FANS HOPE PREPS WILL PROVIDE PEP.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Horse Racing horse racing, trials of speed involving two or more horses. It includes races among harnessed horses with one of two particular gaits, among saddled Thoroughbreds (or, less frequently, quarterhorses) on a flat track, or among saddled horses over a turf course with ARCADIA - Where's Pulpit when you need him? Where's AP Valentine? Where's More Than Ready? Where's Artax, Favorite Trick Favorite Trick (April 20, 1995 - June 6, 2006) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who in 1997 became the first 2-year-old in twenty-five years to be voted United States Horse of the Year. , Unbridled's Song or any of the colts whose sensational early performances - and resulting media hype - gave shape to recent Triple Crown prep seasons? It doesn't matter that a lot of bettors lost money when those horses were beaten in the Kentucky Derby. What the racing fans of 2002 wouldn't give for a 3-year-old to love, a 3-year-old to hate or a 3-year-old simply to talk about. Nobody's too excited about any of the Derby contenders we've seen so far in the United States while 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. winner Johannesburg has been wintering in England. If that's going to change, if a star is going to emerge, it figures to happen this weekend during what amounts to the second-to-final round of preps for the May 4 Kentucky Derby. Big races will be held in Florida (Saturday's Florida Derby), California (Sunday's 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. ) and New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of (Sunday's Gotham Stakes). At the very least, these races will thin the Derby-hopefuls herd. ``Horses are really late developing this year,'' said John Ward, who trained 2000 Florida and Kentucky derby winner Monarchos and will saddle Florida Derby favorite Booklet. ``Let me put it like this: After this weekend, there's going to be an awful lot of people who decide to go to other (lesser) Derbies. And I think there are more people going to leave the trail than come on it after this weekend.'' Booklet, ridden by Jorge Chavez, is a 5-2 morning-line favorite over 3-1 Harlan's Holiday among 11 entered Wednesday at Gulfstream Park for the Florida Derby, the first major 1 1/8-mile race for the cream of the eastern horses hoping to earn spots in the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby. Booklet's front-running, photo-finish victory over Harlan's Holiday in the Fountain of Youth Stakes The Fountain of Youth Stakes is a race for thoroughbred horses run at Gulfstream Park at the beginning of March each year. A Grade II event open to three-year-olds willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the dirt, it offers a purse of $350,000. was his fourth consecutive win and sixth in a seven-race career. Yet, typical of this crop, the son of Notebook isn't causing much buzz. ``(Why) is a question I keep asking myself,'' Ward said. ``I'll have to say that people don't like horses that run to the front, especially if they're trying to predict who's going to win the Kentucky Derby.'' The lineup for the $1 million Florida Derby: Monthir, Harlan's Holiday, Nokoma, Booklet, Peekskill, Smooth Jazz, Puck, High Star, D'Coach, Personal Reward, Blue Burner. The 1 1/16-mile San Felipe gives Siphonic a chance to bounce back from his excusable second-place finish in the Jan. 19 Santa Catalina Stakes and tune up for the April 6 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. . Siphonic and jockey Jerry Bailey are expected to face Sham Stakes winner USS Tinosa, runner-up Puerto Banus and sixth-place finisher Shah Jehan, and possibly GobiDan. When Siphonic worked out Wednesday, going half a mile in 47 seconds, trainer David Hofmans had him break from the starting gate, hoping the experience would help to prevent a recurrence of the incident in the Santa Catalina in which the soil gave way under the colt's hind feet. At New York's Aqueduct racetrack, the 1-mile Gotham marks the first 2002 starts for Saarland, the Remsen Stakes winner in November, and Mayakovsky, the Hopeful Stakes runner-up to Came Home in September. A field of six is expected. --Honor for Baze: Santa Anita will hold a ceremony in the winner's circle after today's fourth race to present Russell Baze with the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award The George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award has been presented by Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California annually since 1950 to the thoroughbred horse racing jockey in North America who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack. . The timing says something about why Baze has won more than 7,700 races, fourth on the all-time list. The Woolf Award normally is presented on a weekend, in front of a big crowd that includes many of the past winners. But Baze apparently didn't want to give up his weekend mounts at Golden Gate Fields Golden Gate Fields is a horse racing track straddling both Albany, California and Berkeley, California along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay adjacent to the and the chance to pick off some more easy victories on his home circuit in the San Francisco Bay Area “Bay Area” redirects here. For other uses, see Bay Area (disambiguation). The San Francisco Bay Area, colloquially known as the Bay Area or The Bay . Baze, 43, becomes the 53rd recipient of the Woolf Award, which is voted on by the nation's jockeys in recognition of on- and off-the-track qualities. George Woolf was one of Seabiscuit's riders before his death in a fall at Santa Anita in 1946. --More honors: Racing Hall of Fame nominees have been announced and one name overshadows the rest. Cigar, the winner of 16 races in a row in the mid-1990s, figures to beat out Ancient Title and Precisionist pre·ci·sion·ist n. 1. One who values precision; a purist. 2. often Precisionist A painter whose work is marked by precisionism. to go into the Hall of Fame in the ``contemporary male'' category. Other equine nominees: Dance Smartly, Flawlessly and Serena's Song (``contemporary female'') and Morvich, Noor and Swoon's Son (``horses of yesteryear''). The three jockeys on the ballot are Kent Desormeaux, Eddie Maple and Jack Westrope. The trainers are Bud Delp, Sonny Hine and Mel Stute. Cigar and Desormeaux are among those making their first appearances on the ballot that will be voted on by more than 140 racing journalists and historians. One candidate in each category is elected each year. Results will be announced April 30 at Churchill Downs during the buildup to the May 4 Kentucky Derby. Induction ceremonies are Aug. 5 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. OUT OF THE GATE SANTA ANITA STANDINGS Through Wednesday Jockeys Wins Alex Solis 56 Kent Desormeaux 52 Laffit Pincay 42 Chris McCarron 31 Victor Espinoza 30 Trainers Wins Bob Baffert 27 Bill Spawr 21 Bobby Frankel 20 Bruce Headley 14 Jack Carava 13 PINCAY WATCH Thursday was the 15th anniversary of Laffit Pincay's seven-winner day at Santa Anita. On March 14, 1987, Pincay won with seven of his eight mounts to set a track record. Pincay's record career-victories total is up to 9,316. ON THE STAKES SCHEDULE Santa Anita 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. , 4-year-olds and up, 1 1/2 miles on turf Sunday --$250,000 San Felipe Stakes, 3-year-olds, 1 1/16 miles --$100,000 Irish O'Brien, 4-year-olds and up, fillies and mares bred in California, 6 1/2 furlongs on turf Golden Gate Fields Saturday --$200,000 Golden Gate Breeders' Cup Handicap, 3-year-olds and up, 1 1/8 miles on turf Gulfstream Park Today --$250,000 Bonnie Miss, 3-year-old fillies, 1 1/8 miles Saturday --$1 million Florida Derby, 3-year-olds, 1 1/8 miles --$150,000 Swale swale n. 1. A low tract of land, especially when moist or marshy. 2. A long, narrow, usually shallow trough between ridges on a beach, running parallel to the coastline. 3. , 3-year-olds, 7 furlongs 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 A WEEK AT THE RACES At The Races is a British television channel, originally co-founded with Channel 4, but now owned by a partnership between British Sky Broadcasting, Arena Leisure PLC and 28 (out of the 59) UK racecourses. Bien Bien, a star of the Southern California turf courses in the early 1990s, died in a breeding shed in England on Tuesday, apparently as the result of a heart attack. The son of Manila was 13 years old and had his greatest success as a sire with Bienamado. Bien Bien won the 1992 Hollywood Turf Cup, 1993 Hollywood Turf Handicap and 1994 San Luis Rey and San Juan Capistrano handicaps, and finished second to Horse of the Year Kotashaan in the 1993 Breeders' Cup Turf The Breeders' Cup Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for three-year-olds and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. The race's current title sponsor is John Deere. at Santa Anita. CAPTION(S): box Box: OUT OF THE GATE (see text) |
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