HORSE RACING NEWS weekend of August 6th

[two gun sid]

From DRF:
Commentator just edges Saint Liam

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A disappointing Saturday turned delightful for trainer Nick Zito in a little over 108 seconds as Commentator went gate-to-wire and held off favored Saint Liam by a neck to win the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga.

It was nine lengths back to Sir Shackleton, also trained by Zito, in third. Swingforthefences, Limehouse, Eurosilver, Wiggins, and Pollard's Vision completed the order of finish.

It was the first Whitney victory for Zito, and it couldn't have come at a more opportune time. Monday, Zito will be inducted into racing's Hall of Fame. Before the Whitney, however, Saturday was not going to be among the highlights of his career.

Noble Causeway, one of Zito's highly touted 3-year-olds, was pulled up and vanned off the track in a second-level allowance race. A week earlier, jockey Jerry Bailey had scratched Noble Causeway out of the Jim Dandy. Also Saturday, Zito had to settle for second and third in the Grade 1 Test Stakes with Hide and Chic and In the Gold, who was compromised by a poor start. In the fifth race he sent out Superfly, a 2-year-old making his debut, who hung late and finished third.

http://www.drf.com/news/article/67462.html


Leave Me Alone all by herself

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Leave Me Alone left eight rivals in her wake as she romped to a 7 3/4-length win in Saturday's Grade 1 Test for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga.

Hide and Chic finished second, three-quarters of length in front of her entrymate, In the Gold, who broke tardily. The entry of Hide and Chic and In the Gold was made the favorite at 6-5.

When the gates opened in the seven-furlong Test, In the Gold broke well behind the field. Maddalena also broke slowly and bumped with In the Gold.

Leave Me Alone, under Kent Desormeaux, sailed to the early lead. Maddalena came with a rush to challenge Leave Me Alone from the outside. After setting fractions of 22.46 seconds, 45.46, and 1:09.98, Leave Me Alone had a five-length lead on the rest of the field. Leave Me Alone's final time was 1:22.76 over a fast track.

http://www.drf.com/news/article/67460.html

[two gun sid]

1. Vivid Photo wins the $1.5 million Hambletonian

From USTA website:

East Rutherford, NJ --- Roger Hammer and Todd Schadel’s Vivid Photo ($16.40, $4.00, $3.40), driven by Hammer, came -- uncharacteristically -- from far off the pace and won the $1.5 Hambletonian Final on Saturday at the Meadowlands, in what could only be considered a big win for a “little guy.”



Hammer, a noted front-end lover, who dominates racing on the Pennsylvania fair circuit, raced his son of S J’s Photo in seventh position in the early going, swept wide in the stretch, and won in 1:523, a lifetime mark, and Hammer brandished his whip in victory.

Classic Photo (Ron Pierce) the odds-on favorite, also raced from off the pace, and actually gave Vivid Photo live cover on the final turn.

http://www.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=10875&z=1

[Justpat]

4. Roman Ruler wins the Haskell - Jerry Bailey up

Sun King second.

Jerry Bailey is simply the best.

[GOPisEvil]

5. Roman Ruler looked really good!

Looks like his health problems are a thing of the past.

[aaronbees]

6. roman ruler

....nice to see another 3yo colt step it up and show some consistency. This should make the fall races interesting. :)

[Justpat]

11. He had a bad problem with quarter cracks earlier in the year.

I don't think he had any major soundness issues, but quarter
cracks take a while to grow out. The horse has to wear a
fiberglass like substance on their hoof where the wall opened
up and it takes several shoeings for the crack to grow down to
where you can shoe them normally. Most horses train well with
the patch, and some run very well on them, but some horse are
never comfortable until it all grows out and they have a normal
hoof wall again.

[aaronbees]

19. Glad he's on the mend...

seems like he's picking up his pre-Breeder's Cup Juvie form. Was it bothering him back then?

[Justpat]

21. Yes, he had the quarter crack problem last year.

[GOPisEvil]

2. I just watched the Matchmaker.

Fittingly, Love Match won, pretty much wire to wire. The favorite, Spotlight, finished 4th

Haskell coming up later.

[u4ic]

3. Jambalaya wins $ 500k Breeder's Stakes

3rd leg of the Canadian TC, on the turf going 12f, at Woodbine - by daylight. Not bad for a $2500 yearling purchase! He went off as the slight favourite. The gelding is trained by Catherine Day Phillips, and was ridden by Jono Jones. (six of the nine starters were geldings)

Area Limits finished 2nd, the Sam Son filly See the Wind, the pacemaker, held on for third. A very good finish for her, considering she just ran 10f last weekend, and she really was very washed out in the pp. Fillies have traditionally done very well in this race - 3 of the past 6 winners were fillies.

edit: just checked equibase - Jambalaya won by 8, then back 11 to See the Wind. All the runners were really spread out. Final time was 2:27 4/5.

