HORSE RACING ROUNDUP: OFFICER ARRESTS FIELD 2-YEAR-OLD MAKES IT LOOK EASY IN FUTURITY.DEL MAR Del Mar is the name of several places in the United States of America:
Meanwhile, Officer was running as if in a race of his own, and winning it as effortlessly as ever. Officer, the nation's most exciting 2-year-old of the summer, or all recent summers, hardly acknowledged his four opponents as he and jockey Victor Espinoza Victor Espinoza (born May 23, 1972 in Mexico City, Mexico) is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. He began riding in his native Mexico and earned his first win there in 1992 before moving the following year to compete at racetracks in California. won the $250,000 Futurity in a jog before 15,191 fans on Del Mar's closing day. ``My horse gave it one more little try,'' Alex Solis Alex O. Solis (born March 25, 1964 in Panama City, Panama) is a jockey based in the United States. He currently lives in Glendora, California and rides predominantly in Southern California. He first gained national prominence when he won the 1986 Preakness Stakes with Snow Chief. , the rider of Kamsack, said of the moment when Officer ranged up on his outside with more than one-quarter mile to go in the 7-furlong race. ``But we were running for second.'' Except for Officer, they all were running for second. Officer's 1 1/2-length margin of victory doesn't express how easily the son of Bertrando won as he ran his record to 4-0 and gave trainer Bob Baffert a sixth consecutive Del Mar Futurity victory. His 1-10 odds and payoffs of $2.20 to win and $2.10 to place paint a truer picture of his dominance of the California 2-year-olds division since Hollywood Juvenile Championship winner Came Home scurried back east. Of the $777,000 bet to place, $729,000 was on Officer, creating a $128,000 minus pool, which forced the racetrack to take that much out of savings to make the payoff. Having teamed with Officer to win their three previous starts together by 21 combined lengths, Espinoza knew it would take a mess of traffic trouble to get the California-bred colt beaten. ``I worry about my horse,'' not the competition, Espinoza said after the race. ``I just have to sit on him.'' Baffert's only instruction was: Don't get into a speed duel. On the backstretch back·stretch n. The part of an oval racecourse farthest from the spectators and opposite the homestretch. , Officer was running fourth, in the clear on the outside, a couple of lengths behind Metatron, the farthest back of the leader the Thoroughbred Corp.-owned horse had ever been. Officer was still in hand when he surged in mid-turn and pushed his blinkers blinkers 1. rigid pieces of leather fitted to a head harness at a point where they will obstruct the horse's lateral vision. 2. a more sophisticated piece of harness worn by expensive horses consisting of a canvas head-covering with holes for the ears to protrude and two and green shadow roll in front. Espinoza never had to pull out the whip in the stretch. Behind the winner, Kamsack took second by 3 1/2 over Metatron, and Striking Song and Historic Speech completed the finish. Officer entrymate Ecstatic and Expected Program had been scratched. Officer covered the 7 furlongs in 1:22.33. Like all of the numbers in this race, that didn't tell the story. ``Man, that's a horse,'' said 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 , rider of Metatron. ``What else is there to say?'' Baffert indicated Officer would venture out of California to make his next start in the Oct. 6 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park in 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 . That $500,000 race offers twice the purse of the Sept. 29 Norfolk at Santa Anita and will help Officer get to know the site of the Oct. 27 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. . --Notes: Alex Solis won his second Del Mar title, riding 36 winners, two more than Laffit Pincay. Baffert won the training title for the fifth year in a row with 29 victories, 11 more than Bobby Frankel. ... The Daily News' Bob Ike picked five winners on closing day to tie Jack Karlik for the Del Mar handicapping title. Each picked 114 winners (30.8 percent). ... L.A. County Fair racing begins Friday in Pomona. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion