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Thur
- Sept 15, 2005
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| (9/15) L C Tiffany takes state-bred allowance in Belmont
finale The William Lanyi bred and owned L C TIFFANY easily defeated a field of state-bred fillies and mares today's Belmont Park finale. The one-turn mile and a sixteenth mile affair for NW-1X condition allowance horses had a field of 9-horses vie over the "sloppy" main track. Saddling his second winner of the afternoon trainer Bruce Levine gave a "leg-up" to jockey Javier Castellano, who was aboard the talented three-year-old filly for the third consecutive time. The chestnut filly has finished first or second in her 5-lifetime starts and added another $26,400 to her bankroll now at $77,600 and has qualified her breeder, Mr. Lanyi, for $7,760 in total breeder awards, to date. L C Tiffany is by Carson City and is the second offspring and second winner produced from winner Sleepless, by Seattle Slew, being a half-sister to French stakes-placed four-time winner Sleepless Joy (Joyeux Danseur). Lanyi, who also raced New York-bred five-time-winning filly/mare Stephanie's Angel, had purchased Sleepless for $77,000 at Keeneland's 2000 November sale when she was carrying a full sibling to future stakes-placed winner Sleepless Joy, but the mare lost the foal she was carrying. Sleepless is a half-sister to stakes winners Mystic Night (Carson City) and Wacky Becky (Gone West). Both L C Tiffany and her dam Sleepless are inbred: L C Tiffany is 3 x 4 to Nijinsky II, and Sleepless is 3 x 4 to Boldnesian. BEHRNIK provided trainer Gary Contessa with his third win of the afternoon and owner Maggi Moss with her second winner of the day. In for a claiming tag of $25,000 Behrnik was rated in third position by jockey Eibar Coa before swinging around horses to take command at the top of the stretch and once underway drew off by more than six-lengths crossing the wire. The one-turn mile affair for fillies and mares carried a purse of $33,000, and the $19,800 winner's share of the purse boosts Behrnik's lifetime earnings to $255,813 in 34-career races. The five-year-old bay mare is by Chimes Band, and is out the stakes-placed Personal Flag mare, Lady Mondegreen, who placed in the 1995 running of the New York Oaks and is a half-sister to 8-time stakes winner Packett's Landing (Bates Motel). EPIGRAMMATIC closed strongly along the rail catching a determined Masai Warrior at the wire for a nose victory. Masai Warrior battled with I'm a Yankee soon after the break to the eighth-pole before edging clear but the early exertion took its toll as Epigrammatic, who sat sixth midway through the stretch, was coaxed by jockey Mike Luzzi through an opening between Masai Warrior and the rail. Owned by Weatherwatch Farm of Jared and Sherrie Abbruzzese, Epigrammatic is trained by Bruce Levine and was purchased at the 2004 Saratoga Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling sale for $77,000. The two-year-old bay colt was bred by France and Irwin Weiner, who together qualify for a $4,920 breeder's award, and is by the former New York-based stallion City Zip, whose connections qualify for a $1,722 stallion owner's award. Epigrammatic is out of the Corporate Report mare, Concise, who's a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Freight Bill (Tilt Up). Mitre Box Stable's FIFTY FRAME battled from gate to wire to break his maiden in third career start. Racing over a "sloppy" main track, Fifty Frame battled head to head with Phillip X to mid-stretch before opening up a clear lead and while under strong urging held off Bronxdale by three-quarters of a length. Trainer Richard Schosberg added blinkers for today's race and named last year's Eclipse Award winning jockey John Velazquez to ride. The bay colt was purchased by Robert Jacoff's Mitre Box Stable at this year's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic two-year-old in-training sales for $52,000 and picked up $24,600 with the victory and qualified his breeder, Richard Simon of Sez Who Thoroughbreds, for a $4,920 breeder's award. The bay colt is by Precise End, and is the second foal out of the hard-hitting Slick mare, C B Carm, who won 10-times during her 50-race career earning $135,075. Maggi Moss' TRUELY ALONE was all alone at the wire winning by more than three-lengths over a "sloppy" main track. The state-bred maiden field for two-year-old fillies was run at six-furlongs and had an unusual five entries listed with Truely Alone part of the Gary Contessa entry with stablemate Bee in a Bonnet, who finished third. Bred by Dr. Patricia Staskowski Purdy at her Ivy League Farm in Ithaca, New York, the dark bay filly is by Favorite Trick, and is out of the multiple stakes-placed producing Valet de Pied (Fr) mare, Northern Eyes. |
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Wed
- Sept 14, 2005
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| (9/14) Finlandia charges through stretch to win turf
allowance Nyala Farm's FINLANDIA, given a masterful ride by journeyman jockey Mike Luzzi, rallied through the stretch to win by two-going away lengths against state-bred allowance fillies and mares, today, at beautiful Belmont Park. The NW-2X condition allowance race was run at a mile and a sixteenth over the inner turf course and had a full field of 10-horses go to the starting gate. Luzzi sent Finlandia winging to the front to the top of the backstretch before wisely taking back to let 70-1 longshot J. B's Annie take the lead, who was tracked on the outside by another longshot (19-1) Lone Tree. Stakes winner Her Beauty moved into the fray approaching the far turn with Finlandia snuggled in between horses until Luzzi gave her the cue. Responding quickly, Finlandia moved boldly and ran by Lone Tree and Her Beauty in short order drawing off to win by more than two-lengths under the wire. The three-year-old dark bay filly qualified breeders Kathleen O'Connell and Ruth Bedford, who together race under the name of Nyala Farm, for an additional $2,760 breeder award. Finlandia's victory boosts her earnings over the century mark to $113,735 in eight-career starts. The talented filly is by Royal Anthem and is out of the allowance winning Ends Well mare, It's a Gherkin, who's a 100% producer of horses of racing age. The Robert B. Cohen bred and owned SAMSINCHARGE took charge inside the sixteenth pole on way to victory in a NW-1X condition allowance race run over the Widener turf course. Trained by Heriberto Cedano, longtime assistant to the late Hall of Fame trainer P. G. Johnson, Samsincharge, who raced without blinkers for today's race, was ridden by last year's Eclipse Award winning jockey John Velazquez. The victory increases her earnings by $26,400 to $59,468 in six-career starts and also qualified owner-breeder Cohen for an additional $5,280 breeder award. Samsincharge is among at least 49 winners in 2005 sired by the late New York stallion Dixie Brass, whose owner during that stallion's racing and breeding careers, excavating business operator and former fireman Michael Watral of Central Islip, Long Island, qualified for a $1,848 stallion award. She is a half-sister to four New York-bred winners, including stakes-placed filly Sam's In Control ($131,136), and she also is a half-sister to the unraced dam of New York-bred stakes-placed winner Robbie's Rockin ($194,209). The bay filly's dam is Chilean Group 1 winner Wagers Delight, who is by Premiership (by Exclusive Native). Thomas Mina's NO PAROLE overcame several obstacles to defeat a field of open company claimers in a six-furlong turf event run over the Widener turf course. Bumped soon after the start and once again at the top of the stretch, a determined No Parole dug in through the stretch to win by a nose at the wire. The Joe Aquilino trained New York-bred stakes winner was in for a claiming tag of $35,000 and the $22,800 winner's share of the purse boosts his lifetime earnings to $440,435 in 38-career starts. The six-year old dark bay gelding was bred by Dr. William Coyro, Jr., who qualifies for a $2,280 breeder's award. No Parole is a multiple graded-stakes placed performer and is by Lit de Justice, out of the Bates Motel mare, Suddenly Victoria, herself a stakes-placed performer. Gerson Racing's HOW 'BOUT NO was an impressive first out winner under leading jockey Edgar Prado. Breaking from the rail position in a six-furlong affair for two-year-old state bred fillies, How 'bout No took the lead soon after the break and continued to widen the margin to the finish line winning by more than 8-lengths crossing the wire. Trained by Richard Dutrow, Jr. the bay filly is by the former New York-based stallion Precise End, who stood at Lakland North Farm through the end of the 2004 breeding season. Bred by Richard Simon's Sez Who Thoroughbred Farm located in Stillwater, N.Y., How 'bout No is the third foal out of the stakes-producing Housebuster mare Dither, a half-sister to graded stakes winner Move (Forty Niner); graded stakes-placed performer and Pennsylvania Oaks winner Reforest (Forestry); and, to graded stakes-placed and stakes winner Falling Sky (Star de Naskra). The victory qualified Richard Simon for a $4,920 breeder's award and to the connections of Precise End goes a $1,722 stallion owner's award. |
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Sun
- Sept 11, 2005
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| (9/11) Bethpage Black blazes 7F on turf in 1:21.87 Back at Belmont and reunited with jockey Edgar Prado, three-year-old BETHPAGE BLACK sprinted past three rivals in the final furlong of Belmont's restricted N1X allowance nightcap for three-year-olds and up going seven furlongs on turf, clocking a winning time of 1:21.87. The dark bay gelding had broken his maiden by 11-3/4 lengths under Prado going a virtual one-turn mile at Belmont on June 23 and had placed second over that same distance and surface 22 days later -- despite altering course in the stretch -- at the restricted N1X allowance level. A less-than-firm Saratoga grass course apparently had not been to his liking in a sixth-place effort among 12 on August 13, after which trainer Michael Brice had given the gelding a moderate three-furlong workout over Belmont's training track on September 7. The wagering public liked Bethpage Black's chances and the fact that Prado was returning as his jockey, favoring him at 2.15-to-1 among 11 starters even though he was breaking from the eighth post position. For Prado, who has now ridden the quickly-closing stretch runner in three races at Belmont, it was the second winning ride of the day aboard a three-year-old. Bethpage Black races for Cory Teleisha and Robert Gianmarino, a partnership for which he boosted his earnings by $25,800 to $61,988 in five starts. Trainer Brice had signed the sales slip purchasing the late-foaled (May 19, 2002) New York-bred for $22,000 at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's (OBS) 2004 March sale of two-year-olds in training. Bethpage Black was bred by the Warnerton Farm, LTD of the late Marvin Warner of Ocala, Florida, whose estate qualified for a $2,580 breeder award. He is inbred 3 x 3 to Damascus and 3 x 5 to Bold Ruler, being by Grade 1 winner Private Terms and the fifth starter and fifth winner produced from Intimate Moments, by Benefice (by Damascus). Bethpage Black has two six-figure-earning half-sisters -- main track route specialist Thong ($125,365) and turf specialist Red Wildcat ($125,359), who also has won on dirt. Their dam, Intimate Moments, is a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Afternoon Deelites ($1,061,193) -- also by Private Terms -- and had been purchased for $12,000 at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's 2002 February mixed sale in Timonium, Maryland when she was carrying Bethpage Black. With the highest percentage of in-the-money finishes, Pont Street Stable's EXALTED CAT was justifiably favored at 1.60-to-1 among 10 starters, three-year-olds and up, in a restricted mile and an eighth maiden special on turf, and jockey Jose Espinoza rode him masterfully to win in the impressive time of 1:49.12. The three-year-old broke last from the outside post and by necessity raced wide for most of the contest but found room next to the rail coming out of the second turn and prevailed by a half-length over 6.20-to-1 third choice Great South Bay on his outside. Exalted Cat's sixth effort under Espinoza in seven career outings increased his earnings by $25,200 to $57,920 while improving his record to 1 - 3 - 1 for the Pont Street Stable of various partnerships of racing fans that is managed by Stanley Ettinger of Great Neck. He had placed second in his latest previous outing five weeks earlier going a mile on turf at Saratoga when Espinoza had lost an iron on the second turn. Trainer Del Carroll II subsequently had given the dark bay colt -- all of whose starts have been on grass -- three-furlong workouts over Saratoga's Oklahoma training track on August 22 and 28 and over Belmont's training track on September 7. Purchased for $12,000 at a Fasig-Tipton Kentucky 2003 October yearling sale, Exalted Cat was bred by Camelia Casby of Shakopee, Minnesota, who qualified for a $5,040 breeder award. He is a full brother to Casby's New York-bred four-time winner Tomorrows Gold, who won an open Finger Lakes allowance feature on August 22, being the third winner produced from four-time winner Leah's Gold, a Slew o' Gold mare that Casby had purchased for $45,000 at Keeneland's 2000 January sale. Exalted Cat is among at least 46 winners in 2005 to represent his sire, Tomorrows Cat (Storm Cat - Tomorrow's Child, by Al Nasr), whose ownership syndicate is managed by Questroyal Stud and who stands at Metropolitan Stud (managed by Debra and Michael Lischin) in Pine Plains. The victory by Exalted Cat qualified the syndicate connections of Tomorrows Cat for a $1,764 stallion award and boosted that stallion's cumulative progeny earnings to over $5.7-million from four crops of racing age. Exalted Cat's dam, Leah's Gold, is a half-sister to four stakes winners, including three-time graded winner For Really ($481,681). In Belmont's Grade 2 Jerome Handicap at a one-turn mile for three-year-olds, Fox Ridge Farm's New York-bred Naughty New Yorker closed from last place among six starters to place third, registering his fourth open stakes-placing of 2005 and second graded-placing of the year. With jockey Jean-Luc Samyn on board for the 15th time in 16 career starts, the bay colt increased his earnings to $375,607 off a record of 4 - 4 - 4. He also qualified the Fox Ridge Farm, Inc. of Peter Schiff of Syosset, who had purchased him for $145,000 at the OBS 2004 March sale of two-year-olds in training, for an additional $1,500 owner award. Naughty New Yorker had won two of three legs of The OTBs' Big Apple Triple over the summer -- Belmont's seven-furlong Mike Lee and Saratoga's mile and an eighth Albany (18 days prior to the Jerome), after which trainer Patrick Kelly had given him a half-mile Saratoga workout on September 5. The son of Quiet American - Naughty Natisha, by Known Fact, was bred by veterinarians William Wilmot and Joan Taylor, who jointly qualified for a $1,500 breeder award, and was foaled at his breeders' Stepwise Farm in Saratoga Springs. He is a half-brother to stakes-winning filly router and Grade 2-placed Pupil ($204,280). Naughty New Yorker is among 56 New York-breds that have won or placed (second or third) in open (to horses bred/conceived anywhere) stakes events in 2005, and his third-placing in the Jerome was the 84th on-the-board open stakes finish (first, second, or third) by a New York-bred this year. |
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Sat
- Sept 10, 2005
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| (9/10) Nimble Wit notches 2nd win in 2 weeks in N1X
opener at Belmont Park It's been an excellent two weeks for owner-breeder John Becker of Greenwich, Connecticut. During that time, Becker's homebred three-year-old NIMBLE WIT has scored victories at Saratoga (August 27) and Belmont (September 10), and Nimble Wit's two-year-old half-brother, Becker's homebred Classic Pack, won Finger Lakes' $248,400 New York Breeders' Futurity on Labor Day by 9-3/4 lengths in a stakes-shattering 1:09.85 for six furlongs. In Belmont's six-furlong Saturday opener, a restricted N1X allowance for three-year-olds and up, Nimble Wit was overlooked as the 16.20-to-1 fifth choice among eight wagering interests and 10 starters with jockey Pablo Fragoso -- who had piloted Classic Pack to his Futurity victory -- race-riding him for the second time. Becker's three-year-old homebred was bumped by 25.50-to-1 Toora Loora Mukora shortly after breaking from the outside post but had no problem securing second place in the opening quarter and seized command from front-running Sea Lawyer -- the 5.70-to-1 second choice as half of an entry -- in mid-stretch. At the wire, Nimble Wit was a half-length ahead of Sea Lawyer, to whom he was conceding four pounds, leveling out for a victory that increased his earnings by $25,800 to $92,373 while improving his record to 2 - 2 - 4 in 13 starts. The win also qualified Becker for an additional $2,580 breeder award -- to go along with the maximum $10,000 breeder award that Becker qualified for as a result of the New York Breeders' Futurity victory by Classic Pack ($175,050). Both Nimble Wit and Classic Pack are trained by New York Thoroughbred Breeders (NYTB) 1979 Trainer of the Year Ramon (Mike) Hernandez. Nimble Wit is by the Mr. Prospector stallion Pioneering -- also sire of recent New York-bred Grade 3 California winner Behaving Badly -- and he and Classic Pack are the first two starters produced from New York-bred multiple stakes winner Three Pack ($179,197), by former New York sire Stacked Pack. The bay colt is inbred 3 x 5 to Raise a Native. Dam Three Pack also raced as a homebred for Becker under the care of trainer Hernandez, winning Belmont's Joseph A. Gimma Stakes as a juvenile in 1995 and capturing the Schenectady Handicap at the Big Sandy as a four-year-old in 1997. Three Pack, who has a yearling filly by the late New York stallion Distinctive Pro, is a full sister to Becker-bred juvenile stakes-placed winning filly/mare It's a Lark ($136,055) and a half-sister to Becker-bred stakes-placed winning filly/mare She La Rose. Wearing blinkers for the first time in her second career start, Anstu Stables' homebred OCHI CHERNYE romped by nine lengths in Belmont's six-furlong maiden special nightcap for New York-bred fillies and mares, three-year-olds and up. The three-year-old filly was race-ridden for the first time by "bug" jockey Pablo Morales, whose apprentice allowance is seven pounds, and went off as the 4.10-to-1 second choice among 11 starters even though she was coming off a 27-week layoff. The dominating effort increased her earnings by $24,600 to $25,830 in two starts and also qualified her breeders, the Anstu Farm LLC in Millbrook of Stuart and Anita Subotnick of New York City, for an additional $2,460 breeder award. After Ochi Chernye had finished a greenly-running fifth among 11 in her Aqueduct debut on March 5, trainer Robert Barbara had given her five workouts at Saratoga from July 7 through September 3. The dark bay filly is by multiple graded winner Mr. Greeley and is the second offspring and second NYRA winner within 20 days produced from Neatie, a Gulfstream-winning Alydeed mare that Anstu Stables had purchased for $250,000 (through Todd Pletcher) at Fasig-Tipton Florida's 1997 February sale of two-year-olds in training. Ochi Chernye's four-year-old New York-bred half-brother, Anstu Stables' homebred Runingforpresident, won a restricted N2X allowance at Saratoga on August 21, putting his earnings at $125,484. The Subotnicks also have raced such New York-breds as NYTB 1997 Champion Two-Year-Old Male Mellow Roll ($555,772), who won Belmont's 1998 Empire Classic Handicap against older New York-breds as a three-year-old, and 2004 Hudson Handicap winner Friendly Island. Stuart Subotnick is a general partner and executive vice president of Metromedia Company, serving as chief operating and financial officer for one of the largest privately held companies in the U.S., and he is a member of the New York Racing Association board of trustees. Dam Neatie is a half-sister to graded winner Mayflower Lass ($209,482) and to stakes-placed winners Perfect Premier ($106,064) and Cayman Cat. Tracy Farmer's New York-bred Commentator showed a disinclination to being rated and confusion when tiring on Belmont's big turn in the $490,000 Grade 1 Woodward Stakes at a one-turn mile and an eighth for three-year-olds and up, placing third behind odds-on (.40-to-1) winner Saint Liam and second-place stablemate Sir Shackleton. Hall of Fame Jockey Gary Stevens, who had guided Commentator to a neck victory over Saint Liam in Saratoga's Grade 1 Whitney Handicap at a two-turn mile and an eighth five weeks earlier, tried in vain to harness the New York-bred's speed. Commentator was pressured down the backstretch by another New York-bred, Sanford Goldfarb's Show Boot, who briefly took the lead and whose trainer -- NYTB 2002 Trainer of the Year Richard Dutrow Jr. -- also conditions Saint Liam. Shortly after Saint Liam loomed alongside of Commentator on Belmont's never-ending turn, Stevens's mount lurched over to his right lead, and the match-up between the event's top two choices among three wagering interests and five starters, Saint Liam and 1.40-to-1 Commentator (coupled with Sir Shackleton), was essentially over. Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito, who conditions both Sir Shackleton and Commentator, commented that the outcome was something of a "team" effort: "There is nothing we can do. I thought Stevens did a good job, whatever he could do. He got himself in position to win; he had no shot today...The horse (Saint Liam) had an easy race. That's the way it goes. It would have been okay with one 'rabbit.' I think two 'rabbits' -- there is no question he (Commentator) is double-teamed...Commentator is a wonderful horse." Jockey Stevens gave Commentator credit for a game effort: "He ran hard. They had to do what they had to do. We picked up a hell of a lot of weight (10 pounds more than Commentator had carried in the Whitney). I don't know if things would have been any different without the 'rabbits.' Of course, they were keeping me company. I could just never get my horse to relax." Commentator's third-place effort increased his earnings by $50,000 to $710,092 off a record of 7 - 0 - 1 in nine starts and also qualified owner Farmer -- who had purchased the now four-year-old gelding for $135,000 at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky's 2002 July yearling sale -- for an additional $5,000 owner award. Show Boot, who finished fourth, increased his earnings by $25,000 to $214,849 off a record of 5 - 3 - 5 in 17 starts while qualifying owner Sanford Goldfarb and breeder Sez Who Thoroughbreds for owner and breeder awards of $2,500 each. Commentator was bred by Michael Martinez of Meriden, Connecticut, who qualified for a $5,000 breeder award, and was foaled and raised at Thomas Gallo's Blue Stone Farm in Cambridge, which is 20 miles east of Saratoga Springs. In Delaware Park's Grade 3 Endine Handicap for fillies and mares, three-year-olds and up, going six furlongs, Lois Nervitt's New York-bred Sensibly Chic placed second behind Umpateedle -- to whom she was conceding a pound -- as the 2.10-to-1 second choice among seven wagering interests and eight starters. Finishing a length behind Sensibly Chic was the 1.20-to-1 favorite and three-length winner of the 2004 Endine, Ebony Breeze. Sensibly Chic had not raced in two months, although trainer Timothy Tullock Jr. had given her a half-mile "bullet" workout at Laurel on August 24 followed by a five-furlong Laurel drill on September 3, and she was ridden for the first time in competition by jockey Abel Castellano Jr. The five-year-old mare increased her earnings by $40,000 to $498,477 off a record of 8 - 6 - 2 in 21 starts, which includes a 3-3/4-length victory in Belmont's Grade 2 Vagrancy Handicap at 6-1/2 furlongs on June 12 and a 6-1/2-length tally in Laurel's six-furlong What a Summer Stakes in January. She has won or placed second in a total of nine stakes events -- eight of them open and five of them graded. Acquired privately by Nervitt after being a $4,700 "reserve not attained" Keeneland yearling in October of 2001 from the consignment of her breeders, Joe and Anne McMahon's McMahon Thoroughbreds in Saratoga Springs and Bill Casner's and Kenny Troutt's WinStar Farm LLC, Sensibly Chic was foaled at the McMahon facility. She is by Distorted Humor -- sire of other New York-bred open stakes winners Funny Cide, Go Rockin' Robin, Commentator, and Then She Laughs -- and is among three starters, all winners, produced from Rajana's Honor, by Hero's Honor. Rajana's Honor, who broke her maiden by eight lengths and finished fourth in a stakes at Hoosier Park as a 1995 four-year-old, is a full sister to French Group 1-placed and Belmont Grade 2-placed winner Honor Rajana ($167,883), being out of Puerto Rican multiple Group 2 winner Rajana. Prestonwood Farm -- which became WinStar Farm when it later changed ownership to Casner and Troutt -- purchased Rajana's Honor for $40,000 at Keeneland's 1996 November sale. |
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Fri
- Sept 9, 2005
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| (9/9) Clever Electrician shocks odds-on favorite in MacArthur Handicap Gumpster Stable's CLEVER ELECTRICIAN, who was upset in the John Morrissey Stakes run at Saratoga on August 18th, took his vengeance out on the overwhelming odds-on favorite Yankee Mon and the rest of the state-bred horses in the 23rd running of the General Douglas MacArthur Handicap, today, at beautiful Belmont Park. With only five horses vying for the $100,000 purse Yankee Mon looked like a cinch to win his 6th career race coming off a respectable fourth place finish in the Grade 1 - Forego Handicap but the hard hitting Clever Electrician wasn't intimidated and pushed the favorite through the opening half-mile before taking command as the field turned for home and held off a late run by Papua to win by more than a length crossing the wire. Jockey Ramon Dominguez, who was aboard in the Morrissey stated: "I was surprised with how easy I got past Yankee Mon. I don't think my horse ran his race last time (Morrissey). I was glad they kept me on him. A happy Bruce Levine, trainer of the three-time stakes winner validated Dominguez' remarks: "He didn't run his best race in Saratoga. Today, I thought he brought his A-race to the table. Ramon (Dominguez) rode him great and everything worked out." Levine is pointing Clever Electrician toward the $125,000 Hudson Handicap, a six-furlong affair run on New York Showcase Day, Saturday, October 22nd. In winning his second consecutive General Douglas MacArthur Handicap, the six-year-old bay horse earns $63,900 pushing his lifetime earnings to $433,890 in 31-career starts. The Gumpster Stable of Andrew Berg of Roslyn, Long Island, claimed Clever Electrician for $30,000 at Churchill Downs on July 4, 2003, immediately shipping him back to his state of birth for the rich incentives and awards provided by the New York Breeding and Racing Program. Clever Electrician broke his maiden going a mile and a sixteenth at Oaklawn Park in March of 2003 but Levine discovered last fall that Clever Electrician could sprint, saddling him for a 10 1/4-length victory in a seven-furlong restricted N1X allowance over a sloppy track at Belmont on October 29, 2003. Purchased as a weanling for $75,000 at Keeneland's 1999 November sale by his previous owner, Janelle Grum, Clever Electrician had been consigned to that auction through agent Fred Seitz/Brookdale Farm by his co-breeders, Monica Driver and Caroline "Bunty" Ferguson, who jointly qualified for a $6,390 breeder award. Clever Electrician is the seventh-winner produced from Driver-Ferguson's three-time New York Champion Broodmare, Loose Wire, being a full brother to New York-bred graded winner Wire Me Collect ($626,452). Clever Electrician is also a half-brother to New York-bred graded winner Scottish Monk ($688,701) and to New York-bred stakes winner Electric Shock ($134,100), stakes-placed winner Silver Wire, and to the dams of 2003 Grade 2 winner Taste of Paradise ($280,360) and New York-bred graded winner Scott the Great ($362,727). Dam Loose Wire, who died at Driver's Flyhawk Farm, formerly called Kinloch Farm in New Woodstock (where Clever Electrician was foaled) at the age of 25 in February of 2003, had been voted New York Broodmare of the Year for 1996 and 1999, and, once again, in 2004. The daughter of Ruritania was a half-sister to graded-placed black-type winner Mimi Baker (granddam of multiple stakes winner Fatale Attraction) and to the dam/granddam of five more stakes winners. The Roy Lerman owned and trained QUESTIONING took today's finale closing strongly through the stretch to defeat a field of state-bred maiden horses going a one-turn mile on the main track. Ridden by Cornelio Velasquez, the three-year-old gray gelding was making his sixth-career start and was bred by the partnership of E & D Enterprises and Robert S. Fox, who together qualified for a $2,520 breeder's award. Questioning is by Skip Away, out of the un-raced Storm Bird mare, Youwantmetodowhat, who's a half-sister to stakes winner and multiple graded stakes-placed performer Are You Up (Eagle Eyed). |
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Thur
- Sept 8, 2005
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| (9/5) Key Event captures turf allowance at Spa Backwards Stable's KEY EVENT, under a masterful ride by last year's Eclipse award winning jockey John Velazquez, swept to the lead inside the sixteenth pole to beat a field of New York-bred allowance horses at Saratoga Race Course. The NW-2X condition race was run at a mile and a sixteenth over the Mellon turf course, listed "firm", for the final day of racing at the historic track nestled 30-miles north of Albany, New York. Owned and bred by Edward McEneaney (Backwards Stable), the three-year-old bay colt is trained by Patrick Kelly. The $30,000 winner's share of the purse boosts Key Event's lifetime earnings to $99,670 in 9-career starts and has thus far qualified Mr. McEneaney for breeder's awards totaling $9,967. Key Event is the second foal out of the Missionary Ridge (GB) dam Sugarkey, who's a half-sister to multiple stakes-placed and allowance winner Alyshena (Alysheba), who earned $239,962 in a 38-race career. Tina Marie Bond's homebred RAFFIT led at every call to win his second career race in seven outings defeating a state-bred field of NW-1X condition allowance horses. The race was run at a mile and an eighth over the main track, listed "fast", with trainer and co-breeder H. James Bond giving a "leg-up" to apprentice jockey Julien Leparoux, who qualifies for a 10lb weight allowance. Raffit broke from the two-post position and although racing wide at the top of the stretch went on to win by more than five-lengths crossing the wire. The lightly raced five-year-old chestnut horse, who placed in the 2003 running of the Times Square Division of the New York Stallion Stakes, is by Raffie's Majesty, and out of the Double Negative mare, Shock It, a half-sister Subtle Dancer (Crafty Prospector) and Take a Burn (Degenerate Jon). Raffie's Majesty (Cormorant - Raffinierte, by Surumu), who was also trained Bond, won twice and placed in three graded stakes, missing by two noses in 1998 running of Saratoga's Grade 1 Travers Stakes and capturing New York-Bred Champion Three-Year-Old Male honors for that year. Raffie's Majesty is owned by a syndicate that qualified for a $2,016 stallion award, and stands as the property of Four Partners at Howard Kaskel's Sugar Maple Farm in Poughquag, New York. Our Canterbury Stable's RETRIBUTION took Saratoga Race Course's final race of the season defeating a field of state-bred horses in a NW-1X condition allowance affair. The 10th race on the Labor Day card was run at a mile and a sixteenth over the inner turf course, listed "fast", and had a field of 10-horses go to the gate. Retribution stumbled coming out of the gate but quickly recovered taking the lead just past the quarter and held off all challengers to win by a length and a half. The $28,800 winner's share of the purse pushes Retribution's lifetime earnings above the century mark to $104,050 in 12-career starts. Retribution was purchased by Our Canterbury Stables, which is a racing partnership managed by Tom Daly of New Fairfield, Connecticut, for $30,000 at the 2004 April OBS two-year-old in-training sales. Ridden by Cornelio Velasquez and trained by Gary Contessa, the three-year-old bay gelding was bred by Joseph and Winifred Greeley's Sabine Stable, who stood the sire Rob 'N Gin in New York and therefore qualified for a $2,016 stallion owner's award and a $5,760 breeder's award. Magic Carpet Racing's THE TRIP CONTINUES rallied from fifth position midway on the far turn charging to the lead nearing the eighth-pole on his way to a six-length maiden score. Trainer Frank Alexander worked the state-bred maiden a sharp five furlongs in 1:00 3/5th seconds on September 1st for the bay geldings second start and renamed journeyman jockey Fernando Jara to ride. Bred at Brian Gillum's Glenmare Farm in Amsterdam, New York, the April foal was sold as a weanling at the 2003 November Keeneland Sale for only $3,700 and for today's victory earned $27,000 and qualified Mr. Gillum for a $5,400 breeder's award. The Trip Continues is by the first New York foal crop of Good and Tough, a son of Carson City, who earned $809,341 in 23-starts chalking up 100+ Beyer Speed Figures remarkable 13-times. The talented gelding is the second foal to race out of the Cure the Blues mare, Indigo Twist. |
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