Tag: Big Brown

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Classic Chrome

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There is always a special feeling of anticipation when our California Chrome is scheduled to race!  We will get another spectacular view of this champ tomorrow, 8/20/16, in TVG’s Pacific Classic.

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The 26th running of the Grade 1 Pacific Classic Stakes will take place at Del Mar Racetrack in the city by the same name, in California.  The inaugural race took place there in 1991.  The track is 1 and 1/4th miles (10 furlongs) on dirt. Thoroughbreds age 3 and older may compete for the $1 million dollar purse.  This is Del Mar’s finest race to date, I believe .  They will host the Breeders’ Cup for the first time in 2017 and in my opinion, the BC Classic is one of the few races that has nearly as much proven talent.  The Pacific Classic is one of the qualifying races to earn a chance at the BC Classic, “Win and You’re In.”

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Many of the best horses have participated in the Pacific Classic.  Cigar, Shared Belief, Game on Dude, Lava Man, Tinners Way and Beholder are a few of my favorites.  Making a return this year, Beholder with her 8 competitors are just as talented and impressive as the stars of this historical race.  The field is as follows by post/horse/jockey/trainer/owner/age/gender:

  1. California Chrome/Victor Espinoza/Art Sherman/California Chrome, LLC/5YO/male
  2. Hoppertunity/Flavien Prat/Bob Baffert/Karl Watson, Michael Pegram and Paul Weitman/5YO/male
  3. War Story/Ricardo Mejias/Dean Greenman/Loooch Racing Stables, Inc. and Glenn K. Ellis/4YO/gelding
  4. Hard Aces/Santiago Gonzalez/John W. Sadler/Hronis Racing, LLC./6 YO/male
  5. Win the Space/Joe Talamo/George Papaprodromou/Kretz Racing LLC./4YO/male
  6. Imperative/Noberto Arroyo, Jr./Richard Baltas/JK Racing Stables/6YO/gelding
  7. Beholder/Gary Stevens/Richard E. Mandella/Spendthrift Farms/6YO/female
  8. Dortmund/Rafael Bejarno/Bob Baffert/Kaleem Sgah, Inc./4YO/male
  9. Dalmore/Kent Desormeaux/J.K. Desormeaux/ Big Chief Racing, LLC., Rocker O Ranch, LLC. And J.K. Desormeaux/3YO/male

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In post position one is my number one pick, as well as the morning line favorite, California Chrome.  All of the pictures in this story are of Chrome.  Each were taken over a precious weekend when I visited him last year, while he rested at Taylor Made Farm in KY.  He holds 2 Eclipse Awards, has won 13 of 22 races and holds a record for racing earnings. He is the solo California bred horse in the race, sired by Lucky Pulpit and his dam is Love the Chase.

Hoppertunity, bred in Kentucky, is the progeny of Any Given Saturday and Refugee. He has won 5 of 20 career starts.  He was 3rd to Chrome in the 2016 Dubai World Cup.  Last year he ran 4th in the Pacific Classic.  Hoppertunity is a multiple graded stakes winner.

War Story, also KY bred, is the son of Northern Afleet and Belle Watling.  He has placed first in 3 of 12 races. He has had a lot of experience in graded stakes races but not much success.

Another KY boy, Hard Aces is sired by Hard Spun, his dam is All in With Aces.  He has won 7 times in his career of 33 starts.  He is a multiple graded stakes winner. He was 6th place in the Pacific Classic in 2015.  He won his last race/stakes out at Del Mar late July.  Perhaps he is on an upswing in California?

The son of Pulpit and Teamgeist is the lovely grey, Win the Space.  This horse was bred in KY by Spendthrift Farm.  He has won 3 in 12 races.  He has not won a graded stakes race.

Imperative is the KY bred offspring of Bernardini and Call Her.  He has raced 32 times and has 3 wins.  He has not won since 2014 but it was a graded stakes race. He finished 5th in the Pacific Classic in 2015.

