All Eyes on Fountain of Youth
Risen Star Stakes
For You Turf Specialists
Around the Track
2009 Kentucky Derby Hopefuls Re-Unite
Yonkers Raceway
Thoroughbred Racing Action
Harness Stakes Action
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All Eyes on Fountain of Youth
Buddy’s Saint Praying for a Win
While the Fountain of Youth Stakes is considered a key prep for the March 20th Florida Derby, Kentucky Derby implications abound for the $250,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Stakes this Saturday.
The Fountain of Youth distance has also moved up to nine furlongs this year after being run at one mile in 2009. The feature is one of four graded stakes on a Gulfstream card that also includes the $150,000 Hutcheson Stakes also for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs.
Leading the ten Derby hopefuls into the Fountain of Youth is Buddy’s Saint, a leading contender for the blanket of roses on the first Saturday in May. He has done that due to a pair of graded stakes at Aqueduct as a juvenile—a 12-length romp in the Nashua and a 4 3/4-length score in the Remsen.
Buddy’s Saint finished first in all three of his starts, all at age 2, though he was disqualified in one. The Fountain of Youth marks his first start as a 3-year-old. Regular rider Jose Lezcano will keep the mount as part of a 122-pound impost. They will break from post 2.
Buddy’s Saint will have plenty of competition in the Fountain of Youth and one of his biggest threats will come from Jackson Bend, who has produced a 5-2-0 record from seven starts. One of those runner-up finishes came last out in the one-mile Holy Bull when Jackson Bend lost by less than a length to Winslow Homer. As a 2-year-old, Jackson Bend swept the Florida Stallion Stakes Series. Jeremy Rose will have the mount once again.
Trainer Todd Pletcher has a pair of capable starters entered, led by Eskendereya, a wire-to-wire winner over a solid group of allowance horses at Gulfstream. The son of Giant’s Causeway also won the ‘off-the-turf’ Pilgrim Stakes by more than seven lengths last fall at Belmont Park. He was a non-factor in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on the Santa Anita Pro-Ride surface in November when finishing ninth. Pletcher assigned the mount to first-call rider John Velazquez. Eskendereya will break from post 8.
Pletcher’s other starter is Aikenite, the sixth-place finisher in the Holy Bull. Aikenite placed in both the Three Chimneys Hopeful at Saratoga and Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland as a 2-year-old, and was also fifth in the BC Juvenile, will have Alan Garcia in the irons.
Pulsion will make his 3-year-old debut for trainer Patrick Biancone. Pulsion, runner-up in the Norfolk and 11th in the BC Juvenile, was entered in the Holy Bull but had to be scratched. The Florida-bred will be ridden by Mike Smith.
Ice Box, who won a 1 1/8-mile allowance over the same Gulfstream strip on January 18th will have jockey Julien Leparoux aboard. The full field for the Fountain of Youth Stakes is below:
|
PP
|
Horse
|
A/S
|
Jockey
|
Wgt
|
Trainer
|
| 1 |
Aikenite (FL) |
3/C |
A Garcia |
116 |
T A Pletcher |
| 2 |
Buddy’s Saint (KY) |
3/C |
J Lezcano |
122 |
B N Levine |
| 3 |
Pulsion (FL) |
3/C |
M E Smith |
116 |
P L Biancone |
| 4 |
Pleasant Prince (FL) |
3/C |
J R Leparoux |
116 |
W A Ward |
| 5 |
Jackson Bend (FL) |
3/C |
J Rose |
120 |
N P Zito |
| 6 |
Prince Will I Am (KY) |
3/C |
P Lopez |
116 |
M Nihei |
| 7 |
Positive Split (FL) |
3/C |
E S Prado |
116 |
K G McPeek |
| 8 |
Eskendereya (KY) |
3/C |
J R Velazquez |
120 |
T A Pletcher |
| 9 |
Lost Aptitude (KY) |
3/C |
R Maragh |
118 |
D L Romans |
| 10 |
Ice Box (KY) |
3/C |
J Bravo |
116 |
N P Zito
|
Risen Star Stakes
Don’t Overlook These Three Year Olds
This Saturday’s Grade II the $300,000 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds might just produce the 2010 Kentucky Derby Favorite. Last year’s Risen Star winner Friesen Fire was installed as the 7-2 Derby favorite after I Want Revenge scratched out of the race.
