Near miss Saturday for Florida-breds

Close is only good in horseshoes and hand granades. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. Close but no cigar.

Well, you get the point.

It was a day of near misses in big races for Florida-breds on Saturday as five horses that are a product of the Sunshine State finished second in five different graded races around the country. Obviously, finishing second is not as good as winning, but a near miss in a graded stake is nothing to sneeze at and quite frankly, is a proud accomplishment.

Plus, it does create some very nice black type. And black type with a “Gr” in a sale catalogue or stallion advertisement can often have a positive financial impact that is far greater than the difference between a first and second-place check in a race.

In the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes for older fillies and mares at Keeneland, the Adena Springs-bred mare Bay to Bay finished second to winner Daisy Devine in the 1 1/16-mile race.

It happened twice at Oaklawn Park as Santa Anita Handicap (Gr. 1) winner Ron the Greek, who was bred by Jack T. Hammer, made a furious rally in the final strides of the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap but was unable to catch winner Alternation. Earlier that day at the Arkansas track, Donald Dizney’s homebred 5-year-old horse Apriority, was caught five wide in the far turn of the six furlong Count Fleet (G3), then drifted out in the stretch to lose narrowly to Outta Tune.

Duke of Mischief, a product of Marilyn McMaster’s Florida breeding program, tried to defend his title in the $1 million Charles Town Classic (G2) and looked like he might repeat when he took the lead at the top of the stretch. But the successful defense was not to be as he was caught and passed by eventual winner Caixa Electronica.

Further north in New York, C C’s Pal was unable to pull the upset over It’s Tricky, but hung on for second in the Grade 2 Distaff Handicap. Bred in Florida by Beth Bayer, the 5-year-old mare is also a $7,000 graduate of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company October Sale as a weanling in 2007.

Do not despair too much Florida breeders. There were plenty of Florida-bred winners on the day including Master Rick, winner of the Northern Spur Stakes at Oaklawn and Immortal Eyes’ victory in the Webb Snyder Stakes at Charles Town.

Florida-breds also won several nice allowance races that day including June Cleaver, a Paul Sharp-bred filly who captured a $49,000 non-winners other than race at Keeneland; They Call Him El, a 5-year-old gelding bred by Tiffany A. Atteberry DVM and Beth Hendry who won a similarly conditioned $33,040 allowance race at Golden Gate; and Joyous Music, who was bred in Florida by John O. Sutton and won a $35,000 allowance event at Charles Town. E. Paul Robsham Stables’ Florida home-bred R King of the Road also took a very nice $62,000 allowance at Aqueduct.

Oaklawn fans witnessed Deadly Card, a 3-year-old Florida gelding bred by Guilherme and Angela Bombonato, break his maiden; while Jewelian Rose did the same a Tampa Bay Downs for breeder Annie-o-Productions.

Bluegrass Adds to Competitive Season of Derby Preps

The 2011 class of 3-year-olds vying for fame in Kentucky, Maryland and beyond might be a maligned a bit for their talents thus far, but one has to congratulate the group on giving fans competitive races this spring.

Since the March 5 Gotham Stakes (gr. 2) at Aqueduct when Stay Thirsty won as the favorite, only The Factor has won a major Kentucky Derby prep race as the most popular betting choice when he took the Rebel (gr. 2) a week later at Oaklawn Park.

Since then, the nine other graded prep races for 3-year-olds at a mile or further and the main track, have produced an average winning payout of nearly $30.00 each. The lowest priced winner was Dialed In, who’s Florida Derby (gr. 1) victory returned $7.80 to his supporters as the second choice. Of note: Shackleford was just a head short of winning the Florida Derby at 68-1 while favored Soldat was far back in fifth.

The biggest long shot of the group honor goes to Watch Me Go, winner of the March 12 Tampa Bay Derby (gr. 2) paying $89.40 to win while Sunland Derby (gr. 3) winner Twice the Appeal was not far off the pace returning $53.20 for a $2 win ticket.

The biggest upset of the spring run to Kentucky did not, however, produce the largest payout. Uncle Mo went to the gate of the New York Casino Wood Memorial (gr. 1) as the 1-10 favorite but could only manage a tiring third. Although rallying winner Toby’s Corner went off with odds of nearly 9-1, he was the second choice behind the heavily favored Uncle Mo.

Like Dialed In, Vinary Racing Spiral Stakes (gr. 3) winner Animal Kingdom was the second choice and runner-up Decisive Moment also figured as the third choice of the punters that day. But favorite Positive Response, like Soldat in Florida, ran a very disappointing race finishing eighth in the Spiral.

We have already chronicle the hurdles The Factor must leap in the Arkansas Derby (gr. 1) Saturday and the Toyota Bluegrass Stakes (gr. 1) looks even more competitive. As if the $750,000 purse is not good enough to recruit a good field, it’s the designation as graded stakes earnings that make those Keeneland dollars so attractive to the connections of the prospective runners. The $450,000 winner’s share guarantees the opportunity to enter the Kentucky Derby and the $150,000 check for second would be enough to give others enough or at least near the “Derby Bubble” expected to be somewhere just north of the current cutoff at Shackleford’s $212,000.

Santiva, a horse that started the year on many Kentucky Derby watch lists based on his win in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (gr. 2) last year at Churchill Downs, it appears, is the only starter in the field with enough graded earnings already to make the Derby with $240,254 Trained by Eddie Kennally, Santiva started his sophomore campaign respectfully finishing second in the grade 2 Risen Star Stakes behind Mucho Macho Man in February. The son of Giant’s Causeway also ran second over Keeneland’s Polytrack last year in the grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity, so the artificial surface should not be a concern.

Wilkinson, winner of the Lecomte Stakes at Fairgrounds in January, is one who needs to finish second in the Bluegrass to have any hope of a chance at the Derby. His $70,000 and the second place check in the Bluegrass would put him squarely on the Derby bubble. In order to get the winner’s share he will have to significantly improve off of his sixth-place finish in the Louisiana Derby last month behind long shot winner Pants on Fire. Wilkinson was second in his first start at Keeneland last year, so it has a fondness for the Polytrack as well.

Most of the other top choices seem to be trying to make the turf to Polytrack angle work in their favor. Second choice King Congie has crossed the finish in three consecutive races on grass. However, in his last race, he was disqualified from first and placed third in the $100,000 Hallandale Beach Stakes in February..

Co-third choice with Wilkinson at 6-1, Brilliant Speed last started on the main track in August in a Saratoga maiden special weight. Trained by Thomas Albertani, Brilliant Speed has since started five times on the turf, in the last, he was placed second through the disqualification of King Congie in the Hallandale Beach.

The 12-horse field also makes the Bluegrass a great wagering race and it should be plenty fun to watch for fans as well. One horse will come out of the Bluegrass a winner but as many as three might run well enough to get into the Kentucky Derby. The Polytrack, the influx of solid turf horses, the tradition and of course, the money and grade 1 status all make the Bluegrass an important race.

But its influence on the big blanket of roses given to the Derby winner, won’t be known for weeks.

Backtalk Is Sassy In Sanford

With a bit of horse racing luck I have become a Backtalk fan. Back in mid-June when we mentioned Backtalk (photo) shortly after he broke his maiden at Churchill Downs, we mentioned he had become the first winner of his class for sire Smarty Jones.

Thursday at Saratoga the 2-year-old colt trained by Tom Amoss solidified his early popularity by remaining undefeated in winning the $150,000 Sanford Stakes (gr. 2) over the Steve Asmussen trained Enumerate.

At the top of the stretch Enumerate and Louisvilleluminary locked up and looked to be battling for the win. In the meantime, Backtalk had raced from off the pace while going six-wide around the turn and wore down the two leaders for the win.

It was the second consecutive graded stakes win for Backtalk, whose damn Apasionata Sonata is the daughter of 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed. After stumbling at the start, Backtalk won the grade 3 Bashford Manor at Churchill Downs Jul. 3. And again he impressed his trainer with his determination.

“ I’m very excited," Amoss said in bloodhorse.com.

"I think the ability to come from that far off the pace on a day like today when it looked, to me, as the day went on that speed was a good commodity (and) the wide trip he had … I think those things were very exciting. And, I would say, a will to win. The race was not decided until very late.”

Backtalk was purchased for $250,000 as a yearling and has now won $180,0985 for GoldMark Farm owner Paul Buhlman.


The largest and perhaps the most important thoroughbred auction of the year will feature a catalogue of 5,189 yearlings at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky September 14-28. The first few days of the sale are always the most exciting as last year 12 yearlings sold for $1 million or more including an A.P. Indy filly that had the gavel drop on her at the $3.1 million mark. During the first day of the 15-day sale in 2008, 154 yearlings sold for an average of more than $363,000 and the second day saw the average climb to nearly $400,000 each. The median was $300,000 each day if your playing along on Excel at home.

Of the horses cataloged, 2,662 are colts, 2,524 are fillies, and three are geldings.

Keeneland recently announced that the commission rate on horses which fail to meet their reserve (RNAs) will be reduced from 4.5% to 2.5% for the upcoming sales season, beginning with the September sale. The fee reduction is one of several new enhancements Keeneland will debut in September.

Superstars such as Zenyatta and perhaps the nation's top turf horse so far this year, Gio Ponti, American Oaks starlet Gozzip Girl, Pioneerof The Nile, Stardom Bound and the very fast but directionaly challenged Thorn Song are among the 85 graded stakes winners this year that are all graduates of the Keeneland September yearling sale.

NYRA Photo