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Wednesday, August 22, 2007

More 2007 Breeders Cup Qualifiers from Del Mar

The Breeders Cup Challenge leads to the $23 million Breeders' Cup World Championships, to be held this year at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey on October 26 and 27.

Here are Breeders Cup contenders from Del Mar on Sunday August 19, 2007
Pacific Classic (Classic) : Student Council
Pat O'Brien Handicap (Sprint) : Greg's Gold
Del Mar Mile(Mile) : Crossing The Line

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Monday, August 13, 2007

Breeders' Cup On Jambalaya Agenda

The Breeders' Cup Challenge, which made its first stop two weeks ago at the Old Spa, visited Arlington Park last Saturday with three "Win and You're In" races on turf.

In the day’s marquee event, Canadian invader Jambalaya burst from between horses at mid-stretch and went on to win the 25th running of the Arlington Million by 3/4 length over last year’s winner and this year's favorite, The Tin Man.

Jambalaya, purchased for $2,500 as a yearling, earned $594,000 and an automatic berth in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, Powered by Dodge.

Another automatic entry to the Classic went to French-bred Shamdinan, who rallied from off the pace to win the $400,000 Secretariat Stakes for 3-year-olds.

And Royal Highness, a German-bred mare, earned a spot in October’s $2 million Emirates Airlines Breeders’ Cup Distaff with a dramatic, stretch-running victory in Saturday’s $750,000 Beverly D. Stakes.
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Thursday, August 09, 2007

Any Given Saturday Trying To Snatch A Spot in Breeders' Cup

The Breeders' Cup races are 80 days away but already Marion County horses are trying to snatch their spots in some of its 11 prestigious races.

The latest was Any Given Saturday when the 3-year-old colt won the Haskell Invitational on Sunday, putting the son of Distorted Humor in the mix for the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Trainer Todd Pletcher said on Wednesday morning that he would nominate Any Given Saturday to the $1-million Travers Stakes (G1) at the Spa on August 25, but that he is more likely to run back in the Brooklyn Breeders' Cup Handicap (G2) on September 22 at Belmont Park.

Of the four horses that have won guaranteed spots in Breeders' Cup races, the only other Ocala horse to have a berth is Diabolical. The Artax colt was sold for $300,000 in the February 2005 Ocala Breeders' Company Sales auction.

Breeders Cup qualifying races will continue through Oct. 11

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Friday, August 03, 2007

Saratoga Horse Racing History

Saratoga is known for the horses at the Saratoga Race Course. Before a crowd of 500, Lizzie W. became the first thoroughbred to win the race at the race track that William Travers, Leonard Jerome, and John Hunter had built in 1863.

A year later, the Travers Stakes was first run in honor of Travers, on the same four-day meet where the steeplechase course, another current-day favorite, was introduced. The Travers Stakes, now believed to be the nation’s oldest stake race in continuous existence, gave rise to the week-long Travers Festival which features various special events including the Travers Ball, which constantly draws celebrities in to this side of New York.

Two decades later, the Saratoga Race Course would suffer a slump that persevered until after the 2nd World War. In the 1880s, the horse racing crowds were split between Saratoga and the new Monmouth race track at New Jersey, although the latter was forced to close down in 1893 due to anti-gambling legislations. In 1911, Saratoga itself was forced to close for two seasons due to a law that had been passed making oral betting illegal. Following the outbreak of World War II in 1941, the Saratoga Meet was moved downstate to Belmont in 1943, and Saratoga remained dark until 1946.

When Saratoga celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 1963, in style, it ushered in a new era for the race track that involved numerous enhancements to the delight of the race track’s most elite and countless fans.

More horse racing legends followed Lizzie W. to make history at the Saratoga Race Course: Longfellow; Man o' War, who suffered his only defeat in 21 starts when he loses to Upset in the 1919 Sanford Memorial Stakes at Saratoga; Gallant Fox; Kelso; Cigar; Secretariat; Affirmed; Alydar; and Fourstardave, who won at Saratoga for eight straight years and had a street in Saratoga Springs named after him when he retired. Another favorite, Go For Wand, was buried in the Saratoga infield after breaking down at Belmont Park. Most recently, Birdstone, owned by Saratoga socialite MaryLou Whitney, earned an unexpected win at the 2005 Belmont Stakes before the biggest racing crowd in history and 33 million television viewers.

Now over a century and four decades old, the Saratoga Race Course is the earliest and widely considered as the most beautiful race track in North America. In this race track recently named among the “Top 20 Venues of the 20th Century” by Sports Illustrated, thoroughbred racing’s most elite meet from July through September to watch and bet on the biggest names in race horses.

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