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Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Notes - Sept 4

- A couple of racing notes on this big news day in New York:

- If it looked like that 14-1 first-timer Big Brown was motoring down the stretch at Saratoga yesterday, that's because he was. After getting to the 3/4's in 1:11.84, he got the subsequent quarter in - get this - 22.62 seconds, and the final sixteenth, when Jeremy Rose finally stopped whipping him - in 5.87. As I mentioned yesterday, he has some interesting inbreeding for turf, and we'll certainly be interested in following him down the road.

- Christina Olivares emphasized on TVG before the Del Mar Debutante that trainer Mike Mitchell loved his entry Spring Awakening. But that was apparent from watching the tote board. Yes, he was the morning line favorite, but he was getting pounded on the nose in the win pool from the very beginning, settling at 3-1 in what looked like a wide open field. Yeah, I hopped on board, coupling him in doubles with a pair in the 10th (including the winner and other than Frankel's horribly overbet Sir Lowry), and yeah, it was another frustrating second place to a longshot, this time 14-1 Set Play. Trained by Peter Miller, this filly became the first Grade 1 winner - and the first U.S. graded stakes winner - for her sire, the Storm Cat stallion Van Nistelrooy. This sire raced exclusively in England, but stands at Ashford Stud in Kentucky for $7,500.

2 Comments:

El Angelo said...

Van Nistelrooy (half to AP Valentine) actually ran a credible 5th in the BC Juvenile in 2002.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of Jeremy Rose and his use of the whip, check out his ride earlier on City of Lights in the 2nd on Labor Day. This was a FIRST-TIME STARTER and he really punished her as she faded out of contention.