Kip Deville wins again; no triple in Canada
NEW YORK --- Kip Deville toyed with the competition early before pulling away to a 2 3/4-length victory in the $106,300 Poker Handicap at Belmont Park on Sunday.
The winner of last fall's Breeders' Cup Mile extended his winning streak to three races, finishing in 1:32.94 for a mile on firm turf against four rivals as the 2-5 favorite. Trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. used the Poker to keep the 5-year-old sharp for a Breeders' Cup defense in October.
Kip Deville paid $2.80 to win. Tam Lin placed and Operation Red Dawn showed.
After alternating the lead with Sensational Humor, Kip Deville poked a head in front turning for home and effortlessly pulled away in the stretch under a hand ride by Cornelio Velasquez.
Not Bourbon finishes sixth
FORT ERIE, Ontario --- Harlem Rocker won the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes race Sunday to capture the second jewel of Canadian thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown.
Not Bourbon, the Queen's Plate winner, finished sixth to leave Wando in 2004 the last Canadian Triple Crown champion. The third race in the Triple Crown is the Breeders' Stakes at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack on Aug. 3.
Harlem Rocker, the even-money favorite, took the lead coming off the final turn and was followed by East End Tap in the 13/16-mile race on a fast dirt track. Pronger was third in the seven-horse field at Fort Erie Racetrack.
Harlem Rocker finished with an unofficial time of 1:56.46. Owner Stronach Stables took the winner's share of $300,000.
Warning Zone wins
INGLEWOOD, Calif. --- Warning Zone beat Cedar Mountain by one length to win the $156,000 Sunset Handicap at Hollywood Park.
Warning Zone earned $97,200 for the victory, boosting his career total to $341,310.
(c) The Herald Leader
Horse Pick of the Day - Belmont Park Race 3
The Grade I Mother Goose and the Grade I Suburban are both on Belmont's Saturday card. The Grade I Mother Goose provides small opportunity for online racebook fans to make any money as there are only four fillies entered. That means that unless the longest shot on the board beats the likely 1 to 5 favorite Proud Spell, the Mother Goose is a pass race for online sportsbook fans. The Suburban is not, though, and if any online betting fan wants to see who I chose to win the Suburban check out my Weekend Stakes article.
In any case there is a race going off well before both the Mother Goose and the Suburban that might provide us with a nice online wagering overlay. That would be Race 3, a minor stakes, at Belmont Park.
Belmont Park Race 3
$75,000 Elmont Stakes
For New York Bred Three Year Old Fillies
1 mile on the turf
Blitzen Too - - 3/1 fair online wagering odds
Because her speed ratings are on the slowish side this daughter of Thunder Gulch most likely will not go off the favorite in this race. I'm hoping she doesn't because I absolutely love her in this one! She's trained by super turf trainer Christophe Clement and is coming off of a nice allowance score where she made a huge run around the turn to get up by two lengths going 1 1/8th miles. She turns back in distance in this race and there's no telling how far behind she'll be but I'm not worried. There is a lot of speed in this thing and Blitzen Too did break her maiden going a mile. She's worth a large online bet at 3 to 1 odds or higher.
Study Abroad - - 5/2 fair online wagering odds
Because she's trained by Richard Dutrow, she's automatically going to get bet. Because she gets John Velasquez on her back, the likelihood of her going off as the chalk in this minor stakes race is pretty big. She has every right to win this race, but I don't like the fact that she's trying turf for the first time and may or may not be bred for it. I also don't like the fact that she will be very close to the pace. In any case, she's a dynamite gal on her best day so she has to be considered.
I Lost My Choo - - 4/1 fair online wagering odds
She just raced in a Grade II so she obviously will find this group more to her liking. How did she do in that Grade II? She ran very well, actually, finishing third by only two lengths. But this is a different story altogether as there will be other pace up front. I do like the fact that she can save a lot of ground but then there's another issue that she will have to deal with - - will a hole open up for Edgar Prado to stick her through? If the odds are there, putting money on this filly makes sense, but the odds probably won't be there.
(c) 1994-2008 BetUS
Friday, June 13, 2008, Open Line
"I thought that restaurants were to be inspected one to two times a year. There is one that hasn't been in over a year and has several violations. They also have no certified food handlers working there, and I am not eating there anymore."