[two gun sid]

8. That's a pretty good time. I'm putting Jambalaya on a Horse...

Watch. Thanks.

[u4ic]

16. Sid, in all fairness

the fractions were quite quick, and the times were also that day (both turf and dirt). He finished up the last quarter in 25 seconds, however - all on his own.

A NTR was set in an earlier sprint on the dirt, and his time was the third fastest Breeder's Stakes ever.

He is improving rapidly - prior to this he had only won an allowance. He's a nice, big, strong gelding. Well worth watching.

[two gun sid]

7. Have they held the induction ceremony at the HOF yet?

[Justpat]

10. The induction ceremony was this morning.

TommyWalsh is a good friend of ours. His whole family came over
from Ireland to see him inducted into the HOF.

Nick Zito thanked the entire universe. My friend who attended
said she wished there was a secret trap door in the floor that
someone could have opened and made him disappear.

Sidney Watters has Alzheimers so one of his old owners made
the acceptance speech for him and his son said a few words also.

Maybe next year they will see fit to put Bill Turner in the
HOF. I don't understand why they think the only living trainer
of an undefeated triple crown winner doesn't deserve it.

[two gun sid]

13. Zito's schtick gets a little old at times...

but, he does present a good image to the average fan. It's too bad the rest of us have to listen to him blubber every time he has a horse in a race.

That is too bad about Sid Watters. I didn't know he was suffering with Alzheimer's.

Billy Turner should be in the HOF. He did something that no other trainer has ever done. To do what he did with Slew is unbelievable. I don't understand how some of the folks get in and others more deserving don't. Shug comes to my mind. If the Phipp's family let me train their horses I could get into the Hall. Seems like politics to me.

I just read a LTTE in The Bloodhorse about how Dale Baird doesn't deserve any recognition and should never be in the HOF. I just don't understand the movers and shakers of the industry sometimes. How do they expect the masses to get excited about the sport? I know I relate a helluva lot more to Baird than I do Dinny Phipps. I like Phipps but, shit, I wouldn't be able to converse with him if I met him. I've met Dale Baird and talked with him and he seems pretty down to earth.

I'll stop my rant before I start screaming about last years HOY award. Thanks for the update.

[u4ic]

15. I agree, he more than deserves it, Old Broad

I agree with sid, too - I can't help but wonder how much politics comes into play. (and a mega stable)

David Cassidy was the keynote speaker? I know he owns race horses, but...um...well..."interesting" choice. :shrug:

[Justpat]

22. Everyone said Cassidy was great.

He said how much he loves racing and said he would love to
be an ambassador for the sport. He asked people to please
use him any way they could to help promote racing.

[two gun sid]

9. Wildly Popular ‘Hammertonian’ Win

From USTA website:

I can’t remember a Hambletonian victory that was more popular than the one we witnessed on Saturday.

Sure, the connections of nine other trotters wanted the trophy, too, but Roger Hammer and Vivid Photo won not only the richest trotting race in history, but he also won the hearts of thousands in harness racing.

I’ve heard from many people who were overjoyed to see the “King of the County Fairs” come to the Meadowlands and outfox everyone with his surprising drive. When Hammer waved his whip in jubilation approaching the wire, there was no question that Vivid Photo was the best horse that day.

It was a victory celebrated at tracks and county fairs around the country where so many horsemen see Roger Hammer as one of the good guys in the sport who used hard work and horsemanship to win the sport’s biggest prize.



http://www.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=10905&z=1

[jakefrep]

12. Hammer's a good story...

I like how he's going back to the fairs in a couple of days.

Dad & I were rooting for Classic Photo though. Dad met one of that horse's owners during their tour to Italy.

[two gun sid]

14. I thought it was a cool story too.

It was a great drive he gave Vivid Photo. I thought Classic Photo was gonna win that race. He just seemed to be the best horse in the race. Can't say I'm disappointed with the results though.

[u4ic]

17. That is a great story!

[u4ic]

18. Pollard's Vision retired

Edgewood Farm's Pollard's Vision, a multiple graded stakes winner of $1,430,311, suffered a career-ending injury in the Aug. 6 Whitney Handicap (gr. I) at Saratoga and has been retired.
The son of Carson City ended his career with a record of 6-7-4 from 23 career starts.

