The Triple Crown Archives - Page 9 of 9

June 27, 2015June 27, 2015

Mother Goose

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I am horsing around today for sure. I got an early start this morning at the Thoroughbred Center watching the horses breeze and petting them and a barn cat. Tonight, I am attending Downs After Dark at Churchill Downs for some live racing, including some graded stakes. In between, I am watching the Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park. It is a busy day for this blogger and I will share some trip photos and stories later but now let’s focus on the Mother Goose Stakes.

The Thoroughbred Center

Downs after Dark

The Mother Goose Stakes started in 1957 and was named for Mother Goose, herself. She had the distinction of being the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Futurity in 1924. The Grade 1 stakes race is 1 and 1/16 miles on dirt. It is currently held at Belmont Park in New York, where we recently saw American Pharoah win the Triple Crown. The Mother Goose is for 3 year old fillies. The purse is $300,000. At different periods, in our nation’s history, this race has been considered part of the filly triple crown or triple tiara. The other legs were usually the Acorn and the Coaching Club American Oaks. Those two races and the Alabama Stakes are currently considered the New York Triple Tiara. The fastest and largest margin to win the Mother Goose was Rachel Alexandra. She also won the Kentucky Oaks and the Preakness. She holds the record for the largest win at the Kentucky Oaks too. She was the first filly to win the Preakness in 85 years. She has the record for speed at the Mother Goose and was less than a second from Secretariat’s speed record. Tonight at 5:28 pm, the Mother Goose Stakes will be race 9 at Belmont. The Acorn and Coaching Club American Oaks won’t take place until late July and August. It has only been 3 weeks since the Acorn. Curalina won the Acorn Stakes and she will not be participating in the Mother Goose. In fact, only one horse in this stakes race was entered at the Acorn. The 10 featured horses are:

Embellish the Lace
Include Betty
Hot City Girl
Munasara
Chide
Pleasant Tales
Money’soncharlotte
Danessa Deluxe
Eskenformoney
Wondergal

Embellish the Line won both of her 2 starts this year. This will be her 1st stakes race. Include Betty came in 8th at the Kentucky Oaks and 2nd in the Black-Eyed Susan stakes. She is the horse with the experience to win this, having 9 career starts including 4 graded stakes, 1 of which she won. Hot City Girl is one of only 2 New York bred horses in this race, the rest are from Kentucky. She has 7 starts but just 1 win, back in January, and none of her races have been graded stakes. Munasara is my favorite. She is undefeated but she has had just 2 entries. The last win was at Belmont Park. I like her tainer Kiaran McLaughlin and her jockey John Velazquez. Her jockey won the Mother Goose last year on American Champion 3 Year Old, Untapable. Chide has won 2 of her 3 starts. Her last two races were at Churchill Downs. Pleasant Tales has been in a total of 4 races at Churchill, of her 8 starts, and she won her last race there. Moneysoncharlotte came in lucky 13 in the Kentucky Oaks. That was her last race of 7 career starts. Danessa Deluxe was 4th in the Black-Eyed Susan when she had John Velazquez for a jockey. Tonight, Manuel Franco will ride her. She has not won in 2015 but she has 7 lifetime starts, with the last 3 being graded stakes. Eskenformoney came in 10th in the Kentucky Oaks. She has had 10 starts with 3 of them being graded. In those graded stakes she was third and then 2nd before her Kentucky Oaks race. Finally, Wondergal is considered the favorite. She is the other New York filly. She was 3rd in the Acorn as well as the 14 Hands Winery Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies race. 5 of her 6 starts were graded stakes.

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June 7, 2015June 22, 2015

Fabulous Pharoah!

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It took 37 years but yesterday we finally got another Triple Crown winner! American Pharoah proved he is a champion Thoroughbred winning the Belmont Stakes in just 2:26.65. I watched from the simulcast televisions at Keeneland race track as happy tears streamed down my face. 90,000 fans attended the Belmont. It was exactly what I had been wanting to see but I was just so surprised that it finally happened.

American Pharoah held back for just a second when the gates opened but injust 2 jumps, coming from post #5, he took the lead and kept it. He won this race by 5 and 1/2 lengths. This is the 4th largest margin ever.

The bay colt, Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont stakes winner was born on Groundhog’s day, 2/2/2012 at Stockplace Farm in Kentucky. His sire was Pioneer of the Nile and his dam was Littleprincessemma by Yankee Gentleman. Pioneer of the Nile was 2nd in the 2009 KY Derby. American Pharoah has ran just 8 times and won the last 7 in a row. He was the 2014 Eclipse Award Champion 2 Year Old Colt. He will likely continue to run this year and compete in the Breeders’ Cup but is expected to retire to stud at the end of 2015. His stud rights have already been sold to Ashford Stud in Kentucky.

