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Personal Ensign could get bigger purse

July 19, 2011 , ι By ANTHONY AFFRUNTI

A few days after last Saturday’s Delaware Handicap "grudge match" between Blind Luck and Harve de Grace, in which Blind Luck edged her rival by a nose at the wire, there are rumors NYRA may double... Read on

A few days after last Saturday’s Delaware Handicap "grudge match" between Blind Luck and Harve de Grace, in which Blind Luck edged her rival by a nose at the wire, there are rumors NYRA may double the purse of the Aug. 28 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga.
	 
That would increase the stakes from the present $300,000 to $600,000 for the 1¼ mile race scheduled to run the day after the Travers Stakes. The higher incentive would guarantee Larry Jones-trained Harve de Grace would start in the Grade 1 race, according to Fox Hill Farms’ Rick Porter, who owns the 4-year-old filly.
	 
"If they double the pot for the Personal Ensign, the match is on,"
	 Porter told Bloodhorse.com. "Larry and I talked this morning and there are rumors that (NYRA) might double the purse for the Personal Ensign if we both run. That would be good for us and good for racing."
	 
Jerry Hollendorfer, who trains Blind Luck and is part owner of the filly, hasn’t decided where he will point next, but said the Personal Ensign is heavily favored. In the six races the two fillies have faced each other, Blind Luck has won four.
	 
Harve de Grace, who suffered her first defeat of the year on Saturday after three straight victories, carried 124 pounds in the race, as opposed to Blind Luck’s assignment of 122 pounds. The difference didn’t sit well with her trainer.
	 
"Tell me 2 pounds doesn’t make a difference," Jones told reporters after the race. "She (Blind Luck) won six Grade 1s versus our one and we are the high weight -- that makes a lot of sense. I probably should not have run."
	 
The Personal Ensign would be a chance to settle the score with the race conditions likely assigning equal weight to both fillies.
	 
The only other race Porter said could be an alternative to enter his filly would be the Grade 2 $750,000 Woodward Stakes at 1 1/8 miles two days before the meet’s end on Sept. 3 against the boys. The Woodward was won in 2009 by filly Rachel Alexandra before a crowd of more than 31,000, and was a major victory on her path to eventual Horse of the Year honors that year.
	 
As of Tuesday afternoon, no statement has been made by NYRA concerning the race or purse.

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Uncle Mo works out at Saratoga

July 12, 2011 , ι By ANTHONY AFFRUNTI

A day after arriving to Saratoga Race Course, Todd Pletcher trained Uncle Mo stretched his legs early Tuesay morning by galloping 1 ¼ miles around the famed Oklahoma training track. The 3-year-old... Read on

A day after arriving to Saratoga Race Course, Todd Pletcher trained Uncle Mo stretched his legs early Tuesay morning by galloping 1 ¼ miles around the famed Oklahoma training track.
	 
The 3-year-old colt entered the track early at 6 a.m. before the forecasted high temperature for the area escalated and more horse traffic congested the course,
	 according to the Daily Racing Form.
	 
The gallop will be the first of many before Pletcher can get the colt’s fitness level to the point needed for stronger works in the hope of returning to the races during the Saratoga meet. This past weekend, Pletcher named the Grade 1 King’s Bishop on Aug. 27 at seven furlongs as a possibility. The King’s Bishop will be contested during the Travers day undercard, the same day last year Uncle Mo made his 2-year-old debut by beating nine others in a 14 ¼ length rocketlike journey going six furlongs. It was the first of three consecutive victories for his year that earned him the 2010 Eclipse Award as 2-year-old male juvenile champion.
	 
Uncle Mo would suffer his first career loss in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 9 and finished a well-beaten third in his last prep race toward the Kentucky Derby. After the race Pletcher and owner Mike Repole noticed something was not right with the winter book Derby favorite as his appetite lessened and noticable weight loss continued. Due to their concern, Uncle Mo was scratched the day before the May 7 Kentucky Derby.
	 
Uncle Mo was evaluated by veterinarians and was found to have cholangiohepatitis, a severe inflammation of the bile passages and liver. After two months at the farm, he began light training last month. The colt was sent north Monday by plane, arriving at Albany International Airport then enjoyed a short van ride to the Oklahoma track. His next journey will be toward a return to his old self.