Beholder has won an amazing 17 of her 23 races, yet I have never beheld her live myself. She holds 3 Eclipse Awards and finished 1st in the BC Juvenile Fillies, 2012 and BC Distaff, 2013.  She is the only filly in the race.  Beholder holds a high rank in earnings.  She won the Pacific Classic last year.  She is the second choice to win per the odds as I write this. Beholder is the KY bred daughter of Henny Hughes and Leslie’s Lady.

In his last race out, Dortmund ran a close 2nd to Chrome in the San Diego Handicap this past July.  Dortmund is the KY bred son of Big Brown and Our Josephina. He has won an impressive 8 of 11 races.  Dortmund was 3rd in the KY Derby and 4th in the Preakness both up against American Pharoah in 2015.  With plenty of talent and California racing experience this guy brings strong competition and is 3rd for the favorite. He shares his trainer, Baffert, with Hoppertunity.

Finally, the last post position is the baby of the bunch, Dalmore. He has 3 wins in his 11 starts. He is the only Florida bred horse in the race.  He is the son of Colonel John and Silver Breeze. He won in his last race/graded stakes.  He was 5th this year in the California Chrome Stakes.

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I have plenty of nerves built up for this showdown.  Watch the Pacific Classic live on TVG for Del Mar’s 9th of 11 races on 8/20/16 at 6:15 PM PT. Add 3 hours to that for Eastern Time. Go Chrome!

 

 

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A Pinch Of Luck

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As I write this, we have just 67 full days until the Kentucky Derby and 17 days until my favorite holiday, Saint Patrick’s Day!  There are many reasons I love this holiday.  One is directly connected to my love of Thoroughbred horse racing.

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Generally, when 3/17 roles around, the weather in the Bluegrass is improving. Then 3 weeks later, Keeneland opens for the live Spring Meet leading right into the KY Derby, the 1st Saturday of May.  I have the house decorated for St. Patrick’s now but it is pretty easy for me to pull that off as my home is fairly Irish themed to begin with.  Getting ready for St. Patrick’s Day is so easy and that’s a huge part of the appeal to me.  However, getting ready for racing and KY Derby takes a lot more planning.  I’ve been watching the road to the KY Derby since it started, 9/12/15, where it will end, at Churchill Downs on 5/7/16.  21 Derby prep races are finished now.  Only 14 races remain to determine which horses will have the points needed to place them in the 20 available post positions.  There is still way too much in the air to cover all the Thoroughbreds in a blog but only 4 in the current top 20 of the leaderboard will have riders dressed in green!  These 4 are ready for St. Patrick’s Day.

St. Patrick was a 5th century missionary and bishop in Ireland.  He is believed to have died on 3/17 and that is why he is celebrated on this day.  Ireland has fun folklore and superstition including fairies and leprechauns.  Legend has it, that for St. Patrick’s Day, you must wear green to be invisible to the leprechauns which will pinch you if they see you.  In fact, people will pinch you as well if your not in green, as a reminder.  Mor Spirit, Exaggerator, Greenpointcrusader and Swipe have the fortune of being owned by green silk farms.

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Mor Spirit is the Pennsylvania bred colt of sire, Eskenderey and dam Im a Dixie Girl by Dixie Union.  He is 4th on the KY Derby leaderboard with a score of 24 points.  He is trained by Bob Baffert.  Baffert has trained several KY Derby winners.  He was 2nd with Cavonnier in 1996.  Silver Charm won in 1997.  He trained 3rd place winner, Indian Charlie in 1998.  That same year he trained the 1st place winner Real Quiet.  In 2001 Congaree showed 3rd.  The following year, 2002, he worked with War Emblem to come in 1st.  Pioneer of the Nile was 2nd in 2009.  He trained 2nd place Bodemeister in 2012.  In 2015 he was responsible for both Dortmund, in 3rd, and American Pharoah, the huge winner!  Mor Spirit is owned by Michael Lund Peterson.  Peterson’s silks are green and white with stripes in V like formations on the front and horizontal stripes on the sleeves.  His jockey is Gary L. Stevens.  Stevens was 1st 3 times in the KY Derby.  He won in 1988 with Winning Colors, in 1995 with Thunder Gulch and 1997 with Silver Charm.  Mor Spirit got his points in 3 races.  On 11/28/15 in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes(G2) at Churchill Downs he ran 2nd for 4 points.  On 12/19/15 he was 1st in the Los Alamitos Futurity(G1) at Los Alimitos for 10 points.  Then on 2/6/16 he got 10 points for winning the Robert B. Lewis Stakes(G3).  In 5 career starts he has always achieved 1st or 2nd place.

