CHUTE AGAIN HORSE OF
THE MONTH
Chute Again is the MarketPlace IGA
horse of the month for December.
The seven-year-old daughter of Witsend
Fiddle out of Our Alba won three times and was second (by a
nose) in four starts in the month. She was claimed out of
the $4,000 claiming ranks on Nov. 28, moved to the mares
$8,000 claiming and paced to her fine December. In her last
win of the month she set a lifetime mark of 1:57.1.
Chute Again was owned (she was claimed
on Jan. 1) by Barry MacFarlane of Langley, trained and
driven by Rick White and bred by Sky West Farms of Calgary.
Rob Neufeld, owner/operator of
MarketPlace IGA in Cloverdale will present the horse of the
month blanket to the winning connections.
SINBAD SURPRISES: The Invite and
fillies and mares open races did not fill for last weekend
so the spotlight fell to the $20,000 claimers and company on
Sunday’s card.
The winner, Speedy Sinbad, was a bit of
a surprise, especially on the board where the seven-year-old
son of Denali, left from the gate at 19-1. But the win was
the third in his last six starts as he covered the mile in
1:56.1 on the track rated good.
Speedy Sinbad is owned and trained by
Jim Richards and was driven by Dave Jungquist. Janstar
Master Ib was second and Broadway Time third.
Another big winner was Spider M who
sped around the track in a new life mark of 1:55.4 to beat a
field of seven in the $15,000 claimer crew.
Spider M, a five-year old son of
Deamons Bell, is owned by Ken Dorman and Janice Wheeler,
trained by Dorman and was driven by Larry Micallef.
Red Star Blaze was second and Lo Siento
third.
NORM!
AND TERRY: A couple of trainers from Alberta have
arrived at Fraser Downs to join the fray while there’s a
hiatus in their province.
Norm
Daniel, a 61-year-old from Edmonton, who has returned
recently to the sport, is one hand with a handful of horses
including a familiar name in Tierra Revo, One Lifetime and
Nealies Deal.
Terry
Grant is a 37-year-old from Okotoks who had 26 wins in 148
starts and a .319 universal rating in 2003. Among his horses
are Outlaw Entrapment and Freedom Fortytwo.
Downs’
patrons may have noticed a new driver two weekends ago when
Ryan Grundy participated in a couple of races. Ryan, 22, is
from a long-time racing family on the Prairies (nephew of
Brent and Glenn Grundy) and was here to drive for another
relative, trainer Sabrina Shaw.
BROWN DA MAN: Sparked by a
four-bagger on Sunday, Tim Brown led the driver derby last
weekend at the Downs. Brown had a total of seven victories
on the four-day, 37-race cards.
Scott Knight continued his hot
reinsmanship, picking up five wins (nine in two weeks) to
tie meet leader Bill Davis. Larry Micallef had four and Jim
Marino three.
Knight was the leading trainer, with
four visits to the winners’ enclosure, one more than Mike
Glover and Ray Gemmill. Dave Hudon, Davis and Micallef had
two each.
MIXED SALE: The B.C.
Standardbred Breeders Society Mixed Sale date has been
changed to Feb.17 from Feb. 10, because of a mix up in the
Cloverdale Fair Board office. The first horse will enter the
ring in the Agriplex at 6 p.m. sharp. The entry deadline of
Jan. 30 still applies.
Broodmares will once again be brought
from eastern climes to be added to the sale.
KARA THE SECOND: Kara Cromwell
of Vancouver is the second week’s winner of the California
Dreamin handicapping contest at the Downs.
Cromwell won the mythical total of
$1,083 last Saturday to edge Deanna Stevens of Langley by
$47. Cromwell won money on all of her three selections
including a nifty $1,015 on her choice in race six. Stevens
also had that pick as did John Massingham of Richmond, Lori
Wain of Langley and Dennis Matsalla of Langley. (It was the
only money-winning pick for the latter three).
The reason dreams are involved is that
the winner of the CDHC, of course, gets to go – with a guest
-- to the Santa Anita Derby on April 3, courtesy of Fraser
Downs.
In the CDHC, which runs weekly until
Feb. 28, contestants are asked to handicap a series of races
from Santa Anita. The contest is based on six races, three
through eight, and on which entrants will handicap three.
For each of the three horses chosen, a mythical $20 win,
place, show bet is placed. At the end of each contest day,
scores will be tallied and the entrant with the highest
total will receive the weekly $250 prize – and be crowned a
finalist.
Cromwell joins Ken Compton as two of 10
finalists who will battle head-to-head in the CDHC on
Saturday, March 6 in the Homestretch Party Zone. The
ultimate winner will be surfing – the racing program – on
Derby Day.
Entry ballots are available at the
Welcome Centre the morning of each contest day. They must be
returned before the scheduled post of the second race at
Santa Anita.
LAST CALL: Do you still thirst
for a trip to Cancun, Mexico? You have just this weekend to
do something about it.
All that is required is to order a
blended fruit (umbrella) drink at Margaritaville (the Downs)
and receive an entry form for a chance to win the trip to
Cancun.
The draw for the March (Spring Break)
trip to sunny Mexico will be held Jan. 16 in the winner’s
enclosure at the Downs.
SHOW WAGERING BACK: Pompano Park
harness track, the first major horse racing facility in
North America to ever drop show wagering from its schedule,
brought it back Jan. 2 because of public demand.
The track dropped show wagering in
October when live racing began at the track.
“We are listening to our patrons and
they want show wagering,” said Dick Feinberg, general
manager at Pompano Park. “Despite the fact that less than
1.5 per cent of our total handle last year was wagered on
the show pool, we have heard from many patrons not only at
Pompano Park but across the nation that have called, written
letters and sent emails wanting to have show wagering on our
races, so we have brought it back.”
INGRASSIA GETS NO. 1,000: Driver
Jacqueline Ingrassia became the second woman to win 1,000
harness races, guiding 4-year-old trotter Southwind Pepper
to victory at Freehold Raceway on Dec. 31.
Bea Farber, who retired in 1995, leads
all female drivers with 1,801 and $9,094,479 in purses.
"It's not something I set out to do,"
said 56-year-old Ingrassia in an Associated Press report
last Wednesday. Ingrassia is a native of the United Kingdom
but currently resides in Allentown, N.J.
"Bea Farber was very unique and a great
driver. She deserved everything she got. I'll never break
her record. But I'm not out to break records. We just want
to pay the bills."
Owned by Arden Homestead Stable and
trained by Ingrassia's husband, Frank, Southwind Pepper was
sent off at odds of 39-1 and paid US$81.40 to win.
Mary Clare MacDonald, from Antigonish,
N.S., is the closest Canadian woman to that mark with 777
lifetime wins. The 42-year-old last raced on Dec. 23 at
Truro Raceway.
MAINMAN’S MOONSHOT: Last week we
went with Tierra Revo, who, at 10-1, finished seventh. This
week we will turn to Gift Of Art, a 12-1 morning line choice
in the seventh race Saturday.
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