Kentucky Oaks Archives - Page 3 of 3

August 5, 2015

Saratoga’s Sweet Summer

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Saratoga is having a big summer! I won’t be able to make it there myself, but our regularly contributing handicapper friend did. He spent the end of the week and last weekend visiting and got us some great pictures. Saratoga is the place to be for Thoroughbred racing right now.

Saratoga Race Course was established in 1864 in Saratoga Springs, New York. It had its first race over 150 years ago. Today, 8/5, the city of Saratoga Springs will celebrate its Centennial. The city was founded in 1915. The Saratoga Sales, put on at Fasig-Tipton, will take place in Saratoga Springs on August 10th and 11th. This Saratoga race course meet started on July 24th, with live racing, and will remain open through September 7th. Above we see a welcoming sign and the backyard where Saratoga’s sweet summer is savoured. The race course motto is, “Health, history and horses”. The racetrack is located on 350 acres of land. The main track is 1 and 1/8th mile. The turf track is 1 mile in length. Other smaller courses are located throughout. In the many stables, there are over 1,800 stalls. The facility can hold about 70 thousand fans but the record attendance has exceeded that. The largest one day handle was over 10 million dollars. That was on Travers Day in 2003 which brings us to yesterday’s big news. American Pharoah’s next race will be the grade 1 Travers Stakes on August 29th!

AmericanPharoah just won his 8th straight graded Stakes race while at Monmouth Park in New Jersey this past weekend. He easily beat out Keen Ice in the grade 1 William Hill Haskell Invitational Stakes on Sunday, 8/2. Keen Ice riden by Kent Desormeoux and trained by Dale Romans put in a great effort. Keen Ice was 7th in the KY Derby and 3rd in the Belmont is showing improvement. That race gave the park a record crowd of over 60 thousand fans. Meanwhile, over 3 million viewers tuned in to television to watch the live race on NBC. The plan is to race American Pharoah in the Breeders Cup in October at Keeneland in Lexington, KY. We are all waiting on pins and needles to see where he goes next, in the meantime. For now, we know he made it safely back to Del Mar in California and he will make his Saratoga debut later this month in the Travers.

Back in Saratoga last week, Thursday was a bit wet and the live racing that day included the John Morrissey won by Moonlight Song with Jose Ortiz riding. Friday Saturday and Sunday featured some big races too but those weren’t limited to just the horses. There were several activities to raise money for the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund and one of those events was a jockey foot race. Above, see a photo of the gates being loaded for a soggy Thursday race and a shot of the jockeys running.

When the fans weren’t watching PDJF events or Thoroughbred racing they could check the Walk of Fame. Above we see a display for Angel Cordero, Jr. and D. Wayne Lukas. Cordero was born May 8, 1942 in Puerto Rico. He had over 7 thousand career wins as a jockey. He won 3 Kentucky Derby races, 2 Preakness Stakes, 1 Belmont Stakes and 4 Breeders’ Cup races in addition to many other graded stakes. He has 3 Eclipse Awards, he is a member of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame, he was the leading rider at Saratoga for 13 years and he was the jockey for Triple Crown winning Seattle Slew when Cordero had his best ride ever in the 1978 Marlboro Cup Handicap. I have had a lot of good things to say about D. Wayne Lukas before and I met him in June and covered that in my post Birthday, Breezing, Betting and Backside. I also met several of his horses that day too. One was Hillbilly Style who ran 2nd in a claiming race at Saratoga this weekend. Lukas also took the stage in the finale of the jockey karaoke fundraiser for the PDJF this weekend. He will have another entry in at Saratoga on 8/7 in a maiden special weight allowance optional claiming race. Lukas is a top trainer and top class in my book.

