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Owner Of Ashleyluvssugar, Champagne Room Dies At 83

Sharon Alesia, owner of stakes winners Ashleyluvssugar and Champagne Room among others, died June 15 at the age of 83.

The Daily Racing Form reported Alesia had owned horses with her late husband Frank for some four decades after buying him a Thoroughbred as an anniversary present. The couple sent their horses exclusively to Peter Eurton, who also campaigned Dance With Fate and Weemissfrankie.

Weemissfrankie collected two Grade 1 victories and finished third in the 2011 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, while Champagne Room won the 2016 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies for the stable. Fan favorite Ashleyluvssugar won six stakes races and earned over $1.4 million in a long-running campaign that concluded earlier this year for the 9-year-old gelding.

Vekoma’s Partners Hoping Thrill Ride Continues In Runhappy Met Mile

After running the race of his life with an emphatic 7 1/4-length romp in the Grade 1 Runhappy Carter, R.A. Hill Stable and Gatsas Stables' Vekoma tackles an even tougher field assembled for Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Runhappy Met Mile at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

The recent eye-popping victory under Hall of Fame rider Javier Castellano, which garnered a 110 Beyer, was a second start of the year for the Candy Ride chestnut colt who made his 2020 bow a winning one in the Sir Shackleton on March 28 at Gulfstream Park. Last year, Vekoma earned accolades heading into the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby after drawing away to victory in the Grade 2 Blue Grass at Keeneland for trainer George Weaver.

To earn a second Grade 1 victory, Vekoma will have to topple a field that includes last year's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers and Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup-victor Code of Honor and McKinzie, the winner of last year's Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga.

Already a winner going a one-turn mile during his 2-year-old campaign in the Grade 3 Nashua, Vekoma will be stretching back out to a mile from the seven-furlong Carter.

“He's got so much talent it's unreal,” said co-owner Mike Gatsas. “I think he can handle it. Javier knows the horse very well and he can get the distance without a problem. They have a great rapport with one another, so we'll let him decide on a trip.”

In both of his 4-year-old starts, Vekoma has displayed tactical speed sitting just off of the pacesetters before making a winning bid at the top of the stretch.

Gatsas anticipates that Vekoma will display a similar running style on Saturday.

“He has some early speed, so he'll help set the pace somewhat,” Gatsas said. “He won't be on the lead, but he should be forwardly placed. Javier rides him extremely well and understands him well, so he knows what he's doing.”

Vekoma, named after a Dutch manufacturing company of roller coasters as a nod to his champion-producing sire's name, has taken his connections on an exciting ride. Hill and Gatsas also partnered with graded stakes-placed Our Country, who ran eighth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf last November at Santa Anita as well as New York-bred stakes winner Funny Guy.

“It's such a great partnership, but what's really good about it is that it's also a great friendship,” Gatsas said. “We've had a lot of fun over the years. We've gone to the Derby, the Breeders' Cup together and we just won the Carter so it's been such a fun experience.”

Vekoma, bred in Kentucky by Alpha Delta Stables, is out of the Speightstown broodmare Mona de Momma who also is a Grade 1 winner going seven furlongs.

Being a Grade 1 winner with a Grade 1-winning sire and dam makes Vekoma quite enticing as a stallion prospect, but Gatsas said a triumph in the Runhappy Met Mile, which is known for being a “stallion making race”, could make his breeding value even more appealing.

“Hopefully this adds to his resume,” Gatsas said. “He also won the Blue Grass last year so I'm sure a lot of Kentucky farms would be interested in that. He took down that field real well, too.

“He's just such a special horse,” Gatsas added. “He's not a big, strapping colt, but he is really well-built.”

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New York-Bred Veteran Mr. Buff Stretching Out For Suburban Try

Chester and Mary Broman's multiple stakes-winning millionaire Mr. Buff will try 1 1/4-miles for the first time in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Suburban at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Trained by John Kimmel, the 6-year-old New York-bred son of Friend Or Foe has posted wins from seven furlongs up to a mile an eighth in a 37-race career that boasts eight stakes wins from an overall record of 14-7-4 and purse earnings of $1,076,536.

The sizable chestnut was in a good run of form over the winter at Aqueduct with scores in the Alex M. Robb, Jazil and Haynesfield before his training was interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He returned off a four-month layoff last out to finish second to Funny Guy in the one-turn mile Commentator on June 12 at Belmont.

“He was rolling until they shut things down here. He missed a month of training,” said Kimmel. “He walked for a month at the farm and he didn't have the bottom into him that Funny Guy did, not to mention he carried 127 pounds. I thought he was going to get swallowed up, but he actually hung in there really well.”

Mr. Buff matched a career-best 106 Beyer Speed Figure with his 20-length score in the Haynesfield on February 22 when left alone on the front end under regular pilot Junior Alvarado.

That effort came on the heels of a similarly powerful score in the open Jazil at nine furlongs. Kimmel has tried Mr. Buff in graded company twice when off-the-board in the Grade 2 New Orleans on a track he didn't handle and was seventh last summer in the Grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga.

On Saturday, the 17.2 hands tall Mr. Buff will have a significant weight break carrying just 118 pounds against a field headlined by 2019 Grade 1 Belmont Stakes champ Sir Winston [124 pounds] and multiple graded-stakes winner Tacitus [122 pounds].

Kimmel said the added distance may help Mr. Buff ease into his significant stride.

“I contemplated running him a little further if I had the chance and this looked like the right opportunity,” said Kimmel. “A mile and a quarter will have a much more reasonable pace scenario and maybe he won't have any issued with his lead transitions like he does sometimes at a flat mile and the pace is a little faster.

“When he gets going 45 to the half and three quarters in 10 and change, sometimes he doesn't make that switch to his outside lead,” added Kimmel. “But he's been pretty good at it when he goes around two turns, so we'll see how he does at one and a half turns.”

Mr. Buff will exit post 4 under Alvarado in the Suburban which will close out Saturday's 11-race card.

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Parx To Allow Owners And Fans Beginning July 6 With New Guidelines

Owners and fans can soon return to the races at Parx, according to a Facebook post earlier this week by the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association.

On July 6, owners and fans will be allowed to attend but restricted to the grandstand in designated areas. They will not be permitted to reenter the backstretch or track kitchen yet.

Trainers, jockeys, and grooms will be the only personnel permitted in the winner's circle, on the track apron, and in the paddock.

The horsemen's group indicated the track was working with state health officials to determine best practices in phased reopening.

July 6 will also see the return of claiming races, which had been left out since the track resumed racing on June 22 in an attempt to prevent extraneous contact between horsemen and racing office officials amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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