The Ohio Derby! | Page 2 | Golden Skate

The Ohio Derby!

marymotormouth

Rinkside
Joined
Sep 17, 2003
Johar-

Thanks so much for the links. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find anything on Escapade in the free sections. I don't really want to pay as I can't justify the cost versus how much I'd use the pay services.

One thing I found unsettling on some of the sites was the way race horses get "used up" and are then seemingly "discarded". I hope Escapade didn't suffer that fate.

And a million depressions about Smarty. Bronxgirl, you are so right about short careers being almost forced due to insurance costs.
 

Johar

Medalist
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Good! We need iolder stars in the sport, especially now that Congaree, Johar and Medaglia d'Oro have retired.

Remember how Cigar didn't start doing much until he was 5 and 6? He ended up winning 16 major races in a row, including the BC Classic, Dubai World Cup, Donn H., Gulfstream Park H., Oaklawn Park H., and Woodward H, the Pimlico Special, the Hollywood Gold Cup, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
 
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Johar

Medalist
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Check out this field for the Mass Cap:

Suffolk Downs - June 19th, 2004 - Race 10
Massachusetts H. - Grade: 2
Estimated Local Post Time: 5:30 PM
Race Type: Stakes
Purse: $500,000
Distance: One And One Eighth Miles
Surface: Dirt

Post Horse Name Age Sex Weight Jockey Name
1 Offlee Wild (KY) 4 Colt 111 Edgar S. Prado
2 The Lady's Groom (KY) 4 Colt 112 Horacio Karamanos
3 Basil's Rhythm (KY) 6 Horse 109 Vernon Bush
4 Gygistar (KY) 5 Gelding 113 Joe Bravo
5 Sarava (KY) 5 Horse 112 Javier Castellano
6 On the Game (KY) 6 Horse 110 Raul I. Rojas
7 Funny Cide (NY) 4 Gelding 117 Jose A. Santos
8 Evening Attire (KY) 6 Gelding 114 Shaun Bridgmohan
9 Rogue Agent (NY) 5 Gelding 111 Jorge F. Chavez


Remember, Sarava won the Belmont, beating War Emblem. And Funny Cide was up for the TC.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Here's more info on the Mass Cap:

http://www.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=22999

I've always like Evening Attire, a 6-year-old gelding. Funny Cide is the favorite, Evening Attire the 2nd favorite. Sarava hasn't been very consistent these past few years. Many (but not all) of Belmont Stakes winners who stole TCs are like that--won that big one, but nothing much afterward.

Here's more news on Smarty:

http://www.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=23002

Looks like they're not ruling out Smarty running as a 4-year-old. Yet.

I like the idea that they're considering running him in the Jockey Club Gold Cup on Oct 1 at Belmont (I always go to that race at Belmont in the fall). That would give Smarty a chance to test himself against older horses before the Breeders' Cup Classic at Lone Star in Texas on Oct 30. :)
 
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Johar

Medalist
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Unfortunately the Mass cap won't be on TV :cry:

There won't be any televised races until July.
 
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chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
I’m hoping that TVG will carry the Mass Handicap. I have satellite, and TVG is part of my Sports Package.

A Reminiscence about Great Horses: Holy Bull-Cigar-Skip Away

Holy Bull was the 1994 3YO champ and Horse of the Year and he was as celebrated then as Funny Cide or Smarty Jones, even though he ran 12th in the Kentucky Derby and didn’t start in the other Triple Crown races. What Holy Bull’s owner/trainer did with him was to run him against OLDER horses, and “the Bull” demolished every field he ran against. Holy Bull was the 1994 3YO Champion and Horse of the Year, and his owner/trainer decided to keep him running as a 4-year-old, to the joy of race fans everywhere.

Cigar, a foal of 1990, made his first start as a 3-year-old and because he was bred for the turf, 12 of his first 13 races were on turf. He was mediocre as a turf horse, compiling a turf record of 12 (1-2-4). Until July 1994, Cigar had been running mostly in California, when Allan Paulson sent him to the Bill Mott barn in New York. Mott ran him in a few more grass races, then decided to try him on dirt in a Belmont allowance race in October, 1994. Cigar won the race by 8 lengths and began his string of 16 wins.

In February 1995, Holy Bull met up with Cigar for the first—and last—time in the Donn Handicap, and in the backstretch, Holy Bull was pulled up with a career-ending injury. But Cigar picked up the baton and racked up 16 consecutive wins. That string of wins included some of the richest stakes races, including the 1995 Dubai World Cup and the 1995 Breeders' Cup Classic, and Cigar was named the 1995 and 1996 Horse of the Year. The last race in the string came in his 6-year-old season on July 13, 1996 at Arlington (I was fortunate enough to be there that day). Cigar's last win was the 1996 Woodward Stakes. He lost the Jockey Club Gold Cup a few weeks later to 3YO champion Skip Away, and after finishing 3rd in the 1996 Breeders' Cup Classic, Cigar retired the richest racehorse (nearly $10M) in US history. America was so taken with this "wonder horse" that he was honored in a celebration of his retirement at Madison Square Garden in NYC in 1996.

Skip Away was the champion 3YO in 1996, and he stepped into Cigar's footsteps as the next racing hero when the Hineses (she owned/he trained) decided to keep racing him as a 4- and 5-year old. Skip Away won the 1997 Breeders Cup Classic and was named Champion older Horse in 1997. In 1998, by virtue of winning 8 races (5 of them Grade 1s), Skip Away was named 1998 Champion Older Horse and Horse of the Year.

The sad thing is that since Skip Away retired, there really hasn’t been a “big horse” to replace him, because nearly all the top 3YOs were retired at the end of the season (Silver Charm was the exception) and any ‘late bloomers’ who won the big money races retired shortly thereafter.

Those Holy Bull / Cigar / Skip Away years were SO great! When will it ever happen again?
 

Johar

Medalist
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Mineshaft, Congaree and Medaglia d'Oro were all nice older horses. :D

There's also foreign horses now and of the recent past that are very good--Lonhro, Giant's Causeway, Sunline, Haafhd, Refuse To Bend, Russian Rhythm...
 

bronxgirl

Medalist
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
I remember Cigar quite fondly. But I wonder about what breeders are doing to thoroughbreds - they were much more durable in carrying weights not that long ago (sorry, I remember the Jockey Club Gold Cup at 2 miles, and Kelso).
Also, wasn't Cigar found to be sterile? makes you wonder what some of these meds they have to give to the horses to keep them sound might be doing to them in the long run.

That said, GO FUNNY CIDE in the MASS CAP! :love:
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Unfortunately, Mineshaft, Congaree and Medaglia D'Oro are all retired, and none of them really seized the public fancy as Holy Bull, Cigar and Skip Away did in their heyday.

There are lots of good foreign horses, but a foreign horse has had most of its great victories outside the US, so they don't really appeal to the US skate fan.
 

Johar

Medalist
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Sunline(NZ) was one of my favorites. 48(32-8-3) $8,400,189 USA dollars. She could run on different surfaces, tracks, countries, against the boys and still win. I remember getting butterflies listening to her last Cox Plate win. I would get so mad when some of my fellow American racing fans said she wasn't great unless she came over here and ran at Belmont Park. Grrr......

Orientate was another recent horse who was very good. A sprinter, he won his last six starts.

Azeri, the chestnut filly who was voted Horse of the Year. She has quite a following.
 

Johar

Medalist
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
How did I miss this until 5 minutes ago? Azeri vs Storm Flag Flying! :eek:

Belmont Park - June 19th, 2004 - Race 9
Ogden Phipps H. - Grade: 1Estimated Local Post Time: 5:15 PM
Race Type: Stakes
Breed: Thoroughbred race
Age Restriction: Three Year Old and Upward
Sex: Fillies and Mares
Purse: $300,000
Distance: One And One Sixteenth Miles
Surface: Dirt
Post Horse Name Age Sex Weight Jockey Name
1 Azeri (KY) 6 Mare 123 Pat Day
2 Passing Shot (KY) 5 Mare 116 Richard Migliore
3 Sightseek (KY) 5 Mare 120 Jerry D. Bailey
4 Storm Flag Flying (KY) 4 Filly 117 John R. Velazquez
 

bronxgirl

Medalist
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Storm Flag at 117 vs the mares!. It's been a long slump but if she can shake it off it should be a great race! :)
 

Johar

Medalist
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Any AP Indy fans? His 2000 half brother, Eavesdropper, finished 4th today in a 1 mile allowance at Belmont. Kiaran P. McLaughlin is the trainer.
 

Johar

Medalist
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Azeri last! :eek: She was Horse of the Year at one time. Lukas is her current trainer.

order of finish Ogden Phipps H. :

3 Sightseek (Bailey, J.D.)
4 Storm Flag Flying (Velazquez, J.R.)
2 Passing Shot (Migliore, R.)
1 Azeri (Day, P.)

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order of finish, Mass Cap:

1 Offlee Wild (Prado, E.S.)
7 Funny Cide (Santos, J.A.)
2 The Lady's Groom (Karamanos, H.)
4 Gygistar (Bravo, J)
8 Evening Attire (Bridgmohan, S.)
5 Sarava (Castellano, J.)
9 Rogue Agent (Chavez, J.F.)
3 Basil's Rhythm (Bush, V.)
6 On the Game (Rojas, R.I.)
 
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bronxgirl

Medalist
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Too bad horses can't change trainers on their own the way skaters can change coaches. I think Azeri and Funny Cide might be raising their hooves to that :)
 

Johar

Medalist
Joined
Dec 16, 2003
None of my horses are winning as of late. Canadian Triple Crown winner Wando is the latest in the string.... :cry:

King Edward Breeders' Cup H. Grade: 2

Purse: $300,000

order of finish:



3 Slew Valley (McAleney, J.)

1 Shoal Water (Kabel, T.)

5 Surging River (McKnight, J.)

2 Wando (Husbands, P.)

4 Remind (Ramsammy, E.)
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
It's a shame that Paulson took Azeri away from the trainer and jockey (Laura de Seroux/Mike Smith) where she had her great successes and gave her to Wayne Lukas. Since she's been with Lukas, Azeri has won just one race, and has finished last in her last two races. Lukas tends to run his horses too frequently, and that's what he's done with Azeri. She was a great champion, and she was retired last year and should have stayed that way. It will be a great disaster if Lukas runs her one time too many and she has a fatal breakdown.

Don't give up too soon on Funny Cide. Many geldings don't hit their stride until their 5th or 6th year. He may not have won a lot of his races this year, but he has finished in the money.
 
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