- Chalk up another 2005 stakes winner for stallion Forestry, as his two-year old Somethinaboutbetty took the restricted Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship at Laurel on Monday for trainer Todd Pletcher. She’s a half-sister to stakes winner Petunia; and her second dam is multiple graded turf winner Betty Lobelia.
- Richard Schosberg was just as surprised as the rest of us that his Attila’s Storm couldn’t catch longshot Proud Tower Too in the Malibu.
"Personally, I'm surprised we didn't win…..He (Valenzuela) had him in a great spot, the horse had been training good. I thought he was going to go on, but the other horse was tough. He couldn't get past him, plain and simple." [Pasadena Star News]Perhaps he shouldn’t be too surprised; Attila’s Storm did stick a nose in front around the eighth pole, so he may very well have won the race had it been six furlongs. It’s possible that seven furlongs is just not his ideal distance. That final eighth was run in 13 seconds, yet he couldn’t get by the Cal-bred for the win.
- Wednesday is the deadline for license applications for Pennsylvania casinos, both those that will be located at seven racetracks, plus two at resorts, and five stand-alone locations. Of the latter, two will be in Philadelphia, and one in Pittsburgh, where the competition is shaping up as particularly tough, with five known aspirants for the single license. One of those is the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, striving to keep the franchise in Pittsburgh by using gambling proceeds to build a new arena. The Pens’ prospects got a boost yesterday when one of the prospective bidders dropped out and endorsed the club’s bid, and a state official said that whoever wins the license should fund a new arena. The Penguins have said they will move if they cannot build a new rink. In Philly, Donald Trump is one of three applicants that are known thus far, and nine others are thought to be applying for the remaining two stand-alone licenses.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board will be quite busy over the next few weeks examining the applications. This is a weighty matter, and not just in terms of the financial windfall the license winners stand to gain -
The first slots license application submitted this month came from Pocono Downs harness racetrack near Wilkes-Barre and weighed more than 400 pounds, taking up several large boxes. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]- It’s the post-Afleet Alex era for trainer Tim Ritchey, but Robert Yates in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Ritchey will maintain a string of 35 horses at Oaklawn Park, where Alex prepped for the Triple Crown series last year. Ritchey says “I’ve got four 2-year-old colts that are very nice.” He’ll keep two of them at the Hot Springs racetrack and try the same route that nearly gave him a Triple Crown winner last year, hopefully without any messy lung infections this time. Menacing won his debut at Delaware around two turns and was then thrown to the wolves in the Grade 1 Champagne. He’s by Lemon Drop Kid, out of Canadian stakes winner Masada (Pleasant Tap). Dixiewink (Dixie Union) is already stakes placed, having run third to Private Vow in the G2 Futurity.
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...reputed "monster" Point of Impact worked five panels this morning, posting a time of 59.80...might put him on schedule for a race this weekend???...but enough about reputed monsters, here's a real-live monster for ya...My Miss Storm Cat worked six furlongs yesterday in a sizzling 111.20...i've gotta think that's her final prep for the La Brea Stakes, 7 furlongs for 3yo fillies...i have no idea who's in there, but if she's healthy and ready-to-go (and it would certainly appear she is), i can't see My Miss Storm Cat losing...when last seen (returning from over a year's layoff), she blew Selvatica off the track while never really asked to run, and Selvatica herself is one of the fastest fillies in the country...incidentally, Selvatica came out of that race to win two straight, and prior to that had beaten multiple stakes-winner Mea Domina in a maiden race...My Miss Storm Cat disappeared again after that race (she obviously has her problems), but if Baffert can hold her together, she's got Breeders Cup winner written all over her...she's still pretty young (just about to turn four), and being by Storm Cat, and as easily as she was just galloping around the track in that sprint win, i've gotta think she can stretch out successfully...and the La Canada series is the perfect place to do that, as it offers a slow progression of distances (7 furlongs, 1 1/16 miles, 1 1/8 miles)...she's also had time to fill out and mature, a marked difference to a filly of similar talent, Meetmeinthewoods, who won a single six-furlong race at two before stretching immediately to 1 1/16 miles when she wasn't fully mature...one other thing, Baffert also trains the blazing-fast 3yo filly Behaving Badly, who ran very recently in an allowance race, and would seem a perfect fit for the La Brea...why would Baffert waste her in an allowance race @ Hollywood with the La Brea right around the corner???...i'm guessing it's because My Miss Storm Cat is his "Plan A", and he doesn't want those two knocking heads...i'm not expecting any kind of price on Saturday (how does 1/5 sound?), but this is a filly with rare talent and she's definitely one to keep an eye on...it's also worth noting that Point of Impact appeared to have been thrown in with My Miss Storm Cat for a six-furlong gate drill a couple of weeks back...i don't have confirmation on that yet, but if it's true, then Baffert must have a ton of confidence in Point of Impact...i doubt he'd want to bust that one's ego by having My Miss Storm Cat leave tire tracks all over him...
...oh yeah, one last thing...i keep forgetting to mention, but i was in the Del Mar website's chatroom the other day and mentioned Point of Impact, and some guy (who i'm not familiar with) mentioned that he knew Point of Impact's exercise rider (Pepe something), and he thinks the horse is pretty special...more confirmation keeps trickling in, or so it would seem...i can't wait to see this horse run...
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