Thoroughbred Racing Roundup
February 7th, 2012By ROBERT KIECKHEFER
UPI Racing Writer
Alpha is the new “alpha dog” among Kentucky Derby candidates – at least in New York – after the weekend round of prep races.
A mishap in the stretch muddled California’s main weekend Derby prep while Florida’s featured a mild upset and Kentucky’s produced yet another a potential contender.
Meanwhile, Game On Dude was dominant in winning Sunday in California in his first race since finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, opening the possibility he might contest the Dubai World Cup.
And speaking of Dubai, Godolphin – which owns Alpha – also had a super week back home in the UAE. And Hong Kong’s weekend racing generated yet another prospect for the World Cup undercard.
While many were watching the countdown to the Super Bowl, here’s what really counted:
The Road to the Roses:
Making the second start of his 3-year-old season, Alpha was dominant in Saturday’s $200,000, Grade III Withers Stakes at Aqueduct. After tracking the pace, the Bernardini colt went by the leaders when given the cue by jockey Ramon Dominguez, quickly opened a comfortable lead and coasted home in a hand ride.
Speightcity, at 44-1 odds, rallied to take second, 3 1/4 lengths back. Tiger Walk was third. Alpha ran the 1 1/16 miles on the fast inner track in 1:44.23.
In his first race this year, Alpha made short work of the Count Fleet Stakes over the same surface. Last year, the Godolphin Racing colt finished second to Union Rags in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont but then was 11th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. In both the Breeders’ Cup and the Count Fleet he had trouble at the gate.
“I think he improved some,” said winning trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, “because of how wide he was both trips, and he was better in the gate. He gets a better grade for this race. If it was a ‘B’ last time, he gets an ‘A’ this time.”
McLaughlin said Godolphin will decide the next step for Alpha, adding, “He could relocate, or he could run back in the Gotham in a month. We’ll just have to talk about it. At least we got $120,000 in graded earnings going forward to the first Saturday in May. That’s important.”
With the $60,000 from the Grade I Champagne, Alpha now has $180,000 in graded stakes earnings and could use a little more to ensure a spot in the Kentucky Derby.
Saturday’s West Coast prep for Kentucky Derby hopefuls, the $200,000, Grade II Robert B. Lewis Stakes, was compromised when the favorite, Liaison, clipped heels at midstretch and dropped his rider, Rafael Bejarano. That left extreme longshot I’ll Have Another to pick up the victory with Empire Way second. Groovin’ Solo, who came out and caused the trouble, finished third but was disqualified to last, promoting Rousing Sermon to show money.
I’ll Have Another, a Kentucky-bred Flower Alley colt, finished the 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:40.84 with Mario Guiterrez aboard.
“He always trained fantastic, but I never saw this coming,” said winning trainer Doug O’Neill. I’ll Have Another was trying two turns for the first time while coming off a five-month layoff resulting from sore shins after losing in the Hopeful at Saratoga in September.
“He hasn’t missed a beat since then,” O’Neill said.
Bejarano was not seriously injured in the fall, which ended Liaison’s three-race winning streak. Liaison also reportedly came out of the incident without injury.
In the $250,000, Grade III Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, Battle Hardened stalked the pace, then came four-wide around the leaders in the stretch and went on to win by 11/4 lengths over Prospective. Reveron was third, a nose in front of 70-1 shot Ravelo’s Boy. State of Play showed the way but faded to finish seventh and Ecabroni finished last.
Battle Hardened, a Kentucky-bred Giant’s Causeway colt, ran the 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:44.58 with Julien Leparoux riding for trainer Eddie Kenneally.
Reflecting the wide-open nature of the race, winning trainer Eddie Kenneally had cross-entered Battle Hardened in a maiden race at Gulfstream on Saturday. But, he said after race, “He’s been training brilliantly and we were happy with how he was coming into the race, so we decided to come here and get some of the big money.”
“We’ll definitely take a real good look at the Tampa Bay Derby and it’s very likely,” Kenneally added.
And at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky, Mr. Prankster made a joke of Saturday’s $50,000 WEBN Stakes, distancing the field in the lane and winning by 7 1/2 lengths over Phantom Fury. Magical Season finished third. Mr. Prankster finished last in the Kentucky Jockey Club last year but won the Turfway Prevue in his previous start as a 3-year-old.
“Yes, I was worried about the distance,” said winning trainer Mike Maker. “But (in the Kentucky Jockey Club) he came off a layoff and he had some issues in between. And obviously the competition was stiffer than it was today. So I thought it was worth a shot today because, one, I’m half-owner and I stable here, and two, he ran well over the Polytrack at Presque Isle so I thought I’d keep him here for the stakes and try again.”
Maker said Mr. Prankster likely will stay at Turfway for the John Battaglia Memorial on March 3, final local prep for the Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes.
Kentucky Oaks preps:
Dixie Strike circled rivals four-wide into the stretch in Saturday’s $100,000 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs, brushed with Regala Mio late in the stretch run and got home first by a desperate nose over pacesetting More Than Love. Regala Mio finished third and her rider lost a claim of foul resulting from the bump. Dixie Strike, an Ontario-bred Dixie Union filly, ran the 1 1/16 miles on firm turf in 1:43.30 with Jose Lezcano in the irons. It was the second stakes victory for Dixie Strike, who won the $150,000 (Canadian) Ontario Lassie at Woodbine in Toronto on Dec. 3. The Florida Oaks was her first start on turf after four races on the Woodbine synthetic.
“I had no idea if Dixie Strike could run on turf because she never had raced on it,” said winning trainer Mark Casse, who also saddled fourth-place finisher Northern Passion. “But her breeding said she’d be fine … They are both Canadian-breds, so they both have a big future in Canada. I think Dixie Strike could be a Kentucky Oaks filly. We’re going to have to map out a plan to get there. They won’t see each other for a while, unless it’s on a van.”
Racing around the other tracks:
Dubai
(By RICHARD GROSS)
Godolphin filly Gamilati crushed five opponents in the 1,600-meter UAE 1000 Guineas on the all-weather Tapeta at Meydan Friday. Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, looked on as his yard’s lead jockey, Frankie Dettori, piloted the 3-year-old filly to a 5 1/2-lengths, hand-ride win over stablemate Pimpernel in the $250,000 feature.
Godophin’s excitement over the filly’s potential was confirmed by a rarely quoted Sheikh Mohammed himself. “The UAE Oaks is under consideration,” he offered after the win. “And then the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot or the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.”
Trainer Mahmoud Al Zarooni saddled both the winner and runner up, then combined with Dettori for a double on the night when Ireland’s Fox Hunt easily bested fellow Irish runner Averroes in a field of 13 by 3 lengths in the 2,810-meter Tabloid Trophy turf handicap.
Maraheb started the day with a 2-length win over stablemate Alazeyab to earn the Freehold Trophy at 1,600 meters on the all-weather while Factory Time punched the clock by a length and a half over Kenny Powers in the 1,400-meter Meydan Classic Trial on turf to also give trainer A.A. Raihe two winners on the card.
The Group 3 Al Shindagha Sprint over 1,200 meters on the all-weather produced the most exciting finish when Ireland’s Hitchens defeated Great Britain’s Krypton Factor in a photo-finish to give local trainer T. D. Barron his first winner in four tries. Singapore trainer Steve Burridge had four winners in five previous tries this Carnival, but could do no better than fourth with previous winner Captain Obvious.
UK-based trainer Robert Cowell snagged the 1,000-meter Classifieds Trophy on the turf for the second consecutive year when Monsieur Joe outran Inxile by a long neck in the final strides.
With the season near its midpoint, nominations were made for other races on the March 31 Dubai World Cup card.
The $1 million, Group 2 Godolphin Mile on the all-weather is this year’s most popular for entries with 368 nominees from 14 countries led by the U.S. with 45 including Eclipse Champion and four-time Grade 1-winner Acclamation. There are five from Hong Kong including Able One, a three-time Group 1 sprint winner including last year’s Hong Kong Mile.
Recent track record-setter Capponi is among Godolphin’s 39 entries whose two trainers, Saeed bin Suroor and Mahmoud Al Zarooni, have 24 and 15 entries respectively. South Africa’s Mike de Kock, a winner in 2005 with Grand Emporium, has 17 runners nominated. Great Britain, Japan and Ireland have 22, 14 and 7 entries respectively.
The UAE Derby received 136 entries from an international cast that will try to defeat bin Suroor and de Kock, the only two trainers to ever saddle a winner in the 12-year history of the $2 million, 1,900-meter all-weather test for 3-year-olds. Bin Suroor has won the event seven times including last year with Khawlah, the first filly in the winner’s circle. De Kock has notched five wins, most recently in 2010 with Musir.
Hong Kong
After two near misses in his last two starts, Joy And Fun finally broke through to victory in Sunday’s HKG1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize at Sha Tin. The win, after seconds in the Group 1 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint in December and the HKG1 Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup last month, may have earned the veteran runner a trip to Dubai and the Al Quoz Sprint. Sunday, Joy And Fun overcame a wide barrier draw and put in a stout stretch run to win by 3/4 length over Lucky Nine. Sunny King was third, just a short head farther back. Joy And Fun finished the 1,200 meters in 1:08.98 as jockey Brett Doyle headed off to a six-week engagement in Dubai in style.
“He’s been knocking on the door in all the big races and he couldn’t have done it any better,” Doyle said. “It’s great for me to end my time in Hong Kong with a Group 1 winner and we go to Dubai in good form.”
Trainer Derek Cruz said he has “always had Dubai in mind for the horse after this. He has done so well for us that we will take it step by step.” And he added a return trip to Royal Ascot, where Joy and Fun was injured in the 2010 Golden Jubilee, is not out of the question. “If he hadn’t injured himself in England, he would have been a very strong contender that day,” Cruz added.
Santa Anita
Game On Dude, who just missed holding off Drosselmeyer in November’s Breeders’ Cup, had no such trouble in Sunday’s $200,000, Grade II San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita. After breaking a little slowly, jockey Chantal Sutherland put the 5-year-old Awesome Again gelding into a comfortable stalking position. When the time came, Game On Dude had his game on, roaring to the lead and drawing off to win by 5 1/4 lengths over Uh Oh Bango. The 9 furlongs went in 1:46.88 and Sutherland said her mount “wasn’t even sweating when he came back. It was like a workout for him.”
Trainer Bob Baffert was noncommittal about which direction to send Game On Dude – back to the barn to defend his title in the $750,000, Grade I Santa Anita Handicap on March 3 or to start preparations to ship to Dubai for the March 31 World Cup, with a $10 million purse. “He’s nominated to Dubai,” Baffert said. “But the thing about Dubai is that it’s getting more and more difficult for American horses to win there because of the new track layout and the synthetic. You don’t know what to expect. We can think about it. It’s an option, so we’re going to leave all options open for now.”
The World Cup was run on a dirt track at the old Nad Al Sheeba facility but now is run over a Tapeta surface at the palatial Meydan digs that opened two years ago.
Ultimate Eagle, making his first start on the dirt, soared away in the stretch in Saturday’s $200,000, Grade II Strub Stakes for 4-year-olds, scoring the upset win by 7 1/4 lengths over Jaycito. Prayer for Relief was another 2 1/4 lengths back in third with the favorite, Tapizar, settling for fourth while fading through the stretch. Ultimate Eagle, a Kentucky-bred Mizzen Mast colt, ran the 9 furlongs on a fast track in 1:47.08 under Martin Pedroza.
“This is a special horse and people have to start realizing it,” said winning trainer Mike Pender. “Just because he wins on the turf, it doesn’t mean that he can’t do it anywhere else.” Asked about the March 3 Santa Anita Handicap, he said, “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Mr. Commons got to the rail in the stretch run in Saturday’s $150,000, Grade II Arcadia Stakes and went on to win by 1 length over Willyconker. Massone was third. Mr. Commons, a 4-year-old, Kentucky-bred Artie Schiller colt, finished the 1 mile on firm turf in 1:33.41 with Mike Smith up.
“I have so much confidence he’ll go wherever I point him, and he did,” Smith said. “He went through another tight hole again and did it with a lot of courage.” Trainer John Shirreffs said the Grade I Frank E. Kilroe Mile on March 3 might be next for Mr. Commons.
Aqueduct
Calibrachoa overcame a stumble at the start of Saturday’s $200,000, Grade III Toboggan Stakes, tracked the early pace and went by to win by 2 1/4 lengths. Pacesetter Diski Dance held second, 3/4 length better than Caixa Eletronica. Todd Pletcher trains both Calibrachoa and Caixa Eletronica. Calibrachoa, a 5-year-old, Kentucky-bred son of Southern Image, ran the 6 furlongs on a fast track in 1:09.47 with Cornelio Velasquez up.
“He loves Aqueduct,” said winning owner Mike Repole. “But he’s run well at Belmont and run well at Saratoga. You guys know how much I like New York, so we keep him here.”
Nicole H proved the punters right in Saturday’s $100,000 Correction Stakes for filly and mare sprinters, rallying from just off the pace to win by 2 1/2 lengths as the odds-on choice. Honchis’n Ponchis finished second and Golden Mystery was third. Nicole H, a 5-year-old, Kentucky-bred Mr. Greeley mare, got the 6 furlongs on the fast inner track in 1:11.08 with Ramon Dominguez up. She now is undefeated in four tries over the inner track, explaining the fan favoritism.
“We’ve always felt she was one of the best fillies in the country,” said winning trainer Mike Hushion. “We have the rest of the year to prove it.” He said the Grade II Distaff Handicap on the main track on April 14 might be the next race for Nicole H.
Tampa Bay Downs
Zagora stalked the pace in Saturdy’s $150,000, Grade III Endeavour Stakes, came out in the stretch run and got by pacesetting Exclusive Love to win by 2 1/4 lengths over that rival. Keertana finished third. Zagora, a 5-year-old, French-bred Green Tune mare, ran the 1 1/16 miles on firm going in 1:40.92.
“We really had a perfect trip,” said winning rider Javier Castellano. “I got her to the inside and she relaxed. When I asked her getting near the stretch, she put in a strong run and that was that.”
Zagora has been out of the money only once in seven starts – all graded stakes – since coming to North America from France, where she began her career.
