Youngsters battle in Breeders
The Sandown Breeders Stakes will be held this weekend at the
Island emporium.
Big battles loom in the three-year-old races and the
questions, the what-abouts, abound in the two-year-old
events.
The race to watch comes Sunday in the three-year-old filly
event. JJJ Stables and Al Anderson’s Betterfrombehind, with
the 12 wins in 14 starts career record, has to bounce back
from a poor performance in the Arbutus Stake. Owner Rick
Mowles said they were not sure what happened in the Arbutus
but reports that she has had recent 1:55.2 and 1:55.4 works
in California.
She will have to be that good to fight off a challenge from
Robert Murphy’s Red Star Ginny who blazed to a 1:54.3 win in
the Dogwood Stake on Aug. 21. And, Jimmy Jams Jubilee, owned
by Jim Findlay, has been in the money in 11 of 15 starts
this year.
On the colt side, JJJ and Anderson have Active Pass and Wild
Rumour with the main challenges expected from Red Star Billy
and Mattswhereitsat.
The two-year-olds are really raw.
Red Star Islander has a win, a 1:59.2 effort, to pace the
boys while Superfecta Kid has a second and third in two
starts.
Heather Sifert’s filly Illchangeyourluck has raced once in
OSS Stake company in Ontario. Red Star Biggirl, meanwhile,
has looked sharp in a pair of wins in qualifiers. JJJ and AA
will send out Whisper What Then.
The two-year-olds are always fun.
ABLE IN CANE: Casie Coleman’s American Ideal
continues to roll – this time grabbing a $57,600 Cane Pace
elimination last Saturday at Freehold Raceway.
American Ideal dominated his elimination for driver George
Brennan and trainer Coleman as the son of Western Ideal went
gate to wire for a 1:52.2 win over Royal Flush Shark.
It was the fourth-straight win and the eighth in 15 starts
for the three-year-old whose owners are partners Mac Nichol
of St Albert, Alberta and Brittany Farms of Versailles,
Kentucky. They shelled out a supplemental payment to make
the colt eligible.
A win in the final of the Cane Pace, which is set for Monday
(Sept. 5), will permit the owners of American Ideal to also
supplement to the prestigious Little Brown Jug, the second
jewel of the Triple Crown.
The week before last, American Ideal overpowered eight other
three-year-old pacers to capture the $459,000 Confederation
Cup at Flamboro Downs.
American Ideal, driven by Mark MacDonald, won in a track
record 1:50.3.
ALL OVER AND GOOD: Speaking of fine performances,
Stampede Park in Calgary was the site of one of the best of
the year in North America when All Over The Place captured
the big Nat Christie Memorial last Sunday.
All Over The Place captured the richest ever $250,000
Christie with a record 1:50.1 mile, the fastest ever at the
Alberta track.
All Over The Place made it look easy, as top U.S. driver Ron
Pierce steered the colt to the victory by an amazing four
lengths. This all came after winning an elimination earlier
on the card and just a week after competing in an
elimination heat and the final (finishing second) of the
Confederation Cup in Ontario.
Falcons Future held the previous Stampede Park mark of 1:51,
set in the 1994 Nat but All Over The Place actually set more
than just one record with his sparkling effort. The Mark
Ford-trained pacer now holds the Canadian and North American
record this year for the fastest mile by a three-year-old
colt/gelding on a five-eighths mile track.
Alberta-based Escapable Beaux delivered a sharp performance
to finish second and Panoramic, used hard in his elim, was
third.
Pierce - who traveled to Calgary from New Jersey just for
the Nat Christie program – also won four other races on the
card.
Ironically, in the $73,975 Prairie Gold Final for
four-year-old horse and geldings the day before, Dudes
Leaving Town crushed his rivals by 14-lengths in a track
record clocking of 1:51.3.
BATTLE STILL HOT: Last week the story was about the
battle to the wire for top driver honors at the Sandown Park
meet.
With but two weeks to go, three drivers -- Jim Marino, Dave
Hudon and Bill Davis --shared honors with 20 wins each.
Scott Knight had snuck into contention with 16.
However, Davis missed last weekend as he competed at
Stampede Park in Calgary and Hudon had the weekend off
courtesy the judges. So they are still at 20.
Knight, meanwhile, continued his late charge, joining that
pair at 20 with twin wins each day last weekend.
Marino, however, shook off a minor slump to take the lead.
Blanked Saturday, he picked up a pair of victories Sunday to
jump to 22.
And then just to make things nerve-racking a little longer,
two more weeks have been added to the Sandown meet.
Tim Brown and Jim Wiggins had two wins each last weekend.
All of Knight’s wins last weekend came with horses he trains
and that success pushed him into the lead for top trainer
honors. He now has 18, one more than Hudon.
Wiggins and Gord Abbott were next on the weekend with two
wins each.
YOUNG GUN TO BREED: Driver/trainer Terry Kaufman, one
of the Young Guns of a handful of years ago, is leaving town
– but not the business.
Terry and wife Terri Alcock are off to 100 Mile House on
Oct. 1 to continue their interest in the breeding end of the
game. They have purchased a 17.3-acre farm where Kaufman
says they will “breed to sell.”
They will have a minimum of five or six broodmares. They now
have three weanlings and buyers in the wings.
Kaufman also hopes to have a stallion on the farm and is
eyeing Allamerican Cobalt. The son of Western Hanover out of
Cool World raced in the Breeders Crown stake in 2004 and has
a lifetime mark of 1:51.1.
HORSE TALES: Good things come to those who wait.
Trainer Archie Caron and the Caron Stables showed patience
is a virtue when their busy three-year-old colt Carons
Record Time got his first lifetime win last Saturday at
Sandown.
The son of Quanah Parker had gone 32 trips (split equally
between two and three-year-old campaigns) without a win.
Driven by Tim Jacobson, Record Time set his record time at
2:03.1.
Red Star Toodles picked up her third win in a row and tied
her lifetime mark of 1:58 last Saturday. The three-year-old
daughter of Storm Compensation, who is owned by Robert
Murphy and trained and driven by Clint Warrington, has been
in the money in 12 of 18 career starts.
The veteran (11) Woodmere Windrop, owned, trained and loved
(don’t tell Bill we said that) by Marian and Bill Young,
used a late, late rally (part of a 29.4 last quarter) in
winning last Sunday. The son of Drop Off now has four wins
and two seconds in seven starts this year at Sandown.
-30-
