier at Santa Rosa, closed steadily
through the lane to reach the finish line just a head behind the winner,
who came from far back to engage in the stretch duel.
It was only the third start for Control Seeker,
who was second in his debut and now has a win and two seconds for earnings
of $49,940. He's one of two winners from the current freshman crop of Sought
After; the other set a Golden Gate Fields track record for 4 1/2 furlongs
in his first start.
Control Seeker, bred in California by Miraleste
Inc., is out of Red Table, by Red Ransom. He's owned by Theresa and Edward
DeNike and trained by Lloyd Mason. He was ridden by Russell Baze.
Sought After,
by Seeking the Gold out of a Group 2-winning half-sister to the dam of
champion Rags to Riches and Belmont Stakes winner Jazil, stands at Rancho
San Miguel, San Miguel, Calif.--September 3.
Add Heat Adds to Bankroll in Del Mar Stake
Add Heat doesn't win many races, but the son
of Unusual Heat earns money, and he earned
more on Labor Day by taking second place in the $80,000-added Windy Sands
Handicap at Del Mar, boosting his career bankroll to $279,210.
Now a 5-year-old, Add Heat has won but three
times in 33 starts but he's brought home checks consistently while racing
exclusively in stakes and allowance races since breaking his maiden in
his sixth start, a maiden special weight race at Santa Anita early in his
3-year-old season.
He's raced for a claiming price just once,
when he ran fifth in a maiden $75,000 race at Santa Anita in his first
start at 3. Since then, it's been allowance races, with an occasional stake
mixed in.
In seven stakes starts, he's placed twice,
third in the $100,000 On Trust Handicap late last year at Hollywood Park
and in Monday's Windy Sands. Overall, he's had three wins, five seconds,
and four thirds.
In Monday's race, he started well back in
the 10-horse field but moved up nearing the final turn of the one-mile
race and picked off all his rivals except one in the run to the wire, finishing
2 1/4 lengths back.
Add Heat wasn't the only noteworthy Unusual
Heat performer over the holiday weekend. On Saturday at Del Mar, Unusual
Jane won an allowance race to become the 49th $100,000-plus earner sired
by Unusual Heat. Her earnings now total $100,280.
She's a 4-year-old out of Craven Cottage,
by Smokester, bred in California by Fielding, Huston, and Abrams and owned
by McBrayer and Hickman. She's trained by Mike Puype.
Add Heat, out of Chemolo, by Be a Native,
was bred in California by Madeline Auerbach and is owned by Auerbach, Hal
Wilson, Peter Joe, and his trainer, Barry Abrams. He was ridden in the
Windy Sands by Alex Solis.
Unusual Heat,
California's leading sire of 2008, stands at Old English
Rancho, Sanger, Calif.--September 3.
Sea of Secrets Filly 2nd in Stake in First Loss
Seacrettina, a shining light in the current
2-year-old crop of Sea of Secrets, suffered
her first defeat but did little to dim her reputation Monday when she took
a grimly-contested second place in the $50,000 Clever Trevor Stakes at
Remington Park.
The Kentucky-bred entered the race already
a stakes winner with victories in her first two starts, and she almost
made it three in a row, leading all the way to the final sixteenth before
yielding to finish a length and three quarters back while running against
colts and geldings.
Seacrettina won a maiden special weight race
by two lengths, then took the $75,000 Silver Spur Breeders' Cup Stakes
by 6 1/4 lengths, both at Lone Star Park and was sent off as the favorite
in her first start at the Oklahoma track.
With two wins and a second in three starts,
her earnings now total $69,280.
Bred by Palides Investments N. V. Inc., she's
owned by Baccari Racing and trained by Joseph Petalino. She was ridden
by Ken Tohill. Seacrettina is out of the Dehere mare Sha Hearah.
Seacrettina is one of 26 stakes horses sired
by Sea of Secrets, a graded winning son
of Storm Cat who stands at Ballena
Vista Farm, Ramona, Calif.--September 3.
Funny Justice Certifies His Move Upward
After spending most of his first two seasons
dipping in and out of the claiming ranks, Funny Justice took a long stride
upward with a solid second-place finish in the $60,000 Ruidoso Thoroughbred
Championship Handicap Monday at Ruidoso Downs.
The 4-year-old son of Lit
de Justice never threatened the wire-to-wire winner, but he moved stoutly
through the stretch to finish a comfortable 5 1/2 lengths in front of the
third-place horse.
After winning three times in claiming races
but failing to place in a pair of allowance starts, Funny Justice began
to find his form when he moved from Arizona to New Mexico.
He won for $15,000 claiming at Sunland Park,
then ran third in an allowance race and won another $15,000 claimer at
Sunray Park before moving to Ruidoso Downs, where he moved up to win the
non-blacktype Copper Case Handicap and then earned his first black type
in Monday's race.
His earnings now total $69,190 with five wins,
two seconds, and two thirds in 16 starts.
Funny Justice, out of Funny Year, by Half
a Year, was bred in California by Pablo and Michelle Suarez. He's owned
and trained by Robert Caine and was ridden by Orlando Martinez.
Lit de Justice,
an Eclipse Award-winning sprinter, is the sire of earners of more than
$17,500,000. He stands at Magali Farms,
Santa Ynez, Calif.--September 3.
A Stakes Horse in Atticus's First Cal Crop
The first winner from Atticus's
first California crop became its first stakes horse Monday when Lucky Primo
finished strongly to take third place in the $100,000-added Im Smokin Stakes
at Del Mar.
Making only his third start, Lucky Primo moved
from the middle of the 11-horse field to move vigorously through the stretch
to finish less than a length back of the winner, beaten a head and three-quarters
of a length.
After finishing a well-beaten seventh in his
initial start in July at Hollywood Park, Lucky Primo found his racing legs
in his first start at Del Mar, taking a maiden special weight race by a
half-length.
He came right back two weeks later to earn
his black type by becoming his sire's 21st stakes horse.
Lucky Primo, bred in California by Joshua
and Jason Litt and Dennis O'Neill, is owned by J B K Stable and Jason Litt
and trained by Martin Jones. His rider ws Joel Rosario.
Atticus, whose runners
include Florida Derby winner High Fly ($927,300), moved from Kentucky to
California for the 2005 breeding season. He stands at Magali
Farms, Santa Ynez, Calif.--September 3.
Ben's Reflection Makes Up for '07 Misstep
Consistent Ben's Reflection made amends
for the only blemish on his lengthy stakes record Sunday by taking third
place in a close finish in the $50,000 Honey Jay Stakes at Thistledown.
The 8-year-old son of Cahill
Road had failed to win or place only once in 13 previous stakes races,
and that was in the 2007 renewal of the same Honey Jay Stakes, in which
he finished fourth, beaten only 2 1/4 lengths.
The Honey Jay had been a particular favorite
of Ben's Reflection, with wins in 2003 and 2004 and a second in 2006--he
skipped the event in 2005--so a fourth-place finish in 2007 was unwelcome
He didn't miss a third Honey Jay win by much,
launching his move from last place too late Sunday and winding up a half-length
and a head behind the two leaders while gaining at the finish.
Now in his sixth season of racing, Ben's Reflection
has never finished off the board. He's started 36 times with 18 wins, eight
seconds, six thirds, and four fourths good for earnings of $382,403.
Out of Personalreflection, by Shipping Magnate,
he was bred in Ohio by Thomas M. McCann. He's owned by M. Y. Stables, Inc.,
is trained by Kathleen Lowry, and was ridden by Dean Sarvis.
Cahill Road,
sire of earners of more than $18,000,000, stands at El
Dorado Farms, Enumclaw, Wash.--September 2.
Unexpectedly, Youarefun Now a Stakes Horse
By every calculation, Youarefun was an unlikely
prospect to become the 42nd stakes horse sired by You and I, but he nevertheless finished Sunday's $50,000 Ruidoso Thoroughbred
Derby at Ruidoso Downs firmly lodged in second place.
The 3-year-old California-bred failed to hold
his early lead but he reached the finish line a full six lengths in front
of the third-place horse for his first blacktype placing in 15 career starts.
Going into the race, Youarefun faced an array
of negatives. He'd run ninth in his only previous race at the 1 1/16-mile
distance. He'd won only one race, a maiden special weight race in his 11th
start after racing unplaced in the previous 10. He'd run fifth and ninth
in his only other starts in stakes races.
But there he was, leading the field into the
stretch and yielding only to a strong finish by the horse that he'd battled
from the start, adding black type to his record against all expectations.
His record now shows one win, one second,
and one third in 15 starts with earnings of $40,730--and a stakes placing.
He was bred by William L. Currin and Al Eisman,
is owned by Black Hawk Stable, is trained by Chris Hartman, and was ridden
by Casey Lambert. His dam is Fun Project, by Housebuster.
You and I, sire
of two champions and an earner of $2,101,353, stands at Woodstead
Farm, Chehalis, Wash.--September 2.
Soft Gold (Brz) Adds His 13th Stakes Horse
Starting in a stakes race for the first time
in his busy career, Zawinner, a 5-year-old son of Soft
Gold (Brz), came away with a third-place finish in the Open Stakes
Sunday at Lethbridge.
That made him the 13th stakes horse sired
by Soft Gold (Brz) and continued a string of consistent performances in
which he's been on the board in 12 of his last 13 starts and in every one
of his most recent eight.
Over three seasons of racing, the California-bred
has started 28 times with three wins, four seconds, four thirds, and four
fourths good for earnings of $25,167.
Sunday's race was uneventful, with the top
three horses maintaining their positions in the seven-horse field through
almost all of the seven-furlong distance.
Zawinner was bred by Southern Nevada Racing
Stable and is owned by Art and Lorette Calling Last and trained by Art
Calling Last. He was ridden by Janice Seesequasis. Zawinner is out of MyCalinder
Girl, by Carson City.
Soft Gold (Brz),
a multiple Grade 1 winner in Brazil, stands at Bar C Racing Stables, Hermiston,Ore.--September
2.
Dandy Dora Still Never Headed After 3rd Win
Katowice's brilliant
juvenile daughter Dandy Dora remained undefeated in three career starts
by capturing the $50,000 Freedom of the City Stakes Saturday at Northlands
Park to highlight a successful day for Woodstead Farm stallions.
On the same afternoon, Jack Hes Tops, by He's
Tops, took second in the California State Fair Spring Handicap at Sacramento.
Both Katowice and He's Tops stand at the Woodstead Farm.
Dandy Dora, who's never been headed in her
three starts, sped from wire to wire to victory for the third time, adding
her second straight stakes win at Northlands Park. She took the $50,000
Bird of Pay Stakes on August 1 following a maiden special weight win on
July 18.
At one mile, the Freedom of the City was her
first race around two turns, and she handled the distance without difficulty,
winning by a length and three-quarters. Her first two wins were at 3 1/2
and then 6 1/2 furlongs.
Those three wins have provided earnings of
$66,318 for owner Stanley J. Ryan. Dandy Dora, out of Nightatmisskittys,
by Al Mamoon, was bred in Kentucky by Dunn Bar Ranch LLC. She's trained
by Greg Tracy and is ridden by Rickey Walcott.
In taking second in the six-furlong California
State Fair Sprint Handicap, Jack Hes Tops increased his career earnings
to $166,938 and established himself as one of Northern California's top
sprinters.
He took second in the six-furlong Bay Meadows
Sprint Handicap, a Grade 3 race, and then won an allowance at Bay Meadows
at five furlongs on the turf, his only race on the grass.
In 11 starts, he's earned $166,938, with three
wins, four seconds, and two thirds. He recorded his first stakes placing
when he took second last year in the $100,000 Borderland Derby at Sunland
Park.
Jack Hes Tops, out of the Peterhof mare Castle
Bet, was bred in Washington by Ray and Charlotte Holmes and Jurene Stuart.
He's owned by Lawrence M. Karp and his trainer, Dennis Ward, and was ridden
by William Antongeorgi III.
Woodstead Farm,
home to both Katowice and He's
Tops, is located in Chehalis, Wash.--September 1.
My Main Starr Is a Very Consistent Runner
Deputy Commander's
remarkably consistent son My Main Starr confirmed his newly-achieved status
as a stakes horse Saturday with a second-place finish in the $100,000 Go
for Wand Stakes at Delaware Park.
My Main Starr, a 3-year-old, moved into stakes
company for the first time June 28 in his 13th career start, the $62,000
St. Georges Stakes, also at Delaware Park, and finished second. Saturday's
race marked his second stakes placing in his last three starts.
His stakes placings are a move upward, but
his most impressive achievement is his record of consistency. In 15 career
starts, he's been off the board just once, early last year, and since then
he's been on the board in 11 consecutive races and has won or placed in
nine of his last 10 starts.
Overall, he's started 15 times with four wins,
six seconds, a third, and three fourths. He's run in just one claiming
race, when he won for $40,000 at Laurel early this year. He's earned $140,410.
My Main Starr, out of Olatha, by Miswaki,
was bred in Kentucky by John Sullivan and Hargus and Sandra Sexton. He's
trained by Gary Capuano and was ridden by Carlos Quinones.
Deputy Commander,
sire of earners of more than $22,000,000, stands at Ballena
Vista Farm, Ramona, Calif.--September 1.
Big Emerald Downs Day for Harbor the Gold
Saturday at Emerald Downs was a special occasion
for freshman sire Harbor the Gold, who
got his third winner early in the program and his first stakes horse near
the end of the day.
Noosa Beach, a 4 1/2-length winner on August
14 in his career debut, took third in the $50,000-added Washington Thoroughbred
Breeders Association Lads Stakes in his second start.
In the day's first race, Who's Your Next Ex
improved on the third-place finish in his first career start with a comfortable
3 1/2-length win in his second, becoming the third winner from the first
crop of the son of Seeking the Gold.
Who's Your Next Ex raced near the leaders
in the 10-horse field to the stretch, where he took charge and pulled away
steadily for an easy victory.
In the feature Lads Stakes, Noosa Beach raced
sixth in the eight-horse field to the stretch, where he finished willingly
to reach the finish only two lengths behind the winner.
Although Harbor the Gold stands in Oregon,
both Noosa Beach and Who's Your Next Ex are Washington-breds.
Noosa Beach, out of Julia Rose, by Basket
Weave, was bred by his owner, Jeffery O. Harwood, and his trainer, Doris
Harwood. He was ridden by Juan Gutierrez.
Who's Your Next Ex, out of Synanita, by Synastry,
was bred by Kim Smith and is owned by Kimberly J. Nobles. He's trained
by Doris Harwood and was ridden by Wilson Dieguiez.
Harbor the Gold,
a half-brother to juvenile champion Boston Harbor, stands at Bar C Racing
Stables, Hermiston, Ore.--September 1.
Freedee Does Well Again in His Favorite Race
Liberty Gold's
5-year-old son Freedee, a steady performer who almost never runs a bad
race, has found his stakes groove--Thoroughbred Speed Handicaps at Walla
Walla.
The track has carded two races by that name
this year, and Freedee won the first and ran second Saturday in the second
of them.
Freedee was the odds-on favorite to repeat
the victory he scored in the May 10 running of the five-furlong event,
but the winner of the race came out of the gate blazing and though Freedee
chased him to the finish, he was never able to catch up, finishing 3 3/4
lengths behind.
Freedee maintained his reputation for honesty,
finishing on the board for the 13th consecutive time and for the 19th time
in 22 lifetime starts. He's had an especially successful 5-year-old season
with six wins, a second, and two fourths in nine starts.
Bred in Washington by Dorothy Ann Burrell,
he's owned by Samantha Lebret and trained by Tracy Lebret. He was ridden
by Terrance Birdrattler. Freedee is out of the Petersbury mare Dancing
Tiara.
Liberty Gold,
a graded stakes winner of $598,963, stands at El
Dorado Farms, Enumclaw, Wash.--September 1.
Still Another Runaway Winner for Capsized
Capsized continued
his late-August success Friday when Unsinkable Molly became his third 2-year-old
winner in nine days with a front-running 7 1/4-length victory at the North
Dakota Horse Park.
It was the sixth start for the Kentucky-bred
juvenile, who was uncompetitive in her first three outings. She's hit her
stride only in the past two weeks, running fourth and then second to set
up Friday's trip to the winner's circle. All of her starts have been in
maiden special weight races.
She was out of the gate first in Friday's
five-furlong sprint and never looked back as she pulled away from the field
through the stretch, steadily widening her margin.
She was bred by Don Peters from the Sir Ivor
mare Capable Miss. She's owned by Bill Maher and trained by Ernest Fennell
and was ridden by Jim Beeson.
Unsinkable Molly is the third consecutive
one-sided maiden winner sired by Capsized. On August 21, Adriftinthebay
won by 10 1/2 lengths at Sacramento, and two days later Blazing Dan won
by 5 1/4 at the same track. Then came Unsinkable Molly to win by 7 1/4
lengths.
They're from the second crop of Capsized,
who has 10 winners from his first, now 3-year-olds.
Capsized, a graded
stakes-winning son of Summer Squall, stands at Eagle Oak Ranch, Paso Robles,Calif.--August
31.
Unusual Heat Racks Up 26th Stakes Horse
The swelling torrent of Unusual
Heat stakes performers has added a new tributary, 2-year-olds of 2008,
most recently Trash Master, third in Wednesday's $100,000-added Generous
Portion Stakes at Del Mar.
Trash Master, the second stakes runner from
the current crop of juveniles by California's leading sire, joins 25 of
his other sons and daughters that have won or placed in blacktype races.
Racing evenly under jockey Tyler Baze, Trash
Master moved up steadily in the field of seven but was never able to threaten,
finishing 3 1/4 lengths back of the winner but 4 1/2 lengths ahead of the
fourth horse.
It was Trash Master's fourth start, and she's
flourished since being claimed and transferred to the John Sadler stable
a month ago while running third for $40,000 maiden claiming.
She finished third in that race, her second
career start, but won for $62,500 claiming in her first start wearing the
colors of Gary and Cecil Barber and moved up into stakes company in her
fourth outing in Wednesday's Generous Portion.
Her record now shows a win and two thirds
in four starts for earnings of $36,144. She was bred in California by Matties
Racing LLC, out of Expasara, by Expressman.
Unusual Heat
not only is California's leading sire, he also is the second-leading turf
sire and the fourth-leading synthetic-track sire in North America. He stands
at Old English Rancho, Sanger, Calif.--August
29.
Allowance Win for Promising Decarchy Filly
Decarchy's 3-year-old
daughter Quisisana took another stride forward in her promising new career
Monday when she captured a $56,000 allowance race at Del Mar for her second
victory in three starts.
The other start in her three-race career saw
her take third in the $125,000 Fleet Treat Stakes at Del Mar. She won her
first start at Hollywood Park on December 9, didn't race again until July,
and now has earnings of $64,032 for her three starts.
She's one of 16 winners from the first crop
of multiple graded stakes-winner Decarchy, who was California's champion
freshman sire of 2007 and is the current leader in the second-crop race
of 2008.
Quisisana entered the starting gate of the
6 1/2-furlong race Monday as the odds-on favorite, and she lived up to
the confidence bettors had placed in her, pressing the early leader while
racing second and then taking charge in midstretch to win by a length and
three-quarters under jockey Corey Nakatani.
Bred in California by Todd Gerbovaz, she's
out of the Distinctive Cat mare Mink Kiss. Her owner is Ran Jan Racing,
Inc., and she's trained by Mike Puype.
Decarchy, a stakes
winner of $703,862, stands at Magali
Farms, Santa Ynez, Calif.--August 27.
Beau Genius Filly Breezes to Albuquerque Win
Settling comfortably into stakes competition
at the age of 5, Snowdrop easily disposed of eight foes to score easily
in the $50,000 West Mesa Handicap Sunday at Albuquerque.
The 5-year-old daughter of Beau
Genius took the lead in midstretch of the seven-furlong event and pulled
away to a decisive 3 /12-length victory under jockey Alfredo Juarez, Jr.
It was the third straight stakes appearance
for Snowdrop, who finished second in the Fern Sawyer Handicap at Ruidoso
Downs in May and in the Dr. O. G. Fischer Memorial Handicap at Sunray Park
in June.
Earlier, she'd won the Alameda County Handicap
at Pleasanton and run second in the Sweepida Handicap at Stockton. In 25
starts at 3, 4, and 5, she's won five races with four seconds and six thirds,
good for earnings of $212,840.
She was bred in California by David and Mary
Ann Sawyer, is owned by Double Eagle Ranch and Garth McCloud, and is trained
by Bennie Woolley, Jr. Her dam is Sioux River, by Half a Year.
Snowdrop is one of 76 stakes horses sired
by Beau Genius, who stands at Ballena
Vista Farm, Ramona, Calif.--August 26.
Atticus Son Second in Fast $200,000 Stake
Starticus, a lightly-raced 4-year-old son
of Atticus, made his stakes debut in the $200,000
Arlington Sprint Handicap Saturday at Arlington Park, and it took a course-record
performance to beat him.
Starticus spent the entire 5 1/2 furlongs
chasing the odds-on favorite, who led from start to finish, winning by
two lengths and breaking the record for the turf course.
After breaking third in the 10-horse field,
Starticus immediately moved up to second and pressed the front-runner all
the way, interrupted momentarily by having to steady at the half-mile pole.
It was only the ninth career start for Starticus,
who had moved steadily toward his stakes debut with three allowance wins
in his previous four starts. Saturday's race was the first in the United
States for the Kentucky-bred. Seven of his first eight starts were at Woodbine;
the other was at Fort Erie, where he won for the first time last October--by
15 1/4 lengths in a maiden special weight race.
His record now shows four wins, two seconds,
and a third with earnings of $190,933. He's never run in a claiming race.
Starticus, out of the Fly So Free mare Evening
Stardrift, was bred by George G. DeYoung, is owned by Danny M. Lococo,
is trained by Ralph Biamonte, and was ridden by Junior Alvarado.
He's the 20th stakes horse sired by Atticus,
a son of Nureyev who set a world record for one mile in winning the Arcadia
Handicap at Santa Anita. He stands at Magali
Farms, Santa Ynez, Calif.--August 25.
Thekatcamehome Gets 10th Stakes Placing
Thekatcamehome, who's never left home, racked
up her 10th added-money Saturday at Prairie Meadows by taking second in
the $80,000-added Donna Reed Handicap for the second year in a row.
The 5-year-old Iowa-bred daughter of Sea
of Secrets has made 25 starts over a four-year career--every one of
them at Prairie Meadows. Fifteen of those starts were in stakes races,
and she's been off the board in only two of them.
After starting slowly, Thekatcamehome moved
steadily but was never able to overtake the leader, racing 5 1/4 lengths
back at the conclusion of the mile-plus-70-yards event.
Her stakes record now shows one win, six seconds,
three thirds, and three fourths. Overall, she has seven wins, seven seconds,
three thirds, and five fourths in 25 starts with earnings of $274,928.
She was bred by J. D. Santen, is owned by
Maggi Moss, is trained by Dick Clark, and was ridden by Glenn Corbett.
She's out of Colville Deb, by Lake.
Sea of Secrets,
a graded stakes-winning son of Storm Cat, is the sire of 26 stakes horses.
He stands at Ballena Vista Farm,
Ramona, Calif.--August 25.
Cal-Bred Stormy Jack
Filly Wins in the East
Leading from start to finish, Stormy Taters
became Stormy Jack's fourth multiple winner
by scoring a 3 3/4-length victory Friday at Penn National.
The 3-year-old filly, the even-money favorite
in the field of nine, took the lead out of the gate and lengthened it steadily
to the final 3 3/4-length margin over four and a half furlongs.
Unraced at 2, the California-bred broke her
maiden at Santa Anita in April in her fourth start but was unplaced in
her next two starts at Hollywood Park. After that, she shipped east and
after racing unplaced in one start at Delaware Park moved over to Penn
National.
She was second in her first start in the Quaker
State, earning her the favorite's role in Friday's race, and she responded
successfully under the guidance of jockey James Lopez.
In nine starts, Stormy Taters has two wins
and two seconds for earnings of $26,370. She joins world record-setting
stakes winner Bob Black Jack (3 wins, $442,925), Stormy Racer (2 wins,
$36,284), and Dr. Pooh (2 wins, $25,940) as other Stormy Jack winners of
more than one race.
Stormy Taters was bred by James G. and Ginny
G. Johnston, is owned by Claimboxdotcom, Guiol, and Samo, and is trained
by Doug O'Neill.
Stormy Jack,
California's second-leading freshman sire of 2007, is currently the states
No. 2 second-crop sire as well. He stands at Harris
Farms, Coalinga, Calif.--August 24.
Another One-Sided Maiden Win for Capsized
Marking the second day in a row on which a
Capsized
juvenile has scored a maiden victory by a wide margin, Blazing Dan breezed
wire to wire to win by 5 1/4 lengths Thursday at the California State Fair
meeting in Sacramento.
A day earlier on the Sacramento track, another
Capsized 2-year-old, Adriftinthebay, had broken her maiden with a late
drive to win by 10 1/2 lengths. Both were six-furlong races.
Although he was only the bettors' second choice,
Blazing Dan was clearly sitting on a win. He'd run fifth in his first start,
then moved up to second in his next outing, finishing five lengths behind.
In his third start, he was second again, this time missing by only a length
and a half.
On Thursday, he took the next logical step,
moving into the winner's circle with his fourth start. His earnings now
total
$14,760.
Blazing Dan is the third winner from Capsized's
second crop. They join 10 winners from his first crop, now 3-year-olds.
A son of Blazing Deputy, by Silver Deputy,
Blazing Dan was bred in California by his owner-trainer, Daniel Franko.
He was ridden by Juan Ochoa, who also piloted Wednesday's Capsized winner.
Capsized, California's
third-leading freshman sire of 2007 and among the state's second-crop leaders
this year, stands at Eagle Oak Ranch, Paso Robles, Calif.--August 23.
A New Graded Winner for Redattore (Brz)
Already crowned as the champion freshman sire
in Brazil in his debut, Redattore (Brz) added
to his growing collection of laurels last weekend when his 3-year-old son
Davignon won the Grade 3 Grande Premio Costa Ferraz at Gavea Racetrack
in Rio de Janeiro.
The race was run at 1600 meters on the turf
and prepared Davignon for the next date on his schedule, the Grade 1 Grande
Premio Ipiranga at the same distance on the same surface. The Ipiranga,
to be run at Sao Paolo's Hipodromo Paulistano on September 7, is the first
leg of the Brazilian Triple Crown.
Redattore (Brz), who shuttles for stud duty
in both the United States and Brazil, makes his American home at Harris
Farms, Coalinga. His first American foals, now 2-year-olds, are following
a career path much different from that of their Brazilian kin. Only five
of the 37 foals in that Ameican crop have started.
Davignon isn't the first of Redattore (Brz)'s
runners to find success in graded stakes company. Estrela do Oriente has
won Grade 1 and Grade 3 stakes and Setembro Neva has a Grade 1 placing.
Redattore (Brz)'s American foals are following
their sire's racing pattern; he started only three times at 2, winning
once. But he blossomed at 3 and 4, winning or placing in five Brazilian
stakes, one of them Grade 1.
Imported to the U. S. for his 5-year-old season,
he launched a three-year career that saw him win seven stakes races--two
Grade 1, four Grade 2, one Grade 3--and place in six others, three of those
Grade 1.
Redattore (Brz)
retired with earnings of $1,799,883 after 32 starts over seven seasons
in Brazil and the U. S.--August 22.
Capsized Filly Wins First by 10 1/2 Lengths
Adriftinthebay must have learned something
in her first start, because she blew away the field in her second, winning
by 10 1/2 lengths with an explosive burst in the stretch Wednesday on opening
day at the Cal Expo meeting in Sacramento.
In her career debut on July 18 at Vallejo,
the 2-year-old daughter of Capsized finished
fourth, beaten nine lengths, but it was a different story in her second
time out.
She raced second, close to the leader, through
the backstretch of the six-furlong race, but when she reached the stretch,
she accelerated, took the lead, and moved out to win by a wide margin.
Adriftinthebay is the 11th winner sired by
Capsized, nine from his first crop and two from his second. They've earned
more than $370,000.
Bred in California by Lori Sala, Adriftonthebay
is owned by M. A. Douzas and Ron Stolich and is trained by Gil Matos. She's
out of Ecstatic One, by Septieme Ciel. She was ridden to her win by Juan
Ochoa.
Capsized, a graded
stakes-winning son of Summer Squall, stands at Eagle Oak Ranch, Paso Robles,Calif.--August
22.
Elderly Beaulena Thriving in Stakes Company
Beaulena's late-in-life reincarnation as a
stakes horse is continuing.
The durable 8-year-old daughter of Beau
Genius, who'd never run in a stakes race before the age of six, now
has won or placed in seven added-money events, most recently the $100,000
Emerald Distaff Handicap Sunday at Emerald Downs.
She made her stakes debut in her 18th start,
in October of her 6-year-old season, winning the City of Phoenix Stakes
at Turf Paradise. That turned out to be her only stakes victory, but since
then she's run second in two others and third in four.
And in 14 starts since that day, she's never
raced in anything but stakes.
In 32 starts, she's won six, with eight seconds,
and eight thirds for earnings of $194,687. She was bred in Kentucky by
Jack, George, and Keith Lancaster and is owned by Ernest D. and Roberta
M. Sherman. She's trained by Blaine Wright. She's out of the Native Royalty
mare Also Royal.
In the 1 1/8-mile Emerald Distaff, she never
threatened to win, but she moved well in the stretch and was gaining on
the leaders at the end, finishing just a length and a half behind the winner.
She was ridden by Leslie Mawing.
She is one of 76 stakes horses sired by millionaire
Beau
Genius, who stands at Ballena
Vista Farm, Ramona, Calif.--August 21.
Joni's Justice Still Looking for Stakes Win
Lit de Justice's
son Joni's Justice has made a seamless advance into stakes competition
this year at the age of 5, but he's still looking for that first added-money
win.
He turned in a good effort in Sunday's $50,000
Minnesota Turf Championship Stakes at Canterbury Park, but he objected
to being rated and became somewhat rank on the backstretch of the one-mile
turf race. That may have cost him the race, because he finished just a
half-length behind the winner while running second.
That left him with two seconds and a third
in the three stakes in which he's run since returning from a seven-month
layoff. Before that vacation, he'd started just once in a stakes race,
at the age of 3, and he ran seventh in that.
Now, he's found that he fits at that level,
and he's ready to move up another notch--into the winner's circle.
In 14 starts at 3, 4, and 5, Joni's Justice
has earned $75,673, with three wins, five seconds, two thirds, and two
fourths--off the board only twice.
Out of Love Again, by Reprimand, he was bred
in Minnesota by Barry Butzow and is owned by Barry and Joni Butzow. He's
trained by McLean Robertson and was ridden by Dean Butler.
Lit de Justice,
sire of 33 stakes horses and earners of more than $17,200,000, stands at
Magali
Farms, Santa Ynez, Calif.--August 21.
Cahill Road: Two Longacres Miles in a Row
For the second year in a row, a son of Cahill
Road won Washington's premier race, the Grade 3 Longacres Mile Handicap,
when Wasserman triumphed in a three-horse blanket finish in Sunday's renewal
of the classic at Emerald Downs.
Wasserman's victory was a personal triumph
for Howard Belvoir, the breeder, owner, and trainer of the 6-year-old Washington-bred,
whose career earnings now total $415,970. Belvoir also saddled the fourth-place
finisher, Assessment.
A year ago, Wasserman was third in the Mile
as another son of Cahill Road, The Great Face, won the event.
Sunday was a great day, too, for Jennifer
Whitaker, whose victorious ride aboard Wasserman made her the first winning
female jockey in the long history of the Mile, first at Longacres and then
at its successor track, Emerald Downs.
Wasserman and Canadian invader True Metropolitan
raced near the back of the 12-horse field in the early going but launched
a drive together and reached the stretch to duel with the favored Southern
California shipper Tropic Storm, who closed late to make it a three-horse
battle.
Wasserman took a narrow lead 70 yards from
the finish and held on to win by a neck over True Metropolitan with Tropic
Storm another neck back.
The Mile is a guaranteed-entry Breeders' Cup
race, but Belvoir said there was little chance that he would supplement
Wasserman to the big show.
Cahill Road,
sire of earners of more than $18,200,000, stands at El
Dorado Farms, Enumclaw, Wash.--August 19.
Sunday's Another Big Day for Unusual Heat
With two of his daughters placing in the Grade
1 Del Mar Oaks, Saturday was an outstanding day for Unusual
Heat, but Sunday may have been just as good.
Two other daughters ran first and second in
the $100,000-added Solana Beach Handicap at Del Mar and still another took
third in the $50,000-added Last Dance Stakes, the last race on the last
racing program that will ever be run at Bay Meadows.
Here are those daughters: Bel Air Sizzle and
Lethal Heat in the Del Mar Oaks, America's Friend and Lightmyfirebaby in
the Solana Beach Handicap, and My Maloof Rocker in the Last Dance Stakes.
Unusual Heat stands at Old
English Rancho, Sanger, and the farm had an even better day than their
star stallion did.
In addition to the one-two finish by Unusual
Heat daughters in the Solana Beach, Old English scored additionally when
Bachelorette One, by another of the farm's stallions, Perfect Mandate,
took third in the same race. So it was a clean sweep of the Solana Beach
by Old English sires.
America's Friend and My Maloof Rocker were
making their first stakes starts, so their success increased Unusual Heat's
total of stakes horses to 25.
Here are the vital statistics on each of the
Sunday four (all California-breds):
America's Friend. Age: 4. Breeders:
Madeline Auerbach, David Abrams, and Vincenzo Loverso. Owners: Auerbach,
Abrams, Loverso, and Joe, Peter, and Hal Wilson. Trainer: Barry Abrams.
Jockey: Alex Solis. Race record: 24-4-4-7-$261,148. Dam: Bel Air Belle,
by Runaway Groom.
Lightmyfirebaby. Age: 5. Breeders:
David Abrams, Victor Johnson, Jack Nakkashian, and Paul Wick. Owner: Richard
J. O'Neill. Trainer: Barry Abrams. Jockey Joel Rosario. Race record: 21-5-4-2-$336,529.
Dam: True Melody, by Valid Appeal.
My Maloof Rocker. Age: 3. Breeder and
owner: Winfield S. Tuttle. Trainer: Adam Kitchingman. Jockey: David Lopez.
Race record: 14-2-4-4-$86,814. Dam: Redcliff Bay, by Smokester.
Bachelorette One. Age: 5. Breeder:
Donnie Hallmark. Owner: Tom Mankiewicz. Trainer: John Sadler. Jockey: Mike
Smith. Race record: 14-4-3-2-$175,389.
Unusual Heat
is by Nureyev; Perfect Mandate is by GoneWest.--August
19.
Unusual Heat Daughters 2-3 in Del Mar Oaks
Unusual Heat's
talented daughters Bel Air Sizzle and Lethal Heat missed the winner's circle
in Saturday's $350,000 Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks, but they did the next best
thing--they took second and third.
As consolation prizes, Bel Air Sizzle, already
a Grade 1 winner, took home a second-place purse of $70,000, and Lethal
Heat, winner of Grade 2 and Grade 3 stakes, was rewarded with $42,000 for
running third in the 1 1/8-mile race on the turf at Del Mar.
Lethal Heat had a win in her sights after
leading into the stretch, but she was overtaken in the stretch by longshot
Magical Fantasy and stablemate Bel Air Sizzle. Magical Fantasy went on
to win by two lengths and Bel Air Sizzle edged Lethal Heat by a half-length.
Although they're only 3-year-olds, both Bel
Air Sizzle and Lethal Heat already have impressive career records.
Lethal Heat has won five races and earned
$426,527, with four stakes wins--two graded-- and two stakes placings,
both graded. Bel Air Sizzle has four wins with earnings of $370,366. She's
won one ungraded stakes race and placed in four, all graded.
Both were bred in California, Bel Air Sizzle
by Madeline Auerbach, David Abrams, and Vincenzo Loverso out of Bel Air
Belle, by Runaway Groom; Lethal Heat by Auerbach, Abrams, and Tom Roberts
out of Lethal Leta, by Synastry.
Bel Air Sizzle is owned by Auerbach, Loverso,
Ron McCauley, Abrams, Wilson, et al; Lethal Heat by Auerbach, Abrams, and
McCauley.
Both are trained by Barry Abrams. Clinton
Potts rode Bel Air Sizzle; Rafael Bejarano rode Lethal Heat.
Unusual Heat,
California's leading sire of 2008, has career progeny earnings of $15,976,224.
He stands at Old English Rancho, Sanger, Calif.--August
18.
Harbor the Gold Gets Winner, Then Another
A winner from the first crop of a new sire
is always awaited eagerly, and Harbor the Gold
got not only No. 1 last week but also No. 2 just three days later.
Last Thursday at Emerald Downs, Noosa Beach
breezed to a 4 1/2 victory at Emerald Downs in his first start, and on
Sunday Aroseformadeline made that look close by streaking wire to wire
to win by 11 3/4 lengths at Yellowstone Downs in her second start.
Noosa Beach won at 4 1/2 furlongs; Aroseformadeline
went a furlong farther. Noosa Beach raced third, close to the leaders,
until he kicked into gear to take the lead with a quarter-mile to go and
pulled away to win easily. Aroseformadeline led all the way in her race.
Noosa Beach was bred in Washington by his
owner, Jeff Harwood, and his trainer, Doris Harwood. Out of the Basket
Weave mare Julia Rose, he was ridden by Juan Gutierrez.
Aroseformadeline was bred in Oregon by her
owner, Leonard Hammrich, is trained by Janis Schoepf, and was ridden by
Chad Benjamin. She's out of Cheyenne Rose, by Katahaula County.
Harbor the Gold,
a winning son of Seeking the Gold, stands at Bar
C Racing Stables, Hermiston, Ore.--August 18.
Freespool's First-Crop Winner Total Hits 10
Freespool, steadily
adding to the number of winners in his first crop, welcomed his 10th Saturday
when Spooler broke her maiden at Los Alamitos in her third career start.
Sixth in her first start and third in her
next, Spooler finished her climb upward by rallying down the stretch to
pull away in the final sixteen to win by three-quarters of a length under
prompting by jockey Ramon Guce.
She broke fourth in the field of nine in the
4 1/2-furlong sprint but stayed close to the pace and moved up stoutly
when the field reached the stretch.
Bred in California by Harris Farms, Inc.,
she's owned by Carl W. Robertson, II, and trained by Edward Freeman.
Three of Freespool's 10 winners have gone
on to win again, and one--stakes-winner Joe's Cannon--has reached the winner's
circle six times. They're all 3-year-olds.
Graded stakes-winner Freespool,
who concluded his racing career with earnings of $527,288, posted fractional
times under 22 seconds for a quarter 19 times in his 25 starts. He stands
at Special T Thoroughbreds, Temecula, Calif.--August 18.
In Three Starts, He's Already a Stakes Horse
It didn't take Toss'm Again long to add black
type to his brief resume.
In only his third start, the 2-year-old son
of Free At Last took second in the $50,000-added
Northwest Stallion Strong Ruler Stakes Sunday at Emerald Downs to become
his sire's 51st stakes horse.
Toss'm Again came into the race off a 3 3/4-length
maiden victory in late July, and that performance made him the second preference
of bettors. He finished more than three lengths ahead of the favorite but
couldn't match the winner in a duel down the stretch, winding up 2 1/4
lengths behind.
In three starts, Toss'm Again has a win, a
second, and a third with earnings of $17,400. He's raced only at Emerald
Downs.
Toss'm Again was bred in Washington by Tom
and Becky L. Berklid from La Mariah, by Country Light. He's owned by Al
Rainwater and Sansei Boys and trained by Junior Coffey. He was ridden by
Seth Martinez.
Free At Last,
a champion 2-year-old in Canada, is the sire of earners of more than $8,700,000.
He stands at El Dorado Farms,
Enumclaw, Wash.--August 13.
Woodstead Sires 1-3 in Emerald Downs Stake
Woodstead Farm
sires dominated the $50,000-added Northwest Stallion Strong Ruler Stakes
Sunday at Emerald Downs as Enumerator, by He's Tops,
scored an easy victory with Fast Tacticts, by Delineator,
not far behind in third in the 6 1/2-furlong event.
It was the third start and the first stakes
race for each of the 2-year-old colts. Enumerator has won two of his three
starts; Fast Tacticts, second in his first two races, is now a stakes-placed
maiden.
Enumerator ran down the front-running favorite
to take the lead early in the stretch run and drew away steadily to win
by 2 1/4 lengths. Fast Tacticts raced fourth in the five-horse field in
the early going, then moved up in the stretch to capture third place, just
three lengths back of the winner.
He's Tops had another winner on Saturday when
4-year-old Wind Storm scored his fourth victory and increased his career
earnings to $75,189 with a four-length triumph in an allowance race at
Hastings Racecourse.
Enumerator, out of Really Tops, by Desert
Wine, was bred in Washington and is owned by Herman Sarkowsky. He's trained
by Doris Harwood and was ridden by Juan Gutierrez. He's earned $33,660.
Fast Tacticts, out of Tacticts, by La Saboteur,
was bred in Washington by Sherri Jones and Will Johnson and is owned by
his trainer, Howard Belvoir, in partnership with Tice Ranch, LLP. He was
ridden by Jennifer Whitaker. He's earned $12,390.
He's Tops, sire
of 21 stakes horses, and Delineator, sire
of 24, stand at Woodstead Farm, Chehalis,
Wash.--August 12.
2-Year-Old Is Cahill Road's 49th Stakes Horse
Not even two months into her budding racing
career, Mimis Road Warrior became Cahill Road's
49th stakes horse Saturday when she took third in the $50,000-added Northwest
Stallion Knights Choice Stakes at Emerald Downs.
The 2-year-old Washington-bred out of Mimi's
Reason, by Table Run, ran third in her debut on June 27 and on August 2
broke her maiden. She followed that with Saturday's stakes placing, barely
six weeks after her first start. She's run all of her races at Emerald
Downs.
She had a troubled trip in the Knights Choice
but finished strong in the 6 1/2-furlong event. The official chart tells
her story: "Mimis Road Warrior was bumped at the start, raced in tight
quarters nearing the three-eighths pole, moved up from between foes approaching
the stretch and finished with good courage."
At the finish she was closing on the second-place
horse to wind up only a neck out of the runner-up spot while maintaining
a 4 1/4-length lead over the next finisher.
She was bred in Washington by Carlos Cerna,
who owns her in partnership with Bill Trabold. She's trained by Junior
Coffey and was ridden by Travis Cunningham.
Cahill Road,
Washington's leading sire in career earnings with more than $18,200,000,
stands at El Dorado Farms, Enumclaw,
Wash.--August 11.
Golden Gear Maiden Third in Idaho Stake
Although he's still a maiden, 2-year-old Coach
Pete became a stakes horse in his second start Saturday with a third-place
finish in the $45,000 Idaho Cup Juvenile Championship Stakes at Les Bois
Park.
The home-bred gelding is the 21st stakes horse
sired by Golden Gear, who joined Arizona's
stallion ranks this spring to stand at Fleming Thoroughbred Farm in Willcox.
In his first start two weeks ago, in the trials
for Saturday's race, Coach Pete finished third, just a neck behind, in
a three-horse photo finish. He wasn't that close in the Championship race,
winding up more than seven lengths back of the two leaders, but he finished
well with a 2 1/4-length margin over the fourth-place horse.
Coach Pete, out of the Hollywood Brat mare
Lookinforpeter, was bred in Idaho by his owner, Gregory J. Taylor, and
is trained by Lin Melton. He was ridden by Jessie Chavis.
Golden Gear is
the sire of millionaire champion Ginger Gold and 11 other stakes winners
and earners of more than $10,400,000.--August 11.
Salmon River Tries Two Turns, Third in Stake
Salmon River tied two turns for the first
time, almost handled the distance, and came away with a third-place finish
in the $30,000-added Idaho Cup Distaff Derby at a flat mile Saturday at
Les Bois Park.
Although she'd never raced farther than seven
furlongs in eight prior starts, the 3-year-old daughter of He's
Tops finished less than a length and a half back of the winner after
leading all the way to the stretch before yielding grudgingly in the final
stages of the race.
She finished 3 1/2 lengths in front of the
fourth-place runner in the field of nine horses. It was her second consecutive
third-place in added-money races, following the same finish in the Angi
Go Stakes, also at Les Bois Park, the only track at which she's raced.
In nine starts, she's recorded two wins, two
seconds, and two thirds to earn $11,205, never running for a claiming price.
Salmon River, a daughter of the Fabulous Champ
mare Boileroom, was bred by her owner, Brian Petersen, is trained by Dru
Hall, and was ridden by Cameron Cooledge.
He's Tops, a son
of Seattle Slew, is the sire of 21 stakes horses, including Washington
champions No Giveaway and Youcan'ttakeme. He stands at Woodstead
Farm, Chehalis, Wash.--August 11.
Lethal Heat Shatters Track Record Again
Unusual Heat's
brilliant daughter Lethal Heat continued her highly successful 2008 campaign
by breaking her own track record in winning the $100,000-added Real Good
Deal Stakes Friday at Del Mar.
In annexing her sixth victory in eight career
starts, the 3-year-old sensation increased her earnings to $384,527. Already
the winner of two graded stakes races, she continued to fatten her bankroll
with her second straight victory in races restricted to California-breds,
this time beating a field of seven male adversaries.
On July 20, she whipped Cal-bred fillies in
the $100,000-added Fleet Treat Stakes at Del Mar. In that race, she set
a Del Mar track record of 1:22.46 for seven furlongs on the artificial
surface and lowered that to 1:21.95 in Friday's victory.
Lethal Heat didn't move into contention in
the Real Good Deal until she reached the stretch, but when she got there,
she moved strongly to take the lead and hold on to the wire to win by a
half-length.
Her trainer, Barry Abrams, determined that
she'd had such an easy time in Friday's race that she would be wheeled
back into next Saturday's Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks, a $350,000 race at a mile
and an eighth on the turf.
That distance and surface will challenge Lethal
Heat, who's never raced past a mile and a sixteenth and whose only unplaced
finish came when she ran sixth in the Flawlessly Stakes at a mile on the
grass at Hollywood Park.
Unraced at 2, all of Lethal Heat's achievements
have come this year at 3. In eight starts, she's won six times and finished
third once, posting victories in the Grade 3 Santa Paula Stakes at Santa
Anita and the Grade 2 Hollywood Oaks at Hollywood Park along with allowance
and maiden special weight wins.
She was bred in California by David Abrams,
Madeline Auerbach, and Tom Roberts and is owned by Auerbach, Ron McCauley,
and her trainer, Barry Abrams. She was ridden in the Real Good Deal by
Garrett Gomez.
Unusual Heat,
California's leading sire of 2008 by a wide margin, stands at Old
English Rancho, Sanger, Calif.--August 10.
Private Gold Gets Fifth First-Crop Winner
Coco'sprivatelabel, demonstrating that she
deserved her favorite's role, coasted to a four-length victory Thursday
at Emerald Downs to become the fifth winner from the first crop of stakes-winner
Private
Gold.
Those five winners provide Private Gold with
a
wide lead among Washngton's freshman sires and give him a head start to
becoming El Dorado Farms's third first-year champion in the past four years.
Liberty Gold was the leader in 2005 and the late Tribunal the leader in
2006.
Coco'sprivatelabel made his first start July
24 at Emerald Downs and finished second, beaten only a head. That gave
bettors good reason to make him the favorite in his second outing, and
he rewarded them by taking the lead out of the gate and holding it all
the way through the 5 1/2-furlong race, stretching his margin to four lengths
at the finish.
He was bred in Washington by Julie Ann Scofield
and Just A Dream Stable, which owns him in partnership with Ron and Nina
Hagen. He's trained by Doris Harwood and was ridden to victory by Juan
Guitierrez.
Private Gold,
a son of $2,307,000-earner Seeking the Gold, stands at El
Dorado Farms, Enumclaw, Wash.--August 10.
Redattore (Brz) Wins Brazil First-Crop Title
His first California foals are just reaching
the races, but the first runners of Redattore (Brz)
in his native Brazil already have made their mark.
The Grade 1-winning earner of $1,799,883
stood one season in Brazil before moving north to begin his North American
stud career at Harris Farms in
California with the 2005 northern hemisphere breeding season.
He continues to shuttle
to Brazil for stud duty in that country.
With that one first
Brazilian crop, Redattore (Brz) became that nation's leading freshman sire
for the 2007-2008 racing season that ended on June 30. He sired 11 winners
won the Troféu Mossoró--the Brazilian version of an Eclipse
Award--as the best Brazilian sire (both native and imported)..
His most prominent runner, Group I winner
Estrela do Oriente, has been exported to France, where he will be trained
by Pascal Bary for owner Stephan Friborg. He is expected to run there once
or twice before the Dubai Meeting of 2009.
In addition to Estrela do Oriente, Redattore
(Brz) Brazilian crop includes another stakes winner and two stakes-placed
runners, including Group I-placed Setembro Neva.--August 9.
Mud Route Son Breezes to Second Stakes Win
Mud Route's highly
promising son El Sinaloense firmly lodged himself in the top ranks of western
Canadian juveniles Monday with an overpowering triumph in the $50,000 British
Columbia Cup Nursery Stakes at Hastings Racecourse.
The 2-year-old gelding sailed to his third
consecutive victory by taking the lead at the start and lengthening it
throughout the 6 1/2-furlong event, reaching the finish a widening six
lengths in front.
Since running second in a maiden special weight
race in his career debut in mid-May, El Sinaloense has been unbeatable,
rebounding in June to win at the same level by three lengths and following
with a 5 1/2-length score in the $50,000 Ladnesian Stakes. He's raced only
at Hastings Racecourse.
He's a British Columbia-bred, but his two
stakes wins came in open, unrestricted races.
With three wins in four starts, El Sinaloense
has earned $79,625. He was bred by Mike Anderson, is owned by Lara Racing
Stables, Ltd., is trained by Juan Olmos, and was ridden by Pedro Alvarado.
Mud Route, a multiple
graded-winning son of Strawberry Road (Aus), stands at Special T Thoroughbreds,
Temecula, Calif.--August 6.
Sea of Secrets Filly Leaps Up to Stakes Level
Vaulting from a maiden victory into added-money
company in the third race of her career, Dreamin N Schemin became Sea
of Secrets's 26th stakes horse by taking second in the $50,000 Debutante
Stakes Monday at Assiniboia Downs.
After finishing second in her first race on
July 11, the Kentucky-bred 2-year-old filly recovered quickly to win a
maiden special weight race by seven lengths 11 days later. That earned
her a ticket into the Debutante 13 days after that.
Although she emerged with black type, Dreamin
N Schemin found the leap into stakes company a stern challenge. She came
out of the gate second to the Louisiana-bred favorite and stayed on her
heels for the first half of the 5 1/2-furlong race but gradually lost contact
and wound up 6 1/4 lengths back at the finish. Nevertheless, she held a
3 1/4-length lead over the third-place horse at the end.
With a win and two seconds in three starts,
all at Assiniboia Downs, Dreamin N Schemin has earnings of $19,304. She
was bred by Valerie Blethen, is owned by Off 2 Win, is trained by Ardell
Sayler, and was ridden by Rohan Singh.
Sea of Secrets,
a graded stakes-winning son of Storm Cat, stands at Ballena
Vista Farm, Ramona, Calif.--August 6.
Unbeaten Katowice Filly Wins Stake Easily
Talented Dandy Dora emphatically remained
undefeated Friday at Northlands Park, streaking wire to wire to capture
the $97,750 Bird of Pay Stakes by a dominating 9 1/4 lengths.
It was the second start of a promising career
for the 2-year-old daughter of Katowice, and
her record is perfect. In her career debut on July 18 at the Edmonton track,
she took a maiden special weight race by 3 1/2 lengths, and she had no
difficulty making the jump from 3 1/2 furlongs in that race to Friday's
6 1/2 furlongs.
With two wins in two starts, her earnings
now total $38,058. She's the 17th stakes winner and 31st stakes horse sired
by Katowice.
The Bird of Pay was a romp for Dandy Dora
from the start. She was out of the gate first in the field of eight and
increased her margin steadily, from two lengths to four lengths, to six
lengths at subsequent quarters and finally to the winning margin of 9 1/4
lengths.
Bred in Kentucky by Dunn Bar Ranch LLC, she's
owned by Stanley J. Ryan and trained by Greg Tracy. The winning rider was
Rickey Walcott.
Katowice, a son
of Danzig, is the sire of earners of more than $9,100,000. He stands at
Woodstead
Farm, Chehalis, Wash.--August 5.
Bythebeautifulsea, Second Again, Doing Okay
Bythebeautifulsea, who knows how to place
but is having trouble winning, had to settle for second place for the third
race in a row Sunday at Monmouth Park but got a useful consolation prize
in the form of a $19,000 runner-up check.
The event was the $100,000-added Charles Hess
III Handicap at a mile and a sixteenth, and the distance proved to be a
bit too much for the 4-year-old son of Sea of
Secrets.
Bythebeautifulsea had gone past six furlongs
only once before in his 16 starts, a race in which he ran fourth in the
Storm
Cat Stakes at the Meadowlands at the same distance as Sunday's race, so
his second-place finish was an improvement.
After leading most of the way Sunday, Bythebeautifulsea
finally was overtaken in midstretch and wound up just a length and a half
behind the winner. It was his third straight second-place finish. Since
winning almost exactly a year ago at Monmouth, he's run third twice and
second three times in five starts.
He's been a solidly consistent performer,
off the board just once in his past 10 starts, a string in which he's won
three to go with three seconds, two thirds, and a fourth.
For his 16-race career, the New Jersey-bred
has four wins, four seconds, two thirds, and three fourths for earnings
of $182,569.
Bred by Marianne and Charles Hesse, he's owned
by Char-Mari Stable and trained by Jason Servis. He was ridden by Jose
Lezcano.
Sea of Secrets,
a graded stakes-winning son of Storm Cat, is the sire of 25 stakes horses
and earners of more than $10,400,000. He stands at Ballena
Vista Farm, Ramona, Calif.--August 5..
Capsized Son Scores Third Win in a Row
Cap Spring Squall became Capsized's
second three-time winner and ran his streak of victories to three in a
row with a narrow triumph Sunday at Canterbury Park.
The 3-year-old California-bred colt accelerated
powerfully after entering the stretch seventh in the field of nine and
got to the wire just in time, winning by a nose.
All three of Cap Spring Squall's wins have
come in the space of just one month. He broke his maiden on July 3 and
followed with his second win on July 26, doubling back in just a week's
time to post No. 3 on August 3.
After running sixth in his debut on May 16,
he moved up to second in his next start on June 7, then launched his still-unbroken
three-race winning streak.
In those five starts, all at Canterbury Park,
he earned $16,110.
Bred by Ivol, Inc., far away in California,
he's owned by Susan J. Berg and trained by Harvey Berg. He was ridden by
Jose Betancourt.
His sire, Capsized, is represented by 11 winners,
10 from his first crop and one from his second, 2-year-olds of 2008. Capsized
was California's third-leading freshman sire of 2007 and is among the leaders
in the second-crop race of 2008.
Capsized, a graded
stakes winning son of Summer Squall, stands at Eagle Oak Ranch, Paso Robles,
Calif.--August 5.
Stormy Jack Chalks Up His 10th Winner
Via Hollywood put four lackluster performances
behind him and produced a workmanlike victory Sunday at Santa Rosa to become
the 10th winner from Stormy Jack's first crop
to race.
After finishing no better than sixth in his
first four starts, a different Via Hollywood came out of the gate Sunday,
charging from seventh on the backstretch to second entering the stretch,
then running down the front-running leader to get up in the final strides
to win by a neck.
At odds of 52.20 to 1, Via Hollywood rewarded
his few backers with a $106.40 payoff, the third-longest price in the field
of 10.
John Polster bred the winner in California.
M. A. Douzas is his owner and Gil Matos his trainer. Pablo Flores was his
rider.
Via Hollywood's win enabled Stormy Jack to
tighten his hold on second place in the 2008 California second-crop sire
race. His runners have earned $393,594 this year.
Stormy Jack,
sire of six-furlong world-record setter Bob Black Jack, stands at Harris
Farms, Coalinga, Calif.--August 5.
Back on Turf, Pass the Heat Streaks to Win
A return to the turf was just what Pass the
Heat needed Saturday, and the son of Unusual
Heat broke a two-race losing streak by blazing to victory in the $50,000-added
Joseph T. Grace Handicap on the grass at Santa Rosa.
The 5-year-old California-bred hit the wire
in 1:41.80 for a mile and a sixteenth, not far off the three-year-old course
record of 1:41.32.
His last previous win came in his last grass
race, an allowance race at Bay Meadows on April 20. After that, he ran
third in the Grade 3 Berkeley Stakes on the Tapeta surface at Golden Gate
Fields and fifth in the Alamedan Handicap on the dirt at Pleasanton.
In eight starts on the turf, he's been unplaced
just once, winning five times and running third twice.
Halfway through the Grace, Pass the Heat was
last in the field of six, but he closed much of the gap before the final
turn and took over the lead in midstretch, moving out to a comfortable
two-length victory.
He was bred by his owner, Joseph P. Morey,
Jr., and is trained by William Morey, Jr. He was ridden by Frank Alvarado.
Pass the Heat is one of 23 stakes horses sired
by Unusual Heat, who stands at Old
English Rancho, Sanger, Calif.--August 4.
Elderly Are You Serious, Hot at 6, Nabs Stake
Favored Are You Serious, suddenly a hot horse
at the age of six, won his fifth race in seven 2008 starts when he moved
late to victory in the $110,000 Harvey Arsenault Memorial Stakes Saturday
at Mountaineer Park.
After going winless in 10 starts last year
at 5, the son of You and I has had a sterling
6-year-old season with five wins, a second, and a third in seven starts
for earnings of $148,380. It was the third stakes win of his career, along
with two stakes placings, one of them Grade 3.
Only a loss by a nose two races back kept
the Arsenault from being Are You Serious's fourth win in a row. In that
three-month stretch, he's won two allowance races at Delaware Park and
Charles Town as well as the Arsenault and finished second in his other
start, an allowance at Delaware Park.
Over his five-season career, he's started
35 times with 12 wins, four seconds, and four thirds, good for earnings
of $524,733. He's You and I's third-biggest earner, following You ($2,101,353)
and Harvard Avenue ($606,345).
In the six-furlong Arsenault, Are You Serious
didn't appear to be a contender until the field reached the stretch, where
he moved rapidly into third and then into the lead in the final sixteenth,
winning by three-quarters of a length.
Bred in Ontario by Gardner Farms Limited,
he's owned by Charles W. Everett and his trainer, Todd Beattie, and was
ridden by Dana Whitney.
You and I, himself
a Grade 1 winner of $701,235, is the sire of 41 stakes horses and
earners of more than $16,500,000. He stands at Woodstead
Farm, Chehalis, Wash.--August 4.
Steady as He Goes, General Dan Wins Again
Capsized's unusually
consistent son General Dan scored his second career victory Thursday at
Del Mar, taking charge in the stretch to pull away to a decisive triumph.
In 12 starts at 2 and 3, General Dan has won
twice with four seconds and four thirds, unplaced just once each year.
His earnings now total $63,040.
In dominating a six-horse field at a mile
and a sixteenth in Thursday's race, favored General Dan ran third, pressing
the two leaders, through the final turn, then leaped into the lead and
extended his margin steadily under urging by jockey Joel Rosario to finish
4 3/4 lengths in the clear.
It was the fifth consecutive race in which
he'd either won or placed and the eighth in his last nine starts in which
he'd finished in the top three.
Capsized, last year's third-ranking California
freshman sire, holds the same position in this year's second-crop race,
again following Decarchy and Stormy
Jack.
Capsized, a graded
stakes winner at Saratoga, stands at Eagle Oak Ranch, Paso Robles, Calif.--August
2.
Wasserman Rolls On, Takes Second in Stake
Wasserman took second in the $75,000-added
Mt. Rainier Handicap Sunday at Emerald Downs, continuing a streak of consistent
quality performances that has now extended over almost two years.
The 6-year-old son of Cahill
Road fell just a head short of victory in the Mt. Rainier following
a stretch-long duel with the eventual winner.
After an early 2006 string of failures in
which he was unplaced in eight of nine consecutive starts, Wasserman experienced
a turnaround that has carried all the way to the present time. Since running
sixth on July 30, 2006, he's been off the board only twice in 17 starts,
producing four wins--three of them in stakes races--six seconds, three
thirds, and two fourths.
His lifetime record now shows earnings of
$278,470 in 37 starts, with seven wins, nine seconds, and five thirds.
He's won two stakes races and placed in seven others, including the Grade
3 Longacres Mile.
He's a successful project of Howard Belvoir,
who's his breeder, owner, and trainer. However, he didn't ride Wasserman
in the Mt. Rainier, leaving that to Jennifer Whitaker.
Cahill Road,
sire of 48 stakes horses and earners of more than $18,200,000, stands at
El
Dorado Farms, Enumclaw, Wash.--July 29.
Her First Career Start Yields a Stakes Placing
Without stopping to break her maiden, 2-year-old
Mackee Can launched her racing career in stakes company Saturday and came
away with a third-place finish that made her Cahill
Road's 48th stakes horse.
She made her debut in the Treasure State Futurity
at Great Falls and made a late bid to come away with third place in the
first race of her life.
The Washington-bred filly joins 28 stakes
winners and 19 other stakes-placed runners sired by Cahill Road, Washington's
leading sire in lifetime earnings with more than $18,200,000 in purses
earned by his sons and daughters.
Bred by her owner, Jack Groggins, Mackee Can
is trained by Doug Johnson and was ridden by Fernando Manuel Gamez.
She's a member of Cahill Road's sixth Washington
crop. Those six crops include 102 winners and earners of $3,600,000.
Cahill Road,
a Grade 1-winning son of Fappiano, stands at El
Dorado Farms, Enumclaw, Wash.--July 28.
Unusual Heat Gets 48th $100,000-Plus Earner
Unusual Heat added
the 48th name to his ever-lengthening list of $100,000-plus earners Saturday
when 4-year-old Christiana's Heat spurted ahead in the final sixteenth
to win an allowance race at Del Mar.
Her $35,400 share of the $59,000 purse enabled
her to increase her career earnings to $129,496, breaking a brief slump
in an otherwise consistently successful 4-year-old season.
After winning or placing in seven consecutive
allowance races, Christiana's Heat had sagged to fifth and sixth in the
two starts preceding her breakthrough victory on Saturday. But she made
up for it by overtaking the favored front runner in the final stage of
the five-furlong race on the turf to win by three-quarters of a length
under jockey Michael Baze.
After racing unplaced in four of her first
five starts--she won the other one--Christiana's Heat embarked on a successful
streak in the second start of her 4-year-old season. She won one allowance
race and placed in six others before her two-race lapse preceding Saturday's
win.
Bred in California by Abrams, P. Johnson,
V. Johnson, Nakkashian and Roberts, she's owned by Albert and Kathleen
Mattivi and trained by Steve Knapp.
Unusual Heat,
sire of 23 stakes horses and earners of more than $14,700,000, stands at
Old English Rancho, Sanger, Calif.--July 28.
Stakes Placing Polishes R Blue Hazel's Season
This has been a good year for R Blue Hazel,
and she made it even better Friday with a second-place finish in the Ralph
Taylor/Vince Davenport Memorial Stakes at Les Bois Park.
It was the first stakes placing for the 3-year-old
daughter of Liberty Gold, who's made up for
a dismal 2-year-old season by winning two of her five 2008 starts and running
second in the other three, all at Les Bois Park.
The California-bred filly trailed the favored
winner through the stretch but was never able to threaten, finishing 6
3/4 lengths behind at the wire, but she held a comfortable 3 3/4-length
advantage over the third-place horse.
R Blue Hazel's two-race winning streak was
broken in Friday's race, but becoming her sire's fifth stakes horse provided
consolation. In three starts last year at 2, she finished seventh once
and fifth twice, but she turned her career around this year with two seconds
followed by two wins coming into Friday's stakes race.
She was bred by Harold May and Neale Jensen,
is owned and trained by Lawrence D. Nixon, and was ridden by Jerry Remer.
Liberty Gold,
a graded stakes winner of $598,963, stands at El
Dorado Farms, Enumclaw, Wash.--July 27.
Unusual Heat: 47 Earners of $100,000-Plus
Mr. Chairman didn't win that allowance race
on Thursday at Del Mar, but the $16,380 purse that he got for finishing
second made him the 47th $100,000 earner sired by Unusual
Heat.
It took only nine starts for the 5-year-old
gelding to reach the six-figure level. He didn't race at 2 and was sidelined
for all of his 4-year-old season, but he's put his limited number of opportunities
to good use, piling up earnings of $113,697.
Mr. Chairman reached the winner's circle in
his second start at 3, taking a maiden special weight race at Del Mar.
That win was bracketed by sixth- and fifth-place finishes, but those were
his last bad races.
Since those three races, he's started six
times, racking up two wins, a second, and three thirds. His wins came in
allowance races at Bay Meadows and Hollywood Park. He's run in only one
claiming race, a $40,000 maiden event in his first career start, and that
race qualified him for the non-blacktype California Cup Starter Handicap,
in which he finished third.
Although Unusual Heat has had only 203 starters,
47 of them--23.2 percent-- have earned more than $100,000 each. Those 47
include seven over $200,000, six over $300,000, five over $400,000, and
one over $500,000.
Mr. Chairman is owned by Great Friends Stable
and trained by Doug O'Neill. He was bred in California by David Abrams
and Tom Roberts. His rider in Thursday's race was Rafael Bejarano.
Unusual Heat,
California's leading sire of 2008, stands at Old English Rancho, Sanger, Calif.--July 26.
Joe's Cannon Makes It 4 Wins in 7 Starts
Joe's Cannon breezed to his fourth victory
in seven starts Tuesday, capturing the $8,500-added Testum Stakes at Les
Bois Park by a length and a quarter.
The 3-year-old son of Freespool
became his sire's first stakes winner last year when he captured the $55,000
Idaho Cup Juvenile Championship at the Boise track and earlier this year
was second in the Sophomore Stakes at Les Bois Park. Like the Sophomore
Stakes, Tuesday's Testum Stakes was not a blacktype race.
Joe's Cannon was the favorite in the Testum,
and he ran up to expectations, tracking the leader in second place to the
stretch and then moving into a lead that he held through the lane.
With four wins, a second and a third in seven
starts at 2 and 3, Joe's Cannon has earned $43,246, racing almost exclusively
at Les Bois Park.
He was bred in Idaho by Billingsley Creek
Ranch, is owned by N F S Stables, is trained by Dru Hall, and was ridden
by Cameron Colledge.
Joe's Cannon is one of eight winners sired
by Freespool, a graded stakes winner of $527,288. Freespool
is a son of Gieger Counter from the female family of champion *Grey Dawn
2nd. He stands at Special T Thoroughbreds, Temecula, Calif.--July 24.
Capsized Filly Wins Her First in Late Stretch
Ex Angel prevailed in a stressful stretch
duel to become the first winner from Capsized's
second crop Monday at the Solano County Fair in Vallejo.
The 2-year-old filly pressed the leader all
the way in the six-furlong race but couldn't wrest away the lead until
the final sixteenth when she moved ahead and inched away to win by three
quarters of a length.
It was her third start at three different
tracks. She debuted by running fifth on June 4 at Golden Gate Fields and
followed with a third-place finish at Pleasanton on June 25 before scoring
in Monday's race at Vallejo.
Capsized was California's third-ranking freshman
sire of 2007, but he hadn't scored in 2008 until Ex Angel hit the winner's
circle.
Ex Angel was bred in California by Joe and
Michelle Gustafson and is owned by Curt and Lila Lanning. She's trained
by Ed Moger, Jr., and was ridden by Francisco Duran.
Capsized, a graded
stakes-winning son of Summer Squall, stands at Eagle Oak Ranch, Paso Robles,
Calif.--July 23.
Back on Artificial Surface, Lethal Heat Revels
Back on an artificial surface after a failed
venture onto grass, Lethal Heat resumed her winning ways with a record-setting
victory in the $100,000-added Fleet Treat Stakes Sunday at Del Mar.
The 3-year-old daughter of Unusual
Heat had won two graded stakes races and placed in another on Hollywood
Park's Cushion Track before straying onto the turf course at that track
and running sixth in the $100,000-added Flawlessly Stakes.
At Del Mar, she welcomed the Polytrack surface
and scored by a length and a half in the Fleet Treat by moving into the
lead a sixteenth from the wire and pulling away to win comfortably under
jockey Rafael Bejarano. Her time of 1:22.46 was a new track record for
seven furlongs.
Unraced at 2, Lethal Heat has had a banner
year at 3, winning five of her seven starts and taking third in the Grade
3 Santa Paula Stakes at Santa Anita in a sixth, racing unplaced only in
the Flawlessly. She's earned $319,187.
She was bred in California by David Abrams,
Madeline Auerbach, and Tom Roberts and is owned by Auerbach, Ron McCauley,
and her trainer, Barry Abrams.
Unusual Heat,
the leading sire of 2008 in California and the leading turf sire in North
America, stands at Old English Rancho, Sanger. Calif.--July
22.
Decarchy Filly Stakes-Placed in Second Start
Quisisana broke her maiden in her first start
last December, took a seven-month vacation, and returned to action Sunday
at Del Mar to suffer her first defeat but earn black type with a third-place
finish in the $100,000-added Fleet Treat Stakes.
She is the third stakes horse sired by Decarchy,
last year's California freshman sire leader and this year's California
second-crop sire leader.
For a time it appeared that Quisisana might
remain undefeated as she took the lead out of the gate and stayed in front
to the final sixteenth before yielding and finishing 2 1/2 lengths back
of the winner.
With a win and a third in two starts, Quisisana
has earnings of $30,432. She was bred in California by Todd Gerbovaz, is
owned by Ran Jan Racing, Inc., is trained by Mike Puype, and was ridden
by Corey Nakatani.
Decarchy is the sire of 18 winners, including
stakes winners Harlene ($193,717) and Timehascometoday ($74,388).
Decarchy, a multiple
graded stakes winner of $703,862, stands at Magali
Farms, Santa Ynez, Calif.--July 22.
Enumclaw Girl Settles for Third in Stake
Enumclaw Girl, sent off as the odds-on favorite
in Sunday's $60,000-added Washington's Lottery Handicap at Emerald Downs,
accepted her second loss in five career starts but nevertheless polished
her stakes credentials with a third-place finish.
After breaking her maiden last December in
her only start at 2, the 3-year-old daughter of Katowice
has faced stakes company in every subsequent start, coming away with two
wins, a second, and a third in four starts as a 3-year-old.
With three wins, a second, and a third in
five career starts, she's earned $82,180, racing exclusively at Emerald
Downs.
Enumclaw Girl stalked the wire-to-wire winner
from the start but faded in the stretch to finish third, beaten a full
11 lengths. It was her first try at a mile and a sixteenth, the longest
distance that she's attempted. She'd won her last outing at a flat mile
but didn't handle the added distance Sunday.
She was bred in Washington by John Konecny
and her owner, Doris Konecny, and is trained by Rosie Simkins. Her rider
in Sunday's race was Gaillyn Vick Mitchell.
Katowice, sire
of 30 stakes horses, stands at Woodstead Farm,
Chehalis, Wash.--July 22.
Secret Kin Increases Earnings Past $200,000
Already a stakes winner, Secret Kin boosted
her career earnings past the $200,000 mark with a second-place finish in
the $50,000-added Nicole's Dream Stakes Saturday at Arlington Park.
The 4-year-old daughter of Sea
of Secrets was never able to threaten the front-running winner, but
she moved steadily through the stretch to take the runner-up spot comfortably
in the field of nine. The winner set too fast a pace for Secret Kin to
overcome, finishing the five furlongs in a swift 56.60 seconds, not far
off the track record of 56.51 seconds.
Lightly raced, Secret Kin has started only
12 times over three seasons, winning five, with three seconds, and two
thirds for earnings of $210,835. She won the Lady Hallie Stakes at
3 and the Governor's Lady Handicap earlier this year at 4, both at Hawthorne
Park, in addition to running second last year in the Purple Violet Stakes
at Arlington Park.
She was bred in Illinois by her owner, Team
Block, is trained by Chris Block, and was ridden by Eduardo Perez.
Secret Kin is one of 23 stakes horses sired
by
Sea of Secrets, a graded stakes-winning
son of Storm Cat. He stands at Ballena
Vista Farm, Ramona, Calif.--July 21.
13th Stakes Placing for Golden Gear Daughter
Hard-working Bluesbdancing posted the 13th
stakes placing of her fruitful career Saturday at Arlington Park, a third-place
finish in the $50,000-added Nicole's Dream Stakes.
The daughter of Golden
Gear, a 6-year-old in her fifth season of racing, has won six stakes
races and placed in seven others over her 29-race career, amassing earnings
of $412,503.
In Saturday's race, Bluesbdancing struggled
near the back of the nine-horse field, racing wide all the way, but moved
quickly from last to fifth entering the stretch and fought her way up to
third at the finish.
She won the first three races of her career,
the third an easy win in the Showtime Deb Stakes at Hawthorne. She followed
with a second and a win in stakes races in her next two starts and was
launched on what was to be a long and successful career.
An Illinois foal, she was bred by Barry Golden
and is owned by Bob and Nancy Bartels. She's trained by Terrel Gore and
was ridden by Rene Douglas.
Golden Gear,
a multiple graded stakes-winner of $634,009, stands at Fleming Thoroughbred
Farm, Willcox, Ariz.--July 21.
You and I Juvenile Stakes-Placed in 2nd Start
Making only his second start, 2-year-old Snake
Attack became You and I's 41st stakes horse with
a third-place finish in the $50,000-added Premio Esmeralda Stakes Saturday
at Emerald Downs.
The Kentucky-bred took the lead at the start
and fought sternly through the stretch before fading slowly to third at
the finish, beaten 2 1/4 lengths. It was his first start at six furlongs
after winning his career debut by 8 1/2 lengths at five furlongs, also
at Emerald Downs.
With a win and a third in two starts, Snake
Attack has earnings of $13,350.
Bred by Kelly, Cimpl, and Wiltz, Snake Attack
is owned by Dunn Bar Ranch LLC and trained by Tim McCanna. Kevin Radke
was his rider.
His sire, You and I, is a Grade 1 stakes winner
of $701,235. He's sired two foreign champions and 16 North American stakes
winners, including multiple Grade 1 winner You. His first Washington-sired
foals will race in 2009.
You and I stands
at Woodstead Farm, Chehalis, Wash.--July
21.
First-Time Starter Third in Del Mar Stake
Unusual Heat,
whose earlier foals have made him California's leading sire of 2008, took
his momentum into his current crop of 2-year-olds Friday when first-time
starter Laird's Lassie finished third in the $125,000-added California
Thoroughbred Breeders Association Stakes at Del Mar.
Without the benefit of a shakedown voyage
in a maiden race, Laird's Lassie launched into stakes company and came
away with immediate black type as well as a purse of $16,494--and she retains
all her conditions.
She's the 23rd stakes horse sired by Unusual
Heat, whose 2008 earnings of $3,143,519 give him a lead of almost a million
dollars over second-place Deputy Commander ($2,174,241) in the California
sire race.
Although she never threatened to win, Laird's
Lassie raced well, settling into fifth place through the backstretch and
moving up to third in the stretch in the 5 1/2-furlong race, winding up
only a length and three quarters back of the winner, who set a new track
record of 1:03.26.
She was bred in California by her owner, Barbara
A. Brown, and is trained by Mel Stute. She was ridden by Victor Espinoza.
Unusual Heat,
a stakes-winning son of Nureyev, stands at Old English Rancho, Sanger, Calif.--July 20.
Private Gold Gets Second Winner in Two Days
Primadonna Pearl took charge in the stretch
and drew off to an easy victory Friday to provide freshman sire Private
Gold with his second winner in as many days at Emerald Downs.
Always in contention, the 2-year-old filly
took the lead with a sixteenth to go in the 5 1/2-furlong race and pulled
away to win by a widening 3 1/2 lengths.
It was only the second career start for Primadonna
Pearl, who ran third at Emerald Downs on July 4 in her debut. Her earnings
now total $6,300.
She's the third winner from the first crop
of stakes winner Private Gold, following Private Lesson, who won on Thursday,
and the earlier winner Isabellas Premiere. Private Gold has had five starters,
with three winners.
Primadonna Pearl was bred in Washington by
Carleen Phillis and Dan Belton and is owned by One Too Many Stable. She's
trained by Len Kasmerski and was ridden by Seth Martinez.
Private Gold,
twice a stakes winner and Grade 3-placed, stands at El
Dorado Farms, Enumclaw, Wash.--July 20.
First-Year Sire Private Gold Gets 2nd Winner
Private Lesson broke on top and lead all the
way Thursday at Emerald Downs to become the second winner from the first
crop of multiple stakes-winner Private Gold.
It was the fourth start for the 2-year-old
Washington-bred and her first start at 5 1/2 furlongs after running fourth
twice and fifth once at shorter distances.
She had no trouble at the distance of Thursday's
race although she was under pressure all the way to the wire. She never
relinquished the lead and reached the finish a length and a half in front.
Five runners from Private Gold's first crop
have started, and two have won. Another has placed.
Private Lesson was bred and is owned by Jeffrey
O. Harwood and is trained by Doris Harwood. She was ridden to her win by
Juan Gutierrez.
Private Gold
is a son of the major sire Seeking the Gold out of the dam of five other
stakes horses. He stands at El Dorado
Farms, Enumclaw, Wash.--July 19.
Free At Last Son Continues Success Streak
Undeterred by his advancing age, Run Nicholas
Run continued an extended run of successes with a third-place finish Tuesday
in the Yavapai Downs Handicap at Yavapai Downs.
A victory at Yavapai Downs on June 25, 2006,
launched the son of Free At Last, now a 6-year-old,
on a stretch in which he has posted 10 wins, two seconds, and a third in
16 starts. In that period he had two winning streaks, one of five races
and another of four.
He's won three stakes races and placed in
two others, all in that still-active run over a three-season stretch.
After leading early in Tuesday's race, Run Nicholas
Run was soon overtaken by two rivals and chased them to the finish of the
5 1/2-furlong event but saved third place without difficulty.
Over five seasons of racing almost exclusively
in Arizona, the Washington-bred has 12 wins, six seconds, and a third in
36 starts. He's earned $76,698.
Bred by Justin W. Lynn, he's owned by James
L. Ingalls, is trained by Bill Brashears, and was ridden by Joseph Durigon.
Free At Last,
sire of 49 stakes horses, stands at El
Dorado Farms, Enumclaw, Wash.--July 16.
He's Tops Chalks Up His 20th Stakes Horse
Three-year-old Salmon River became the 20th
stakes horse sired by He's Tops when she posted
a third-place finish in the Angi Go Stakes Tuesday at Les Bois Park.
It was the fourth effort in added-money company
for the filly, and she got her first stakes placing by racing evenly through
the seven furlongs, running second in the six-horse field to the stretch,
then yielding slightly to third, where she finished, just a length back
of the second horse and only 3 1/4 back of the winner.
Half of her eight career starts have been
made in stakes races. In the other four, she's had two wins, a second,
and a third. She's never run in a claiming race. Overall, her career race
shows two wins, a second, and two thirds in eight starts, all at Les Bois
Park, for earnings of $7,605.
She was bred in Idaho by her owner, Brian
Peterson, and is trained by Dru Hall. She was ridden in he Angi Go by Cameron
Colledge.
He's Tops, sire
of 20 stakes horses from only 138 starters, stands at Woodstead
Farm, Chehalis, Wash.--July 17.
Olympio Mare Breezes to Easy Stakes Win
Taking the lead on the turn for home and coasting
to an easy victory, Olympio's Kalookan Dancer
added the Sunday's $50,000-added Vacaville Handicap at the Solano fair
to her list of accomplishments.
The 5-year-old member of Olympio's third California
crop reached the finish line a comfortable 3 1/2 lengths in front of her
nearest rival in a brisk 1:08.85 for six furlongs.
It was her second start following a six-month
layoff. A fourth-place finish in an allowance race three weeks before evidently
provided a needed tuneup.
Unraced at 2 and almost unraced at 3, she
broke her maiden at Santa Anita in her first start at 4 after running fourth
and then third at Hollywood Park in December.
She went on to a productive 4-year-old season,
winning five of 13 starts and earning $228,225. Those wins included
a victory in the Pio Pico Stakes at Fairplex Park.
Her career record now shows six wins, three
seconds, and two thirds for earnings of $282,119. She's won three allowance
races to go with her two stakes wins following her maiden special weight
score. She's never run in a claiming race.
Bred in California by Romulo and Assisto Stables,
she's owned by Robert Gramer, Todd Jones, David Pycz, and her trainer,
Walther Solis. She was ridden by Luis Contreras.
Olympio, who won
$1,456,315 as a racehorse, is the sire of 25 stakes winners and earners
of more than $18,000,000. He stands at Victory Rose Thoroughbreds, Vacaville,
Calif.--July 15.
Light of a Star Loses But Gains in Status
Light of a Star is no longer undefeated, but
she gained status nevertheless with a third-place finish in the $50,000-added
Angie C. Stakes Sunday at Emerald Downs.
The 2-year-old daughter of California sire
Muqtaribscored
a three-length victory May 17 running for a $20,000 claiming price in a
maiden race at Emerald Downs and her jump into stakes company for her second
start appeared to be a risky move.
But she proved that she could hold her own
at that level by fighting two Kentucky-breds through the stretch in the
six-furlong race before finishing third in the field of nine, only two
lengths and a neck back of the winner.
Light of a Star now has a win and a stakes
third in two starts for earnings of $13,350.
Bred in California by Chris and Janice Heidt,
she's owned by Chris and Diane Randall and is trained by Frank Lucarelli.
She was ridden by Wilson Omar Dieguez.
Muqtarib, a graded
stakes-winnng son of Gone West, stands at Victory Rose Thoroughbreds, Vacaville,
Calif.--July 15.
Game Plan Filly Takes G1 Stake in Florida
Game Plan's 4-year-old
daughter Mistical Plan firmly established herself as a member of the nation's
sprinter elite by surging to a 5 3/4-length victory in the Grade 1 $400,000
Princess Rooney Handicap at six furlongs Saturday at Calder Race Course.
Mistical Plan increased her career earnings
to $789,290 with her fourth victory in 13 starts to go with placings in
three graded stakes races in three seasons of campaigning.
Second out of the gate and never far behind,
Mistical Plan challenged for the lead on the turn for home and under jockey
Corey Nakatani steadily drew away to a decisive triumph.
She's won four of five starts at sprint distances--from
4 1/2 to seven furlongs--including the Cover Gal Stakes and Sunshine Millions
Oaks at Santa Anita.
She's handled two turns as well, winning the
Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks and taking third in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps
Handicap at Belmont Park and the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes at Santa Anita
at 1 1/16 miles and finishing second in the Grade 3 Pocahontas Stakes at
Churchill Downs at a flat mile.
After her win in the Princess Rooney, her
trainer, Doug O'Neill, observed that she would be kept in sprint races
for the time being.
Mistical Plan was bred in California by Carol
Anderson and is owned by J. Paul Reddam.
Game Plan is the
sire of 29 stakes horses, seven of who have won or placed in graded stakes.
He stands at E. A. Ranches, Santa Ysabel, Calif.--July
14.
Cahill Road Welcomes His 47th Stakes Horse
Cahill Road's
roster of stakes horses grew to 47 Saturday when Coker Road took
third in the Thoroughbred Stakes at the Crooked River Roundup.
One of 27 winners from Cahill Road's first
Washington crop, Coker Road earned his first stakes credentials at the
age of 7 following a five-length victory at Crooked River that earned him
the favorite's role in Saturday's race.
Coker Road raced in the middle of the eight-horse
field all the way, never able to challenge for the lead but finishing six
lengths ahead of the fourth-place finisher in the seven-furlong event.
It was Coker Road's first stakes experience
in a career that has spanned 35 starts over five seasons. He's earned $46,496,
with five wins, three seconds, and six thirds.
Bred by Brad and Debbie Gering, he's owned
by JTT Stables and trained by Ken Peery. Joe Crispin was his rider.
Cahill Road is the sire of earners of more
than $18,000,000, with his five Washington crops contributing more than
$3,600,000 of that total.
Cahill Road,
a Grade 1-winning son of Fappiano, stands at El
Dorado Farms, Enumclaw, Wash.--July 14.
Wasserman Wins Governor's Again--Barely
Wasserman, seeking his second straight victory
in the Governor's Handicap at Emerald Downs Sunday, almost didn't succeed--but
he did, by the narrowest of margins.
According to the official chart, the 6-year-old
son of Cahill Road "was up in the final jump"
to win by a nose.
Wasserman captured the same stakes race last
summer by a more comfortable 1 3/4 lengths. That victory was the launching
point of a productive run of eight races in which he's won three stakes
and placed in two others, including the Grade 3 Longacres Mile.
The Washington-bred's career earnings now
total $268,470 with seven wins, eight seconds, and five thirds in 36 starts
for breeder-owner-trainer Howard Belvoir.
In the $50,000 Governor's Handicap at 6 1/2
furlongs Sunday, Wasserman raced last in the field of six through the backstretch
before racing wide through the turn, but when the field reached the stretch,
he'd moved up to fourth, only a length and a half back of the leader.
From there, jockey Jennifer Whitaker set him
to the task, and he reached the wire just in time.
He's one of 28 stakes winners and 46 stakes
horses sired by Cahill Road, who stands at
El
Dorado Farms, Enumclaw, Wash.--July 8.
Beautifulsea Still Looking for First Stakes Win
Beautifulsea was on course to win his first
stakes race Sunday in the $60,000 Colts Neck Handicap at Monmouth Park,
but a late closer shut him out and he had to accept the third added-money
placing of his career.
The 4-year-old son of Sea
of Secrets wound up second after overtaking the front-runner in the
stretch, but a third horse made a late run and shunted Bythebeautifulsea
back to second at the finish, three quarters of a length back..
It was Bythebeautifulsea's third stakes placing
in 15 career starts, following a second in the New Jersey Futurity at the
Meadowlands at 2 and a third in the Great Falls Stakes at the same track
last fall.
Bythebeautifulsea has been off the board only
three times in 15 starts over three seasons, with four wins, three seconds,
two thirds, and three fourths in 15 starts good for earnings of $163,569.
Bred in New Jersey by Marianne and Charles
Hesse, he's owned by Char-Mari Stable, is trained by Jason Servis, and
was ridden by Jose Lezcano.
Sea of Secrets,
a graded stakes-winning son of Storm Cat, is the sire of 23 horses and
earners of more than $9,900,000. He stands at Ballena
Vista Farm, Ramona, Calif.--July 8.
Stakes Win Again Eludes Andover the Cash
For a time it appeared that Andover the Cash
might gain her elusive first added-money victory, but she couldn't sustain
her bid through the stretch and wound up with her third stakes placing,
this one in the $50,000-added Alameda County Handicap Saturday at Pleasanton.
It was the third third-place stakes finish
in the last four races for the 5-year-old daughter of Unusual
Heat. After winning consecutive allowance races at Bay Meadows and
Golden Gate Fields, she had moved up into stakes company to take third
in the Hillsborough Handicap and the Work the Crowd Handicap at those tracks.
Before those races, she was fourth in the
Foster City Handicap, and in between she was fifth in the Mother's Day
Handicap, both at the San Mateo track.
In Saturday's race at 1 1/16 miles she raced
second, threatening to take the lead until the final sixteenth, when she
gave way to finish a well-beaten third.
Before her recent move up the class ladder,
Andover the Cash's only stakes appearance came in her 3-year-old season
when she was unplaced in the Pago Hop Stakes at the Fair Grounds.
In 35 starts over three seasons, she's won
four races with three seconds and six thirds for earnings of $171,528.
Late in her 4-year-old season and early in the current year she won two
allowance races at Golden Gate Fields and one at Bay Meadows.
Bred in California by Abrams/Roberts, Nakkashian,
P. Johnson, and V. Johnson, she's owned by William DeBurgh and trained
by Jerry Hollendorfer. She was ridden by Frank Alvarado.
Unusual Heat,
a multiple stakes-winning son of Nureyev, stands at Old
English Rancho, Sanger, Calif.--July 7.
Soundness Hasn't Completely Disappeared
Critics who mourn the erosion of soundness
in Thoroughbred racehorses need look no farther than a pair of 8-year-old
sons of Lit de Justice to find examples
of the way it ought to be.
They're also showing that a sound blue-collar
horse can earn a lot of money without running in stakes races. Silver Gun
has started 51 times and earned $393,349. I Testify has started 83 times
and earned $303,159.
Interestingly both were bred in Ontario in
the same crop of the same breeder, Frank Stronach's Adena Springs.
I Testify won his 11th race Wednesday at Suffolk
Downs, becoming his sire's ninth earner of more than $300,000. Silver Gun
won his ninth Saturday at Woodbine.
I Testify has run in just one stakes race,
in the first start of his long career, when he finished seventh at 2 in
a $150,000 race at Woodbine. Silver Gun has never run in a stake.
For much of his career, I Testify bounced
between allowance and claiming races before finally settling in at his
present level--$4,000 claiming--early in his 7-year-old season. He won
for that price Wednesday. He's raced in numerous allowance races but has
never won one.
Overall, his record shows 11 wins, 14 seconds,
eight thirds, and earnings of $303,159 in 83 starts.
Silver Gun was claimed out of Saturday's race
for $16,000, the lowest level at which he'd ever run. Before that, he ran
as low as $25,000 twice, and he was claimed while winning those, too.
Unraced at 2, he's campaigned for six seasons,
with nine wins, 10 seconds, 11 thirds, and earnings of $393,349 in 51 starts.
Just one of those wins came in an allowance race; all the others were in
claimers at various levels.
The careers of that pair demonstrate that
soundness has not disappeared from the breed.
Runners by their sire, champion sprinter Lit
de Justice, have averaged more than 21 starts. They include 25
runners with 50 or more starts, eight of those with 60 or more starts,
five with 70 or more, and one with a remarkable 119.
Lit de Justice
stands at Magali Farms, Santa
Ynez, Calif.--July 5.
Runforthemoneybaby a Stakes Horse Again
Runforthemoneybaby, back on course after her
six-month winter vacation, weaved her way through heavy traffic to mount
a late run and came away with a third-place finish in the $100,000-added
Flawlessly Stakes Friday at Hollywood Park.
The 3-year-old daughter of Unusual
Heat ended a highly successful first season on a disappointing note
last year and left the track for an extended layoff, but since her return
she's moving toward regaining her 2-year-old form.
She ended her first season by running seventh
in the Grade 3 Miesque Stakes at Hollywood Park in late November. It was
the first time in her career that she'd been unplaced, and though she was
beaten only three lengths for all of it, she was sent out for a rest.
Before that, she'd won a maiden special weight
race in her third start and followed with a third-place finish in the Grade
1 Oak Leaf Stakes at Santa Anita. Then she took the $125,000 California
Cup Juvenile Fillies Stakes by 5 1/2 lengths before finishing off the board
in the Miesque.
That November 24 disappointment earned her
time off. Upon returning on May 30 she ran second in an allowance race
at Hollywood Park, beaten just a half-length, and followed that with her
successful return to stakes company in the Flawlessly.
In eight career starts, she's earned $187,876,
with two wins, two seconds, and three thirds.
Bred in California by Abrams, Johnson-Stoll,
V. Johnson, Nakkashian and Roberts, she's owned by Michael Bello, LLC Sarno,
Williams, et al and trained by Jeff Mullins. She was ridden in the Flawlessly
by Tyler Baze.
Runforthemoneybaby is one of 13 stakes winners
and 11 graded stakes horses sired by Unusual
Heat, who stands at Old English Rancho, Sanger,
Calif.--July 6.
Los Alamitos to Delaware Park for 2 in a Row
Making another stop on his curious odyssey,
Free Up Grade led from start to finish for a dominating victory Friday
at Delaware Park to become the second multiple winner from Freespool's
first crop to race.
It was Free Up Grade's second victory, enabling
him to join stakes winner Joe's Cannon as a winner of more than one race.
Joe's Cannon has won three.
Friday's race was only the third start for
the 3-year-old in a career that has been far from routine.
Unraced at 2, after he debuted on March 29
by running fifth at Santa Anita, he dropped down to Los Alamitos to break
his maiden by 8 3/4 lengths on June 14. Then he bobbed up not three weeks
later all the way across the country at Delaware Park, where he won his
second race in a row, going off as the favorite Friday and breezing wire
to wire to score by 4 3/4 lengths.
Three races at three tracks of three different
levels in two different states. An unusual sequence.
Conditioned by California trainer Doug O'Neill,
he's owned by Carney, Smith, Sterling Stables, and Arthur Brooks and was
ridden by Ramon Dominguez. He was bred in California by Special T Thoroughbreds.
Free Up Grade is one of eight winners from
the first crop of Freespool, now 3-year-olds. Freespool,
a graded stakes-winning son of Geiger Counter, stands at Special T Thoroughbreds,
Temecula, Calif.--July 6.
Nearing a Win, He Settles for 2nd in Stake
Lit de Justice's
Joni's Justice collected a frustrating stakes placing Thursday at Canterbury
Park, finishing second in the $50,000 Blair's Cove Stakes.
After pressing the out-of-the-gate front runner
for the first mile of the 1 1/16-mile event, Joni's Justice finally overtook
his rival with a sixteenth to go and wound up second anyway as both were
overtaken by a late closer.
The Blair's Cove provided Joni's Justice with
his second stakes placing. He earned black type for the first time last
month by taking third in the Honor the Hero Express Stakes, also at Canterbury.
The Minnesota-bred has been off the board
only twice in 13 starts in which he's finished first three times, second
four times, third twice, and fourth twice for earnings of $65,673.
He was bred by Barry Butzow, who owns him
in partnership with Joni Butzow. He's trained by McLean Robertson and was
ridden by Dean Butler.
Joni's Justice is one of 33 stakes horses
sired by Eclipse Award-winner Lit de Justice,
whose runners have earned more than $17,100,000. He stands at Magali
Farms, Santa Ynez, Calif.--July 5.
Early Problems Don't Stop Capsized Son
Undeterred by early traffic problems, Cap
Spring Squall recovered strongly to finish easily the best in a nine-horse
field Thursday at Canterbury Park to become the 10th winner from the first
crop of graded stakes-winner Capsized.
Forced inward by one horse and bumped by another
shortly after leaving the gate, the 3-year-old colt soon took charge and
drew off in the stretch to win by a comfortable length and three-quarters.
It was the third start for the California-bred,
who's run all of his races at Canterbury Park. Unraced at 2, he debuted
with a sixth-place finish on May 16 but ran second in his next outing on
June 7 and reached the winner's circle in his third try.
With a win and a second in three starts--all
at six furlongs--he has earnings of $5,610, pocketing $4,200 for his victory
Thursday.
He was bred by Ivol, Inc., is owned by Joyce
Quade, is trained by Shawn Talbot, and was ridden by Lon Keith.
California's third-leading freshman sire of
2007, Capsized is among the state's top second-crop sires with earnings
of $168,525 to date this year.
Capsized, a son
of Summer Squall, won one graded race and placed in four others while earning
$489,593. He stands at Eagle Oak Farm, Paso Robles, Calif.--July 5.
Sword Legend Was Due for a Win and Got It
After placing in four straight races, it was
time for Sword Legend to break his maiden, and he got the job done Wednesday
at Pleasanton, breezing wire to wire to a four-length victory.
The 3-year-old son of Freespool
had run second, third, third, and third in his four starts leading up to
Wednesday's race, the most recent one a loss by only a length. That record
prompted bettors to send him off as the race's favorite, and he rewarded
them with no suspense.
His time for the 4 1/2-furlong distance was
50.90 seconds, within hailing distance of the track record of 50.45 seconds.
Sword Legend is the eighth winner from Freespool's
first crop, now 3-year-olds. They include stakes winner Joe's Cannon.
Sword Legend has started 10 times, with a
win, a second, and three thirds, good for earnings of $12,180. He was unplaced
in his first five starts, all in Southern California, but since moving
north he's won or placed in every one of his five outings.
Bred in California by Desperado Stables, Sword
Legend is owned by Gary and Cecil Barber and trained by Steve Miyadi. He
was ridden to victory by Luis Martinez.
Freespool, best
known for his exceptional speed, stands at Special T Thoroughbreds, Temecula,Calif.--July
4.
Redattore (Brz) Sires G1 Winner in Brazil
Estrela do Oriente became Redattore
(Brz)'s first Group 1 winner Sunday when he captured the Grande Premio
ABCPCC at a mile on the turf at Gavea Racetrack in Rio de Janeiro, the
final juvenile Group 1 race of the season.
On the same afternoon, Setembro Neva took
third in another Group 1 race, the Grande Premio J. Adhemar Prado at Hipodromo
Paulistano in Sao Paulo.
Their achievements have helped Redattore (Brz)
become the leading freshman sire in Brazil with the crop he sired before
departing for the United States. His first California foals are now 2-year-olds,
only one of which has started.
Estrela do Oriente has won four races, three
of them stakes, including the Group 2 Grande Premio Conde de Herzeberg.
Redattore (Brz) is also the sire of stakes
winner Al Arab and two stakes-placed runners, including Group 1-placed
Setembro Neva.
Redattore (Brz)
won a Group 1 race in Brazil and two Grade 1 races in the United States.
He won or placed in 18 stakes races in Brazil and the U. S., retiring with
earnings of $1,799,883. He stands at Harris
Farms, Coalinga, Calif.--July 3.
Torquay's a Stakes Horse Now for Sure
Torquay, who'd never run in an added-money
race until his final start as a 5-year-old, has been nothing but a stakes
horse this year at the age of 6.
A stakes winner in that final 2007 race, the
son of Deputy Commander solidified his
late-career rise in status with a third-place finish in the $200,000 Grade
3 Dominion Day Handicap Monday at Woodbine.
That finish made him the 18th runner by Deputy
Commander to either win or place in a graded stakes race.
He won the $125,000 Valedictory Handicap at
Woodbine last December 9 and has raced in nothing but Grade 3 events since
then. He was unplaced in the first two but made the leap in class in Monday's
Dominion Day. Those three were his only 2008 starts.
He raced 25 times at 2, 3, 4, and 5 with six
wins, three seconds, and four fourths for earnings of $326,088. His 2008
earnings of $26,388 bring his career total to $352,476. Although he's a
Kentucky-bred, he's raced his entire career at Woodbine.
In the mile and a quarter Dominion Day, he
was rated early and moved well in the stretch drive but was unable to overtake
the two front-runners, winding up 3 3/4 lengths back, 5 1/2 lengths in
front of the fourth-place finisher.
Toquay was no stranger to a distance race,
having won an allowance race at that distance last year as well as taking
the Valedictory at a mile and three quarters.
He was bred by Respite Farm and is owned by
his trainer, Nickolas De Toro. His rider in Monday's race was Eurico Rosa
Da Silva.
Torquay's stakes placing was the third in
three days for runners by Deputy Commander,
who stands at Ballena Vista Farm,
Ramona, Calif.--July 3.
Sea of Secrets Son Stays on Successful Path
Consistent Sea of Pleasure continued to race
at a high level Sunday with a third-place finish in the $75,000-added Captain
Squire Handicap at Hollywood Park.
The 3-year-old son of Sea
of Secrets, who's won or placed in seven of his eight starts, has taken
one stakes race and placed in three others since beginning his career with
consecutive victories at Hollywood Park and Santa Anita.
He suffered his first defeat in running second
in the $80,000 San Pedro Stakes at Santa Anita but followed by capturing
the Sophomore Sprint Stakes at Bay Meadows. After failing to place in the
Grade 3 Baldwin Stakes at Santa Anita, he then began a streak of three
straight third-place fnishes, in the $75,000 San Miguel Stakes at Santa
Anita and in an allowance race and Sunday's Captain Squire Handicap at
Hollywood Park.
In eight starts, the Illinois-bred has three
wins, a second, and three thirds for earnings of $123,949.
In Sunday's race at 6 1/2 furlongs, Sea of
Pleasure took the lead out of the gate and held it until the final sixteenth,
when he weakened and fades to third, 3 1/2 lengths behind the winner.
He's owned by Steve and Terry Burnett, Bruno
DeJulio, Gail Searing, and JS Bohon Stables and is trained by Jeff Mullins.
He was bred by Valerie Blethen and was ridden by Rafael Bejarano.
Sea of Secretsis
a graded stakes-winning son of Storm Cat. He stands at Ballena
Vista Farm, Ramona, Calif.--July 1.
Stealh Attack Nails Third Stakes Victory
Late-blooming Stealth Attack won his third
stakes race in his past four starts Sunday, a come-from-behind victory
in the Dane Boersma Stakes at Grants Pass.
A 5-year-old son of Flying
With Eagles, Stealth Attack raced at the rear of the six-horse field
until the turn for home in the 6 1/2-furlong race. He circled the field
on the turn for home to move up to fourth entering the stretch, 4 1/2 lengths
back of the leader.
Then he moved strongly through the lane and
reached the finish a length and a quarter in front under jockey Joe Crispin.
The victory was his third stakes win in his
past four races at three different tracks. He won the Au Revoir Handicap
at Sun Downs on May 4 and the Queens Handicap at Walla Walla one week later.
He's won six races with seven seconds and
nine thirds in 33 starts, earning $82,837.
Bred in Washington by Mr. and Mrs. David Heerensperger,
he's owned by Jim Gilmour and trained by Sue Gilmour.
Flying With
Eagles, a multiple stakes-winning son of Skywalker, stands at El
Dorado Farms, Enumclaw, Wash.--July 1.
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