Horse Racing News is the source of thoroughbred racing information with horse racing odds, betting tips, racing picks, race results, and handicapping. Latest news and articles on top horse racing contenders, jockeys, trainers, three-year-olds, race tracks, and major stakes races such as the Triple Crown races: the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes as well as the Breeders' Cup races.Breeders’ Cup Challenge: Go for Wand Handicap at Saratoga on Saturday, July 26
Posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008
Race horse trainer Bobby Frankel and Stronach Stable’s Ginger Punch want to take the same road to the Breeders’ Cup that they did last year. The first leg of the journey will be Saturday at Saratoga Race Course, when Ginger Punch seeks to repeat a winner in the 55th running of the $250,000 Go for Wand Handicap (G1) for fillies and mares at 9 furlongs.
As part of the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” series, the Go for Wand Handicap winner becomes part of the Breeders’ Cup field and earns an automatic bid to the re-named Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (formerly known as the Breeders’ Cup Distaff) on October 24 at Santa Anita Park.
Saratoga’s Go for Wand Handicap field of fillies and mares with jockeys and weight:
- Ginger Punch under jockey Rafael Bejarano carries 124 lbs.
- Inside Passage under jockey Eibar Coa, 113 lbs.
- Indescribable under jockey Kent Desormeaux, 115 lbs.
- Moon Catcher under jockey Edgar Prado, 115 lbs.
- Copper State under jockey Shaun Bridgmohan, 114 lbs.
- Runway Rosie under jockey Rajiv Maragh, 114 lbs.
- Over Under under jockey Robby Albarado, 113 lbs.
- Spring Waltz under jockey Javier Castellano, 117 lbs.
Last year, Ginger Punch earned an automatic entry into the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Monmouth Park after winning the Go for Wand Handicap by 6 lengths. At the Breeders’ Cup, Ginger Punch held off Hystericalady by a neck.
Bobby Frankel believes the five-year-old mare by Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Awesome Again, Ginger Punch, is much better than she was last year when she became a champion.
“Obviously, she’s much better than last year,” race horse trainer Bobby Frankel said. “Physically, she looks 100 times better; she has matured a lot. Last year, coming into the race, I didn’t know how good she was. I was trying to get a graded stakes win into her.”
This year, Ginger Punch has won 3 of her 4 starts, with her lone loss in the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) at Oaklawn Park. There, carrying 122 pounds, she was the pace-setter early before fading to third behind Zenyatta.
“She got beat by Zenyatta, but she was giving six pounds to her that day,” Bobby Frankel said. “Plus, she didn’t run her race that day. I don’t know what happened to her in that race. Based on her ’sheet’ numbers, it was way out of whack.”
Ginger Punch is coming off a 7 3/4-length victory in the Ogden Phipps Handicap (G1) at Belmont Park, where she carried 123 pounds. Frankel believes his mare carrying the high weight of 124 pounds is justifiable.
“She deserves carrying that weight,” Frankel said. “She won with 123 pounds. There isn’t another Grade 1 winner in this race. Right now, I am trying to get her as good as I can. Hopefully, she doesn’t get beat from now on.”
Bobby Frankel has also entered Stronach Stable’s Spring Waltz, who won a Gulfstream Park allowance race by 13 lengths and the Grade 2 Rampart Handicap by 3 1/4 lengths.
One of the trainers not scared in taking a shot at Ginger Punch is Gary Contessa, who will enter Runway Rosie. Race horse trainer Gary Contessa believes the four-year-old roan filly could have an impact, especially if Ginger Punch runs a race like she did in the Apple Blossom.
“I saw the race earlier in the year where Ginger Punch didn’t show up,” Gary Contessa said. “My feeling is, if I think there are three or four horses I cannot beat, I will scratch out of the race. I am not going to be afraid of one horse. If you run second or third in a Grade 1 race, you’re in great shape.”
After Runway Rosie finished eighth in the Allaire DuPont Distaff Stakes at Pimlico on Preakness Day, Contessa had a difficult time finding a race for her. That time, however, allowed Contessa to get Runway Rosie mentally ready and she responded with a near five-length victory in the Proud Delta Stakes at Belmont Park.
“There was no place to go with her,” race horse trainer Gary Contessa said. “Anyway, I wanted to clear the cobwebs from her head off of that race and she responded well.”
Recently, Craig Singer became the majority owner for Runway Rosie. According to Contessa, Singer will share ownership with Winning Move Stable until she is retired when he has full ownership.
Runway Rosie has Grade 1 experience behind her with a third-place finish to retired Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches in the Las Virgenes Stakes at Santa Anita last year. Runway Rosie was also second in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes and the Grade 3 Next Move Handicap.
“It would be a dream to win a race like this,” Contessa said. “If she finishes second or third in a Grade 1 race, that will only enhance her value down the road.”
Race horse trainer Steve Asmussen, who won three races on Saratoga’s Opening Day card on Wednesday, including the Grade 3 Schuylerville Stakes with Jardin, will send Millennium Farms’ Copper State in the Go for Wand Handicap.
Copper State is coming off a second-place finish to Unbridled Belle in the Obeah Stakes (G2) at Delaware Park in June. That race was her first start since coming to Steve Asmussen’s barn.
“She’s a very nice filly,” race horse trainer Asmussen said. “We were pleased with her effort at Delaware. Visually, her race was impressive. She was off the bridle the whole way. She made a long run and stayed on nicely. This is an ambitious spot, but it is also a great opportunity.”
Prior to being shipped to the East Coast, Copper State had been racing against Illinois-breds and open company at Hawthorne and Arlington Park. Over 18 career races, including her last six races where she has finished no worse than third, Copper State has won four races for $232,873 in earnings.
Moon Catcher returns to Saratoga for owner Marsha Naify and trainer Christophe Clement. Last year, after winning the Delaware Oaks (G2), Moon Catcher finished fourth to Lady Joanne here in the Alabama (G1). In her last start, the four-year-old Moon Factor was never a factor after she had stumbled at the start of the Ogden Phipps Handicap.
The Go for Wand Handicap is the 9th of 11 horse races in Saratoga’s July 26 card. Go for Wand Handicap post time is 5:15 pm Eastern.
Horse racing news edited from www.nyra.com.
Horse racing tags: Copper State, Ginger Punch, Indescribable, Inside Passage, Moon Catcher, Over Under, Runway Rosie, Spring Waltz
"Breeders’ Cup Challenge: Go for Wand Handicap at Saratoga on Saturday, July 26" was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 8:20 pm and is filed under Horse Racing Industry, Horses, Race Tracks News, Saratoga, Stakes Races, USA Horse Racing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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