American Pharoah’s trainer is Robert A. Baffert born 1/13/1953. He was born and raised in Arizona. He became a jockey at a young age. Baffert received a B.S. from University of Arizona’s Track Industry Program. He has trained 4 KY Derby winners, 6 Preakness winners, 2 Belmont winners, 2 KY Oaks winners, 10 Breeders Cup winners and 2 Dubai Cup winners. He won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer in 1997, 1998 and 1999. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 2009.

Victor Espinoza was the jockey. He was born 5/23/72 in Mexico. He became a jockey there and then in California. He has won the KY Derby 3 times and the Preakness 3 times. He was the 1st jockey ever to have a third chance at the Triple Crown and this time it worked out well for him. He is also the 1st Latino jockey to win all 3 legs and at 43 he is the oldest to do so as well.

Ahmed Zayat of Zayat Stables, LCC. is the breeder and owner of American Pharoah. He was born in Cairo, Egypt 8/31/62. He now lives in New Jersey. He has been racing Thoroughbreds since 2005 and has many graded stakes winner and has frequently lead in earnings.

I am hoping that American Pharoah continues to race some more and that I get a chance to see him in the Breeders’ Cup!

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June 6, 2015June 22, 2015

Pharoah’s Crown?

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I am six months in on blogging now and I must say this is the most excited I have been for a race thus far. It is time for The Test Of The Champion, The Run For The Carnations, The Triple Crown, The Belmont Stakes! I’m literally waiting on pins and needles to see if we finally have a Triple Crown winner.

The field of 8 horses is strong but I really just want to see American Pharoah win. Not since Affirmed won it all in 1978, have we had a new champ to add to the list of only 11 horses to win all three parts of the triple crown; The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness Stakes and The Belmont Stakes. The horses who have won it all include Sir Barton, Gallant Fox, Omaha, War Admiral, Whirlaway, Count Fleet, Assault, Citation, Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed. Secretariat holds the record at 2:24.

The Belmont Stakes race is the 147th running for 3 year olds of 1 and 1/2 miles on dirt. It is a Grade 1 race with a purse of 1.5 million dollars. The race is named for 19th century banker and 1st president of The Jockey Club, August Belmont Sr. The Belmont was 1st held in 1867 making it the oldest leg of the Triple Crown. The location of the race has varied but there is a 200 year old white pine in the paddock, at Belmont Park, that marks the original location and it is now held annually at this track in Elmont, New York. The race will take place at 6:50 P.M. EST today, June 6, 2015. The event is a to p attended Thoroughbred race in North America and holds high television viewing as well. It can be seen live on NBC.

In terms of traditions this race too has a song, a drink, a blanket, and a trophy. The song has been changed a few times over the years. Some think all the changes have brought on bad luck but currently they play the theme from “New York, New York”.

The drink has changed too. It used to be the White Carnation, then the Belmont Breeze and now it is the Belmont Jewel. Get the recipe here: Belmont Jewel. The blanket is the same. It is made of 700 white carnations glued to 7 yards of green velvet. The flower represents luck and love. It takes 5 hours to construct this blanket. Personally, I think there should be a real crown too. Perhaps, made of carnations, for the horse, if it is a Triple Crown winner. The trophy is the August Belmont Memorial Cup made by Tiffany and Co. The winning owner gets to keep it for a year. It is silver with a representation of 1869 winner Fenian on top. On the bottom are Herod, Eclipse and Matchem, the grandsons of the original Thoroughbreds; The Byerly Turk, the Darley Arabian and the Godolphin Barb. The owner, jockey and trainer of the winner get to each keep a mini version too.

Only 8 horses are racing to win the Belmont Stakes. Just American Pharoah can compete for the Triple Crown based on his past 2 wins. See what we knew about these horses going into each leg here Derby Dreaming and Preakness Planning. This is our field now:

Mubtaahij
Tale of Verve
Madefromlucky
Frammento
American Pharoah
Frosted
Keen Ice
Materiality

Mubtaahij won the United Arab Emirates Derby which is huge but then he just ran 8th in the Kentucky Derby and skipped the Preakness altogether. Supposedly, the surface at the Belmont will be more his preference than at Churchill. He has got in 6 workouts at Belmont and had more time to adjust to the environment at that track. His best hope is probably that he has Irad Ortiz for his jockey. Ortiz was 2014 leading New York rider. His odds are right about middle 5th off the best end, 4th off the worst. Tale of Verve did not qualify for the KY Derby but popped into the Preakness as the long shot and fetched 2nd place. He only has one win to his name which he got at Keeneland. It might have been the muddy field that helped him out at the Preakness. His current odds have him tied for 2nd to being the long shot once again. Madefromlucky is one of two Todd Pletcher owned horses in this race. He did not participate in either of the 1st two legs of the crown. He did, however, just win at Belmont in the G2 Peter Pan Stakes less than a month ago. His odds are slightly better than Mubtaahij. Frammento ran 11th in the KY Derby, he did not run in the Preakness. He has not raced since the KY Derby and has not won a race this year. He is the long shot for this race. He has only won one time ever and that was at Keeneland last October. American Pharoah…what needs to be said? He won the KY Derby by a length and the Preakness by 7 lengths. In 6 of 7 races he has ran at speeds of 100 or better. The talk is that he appears to be gaining weight and showed no signs of wearing out in his 2 workouts since his Preakness win. He drew a good post position too. My fingers are crossed that he will be our Triple Crown winner. Frosted is the biggest threat. He has the 2nd best odds and I fear he is the major challenger. He had throat surgery that really seemed to help him out. Competing against American Pharoah is about speed and this guy has it. In the G1 Wood Memorial Frosted came in first with a speed of 103. He came in 4th in the KY Derby, clocked at 100. He did not run the Preakness. He has placed at Belmont before. Keen Ice has only one win in 8 starts. He is tied 2nd for worse odds. He came in 7th at the KY Derby and then skipped the Preakness. One advantage, not to discount, is he does have Curlin for his sire. Last but not least, Materiality is ranked with the 3rd best odds. This is our other big threat. He is another Pletcher horse. He ran 6th in the KY Derby and skipped the Preakness. He is a speed horse. Materiality won all 3 off his other races. 2 at speeds of 102 and the G1 Florida Derby at 110.

