DEL MAR, Calif. - Calimonco won his first stakes in Wednesday’s $92,040 Wickerr Stakes at Del Mar. That accomplishment still leaves him several milestones behind his older sisters – Sweet Catomine and Life Is Sweet, millionaires who won Breeders’ Cup races.
Welcome to Spa Babies! I'll break down the statistics for every juvenile contest at the meet and hope for a tidy profit.
In past years, I would list the stats for each horse before writing up my analysis, selections and wagering strategy.
In order to streamline the content, this year's Spa Babies will showcase written analyses of each juvenile race.
Each analysis will include relevant statistical information. Following the analysis, top three selections and wagering strategy will be provided.
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - There will certainly be many richer and more important races decided over the final five weeks of the 2011 Saratoga session than Monday's $150,000 Lake George Stakes. There may not, though, be a more exhilarating performance during the remainder of the meet than that turned in by Winter Memories en route to her breathtaking 4 1/2-length triumph over Bellamy Star in the Grade 2 turf fixture for 3-year-old fillies.
Joe Rocco Jr., the leading jockey at Delaware Park, tied a track single-day record by riding six winners on Wednesday’s card.
Rocco, 29, won with his first five mounts on the day, starting in the third with Pit Viper ($3.80). He followed with victories in the fourth with Bridgemix ($6.20), the fifth with Cash McCool ($3.80), the sixth with Settling for Gold ($5.80), and the seventh with Like Candy ($8.40).
Rocco did not have a mount in the eighth race, but in the ninth he scored aboard the Michael Matz-trained Christmas Cove ($23.80) to collect his sixth winner.
The rain that compelled John Kimmel to scratch Friend Or Foe from Monday’s Evan Shipman Stakes also forced the veteran horseman to go back to the drawing board to map out a new training schedule to get the New York-bred to his new objective, the Grade 1 Whitney on Aug. 6. Friend Or Foe’s new schedule included a five-furlong workout shortly after the renovation break Wednesday.
Arapahoe Park in Aurora, Colo., and Retama Park in Texas have both announced purse increases due to favorable attendance and handle figures.
Arapahoe, which is conducting a mixed meet for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses, will be increasing overnight purses by $1,500 each race through the final month of its meet starting this week. Purses for trial races will be increased by $500 each.
Trainer Andrew Leggio Jr. can only hope his second experience in Saratoga goes as well as his first. In 2005, Leggio brought the Louisiana-bred mare Happy Ticket here to win the Grade 1 Ballerina by 5 1/2 lengths.
Leggio was back in Saratoga on Wednesday morning, where he tried to watch his Kentucky-bred 3-year-old filly St. John’s River work toward a start in the Grade 1, $500,000 Alabama Stakes here Aug. 20. With a plethora of horses working right after the break, Leggio said he had a hard time watching his filly breeze.
J C’s Pride, second to Overdriven in his debut, came back to win his maiden by 3 1/4 lengths Wednesday, setting a track record for five furlongs in the process. His time of 56.54 seconds eclipsed the previous mark of 56.71 set by Fabulous Force on Aug. 18, 1993.
Under Jose Lezcano, J C’s Pride broke on top and set fractions of 21.87 seconds for the quarter and 44.64 for the half. Lezcano stole a peek at the infield board, where he could see no one was gaining on him and he had the colt geared down at the finish.
Ice Box, winless since rallying to a nose decision in the 2010 Florida Derby, will return from a nine-month vacation to top a field of six in Friday’s third race, a third-level optional claiming test to be decided at 1 1/8 miles over the main track. Ice Box underwent knee surgery shortly after finishing fifth last October in the Grade 2 Monmouth Cup and then had his return further delayed by a series of what trainer Nick Zito described as “minor interruptions.”
The hotshot 2-year-old Creative Cause will be among the favorites when he makes his second start in the Best Pal. Trainer Mike Harrington said Creative Cause is on target for the 6 1/2-furlong Best Pal, pending a second Del Mar workout this weekend.
Creative Cause won his July 16 debut by 4 3/4 lengths, earning a 98 Beyer that was the highest by a 2-year-old at the Hollywood meet.
“I knew he could run, but he’s bred to be a two-turn horse,” Harrington said. “I didn’t expect that going five-eighths.”
