IS REAL QUIET READY FOR GALLOP?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 If you handicapped horses based on the analytical bent of their trainers, you'd bet Elliott Walden's Victory Gallop Victory Gallop (foaled May 30, 1995 in Ontario, Canada) was an American-based Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by Ivan Dalos' Tall Oaks Farm, Victory Gallop was born later in the 1995 year than is common for most Thoroughbreds. over Bob Baffert's Real Quiet in the Belmont Stakes Belmont Stakes Oldest of the three U.S. horse races that constitute the Triple Crown. The Belmont originated in 1867 and is named after August Belmont (see Belmont family). The stakes is held in early June at Belmont Park, near Garden City, Long Island; the course is 1.5 mi (2,400 m). . Baffert is widely known as quick with a quip quip n. 1. A clever, witty remark often prompted by the occasion. 2. A clever, often sarcastic remark; a gibe. See Synonyms at joke. 3. A petty distinction or objection; a quibble. 4. , but the one-liners burst from a sometimes scattered mind. Those of us who transcribe To copy data from one medium to another; for example, from one source document to another, or from a source document to the computer. It often implies a change of format or codes. his quotes notice that he speaks almost entirely in sentence fragments and asides. Baffert also seems to be carried away with his newfound celebrity, stepping over the bounds of good taste in the name of comedy. He referred to rival trainer Sonny Hine's ``Elmer Fudd voice'' and said Walden looks like the guy in high school who couldn't get a date. So what if Walden is a pasty 6-foot-4 and wears thick glasses? Talk with him, and you realize the recent Churchill Downs training champion is a very sharp 35-year-old. He emits optimism but not rhetoric. A product of a prominent Kentucky horse-breeding family, he found fascination not in bloodlines but in trying to pick winners at the track. Therefore his prerace comments are levelheaded lev·el·head·ed adj. Characteristically self-composed and sensible. lev  el·head and rational. If his colt Victory Gallop doesn't win Saturday, he'll know the reason why. While Real Quiet is trying to be the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978, Victory Gallop is trying to avoid being the only horse other than Alydar in the same year to finish second in all three races. ``I think things can (be reversed),'' Walden said here this week. ``This might be pie in the sky, but I still think we ought to have won the (Kentucky) Derby.'' Forced to rally on the far outside, Victory Gallop nearly caught Real Quiet in the slow, :26 3/5 final quarter mile. ``He beat us soundly in the Preakness, but I feel like we should be split going into the Belmont,'' said Walden, the cast on his right ankle, dislocated dis·lo·cate tr.v. dis·lo·cat·ed, dis·lo·cat·ing, dis·lo·cates 1. To put out of usual or proper place, position, or relationship. 2. in a pickup basketball game, resting on a trunk in D. Wayne Lukas' tack room. Walden doesn't think, as some analysts do, that jockey Gary Stevens erred by challenging the Preakness pacesetters too early. He notes that before the Derby, Victory Gallop raced close to the lead with success. ``I think Real Quiet ran a monster race, that he moved forward off the Derby, and we didn't,'' he said. ``I think (Victory Gallop) had such a big effort at the Derby, he leveled off at Pimlico. Real Quiet ran the kind of race in the Preakness that we ran in the Derby. So I hope it's his turn to level off.'' Walden thinks Lukas-trained Grand Slam, who is 4 for 4 at Belmont and 0 for 4 elsewhere, must be respected because of that statistic. He also has more respect for Real Quiet than some of his colleagues, who question the colt's Triple Crown credentials. ``I think if he does win, Real Quiet, then he's a deserving Triple Crown winner,'' Walden said. ``Or, if we beat him, then it means we should have won the Derby.'' Victory Gallop came out of the Preakness a worn-out horse. He developed a severe rash. But both conditions are behind him now, Walden said. If that's so - and with Walden's earnest delivery it's hard not to believe him - then Prestonwood Farm's horse certainly is the leading threat to spoil the Triple Crown bid of the deserving favorite. Victory Gallop should like the extreme, 1-1/2-mile course. His sire, Cryptoclearance, was the runner-up to Bet Twice in the 1987 Belmont. Of course, that could also mean Victory Gallop is bred to finish second. At Hollywood Park: The gates and betting windows will open at 11 a.m. Saturday, the first Hollywood Park race will be at 1:20 p.m. Two stakes will be on the card, the Cinema Handicap and the Melair. Sunday, the Grade I Gamely Breeders' Cup Handicap The Gamely Breeders’ Cup Handicap is a race for thoroughbred horses run each year at Hollywood Park Racetrack. The race is for fillies and mares, aged three-years old and upward, and run at a distance of one and one-eighth miles on the turf. for fillies and mares, whose recent winners include Eclipse Award winners Hollywood Wildcat (1994) and Possibly Perfect ('95). The undercard un·der·card n. The event or events coming before and supporting the main event, as of boxing matches. : The three other stakes on the Belmont Stakes program will include some top horses and names familiar to Southern Californians. The 7-furlong Riva Ridge sprint features the return of Coronado's Quest, who was injured on the eve On the Eve (Накануне in Russian) is the third novel by famous Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, best known for his short stories and the novel Fathers and Sons. of challenging Real Quiet in the Preakness. Orville N Wilbur's wasn't entered in the race after he made like Coronado's Quest, acting up so badly on the track that he couldn't complete a scheduled workout. The Manhattan Handicap on turf has Chief Bearhart, winner of the 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. last fall at Hollywood Park. Kent Desormeaux, back in trainer Bobby Frankel's good graces, will ride Kirkwall. The 6-furlong True North has Kelly Kip and two California veterans, Boundless Moment and Trafalger. The Just a Game, for fillies and mares on turf, finds Desormeaux and Neil Drysdale teaming up with Dance Parade. 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. Hollywood Park standings: Jockeys (through Wednesday): Corey Nakatani, 26 winners; Chris McCarron, 22; Garrett Gomez, 16; Eddie Delahoussaye, Victor Espinoza, J.C. Gonzalez and Gary Stevens, 14. Trainers: Craig Dollase and Ron Ellis, 11; Mike Mitchell, 10; Sandy Shulman, 9; Jack Carava and Bob Hess Jr., 8. Handicapper hand·i·cap·per n. Sports & Games 1. One who assigns handicaps. 2. One who predicts the winners in a horserace, especially one who publishes such predictions as a guide for bettors. Noun 1. helper: Although posts 12 and 13 - from which D. Wayne Lukas-trained Yarrow yarrow, a plant of the genus Achillea, perennial herbs of the family Asteraceae (aster family), native to north temperate regions. Several species are cultivated as ornamentals for their flat-topped clusters of flowers and scented foliage. Brae brae n. Scots A hillside; a slope. [Middle English bra, from Old Norse br and Grand Slam will start Saturday - have never produced a Belmont Stakes winner, that might be misleading. Those posts have been used only five times, mostly by hopeless long shots, and the losers include Skip Away, second in 1996, and Wild Gale, third at 51-1 in '93. Upcoming stakes: At Hollywood Park: $100,000 Cinema Handicap, 3-year-olds, 1-1/8 miles on turf, and $100,000 Melair, California-bred 3-year-old fillies, 6-1/2 furlongs, Saturday; $250,000 Gamely Breeders' Cup Handicap, fillies and mares, 1-1/8 miles on turf, Sunday. At Belmont Park: $1 million Belmont Stakes and four other stakes, Saturday; $150,000 Acorn, 3-year-old fillies, one mile, Sunday. At Churchill Downs: $300,000 Fleur de Lis Handicap The Fleur De Lis Handicap is a race for Thoroughbred race horses run at Churchill Downs each year. The race is open to filles and mares, age three and up, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the dirt. This Grade II event carries a purse of $321,900. , fillies and mares, 1-1/8 miles, Saturday. Mileposts: California officials changed a long-standing rule, reducing from 30 to 25 days the period in which horses coming off a claim must start for a 25 percent higher price. . . . Stakes winner Belle's Flag may be retired because of injuries suffered when she stumbled at the start of the Milady Handicap at Hollywood Park, threw jockey Corey Nakatani and then ran back to the barn area. The mare had a broken nose - we admit we've never heard of that injury in a horse - and cuts on her legs, trainer Darrell Vienna told the Daily Racing Form The Daily Racing Form, LLC (DRF) is a broadsheet newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of race horses as a statistical service for bettors on horse racing in the United States. . . . . Artax, the leading 3-year-old in California for much of the winter, has a shin injury and could race again in the fall. . . . In a rarity, the John Longden 6,000 Handicap at Hastings Park in Vancouver was declared no contest after a horse suffered a fatal injury on the field's first trip through the stretch, forcing the others to be pulled up. - Kevin Modesti CAPTION(S): Box Box: A WEEK AT THE RACES (See Text) |
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