Catlaunch brings win streak to Lewis

The durable 9-year-old gelding Catlaunch goes for his third straight stakes win when he matches strides over nine furlongs with nine Ohio-bred rivals in the $50,000 George Lewis Memorial.

Catlaunch has won three of his five 2010 races, the last two of which came in stakes, the Gendelman Memorial at River Downs and the Michael F. Rowand Memorial at Thistledown.

For a horse that came close to never being foaled, Catlaunch has put together an amazing record of 32-15-9 from 77 career starts for earnings of $782,054.

According to trainer Ivan Vasquez, Catlaunch is lucky to be alive, as was his dam, the unraced Relaunch mare, Skilaunch.

“She was a wobbler,” Vasquez said of a disease that leaves horses with vertebrae that are not shaped correctly due to a narrowing of the spinal canal. “Vets said to put her down, but her owners said no and bred her.”

Skilaunch repaid Sciot Farms owner Ron Fields by produing five foals, three of them stakes winners and the other two stakes-placed.

Catlaunch is seeking back-to-back wins in the Lewis, after winning last year’s race in a romp.

Catlaunch is the highweight at 120 pounds. All of the other starters will carry 116. His regular rider, Ivan Gonzalez, will be aboard.

Catlaunch’s main opposition should come from Pyrite Personal and Sneak a Cold Treat.

Pyrite Personal, a stakes-winning Bernstein gelding, finished second behind Catlauch in the Gendelman at River Downs in his last start on June 12. He has won and been third in two tries at this distance.

Sneak a Cold Treat was fourth in the Gendelman after chasing the pacesetting Catlauch until midstretch. He won the 10-furlong Ohio Endurance last year.

– Chuck Scaravilli

Prairie: Syd Licious tries again

The second of this week’s two Iowa Stallion stakes dedicated to progeny of stallions whose shares were donated to the Iowa Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders’ Association stallion service auction will be run Saturday at Prairie Meadows.

Six 3-year-olds will compete at a mile and 70 yards for a purse of $81,840. The base purse of $60,000 is bolstered by an additional $21,840 in Iowa-bred supplements, since all of the starters were bred in Iowa.

Trainer Dave McShane’s Syd Licious is taking a second shot at the stallion series after finishing fifth in last year’s Iowa Stallion Futurity. The added distance of this year’s race should improve his performance. Syd Licious made his first start over a route of ground in his last out and finished second by two lengths in statebred allowance company to Monroe Wildcat, who in his previous start finished third in the Grays Lake Stakes.

Wild for Glory will be trying stakes company for the second time. In last year’s Iowa Cradle, he failed to finish when he fell. The Gene Jacquot trainee is coming off a five-length victory in a statebred conditioned allowance race last Saturday.

Never count trainer Dick Clark out of any race at Prairie Meadows. With more than 1,000 career victories here, he is the winningest trainer in Prairie Meadows’ 21-year history. The Clark barn has been heating up recently, with three of his five wins at the meet coming since Fourth of July weekend. With the potential for a three-way speed duel among Syd Licious, Wild for Glory, and Captain Theo, the late-running maiden Hum Along Mara may just have an opportunity to pick up the pieces.

– Patrick Lamoreux

River Downs: No Garlic eyes repeat

No Garlic will try to replicate his last-out performance when facing nine others in the $50,000 Hoover Stakes at River Downs on Saturday. Six of the 10 Ohio-bred 2-year-olds entered in the 5 1/2-furlong Hoover faced each other June 26 in a five-furlong Ohio-bred maiden race. No Garlic led from start to finish under Dean Sarvis, drawing off late to win by 1 1/2 lengths.

No Garlic’s trainer, Doug Cowans, and Sarvis have won at an amazing 55 percent at River Downs the past two seasons.

Although No Garlic has beaten five of his rivals, a Hoover victory is far from guaranteed as a case can be made for any of those he has yet to face.

Trainer Tim Hamm has three entrants, two of which are fillies. Hamm has dominated the Ohio-bred 2-year-old ranks for several years.

One of Hamm’s fillies, Blingin It, ran at Presque Isle on June 25. After being reluctant to load, she ran an even race and finished fourth as part of an entry. Hamm also sends out first-time starter Wild Bling and the filly Startin Somethin, who finished second to No Garlic in her last out. Because of the small number of 2-year-olds nominated to the Hoover, racing secretary Ed Vomacka asked for and received permission from the Ohio Racing Commission to uncouple entries with common ownership.

Trainer Mark Shuman ships in McSuave after a seventh-place finish against $40,000 maiden claimers at Delaware Park. The change to Ohio-bred company can only help.

Finally, trainer Joe Woodard sends out first-time starter Jump Boots with Perry Ouzts aboard. That combo has won at a 37 percent clip since Jan. 1, 2009.

– John McDulin

Pinnacle: Hustle Now tops deep field

Last year’s champion juvenile filly in Michigan, Hustle Now, will be favored in the $50,000 Regret Stakes at Pinnacle Race Course, but she faces stiff competition from newcomers Touch Misscrafty and Skys Red Roxy as well as familiar rivals De la Crem and Top Touch. The six-furlong race drew a field of 12 statebred 3-year-old fillies.

Hustle Now, away from the races since a five-length win in the Oct. 3 Michigan Sire Stakes, comes into the Regret with 3 wins and a second in 4 starts, including the Sickle’s Image Stakes. She’ll have a new rider in J.J. Delgado, who is in a three-way tie for leading rider. Larry Uelmen trains Hustle now, who drew post 7, for breeder Sheffield Farms.

Touch Misscrafty made a splashy debut June 12, winning by nearly eight lengths after throwing a fit while loading into the gate. After the start, she made every pole a winning one for owner Felicia Campbell and trainer Patrick White. Federico Mata, also tied for first in the jockey standings will break the homebred Touch Gold filly from the outside post.

Skys Red Roxy, who is 2 for 2, won her maiden at Indiana Downs in May before a three-length win here in June. De la Crem, never off the board at Pinnacle, is one of two entries from leading trainer Robert Gorham’s barn. Top Touch was unplaced last week at Thistledown, while making her first start since winning the Michigan Juvenile Fillies last October.

– C.A. Shoemaker

Lincoln: The Nutz back in HBPA

The Nutz will return to action off a 2 1/2-month layoff when a field of eight older horses meets in the $17,500 HBPA Stakes going a mile and 70 yards Saturday at Lincoln Race Course.

The Nutz turned in his worst race in memory when finishing last in the Bosselman/Gus Fonner Stakes on April 24. He opened this year with a strong win going six furlongs in the Tondi Stakes on March 20 at Fonner Park. He was then third in the Dowd Mile on April 10 before his last start. The Nutz won this race in 2008 when it was run as the State Fair Board Stakes.

Canyon Drive may vie for the role of favorite as he invades from Indiana Downs for trainer Joe Woodard. A two-time winner at Turfway Park early this year, Canyon Drive is coming off a pair of seconds against optional claiming company in Indiana.

First Class Brass, trained by Kelli Martinez, has rounded into top form here recently and also will bear watching. First Class Brass, the 2007 winner of this race, was a dominant winner over optional claiming company here June 5, then came back to finish second to Reach One More in the President’s Cup Stakes on June 25.

From the Ashes, trained by Chuck Turco, was second to Reach One More in the Big Red Mile Stakes here May 31 and will be making his first start since then. From the Ashes, a confirmed front-runner, set the pace and then dueled with Reach One More through the final turn of that race before settling for the runner-up spot.

– Bill Hodtwalker