"I don't see why Church Street should be renamed when we already have Nortonville."
"Congratulations to the council for clearing the way for the signs for Ken Norton Way. Now we need to get going on the statue that everyone wants in Community Park. They can set up a fund for its future maintenance."
"If you don't like having to press 1 to hear English, wait until your grandchildren have to press 2."
"I am going to keep hanging on to my gun, and I am going to vote for McCain after being a life-long Democrat."
"The Belmont Stakes was a scam. Someone made big money. Why would they pull Big Brown up if they saw nothing wrong with him? The jockey was holding him back. It was about gambling and not the horse."
"I have an angel, she calls me every day. She takes me and helps me, no matter what I say."
"Restaurants in Jacksonville are pathetic: Waitresses sitting with patrons talking about smoking weed and how they are going to go straight to drinking parties after their shifts. All the while, no one else in the place has any refills or food. What's wrong with this town?"
"Pre-nup agreements are for people getting married, hence the name, 'prenuptial.' Barack and Clinton won't be getting married, so it makes no sense for Clinton to sign a pre-nup."
"Every new day is a gift. That is why we call it the 'present.' So, be thankful."
"What is with your Web site? I click on the local news, today, June 9, and all you have is what happened last Tuesday."
"Every time I click Monday, June 9, it says it can't be found and click here to return to home page."
Editors note: We were having some upgrades Monday evening. We've been told that most of that is done. The Web page was working again by Tuesday morning, as far as we could tell.
"You know our next president will be yet another left-handed person. Left handed is suppose to have the meaning of closest to the devil."
"To the person who has a problem with my son riding his dirt bike in Beardstown, check the city ordinance before you complain. My neighbors have no problem, why should you? Please come by often. He'll be out there much more. Maybe you should move to the country if you have a problem with kids having fun."
"When is the Winchester School Board going to wake up and quit letting all the good teachers leave? We had a chance to hire one as principal last year at the grade school, but we hired a wanna-be. He is too busy working on college classes to worry about the school. Go back to Routt."
"That homophobic letter to the editor Sunday had many lies in it, one being that, as can be verified at teenwire, the fastest growing group of people with HIV is heterosexual women. This is gay pride month. Where is the outrage, my gay brothers and sisters?"
"We need to retain Judge Diane M. Lagoski for the excellent job she is doing in Brown County."
"Recycling. I am interested in recycling and I would like to see an article about how it has increasing."
"What kind of idiot police officer leaves a car running when there are children around? You can run home when your shift is over."
"The Catholic Church in Beardstown should lose its tax exemption because they are helping the Mexicans skirt the law."
"It would sure be nice to see the results of the Braggin Rights BBQ in the paper."
"Regarding the article of Ms. Finkle, who claims to have paid for her medical services, did she pay it, or did we pay it through public aide?"
"Surratt is a dictator. Why isn't his job up for a vote?"
"Where could I get a video of Ken Norton's victory over Mohammed Ali in 1973? I would like to see all 12 rounds."
"I am guessing that most of us jackasses who voted for the governor are truly ashamed of ourselves."
"Hurray for Clint Eastwood. He proved that Spike Lee is a complete idiot."
"We Democrats know we have a bad governor. You Republicans didn't defend your governor very well. That is why he is in jail."
"What's the problem with the Depot in Virginia? You will lose your good customers if you keep complaining to them where they spend their money. There is better food and prices elsewhere. Wise up."
"Not all people in Virginia are small-minded. I support DR. UGS, Cenex, Parliers, the tire shop, The Depot and Sunrise Ag just to name a few. But you are right, we do have some small-minded people in this town that think they are better then everyone else. Boy, do they have a rude awakening coming one day when they are face to face with the good Lord."
"The level of nepotism in Ashland is horrible. Now nothing is getting done!"
"Some of the comments on this Open Line are very immature. I'm guessing if you go to the high school, they will also be writing on the bathroom stalls."
"I think the chief of police in Beardstown needs to do his job. Start taking care of business or resign."
"OK. Check this Web site out. Inform yourselves: takebackwashington."
"Very simple solution to the energy crisis: We should take over Saudi Arabia. They are the ones who attacked us on 9/11, not the Iraqis. There where no Iraqis in those planes that hit the towers. The Saudis are the ones making the big bucks off the gas and oil. We should raise our food prices to them as much as oil, then it will come down."
"Why isn't the City of Beardstown out spraying for mosquitos in the evenings now? It's almost the middle of June. Maybe if you'd get off your hind ends and spray now, you wouldn't be out after the frost of late October and November, like last year wasting what's leftover."
"Ken Norton won a decision over Muhammad Ali and broke Ali's jaw in the second round. Ali is definitely the greatest of all time though, to put up with the beating Norton dished out, with a broken jaw to boot! No one will ever be as great as Ali. I have met both men in my life, plus the Spinks brothers and Michael Dokes."
"Whoever said, the 'weather will do what it will, no matter how many trees you have' obviously never made it through eighth grade. What a dumb statement."
"We Democrats are coming to the defense of our governor like you Republicans are coming to the defense of your president."
"I did some online research and found out that the same medication that my in-town doctor prescribed was making me even sicker. Then I find out that these doctors are getting kickbacks for prescribing medications that aren't necessary. We have crooked politicians, and now we have crooked doctors. I don't trust any of them."
"What the Republicans did on Tuesday proves that GOP stands for Grand Oil Party."
"State workers are just whiners and complainers. Let them get out in the real world and get a real job."
"Does Arby's not understand the concept of turning their sign off when they are closed?"
(c) 2008 Freedom Communications
Software creator stoic about Big Brown's bust at Belmont Stakes
LAS VEGAS - Not one of the 1,000 computer simulations Michael Calderone ran before the Belmont Stakes had Big Brown pulling up and finishing last.
"No horse wins 100 per cent of the time," said Calderone, president of Las Vegas-based Horse Racing Simulation LLC, as he relived the U.S. thoroughbred racing Triple Crown favourite's dramatic failure.
"But we ran 1,000 simulations, and Big Brown won 80 per cent of the time," he said Monday. "That was the highest percentage we've ever seen in the history of the sim."
With those results, Calderone last week went out on a limb and, like outspoken trainer Rick Dutrow Jr., publicly predicted Big Brown would "easily" reprise his wins in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and become the 12th Triple Crown winner.
Instead the previously unbeaten Big Brown finished last.
Calderone wasn't exactly eating crow Monday.
After all, he gained some fame for his Sim2Win.com and HorseRaceGame.com Internet products. He calls them non-gambling tools that simulate upcoming races or allow fans to run legendary horses against each other in fantasy matchups. Think Seabiscuit against Secretariat, or War Admiral versus Affirmed, the last Triple Crown winner in 1978.
But he did recall the bad feeling he got while watching the run-up to Saturday's race.
"It was 90-something degrees, he was sweaty, he was uncomfortable," Calderone said of Big Brown. "In hindsight, who knows? It could have been a million things. That's the mysterious part about horse racing. Nothing's guaranteed."
The real-life race winner, Da' Tara, won just four per cent of Calderone's simulated races.
"We use breeding, the horse's running style, acceleration, stride length, all the numbers related to the horse's ability," Calderone said. "But everything we do is in the math.
"We don't count for whether he had a bad night the night before, had a fever or was fed a bad carrot. Sometimes the horse has a bad race."
(c) 2008 The Canadian Press
2 Days: Countdown to the Belmont Stakes
Jockey Willie Shoemaker rode four winners in the Kentucky Derby, two in the Preakness Stakes and five in the Belmont Stakes, but never won the Triple Crown. His final Belmont winner was Avatar, a longshot in 1975. Much had been written about the way Avatar had been roughed up in the Kentucky Derby, being bumped from the lead and thrown off stride by Diablo in the stretch. He finished second to Foolish Pleasure by 1 3/4 lengths, and two weeks later, Avatar was a disappointing fifth in the Preakness.
So Shoemaker had a score to settle in the Belmont. Despite being sent off at 13-to-1, "The Shoe" had Avatar in striking distance along the backstretch and into the final turn. He took the lead from Master Derby at the top of the stretch and as Master Derby faded slightly along the rail, Foolish Pleasure was in a hard rush on the outside. This time, though, Foolish Pleasure couldn't catch Avatar, who won by a neck and paid $28.40.
