Hanford, Boland, Cougar II Elected in Hall of Fame

Posted on Wednesday, May 31st, 2006

Trainer Carl Hanford, jockey Bill Boland and turf champion Cougar II were elected to the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame on Tuesday. The trio, who will be inducted on August 7, were elected by the Saratoga organization’s Historic Review Committee, which considers nominees who have not been active in racing for 25 years. Hanford, 90, is best known for training Kelso, a five-times Horse of the Year.

Read full story: "Hanford, Boland, Cougar II Elected in Hall of Fame"...

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A narrow victory put the smile back in Prado

Posted on Tuesday, May 30th, 2006

Edgar Prado to visit Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, but before that, Prado ride Silver Train to a narrow victory over Sun King in the $600,000 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park.

NEW YORK (AP) — Silver Train just loves Belmont Park, and having Edgar Prado aboard was a big boost, too.

Prado guided Silver Train to a narrow victory over Sun King in the $600,000 Metropolitan Handicap on Monday, the 4-year-old colt’s fourth straight win at Belmont, all with Prado in the saddle.

"He just loves this track, and that’s great for us," Silver Train’s trainer Richard Dutrow Jr., said of the horse. "He can do anything, and Edgar has such a knack for knowing what to do and when to do it."

The victory came a day before Prado was to visit Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro at the University of Pennsylvania’s George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals in Kennett Square, Pa.

Prado was aboard Barbaro when the colt shattered three bones in his right hind leg at the start of the Preakness on May 20. Barbaro had surgery the next day and remains on the road to recovery.

"I’m still devastated at what happened," Prado said, adding he’s glad to finally have time to see Barbaro for the first time since the Preakness.

Winning the Met Mile put a smile on Prado’s face, at least for a few minutes.

"My horse was going nice and easy," Prado said. "He just loves this track; he proved that last year in the Breeders’ Cup."

The son of Old Trieste took the lead from Mass Media on the turn for home and beat the fast-closing Sun King by a head in the race also known as the Met Mile, which drew a Memorial Day crowd of 14,864.

Silver Train, the slight 2-1 favorite, won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in October in his previous start at Belmont, an upset over Lost in the Fog. The colt also won the Jerome Handicap and an allowance race at Belmont. Overall, Silver Train is 4-for-6 at the track.

The winning time for the Met Mile was 1:34.27, with Silver Train returning $6.60, $3.50 and $2.90. Sun King, trained by Nick Zito, paid $6.30 and $4.80. Mass Media was third and paid $5.

Bandini, coming off two straight wins, was fourth, followed by Wilko, Sir Greeley and New York Hero.

Silver Train, owned by Buckram Oak Farm, won for the first time in three starts this year and improved his career record to five wins in 13 races. The colt earned $360,00 to boost his bankroll to $1,127,345.

Next up for Silver Train is the Suburban Handicap on July 1 — at Belmont, of course.

"I have to look for as many good races for him here as possible," Dutrow said. "He’s not going to go up to Saratoga."

Zito came up short again. His Pie’s Prospect was second in the Donn Handicap and Wanderin Boy was second in the Pimlico Special. It was Sun King’s turn in the Met Mile.

"It’s like the freakiest thing ever," Zito said. "The horse ran great. He ran his guts out. This was a tough beat."

Bandini, trained by Todd Pletcher, was bumped into Sun King by Silver Train at the start. He still ran with the leaders, but had nothing left in the stretch.

"When we left there, he kind of got shuffled back," Bandini’s jockey Garrett Gomez said. "From then on, I was in everyone’s pocket. He had every chance to get it done, but they just kicked in."

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Edgar Prado to ride Deputy Glitters on 138 Belmont Stakes

Posted on Tuesday, May 30th, 2006

Albertrani may not be bringing his best 3-year-old at Belmont Stakes, but still Deputy Glitters is a well live contender.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Tom Albertrani may not be bringing his best 3-year-old to the 138th Belmont Stakes, but the one that he will saddle in the final leg of Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown will certainly merit consideration.

Albertrani won the Preakness Stakes with Bernardini, whose sharp performance was greatly overshadowed by the catastrophic injuries suffered by Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro in the race. Bernardini’s owner, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, decided to skip the Belmont and point Bernardini to summer stakes such as the Jim Dandy and Travers at Saratoga.

Without Barbaro and Bernardini in the field, this year’s Belmont Stakes is considered wide open. So, bettors could do worse in hunting for value than landing on Deputy Glitters, the Albertrani-trained colt who upset probable Belmont favorite Bluegrass Cat in the Tampa Bay Derby and finished eighth in the Kentucky Derby.

Deputy Glitters’s chances were enhanced on Monday when he picked up the services of jockey Edgar Prado, who had been the regular rider for Barbaro. Prado has won the Belmont Stakes twice, in 2002 aboard Sarava and in 2004 on Birdstone. Like Deputy Glitters, Birdstone finished eighth in the Derby.

As of Monday, 11 horses were listed as definite and three more considered possible for the Belmont, run at 1 1/2 miles. High Finance, a five-length winner of an entry-level allowance race here on May 4, was the latest 3-year-old to commit to the Belmont. A son of Talk Is Money, High Finance is owned by the West Point Stable and trained by Rick Violette. Cause to Believe, who worked one mile in 1:39.80 on Monday at Bay Meadows, is also possible.

Meanwhile, Deputy Glitters on Monday worked five furlongs in 1:01.84 over Belmont’s main track. Exercise rider Simon Harris was aboard Deputy Glitters, whom track clockers timed in 25.80 seconds for his opening quarter, meaning he got his last three-eights in 36.04. Andy Rehm, the assistant to Albertrani, said Deputy Glitters went out seven furlongs in 1:27 and a mile in 1:41.

"He’s a very good work horse; he did it easily and in hand," said Rehm, who is overseeing the stable while Albertrani serves out a 15-day suspension for a medication violation. "Simon said he was just cruising. He got a little unexpected company at the quarter pole; one of [Bill] Mott’s horses hooked up with him, but Simon said it didn’t affect him too much."

Deputy Glitters was barely on anyone’s Kentucky Derby radar until he upset Bluegrass Cat in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby on March 18. His next race was the Wood Memorial, where Deputy Glitters finished sixth, 15 lengths behind the winner, Bob and John. That race was run over a sloppy track, a surface that Deputy Glitters couldn’t handle. In his one prior race over a sloppy track, Deputy Glitters finished last in the Grade 1 Champagne.

In the Kentucky Derby, Deputy Glitters was five wide entering the first turn and continued to race wide down the backstretch while toward the back of the pack before making a bold move leaving the half-mile pole. He was fanned 11 wide in the stretch, and ran evenly down the lane. He was beaten 14 lengths by Barbaro, but was beaten just 5 1/2 lengths for fourth.

"With a better trip he could’ve been a lot closer," Rehm said. "We weren’t going to beat the winner by any means, but he could’ve been third or fourth."

Rehm believes the 1 1/2 miles of the Belmont will suit Deputy Glitters, a son of Deputy Commander and the dam Glitters.

"We’ve always known that the one thing he can do is run all day," Rehm said. "Every time we’ve worked him he gallops out strong. Everybody who’s ever ridden him said he gets into his rhythm and he acts like he can go all day. He’s going to lay close to the pace; the setup of the race is going to suit him."

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Barbaro’s accident trigger debate between Polytrack over dirt

Posted on Monday, May 29th, 2006

Polytrack, a new trend in horse racing racetracks, to replace dirt and lesten horse injuries.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Horses can take a misstep and break an ankle on any racetrack. The injury to Barbaro, however, has renewed debate over whether such an injury would happen less often on a surface other than dirt.

European-designed Polytrack — a synthetic mixture of wax-coated polypropylene fibers, recycled rubber and fine sand — was a hot topic in horse racing circles even before the Kentucky Derby winner broke down in the Preakness. Several tracks in England have used it for years, and it’s starting to catch on in the United States.

Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., already has installed it, and Keeneland has a Polytrack surface on its practice course. The tradition-rich, picturesque race course in Lexington is now in the process of installing the artificial surface on its main track.

In the weeks leading to the Kentucky Derby, trainer Michael Matz kept Barbaro at Keeneland, partly because of its Polytrack practice course.

