ELMONT, N.Y. - A few days after Royal Delta won the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic at Churchill Downs, Benjamin Leon spent $8.5 million to buy the filly at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale.
Part of it was as a future broodmare prospect. Part of it was for the kind of breathtaking performance Royal Delta is capable of giving, one that she gave winning Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Beldame Invitational at Belmont Park.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Unbridled’s Note joined the list of contenders for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 3 with a sharp win in his turf debut in Friday’s $100,000 Eddie D Stakes.
Unbridled’s Note had no difficulty handling the surface or the unique layout of the hillside turf course at Santa Anita, winning the about 6 1/2-furlong race by 1 1/4 lengths over Chosen Miracle. The importance of the win was not lost on Scott Blasi, trainer Steve Asmussen’s assistant.
Somewhere within their three most recent races, seven of the nine fillies and mares scheduled to sprint five furlongs on grass in Monday’s $50,000 feature at Parx Racing have a top Beyer Speed Figure of between 75 and 81. In short, they’re hard to separate.
So maybe in this third-level optional $40,000 claimer, which goes as race 9, it’s better to focus on one of the other two remaining entrants. Do Somethin was sixth in her only previous try on turf this past June, but her two races since shipping east from California stamp her a serious contender in this spot.
Groupie Doll had her final work toward the Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes when breezing a swift half-mile Saturday morning in 46.20 seconds over the main track at Churchill Downs.
“She went about two seconds faster than I wanted,” said trainer Buff Bradley. “Three horses broke off right behind her and that pumped her up, but she relaxed once she got away from them. We’ll just go real easy with her the rest of the week.”
Trainer Charlie Lopresti said Wise Dan remains “on the fence” for the Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland on Saturday after having his first workout since romping to victory in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile.
Lopresti said he and Morton Fink, the owner-breeder of Wise Dan, will “have a long talk in the next few days” about whether to run Wise Dan in the Grade 1, $750,000 Shadwell, the richest race of the 17-day Keeneland fall meet that starts Friday.
The Drifter recaptured his best form Friday night at Remington Park, when he drove to a length and a quarter win over Westernator in the $75,000 Kip Deville. The race was the first leg of the track’s 2-year-old series that includes the $100,000 Clever Trevor on Nov. 9 and the $300,000 Springboard Mile on Dec. 9.
The Drifter ($5.80) was always prominent in the Kip Deville, dueling through fractions of 21.97 seconds for the opening quarter and 45.05 for the half-mile. He went on to cover six furlongs on a track rated good in 1:10.65.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Unbridled’s Note won his turf debut in Friday’s $100,000 Eddie D Stakes at Santa Anita, earning a trip to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint here on Nov. 3.
Ridden by Corey Nakatani, Unbridled’s Note ($8) was always near the front, and took the lead in the final furlong to win by 1 1/4 lengths over 12-1 Chosen Miracle. Mensa Heat, a 16-1 shot, finished third in the field of 12.
Unbridled’s Note was a slight favorite. He ran about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course in 1:12.45.
Jemima’s Pearl will be one of the strongest favorites on the Oklahoma Derby Day card on Sunday, when she seeks the first stakes win of her career in the $250,000 Remington Park Oaks. She is part of an eight-horse field for the 1 1/16-mile race that serves as one of four stakes supporting the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby. The five stakes are worth a cumulative $1 million, and they make for the biggest card of the meet at Remington.
Retired jockey and racing official Ismael “Izzy” Gonzalez died in his sleep at his home in Grove City, Ohio, on Friday morning. The 49-year-old Gonzalez rode from 1983 to 2000 and retired to become clerk of scales at Beulah Park. He later served in the same position at Presque Isle Downs.
Gonzalez was not breathing when he was found by his wife, Jennifer Nales Gonzalez. Paramedics were unable to revive him.
Jennifer is a placing judge at Beulah Park.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Arlington Park is trainer Chris Block’s bread and butter. Entering the final three days of the 2012 meet here, Block led all Arlington trainers in stable earnings with slightly less than $800,000, and his 34 winners tie him for third in terms of races won during the meeting. But it’s not like the Block barn goes into hibernation the moment the last fan walks out of the gate following Sunday’s 11th race, the last of the 2012 Arlington season, and Block’s stable is set up to have an October impact on two fronts, Keeneland and Hawthorne.
