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 horse races.CashCall Futurity At Hollywood Park December 20
Posted on Thursday, December 18th, 2008
Race horse trainer Bob Baffert will aim for a record-tying fourth victory when he saddles Pioneerof the Nile and Ventana in the 28th running of the $750,000 CashCall Futurity Saturday at Hollywood Park.
Baffert’s most recent CashCall Futurity winner, Point Given (2000), was more accomplished entering the Grade I event, but his first, Real Quiet (1997), was less heralded. Both went on to win two legs of the Triple Crown, Point Given the Preakness and Belmont Stakes and Real Quiet the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Real Quiet came within a nose of sweeping the Triple Crown.
Pioneerof the Nile, a son of Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker, made his first of 4 starts for eastern-based race horse trainer Bill Mott. Zayat Stables left him on the West Coast with Bob Baffert following a fifth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in October at Santa Anita Park in October. Pioneerof the Nile has trained sharply for Baffert and seeks his second win in 6 starts in the 1 1/16-mile CashCall Futurity.
Ventana, a son of 2002 CashCall Futurity winner Toccet, broke his maiden in his first start at Belmont Park in September, but has failed to win in 3 starts since then. In his most recent start, Ventana finished in a dead heat for third in the 7-furlong Hollywood Prevue.
Twelve race horses were entered in the CashCall Futurity, which has been a launching board for 6 Kentucky Derby winners – Gato Del Sol (1982), Ferdinand (1986), Alysheba (1987), Thunder Gulch (1995), Real Quiet (1998) and Giacomo (2004). Hollywood Park’s CashCall Futurity field lines up as follows from the rail out:
Azul Leon, with jockey Joel Rosario up; J P Jammer, Aaron Gryder; Hype, Alex Solis; Axel Foley, Michael Baze; Pioneerof the Nile, Garrett Gomez; Chocolate Candy, Rafael Bejarano; I Want Revenge, Joe Talamo; Ventana, Corey Nakatani; Frumious, Victor Espinoza; Bittel Road, Mike Smith; Mr. Rod, Chantal Sutherland, and Mark S the Cooler, Martin Garcia. All carry 121 pounds.
Bob Baffert, whose other Futurity win came with Captain Steve in 1999, will equal the record held by D. Wayne Lukas if successful Saturday. Chocolate Candy, a son of Candy Ride owned by the Craig Family Trust, is just one of several formidable CashCall Futurity contenders.
Chocolate Candy has improved steadily since making his career bow for race horse trainer Jerry Hollendorfer with a sixth-place finish at Hollywood Park in May and enters the CashCall Futurity with successive wins. The latest came when he rallied under jockey Garrett Gomez in Hollywood Park’s 1 1/16-mile Real Quiet Stakes in November.
Azul Leon, one of two starters trained by Doug O’Neill, won the Hollywood Juvenile Championship at Hollywood Park in July and rallied to finish second most recently in the Hollywood Prevue. Azul Leon tops the field with $202,400 in earnings.
Race horse trainer Doug O’Neill will also saddled maiden Mark S the Cooler, a son of Johar who is owned by race sponsor J. Paul Reddam. A third starter, European import Axel Foley, named for the character portrayed by Eddie Murphy in “Beverly Hills Cop,” is also bedded down in the O’Neill barn.
Axel Foley, who cleared quarantine Monday following a 12-hour flight from Luxemburg to LAX, is trained by John Best and was accompanied here by assistant Martin Smith. Axel Foley broke his maiden at second asking at 7 furlongs on a synthetic surface at Lingfield in October.
“The jockey who rode him that day just smacked him once and said he could get a mile and a quarter,” Martin Smith said of the come-from-behind victory. “We’ve been planning on this race since early November.”
Judi Partridge’s J P Jammer set the pace before settling for second in the Real Quiet; Bittel Road and Hype finished second and third, respectively, for race horse trainer Todd Pletcher on turf in the Generous Stakes behind upset front-running victor Mr. Rod, and Frumious has won three straight races at Golden Gate Fields for race horse trainer Jeff Bonde.
The CashCall Futurity will run as the eighth race on Saturday’s ten-race program at Hollywood Park, which will also include the Cat’s Cradle Handicap. First post time is at 12:30 p.m.
Horse racing news edited from www.hollywoodpark.com.
Tags: Axel Foley, Azul Leon, Bittel Road, Chocolate Candy, Frumious, Hype, I Want Revenge, J P Jammer, Mark S the Cooler, Mr. Rod, Pioneerof the Nile, Ventana
"CashCall Futurity At Hollywood Park December 20" was posted on Thursday, December 18th, 2008 at 10:22 pm and is filed under Horse Racing Industry. 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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