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Exaggerator is 9th on the leaderboard with 16 points.  He has had 7 career starts.  I saw him run at the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland, seen above.  That is where he picked up 2 points for his 4th place finish in the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on 10/31/15.  Before that he was 2nd at the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity also at Keeneland on 10/3/15, earning 4 points.  He earned 10 points finishing 1st at the Delta Down Jackpot Stakes at Delta Downs on 11/21/15.  Exaggerator is the KY Bred son of Curlin and Dawn Raid by Vindication.  Curlin was 3rd in the KY Derby in 2007.  Exagerrator has Kent J. Desormeaux for a rider.  Desormeaux has had several KY Derby successes.  In 1990 he was 3rd with Pleasant Tap.  Real Quiet was 1st in 1998.  In 2000 he was 1st with Fusaichi Pegasus.  He was 1st again on Big Brown in 2008.  He finished 3rd in 2004, 2010 and 2012 on Imperialism, Paddy O’ Prado and Dullahan respectively.  The brother of the jockey is the trainer, J. Keith Desormeaux.  Big Cheif Racing, LCC. own Exaggerator.  They have a green cap and a green silk with a white hoop with green sleeves with a white hoop.

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Greenpointcrusader finished 7th at the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland, pictured ahead of the pack above.  He gained no points for that effort but he got 10 points for winning the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park on 10/3/15 and 4 points for placing 2nd at the Holly Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park om 1/30/16.  His score of 14 puts him 12th on the leaderboard.  He is KY bred.  His sire is Bernardini.  His dam is Ava Knowsthecode by Cryptoclearance, who was 4th in the 1987 KY Derby.  Greenpointcrusader has John R Velazquez for a jockey.  The rider was 2nd in the KY Derby on Invisible Ink in 2001 and 1st in 2011 with Animal Kingdom.  He is trained by T. Dominick Schettino and owned by St. Elias Stable, MeB Racing Stables, LCC and Brooklyn Boyz Stables.  This partnership uses a green cap with a green silk having 2 white hoops on the sleeves.

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Lucky 13 on the leaderboard is Swipe.  He is sired by Birdstone who ran 8th in the 2004 KY Derby.  Swipe is KY bred and his dam is Avalanche Lily by Grand Slam.  Swipe is also trained by J. Keith Desormeaux.  His owner is also Big Chief Racing, LCC with James C. Justice and Billy R. Shelton.  Having the same owner, they use the same silks as Exaggerator.  Swipe, seen above was also in the Sentient Jet BC Juvenile.  He placed 2nd scoring 8 points and then was 2nd again in the Front Runner at Santa Anita on 9/26/15 for 4 more points.  He has a career of 7 starts.  He has not raced in 2016 but he did have a workout on 2/27/16 at Santa Anita.  Swipe has Victor Espinoza for a jockey.  He was 3rd in the KY Derby with Congaree in 2001.  He won the KY Derby in 2002 on War Emblem.  He has won the KY Derby back to back the past 2 years with California Chrome in 2014 and American Pharoah in 2015.

These KY Derby contenders are rocking the green.  Don’t forget to wear green on St. Patrick’s or you may suffer a pinch.  To be safe, wear it all month.  I will!

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