Kirkpatrick & Co. Presents In Their Care: Groom Paulina Cano ‘Just Has A Way Of Making Them Happy’

Say the Word arrived at Phil D'Amato's barn in the autumn of 2020 as an accomplished 5-year-old, but the trainer sensed the gelded son of More Than Ready had more to offer. He appeared to be a timid horse that lacked confidence, and was not deriving as much as possible from his training each morning.

What to do? D'Amato assigned Say the Word to Paulina Cano, a groom with almost three decades of experience.

Burgoo Alley had gone winless through three starts in Ireland and D'Amato was downcast when he first laid eyes on her early last year. The unsettling overseas journey to the United States had taken a toll on the 3-year-old. She had dropped so much weight her ribs were visible.

What to do? He again turned to his go-to caretaker, the 59-year-old Cano.

“In terms of being a groom, Paulina is like the horse whisperer,” D'Amato said. “You can give her any kind of horse, ones with more cantankerous attitudes or quiet ones. She just has a way of making them happy. She finds a way to their heart.”

The once-antsy Say the Word responded last season with two wins and a pair of second-place finishes in seven starts. He set career highs for earnings with $353,500 and for earnings per start with 50,500 on behalf of Mark Martinez's Agave Racing Stable and breeder-owner Sam-Son Farm. Say The Word was plenty good in the spring, winning the Elkhorn Stakes (G2) at Keeneland last April and placing second in the Shoemaker Mile (G1) at his Santa Anita home base in his next start. He retained his form until the end of the season, rallying from last to bring home the Hollywood Turf Cup (G2) and help D'Amato to his first training title at Del Mar's fall meet.

Burgoo Alley also quickly thrived under Cano's care.

“Within a week or two flat, you'd be amazed at how much weight she put on and how good her coat was,” D'Amato said. “It was all that hard work that she put into the filly to feed her and take care of her and make sure she was happy.”

Owned by CYBT, Michael Nentwig and Ray Pagano, Burgoo Alley emerged as a turf standout. She broke her maiden going six furlongs on June 20 at Santa Anita in her second U.S. start. She easily handled the move to a mile on grass, prevailing in an allowance optional claiming race during Del Mar's salty summer meet in mid-August. She emerged as a graded-stakes winner on turf when a late rush allowed her to edge Spanish Loveaffair by half a length in the one-mile Autumn Miss Stakes on Oct. 30 at Santa Anita.

Cano points to Echo Eddie as her greatest success. He debuted by running for a $12,500 claiming tag at Bay Meadows on Oct. 3, 1999. By the time his career was over at the end of the 2003 season, the former claimer turned multiple stakes winner had banked more than $1 million in purses for trainer Darrell Vienna.

Not surprisingly, Vienna did everything possible to retain Cano. They were together for 24 years before Vienna retired in the spring of 2016.

D'Amato was ecstatic when he was able to hire her.

“Good grooms are extremely hard to come by. It's starting to become a lost art,” the trainer said. “It's a very skilled profession and it takes someone who can extend TLC to them and try to find all of the little things without them talking to you. It's just all about body language and taking care of their needs.”

Cano grew up with horses and cows at her family's farm in Santa Rosa, Guatemala. Her husband, Jose Dolares, ventured to the U.S. in 1993 to begin a career as a groom that is ongoing. He works at a nearby barn at Santa Anita for trainer Richard Baltas. At Dolares' urging, Cano followed a year later.

“It was a better life. I could make more money. I loved the United States since the first day I got here,” Cano said during a phone interview, with assistant trainer Rudy Cruz acting as interpreter.

Cano's work ethic and attitude have everything to do with her success. She is one of the first to arrive at the barn from her home in Duarte, Calif. She always comes bearing treats of all kinds.

“I try to never bring problems here,” she said. “I try to always be nice to horses. I love them and am kind to them and they are nice to me.”

According to Cano, in a career that has also taken her to Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana and even Singapore, she has never encountered a Thoroughbred she could not manage.

“Maybe the first day it's kind of difficult to get along with one, but I find a way,” she said. “By being nice and being patient, it gets better and better.”

She and her husband have one son, Luis Alfonso Salazar Cano, 44. He built a career as a surgeon's assistant at a California hospital.

Cano became a U.S. citizen 15 years ago and said: “I am very happy and thankful to be an American citizen.”

She feels relatively secure financially.

“I don't need that much money,” she said. “I saved my money, so it's good.”

As physically demanding as her job can be, she has no plans to retire. When that time comes, she intends to maintain her emotional ties to the barn.

“If that happens one day, and I know it's going to happen, I'd ask Phil about coming back and feeding the horses when I can,” she said.

D'Amato, another participant in the call, assured her she would always be welcome.

The post Kirkpatrick & Co. Presents In Their Care: Groom Paulina Cano ‘Just Has A Way Of Making Them Happy’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Going Global the One to Beat, Again, in American Oaks

With a 7-6-1-0 record since being imported from Ireland, and having already bested a number of these foes previously, Going Global (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) is strictly the one to beat in Sunday's concluding event at Santa Anita, the GI American Oaks. The Phil D'Amato trainee's lone runner-up effort in the States came when she was beaten a half-length in the GII San Clemente S. over a Del Mar mile in July, but she bounced back with a victory in that venue's nine-panel GI Del Mar Oaks Aug. 21. Closing Remarks (Vronsky) was second that day–her third time playing second bridesmaid to Going Global–and Fluffy Socks (GB) (Slumber {GB}) and Ivy League (Medaglia d'Oro) were third and seventh, respectively. Going Global earned a career-best 99 Beyer Speed Figure for her GII Goldikova S. wins over older foes back at a mile at Del Mar Nov. 6 last out. She's never tried this 1 1/4-mile distance, but seems as likely as anyone to handle it. D'Amato will also saddle last-out GIII Autumn Miss S. heroine Burgoo Alley (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) for some of the same partners as Going Global.

Trainer Michael McCarthy has four of the field's 11 entrants, and none would be a shock–especially at this distance. Katsumi Yoshida's Nicest (Ire) (American Pharoah) was third in the G1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks while in the care of Donnacha O'Brien, and finished fourth over yielding ground in Keeneland's GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. before being transferred to McCarthy. She was third beaten just a half-length in the 1 3/8-mile GIII Red Carpet H. Nov. 25 at Del Mar. Single Soul (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) broke her maiden going this distance in New York, and was transferred from Graham Motion to McCarthy after finishing last of five in the Red Carpet. Charges Dropped (Lemon Drop Kid), a daughter of MGSW Criminologist (Maria's Mon), has been on the board in three straight allowances against her elders. Lightly raced Queen Goddess (Empire Maker) comes off a close third in a Del Mar optional claimer Nov. 25.

The post Going Global the One to Beat, Again, in American Oaks appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Burgoo Alley Best In Autumn Miss At Santa Anita

Burgoo Alley (IRE) was not going to let a little traffic keep her from getting the win in the Grade 3 Autumn Miss at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. Fifth behind horses around the far turn, the daughter of Footstepsinthesand (GB) angled out from the rail and sprinted past Spanish Loveaffair and Zero Tolerance to win the one-mile turf stakes.

Breaking from post three, jockey Umberto Rispoli settled Burgoo Alley in fifth behind frontrunners Zero Tolerance and Spanish Loveaffair around the first turn and into the backstretch. As the field of eight reached the far turn, Burgoo Alley had some horses in front of her, unable to move from her rail spot until they entered the stretch. Rispoli moved her out as Spanish Loveaffair wore down Zero Tolerance. Spanish Loveaffair held the lead briefly, but Burgoo Alley surged past her to win the G3 Autumn Miss by a half-length. Javanica passed Zero Tolerance late to finish third.

The final time for the one-mile stakes was 1:34.37. Find this race's chart here.

Burgoo Alley paid $12.60, $5.60, and $3.80. Spanish Loveaffair paid $4.20 and $3.20. Javanica paid $5.60.

“I think the distance is the key for her. Last time we tried six and a half going down the hill. I would not say that she ran a bad race. I think the six and a half was definitely too short for her. I knew today that I could end up in a nice spot. She was sharp from the gate, giving me the chance to be where I wanted to be, just behind the favorite (Spanish Loveaffair) and I got a very nice trip and she put down a nice performance,” Rispoli said after the race. “Because I was on the fence behind Javanica, my first thought was to end up behind Abel (Cedillo, aboard Spanish Loveaffair) since I thought she was the horse to beat. At the five-eighths pole, I was where I wanted to be and she did the rest.”

Bred in Ireland by Eoghan Grogan, Burgoo Alley is out of the Daylami mare Nurama (GB). Trained by Phil D'Amato, the 3-year-old filly is owned by CYBT, Michael Nentwig, and Ray Pagano. Consigned by Killourney Mor Farm, she was an $18,299 RNA at the 2019 Goffs February Mixed Sale. With her victory in the Autumn Miss, the filly has three wins in seven starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of 9-3-2-1 and career earnings of $170,330.

The post Burgoo Alley Best In Autumn Miss At Santa Anita appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights