Monmouth Park jockey Lopez making strides at Pimlico
One of Monmouth Park's finest found himself back in the national spotlight.
Veteran jockey Chuck C. Lopez rode Hey Byrn to a seventh-place finish at the 133rd Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on May 18.
It marked the second time in his career that Lopez rode in the second leg of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown.
"It's pretty cool stuff,'' said Lopez, whose other Preakness mount was in 1997, when he finished ninth aboard Cryp Too. "To have 115,000 people, not necessarily cheering for you, but cheering for the event itself, it is pretty amazing stuff.''
While Lopez has not raced in the other two legs of the Triple Crown (the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes) in his career, he was honored to have gotten the chance at a return trip to the Preakness.
"It's no small feat to be considered to ride in one of the premier races of the year,'' said Lopez, who was the leading jockey at Monmouth Park in 1998 and has finished in the top four in nine of the last 10 years. "They felt comfortable enough in my abilities to let me ride in that race.
"You have all of those people there and millions of people around the world watching and even wagering on you. So it can overcome you.''
As a 25-1 long shot, Hey Byrn broke well from the 13th post position in the 13-horse field and held steady in fourth, right behind eventual winner Big Brown, for much of the backstretch. However, when Big Brown made his bold move to the front of the pack, Hey Byrn fell back to seventh place.
"I thought he (Hey Byrn) ran it quite well,'' said Lopez, who lives in Manalapan. "I was forwardly placed for most of the race. I thought he ran quite well considering the competition.''
Lopez admits he will be rooting for Big Brown after having gotten such a close look at the horse that all of America now has their eyes trained on.
"It helps us a great deal in the light of (the death of) Eight Belles and all the controversy with medications and steroids,'' said Lopez, who rode seven stakes winners at Monmouth Park in 2007. "If we can actually have Big Brown win, I think it throws a good light on thoroughbred racing and can get them (the fans) to come out.''
Lopez does have an upset pick for racing fans looking for a horse to bet on Belmont Day other than the Triple Crown hopeful.
"There is another horse that I am keeping my eye on in Casino Drive,'' Lopez said. "I don't know if he can pick off Big Brown but he may be the only horse to really give Big Brown a run for his money.''
For now, Lopez will be looking to rehab from a heel injury he suffered while mounting a horse at Monmouth Park on May 19. While the original timetable has him scheduled to be out 6-8 weeks, Lopez feels that the heel has responded well and hopes to be back in 4-6 weeks.
He eagerly looks forward to his chance to get back onto the track.
"I want the fans to come out to Monmouth Park,'' Lopez said." "I want them to come up to me and talk to me. I love that stuff.''
Copyright (C) 2008 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved
Recapturetheglory Is Ready
Recapturetheglory, fifth in the Kentucky Derby, yesterday was committed as likely the only horse to come out of the Kentucky Derby to test Big Brown again May 17 in the Grade I $1 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.
"Of the 33,000 horses that were foaled three years ago, 20 of them made it to the Derby, and we beat 15 of them," said the colt's co-owner, Ronnie Lamarque. "Big Brown is a bear, but we're not going to run in it to run second."
The probable Preakness field grew to nine starters when trainer Ken McPeak announced yesterday that Racecar Rhapsody, fourth in the Lexington Stakes on April 19 at Keeneland, would run.
Meantime, trainer Richard Dutrow sent out Big Brown for a one-mile jog yesterday at Churchill Downs. The Derby winner is not schedule to arrive at Pimlico until Wednesday after the post position draw.
"He has come out of the race good; eaten every oat since he has run," Dutrow said. "I just have to decide if I am going to give him a little breeze or not before his next race."
(c) Copyright 1996-2008 The Washington Post Company
This year's Derby predictions are truly horse pucky
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Last year, Queen Elizabeth was in the house. So were the Brothers Manning and Tom Brady. And MJ and Dr. J.
This year, most of those power people are expected back for Kentucky Derby 134. (The queen is not -- perhaps she overdid the juleps last May.) They'll be joined by Dwyane Wade, Michael Strahan, Vince Young and many other athletic A-listers primed for America's best party.
The problem is finding an A-list of Derby horses for them to bet on with any conviction. Seems most of the stud athletes will be on Millionaire's Row at Churchill Downs, instead of on the dirt.
Which is why the least predictable sporting event in the world is more unpredictable than ever in 2008.
"Anybody who says they know what's going to happen," said Jay Privman of the Daily Racing Form, "is lying."
It's all guesswork this spring. A considerable amount of mystery always is involved when you ask a group of 3-year-old horses to run farther than they ever have (1 1/4 miles) against more competition than they've ever faced (the field is expected be a full 20 for the fourth straight year). But usually we at least have a clue.
This year, we might as well consult inkblots as read the Form. This year, the Derby prep races did more to blur the picture than clarify it. This year, no animal struts into Louisville with bulletproof credentials.
"There's question marks with everybody," said Michael Matz, the man who expertly trained Barbaro up to his electrifying Derby victory in 2006. Matz is back this time with Visionaire, a colt whose single victory of note was by a nose in the slop in the Gotham Stakes March 8.
In other words, Visionaire is no Barbaro. But neither is anyone else in this field, at least not in terms of what they'd proven before Derby day.
Barbaro had won three graded stakes races before winning the roses. No horse in this field has won more than two graded stakes -- and just a handful have done that much.
But not only is this class largely unproven, it also is largely slow. The Beyer Speed Figures are a valuable tool in handicapping horses, and they paint a fairly bleak picture of this group.
The highest Beyer Figure in a graded stakes belongs to Big Brown, who ran a 106 in winning the Florida Derby on March 29. That's the slowest top Beyer for the Derby field in at least 15 years, since Sea Hero won the infamously uninspiring '93 Derby.
And then there is the biggest wrinkle of all, the varying track surfaces of the Derby preps. Several key races were run on synthetic surfaces, namely the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., and everything contested at Santa Anita in California. Given the wild variances in performance going from one surface to another, it makes predicting what they all will do on good old Kentucky dirt next to impossible.
"The first thing I do when I handicap a race, I throw out the horses I'm sure can't win," said Mike Battaglia, who has set the Derby morning-line odds every May since 1975. "Well, if you start looking at the horses in this race, who do you throw out?
"All these different preps, all these different numbers, all these different surfaces. It's very tough to handicap it."
But handicap it we must, because very few of the 150,000-plus people at Churchill on Saturday will be there solely for the juleps. So Wednesday, at the post-position draw broadcast, Battaglia unveiled the following:
* His favorite is Big Brown at 3-1. That's despite the fact that he's trying to win the Derby in just his fourth career race, something that last was done in 1915. Curlin has gone on to become a super horse, but he was a race short on seasoning when he tried the same thing last year and finished third.
* Battaglia's second choice was Colonel John at 4-1. That's despite the fact that the Colonel has never run a step of his six career races on real dirt. His blistering workout at Churchill on Sunday morning might have alleviated any doubt about his transition to dirt -- but his top Beyer Figure of 95 remains dawdling.
* His third choice was Pyro at 6-1. That's despite the fact that he finished 10th in his past race, the Blue Grass Stakes. No horse in modern Derby history has run that poorly in his final prep and then won the roses -- but there is some belief that Pyro simply hated the artificial Polytrack at Keeneland.
"Any time a horse runs 10th his last race, you throw him out," Battaglia said. "Not this year."
This year it's tough to toss any horse -- almost as tough as it is to embrace any horse. This is the Derby Without Conviction, which is why so many people wanted in. There's nobody here to scare them off.
That's why one filly (Eight Belles) will run. None has run since 1999. None has won since 1988. And none of the three fillies ever to win the race (out of 35 who have run) did so without previously racing against colts. Eight Belles has not taken on the boys before.
"I don't like it," said two-time Derby-winning trainer Nick Zito of the fillies gambit. "The Oaks [the filly race run on Friday] is in front of 100,000 people. Ain't that enough to cheer for ya?"
In this field, all believe they have a chance at the big prize.
That's why Zito himself is summoning the belief in his second and third string, Cool Coal Man and Anak Nakal. His first-stringer, the crazily fast War Pass, went to the sidelines with an injury last week. Cool Coal Man was a dull ninth in the Blue Grass and Anak Nakal a dull fifth in the Wood Memorial last time out.
"I wish Bill Parcells was here," Zito said. "I've got Jeff Hostetler this year."
And that's why Louie Roussel is here with a colt that might be closer to Gus Frerotte than Jeff Hostetler. His name is Recapturetheglory, a name Roussel had kept in his back pocket while waiting for a horse that could provide his return to the limelight. It's been a long wait, but he timed his use of the name just right.
Twenty years ago, the jocular New Orleans trainer was here with a horse named Risen Star and an owner named Ronnie Lamarque, who would sing a song about his colt to anyone who would listen. They were a hilarious duo, but they wound up making a serious run at racing immortality.
Risen Star finished a close third in the '88 Derby while racing wide the entire way around the Downs. Then he won the Preakness and routed everyone in the Belmont, doing a solid impersonation of his daddy, Secretariat, while winning by 15 lengths. I asked Roussel whether Risen Star would be the 3-5 favorite against this unimposing field.
"Yeah," he answered. "And he'd have my money, too. I'd be over there [at the betting window] saying, 'Let's get down.'"
Roussel never again saddled a horse in the Derby until now. He underwent three surgeries on his back and neck and was out of training for four years, returning this year.
He reunited with Lamarque and came back with a small stable. When Recapturetheglory won the Illinois Derby last month, it punched their ticket for a 20-year reunion with the Twin Spires.
"There's an old saying that the women get better looking at closing time," Roussel said. "I'm looking at [Recapturetheglory] saying, 'He's getting better. He's looking better.' Because you want him to look better. You kind of play mind games with yourself.
"When I came here in '88 I thought I was going to win the race, and it was going to be very, very easy. This is 'American Gladiator' in reverse. There are 20 horses out there when it starts, and only one is left standing."
Good luck figuring out which one that will be this year.
Copyright (c) 2008 ESPN Internet Ventures
The Triple Crown of Horse Racing
The Triple Crown, like many of the best traditions, wasn't created, it evolved. During the late 1800's three different tracks created races to test the speed and stamina of the new crop of three year olds. The first Belmont Stakes took place in 1867, the first Preakness ran in 1873, and it wasn't until the advent of the Kentucky Derby in 1875 that all three races were run in the same year for the first time. Forty-four years later in 1919 Sir Barton became the first horse to win all three. The term Triple Crown wasn't coined until 1930 when a Daily Racing Form columnist, Charles Hatton, used it while covering Gallant Fox's road to becoming the second Triple Crown champion.
In the 133 years that have passed only 11 horses have managed to accomplish what is arguably the most difficult feat in sports. Compared to the Triple Crown, no-hitters in baseball are a common occurrence. There have been more solar eclipses in our lifetime than Triple Crown winners and every year more people are struck by lightening than the total number of Triple Crown winners in history.
Some of horse racing's most legendary names failed to capture this event. Man o' War managed only 2 out of the 3 legs, skipping the Kentucky Derby. Seabiscuit, after losing 17 straight races as a two year old wasn't even considered for a Triple Crown start. Seabiscuit did later beat 1937's Triple Crown winner, War Admiral in a match race. Cigar didn't competed, having started his great winning streak late in his fourth year.
What makes this event so difficult to win? Several factors must be considered. First there's the age of the horses. Triple Crown races are limited to 3 year olds, all of whom officially have their birthday on January 1st each year. By the time of the Kentucky Derby, though most of the contestants will have actually reached their third birthday, they won't realize their full growth and potential until their fourth or fifth years.
Another significant aspect is the brief time between races. Most graded stakes caliber horses of today run with 30 to 60 days off between races, but Triple Crown contenders must run 3 grueling races within the span of 35 days. Races at these distances take a toll on these young horses and it takes some time to fully recover. Sir Barton, the first Triple Crown winner, won the Preakness only 4 days after winning the Kentucky Derby while today's contenders do have 14 days between the two races. Nevertheless, it is quite a strain on their still developing bodies.
One of the most important factors is the distances of these races; the Derby is a mile and a quarter, the Preakness, a mile and three sixteenths and the Belmont at a mile and a half, the last and the longest of the three. The horses that survive their attempt at the Triple Crown will seldom, if ever, compete at these distances again and never with such short layoffs. And yes, survival is a consideration. Many Triple Crown hopefuls are never able to compete again after the Triple Crown, even superstars such as Smarty Jones and Barbaro who ended their careers, and Barbaro ultimately his life, in the vain pursuit of this elusive goal.
Perhaps the deciding factor is that, unlike other sports championships, a new contender can enter the contest at any race without competing in all three races. Due to the large purses for these races, a horse may skip the Derby and/or the Preakness to be rested and ready for the Belmont Stakes. Twenty seven horses have gone into the Belmont with Triple Crown hopes alive. Nine have won it, seven have been beaten by other Triple Crown contenders and eleven have been beaten by horses that didn't compete in all three races. Perhaps it's time to level the playing field… if we want a true champion, let's require that horses must enter each race to be eligible for the next. We wouldn't crown a World Series or Super Bowl champion that didn't make it through the playoffs. Why then in horse racing do we allow honest hopefuls to be beaten by non-contenders?
The Triple Crown stands as the ultimate test of greatness, and that's why on the first Saturday in May each year, America's thoughts turn to horse racing and the hope of just one more Triple Crown winner. Because, after all, we do need another hero.
Triple Crown Facts:
The Belmont Stakes was first run in 1867 for $1,850.00 at the Jerome Park Race Course in New York at a mile and five eights. It has also been run at a mile and one eighth and a mile and three eights before settling at a mile and a half in 1926.
The first Preakness Stakes was held in 1873 for $2,050.00 at Pimlico Race Course in Maryland at a mile and a half, but has been run at six different distances between a mile and a mile and a half before stabilizing at a mile and three sixteenths in 1925.
The first Kentucky Derby was in 1875 for a purse of $2,850.00 at the Louisville Jockey Club Course, later renamed Churchill Downs, at a mile and a half, but was shortened to a mile and a quarter in 1896.
There have been 5 years when it was not possible to have a Triple Crown winner:
In 1890 the Belmont Stakes and the Preakness where on the same day at the same track
In 1911 and 1912 the Belmont Stakes was not run
In 1917 and 1922 the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness where held on the same day
The only Triple Crown winner to directly sire another was Gallant Fox (1930 winner) who sired Omaha (1935 winner).
Only two trainers have trained more than one Triple Crown winner, James Fitzsimmons - Gallant Fox (1930) and Omaha (1935) and Ben A. Jones - Whirlaway (1941) and Citation (1948).
Only one jockey has ridden more than one Triple Crown winner, Eddie Arcaro - Whirlaway (1941) and Citation (1948).
No filly has ever won the Triple Crown.
The number of living Triple Crown winners… none, Seattle Slew (1977) passed away in 2002, marking the first time since the first Triple Crown winner in 1930 that no Triple Crown winner has been alive.
No Triple Crown winner has ever won the Breeder's Cup which began in 1984; six years after Affirmed won the last Triple Crown in 1978.
Copyright (c) American Chronicle
Asmussen shifts attention to next goal with Pyro
After succeeding in two of the world's richest races with Curlin, trainer Steve Asmussen finds himself in the enviable position of shifting his attention to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) with Pyro.
Collecting the trophies for the Breeders' Cup Classic Powered by Dodge (G1), Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1), and Kentucky Derby would be a significant feat -no trainer has ever won all three races, let alone within a span of a little more than six months.
"It's been pretty amazing, to have such fabulous horses," Asmussen said on Monday morning outside his barn at Keeneland Race Course, his grin widening with each word.
Curlin galloped on Monday, a day after arriving at Keeneland following a stopover at Belmont Park in his return from Dubai, where he joined Cigar, Pleasantly Perfect, and Invasor (Arg) as the only horses to win the world's two most lucrative dirt races.
"[Owner Jess Jackson] has to be commended for letting us continue to race him, to see how good he can be," Asmussen said. "I think we're headed in the right direction."
Asmussen is right where he hoped to be with Pyro when he outlined a plan to get the colt to the Kentucky Derby. Pyro figures to be a strong favorite for Saturday's Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) at Keeneland, after beginning his season with victories in the Risen Star Stakes (G3) and Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds.
"He ran solid last year and we gave him a little break over the winter, and I love how he's developed," Asmussen said. "He's a beautiful horse, and he's had two solid races in him this year. They aren't brilliant, but they're solid.
"[Mentally], he's matured. I don't see a big change in him with the fact that he's simply older. He's still physical, somewhat playful, but he understands racing better than he did last year."
Pyro breezed an easy four furlongs in :50.60 before daybreak on Monday at Keeneland. He has never raced on a Polytrack surface, but he trained at Keeneland last fall prior to his second-place finish to War Pass in the Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1).
"The main thing is at this stage, you don't want to be watching The Weather Channel 24 hours a day," Asmussen said of the peace of mind that an all-weather surface provides.
Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) winner Cool Coal Man and Gotham Stakes (G3) winner Visionaire also are expected for the Blue Grass, along with Cowboy Cal, Halo Najib, Kentucky Bear, Medjool, and Miner's Claim.
Monba is under consideration for either the Blue Grass or the Coolmore Lexington Stakes (G2) on April 19 at Keeneland.
Trainer Barclay Tagg is leaning toward the Blue Grass with Tampa Bay Derby (G3) winner Big Truck, although the Lexington also is a possibility.
Tagg also is tentatively looking at the Lexington for Elysium Fields, who washed out severely before finishing 11th in the Florida Derby (G1) on March 29. He entered the Florida Derby off a strong runner-up finish in the Fountain of Youth. Both Big Truck and Elysium Fields are scheduled to breeze four furlongs on Tuesday at Keeneland.
Elysium Fields would need to hit the board in the Lexington to have enough graded stakes earnings to crack the Derby field, which is capped at 20 starters.
"He needs money," Tagg said. "He had a bad experience in the Florida Derby, and it's messed me up. I don't know quite what to do with him. I think that a bad race is still a hard race. He might not have run as hard as if he had run the whole way, but he came out of it exhausted and on the verge of heat stroke. It was just a bad day."
Big Truck is on the bubble with $194,500 in graded stakes earnings.
"I don't really need to run him again, but I might have to to get in," Tagg said. "I'd really like to run him in the Derby because he's got a tremendous amount of stamina."
Tale of Ekati joined Tagg's string at Keeneland following his win in the Wood Memorial Stakes (G1) on April 5 at Aqueduct. The Tale of the Cat colt rebounded from a sixth-place finish in the Louisiana Derby that Tagg attributes mostly to a slow start.
"The guy was jerking him around in the [gate] and he just got away bad," he said. "He has a habit of getting away bad, so we worked on that a little bit, and we came back and he broke well enough the other day and made up for it. I guess he got enough out of the Louisiana Derby and it set him up for the Wood. He got a lot out of [the Wood]. He dug in pretty well."
War Pass and Court Vision, the second - and third-place finishers, respectively, in the Wood Memorial, will likely proceed with Tale of Ekati to the Kentucky Derby.
Trainer Eoin Harty said he will ship Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Colonel John to Churchill Downs sometime between April 20 and April 22, which would give the Tiznow colt at least ten days to train on the dirt surface prior to the Derby on May 3. Colonel John has never raced on a conventional dirt track.
Bob Black Jack, the runner-up in the Santa Anita Derby, also will be considered for the Kentucky Derby.
Recapturetheglory will move on to Churchill after his upset win on the front end in the Illinois Derby (G2). Trainer Louie Roussel III owns Recapturetheglory in partnership with Ronald Lemarque. Roussel named the Cherokee Run in reference to their success with champion Risen Star, the 1988 Preakness (G1) and Belmont (G1) Stakes winner.
Denis of Cork finished a dull fifth as the even-money favorite in the Illinois Derby, but trainer David Carroll said the Harlan's Holiday colt would continue on toward the Kentucky Derby.
"You just kind of shake your head and move on," Carroll said. "He had one of those days. I guess we all have them, you know?"
Z Humor, the third-place finisher in the Illinois Derby, also is likely for the Kentucky Derby, said Sobhy Sonbol, racing manager for owner Ahmed Zayat.
Trainer Bob Baffert may still be heard on the Derby trail with Samba Rooster, who is slated for the Lexington Stakes after he was purchased privately by Bernie Schiappa, Ernie Moody, and J. Terrence Lanni.
Samba Rooster finished second to Harlem Rocker in an entry-level allowance race on March 30 at Gulfstream Park. The Songandaprayer colt is not nominated to the Triple Crown.
Baffert trained 2006 Blue Grass winner Sinister Minister for the same partnership.
"Bernie wanted some action," Baffert said of the recent deal. "We figure he's a need-the-lead type horse and maybe going two turns he'll just keep on going."
Baffert joked that Sinister Minister's runaway performance in the Blue Grass may have been the final straw that led Keeneland to replace its dirt track with the synthetic Polytrack surface.
"I wish we had that old dirt track for [Samba Rooster]," Baffert said.
(c) Copyright 2008, Thoroughbred Times
Denis of Cork headlines Illinois Derby
Cicero, IL (Sports Network) - Undefeated Denis of Cork heads a field of seven for Saturday's $500,000 Illinois Derby at Hawthorne Race Course. The 1 1/8 mile race has become an important Kentucky Derby prep in recent years.
In 2002 War Emblem followed his win in this race with victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.
"We just like to keep the Illinois Derby in the national spotlight," said Stakes Coordinator Debbie Lindsay. "It's a great race at a good time of the year, because it's four weeks until the Kentucky Derby. That makes it a graded prep race for decent money and I think most of the horsemen recognize that."
Denis of Cork, the winner of the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn, will start from post five with Julien Leparoux set to ride. Trained by David Carroll, the colt is considered the favorite for the race.
"We're very happy with him and now hopefully he'll run big in Illinois," said Carroll about his colt. "We need to run big there. I think Julien is kind of a quiet rider and can get this horse in a nice rhythm. He's kind of a push- button horse and I think he'll fit him beautifully."
Owned by Mr. and Mrs. William Warren, Denis of Cork has banked $198,552 with $174,000 earned this year. He won the Southwest Stakes by 2 1/4 lengths over Sierra Sunset, who then went on to capture the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn.
Atoned, second in the Tampa Bay Derby, will break from post four with Joe Bravo getting his first ride on the colt.
The three-year-old will try to snap a four race streak in which he has finished second each start. Since winning the Continental Mile at Monmouth Park last August, Atoned has been the runner-up in the Whirling Ash, Dover and Remsen Stakes along with the Tampa Bay Derby.
Trained by Todd Pletcher for Dogwood Stable, Atoned has won two of eight career starts for $196,757.
Veteran Louisiana trainer Louie Roussel ships in Recapturetheglory for the race. The colt will be ridden by Eddie Baird from the inside post.
Recapturetheglory will make his stakes debut on Saturday for co-owners Roussel and Ronald Lamarque. The three-year-old has been in the money in four of five career starts with one win. A horse that likes to be at or on the lead, he has earned $33,080.
Here is the complete field in post position order for the Illinois Derby: Recapturetheglory, Eddie Baird; Instill, Chris Emigh; Z Humor, Rene Douglas; Atoned, Joe Bravo; Denis of Cork, Julien Leparoux; Golden Spikes, Timothy Thornton and Real Appeal, James Graham.
The 51st Illinois Derby has a scheduled post-time of 5:26 p.m. (et).
(c)2008 The Sports Network. All Rights Reserved.
They're Just a Bit Outside in Maryland
Apple Special may go off as the favorite this afternoon when 12 3-year-olds line up for the $80,000 Private Terms Stakes at Laurel Park, but trainer John Robb had no qualms about keeping his plans to vacation in Aruba and leave the saddling duties to barn foreman Brenda Brady.
Although his colt won the Maryland Juvenile Championship last fall and is one of five Triple Crown nominees in the field, Robb hasn't exactly micromanaged Apple Special's every move in hopes of pushing his way into the Kentucky Derby or Preakness.
The trainer sent Apple Special up to New York on Feb. 2 for a run in the Whirlaway Stakes at Aqueduct, finished a well-beaten fifth and decided that was enough of the Derby trail for him.
"He went to New York and had no excuse at all," said Robb, who noted that another Maryland-based horse, Cave's Valley, went off as the favorite in the Whirlaway and finished sixth. "That tells me the horses up there are a little better than ours."
But in a year when even the top Triple Crown contenders are producing modest speed figures, the Maryland contingent might not be far behind. The Grade II $500,000 Lanes End at Turfway Park is the major race for 3-year-olds today, but none of the contenders in that field has run significantly faster than the best horses in the Private Terms.
Many trainers around the country are aggressively throwing inexperienced horses into the major prep races in hopes of landing their owners a trip to the Derby. Maryland trainers, even ones with promising runners, appear far more conservative.
"The Lanes End is a little bit of a soft bunch on paper, but there are probably horses in there that are moving forward or that people like more than their numbers show," said Laurel-based trainer Ferris Allen, who hopes his sprint stakes winner Vanderkaay can stretch out and handle the one-turn mile distance of the Private Terms. "In this race, the connections are trying to do positive things with their horses rather than overmatch them. It's a sensible thing to do when you're bringing along a 3-year-old for a long season."
Trainer Michael Trombetta had high hopes for Cave's Valley after the colt won the first three starts of his career, including back-to-back defeats of Atoned, who recently finished second in the Tampa Bay Derby. Cave's Valley, however, suffered a rough trip, finishing seventh in the $1 million Delta Jackpot last December and never recovering his form. He made no impact in the Whirlaway and then set a strong pace in the $70,000 Miracle Wood on March 1 at Laurel before tiring and placing third.
"I think my horse has got some quality," said Trombetta, who got his first taste of the Triple Crown when his Sweetnorthernsaint went off as the Kentucky Derby post-time favorite two years ago, when Barbaro won. "He's run a handful of times and made $150,000. I'm not giving up on him. A lot of times, there's only a length or two that separates a group of horses. Some people want to take shots [at big prep races]. We don't know what's out there yet."
One Maryland trainer looking to find out is Tim Tullock, who will skip the Private Terms to run his promising Gattopardo in the Grade III $150,000 Bay Shore Stakes on April 5 at Aqueduct. The colt, a son of champion Johannesburg, already whipped five of the Private Terms horses, including Apple Special and Cave's Valley, in the Miracle Wood. The race got Tullock thinking seriously about the Preakness.
"My only resistance to temptation is against taking a swing at the Kentucky Derby," Tullock said. "If I do jump in, it will be at the Preakness. My personal feeling is you don't go to the Derby unless you think you can win it or run really, really well. It's a great experience for trainers and owners and everyone except the horse."
© Copyright 1996-2008 The Washington Post Company
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