Whirlaway Stakes at Aqueduct on February 2

2008 Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park

The 2008 Breeders' Cup, thoroughbred racing's most prestigious event, consisting of 14 Breeders' Cup races and $25.5 million in purses, will be held on October 24-25, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.

But before that, Belmont Stakes winner Da'Tara is going to race in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course while Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown will be racing in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park.

Posted on Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

Aqueduct’s inner race track feature on Saturday is the 29th running of the $100,000-added Whirlaway Stakes at 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-olds.

Whirlaway Stakes is a significant test and certain to send some horses back for the $250,000 Gotham Stakes (gr. III), an important prep race leading to the 2008 Kentucky Derby, at 1 1/16 miles on Saturday, March 8.

According to Andrew M. Byrnes, stakes coordinator for the New York Racing Association (NYRA), likely entries for Saturday’s Whirlaway Stakes are Apple Special, Barrier Reef, Cave’s Valley, Roman Emperor, Spanky Fischbein and Texas Wildcatter, while Malibu Kid and Titan of Industry are questionable.Gold Square’s Spanky Fischbein, a New York-bred son of Hook and Ladder, comes in off a neck loss to Giant Moon in the Count Fleet on January 5. In seven starts, he has two wins and five seconds for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Todd Pletcher also trains Stonerside Stable’s Texas Wildcatter, who has won two of three starts, including a 10 1/2-length victory at Philadelphia Park on December 28. Texas Wildcatter is a son of Monarchos, the 2001 Kentucky Derby winner.

Roman Emperor was third in the Count Fleet, and figures to improve with distance. Trained by Steve Klesaris, Roman Emperor is a son of 2003 Wood Memorial and Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker, out of Lady Melesi, whose sire is 1993 Belmont Stakes winner Colonial Affair.

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"Whirlaway Stakes at Aqueduct on February 2" was posted on Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 at 7:24 pm and is filed under Aqueduct, Horse Racing Industry, Horses, Race Tracks News, 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.