There are two primary advantages: easy drainage, allowing for races in practically any weather condition, and safety because of a more even composition across the track.

"If I had a horse that was worth a lot of money, I’d be more comfortable with a horse at a Polytrack than I would on a dirt track," said Michael Spirito, veterinarian at the Hagyard-Davidson-McGee hospital in Lexington. "It’s a matter of statistics."

Most dirt or clay tracks are slightly tilted inward, so when it rains some spots are thicker and others are thinner — making the surface somewhat uneven. On Polytrack, water seeps straight through to a drainage system below, eliminating any clumps that might be found on dirt.

"Just as other sports have progressed, as science has led us to new and safer surfaces in other sports, we think this is a newer and safer surface for our sport," Keeneland president and chief executive Nick Nicholson.

Besides the cost — estimated at more than $6 million to make the switch from dirt — tradition has been a major impediment. The classic American races have always been run on dirt, just as many famous European ones are run on grass. Secretariat’s record Derby run happened on dirt, so some argue a switch to Polytrack would invalidate that and other marks.

Bob Holthus, who trained Lawyer Ron for the Kentucky Derby, said it’s a shame Keeneland is installing the surface. That track hosts the Blue Grass Stakes, one of the prestigious Derby prep races, and Holthus says it’s better for horses to run on dirt in their final race before heading to the dirt track at Churchill Downs.

As for Barbaro’s injury, Holthus says he doesn’t think a change of surface would have prevented it.

"I don’t think it had anything to do with it," Holthus said. "Horses make bad steps and they can do it on any kind of surface."

But after a year of racing on Polytrack at Turfway Park in the Cincinnati suburbs, track officials there contend they have proof that their new surface is safer.

From September 2004 through April 2005, there were 24 catastrophic breakdowns of horses on Turfway’s dirt track. On Polytrack in the same period a year later, there were only three.

"There is absolutely no way we can ensure the safety of the animal — from a clipped heel to a prior injury not known," said Turfway President Bob Elliston. "We can’t be so naive to believe we’re going to eliminate injuries, but there’s good evidence we can reduce the number."

Polytrack, created by Martin Collins, has been installed at tracks in England since the 1980s, starting with training facilities. It has been used as a racing surface at Lingfield Park since 2001, and was installed at Wolverhampton Racecourse in 2004.

Earlier this month, the California Senate passed a bill that would compel major horse tracks in that state to install Polytrack or something similar by the end of 2007. Woodbine in Toronto also has announced it will put in Polytrack this summer.

It’s certainly not the first time the American horse racing industry has considered changing surfaces, but many past experiments have proven unsuccessful.

Before Turfway, the last major North American racetrack to install an all-weather surface was Remington Park in Oklahoma City. It opened in 1988 with Equitrack, a polymer-based surface in which sand is covered with a wax coating. But by 1991, the track switched to dirt because the Equitrack surface was starting to melt and causing health problems when horses inhaled kicked-up track.

Keith Chamblin, who was in charge of public relations and marketing at Remington at the time, said the troubles with Equitrack shouldn’t apply to Polytrack.

"There’s been so many technological advancements in the last 15 to 20 years," Chamblin said. "When Equitrack was at its best, there was no finer racing surface in the country. All indications seem to be that is also the case with Polytrack."

Even before Equitrack, two Florida tracks, Calder and Tropical, tried another surface, known as Tartan. Tropical closed, while Calder replaced Tartan with dirt.

Some tracks are looking at wood chips for their practice courses, but Polytrack currently seems to be the only serious competitor to dirt on the racing oval.

Patrick Biancone, a Frenchman who trains horses all over the world, says he has never found a better surface than Polytrack, which is why he stables several horses at Turfway. Biancone has been a major advocate for the surface, and he says the injury to Barbaro only solidifies his feelings.

"Enough is enough," he said. "Enough jockeys injured. Enough horses killed. It doesn’t mean it’ll never happen again, but at least we should do something so there’s less chance that it will happen."

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Precautionary test for Brother Derek before Belmont

Posted on Monday, May 29th, 2006

Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Brother Derek will receive a break in training after running in the first two legs of the Triple Crown and will undergo a series of tests next week to determine when he should resume running.

