Komorebino Omoide, a Japanese-bred son of California Chrome, became a stakes winner Friday night in the $100,000 Delta Downs Mile. He threw a knockout punch at the competition, as he won off by a widening 5 3/4 lengths.
“I’m hoping he’s starting to put it all together,” trainer Robertino Diodoro said Saturday.
Earlier this year, Komorebino Omoide ran third in both the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic at 1 1/8 miles and the Grade 3 West Virginia Governor’s Cup at 1 1/16 miles at Mountaineer Park.
Free Like a Girl, who went over $2 million in earnings Friday night at Delta Downs, has initially emerged from the $100,000 Treasure Chest in good order and could run next at either Fair Grounds or Oaklawn Park.
Free Like a Girl is based at Delta, where she defeated open company in the Treasure Chest to push her career record to 20 wins from 44 starts for earnings of $2,039,978. Earlier this year, she became the all-time richest Louisiana-bred.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Phil Serpe was a proponent of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority [HISA]. As a trainer with a near spotless record over a 40-year career, Serpe wanted there to be a level playing field on the track.
Serpe is still a proponent of HISA. But not under its current set-up. He believes that HISA, as well as the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit [HIWU], the independent enforcement agency of HISA’s Anti-Doping and Medication Program, are treating horsemen unfairly.
A horse from the stable of leading California trainer Phil D’Amato tested positive for a banned substance following a summer workout at Los Alamitos, according to a ruling posted on the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit website. The news was reported first by Thoroughbred Daily News.
The 4-year-old filly Thebestisyettobe tested positive for methamphetamine following a workout on Aug. 1 at Los Alamitos. HIWU listed the infraction as an “Alleged Violation” of Rule 3212: “Presence of a Banned Substance and/or its Metabolites or Markers.”
Longtime and prolific horse owner and breeder Frank Calabrese died Monday, Nov. 4 – his birthday – at age 96 in Park Ridge, Ill.
Colorful and bombastic, Calabrese was best known as a perennial leading owner at Arlington Park, but also found success at racing’s highest level. His homebred Dreaming of Anna won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in 2006, earning championship honors that year, while Calabrese’s Silver Maiden captured the Grade 1 Frizette in 1997. In 1994, Calabrese won the Ohio Derby with Exclusive Praline.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The 3-year-old filly Thorpedo Anna emerged from the Breeders’ Cup as the leading candidate for Horse of the Year while Sierra Leone got a leg up on Fierceness for 3-year-old male champion in what figures to be a tight race following the weekend’s Breeders’ Cup races.
But several categories – such as older dirt male and turf male among others – lack clear-cut choices that could lead to more intrigue than usual when the Eclipse Awards honoring racing’s champions of 2024 are handed out in January.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Jockey Drayden Van Dyke has been fined $15,600 and suspended three days for overuse of the whip in his winning ride aboard Soul of an Angel in Saturday’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar, according to a ruling published by Del Mar stewards on Sunday.
The ruling stated that Van Dyke used his whip seven times, one more than the permitted level. The infraction was Van Dyke’s third such incident in the last six months, resulting in more severe penalties.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Much was expected from the contingent of 19 horses sent here from Japan for the Breeders’ Cup, but those expectations fell short as the Japanese failed to win a race.
With the Saturday morning scratch of Awesome Result from the BC Distaff, only 18 horses ran. Rousham Park’s neck loss to Rebel’s Romance in the $5 million Turf was Japan’s best finish. Shahryar finished third in the Turf.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Charlie Appleby describes Rebel’s Romance as “a yard favorite,” which makes sense considering the gelding has been part of the stable’s team for more than four years.
Racing fans on three continents can agree with the sentiment. They have witnessed the Rebel’s Romance brilliance, most recently a victory for the second time in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar. Rebel’s Romance, owned by Godolphin Racing, won the 2022 BC Turf at Keeneland. With Saturday’s win, he is the first two-time winner in non-consecutive years.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Let’s run it back in 2025.
While the Breeders’ Cup definitely is returning to Del Mar next year - Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 - there is the real possibility that the one-two-three finishers from Saturday’s $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic will attempt to make it back here as well.
Add in Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Thorpedo Anna and Dirt Mile victor Full Serrano returning to run in 2025 with the Classic as a potential goal, and the possibilities are endless for next year’s Classic.
