The banner on the front pages of Daily Racing Form and The Racing Times of June 9, 1991 were the same: “The Mother of All Gooses.” It was a sly, ripped-from-the-headlines reference to Saddam Hussein’s hollow, defiant cry, “mother of all battles,” from the first Iraq War. This battle, however, proved to be not nearly as one-sided.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mark Casse has yet to pick out the next race for his sensational 2-year-old Conquest Tsunami, who won the $148,250 Victoria Stakes by 7 3/4 lengths with an 80 Beyer Speed Figure last Saturday at Woodbine. Conquest Tsunami, an Ontario-bred colt by Stormy Atlantic owned by Conquest Stables, has captured his two races by a combined 14 lengths.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Successful Canadian trainer Jacques Dumas died Wednesday from natural causes at age 74.
Dumas, a Montreal native, trained a host of top horses in the 1970s and 1980s for prominent owner Jean-Louis Levesque, including Giboulee, Fanfreluche, and Le Danseur. Giboulee finished seventh in the 1977 Kentucky Derby after ending up second to Seattle Slew in the Grade 1 Flamingo Stakes. Dumas also conditioned 1980 Canadian champion 3-year-old Ben Fab, who won the Breeders’ Stakes, and 1980 Canadian Oaks winner Par Excellance.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Despite there being six entrants in Saturday’s Grade 1 Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park, the New York Racing Association has canceled show wagering because Kentucky Oaks winner Untapable is expected to be an extremely heavy favorite. NYRA morning-line-maker Eric Donovan has made Untapable the 1-5 favorite.
Besides Untapable, the only other stakes winner in the field is Stopchargingmaria. On Thursday morning, trainer Todd Pletcher said Stopchargingmaria was “not fully committed to the Mother Goose.”
“We might just wait for the CCA Oaks,” he said.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Unhindered will run back two weeks after her dazzling debut score when she starts Saturday at Woodbine in the $125,000 My Dear Stakes, a five-furlong dash for 2-year-old fillies.
Unhindered, a daughter of Stormy Atlantic, led throughout a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race June 14. She got home on top by five lengths under a hand ride in a brisk time of 51.86 seconds, an effort that earned her just a 57 Beyer Speed Figure.
“She’s quick,” said trainer Ralph Biamonte. “She’s small, but she’s very athletic.”
ELMONT, N.Y. - Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. was released from North Shore Hospital Wednesday evening after tests showed that he had not broken any bones in an ugly three-horse spill in Wednesday’s eighth race at Belmont Park. Ortiz had been transported from the turf course to a waiting ambulance on a back-board.
Cornelio Velasquez and John Velazquez, who also went down in the spill, walked off the course and were seen and released by the first-aid department.
ELMONT, N.Y. - How low will they go?
The odds on Untapable in Saturday's Grade 1, $300,000 Mother Goose at Belmont Park won't appeal to many bettors, but they probably are an accurate reflection of her chances of winning. Even-money when she dusted 11 rivals in the Kentucky Oaks eight weeks ago, Untapable should be less than half that in the Mother Goose.
Despite there being six entrants, show wagering will not be offered. A late scratch or two is not out of the question. The Mother Goose has been carded as the fourth race of the day.
Arapahoe Park in Aurora, Colo., on Friday will launch a groundbreaking bonus program rewarding trainers whose charges win races “void of any raceday medication” in their system.
The lone medication that can be administered on race day in Colorado is Lasix, though there are allowable limits on anti-inflammatory drugs that legally must be given at least 24 hours in advance of a horse’s race.
Friday marks the fourth and final Downs After Dark card of the spring meet. A $56,000, third-level turf allowance serves as the nominal feature on a 10-race card, with Pappascat, Run a Risk, and Sky Girl the main contenders in a field of nine fillies and mares.
First post is 6 p.m. Eastern, with the eighth-race feature being run at 9:50 and the last race at 10:57. General admission is $10. One other allowance (race 9) also is on tap. HRTV will have coverage throughout the night.