"He’s doing really good," said trainer Dan Hendricks on Friday afternoon. "We’re going to freshen him for a certain amount of time, whether it’s two weeks or two months. We want to nuclear scan him because you never know if there’s anything underlying that isn’t showing up. It’s just a precautionary measure."

Cecil Peacock’s Brother Derek finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and the Preakness Stakes (G1). He has won six of ten career starts and earned $1,302,080.

The $400,000 Swaps Breeders’ Cup Stakes (G2) at Hollywood Park on July 8 would be Brother Derek’s earliest return, but Hendricks said that race will probably come up too soon.

"After that is Del Mar, but that’s older horses and two-year-olds, so we may have to look at the Haskell Invitational Handicap (G1) [on August 6] or the Travers [Stakes (G1) on August 26] Hendricks said. "His long term goal is to stay with three-year-olds."

Hendricks said Brother Derek scratched his nose on the starting gate when he reacted to Barbaro’s false start in the Preakness.

"He scratched his nose on the gate when Barbaro busted through, but really that’s the worst of it," Hendricks said. "The Triple Crown is grueling, but he’s held his weight really well. We feel he was a pretty fresh horse going in."

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Belmont starter Bluegrass Cat reunited with Velazquez

Posted on Monday, May 29th, 2006

The second and third place finishers from the Kentucky Derby (G1) have been confirmed as starters for the $1-million Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 10 at Belmont Park and continue preparations for the final jewel of the Triple Crown.

Trainer Todd Pletcher said that Derby runner-up Bluegrass Cat is slated to breeze five furlongs on Sunday at Belmont. The Grade 2 winning Storm Cat colt could be reunited with jockey John Velazquez, the 2004 and ‘05 Eclipse Award winner as outstanding jockey, who has been sidelined since suffering a fractured shoulder blade and a cracked rib in a spill at Keeneland Race Course on April 20.

"It’s looking pretty good that Johnny will be able to ride him," Pletcher said. "He’s been working the horse that last few days and, hopefully, he’s going to start riding next week."

Kentucky Derby third-place finisher Steppenwolfer has placed in each of his eight career starts on the main track. Trainer Dan Peitz opted to skip the Preakness Stakes (G1) to give the Aptitude colt five weeks between races. He believes the 1 1/2-mile distance of the Belmont will not pose a problem for Steppenwolfer, who breezed six furlongs in 1:13.02 on Saturday at Belmont.

"I don’t know how the mile and a half is going to work to our advantage," Peitz said. "I know that most horses don’t want to run a mile and a half. The whole field will probably be pretty tightly bunched."

Jazil, who finished in a dead heat for fourth in the Derby with Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Brother Derek, worked five furlongs in :59.65 handily on Saturday at Belmont for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.

"We’re very pleased and he’ll work back next week," McLaughlin said.

Other confirmed starters for the Belmont include Wood Memorial Stakes (G1) winner Bob and John, Tampa Bay Derby (G3) winner Deputy Glitters,  Preakness third-place finisher Hemingway’s Key, Peter Pan Stakes (G2) winner Sunriver, stakes winner Platinum Couple, Grade 2-placed Sacred Light, and stakes-placed Oh So Awesome.

Illinois Derby (G2) winner and Preakness runner-up Sweetnorthernsaint is under consideration for the Belmont, as are Grade 3 winner Cause to Believe, stakes-placed Wilentz, and High Finance.

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Tickets to Breeders Cup 2006 at Churchill Downs Available

Posted on Thursday, May 25th, 2006

A ticket application may be obtained as follows:

DEADLINE TO RETURN APPLICATION: JUNE 1, 2006

After the deadline a Random Draw will determine the order in which ticket applications are processed. Seating assignments will be based on ticket availability. Applications received after the deadline will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis, if seating is still available.

Please note: If you have already requested a ticket application you do not need to request again, an application is forthcoming.

GENERAL ADMISSION (no seat — standing room only) is $25 and will be available on Breeders’ Cup day with no advance purchase required.

Please direct inquiries to breederscup@kyderby.com or call (502) 636-4400.

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