ROUNDUP: BIG WIN BY RULER'S EYE COLT'S 14-LENGTH VICTORY SETS NORFOLK STAKES RECORD.Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer ARCADIA - How does a two-time also-ran with a tender tummy suddenly turn into Southern California's most dominating stakes-race winner in at least a decade, as a 2-year-old named Ruler's Court did at Santa Anita on Sunday? Is it his recently added 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 that made the difference? A fondness for a longer race? New jockey Alex Solis? ``You know,'' trainer Eoin Harty said, ``I have no idea.'' Sometimes thoroughbreds find their potential in a flash, and that's what seemed to happen with Ruler's Court, who won the $250,000 Norfolk Stakes by a race-record 14 lengths - believed to be the widest victory margin at the stakes level on the local circuit since Akinemod's 18-length romp in the 1990 El Encino. The margin and Ruler's Court's Norfolk-record 1:41.27 clocking for 1 1/16 miles could make the Arab-owned colt the favorite over out-of-towners Cuvee Cuvée (or Cuvee on some English language labels) is a French term used on wine labels to denote wine of a specific blend or batch. The word originates from the French word cuve meaning "vat". and Eurosilver in the $1 million 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. , to be run Oct. 25 at the same distance on the same track. After finding himself wide in the first turn and settling behind front-runner Coldntight, Ruler's Court took the lead on the turn for home and just pulled away, leaving Capitano a distant second, Perfect Moon third and Del Mar Futurity The Del Mar Futurity is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. Beginning in the racing season of 2007, this race has been upgraded by the American Graded Stakes Committee from a Grade II event to a Grade I. winner Siphonizer fourth. Ruler's Court, 9-2 on the odds board, paid $11.80 to fans who expected him to improve on his third- and fourth-place finishes as a sprinter in the Hollywood Juvenile Championship and Del Mar's Best Pal Stakes The Best Pal Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. The race is open to horses, age two, that are willing to race six and one-half furlongs on the dirt. A Grade II event, it carries a purse of $150,000. . ``I didn't think adding blinkers (to improve concentration) or going two turns for the first time would improve him that much,'' said Harty (whose first name is pronounced ``Owen''), who trains for Dubai's Sheikh sheikh or shaykh Among Arabic-speaking tribes, especially Bedouin, the male head of the family, as well as of each successively larger social unit making up the tribal structure. The sheikh is generally assisted by an informal tribal council of male elders. Mohammed. Harty said Ruler's Court, a son of Doneraile Court, grew aggressive in longer workouts, perhaps tipping his improvement. Still, it took serendipity serendipity happy finding of an unexpected object or solution while searching for something else. to get him to the Norfolk: A brief bout with colic colic, intense pain caused by spasmodic contractions of one of the hollow organs, e.g., the stomach, intestine, gall bladder, ureter, or oviduct. The cause of colic is irritation and/or obstruction, and the irritant and/or obstruction may be a stone (as in the gall brought Ruler's Court back to California after Harty sent him to Kentucky in search of lighter competition. This was Solis' fifth Norfolk victory, more than any other jockey in the West Coast's Breeders' Cup Juvenile prep. His nine-length victory with Bertrando in 1991 had been the Norfolk's widest. There were other surprises at Santa Anita on the last day of major Breeders' Cup preps. --Designed for Luck ($9.80) and Patrick Valenzuela beat Sarafan by a half-length in the second-fastest Oak Tree Mile (1:32.61) to take a three- race win streak to the Breeders' Cup Mile. Favored Special Ring lacked his usual early speed and finished fourth. Trainer Vladimir Cerin called Designed for Luck his ``most satisfying'' project, the 6-year-old gelding having begun his win streak after he missed 17 months of competition with a hock fracture suffered during a van ride from Santa Anita to Hollywood Park. --Avanzado ($19.60) was sent to the lead by Tyler Baze and couldn't be caught by Captain Squire, Bluesthestandard and favorite Yankee Gentleman in the Ancient Title Handicap, but he won't go to the Breeders' Cup Sprint The Breeders' Cup Sprint is an American Weight for Age Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for three year olds & up. Run on dirt over a distance of 6 Furlongs (3/4 mile), the race has been held annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the . Because neither the Argentina-bred 6-year-old nor his sire was nominated to the Breeders' Cup, owner Michael Cooper would have to pay $180,000 to make him eligible. ``That's a 2-1 shot,'' Cooper said of putting up that much money to chase a $520,000 winner's purse. ``Even I'm not that stupid.'' It was the second stakes victory in 20 hours for trainer Doug O'Neill, whose Excessivepleasure ($22.20) won the Indiana Derby. --At Keeneland, in Lexington, Ky., Distaff contender Take Charge Lady ($3) and Edgar Prado held off You in the Spinster Stakes, and Filly & Mare Turf hopeful Bien Nicole ($5) and Don Pettinger won by 7 1/4 lengths in the WinStar Galaxy. In France, Dalakhani and Christophe Soumillon won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat race for three-year-old and above thoroughbred horses (excluding geldings). It is run over a distance of 2,400 metres (approximately 1 mile 4 furlongs) raced on turf at Longchamp Racecourse, Paris, France on the first Sunday in , making the 3-year-old 8 for 9. High Chaparral, the 2002 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. champion, ran third. Kevin Modesti, (818) 713-3616 kevin.modesti(at)dailynews.com |
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