This year’s crop of three year-olds could produce another Derby favorite. Leading the way is Lecomte Stakes winner Ron the Greek. Facing a full field of 11 other three-year-olds, Ron the Greek will battle highly regarded allowance winner Drosselmeyer.
The Risen Star Stakes is the final local prep race for the $750,000 Louisiana Derby on March 27 and will test the entrants for the 1 1/16-mile event.
Also in the Risen Star are Tempted to Tapit, an 11 1/2-length maiden winner on at Aqueduct; Grade 1-placed winner Discreetly Mine; Grade 2-placed winner Worldly; Lecomte Stakes third-place finisher Letsgetitonmon; and Fair Grounds-based allowance winners Stay Put and Hotep.
Ron the Greek probably will enter the starting gate as the favorite after rallying from 16 lengths off the pace to win the Lecomte by 1 1/2 lengths on January 23rd. He has won three of four career starts for trainer Tom Amoss and is the 3-1 favorite.
Drosselmeyer has reeled off two straight victories for trainer Bill Mott, including a visually impressive allowance win on January 31st at Gulfstream Park. Drosselmeyer also won an off-the-turf maiden special weight race on November 18th at Churchill Downs in his previous start.
Tempted to Tapit controlled the pace at Aqueduct and cruised to a dominant victory in the January 18th one-mile maiden special weight race, which was contested on a muddy inner track.
Northern Giant also enters off an impressive maiden special weight race winning in a 11 1/4-length romp in the 1 1/16-mile race on a sloppy track at Oaklawn Park for trainer D. Wayne Lukas.
Worldly will try to rebound from a fifth-place finish in the Lecomte. A full brother to multiple Grade 2 winner Suave, the A.P. Indy colt was produced by multiple Grade 1 winner Urbane, by Citidancer.
Hotep won a one-mile and 40-yard optional claiming race by 3 1/4 lengths on February 1 at Fair Grounds for trainer Mark Frostad. The A.P. Indy colt is a full brother to 2009 Canadian champion three-year-old male and classic winner Eye of the Leopard.
Twelve horses were entered Monday for Saturday’s Grade II Risen Star Stakes at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, but the Kentucky Derby prep doesn’t include Lecomte runner-up Maximus Ruler, who will skip the Risen Star due to an apparent stone bruise on his right hind heel after a workout Sunday.
For You Turf Specialists
Gulfstream Offers Two
This Saturday, Gulfstream Park has two great turf races for older horses with a pair of grade III turf stakes for older horses at one mile, the Canadian Turf and the Honey Fox, both with large fields.
The $150,000 Canadian Turf brings back Courageous Cat for his first appearance since he nearly upset Goldikova in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita last fall. The 4-year-old Storm Cat colt is part of a nine-horse field.
The $100,000 Honey Fox, for older fillies and mares, attracted 14 entrants and a pair of also-eligibles. Quiet Harbor is on a five-race win streak and heads a highly competitive group.
The Canadian Turf follows the $150,000 Hutcheson Stakes as the ninth race on the Gulfstream program, while the Honey Fox comes immediately after the $250,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes as race 11 on the card.
Courageous Cat looked to have Goldikova in hand mid-stretch of the Breeders’ Cup Mile but their upset bid at odds of 22-1 was foiled by Goldikova’s searing late turn of foot, resulting in a half-length victory over the runner-up Courageous Cat. Winner of the Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga last summer, will be ridden once again by Gomez, who was aboard for the first time in the Breeders’ Cup. They will break from post 7 under co-high weight of 124 pounds. A three-time winner in eight starts, Courageous Cat has earned $571,300 in his career.
Also carrying 124 pounds is Rahy’s Attorney. The winner of the 2008 Woodbine Mile was last seen in a second-place finish in the nine-furlong River City Handicap on the Churchill Downs turf in November. The 6-year-old Ontario-bred gelding returns to his favorite distance in the Canadian Turf. The bay has won five of seven starts at one mile. Robert Landry has the mount on Rahy’s Attorney, a 10-time winner of $1,549,136 in 26 lifetime starts. They’ll break from post 8.
Front-running Jet Propulsion has won three in a row for trainer Marty Wolfson and captured the Sunshine Millions Turf over the Gulfstream course January 30th by two lengths. The 7-year-old gelding has won 13 of 45 starts in his career while banking $564,523.
Le Grand Cru, winner of Aqueduct’s Bold Ruler Handicap on the dirt last fall, set the pace in the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap on February 6th before weakening late to finish fourth. He was elevated to third by the disqualification of the original winner, Take the Points. The 5-year-old son of Dynaformer is winless in five starts on grass.
Also in the field is grade III winner Mambo Meister and Pickapocket, who ran second in the Sunshine Millions Turf.
In the Honey Fox Stakes, Quiet Harbor will carry 123 pounds. The 5-year-old mare has a win over the course at the meet, coming from off the pace to score by a head in the Marshua River in mid January. She will be cutting back in distance by a sixteenth of a mile here. Quiet Harbor won her stakes debut three months prior to the Marshua River, capturing the Violet Stakes at Meadowlands by three-quarters of a length. Regular rider Eddie Castro has the call. Quiet Harbor is 6-1-2 in 11 starts with earnings of $252,670.
Wasted Tears has won three in a row and six of her past seven, mostly in the southwest. Winner of the Ouija Board Stakes at Lone Star Park last May, she returned from an eight-month absence to capture a one-mile optional claiming allowance race over the Gulfstream lawn by one length in gate-to-wire style. Cornelio Velasquez, who rides her for the first time and will carry 123 pounds.
Grade I winner Backseat Rhythm, another at 123 pounds, tries to find her winning form after four consecutive off-the-board finishes since taking the Hillsborough Stakes at Tampa Bay last March. Backseat Rhythm was out-kicked in her most recent try in the Marshua River and finished seventh. She won both the Lake Placid and Garden City in back-to-back fashion over yielding ground in New York in 2008 and boasts lifetime earnings of $840,195.
New Zealand-bred Belmont Cat, also among the top-weighted group, makes her first start since finishing fifth in the Wilshire Handicap at Hollywood Park last May. Trained by John Sadler, the 6-year-old mare won two of four starts in Southern California including the Santa Ana Handicap last March 22.
Afternoon Stroll has dropped six in a row since winning Keeneland’s Appalachian at odds of 50-1 on April 16th.
Around the Track
Info for the Race Handicapper
Tampa Bay Downs
Gio Ponti, a two-time Eclipse Award winner in 2009, will make his much 2010 debut Saturday in the $150,000 Tampa Bay Breeders’ Cup at Tampa Bay Downs. Trainer Christophe Clement is planning on using the race as a prep race for the Dubai World Cup on March 27.
The 1 1/16-mile Tampa Bay Breeders’ Cup drew a field of nine, although two members of the prospective starting lineup, Mambo Meister and Pickapocket, were also entered the same afternoon in Gulfstream Park’s one-mile Canadian Turf. The Canadian Turf also offers a purse of $150,000 and is a Grade 3 race. The Tampa Bay Breeders’ Cup is ungraded.
Gio Ponti was voted champion older horse and male turf horse after winning four Grade 1 races on grass as well as finish second behind Zenyatta in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Gio Ponti, a son of Tale of the Cat owned by Castleton Lyons, earned more than $2.3 million in 2009.
Oaklawn Park
The featured $250,000 Southwest Stakes, for three-year-olds at one mile, will now be redrawn on Thursday and raced on the ten-race card this coming Saturday, February 20.
The field for the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest, was rescheduled for Saturday after being canceled Monday, should be about the same as its original cast of ten. The connections of Conveyance, Mission Impazible, Cardiff Giant, and Domonation have all expressed their intent to run back, while top Oaklawn-based runners Dublin and Dryfly are a go for what is the first of two preps for the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby.
Oaklawn called off the final six races of its Monday card because the track was beginning to “ice up”.
The biggest changes will be the jockeys. Many scheduled riders for Monday may have other commitments in races scheduled for Saturday.
River Downs
River Downs looks to trim 24 race days from its Thoroughbred dates from April 9-Sept. 6, racing five days a week on a Friday-through-Tuesday schedule.
River Downs, under the 80-day plan, probably would drop Tuesdays and race Fridays through Mondays. Management is also awaiting word from Thistledown on whether it intends to partner with River Downs in the long-running “7&7” program this year.
Handle at River Downs was impacted last year by a number of factors, including field size. According to The Jockey Club Information Systems, field size averaged 7.23 horses per race; officials said a four-day week could boost that number.
Through 23 days of racing this year at Beulah Park near Columbus, purses averaged $35,320 a day, according to TJCIS. Field size averaged 8.43 horses per race.
2009 Kentucky Derby Hopefuls Re-Unite
Mineshaft Handicap Brings Back Memories
The first three finishers in the January 23rd Louisiana Handicap at Fair Grounds are set to battle again this Saturday in the Grade II Mineshaft Handicap at the same 1 1/16-mile distance over the New Orleans oval.
Friesen Fire, who won the Louisiana Handicap in a pace-setting effort, was installed the 7-5 favorite over 2-1 General Quarters and 3-1 Good and Lucky, the respective second- and third-place finishers in the Louisiana Handicap.
Friesen Fire finished 18th and General Quarters finished 10th in the 2009 edition of the Kentucky Derby, while Giant Oak, though not a runner in the Derby, was on the Derby Trail until his connections pulled him out after a 4th place finish in the Louisiana Derby.
Friesan Fire, showed a distinct liking for Fair Grounds while on the 2009 Triple Crown, rattling off consecutive wins in the Lecomte and Risen Star (gr. III) Stakes and the Louisiana Derby. He disappointed as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby finishing second to last, and then ran unplaced in the Preakness Stakes. Rested until December, Freisan Fire finished an uninspiring third at Fair Grounds in what served as a prep race for the Louisiana Handicap, where he won by 1 3/4 lengths.
Friesan Fire will carry top weight of 122 pounds, four more than he handled in the Louisiana Handicap and one more than General Quarters will tote. Shaun Bridgmohan will ride for the third straight time.
General Quarters also was a big name on the same Triple Crown trail but in a different local. He won the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs and the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, but he too failed to make much of an impression in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. He also was rested until December and was beaten just a half-length at Fair Grounds in his first race back in a prep for the Louisiana Handicap. Robby Albarado gets the mount for the second straight time.
Good and Lucky gets a break in the weights, down to 118 pounds from the 122 pounds he carried when he defended his title in the Louisiana Handicap. The 7-year-old won the Tenacious Handicap at Fair Grounds in December right before his third in the Louisiana Handicap. Jockey Shane Sellers get the call again.
Stonehouse, who finished about five lengths back in fifth behind Good and Lucky in the Tenacious, is the most experienced of the contestants, with 37 starts. The 6-year-old son of Chester House has won or placed in a dozen stakes but none at Fair Grounds despite 10 starts at the track. He will carry 116 pounds.
Four-year-old Giant Oak, who also will tote 121 pounds, hasn’t raced since finishing a solid fourth, beaten 1 1/4 lengths in the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs in November. He has started twice at Fair Grounds, in the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby, but failed to finish in the top three.
Rounding out the field is Country Flavor, by Empire Maker. This will be Country Flavor’s initial stakes try. He enters off a January win by 4 3/4 lengths over 1 1/16 miles at Fair Grounds over a sloppy track.
Yonkers Raceway
Stakes Season Now Open
Yonkers’ 2010 stakes season gets underway this weekend, with the opening round of the Hopeful Pacing Series for 3-year-olds. On Friday night see three $10,000 divisions for fillies go to post, while the colts and geldings do battle in five $10,000 groupings Saturday night.
The series is open to those who were non-winners of two races and/or $20,000 through this past December 1st.
On Saturday night the Yonkers’ $32,000 Open Handicap Pace came up more intriguing than most. The seventh race offers several solid entrants.
Local “bully” Dave Ain’t Here goes for a fourth consecutive weekly pacing feature. The 9-year-old Blissfull Hall gelding is 4-for-7 this season, one win shy of his entire victory total, in 28 starts, from a season ago. He’s proven versatile, winning twice on the lead and once from well off the pace. However, he hasn’t convinced the public quite yet, getting away at odds of 10-1, 20-1 and 9-2 in the last three starts.
Dontgetbyme has worked his way up and is in search of a seventh consecutive victory. The 5-year-old Dontgetinmyway gelding is 5-for-5 since coming to Yonkers.
Corky Baran comes into this race after a pair of wins in Meadowlands Invitationals and is board-certified in all six seasonal starts. Jean Drolet trains the 7-year-old Rambaran gelding for owner Stephen Schneider.
Special Report and his $1.4 million career bankroll makes his seasonal debut. The 8-year-old Keystone Raider gelding is prepping for next month’s start of the George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Series. He won the ’08 edition.
Image of Dawn, Southwind Tabor, Smellthecolornine and Legal Litigator round out the field.
Thoroughbred Racing Action
Weekend Stakes Action
BetAmerica.com offers fantastic stakes action this week… The Derby Trail heats up with interesting racing action at Gulfstream Park, Fair Grounds, Oaklawn, Golden Gate and Santa Anita. Watch and wager on these stakes races…all on BetAmerica.com.
Saturday – February 20
- Fair Grounds: Risen Star Stakes – G2, $300,000, 3yo, 8.5f.
- Fair Grounds: Silverbulletday Stakes – G3, $150,000, 3yo f, 8.5f.
- Fair Grounds: Fair Grounds Handicap –G3, $100,000, 4&up, 9f (turf).
- Fair Grounds: Mineshaft Handicap –G3, $100,000, 4&up, 8.5f.
- Fair Grounds: Colonel Power Stakes, $60,000, 4&up, 5.5f (turf).
- Fair Grounds: Pan Zareta Stakes, $60,000, 4&up, f/m, 6f.
- Golden Gate Fields: El Camino Real Derby – G3, $150,000, 3yo, 9f.
- Gulfstream Park: Fountain of Youth Stakes – G2, $250,000, 3yo, 9f.
- Gulfstream Park: Canadian Turf Stakes – G3, $150,000, 4&up, 8f (turf).
- Gulfstream Park: Hutcheson Stakes – G2, $150,000, 3yo, 7f.
- Gulfstream Park: Honey Fox Stakes – G3, $100,000, 4&up, f/m, 8f (turf).
- Laurel Park: Maryland Racing Media Handicap, $50,000, 3&up, f/m, 9f.
- Oaklawn Park: Southwest Stakes – G3, $250,000, 3yo, 8f.
- Oaklawn Park: Spring Fever Stakes, $60,000, 4&up, f/m, 5.5f.
- Sam Houston Race Park: Jim’s Orbit Stakes, $125,000, 3yo, c/g, 8f.
- Sam Houston Race Park: Two Altazano Stakes, $125,000, 3yo f, 8f.
- Santa Anita: San Carlos Handicap – G2, $150,000, 4&up, 7f.
- Santa Anita: China Doll Stakes, $60,000, 3yo f, 8f (turf).
- Sunland Park: Sydney Valentini Handicap, $100,000, 4&up, f/m, 8f.
- Tampa Bay Downs: Tampa Bay BC Stakes, $100,000, 4&up, 8.5f (turf).
- Turf Paradise: Turf Paradise Derby, $50,000, 3yo, 8.5f.
- Turf Paradise: Arizona Oaks, $25,000, 3yo f, 8f.
- Turfway Park: Valdale Stakes, $50,000, 3yo f, 8f.
Sunday – February 21
- Gulfstream Park: Ladies Turf Sprint Stakes, $75,000, 4&up, f/m, 5f (turf).
- Santa Anita: San Luis Obispo Handicap -G, $150,000, 4&up, 12f (turf).
Harness Stakes Action
This Weekend’s Stakes Action
BetAmerica.com still has great harness action from the East Coast to the West Coast, from Canada and the U.S. Watch and Wager on these Harness stakes races this week:
Friday – February 19
- Meadowlands: Cape & Cutter, $87,500, Open Mare, Pace
- Meadowlands: Tender Loving Care, $76,000, 3yo, Filly, Pace
- Yonkers: Hopeful, $10,000, 3yo, Filly, Pace
Saturday – February 20
- Meadowlands: JR Trendsetter, $82,500, 3yo, C&G, Pace
- Meadowlands: Aquarius, $84,000, 4yo, Open, Pace
- Meadowlands: Exit 16WSuper Bowl, $67,500, 4 & Under H&G, Pace
- Yonkers: Hopeful, $10,000, 3yo, C&G, Pace
Santa Anita Sham Stakes
Posted by Jared Alexander
