NOT OUT OF THE RUNNING; REAL QUIET COULD STILL BE VOTED BEST OF 3-YEAR-OLDS.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 In Saratoga Springs Saratoga Springs, resort and residential city (1990 pop. 25,001), Saratoga co., E N.Y.; inc. as a village 1826, as a city 1915. Skidmore College is the largest source of employment, but the city also has light manufacturing. , N.Y., 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. and Coronado's Quest are heading for a high-stakes rematch in the Travers on Saturday. Here in California, fans of Kentucky Derby Kentucky Derby One of the classic U.S. Thoroughbred horse races. It was established in 1875 and run annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs track in Louisville, Ky. With the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, it makes up U.S. racing's coveted Triple Crown. and Preakness winner Real Quiet wonder which way to root. Real Quiet hasn't raced since his photo-finish loss to Victory Gallop 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). because of a hind-leg injury. He has been jogging at Del Mar but isn't expected back in action until the winter Santa Anita meeting. His absence has complicated the campaign for the 3-year-old championship. Victory Gallop and Coronado's Quest, not necessarily in that order, are the leading active 3-year-olds. If either goes undefeated the rest of the season or beats his elders in the Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade 1 Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3 years old and older run at a distance of 1¼ miles (2012 m) on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. , he could expect to win the season-end Eclipse Award vote by racing writers and executives. But if neither dominates, Real Quiet might yet win the championship, even if some already consider his candidacy dead. Which brings us to the Travers, a $750,000, 1-1/4-mile race at Saratoga that is known as ``the summertime Derby'' and is likely to be the last heavyweight event before 3-year-olds start facing older horses. It's the favorites' second meeting, Coronado's Quest and jockey Mike Smith having held off Victory Gallop and Gary Stevens by 1-1/4 lengths to win the Haskell Invitational Handicap The Haskell Invitational Handicap is an American Grade I race for thoroughbred horses. In 1968, the Board of Directors of Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey honored its former President and Chairman Amory L. Haskell (1893-1966) with the Amory L. at Monmouth (N.J.) Park in the latter's only start since the Belmont. At least one of Victory Gallop's owners thinks the Travers will be the pivotal race in the championship contest. ``I think if we win this race, we probably should be 3-year-old champion,'' Art Preston said this week. Stuart Janney, owner of Coronado's Quest, sees the Travers as a little less decisive. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if I'd say it's pivotal,'' Janney said. ``I would say that after what happened in the Haskell, we're a little bit ahead. If Victory Gallop wins the Travers, maybe he's a little bit ahead. ``I don't think whoever wins this race prances around and says they're the 3-year-old champion. But it's a very important race.'' Notice how neither mentions Real Quiet. Maybe that reflects the general disrespect Real Quiet received from the racing establishment - which considered him ill-bred and physically unimpressive - even after he won the Derby and Preakness. And maybe it shows how the importance of the springtime classics to award voters has declined since the Breeders' Cup was established in 1984 as kind of a championship playoff. Of the past seven Kentucky Derby winners, only Thunder Gulch ('95) and Silver Charm ('97) were voted 3-year-old champions. On the other hand, in the Eclipse Awards' 27 years, six horses have won the Derby and Preakness only to be denied Triple Crowns in the Belmont, and all six received the 3-year-old title: Canonero II ('71), Spectacular Bid ('79), Pleasant Colony ('81), Alysheba ('87), Sunday Silence ('89) and Silver Charm. Of course, most of them won races later in the year. Real Quiet fans can also make these arguments: Against Victory Gallop: Hey, if he emerges as the leading 3-year-old of the late season, don't forget that he lost two of three races against Real Quiet. Against Coronado's Quest: He's never faced Real Quiet, but that's only because Coronado's Quest was held out of the Triple Crown because of his persistent misbehavior in saddling paddocks and post parades. Even if those turn out to have been caused by panic attacks panic attacks, n.pl distressing episodes where an individual experiences palpitations, anxiety, apprehension, sweating, trembling, etc. Can last several minutes and recur unpredictably. brought on by a breathing problem that has since been corrected surgically, it's an invalid excuse for missing the biggest 3-year-old races of all. Real Quiet's trainer, Bob Baffert, thinks it would be a shame if his colt lost the age-group championship after ``he was a nose from being Horse of the Year.'' Baffert assumes that if Real Quiet had completed the first Triple Crown sweep in 20 years, he'd have been guaranteed the Horse of the Year title, despite the heroics of 5-year-old Skip Away, who will try for his eighth straight victory Sunday in the Iselin Handicap at Monmouth. Of Victory Gallop, Baffert said, ``I think he would have had to win the Haskell and the Travers to beat him (Real Quiet) out.'' Of Coronado's Quest, he said, ``You can't give it to a horse who ducked the classics.'' What Real Quiet fans should hope is that both are beaten by one of the six other 3-year-olds in the Travers. Good luck. Behind Victory Gallop (7-5 on the morning line as part of an entry with rabbit Sheila's Flag) and Coronado's Quest (8-5), the best upset chance belongs to Grand Slam (6-1), who was a solid third behind the top two in the Haskell and has beaten neither. Victory Gallop won't have Stevens this time. California's top stakes rider had surgery Tuesday to repair a meniscus tear meniscus tear Meniscal tear Sports medicine A laceration of the meniscus most commonly caused by twisting or hyperflexion of the knee joint. See Meniscus. in his left knee and will miss two or three weeks. Alex Solis will be back on Victory Gallop. Together, they won the Arkansas Derby and finished second in the Kentucky Derby. 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. Del Mar standings: Jockeys (through Wednesday): Corey Nakatani, 29 winners; Gary Stevens, 28; Alex Solis, 26; Kent Desormeaux and Chris McCarron, 21. Trainers: Bob Baffert, 12; Bob Hess Jr., 10; Barry Abrams and Bruce Headley, 9; Jack Carava and Ron McAnally, 7. 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: It's been a good week for front-runners and horses from outside post positions in 5-1/2- and 6-furlong races at Del Mar. Pacesetters have gone on to win nearly half the time. Upcoming stakes: At Del Mar: $250,000 Del Mar Debutante, 2-year-old fillies, 7 furlongs, Saturday; $300,000 Chula Vista Handicap, fillies and mares 3 and up, 1-1/16 miles, Sunday; $100,000 I'm Smokin, 2-year-olds bred in California, 5-1/2 furlongs, Wednesday. At Saratoga: $400,000 Personal Ensign Handicap The Personal Ensign Handicap is an American race for thoroughbred race horses. Run each year in August on the day before the Travers at Saratoga Race Course, the race is for fillies and mares, ages three and up. , fillies and mares 3 and up, 1-1/4 miles, today; $750,000 Travers, 3-year-old, 1-1/4 miles, and $200,000 King's Bishop, 3-year-olds, 7 furlongs, Saturday; $200,000 Saratoga Breeders' Cup Handicap, 3-year-olds, 1-1/8 miles, Sunday. At Monmouth Park: $500,000 Iselin Handicap, 3-year-olds and up, 1-1/8 miles, Sunday. At Remington Park: $300,000 Remington Park Derby, 3-year-olds, 1-1/8 miles, Sunday. Mileposts: Gov. Pete Wilson signed legislation to give the racing industry a long-sought reduction in license fees and the freedom to expand simulcasting of out-of-state races. Purses are expected to grow by 12 to 15 percent, 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. reported. . . . Bob Baffert-trained Silverbulletday (Eddie Delahoussaye), seeking her third stakes win, faces barnmate Excellent Meeting (Kent Desormeaux) in the Del Mar Debutante on Sunday. . . . Danny Velasquez will try to defend his title in Saturday's Rocking Chair Derby for retired riders at Del Mar. . . . Hall of Fame trainer Woody Stephens, 84 when he died Saturday, was buried in Lexington, Ky., Wednesday. ``I've never known a man to communicate with an animal as well as Woody,'' said Henryk de Kwiatkowski Henryk Richard de Kwiatkowski (February 22, 1924 - March 17, 2003) was a Polish-born member of the Royal Air Force who became an aeronautical engineer and made a fortune in business in North America and who owned Calumet Farm, one of the most prestigious Thoroughbred horse breeding , who owned Conquistador Cielo and Danzig Connection, the first and last of Stephens' five straight Belmont Stakes winners (1982-86). . . . Laffit Pincay, who fractured a collarbone col·lar·bone n. See clavicle. July 25, hopes to ride at Del Mar on Sunday. . . . Top-ranked Skip Away was assigned a career-high 131 pounds for the Iselin. . . . The next stop for Pacific Classic winner Free House was announced: Belmont Park and the Sept. 19 Woodward. . . . Favorite Trick runs in the King's Bishop, Classic Cat in the Remington Derby. . . . Leading Irish jockey Christy Roche retired at 48. . . . Earlie Fires rode his 6,000th winner in a race at Hawthorne Park in Illinois. . . . Keeneland announced the addition of the Vinery First Lady Stakes The First Lady Stakes is a Grade II race for filles and mares 3-years-old and up run at Keeneland, USA, over the turf. The race was set at one mile in 2005. In its 10th running in 2007, the First Lady was begun in the fall of 1998 as a prep for the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare , to serve as a prep for the Breeders' Cup's fillies and mares turf race, scheduled to start in 1999. . . . Californian and San Diego winner Mud Route is out for two months with ankle chips. . . . Halory Hunter was retired to Lane's End Farm Lane's End Farm is a thoroughbred race horse breeding farm in Versailles, Kentucky established in 1979. The original land was part of "Bosque Bonita Farm" which means beautiful woods and was originally owned by Abe Buford, a Confederate General. in Kentucky; the colt owned by Rick Pitino fractured his left front fetlock fetlock a term used for the metacarpo- and metatarso-phalangeal joint of large animals and sometimes dogs. fetlock flexion test in training before the Preakness. . . . Hambletonian winner Muscles Yankee will start from post 7 and is 3-5 on the morning line for Saturday's Yonkers Trot, the second leg of the harness racing Triple Crown. . . . Jockey Sandy Hawley and writers Andrew Beyer and Joe Hirsch were voted awards by the National Turf Writers Association The National Turf Writers Association (NTWA) is an American association of journalists, columnists and other writers involved with reporting on the horse racing industry. The organization was founded by prominent sports writer Joe Hirsch who served as its first president. . - Kevin Modesti CAPTION(S): Box BOX: A WEEK AT THE RACES (see text) |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion