Posts Tagged ‘rick dutrow’

Ray Paulick will be live blogging Friday afternoon’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships card from Santa Anita beginning around 3:15 p.m. Eastern. To get the latest news on the "Filly Friday" program, including bettings odds and results, along with Ray’s observations and analysis of the ESPN2 telecast (and a scorecard on his own selections), check back frequently throughout the day.

3:15 p.m. … The first "wise guys" horse of the day is Ventura, the Robert Frankel-trained filly who was 5-1 on the morning line but has been bet down to 2-1 in the Filly and Mare Sprint on the synthetic Pro-Ride track. She is the co-favorite with the morning line choice Indian Blessing. Zaftig is another early bet-down, currently at 9-2 from her 8-1 morning line for trainer Jimmy Jerkens. Ventura comes off a strong runner-up effort in the Woodbine Mile on turf. The daughter of Chester House has three synthetic track races, with two wins, one in England and one at Keeneland this spring in an allowance race that served as her U.S. debut.

3:20 p.m. … While we wait for the action to begin, there’s some good news about one of tomorrow’s contenders in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. WinStar Farm’s Colonel John, the winner of the Santa Anita Derby and Travers Stakes, will race as a 4-year-old next year, according to WinStar’s co-owners Bill and Susan Casner. That news came from the notes team collecting information daily on each Breeders’ Cup starter. Click here to read about Colonel John and all the other Classic entrants in Friday morning’s notes. Click here to read today’s "flash notes," a quick daily activity report on every horse entered in the Cup.

3:26 p.m. … Post parade for the Filly and Mare Sprint has begun. ESPN2 telecast doesn’t begin for a few more minutes, so there won’t be much time to set up what the Breeders’ Cup World Championships is all about. "We’re on the air, and let’s go to Trevor Denman for the call of the first race."

3:30 p.m. … ESPN2 is on the air, trying to set things up as best they can. in the few minutes before the first Breeders’ Cup race.  There’s a quick money comparison between the Breeders’ Cup purses and other championship events, from the Daytona 500 to Wimbledon. And there are people at Santa Anita! There is a buzz in the crowd. Oh, happy day.

3:35 p.m. … The very capable Joe Tessitore is hosting the telecast, with assistance from Randy Moss and Jerry Bailey. Reporters include Jeannine Edwards, Jay Privman and Caton Bredar. No sign of Hank Goldberg and his piggy bank yet.

3:38 p.m. … What kind of camera angle is that? Where are they….what a great time to use obscure camera angles, at the most important races of the year. "Why is this so hard to follow?" someone said as we tried to figure these bizarre camera angles.

3:40 p.m. … The wise guys were right. Ventura romped, beating Indian Blessing by daylight, with Zaftig third. My pick in the race, Dearest Trickski, set the face pace and then folded like the $10,000 claimer she used to be. Trainer Bobby Frankel’s got that cheshire cat grin working in the post-race interview. Owner and breeder Khalid Abdullah makes a rare appearance in the winner’s circle with one of his horses, even though he’s been one of the most successful owners of Breeders’ Cup horses. He rarely travels to the U.S. for the races. Ventura pays $7.60 to win and the $1 exacta with Indian Blessing pays $12.70. $1 trifecta  is $48.70 and the $1 superfecta with Miraculous Miss pays $733.30. Final time is a scorching 1:19.90. Chart.

3:45 p.m. … Tessitore hands it over to someone with an English accent and a made-up name of Nick Luck. I assume that’s just his racetrack name. Nick is the foreign horse expert. Where’s John McCririck? Oops…first bad technical flub. Tessitore is talking about something and some loud music crashes over him.

3:50 p.m. … Privman grabs Dodgers manager Joe Torre for a quick post-race interview. Turns out he and Bobby Frankel are best buddies.

3:53 p.m. … Hank and his bank make their first appearance. "I’m a little bit educated," Hank insists. Kenny Mayne says Hank would bet on giraffes if he had to, introducing a cute feature about Hank, playing himself and a mutuel clerk. This is a nightmare,…two Hank Goldbergs on one telecast?

4:00 p.m. … The wise guys are out again, this time slamming the odds on the horse I picked in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, Consequence. She was 8-1 on the morning and is now 5-2. Former Sports Illustrated senior writer Bill Nack is introduced as the essayist on the weekend telecasts. Good move by ESPN2. Not since the days of the great Jack Whitaker on ABC have racing telecasts enjoyed someone who could comment with intelligence and eloquence. Nack wrote and did voiceovers on the 25 greatest Breeders’ Cup moments that will be sprinkled throughout the telecasts today and tomorrow.

4:08 p.m. … Props on the anchor desk. Tessitore, Moss and Bailey show off a sample of turf from the Santa Anita grass course and the Rose Bowl football field.  The point was lost on me. Next up is a Bailey interview with South African horse breeder and golfing great Gary Player (who plugs Sentient jets, a race sponsor). Gary then tees up a golf ball on the grass course and aims it at one of the windows in Frank Stronach’s office. Fore!

4:15 p.m. … Overhead shot of Santa Anita shows dozens of people in the track infield. The infield parking lot looks to be about one-third full.  They’re loading into the gate for the Juvenile Fillies Turf. Another horrible directing job….way too many camera cuts to figure where they are on the track. Laragh tried to take this field all the way, but got nipped at the wire by Maram and Heart Shaped. Saucey Evening was fourth.

4:20 p.m. … Maram is trained by Chad Brown, a former Bobby Frankel assistant who went out on his own this year. Johnny Murtagh rode a terrific race, breaking from the outside and getting the Storm Cat filly Heart Shaped  into a ground-saving position. Prado took Laragh through some quick fractions, and she was game to the end. Brown’s grandfather died earlier this week and was buried in New York today. Brown said his grandfather would have wanted him to be at the Breeders’ Cup. Talk about the highs and lows of racing. Jose Lezcano rode the winner, who is unbeaten in three starts, including a narrow victory in the Miss Grillo Oct. 1. She’s a daughter of Sahm (beter than a "son of Sahm"). The photo finish shows Maram getting up to beat Heart Shaped by a matter of inches. The winner paid $24.20. $1 exotics were: $175.10 for the exacta; $898.90 trifecta; $5,796.30 superfecta. Our pick, Consequence, finished seventh and was never a threat. Time of the race was 1:35.10. Chart.

4:30 p.m. … C.S. Silk is taking a lot of money in the Juvenile Fillies, bet down to 9-2 from her 15-1 morning line. Stardom Bound is a solid favorite at 8-5.

4:35 p.m. … The obligatory feature on synthetic surfaces shows, guess what? There is no consensus on whether it’s good or bad.  Caton Bredar on horse back says the Pro-Ride surface temperature is 145 degrees. Don’t go runnin’ barefoot on that, Caton!

4:43 p.m. … Now seriously, whoever is directing this telecast should try to remember one thing: people who watch horse races are interested in finding the horse they like and following its progress. Constant camera cuts and jumps make it almost impossible.

4:45 p.m. …. Returning from a commercial break, we hear Randy Moss saying he wants to see if someone is perspiring. He can only be talking about the all-time sweat king, Hank "The Bank" Goldberg. Post parade for the Juvenile Fillies. Sentimental pick is Stardom Bound, the favorite, who will be sold by 84-year-old owner Charles Cono in Kentucky after the Breeders’ Cup. Chris Paasch, her trainer, has hinted at retirement because of health problems. He’s a good guy and good for the game. Same reaction I had when hearing that Larry Jones was thinking of hanging it up because of the pressure that followed the death of Eight Belles. I’ll bet Larry just cuts back on the number of horses he trains and will continue. The way things are going it might be my only winning bet of the day.

4:58 p.m. … Stardom Bound will have to win from last place.Betdown C.S. Silk took the lead, followed by Be Smart. A half-mile in :45.92. Stardom Bound makes a six wide swoop around the turn and takes the lead. What a breathtaking performance! Dream Empress finishes second, with Sky Diva third and Dave’s Revenge fourth. Stardorm Bound was ridden with tremendous confidence by Mike Smith. This is what a championship performance looks like. 

Quick story about this filly. Mother-in-law Helen touted me on Stardom Bound  at Del Mar when she lost her debut July 20. I got to the track shortly after that race was run, and she said "Stardom Bound is a good one. She was unlucky to lose."  Helen was right. Hope she stuck to her guns and made a winning bet today. The winner paid $5.20, and the exotics were:  $24.50 for the exacta; $77.90 for the tri, and $2,538.90 for the superfecta. Time of the race was 1:40.99.  Chart.

5:10 p.m. … Stuart Janney, presenting the trophy for the Juvenile Fillies, doesn’t seem to think Charles Cona has the strength to hang onto the miniature Ecorche horse that is emblematic of the Breeders’ Cup. "This is very heavy," Janney says, "and I’ll give it to whoever would like to hold it." Cona grabs it out of his hands. Cona is asked about whether or not he is going to go through with the sale. "We’re thinking," Cona says to much laughter.  

5:14 p.m. … Here comes a Filly Friday feature on life at the track, focusing on female trainers Carla Gaines and Helen Pitts. Wayne Lukas, who’s been married to several females, says he never wanted to hire a woman because he’s afraid someone would fall in love with them. Nice. Gaines was asked what she sacrificed for the racetrack lifestyle. "Children….marriage," she says. Good feature. Uh-oh. Let’s put a little sour taste in it by bringing in Rick Dutrow for words of wisdom. He essentially says, "I have no interest in learning anything from a woman trainer." That’s why we luv ya, Rick. Dirt bag.

5:22 p.m. … They brought some celebrity with too many lip injections to scare the horses in the paddock. Lisa Rinna? I’m told she’s famous for being famous and that’s about it. "Rider’s up…Woo-hoo."

5:26 p.m. … What racing telecast would be complete without a Jeannine Edwards-Mike Iavarone interview? Why did you retire Big Brown and take all that money for breeding him instead, she asks him. Blah-blah-blah, he says. "His life is incomplete and my life is incomplete," Iavarone says. So was mine, Mike, until this interview. Question: Why do you have  a bodyguard at the track all the time? Do that many people dislike you? There are billionaires that drive to the track in their own car, walk through the gates on their own, and wander around without a bodyguard. I know you have a nice tan and all, but that doesn’t make you a  a celebrity — with or without a bodyguard.

5:32 p.m. … I’m wondering if Hank Goldberg had his sweat glands removed. Or did ESPN2 borrow Sarah Palin’s makeup artist for the telecast? Speaking of sweating, Forever Together drinks a lot of Guinness  beer, according to Randy Moss, to make her sweat more. She stopped sweating in Florida, apparently. Hank, were you listening?

Frankie Dettori guns Folk Opera to the lead in the Filly & Mare Turf, gettting the first quarter in a slow :25.46 and half in :50.02. Halfway to Heaven sits in the perfect spot in second and Wait a While third. Slow three quarters in 1:14.78. Out of nowhere comes Forever Together, who sweeps by them all to win, with Sealy Hill second, Wait a While third and Visit fourth. Julian Leparoux gets it done. Forever Together, racing for George Strawbridge and trainer Jonathan Sheppard,   comes off a win at Keeneland in the First Lady on Oct. 3 Good thing they don’t do a breathalyzer test for these horses. Forever Together might be DQed because of the Guinness. 

Meanwhile, there is a run on Guinness at the nearby liquor store by other trainers.

5:46 p.m. … Bailey accuses the French jockey of being bi-coastal. Good thing Julian isn’t listening. Trainer Sheppard (one of the great jump trainers ever) gets his first Breeders’ Cup win after seconds with Storm Cat and With Anticipation. He hit the lottery with Storm Cat, however, getting  a lifetime breeding right in the horse from owner W.T. Young and enjoying a long, profitable run. Strawbridge says he and Sheppard have been friends who have been "forever together." I notice Sheppard is sweating a bit from the heat…or was it the Guiness?

On a serious note, Strawbridge is the second cancer survivor to win on Friday, following trainer Chris Paasch. Part of the decision to have Filly Friday was to raise awareness and research funds for breast cancer in women. Cancer is a disease that doesn’t discriminate.

5:54 p.m. … Payoffs in the Filly & Mare Turf, run in 2:01.58 for the 1 1/4 miles. Forever Together, a 4-year-old by Belong to Me, paid $11.80 to win. Exotics: $224.50 for the exacta; $996.10 trifecta; $13,505.10 superfecta. Hank Goldberg had the winner. I didn’t. My pick, Halfway to Heaven, was in perfect position but had nothing left for the stretch run, finishing eighth. Chart

6:02 p.m. … Crowded paddock for the Ladies’ Classic. Everyone wants a close-up look at Zenyatta, and for good reason. She is spectacular looking. Aaron Gryder’s jockey introductions have been an OK addition to the show. Just got some insight from someone close to the Darley/Godolphin camp. Cocoa Beach is jumpin’ out of her skin, but the filly I picked to upset Zenyatta, Music Note, isn’t on her game. Let’s see how good the inside information is. It may not matter. If Zenyatta runs her race, the only contest is for second.

6:08 p.m. … Great feature on Zenyatta…little about the filly, a little about the music business that owner Jerry Moss has been such a big part of. Sting, the Police. But how come no one has asked Jerry why he failed to sign the legendary Captain Beefheart to a contract? Just realized that the Downbeat winning exacta would be Zenyatta-Music Note.

6:16 p.m. … Bear Now sprints to the lead in the Ladies’ Classic, with Zenyatta dropping back to last. Opening quarter in :23.71. Malfunction on the timer for the half mile (it said :58.08).  Zanyatta on the move as the field makes the final turn. She’s good, sweeping by the on the far outside, but this was no gimmie. Cocoa Beach got  an inside trip and ran hard, making the daughter of Street Cry work for the victory. Music Note gets third, with Carriage Trail fourth and Hystericalady fifth.  Big day for Sheikh Mohammed, who stands Street Cry and owns the second and third place finishers.

Zenyatta’s jockey Mike Smith tells Jerry Bailey while on horseback: "Jerry, I’m in awe. Those are the best mares in the world right there. She’s just amazing. … She was there at any time that I wanted her." Let the Horse of the Year debates begin."She just makes things happen," trainer John Shirreffs tells Jeannine Edwards."She is so special and we are so blessed to have her in our barn." Randy Moss tells us that Jerry and Ann Moss intend to race Zenyatta next year when she’s five. Would that be cool, or what?

Prices: $3 to win, $6.70 on the $1 exacta; $34.30 on the tri; $116.80 for the superfecta, and $254.50 for the Super High 5. Chart.

6:30 p,m. … Nice touch: Joan Gaines, the widow of Breeders’ Cup founder John Gaines, presents the winning trophy to the Mosses. "This is our first Breeders’ Cup win, and she’ll be our first champion," Moss says. "It’s pretty amazing, pretty fantastic." Moss is fighting off tears. "I can’t help it. Applause makes me pretty emotional, somehow. I’m sorry."

A good way to end a very fine day of racing. It was mostly formful, accident free, and definitive in all of the applicable Eclipse Award divisions:  Ventura in the filly and mare sprint division; Stardom Bound, 2-year-old fillies; Forever Together, filly and mare turf; and Zenyatta, older filly and mare and possibly, just possibly, Horse of the Year.

We’ll be back for more tomorrow. I hope my selections for Saturday are better than today’s 1-for-6.

Copyright © 2008, The Paulick Report

Sign up for our Email Flashes to get the latest news, analysis and commentary from Ray Paulick

Visit the Paulick Report for all the latest news throughout the racing world. 

Ray Paulick will be live blogging the teleconference featuring trainer Rick Dutrow and IEAH president Michael Iavarone as they discuss the foot injury that ended  Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown’s racing career earlier today. The teleconference, organized by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. UPDATE: Only Michael Iavarone will participate in the conference call.

(For detail on the type of injury Big Brown suffered, click here.)

2 p.m. … Eric Wing of the NTRA outlines the week ahead. Jess Jackson will be on a teleconference Tuesday to discuss whether or not Curlin will be pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup; on Wednesday, someone from the NTRA will discuss safety and welfare recommendations resulting from industrywide meetings on Thursday the Breeders’ Cup pre-entries will be announced in a teleconference.

The first speaker on the call is Michael Iavarone, president of IEAH Stable, co-owner of Big Brown with Paul Pompa Jr.

2:05 p.m. … Michael Iavarone said "today was a tough day." He was there to watch the work with his family and co-owner Paul Pompa Jr. He said Big Brown worked in company with Kip Deville  on the turf and both horses went well. "I had my daughter in my arms," Iavarone said as he walked back to the barn. When he got there, trainer Rick Dutrow told Iavarone, "I think we are in big trouble with Big Brown." Dutrow said a large chunk came out of the right front foot and blacksmith Alex Leaf said there was no chance the horse could run in the Breeders’ Cup. The injury, called grabbing a quarter, occurs when the back foot strikes the back of the front hoof.

"This was a tremendous blow to the gut of all of us," said Iavarone. He said Big Brown would have a few tough days ahead, though this is not a life-threatening injury. Iavarone expects him to remain in New York for about a month before leaving for Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Ky., where he will take up stallion duty in 2009.

2;10 pm. … The injury would have required a minimum of 60 -90 days to heal, said Iavarone. "Horses grabbing quarters happens in Thoroughbred racing all the time," said Iavarone. "He tore it up so bad that even if he had wraps he could grab right through there. … We have done everything we could to keep this horse going in the right direction. … To have this come up just shocks all of us."

2:12 p.m. … "He’s a one in a million as an owner and as far as the fans are concerned, there are going to be more Big Browns that come down the road. Continue to market and advertise them. Horses like Big Brown and Curlin are great for the sport.  As long as we continue to advertise and market these kinds of horses, the game is going to be OK."

2:15 p.m. … "As a fan I want horses to stay around forever, naturally. But I’m a fan and an owner and have responsibilities to the other owners. As much as I am a fan, I have to look at this as a business. … We capitulated to the agreement (whereby Three Chimneys insisted Big Brown go to stud as a 4-year-old)."

2:17 p.m. … Iavarone is asked to describe how the injury happened. "What I’ve heard is that someone said he may have taken a funny step at the 3/8 pole." Iavarone didn’t see it from his vantage point. "To me the work looked outstanding." The bulb on the back of the front foot was split right in half, Iavarone said, and a piece of the hoof also got caught up in the injury. 

2:20 p.m. … Was this related to other foot problems? "It’s unrelated. It’s not even a foot problem. He grabbed his quarter and it’s not related to any pre-existing conditions. It’s the first time it’s happened to me in a work. It’s just a stroke of bad luck."

A question about Curlin and the anticipated matchup. "The banter that went on between the two camps was almost like professional wrestling. Rick and I were having fun with it. We have no problem with Jess Jackson and Steve Asmussen. ,… Curlin is a special horse and I hope he makes it to the race. I’m devastated today. I felt going into it we didn’t have a lot to lose. We had a lot to gain."

2:22 p.m. … "The key right now is we have to prevent infection. He’ll heal. That’s the only way thiis could become serious." The injured area has to be cleaned out and Big Brown will be given antibiotics. "He’s walking very sore but he can stand on it."

2:23 p.m. … Iavarone describe watching today’s work as two F-16s in formation.

2:24 p.m. … "We still own a significant piece of Big Brown. … They (Three Chimneys) were great in structuring a deal that kept us in the game."

2:25 p.m. … Iavarone said he and his wife stayed up late last night watching a replay of the Kentucky Derby and he admitted getting a little tear in his eye, but said to his wife there’s still one big race ahead.

2:26 p.m. … "He had no front shoes on," Iavarone said in response to a question about whether or not Big Brown was wearing toe grabs for the turf workout. "No bandages, no wraps, no (toe) grabs, nothing."

2:27 p.m. … "Rick Dutrow is a genius around a racehorse. He got more out of this horse in my eyes than any trainer in the world would have. What we were starting to see was a changeover from (Big Brown’s) utter brilliance to his heart. He developed a heart as big as his physical ability was. If we got to the point where he could put the two together you would have seen something breathtaking. It kills me at this point, it kills me, to get this close and not to see it happen."

 2:30 p.m. … "Rick handled this with incredible class," Iavarone said, when asked about the mood at the Dutrow barn. He said it was a time to reflect on the good times and not dwell on the bad luck that ended Big Brown’s career.

2:31 p.m. … Iavarone is asked about whether or not he’ll be cheering for Curlin if he goes in the Classic. "I am completely in Curlin’s corner. If they give me a Curlin hat I’ll wear it."

Almost simultaneously, a statement was distributed from Jess Jackson, the majority owner of Curlin: "My family and I are saddened to learn of Big Brown’s career ending injury during his morning workout. I have always said what an incredible horse Big Brown is and that the bay colt brought energy and excitement to our industry, especially during his run at the Triple Crown.

Visit the Paulick Report for all the latest news throughout the racing world. 

Jess Jackson seemed to dismiss a repeat attempt by Curlin in the Breeders’ Cup Classic as if he was flicking a piece of lint off the lapel of his tweed jacket.

By Ray Paulick

Big Brown got it done in Sunday’s $1-million Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park in New Jersey, but it wasn’t easy, as the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner was in an all-out drive to get past long shot pacesetter Coal Play in the final 70 yards of the 1 1/8-mile race to win by 1 3/4 lengths.

By Ray Paulick

Saratoga opens, and so do the skies.

That sums up the first several days of the upstate New York Spa’s business, which is not good news for a bankrupt organization that says it will need more bailout money from the state sometime in the next couple of months. Heavy rains washed away numerous turf races and showers even made an unscheduled appearance on Whitney day.

The NYRA has survived far worse weather patterns, including the near-perfect storm of a federal indictment, bankruptcy and a franchise renewal drama whose end-game could have led to a game of "musical boxes" on the front row of those cherished clubhouse seats at Saratoga. In the end, power and tradition won the day for the old guard, thanks to some new guard knee-capping by the dynamic NYRA chairman, Steve Duncker, a Wall Street fightin’ man originally from the anything but hardscrabble suburbs of St. Louis (west, not east St. Loo).

Fortunately for NYRA’s trustees and executives, there are some people around who make them look human, led by the husband-wife team of John Hendrickson and Marylou Whitney, who took backstretch philanthropy into their own hands (with assistance from a group of local businesses and horsemen) by providing weekly banquets and nightly movies for the stable hands.

BUT THE EARTH DOESN’T ACTUALLY CIRCLE around Saratoga in July and August (though some may think it does). There’s also Del Mar, whose first-week business declines had the guys in Hawaiian shirts and sandals looking very grim until a gigantic wave of Pick Six mania washed ashore on the July 26-27 weekend, contributing (along with a free concert and micro-brew festival) to the ninth-highest handle in track history. No one picked all six winners and $1.5 million carries over into Sunday’s Pick Six, promising to make that program a big one, too.

Purse cuts looked imminent, but maybe the surge can work where the Turf meets the Surf.

Incidentally, Del Mar won the head-to-head battle of the gate against Saratoga on Saturday, 32,291 at Del Mar to 29,655 at Saratoga. Saratoga won the handle bout, $25,017,333 at Saratoga to $20,531,679 at Del Mar. Del Mar’s numbers were way up from 2007, when just 24,873 attended on the same day. Saratoga’s were down 9.7% in handle and 5.9% in attendance from 2007 when 31,510 were on hand for the first "Win and You’re In" day and handle was $27,708,217.

HIALEAH PARK’S John Brunetti was among those in the large Del Mar crowd on Saturday (he lives in nearby Rancho Santa Fe). Brunetti told the Paulick Report that he is hoping to bring live racing back to Hialeah Park on his own accord and doesn’t need the help of Halsey Minor, the cash-rich, Internet-savvy Virginian who actually is willing to invest tens of millions of his own cyber dollars into not only reopening Hialeah Park but making it a showplace.

Poor old Mr. B (it could stand for "beleaguered") just doesn’t get it. Brunetti seems to be a very nice man, but he’s been consistently outfoxed by Doug Donn, Ken Dunn, Churchill Downs and even Frank Stronach in the South Florida racing wars, and his same old "woe is me" song to state legislators isn’t going to change things for the better. He hasn’t run a live race at Hialeah since 2001, and he ran many horseplayers years earlier when he jacked up the takeout to unprecedented rates following deregulation.

But there is an unmistakable opportunity to bring Hialeah Park back if Brunetti is willing to put his ego and bluster aside. He could ride off into the sunset a hero as the man who kept the Hialeah Park dream alive long enough for the new sheriff to come into town and clean up.

The Paulick Report will have more on Hialeah and Halsey Minor in the coming week.

DID I MENTION EGO AND BLUSTER? That leads me to Aurora, Ontario, Canada, home of Magna Entertainment, which lost another top manager last week with the resignation of Scott Borgemenke, the vice president of racing. This management change was another in a long line of executive exits in Frank Stronach’s empire detailed in the Paulick Report.

Stronach does some things right … breeding horses, for example. His champion filly, Ginger Punch, was one of the on-track stars at Saratoga during the Breeders’ Cup’s "Win and You’re In" telecast on ABC Saturday afternoon (which featured an entertaining back-and-back forth between Michael Iavarone and Rick Dutrow, the owner-trainer team that handles Big Brown). In winning the Go for Wand under tough circumstances (every jockey in the race tried to keep her boxed up), the daughter of Awesome Again displayed the kind of guts and determination every breeder would like to see in his or her horses. She was impressive.

So was Tracy and Carol Farmer’s 7-year-old Commentator, who ran away with the Whitney in powerful fashion. Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito said the win was one of the high points of his own career and puts the New York-bred gelding by Distorted Humor in the same league as Kelso and Forego, two legendary geldings from the past.

Heady company indeed. 

Copyright ©2008, The Paulick Report

Sign up for the Paulick Report’s Email Flashes to get the latest news, analysis and commentary from Ray Paulick.