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NYRA to hand over budget documents

July 12, 2011 , ι By ANTHONY AFFRUNTI

The New York Racing Association released a statement Monday night stating it has withdrawn the lawsuit preventing the release of the association’s 2011 budget documents. The request for NYRA’s budget... Read on

The New York Racing Association released a statement Monday night stating it has withdrawn the lawsuit preventing the release of the association’s 2011 budget documents.
	 
The request for NYRA’s budget documents was sought by the state attorney general’s office after a June meeting in which NYRA officials met with the state’s Franchise Oversight Board to discuss the association’s budget for 2011.
	 
Board chairman Robert Megna noted significant and unacceptable gaps in the information given to the board and a lack of cooperation from NYRA concerning salary issues and raises given to senior executives while the racing association was facing an $11 million deficit. The board summoned the state’s inspector general to investigate. After refusing to disclose the information sought, NYRA chief executive Charles Hayward told members of the media the refusal was a mistake on the association’s behalf and the information sought was forwarded to the board.
	 
The statement released by NYRA announced that the association informed the attorney general’s office that it is "immediately withdrawing this lawsuit and NYRA will have no further objection to the release of this information pursuant to the New York State Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)."
	 
NYRA filed for bankruptcy protection then entered a settlement agreement with the state in 2008 in which NYRA would receive financial support and in return relinquish the ownership of its three tracks: Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga.

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Cape Blanco wins Man o'War at Belmont

July 09, 2011 , ι By ED FOUNTAINE

Ireland's boy-wonder trainer Aidan O'Brien has been knocking them dead in one Group 1 race after another in Europe this year, but his fabled Ballydoyle Stable horses haven't fared well in their few... Read on

Ireland's boy-wonder trainer Aidan O'Brien has been knocking them dead in one Group 1 race after another in Europe this year, but his fabled Ballydoyle Stable horses haven't fared well in their few forays to the United States -- until Saturday, when O'Brien's 4-year-old colt Cape Blanco won the Grade 1, $600,000 Man o'War on turf at Belmont Park by 2 ¼ lengths over even-money favorite Gio Ponti.
	 
Cape Blanco, winner of last year's Irish Derby, hadn't hit the board in his last four starts since taking the Irish Champion Stakes last September, and he was coming off a 16-length loss going a mile in the June 14 Queen Anne Stakes at Ascot. Ridden by Irish jockey Jamie Spencer, and racing on Lasix for the first time, Cape Blanco pressed the early pace set by Mission Approved and bid for the lead turning for home. Those two dueled through the stretch, with Cape Blanco drifting out several paths and unable to claw past Mission Approved until inside the final furlong. Then, under Spencer's furious whipping, he finally kicked in and drew clear.
	 
"I'm very happy with the way the race panned out," Spencer said. "I wanted to get a lead, but I wanted a good, even pace. I joined the leader four furlongs out, and my horse was really ready for it, but he changed leads and lost a front shoe, so that was the only worry I had throughout the whole race.
	 
"He's a high-class horse, and I'm glad he's come back to form."
	 
Gio Ponti, last early in the field of six going 1 3/8 miles over the inner course, put in his usual solid late run while never threatening the winner. The up-and-coming Boisterous was third.
	 
"(Gio Ponti) was getting over the ground great," jockey Ramon Dominguez said. "I had a great trip, saving as much ground as possible, and my horse gave me a good turn of foot, but it was not enough."
	 
Cape Blanco paid $8.10 topping an $18.20 exacta.

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Full of Gut scratched, finally, from Sunday's sixth race

July 03, 2011 , ι By ED FOUNTAINE

In Sunday's sixth race at Belmont Park, scheduled for the turf course, Full of Gut was entered for the main track only. The Rick Dutrow-trained filly raced here last Friday; and given the short... Read on

In Sunday's sixth race at Belmont Park, scheduled for the turf course, Full of Gut was entered for the main track only. The Rick Dutrow-trained filly raced here last Friday; and given the short turnaround, the past performances for that race were not printed in the track program or Daily Racing Form.
	 
Obviously, it's a no-brainer: Full of Gut should have been scratched immediately, no ifs, ands or buts. How can anyone be expected to handicap a race when one of the contenders is missing her last race in the pp's?
	 
Yet early in the card, Tom Durkin announced that Full of Gut would run if the race came off the turf; then he related how Full of Gut performed Friday, winning gate to wire by five lengths to earn a Beyer figure of 91 – as if that information – available to the small portion of bettors who heard him – was enough to allow the horse to race.
	 
Sensible heads prevailed, and Full of Gut was scratched before the fourth race. But why she wasn't declared out of the sixth race the moment the past performances were printed is anyone's guess.

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Flat Out upsets Suburban Handicap

July 02, 2011 , ι By ED FOUNTAINE

The 3-year-olds aren't the only inconsistent bunch racing this year; the older-horse division also has its share of upsets. The latest of these was Flat Out, who won Saturday's Grade 2, $300,000... Read on

The 3-year-olds aren't the only inconsistent bunch racing this year; the older-horse division also has its share of upsets. The latest of these was Flat Out, who won Saturday's Grade 2, $300,000 Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park by 6 ½ lengths at 13-1, the longest price in the field of six.
	 
Rodman, favored at even-money after finishing fast for second in the Met Mile, went right to the front this time under Javier Castellano and set a moderate pace of :23.95 and :47.02, pressed by 8-1 Colizeo. Rodman still led at the top of the stretch, but Flat Out – sixth last out in the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs – was coming like a shot under Alex Solis, who rode two pounds overweight at 117 while his opponents carried 115.
	 
The excess poundage obviously did not matter as Flat Out, a 5-year-old son of Flatter, took command in the final furlong and ran away from them all, stepping the 1 1/8 miles in a scintillating 1:46.64.
	 
"He's just a super horse," said Kentucky-based trainer Charles "Scooter" Dickey. "He suffered from a couple of quarter-cracks. We gave him time, waited on him, and today he paid us back."
	 
Flat Out paid $29.20 keying a $138 exacta with Hymn Book along for second, a length ahead of Rodman in third.

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NYRA vice president to leave after Saratoga meet

June 29, 2011 , ι By ED FOUNTAINE

Hal Handel, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the New York Racing Association, will leave his post after the conclusion of this summer's Saratoga meet (July 22-Sept. 5), NYRA... Read on

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Animal Kingdom done for year after Belmont injury

June 29, 2011 , ι By ED FOUNTAINE

Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom, sidelined with a hairline crack in his left hind leg suffered when he was roughed up at the start of the Belmont Stakes, is out for the year after follow-up X... Read on

Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom, sidelined with a hairline crack in his left hind leg suffered when he was roughed up at the start of the Belmont Stakes, is out for the year after follow-up X-rays revealed a slab fracture in the same leg, Team Valor International announced today.
	 
“A second set of films has revealed a slab fracture just above the small fissure noted in the previous images,” Team Valor CEO Barry Irwin said after consulting with veterinarians Dr. Dean Richardson of New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa., and Dr. Larry Bramlage of Rood and Riddle Veterinary Clinic in Lexington, Ky.
	 
Dr. Richardson, the famed equine surgeon who treated Barbaro, will operate Thursday morning, inserting a screw to compress the fracture. After that, Animal Kingdom will recuperate at the Fair Hill training center where he is stabled. He will likely be out of action for three months before returning to training for his next major assignment, the $10 million Dubai World Cup in late March.

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Animal Kingdom will return after Belmont injury

June 16, 2011 , ι By ED FOUNTAINE

Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom suffered a "tiny crack" in his left hind leg when he was bumped, clipped heels and stumbled at the start of last Saturday's Belmont Stakes, radiographs revealed... Read on

Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom suffered a "tiny crack" in his left hind leg when he was bumped, clipped heels and stumbled at the start of last Saturday's Belmont Stakes, radiographs revealed Thursday.
	 
The injury isn't major, and the Team Valor colt is expected to return to training later this summer.
	 
The diagnosis was done by Dr. Dean Richardson at the New Bolton Center in Pennsylvania, the same surgeon who treated Barbaro, and Dr. Larry Bramlage of the Rood & Riddle veterinary clinic in Lexington, Ky.
	 
"It's not a major thing," Bramlage said. "Right now it is a tiny crack, and technically you could call it a fracture. But I would characterize it as more of a fissure because of how small it is. When he hit the ground with such force in the accident, he overloaded the bone and this is the result.
	 
"The good news is that this should not cost him the entire season. In two weeks it should settle down, and he should be sound again."

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11 winners share record pick 6 at Belmont

June 15, 2011 , ι By ED FOUNTAINE

There were 11 winners of Wednesday's pick 6 at Belmont Park that paid $308,000 to 11 winners, none of them on-track. There were 995 consolation tickets (5 of 6) that paid $763 each.The winning... Read on