Bal a Bali’s lackluster Shoemaker run a mystery
Even trainer Richard Mandella was fooled by Bal a Bali, the South American star who finished last of five in the Shoemaker Mile here on Saturday.
Brad FreeJun 16, 2015
Even trainer Richard Mandella was fooled by Bal a Bali, the South American star who finished last of five in the Shoemaker Mile here on Saturday.
Ian Wilkes has been on something of a hot streak recently at Churchill Downs and would like to keep it going when another four-day race week gets under way Thursday evening. Wilkes has the 8-5 morning-line favorite in Unbridledexplosion for the allowance feature Thursday, a $58,500, second-level, main-track route that drew a field of eight fillies and mares.
Normally horses on eight-race losing streaks will not go postward as a prohibitive favorite in high-level optional claiming and allowance races. But such will be the case on Thursday at Gulfstream Park where Grand Tito figures to be odds-on to return to the winner’s circle for the first time in nearly 10 months in the afternoon’s $42,000 main event, carded at a mile on the turf.
The improving California-bred stakes winner Motown Men has joined small expected field for the Grade 1, mile and one-quarter Gold Cup at Santa Anita on June 27.
The Northern California summer fair season kicks off Thursday at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton. This year’s fair schedule has a slightly different look than last year’s.
Tom McClay admits he was horrified when he saw his 3-year-old colt Amplified in front through early fractions of 21.69 and 44.47 seconds in last Friday’s six-furlong Danzig Stakes for Pennsylvania-breds at Penn National Race Course. McClay said he wondered what jockey Angel Rodriguez was doing by setting such a fast pace with a horse who had rated in his career debut.McClay said he was even more stunned when Amplified kept on going without faltering and finished the race six lengths in front of New York shipper Instructor Kunu while completing the distance in 1:09.35.
Ron Gierkink's horses to watch at Woodbine for the week of June 16.
Last weekend, I had the pleasure of working on DRF Live with Dan Illman, one of the sharpest handicappers at the Daily Racing Form. Even in the company of my talented colleague, I still managed to bungle enough plays to leave me shaking my head and asking, “What was I thinking?” Missing an opportunity is like looking out the window of a bus that’s passing a nice restaurant but instead of getting off, you remain seated and watch your fantasy meal fade away into oblivion. The restaurant this weekend was the Poker Stakes at Belmont Park on Saturday.
California Chrome, the 2014 Horse of the Year, was confined to his stall in Newmarket, England, on Tuesday while undergoing treatment for a foot abscess that will prevent him from starting in Wednesday’s Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Triple Crown winner American Pharoah enjoyed another quiet morning of training early Tuesday at Churchill Downs as his connections get ready to take him home to Southern California.