Did you know?
Two owners, James R. Keene and Belair Stud, share the record for most Belmont Stakes winners - six. Stud had two Triple Crown winners, Gallant Fox (1930) and Omaha ( 1935).
(c) 2008, Newsday Inc.
Belmont Stakes Online Betting - Gomez to Move Macho Again Up
Macho Again, the second-place finisher in the 2008 Preakness Stakes, just got a huge boost to his "I can beat Big Brown" credentials because Garrett Gomez, the 2007 Eclipse Award winner as top jockey in the nation, has decided to ride him in the Belmont Stakes.
That's good news for anybody associated with Macho Again or thinking about wagering on Macho Again in the 2008 Belmont.
Gomez is simply the best jockey in the world right now. He can do almost no wrong. That's a rarity in a sport where split decision making almost requires no mistakes just to stay alive. Jockey's are on the backs of one-thousand pound animals that are traveling at speeds of around 40 miles per hour. Just to stay on the horse is usually a challenge.
Gomez doesn't just stay on the horses, but usually brings them across the finish line first. Just check out his stats from 2007 and your mouth starts to water at the thought of cashing winning ticket after ticket after ticket on Gomez's mounts.
In 2007 Gomez dominated both coasts. He won the Kentucky Oaks and Santa Anita Oaks on Rags to Riches. He won the Haskell Invitational, the Brooklyn Handicap, and the Dwyer on Any Given Saturday. He won the Hopeful Stakes on Majestic Warrior and the Frizette on Indian Blessing. He won the Del Mar Futurity on Georgie Boy, the Woodbine Mile on Shakespeare, and the Del Mar Handicap on Crossing the Line.
Wait...I'm not done. Gomez also won stakes races with Lady of Venice, Rutherienne, Pussycat Doll, Wait a While, Nashoba's Key, and Lear's Princess. Finally, he won the prestigious Godolphin Mile aboard Spring At Last. In 2008 Gomez has 86 victories out of 448 mounts. That translates to earning of over 7 million in less than six months.
Not bad for a guy who recently came back recently from a narcotic's addiction.
The fact that Gomez would consider taking the mount on Macho Again, when he could probably find some easy paychecks in California that day, means that Gomez has some faith in both the connections of Macho Again and the horse itself.
Guy's like Garrett Gomez don't just take any mount. Not when you are the reigning Eclipse Award Winner and the recognized best jockey in the world.
Will Gomez's presence move Macho Again up in the Belmont Stakes? Absolutely. There just is no way that a jockey like Gomez couldn't help Macho Again. Whether the horse is good enough is one thing, but Macho Again should definitely feel the effects of having Gomez on his back.
That means Macho Again just went from a long-shot to a solid play to beat Big Brown in the 2008 Belmont Stakes. Yes, sometimes a jockey does mean that much.
When that jockey's name is Garret Gomez expectations change wildly and the expectation is now that, with Garrett Gomez on his back, Macho Again will make his presence felt against both Casino Drive and Big Brown in the 2008 Belmont Stakes.
(c) 1994-2008 BetUS
Long-ago Kentucky Derby winner Ben Ali serves as local history lesson
By Debbie Arrington - darrington@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, May 2, 2008
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C1
When Bob Adams discovered a Kentucky Derby winner once called his Sacramento neighborhood home, it inspired a celebration.
"I found this little bit of history," said Adams, the executive director of the Del Paso Boulevard Partnership. "Some old-timers were a little familiar with it, but this is a big deal, having a Derby winner from Del Paso. Even Seabiscuit, as great as he was, he didn't win the Kentucky Derby. It's our heritage."
Thursday, the partnership - which represents about 120 businesses on Del Paso Boulevard in North Sacramento - hosted a party in honor of its Derby winner, more than a century after his death and just in time for Saturday's 134th running of America's most famous horse race.
Ben Ali, the pride of Del Paso, won the 12th Kentucky Derby - in 1886.
That's the same year the Statue of Liberty debuted in New York Harbor. Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby, was barely a decade old. Modeled after England's Epsom Derby, the Kentucky Derby was a relatively new event.
Long before TV or blimps, Millionaire's Row or even the blanket of roses became part of the annual Derby hoopla, Ben Ali conquered the Bluegrass.
Born in Kentucky of the finest thoroughbred blueblood, Ben Ali spent most of his life in Sacramento. He prepared for his Derby here, winning three stakes in four days in April at local tracks before traveling east in a custom train car. He also won major races in New York and Missouri. He returned home to Del Paso to sire many more racers.
James Ben Ali Haggin, part-Turk and all Kentuckian, named his big brown colt for himself. He hoped to make Sacramento the thoroughbred mecca of the West. The bustling town had four racetracks with several others nearby. At one point, Haggin's Rancho del Paso rivaled anything in Kentucky.
A lawyer, Haggin ventured to California in 1850, bitten by the gold bug. With San Francisco law partner Lloyd Tevis, Haggin became a mine owner, including the rich Anaconda and Homestake mines. By 1880, he decided he needed a hobby and chose an old favorite, horse racing.
Winning a legal dispute, Haggin and Tevis had acquired Rancho del Paso, 44,000 acres of farmland north of the American River bordered roughly by today's Northgate Boulevard on the west and Manzanita Avenue on the east. The tract covered 64 square miles. Haggin envisioned it as ideal horse country.
To stock his farm, Haggin bought top prospects in Kentucky and other racing states. He imported stallions and mares from England, New Zealand and Australia. His goal: to build a racing empire.
An 1890 story on his racing operation filled the front page of The Bee under the headline, "California Comes Forth to Rival Kentucky in the Breeding of Great Turf Monarchs." Salvator, "the Matchless Prince of Milers," had just retired to Del Paso after 16 wins in 19 starts. Salvator set a world record (1:35 1/2) for one mile that stood for 30 years.
Ben Ali, a product of Kentucky's famed Elmendorf Farm, was among his early purchases. Haggin expected to make another fortune by betting on Ben Ali in the Derby.
But the on-track bookmakers failed to reach an agreement with Churchill Downs management, and Haggin - as everyone else - couldn't make a wager. He settled for the winner's purse: $4,890.
By contrast, Saturday's Kentucky Derby winner will earn more than $1.2 million.
Haggin took his winning colt and returned to Sacramento, vowing never to race in the Derby again. He didn't - but he sent hundreds of thoroughbreds to New York auctions from his sprawling Sacramento ranch and campaigned several of the top stakes horses of his day. Besides his Derby win, Haggin won the 1885 Belmont Stakes - the third jewel of the Triple Crown - with Tyrant and bred 1903 Belmont winner Africander. In another rarity, Haggin bred a winner (Rubio, 1908) of England's Grand National, the world's most famous steeplechase.
At its height, Rancho del Paso was home to about 600 broodmares and 40 stallions plus hundreds of offspring. Where the Haggin Oaks golf course now stands, horses trained on a 1-mile track near a complex of spacious barns with 64 stalls each.
With an international reputation, Del Paso yearlings regularly sold for more than $10,000 at auction. One brought a then-record $38,500.
Haggin also bred trotters at Del Paso with about 200 mares and stallions including Echo, a son of Hambletonian.
But at the end of the 19th century, anti-gambling sentiments swept through Sacramento. Racetracks were shuttered. Haggin decided to take his horses and move back to Kentucky, where he bought Elmendorf Farm and continued breeding champions, including two Preakness winners. He sold Rancho del Paso in 1910 for $1.5 million. The property soon was subdivided into homes. Haggin died in 1914 at age 91.
Kentucky's Keeneland Race Course runs a stakes named for Ben Ali each April. But his California legacy is all but forgotten in the Bluegrass.
Churchill Downs vice president John Asher was surprised by Ben Ali's California ties.
"I had no idea he was the pride of Sacramento," Asher said of Ben Ali. "When you see a name like James Ben Ali Haggin, you think of bluegrass."
Last year, the City of Sacramento erected a near-lifesize statue of Ben Ali on Del Paso Boulevard as part of a public arts project, Adams noted.
"We have visitors call us, looking for the horse," he said of the statue. "Ben Ali is still bringing people to Del Paso."
Copyright (c) The Sacramento Bee
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