A year ago, a victory in Del Mar’s Pat O’Brien Stakes was worth a free trip east for the Breeders’ Cup. A free spot and travel expenses to the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile will be on the line again in Saturday’s edition, but the trip will be quicker and easier this time for the winner.
Author: News
Summer Breezes: Zverev Looks to ‘Ace’ Saratoga Debut
Some of the most highly anticipated races during the summer racing season are the 'baby' races during the boutique meetings at both Saratoga and Del Mar and at Ellis Park, which attract its fair share of high-priced offspring from a variety of top national outfits.
Summer Breezes highlights debuting 2-year-olds at those meetings that have been sourced at the breeze-up sales earlier in the year, with links to their under-tack previews. To follow are the entries for Friday at Saratoga and Del Mar. Ellis Park has rescheduled its Friday card to Monday, Aug. 28:
Friday, August 25, 2023
Saratoga 1, $136k, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:10 p.m. ET
Horse (Sire), Sale, Price ($), Breeze
Feltrinelli (Uncle Mo), OBSAPR, 400,000, :10.1
Consignor: S G V Thoroughbreds (Steven Venosa), agent
Buyer: K Radcliffe for Vekoma Thoroughbreds LLC & Partners
Zverev (Oscar Performance), OBSAPR, 330,000, :10.2
Consignor: Eisaman Equine, agent
Buyer: Cherie De Vaux, agent for Belladonna Racing V
Saratoga 6, $136k, 2yo, 6f, 4:00 p.m.
Wajda (Laoban), OBSMAR, 425,000, :10
Consignor: Paul Sharp, agent
Buyer: John C Kimmel, agent for Sean Flanagan
Del Mar 4, $82k, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 7:29 p.m. ET
Guy Named Joe (American Pharoah), OBSJUN, 100,000, :10.2
Consignor: Wavertree Stables Inc (Ciaran Dunne), agent
Buyer: Dennis O'Neill
Wynstock (Solomini), OBSAPR, 700,000, :9.4
Consignor: Caliente Thoroughbreds
Buyer: Donato Lanni, agent for Dr Ed Allred & Liebau
The post Summer Breezes: Zverev Looks to ‘Ace’ Saratoga Debut appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Ruffian Remains Relocated To Claiborne Farm
The remains of Hall of Famer Ruffian have been transferred from the infield at Belmont Park to Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, where the legendary filly was born and raised, officials at the New York Racing Association announced Thursday. NYRA has also relocated the plaque from Ruffian's gravesite at Belmont Park to Claiborne Farm.
Ruffian was buried Thursday at Marchmont Cemetery on the grounds of the famed nursery, the final resting place of the likes of Damascus, Danzig, Easy Goer, Unbridled, Personal Ensign, her daughter My Flag and granddaughter Storm Flag Flying, Special–the dam of Nureyev–Obeah, the dam of Go For Wand, and many more.
Ruffian's remains had been buried at the base of the flagpole near the Belmont Park finish line since 1975. NYRA is beginning the construction of a one-mile all-weather track at that location. The move to Claiborne will allow greater public access to her gravesite.
“We are honored that Ruffian will be returning home,” said Walker Hancock, President of Claiborne Farm. “She is known throughout racing as one of the greatest fillies of all time and it's only fitting that she returns to her birthplace and will lie alongside other great mares such as Personal Ensign, Inside Information and Moccasin, among others, in our Marchmont Cemetery.”
Ruffian was bred by Stuart Janney, Jr. and his wife Barbara Phipps Janney. In her two-year career, Ruffian won all of the 10 races she finished, including the Acorn, Mother Goose and CCA Oaks, then referred to as the American Triple Tiara. Ruffian was dominating from the start, winning her maiden by 15 lengths on debut while equaling the Belmont track record for 5 1/2 furlongs. She was never headed in any of her starts and set records in each of the eight stakes she won. The champion 2-year-old filly of 1974, she was also champion of her generation at three, but died in July 1975 from injuries sustained in a 10-furlong match race with Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure. She was inducted into the hall of fame in 1976.
“I'd like to thank NYRA for preserving and protecting Ruffian's gravesite at Belmont for close to 50 years,” said Stuart Janney, III, who made the decision to move the remains jointly with Claiborne and NYRA, where he is a board member. “We have been working with NYRA and Claiborne for months, and this is a wonderful outcome that will increase the public's ability to visit the site and pay tribute to Ruffian and her incredible legacy. Claiborne is one of the most beautiful and revered Thoroughbred farms in America and the home of some of the greatest horses in racing history, and the ideal place for Ruffian.”
In addition, NYRA announced that the remains of Timely Writer, winner of the 1981 Hopeful S. and Champagne S., will be transferred to Old Friends in Georgetown, Kentucky. A one-time claimer, he won the Florida Derby in 1982, but missed the Kentucky Derby due to injury. He won nine of his 15 starts for earnings in excess of $605,000.
The post Ruffian Remains Relocated To Claiborne Farm appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Kentucky Downs Adds Super Hi-5 Wager To All 17 Stakes Races
Kentucky Downs is expanding the Super Hi-5 wager to all its 17 stakes races in addition to the last race of the day at the upcoming all-grass meet.
The FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs, which offers the most lucrative purses in the country, runs Aug. 31 and Sept. 2, 3, 7, 9, 10 and 13 over America's only European-style course. Post time is 12:30 p.m. Central except for 11:30 a.m. Central on Saturday Sept. 9. That 12-race card features six graded stakes, five worth $1 million apiece along with the $1.7 million FanDuel Kentucky Turf Cup (all including $400,000 in purse supplements for registered Kentucky-bred horses).
The Super Hi-5, a 50-cent minimum bet, requires handicappers to select the first five finishers of the race in correct order to win. If no one has the winning combination, the bet carries over into the pool the next time the wager is offered. The exception is the last race of the meet, when there's a mandatory payout to those with the top four finishers if there are no winning tickets.
The Super Hi-5 previously was held only on the last race of the day. Last year the average 50-cent payoff for the Super Hi-5 was $7,283, according to official industry data-collector Equibase.
Kentucky Downs offers among the best betting products in the country with its large fields, quality racing and big betting pools.
Last year the payout for the Pick 5 (where horseplayers must have the winners of five consecutive races in one combination on a ticket) averaged $19,630 for 50 cents, while the Pick 4 payout averaged $4,464. For exacta players, the $74 average for a $1 bet is among the highest in the country, while the $571 average for the 10-cent superfecta also is very strong.
“Horseplayers should be excited about the wagering opportunities upcoming during our seven-day meet,” said Ken Kirchner, Kentucky Downs' director of wagering and simulcasting. “In addition to the highest average payouts across all bet types, we're adding Super Hi-5 betting to all 17 stakes races. That will provide at least 10 more opportunities for the Super Hi-5 pool to grow. Kentucky Downs absolutely personifies the racetrack axiom 'bet a little to win a lot!'”
The Pick 5 offers Kentucky Downs' largest betting pool, averaging $553,613 each time the wager was offered last year, according to Equibase. The Pick 5 is offered twice daily, except for three times on Sept. 9.
Kentucky Downs' 2023 betting menu
Kentucky Downs' average pool sizes and payoffs by bet type in 2022
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