ANEES: NO SALE? NO SWEAT.Byline: Kevin Modesti Horse Racing ARCADIA - Alex Hassinger doesn't seem to be distracted. Anees certainly doesn't seem to be. The trainer and his big horse concentrated on getting ready for the 2-year-old champion's first start of the season even as his ownership underwent a change - and a change back - this week. Tuesday, Saudi Prince Ahmed Salman's Thoroughbred Corp. announced it had sold a 50 percent interest in Anees to Silicon Valley executive David Shimmon for a reported $6 million. Earlier in the week, Shimmon, a newcomer to the racing scene, had paid $2 million for a colt at the Barretts March sale in Pomona to match the record auction price for a 2-year-old. But Thursday, the Anees sale was reported to have fallen through under unclear circumstances, Shimmon backing out even though the horse passed a veterinarian's check. Thoroughbred Corp. racing manager Richard Mulhall did not return telephone calls seeking comment. Through it all, preparations went on for the first step toward the Kentucky Derby for Anees, a son of 1990 Derby winner Unbridled and grandson of 1978 Triple Crown runner-up Alydar. After having his training interrupted for three weeks in January by a left hind foot bruise, delaying the start of his 2000 campaign, Anees is scheduled to run in the $250,000 San Felipe Stakes The San Felipe Stakes is a race for Thoroughbred horses run each year at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The race is normally held in mid-March and is open to horses, age three, willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles (8.5 furlongs) on the dirt. at Santa Anita on Sunday. Jerry Bailey replaces retired jockey Gary Stevens. The opposition is expected to consist of Fusaichi Pegasus (Kent Desormeaux), the $4 million yearling yearling an animal in its second year of age, e.g. yearling cattle, yearling filly, yearling colt. yearling disease rinderpest in wildebeeste in the Serengheti. purchase; The Deputy (Chris McCarron), the Irish-bred Santa Catalina Stakes winner; Commendable (Chris Antley), trained by D. Wayne Lukas Darrell Wayne Lukas (born September 2, 1935 in Antigo, Wisconsin) is a former educator who became one of the most successful horse trainers in American Thoroughbred horse racing history and a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee. for Bob and Beverly Lewis, and Promontory promontory /prom·on·to·ry/ (prom´on-tor?e) a projecting process or eminence. prom·on·to·ry n. A projecting part. promontory a projecting process or eminence. Gold (Corey Nakatani), who is 2 for 3 in turf races for Bobby Frankel. None of the four had beaten winners by Nov. 6, the day Anees rallied from 14th to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. at Gulfstream Park at 30-1 odds. But because of Anees' winter setback, and the assumption he won't be 100 percent fit for Sunday's 1 1/16-mile race, both Fusaichi Pegasus and The Deputy are expected to go lower in the betting. ``We probably would have liked one more race before this one,'' said Hassinger, who will have to hope this race and the April 8 Santa Anita Derby The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California and carries a purse of $750,000. are enough to get Anees ready for the May 6 Kentucky Derby. ``I think the ultimate goal with this horse is to have him at his best in the Kentucky Derby,'' Hassinger said. ``Just as last year we wanted him at his best, if he was good enough, for the Breeders' Cup. I think the program we set up for him last year was perfect, from his maiden win to the Norfolk (Stakes) to the Breeders' Cup. And I think this program we have set up is very similar. I think the mile-and-a-16th, mile-and-an- eighth, mile-and-a-quarter (progression) is a perfect scenario.'' Hassinger is confident that Anees, because of his light frame and his running style, can get into racing shape faster than most horses. He's also certain Anees is good enough to compete in the Derby, something many trainers are still trying to prove with their 3-year-olds in a year when the Triple Crown picture is slow to come into focus. ``I don't think you can really make a call on it (the Derby),'' Hassinger said the week after Mighty upset Captain Steve in the Louisiana Derby and Hal's Hope edged High Yield in the Florida Derby to become the first 3-year-old male to win two graded stakes this season. ``I think there's three, four, five horses who seem very interesting.'' Hassinger thinks those horses include Surfside surf·side adj. Situated or sited at or near the seashore: surfside parties; a surfside road. , the leading 3-year-old filly, although her Santa Anita Oaks Santa Anita Oaks is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held annually in mid March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Open to three-year-old fillies willing to race 8.5 furlongs (1 1/16 miles) on the dirt, it currently offers a purse of $300,000. victory Sunday was less impressive than future-book bettors would have liked to see. ``She has one important factor (going for her): She keeps winning,'' Hassinger said. ``It's really hard to take a lot away from her.'' And, of course, Hassinger thinks the ``interesting'' 3-year-olds include Anees. The rest of us can decide for ourselves Sunday when he races for the first time since the Breeders' Cup. --Also this weekend: In what might be termed the horseback Ryder Cup, four-man teams representing the United States and Europe will compete Saturday at Santa Anita in the third International Jockey Challenge. It's Chris McCarron, Laffit Pincay, Pat Day and Mike Smith for Team USA, which won the competition in 1998 with a dramatic 1-2-3-4 finish in the final race, and Frankie Dettori, Kieren Fallon, Michael Kinane and Gerald Mosse Mosse may refer to: In medicine:
The teams assign riders to horses in races 3 through 5, and the competition will be settled on a points basis. Santa Anita will offer a special pick-four bet. --Behind the tragedy: The California Horse Racing Board continues to investigate the accident that killed jockey J.C. Gonzalez last Sept. 9 at Fairplex Park. Among the revelations so far: Gonzalez's mount, Wolfhunt, whose breakdown triggered the accident, was treated legally with cortisone cortisone (kôr`tĭsōn'), steroid hormone whose main physiological effect is on carbohydrate metabolism. It is synthesized from cholesterol in the outer layer, or cortex, of the adrenal gland under the stimulation of adrenocorticotropic and two other therapeutic drugs two days before the race after veterinarian veterinarian /vet·er·i·nar·i·an/ (vet?er-i-nar´e-an) a person trained and authorized to practice veterinary medicine and surgery; a doctor of veterinary medicine. vet·er·i·nar·i·an n. John Araujo found inflammation in a foreleg; and Araujo was fined $200 for failing to report the medications as required. The eventual findings could determine whether there will be legal action by Gonzalez's family, which has used the Public Records Act to acquire the preliminary necropsy necropsy /nec·rop·sy/ (nek´rop-se) examination of a body after death; autopsy. nec·rop·sy n. See autopsy. necropsy examination of a body after death. See also autopsy. report on Wolfhunt produced at UC Davis. OUT OF THE GATE SANTA ANITA LEADERS Jockeys (through Wednesday): Corey Nakatani 59 wins Kent Desormeaux 49 Laffit Pincay 45 Alex Solis 45 David Flores Flores, town, Guatemala Flores (flōrəs), town (1990 est. pop. 2,200), capital of Petén department, N Guatemala. Flores was built on an island in the southern part of Lake Petén Itzá and on the site of the 36 Trainers Bob Baffert 27 Bobby Frankel and Bill Spawr 18 Ron McAnally 17 Bob Hess Jr. 14. PINCAY WATCH Laffit Pincay had a sensational week, winning with 9 of his 21 mounts from Thursday to Wednesday, including consecutive mounts Friday paying $21.60, $15.40 and $11.20. His record career-victories total is 8,893. THE STAKES SCHEDULE Santa Anita Today $100,000 Irish O'Brien 4-year-olds and up, 6 1/2 furlongs on turf Saturday $250,000 San Luis Rey Handicap The San Luis Rey Handicap is a race for Thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park in the Spring of each year. The Grade IIT San Luis Rey is open to horses of either gender, age four and up, willing to race one and one-half miles (12 furlongs) on the turf. 3-year-olds and up 1 1/2 miles on turf Sunday $250,000 San Felipe 3-year-olds,1 1/16 miles Gulfstream Park Saturday $200,000 Widener Handicap 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/8 miles Aqueduct Sunday $200,000 Gotham 3-year-olds, 1 mile Tampa Bay Downs Tampa Bay Downs is a horse track in Tampa, Florida. History The track opened in 1926. The track has operated under many names the most famous being Florida Downs. In 1943, the Army used the track as a training facility. Sunday $150,000 Tampa Bay Derby The Tampa Bay Derby is a race for Thoroughbred race horses held in March at Tampa Bay Downs. A Grade III event, the race is open to three-year-olds willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles (8.5 furlongs) on the dirt. 3-year-olds, 1 1/16 miles MILEPOSTS Six U.S. horses are in the United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates, federation of sheikhdoms (2005 est. pop. 2,563,000), c.30,000 sq mi (77,700 sq km), SE Arabia, on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. for the $6 million Dubai World Cup The Dubai World Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The race is operated through the Emirates Horse Racing Authority (EHRA) whose Chairman is Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a week from Saturday: Malek, Puerto Madero, Saint's Honor, Behrens, Ecton Park and Public Purse. . . . No horseshoe pitching contest on St. Patrick's Day this year, but Santa Anita is offering free parking and general admission. . . . Pat Day has been elected president of the Jockeys' Guild, replacing the retired Gary Stevens. . . . Vladimir Cerin trained the winners of Santa Anita races 6, 7 and 8 Thursday. . . . Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies is a 1 1/16-mile thoroughbred horse race on dirt (although the distance has varied, depending on the configuration of the host track) for two-year-old fillies run annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part winner Cash Run withstood a stretch-long challenge from Deed I Do in Thursday's Bonnie Miss Stakes The Bonnie Miss Stakes is a race for Thoroughbred horses held at Gulfstream Park each year. The race is open to fillies, age three, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the dirt. The Grade II Bonnie Miss carries a purse of $150,000. at Gulfstream Park. . . . Doug Donn, president of Gulfstream for 25 years, handed the reins to David Romanik, who had been Gulfstream's chief counsel. Donn will assume the title of chairman at the Frank Stronach-owned Florida track. . . . The Hialeah meet, which has been moved to Gulfstream this year, is scheduled to open today in Florida. The April 8 Flamingo Stakes for 3-year-olds highlights the stakes schedule. Gulfstream's own season concluded Thursday. . . . Details of the Hialeah-Gulfstream agreement were being worked out this week - including an odd proposal to hold turf races at Hialeah, whose grass course is in better shape, while bettors watch on TV at Gulfstream. . . . Aqueduct replaces Gulfstream on the Santa Anita simulcast menu, joining Bay Meadows and the Fair Grounds. . . . Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Delahoussaye has replaced agent Bill Barisoff with Ray Kravagna. . . . Mr. Doubledown broke Rathsallah's nearly five-year-old Bay Meadows record for 5 furlongs by winning an allowance race in 56.44 seconds March 9. . . . Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in the late winter at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses three years old and up, and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during winner General Challenge's long-range target is the May 13 Pimlico Special, with the April 9 San Bernardino Handicap at Santa Anita the likely prep. Big 'Cap runner-up Budroyale is pointing for the April 8 Oaklawn Handicap. - Kevin Modesti CAPTION(S): box Box: OUT OF THE GATE (see text) |
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