Trainer Todd Pletcher, who conditioned Pollard's Vision throughout his career, said, "Pollard was tough, durable, and consistent--a real warrior, the type of horse everyone would want to own," he said. "He gave you everything he had every time he went over there. I would love to have a barn full of his kind."

http://racing.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=29425

[aaronbees]

20. Just read that too...

It's a real shame. I had some affection for that horse with his name ... on to greener pastures. It really seems like the handicap division is thinning out somewhat. I'm giving Saint Liam the nod despite the Whitney loss; I think he'll get his revenge later this year, pink blinkers in tow.

[two gun sid]

23. Anybody know anything about EPM?

[Justpat]

24. Equine Protozoa Myelitis. We have had several horses with it.

Dr. Marvin Cain, the leading equine acupuncturist in the country,
has a way of treating it that we have had great success with.

We have used the Marquis, that is the thirty day medication for
it but have had all the horses on it have the disease come back
after several months.

Dr. Cain, takes blood from the horse and injects it into the
acupuncture sites on the horse's body that are related to
EPM response. It makes the body recognize the organism and
fight it. Lots of vets think this is utter quackery, but it is
the only thing we had used that works. He also has some herbs
that he uses to help the damaged tissues repair themselves.

It is a terrible problem. It destroys the horse's muscles
starting with the muscles over the right rump. It ruins their
balance. We had one horse recently that started stumbling and
fell down with the rider and he turned out to be an EPM horse.
Dr. Cain was here all week so he went through the whole barn
and treated this horse and three others for it.

Dr. Cain has a farm in Ohio so maybe he could help you if you
wanted him to. Let me know if you would like his phone number.
He is coming back to the barn tomorrow to recheck some horses so
let me know if you need to contact him.

[two gun sid]

25. I may need his number.

You are not going to believe this OB, but, I talked to one of our vets today about this and he also does acupuncture. He uses this type of therapy for lameness and sore muscles.

Our 2 YO colt trotter had that HA injection and he stood in the stall for a couple of days. He was jogged to warm him up and no problem. He was turned for a training mile and he can't trot a lick. He tries like hell to trot but he acts like he has no coordination and is lame. I've watched him in the stall and he doesn't act funny like leaning against the wall to support himself. His face shows no muscle atrophy or slack expression. Nothing shows up on x-rays to indicate any problems. No fillings. Lameness test are not conclusive at least in my mind. Nothing. I'm stumped. I don't want to keep injecting him. I have no problem stopping with him but, if I don't know why I won't be comfortable with that.

Everyone I've talked to is telling me they have been treating for EPM. Some trainers are treating their whole stable. We are having blood tests done to see if he has been exposed to EPM. I think if the test comes back positive we will go ahead and treat with Marquis. I'm not gonna pay for a spinal tap as I understand even that is not conclusive either. Have you guys experienced anything like this?

On a bright note, we had our 2 YO filly trotter's knees x-rayed today and they are clean. She can go back in training next year. It looks like these frozen MI tracks were a little hard on those young open knees last winter.

Looked at a yearling filly pacer we will have in training next year and she's a big well made girl. My only complaint is she's a chesnut. I hate them red horses. Too pretty to race.

I will get back to you on that OH vets number if we need him. Once again OB, thanks. I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge.

[Justpat]

29. I'm glad to hear that your vet is into acupuncture.

I think it is a great diagnostic tool.

I hope your two year old come out of whatever is bothering him.
Two year olds go through so many changes. Maybe he just needs to
mature a bit.

Let me know how he does. Ask you vet if he knows Dr. Cain. Dr Cain
used to teach all the vet acupuncture courses. I'm sure your vet
has crossed paths with him.

[two gun sid]

26. Kitten's Joy in the Million

I am going to miss going to the Arlington Million this year. I have other commitments. I really would like to see Kitten's Joy in person. And Megahertz in the Beverly D. too. Oh, and English Channel, I'd like to see him.

Damn, I wish I could just hang around racetracks and watch good horses.

[jakefrep]

27. Here in the midwest, we're a little deprived in that area

...Arlington's about as close as we get, and that's a 4-5 hour drive. Keeneland's about 5 hours away, and Churchill is about 6 hours' drive.

I will probably spend at least three days at Delaware during Jug Week and go to the Kentucky Futurity in Lexington.

[two gun sid]

28. 4 hours for me...

I usally leave after work on Friday and spend the night in a hotel about 5 mi. from the track. I missed the Illinois Derby at Hawthorne this year and now I'm gonna miss the Million.

I never go to the Jug. My damn job interferes with all my fun.