Miscellaneous Horse Racing News

All things went swimmingly for Quality Road as he has undergone some gate schooling at Aqueduct this Saturday afternoon. The Florida Derby winner refused to load and was subsequently scratched from the Breeders Cup Classic two weeks ago. Trainer Todd Pletcher is considering racing the colt in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile. I think the mile distance would suit Quality Road perfectly. Quality Road is one of my favorite horses and I can’t wait to watch him race again! We have yet to see his best race. Pletcher is also considering Tom Fool Handicap winner Munnings for the race.

In other news, Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies winner She Be Wild is under consideration for the $500,000 Delta Princess Stakes at Delta Downs. The filly ran a great race under jockey Julien Leparoux to win the Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita. Leparoux masterfully guided the compact filly up the rail and she ran on strong to reign victorious. I think running in the Princess Stakes would be a good move. Trainer Wayne Catalano says she is training well.

More often then not horses that are superb at two aren’t as good when they get older. Some examples that I can think of off the top of my head are Dreaming of Anna and Stardom Bound. Both were extremely dominant at two, but were largely surpassed by their competition at the age of three. On the other hand, Indian Blessing was dominant at two, three, and four. She Be Wild’s connections might a well go for the big cash while they can.

Zenyatta’s connections have received the “Big Sport of Turfdom” award from the Turf Publicists of America. The criteria for the award is :”to a person or group of people who enhances coverage of Thoroughbred racing through cooperation with the media and Thoroughbred racing publicists”. Trainer John Sheriffs and his wife Dottie will recieve the award along with owners Jerry and Ann Moss and jockey Mike Smith. The mare has completed her career with a perfect 14 for 14 record. She still has one race left, and it will be the toughest of her career; the race for Horse of the Year.

Any thoughts on current racing news? Leave a comment and be heard!

Summer Bird holds strong hand in Japan Cup Dirt; Just as Well and Interpratation will vie for Japan Cup

Belmont and Travers Stakes winner Summer Bird will seek to become the 2nd American horse to win the Japan Cup Dirt after finishing 4th in the Breeders Cup Classic. To the best of my knowledge the race is going to take place on December 5 at Hanshin Racecourse. The only horse to win the Japan Cup Dirt from the U.S. was the Doug O’Neill trained Fleetstreet Dancer. He was piloted to victory by Jon Court. This year’s purse is $2.8 million. If the winners share is 60% in Japan like it is in the U.S. then Summer Bird would earn $1.68 for a win.

I think the son of Birdstone will handle the track well. He is a very fast colt, and with his best race he should outclass the Japanese runners. However, he does have some things working against him. He will be racing in a foreign country for the first time and wheeling back on 4 weeks rest. We can all agree that Mastercraftsman was the best runner in this years Breeders Cup Dirt Mile, but he couldn’t handle the surface. It’s doubtful that Summer Bird won’t handle the dirt in Japan, but ANYTHING is possible.

I will certainly tune in and root for him. Having Kent Desormeaux as his jockey will be advantage. Desormeaux has had great success in the land of the rising sun in the past. He became the first foreign jockey to win a Japanese classic race when he guided Lady Pastel to victory in the Japanese Oaks.  This has been a breakout year for trainer Tim Ice and I’d love to see him get another big win.

The following day will also be a big one for American runners. Interpretation, Marsh Side, and Just as Well are set to run in the Japan Cup (Turf). Just as Well is owned and trained by route specialist Jonathan Sheppard. He has put together and excellent campaign this year, with wins in the Arlington Handicap, and Northern Dancer Turf Stakes. He was second in the Arlington Million. Interpretation won the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational Stakes over Breeders Cup Classic runner up Gio Ponti last out. Marsh Side hasnt done his best running of late, but will surely have a chance under the care of Neil Drysdale.

Americans have had a decent amount of success in the Japan Cup but are experiencing a drought at the current time. Don MacBeth, who I talked about earlier this week, won the second running of the race on Half Iced. Chris MacCarron won on Pay The Butler for the late Robert Frankel. Gary Stevens and Charles Whittingham hooked up to win the race with Golden Pheasant in 1991. We haven’t had a winner since. I’m going to cross my fingers and hope the drought ends this time. Good luck to all the connections running in Japan and I hope to see the victor back stateside soon!

Charity Spotlight: MacBeth Fund

One of the best people I’ve met in racing is three time Kentucky Derby winner Chris MacCarron. He is a legend that has won every important race several times. He is currently running a jockey school in Lexington. I had a chance to meet him a year ago, and I was assisting him as he signed autographs.

The money he raised was for the benefit of the MacBeth Fund, an organization that exists to help injured and disabled jockeys that he helped to start. The fund is named in honor of Don MacBeth, a jockey who died of cancer. MacBeth is most famous for riding Chief’s Crown to victory in the inaugaral Breeders Cup Juvenile and the Travers Stakes the following year.

The organization was started in conjunction by Chris MacCarron and comedian Tim Conway. Best known for his roles on the Carroll Burnett and McHale’s Navy, Conway wanted to donate his fee for a show at Canterbury Downs to a fund for disabled jockeys. The only problem was that no such fund existed at the time. Conway’s donation of $5k helped kick the MacBeth fund off.

The money he donated and the money donated by people everyday is used for many purposes. Some is allocated to help pay the rent for injured jockeys, or to buy expensive medical equipment. Some of the funds are used to help making homes wheel chair accessible. Money is also used for little things like food. The fund has aided over 1,000 jockeys and is typically helping 40-50 during any given month.

Jockeys are constantly facing life and death situations. Michael Straight was recently paralyzed during a race at Arlington Park. Ron Turcotte, regular pilot of Triple Crown legend Secretariat, is also paralyzed. Unfortunately there are plenty of other examples. Jockeys are at a higher risk of dying than any other athlete. This is easy to believe since they are balancing themselves on a 1,000 pound animal going at speeds of 35-40 MPH.

I’ve donated to the fund in the past and plan to do so again when I graduate college and have more disposable funds. I highly encourage anyone to donate to help the men who help make our sport go and put their lives on the line every time they step in the irons. Click here to learn more!

Hall of Fame trainer Robert Frankel dies at 68

Considered among the top 5 active trainers by nearly everyone in the game, Robert Frankel succombed to complications of lymphoma this morning on November 16. The hall of fame had been battling the disease all year. Frankel was an asset to this sport and trained some of the greatest horses in the past 2o years. He was 68.

Robert Frankels list of wins is too long to count. His greatest victory came in 2004 when Ghostzapper crushed the competition in the Breeders Cup Classic. Here is a short list of some of Frankel’s wins.

• Japan Cup (1988)
• Breeders Cup Sprint (2001)
• Breeders Cup Filly & Mare Turf (2002, 2005)
• Breeders Cup Distaff (2007)
• Florida Derby (2003)
• Hollywood Gold Cup (1991, 2001, 2008)
• Santa Anita Handicap (1990, 2002, 2003)
• Travers (2002)
• Belmont Stakes (2003)

It is worth noting that this is a VERY short list. Frankel won countless important races throughout his storied career. Some of his best horses include Ginger Punch, Leroidesanimaux, Ghostzapper, Medaglia d’Oro, Squirtle Squirt, and Empire Maker. He has been a force in the thoroughbred industry since he began training in 1967.

Recently Frankel has done well with 2008 Hollywood Gold Cup winner Mast Track. He also trained 2008 Champagne Stakes winner Vineyard Haven, before selling him for a hefty sum to Godolphin Stables. Frankel was the leading trainer in terms of earnings 1993, 2002, and 2003. He won the Eclipse Award for Oustanding Trainer in 1993, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003. All in all, he won over 3,500 races throughout his career. Robert Frankel will be sorely missed by the entire industry.

There Can Only Be One: Horse of the Year

As much as everyone, myself included, would like to see Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta share Horse of the Year honors, it is very unlikely to happen. Both would have to recieve the same amount of votes. Each will go out a winner in their respective divisions though.

My pick for Horse of the Year has to be Rachel Alexandra. Without taking anything away from Zenyatta, I feel that Rachel Alexandra was the best horse to race this year. She won the Kentucky Oaks in a romp. Then she took the Preakness in her first win over the boys. After that she crushed the competition in the Mother Goose, breaking the stakes record that had stood since 1994 in race that has been contested at the current distance since 1959. She wasn’t being urged at the end of the race and if Calvin Borel had gone to work on her she would’ve easily broke Secretariat’s track record (I wasn’t able to find Big Red’s time, but I’m 90% sure he owns the record).

Her easy win in the Haskell Stakes over Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird was breath taking. She dominated that field from start to finish and was a very easy winner. As if beating the boys twice wasn’t good enough, Jess Jackson put the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro in to face older males in the Woodward. While she wasn’t an easy winner, Rachel Alexandra become the first three-year-old fillies to beat older males in a Grade 1 race. The field wasn’t too bad either thanks to the entries of Grade 1 winners Macho Again and Bullsbay.

All in all Rachel won 5 different Grade 1 races and found the winners circle at 7 different tracks this year. She won on tracks labeled fast and sloppy and from distances of 8 furlongs to 9 furlongs. She beat the boys three times and never lost in 9 trips to the track in 2009.

This filly has been absolutely stunning all year. Even if she doesn’t win Horse of the Year this time around she will almost surely take it in 2010. I look forward to watching her become the first filly to win the Breeders Cup Classic at Churchill Downs next year. Who is your pick? Let me know by leaving a comment.