So, what about those big races at Saratoga last weekend? Well, Texas Red beat out Frosted in the grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes seen in the two pics above. Texas Red was riden by Kent Desormeaux and trained by the jockey’s brother. He is looking like a fine runner and has placed in multiple graded stakes including a win in the Sentient Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 2014 and ranked 16th in earnings that year. Frosted, sired by Tapit, a descendant of Secretariat, riden by Joel Rosario and trained by Kiaren McLaughlin has a fine racing history as well with a win in the grade 1 Wood Memorial Stakes, 4th in the KY Derby and 2nd in the Belmont Stakes. Not pictured, but I must mention, Rachel’s Valentina’s win in the Maiden Special Weight at Saratoga too. I am excited about this Todd Pletcher trained and Joel Velazquez riden daughter of Rachel Alexandra. Rachel Alexandra won the Kentucky Oaks, Mother Goose and Haskell in 2009. She was an amazing runner in her day. I hope her little girl does as well. Her sire, Bernardini swept the Preakness, Jim Dandy and Jockey Club Gold Cup in 2006 with a 2nd place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic that year too. Another big filly win at Saratoga this past weekend went to Stopchargingmaria over Untapable in the grade 3 Shuvee Handicap. Stopchargingmaria won the Black-Eyed Susan, Alabama Stakes and the Coaching Club of American Oaks last year. Untapable has an Eclipse Award and a win in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff as well as a win in the Kentucky Oaks and Mother Goose. That was quite a showdown of great fillies.

I wish to extend thanks to our friend and tipster with the photos. I hope someone wants to share some info on the Saratoga Sale and other fine races ahead. Tapit has yearlings for sale with hips 24, 34, 51, 70, 160, 177, and 182. The Tapit filly at Fasig-Tipton’s July Sale brought in the most money. I hope you all enjoyed this peek at Saratoga as much as I did. Have a great week!

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June 27, 2015June 27, 2015

Mother Goose

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I am horsing around today for sure. I got an early start this morning at the Thoroughbred Center watching the horses breeze and petting them and a barn cat. Tonight, I am attending Downs After Dark at Churchill Downs for some live racing, including some graded stakes. In between, I am watching the Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park. It is a busy day for this blogger and I will share some trip photos and stories later but now let’s focus on the Mother Goose Stakes.

The Thoroughbred Center

Downs after Dark

The Mother Goose Stakes started in 1957 and was named for Mother Goose, herself. She had the distinction of being the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Futurity in 1924. The Grade 1 stakes race is 1 and 1/16 miles on dirt. It is currently held at Belmont Park in New York, where we recently saw American Pharoah win the Triple Crown. The Mother Goose is for 3 year old fillies. The purse is $300,000. At different periods, in our nation’s history, this race has been considered part of the filly triple crown or triple tiara. The other legs were usually the Acorn and the Coaching Club American Oaks. Those two races and the Alabama Stakes are currently considered the New York Triple Tiara. The fastest and largest margin to win the Mother Goose was Rachel Alexandra. She also won the Kentucky Oaks and the Preakness. She holds the record for the largest win at the Kentucky Oaks too. She was the first filly to win the Preakness in 85 years. She has the record for speed at the Mother Goose and was less than a second from Secretariat’s speed record. Tonight at 5:28 pm, the Mother Goose Stakes will be race 9 at Belmont. The Acorn and Coaching Club American Oaks won’t take place until late July and August. It has only been 3 weeks since the Acorn. Curalina won the Acorn Stakes and she will not be participating in the Mother Goose. In fact, only one horse in this stakes race was entered at the Acorn. The 10 featured horses are:

Embellish the Lace
Include Betty
Hot City Girl
Munasara
Chide
Pleasant Tales
Money’soncharlotte
Danessa Deluxe
Eskenformoney
Wondergal

Embellish the Line won both of her 2 starts this year. This will be her 1st stakes race. Include Betty came in 8th at the Kentucky Oaks and 2nd in the Black-Eyed Susan stakes. She is the horse with the experience to win this, having 9 career starts including 4 graded stakes, 1 of which she won. Hot City Girl is one of only 2 New York bred horses in this race, the rest are from Kentucky. She has 7 starts but just 1 win, back in January, and none of her races have been graded stakes. Munasara is my favorite. She is undefeated but she has had just 2 entries. The last win was at Belmont Park. I like her tainer Kiaran McLaughlin and her jockey John Velazquez. Her jockey won the Mother Goose last year on American Champion 3 Year Old, Untapable. Chide has won 2 of her 3 starts. Her last two races were at Churchill Downs. Pleasant Tales has been in a total of 4 races at Churchill, of her 8 starts, and she won her last race there. Moneysoncharlotte came in lucky 13 in the Kentucky Oaks. That was her last race of 7 career starts. Danessa Deluxe was 4th in the Black-Eyed Susan when she had John Velazquez for a jockey. Tonight, Manuel Franco will ride her. She has not won in 2015 but she has 7 lifetime starts, with the last 3 being graded stakes. Eskenformoney came in 10th in the Kentucky Oaks. She has had 10 starts with 3 of them being graded. In those graded stakes she was third and then 2nd before her Kentucky Oaks race. Finally, Wondergal is considered the favorite. She is the other New York filly. She was 3rd in the Acorn as well as the 14 Hands Winery Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies race. 5 of her 6 starts were graded stakes.

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May 6, 2015May 6, 2015

Cash Is King

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Winning money on a horse race is fun but do you ever think about how much you are winning even when you don’t bet? The Thoroughbred racing industry is a cash ~~horse~~ cow for the local, state, and national economy.

The horse industry in America pays 1.9 billion dollars in taxes. It employs 4.6 million workers generating 39 billion dollars directly and the figure explodes to 102 billion after figuring in the money from suppliers, employees and spectators. There are horses in every state. When live racing is in season the local shops, restaurants, hotels, etc. get a massive boost in visitors and money.

This past weekend featured The Kentucky Oaks and Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY. Churchill won’t release it exact figures but it is estimated to have made 100 million dollars in revenues. Nationally, the horse industry has a 3.5 billion dollar impact on Kentucky’s economy. 194,300 Kentuckians work in the industry. Visitors to Keeneland race track for 2 meets and 4 sales in 2014 brought $590 million dollars to Lexington, KY’s economy.

On May 16, 2015 Pimlico in Baltimore, MD will hold the 140th running of the Preakness Stakes. In 2013 this race brought in 2.2 million dollars to state and local taxes. All expenditures figures in at 34.7 million dollars supporting 393 full-time jobs.

The 3rd leg of the Triple Crown series will be run at Belmont Park in Nassau County in New York. In 2012 this race brought a 9 million dollar boost to the county’s economy before consideration of the money made at local businesses.

Lucky Kentucky gets yet another boost this Fall when Keeneland will host the Breeders’ Cup for the first time. When the race ran in Los Angeles in 2008 and 2009 it brought in over 60 million dollars for the city. This race was held at Churchill in 2010 and it generated 53.3 million dollars in regional revenue. The economic impact expected in 2015 is over 80 million dollars.

Keep in mind most tracks and many horseman provide a wealth of donations and funding in the name of charity and philanthropy on their own. I have had the pleasure of eating breakfast with James E. “Ted” Bassett III and he signed my copy of his book “Keeneland’s Ted Bassett My Life” for me. He is a leader in the horse industry and former chairman and president of Keeneland and president of the Breeders’ Cup Ltd. among many other things. He just funded the construction of Bassett Hall for student residence in 2016 at Transylvania University in Lexington, KY.

In the Thoroughbred racing industry we are all winners. The economic impact is outstanding. Cash is king, and it is also the name of the partnership that ran the 2005 Preakness winner, Afleet Alex. My mind is stirring with excitement for the Preakness that is just around the corner. Afleet Alex was owned by Cash is King Stable. He ran third in the Kentucky Derby and 1st in both the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. He almost fell while running the Preakness. He earned a career 2.7 million dollars before retiring to stud at Gainsway in Lexington, KY. He is still a sire there and his son Materiality just ran 6th in the Kentucky Derby and is a contender for the Preakness.

Yes, I will have a full Preakness Stakes story before race day. Until then, I will be reading and learning so I can keep on sharing. Thank you for following my posts.

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April 30, 2015May 1, 2015

Get Stoked For The Oaks

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TGIF rarely has held so much anticipation for me. I can not wait for this Friday, May 1, 2015 and 5:49 p.m. EST! The 141st running of the Kentucky Oaks is going to be a tough race. This Grade I stakes race on the dirt for 3 year old fillies of 1 and 1/8 miles with a million dollar purse is quite the championship of Thoroughbred racing. Who is your favorite? Let’s explore some history, review the contenders and have some fun with this contest of champions.

The Kentucky Oaks ran for the first time the 19th of May in 1875. The track was Churchill Downs, by the name of Louisville Jockey Club, in Louisville, Kentucky. This track first opened that same year and ran only 4 races, those included the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby. These races are the only races that have been ran continuously at the same track and the oldest uninterrupted contests of all sports ever. The founder was Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr. His contribution to Thoroughbred racing history could be an entire post on its own. He developed many of the racing rules used today and his stakes racing design is the model the Breeders’ Cup uses. The Oaks is patterned after the British Epsom Oaks. The event is sponsored by Longines, a Swiss watch company, founded in 1832. The Oaks has several traditions. The song of choice is “My Old Kentucky Home” by Stephen Foster, in use as early as 1921. The flower is the Stargazer Lily. Kroger makes a blanket of theses flowers to place upon the winner. This tradition began in 1916 with roses but went to lilies thereafter. Lilies for the fillies! The lilies share the color of the event, pink! The Oaks partnered with Horses and Hope as well as Bright Pink. This is the 7th year this event is committed to supporting these charities that are devoted to breast and ovarian cancer. The drink of the day is the Oaks Lilly. Make one yourself by following the recipe here Oaks Lily . For a fabulous calorie saving and sober drink try a mocktail by substituting the vodka with your favorite sparkling water. The winner is presented with a sterling silver statue. This statue stands 25 inches tall and has a horseshoe on the top and 2 horse heads for handles. The statue is engraved with the name of each winner since the race 1st took place. The statue is kept year round in the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville. It was created in 1924. The winner is also presented with 12 sterling silver julep cups that are engraved too. In most cases these are broken up to be shared by the owner, trainer, jockey and more.

Fourteen horses will race tomorrow. This pool by post position is:

Forever Unbridled
Shook Up
Include Betty
Eskenformoney
Condo Commando
Angela Renee
Lovely Maria
I’m A Chatterbox
Money’soncharlotte
Oceanwave
Sarah Sis
Stellar Wind
Birdatthewire
Puca

Post Position goes from post #1 being the tracks inside rail to #14 being furthest towards the outside rail. Gates #2 through 10 tend to be preferred positions. It is good to keep close to the rail by the 1st turn but best to not get pinned in. It also matters if the horse is a speed horse or a closer where the best position may be.

The prep schedule for the Oaks began at Churchill Downs in September and ended in April at Keeneland, also in Kentucky. Keeneland featured 3 qualifying races. The horses were ranked on a points system. Most races were Grade I, II, or III. The points ranged from 10-4-2-1 (for win, place, show, or fourth) to 50-20-10-5 and 100-40-20-10 depending on the race. The top score makers are Condo Commando, I’m a Chatterbox, Stellar Wind, Birdatthewire, and Lovely Maria. These are actually the favorites this evening as well, but not in this order. The favorite is Stellar Wind. Larry Jones is the trainer of both post 7 and 8. He was pleased enough just saying “I’m not a good 13 person”, but it should be interesting to see how theses two top fillies compete. Todd Pletcher is training both 4 and 6. Horses 5,8, and 7 all come from the Storm Cat line of the great Secretariat. This line has never produced a Derby winner. The favorite, at post 12, is a Curlin daughter. Posts 2 and 10 are both grey beauties. Last year’s winning trainer with Untapable was Steve Asmussen who has post # 2 this time.

Thoroughbred U for me is my own racing industry study program. I hope you can learn from my blog as well. I am far from handicapping for others and my tipster sent me plenty of info but not a tip. I am going to go with #8, I’m a Chatterbox! This is my pick and not to be confused with a tip, this time.

Don’t forget to wear your pink! My mom and I custom designed a pink lily hat to match my dress. I will talk a bit more about hat design in my next post, all about the Kentucky Derby! Have fun tomorrow. I will be at Keenland’s party on the lawn to celebrate and watch the racing on some big screens.

Update: Lovely Maria, Shook Up and I’m A Chatterbox was the order of the day!

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