So what will it take to stop American Pharoah from winning? 13 horses since Affirmed have come into the Belmont with wins in the first 2 legs to lose in the Belmont. The reasons ranged from a safety pin in the foot, a few losses by a nose, a couple of un-explainables, one didn’t take his Lasix, a couple of leg injuries, tumbling at the start, a sloppy track, too much congestion, fatigue, distance and one jockey flat out stopped a horse whom the vets said had no injuries. Anything can happen!

It is all luck and talent from here. Good luck American Pharoah, I hope you get your crown!

Update: My dreams came true. American Pharoah won the Belmont stakes and thus is our 1st Triple Crown winner in 37 years. Frosted placed 2nd, followed by Keen Ice at 3rd and finally Mubtaahij at 4th.

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May 22, 2015May 22, 2015

What Does The Silk Say?

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On June 6th I am hoping to see the jockey in blue and gold with a Z come in 1st! I am awfully excited about our chances of getting a Triple Crown Winner this year. I touched on jockey silks a bit in The Emperor’s New Clothes but that post addressed the uniform of the jockey and the tack for the horse. The silk is actually a representation of the owner.

Owners have been registering their silks since medieval times. In New York, owners register their colours thru The Jockey Club, established in 1894. Owners from other states may register thru New York as well. The Belmont Stakes, the final piece of the Triple Crown, is a New York race. Owners may choose from 38 jacket designs with 19 sleeve designs. The design may only be registered in 1 person’s name. The front and back must be identical. The Jockey Club offers a maximum of 4 colors per silk, with a max of 2 colors on the jacket and 2 on the sleeves, but they will not offer navy blue because it looks a lot like black. They allow a tasteful emblem or up to 3 initials on 4 of the jacket designs and just 1 initial on 1 of the other jacket designs. Despite being called silks they are usually made with lycra or polyester now. They are lightweight and fitted to be aerodynamic. My favorite jacket design is the shamrock pattern. Silks Illustration

Owners can be very superstitious about the colors they choose. Some colors seem to be luckier than others. Another superstition leads the jockeys to toss their silks on the floor and stomp on them when they are new so the garment hits the ground in hopes they won’t fall and hit the ground themselves while wearing it.

In the top photo we see jockey Jerry D. Bailey wearing green and pink silks. These are the colours of Prince Khalid Ibn Abdullah, owner of Juddmonte Farms. Bailey is most famous for riding the great Cigar. Bailey won 7 Eclipse Awards before he retired in 2006 but he went on to be a horse racing commentator and analyst. Juddmonte Farms has earned many awards including 10 Eclipse Awards. Cigar was National Museum of Racing Hall of Famer and American Horse of the Decade for the 1990s. Sadly, he died last October.

11 horses have won the Triple Crown. These were; Sir Barton, Gallant Fox, Omaha, War Admiral, Whirlaway, Count Fleet, Assault, Citation, Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed. The prettiest silks of these horses owners were those of Meadow Farms owner Penny Chenery, who owned Secretariat. These silks were a blue and white checkered jacket with blue and white striped sleeves. Both Whirlaway and Citation jockeys wore Calumet Farm’s red jacket with a blue collar and blue hat and 2 blue stripes on each sleeve. The jockeys of 2 more on this list wore white jackets with red polka dots. The horses they rode were Gallant Fox and Omaha. These silks belonged to Belair Stud in Maryland that raced from 1923 to 1953.

American Pharoah’s jockey wears the colours of Zayat Stables,LCC. owned by Ahmed Zayat and located in Hackensack, Maryland. The jockey silk is blue with 3 gold balls in a sash formation and a gold Z on one shoulder and on the hat cover. Zayat has been racing since 2005. He has had 19 Breeders’ Cup contenders, 13 GI winners, and 6 Eclipse Award winners.

35 horses have won the 1st two jewels of the Triple Crown with 23 stopping there and 11 winning it all. Will American Pharoah be next?

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