OAK TREE A PRIMER FOR BREEDERS' CUP ROCK HARD TEN AMONG TOP HORSES THIS WEEKEND.Byline: Art Wilson Staff Writer At least one 2005 Breeders' Cup winner figures to emerge from the Oak Tree Racing Association's 37th season, which begins today with a nine-race program at Santa Anita. First post is 1 p.m. Last year, it was turf specialist Singletary and the brilliant filly Sweet Catomine that used Oak Tree victories as springboards to Breeders' Cup success later in the month. Overall, one or more Breeders' Cup winners have prepped at Oak Tree for six consecutive years and nine of the past 10. The meet produced five champions - Adoration, Halfbridled, Action This Day, Johar and Pleasantly Perfect - in 2003 when Santa Anita hosted the Breeders' Cup. This year's top hopefuls include Rock Hard Ten, Megahertz One million cycles per second. See MHz. MegaHertz - (MHz) Millions of cycles per second. The unit of frequency used to measure the clock rate of modern digital logic, including microprocessors. and Wild Fit. Rock Hard Ten and Megahertz will race Saturday in the Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap The Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap is an American thoroughbred horse race run annually since 1982 during the Oak Tree Racing Association at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. and Yellow Ribbon Stakes The Yellow Ribbon Stakes is a Grade I race for thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three-years-old and upwards. It is raced during the Oak Tree Racing Association meeting at Santa Anita Park in late September / early October. , respectively. Wild Fit, unbeaten in two starts and winner of the Del Mar Debutante on Aug. 27, is considered a possibility for Saturday's Oak Leaf Stakes The Oak Leaf Stakes is a race for thoroughbred horses restricted to two-year-old fillies and thus is a major prep race for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. The Grade I race is held at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt track at Santa Anita Park's Oak Tree . Rock Hard Ten has not raced because of assorted ailments since winning the Grade I 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 on March 5. One of the horses he beat that day, Saint Liam, is considered the heavy prerace favorite for the $4 million 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. on Oct. 29 at Belmont Park after his powerful victory in the Woodward Handicap. Rock Hard Ten's trainer, Richard Mandella, is not fazed faze tr.v. fazed, faz·ing, faz·es To disrupt the composure of; disconcert. See Synonyms at embarrass. [Middle English fesen, to drive away, frighten . ``I like my horse,'' he said. ``That's all I can worry about.'' Mandella won the Goodwood in 2002 and '03 with Pleasantly Perfect, who scored a 14-1 upset win in the 2003 Breeders' Cup Classic. Rock Hard Ten, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Kris S., has won 6 of 10 lifetime starts. He has won five of six races at Santa Anita, including this year's Strub Stakes and Big `Cap. ``Everything's good,'' Mandella said. ``He's as good as we're going to get. The biggest part is over. He couldn't be better. He's come along great, but he'll have to run good on Oct. 1, and I expect him to.'' CAPTION(S): box Box: OAK TREE MEET |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion