- Pastel Gal did it again, running second on Friday at 1-2 after doing so at 2-5 last month. And Blitzen Too indeed got the win for Clement, creating an exacta payoff of $54. However, Barclay Tagg turned the tables in the feature, when West of Gibraltar gave him his meet leading 10th winner. Applauded was 4th at 8-5 for Clement, continuing his desultory record here with horses 2-1 or less; now 0-8!
After a brief respite following his good 5th at 40-1 in the Carter, Not for Money dominated the third race, getting the seven furlongs in 1:20.70 for Edgar Prado and trainer Richard Dutrow.
No racing for me today or Sunday, as we're off for a brief sojourn upstate. But I'm looking forward to what's supposed to be a beautiful summer-like day for the Met Mile card on Monday. So good luck at the races today and tomorrow, and have a fun and safe weekend.
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Saturday, May 24, 2008
Belmont Notes
Posted by Alan Mann at 9:32 AM
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Mauralakana won the feature Sheepshead Bay at 8/5. Herboriste cut the early fractions and the winner took over at the eighth pole for an easy win.
Samyn on the green in the
5th at 72-1 on Halation. The horse never hit the board in 7 dirt starts. A bullet half mile on 4/17 was the only clue on this one. There is a 56k pick six carryover for Sunday.
Monday's 11 race card has 7turf races and the Met Mile. Good luck to all.
Check out the writeup on the trainer of Halation.
http://www.nyra.com/belmont/stories/May242008.shtml
http://tinyurl.com/5fgbw9
Mauralakana unleashed a "Big Brown" like turn of foot in the stretch, pretty amazing for a filly at the end of a a marathon.
She has turned into the real deal.
Big Brown quarter crack rearing its ugly head, perhaps will get 1-2 on him in Belmont. From Daily News:
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sunday, May 25th 2008, 4:33 PM
Big Brown's perfect path has its first bump.
The unbeaten Triple Crown contender has a slight crack on his left front hoof, although trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. was confident the injury won't keep his colt from running in the Belmont Stakes in less than two weeks.
However, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner has missed two days of training at Belmont Park, and will miss at least several more while being treated by hoof specialist Ian McKinlay for a five-eighths of an inch long quarter crack on the inside of his left heel.
"We're all concerned because there's a big race coming up," Dutrow said outside his barn. "But Ian has us pretty well relaxed. He's telling me it's nothing and he'll be fine in a few days."
Unlike the two-week turnaround between the Derby and the Preakness, there's a three-week break before the Belmont on June 7. Good thing, too, especially if the injury heals by Thursday as Dutrow is hoping.
"If it was two weeks we would be nervous, but this way I'm as cool as we can be," Dutrow said. "It's bad that this happened, but it's good that it happened at this time."
McKinlay has repaired injuries much more severe before big races, allowing Touch Gold to fight off a leg injury from the 1997 Preakness and go on to win the Belmont and spoil Silver Charm's Triple try in 1997.
This will be a much simpler task, he said.
"This is a very, very minor crack," McKinlay assured. "We will put a set of wires in, stitch it up and then patch it."
Best case scenario, he says, could allow Big Brown to return to the track Thursday.
"The worst case is he doesn't make the race," Dutrow said. "The horse is in great shape. He doesn't know anything is wrong with him. When you touch it and put pressure on it, he's going to give. But the worst possible thing that could happen is he doesn't make the race, and that will only hurt human beings. Not him. He's laying back, not worried about anything."
Dutrow said Big Brown continues to be taken for walks inside his barn, and is feeling no pain.
"If the race was today, yesterday or tomorrow, it would not be an issue," he said.
A quarter crack is a vertical crack in the hoof wall between the toe and heel of the hoof, usually extending into the coronary band, where the hoof meets the skin of the leg.
For the most part, the injury is not considered serious and is fairly common. Healing time can range from a few days to a few months, depending on the severity of the crack.
Foot woes are nothing new for Big Brown. When he first arrived at Dutrow's barn in Aqueduct late last year, he suffered an abscess in the sole of his left front foot, which caused a wall separation and sidelined him for 45 days.
No one hit the pick six so there is a 239K carryover for Monday. Good luck to all.
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