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Kentucky Oaks Winner Summerly Dies At Age 19

Summerly, the winner of the 2005 Kentucky Oaks, died earlier this year of colic, WinStar Farm CEO Elliott Walden confirmed to TwinSpires Edge. She was 19.

The daughter of Summer Squall had resided at WinStar Farm since 2006, when the operation purchased the mare for $3.3 million at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

Bred in Kentucky by Tom Van Meter and Michael Lowenbaum, Summerly sold to Winchell Thoroughbreds for $410,000 at the 2003 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She was placed in the barn of Steve Asmussen, and ran third in the Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes as a juvenile.

At three, Summerly rolled off wins in the G3 Silverbulletday Stakes and G2 Fair Grounds Oaks in Louisiana, then she finished fourth in the G1 Ashland Stakes ahead of the Kentucky Oaks. Under jockey Jerry Bailey, Summerly left the gate as the betting public's second choice and led at every point of call to win the race by two lengths.

Summerly added a win in the black type Ashado Stakes in Saratoga to kick off her 4-year-old campaign, and she retired at the end of the season with six wins in 14 starts for earnings of $907,652.

She entered the WinStar Farm broodmare band after selling at the Fasig-Tipton sale, where she produced five winners from eight starters. The most successful runners among them were the Brazilian Group 3-placed Unbridled's Song filly Allez Marie, and her first foal, the stakes-placed Distorted Humor colt Kentucky Reign.

Summerly's final foal was an Always Dreaming colt born on March 18. She was part of the first book of mares for WinStar resident Tom's d'Etat earlier this year.

NYRA Hosts Fan Appreciation Week At Saratoga

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will thank its fans with a series of special events, giveaways and offers during the final week of the 2021 season at Saratoga Race Course.

Racing will resume Wednesday, Sept. 1 through Labor Day, Monday, September 6 at Saratoga Race Course. Labor Day weekend will offer a total of seven graded stakes, including the Spa debut of the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup on Saturday, Sept. 4. Sunday and Monday will feature a special first post time of 12:35 p.m.

Saratoga premium giveaway sale on Wednesday, Sept. 1

Fans will have the opportunity to secure a favorite track giveaway from yesteryear during a premium giveaway sale at Saratoga Race Course on Wednesday, Sept. 1 beginning at 11 a.m. near the Clubhouse exchange across from the News 10 Pavilion.

A selection of Saratoga giveaways from previous years as well as from earlier this summer will be available for purchase, including such memorable items as the Angel Cordero, Jr. bobblehead; 2015 Saratoga cooler bag and long sleeve tee; 2017 Saratoga wall clock, as well as a selection of Saratoga umbrellas, t-shirts, beach towels, hats and many more collectables from the past decade.

Vintage and current items will be available for $10 and less, while supplies last. Cash only accepted. All sales are final.

Special ticket offers and drink specials all week long, including buy-one, get-one reserved seats and tables; and Labor Day BBQ at The Rail at the 1863 Club

Fans will enjoy Buy One, Get One Free offers on reserved seats in The Cutwater Stretch and Grandstand, and reserved tables in the Fourstardave Sports Bar and Miller Lite Picnic Paddock all week long.

Reserved tables, including buffet and soft drinks, are also available for $85 per person throughout the week ($100 on Saturday) in The Rail at the 1863 Club, which will serve up a special Labor Day-inspired BBQ menu all week long featuring such classics as smoked brisket; pulled pork; candied sweet potatoes and cornbread. The menu on Sunday will offer brunch-style fare.

Fans will also enjoy special savings during the final week of Cutwater Spirits' ready-to-drink cocktails and Babe Rosé Wine. The beverages will be available for only $10 at The Cutwater Stretch, Cutwater Gazebo and all on-track restaurants.

For more information, visit NYRA.com/FanWeek.

Ticket giveaways on Thursday, Sept. 2

Pending approval by the New York State Gaming Commission, fans will have the opportunity to enter-to-win tickets to numerous Capital Region events and attractions.

Prizes include tickets to the Zac Brown Band concert at Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Oct. 3; NYRA Bets Gift Cards valued at $50; and tickets to two of the Capital Region's top sports teams: the Adirondack Thunder and Tri-City ValleyCats.

Entry forms will be available at all Guest Services locations beginning at 11 a.m. No purchase necessary to enter.

Saratoga welcomes 2020 Tokyo Olympic Bronze Medalist Emma White plus Happy Hour Drink Specials on Friday, Sept. 3

NYRA will celebrate the accomplishments of 2020 Tokyo Olympic Bronze Medalist Emma White of Duanesburg, NY. White, who was part of the U.S. cycling team that captured the bronze medal during the Olympic Games in Tokyo earlier this summer, will appear in the winner's circle for a race named in her honor during the afternoon.

Fans will enjoy numerous Happy Hour specials on Friday, including a selection of cocktails for $10. Featured drinks include the Toga Peach Tea, Washington Lemonade and Chandon Garden Spritz Cocktail. Several beers will be available for the special price of $5, including Blue Moon Light Sky, Yuengling and Brooklyn Lager.

Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup makes Saratoga debut on Saturday, Sept. 4

Saturday will feature the Saratoga debut of a pair of stakes previously held in the fall at Belmont Park: The Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles for 3-year-olds and up, and the $600,000 Flower Bowl, an 11-furlong turf test for older fillies and mares. The day's card will also include the Grade 2, $250,000 Prioress for sophomore fillies sprinting 6 furlongs and the Grade 3, $200,000 Saranac for sophomores going 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

Saratoga long-sleeve t-shirt hoodie giveaway and Berkshire Bank Family Sundays' free school supplies on Sunday, Sept. 5

The final Sunday of the season will feature a first post time of 12:35 p.m. and an 11-race card headlined by the Grade 1, $300,000 Spinaway.

Fans will enjoy the final giveaway of the season – a Saratoga long-sleeve t-shirt hoodie. The gray hooded pullover, adorned with the red Saratoga logo, will be available free with paid admission, while supplies last. Limited supplies available. NYRA strongly encourages fans to limit redemption to one item per person.

Children attending Berkshire Bank Family Sundays at the Berkshire Bank Family Zone will receive free colorable drawstring bags with back-to-school items, while supplies last, during the final edition of the popular kid-oriented weekly event. Kids will be able to color their back-to-school bags as well as enjoy a wide variety of free family-friendly activities, games, attractions and educational activities from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Berkshire Bank Family Zone, located inside Gate A near the Saratoga Race Course Box Office.

Families can take advantage of a Family 4-Pack, which includes four Grandstand reserved seats and vouchers for two hot dogs and one soda per person for $84. Clubhouse boxes for five people are also available for $150. Packages are available by calling the NYRA Box Office at 844-NYRA-TIX or in-person at the NYRA Box Office near Gate A.

Closing Day on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 6

Saratoga Race Course will open its gates for one last time as the season comes to a close on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 6 with a special first post time of 12:35 p.m.

The day's card will feature the Grade 2, $200,000 Bernard Baruch Handicap, as well as the prestigious Grade 1, $300,000 Hopeful for 2-year-olds going seven furlongs to conclude the 2021 Saratoga meet.

NYRA will present more than 100 pounds of Dunkin' coffee to the Backstretch Employee Service Team (B.E.S.T.) on Closing Day. The coffee donation is based on a pledge from Dunkin' to supply B.E.S.T. with one pound of coffee for every win by the leading owner, trainer and jockey of the 2021 Saratoga meet.

For complete details about Fan Appreciation Week at Saratoga Race Course, visit NYRA.com/FanWeek.

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Kentucky Downs ‘Looks Like Home’ To Jockey Umberto Rispoli

Umberto Rispoli spent most of a week at Kentucky Downs last year in order to ride only two races that wound up five days apart. But even as he jogged around the 1 5/16-mile undulating turf course to keep his weight down, he knew he wanted to come back this year.

Rispoli finished 10th in his first start at Kentucky Downs, the Dueling Grounds Oaks, then five days later made the trip from California worth it financially by winning the $400,000 Music City Stakes aboard Lighthouse. The Music City was part of a card that moved from a Sunday to the following Tuesday because of torrential rain.

But Rispoli — who has ridden all over the world including being a champion rider in his native Italy and a Group 1 winner in Hong Kong — had already made up his mind that he wanted to return to the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs, the richest six days of racing in America and among the most lucrative in the world.

The FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs runs this coming Sunday, Labor Day Monday and Sept. 8, 9, 11 and 12. First post is 12:20 p.m. Central.

Rispoli admits he wasn't happy when some of his anticipated mounts for Kentucky Downs fell through.

“But it was going to be an experience for me, anyway,” he said. “Because I'd never been to Kentucky Downs and I know it's a class track and had a scenery like some of the tracks we have in Europe. So I was excited about it. I just saw some of their races on TV. I didn't know much about the track. I ran around the track to lose some weight, and it was a good time to check out the track. But definitely when you come home with a stakes in your pocket after five days, it was worth it and it was a good experience.

“I hope this time to have more races to ride and more horses with chances…. The agent is going to be very important there. There's a lot of money. They're going to be overfilled in every race probably. But I'm very excited to come back there. This time I hope to bring home some other big winners.”

Veteran jockey agent Scott McClellan said he's got Rispoli riding at Kentucky Downs for the final four days after their Del Mar base closes on Labor Day. His stakes business is expected to include Argentine-bred Belmont Gold Cup runner-up Fantasioso for trainer Ignacio Correas in the $1 million Calumet Turf Cup (G2) and Constantia for John Sadler in the $600,000 The Mint Ladies Sprint.

Rispoli is in his second full year of riding year-round in America. In that short period of time, he has stamped himself among the top few jockeys based in southern California. Rispoli currently ranks 14th in North American purse earnings for 2021 at more than $7 million, including his first and second Grade 1 victories in the United States aboard Smooth Like Strait in the Shoemaker Mile and Rock Your World in the RUNHAPPY Santa Anita Derby.

The jockey says he had no expectations coming into Kentucky Downs last year. The course catches a lot of people by surprise with its undulations, kidney shape and dog-legged stretch rather than American racing's standard flat oval.

“I just knew it was an up-and-down racecourse, which isn't common in the United States,” he said, adding of his close friend and fellow rider Flavien Prat, with whom Rispoli traveled from California last year: “We landed and go to visit the track right away. He turns into the street for the racetrack, and I said, 'Where are we going?' He said, 'This is the track.' I said, 'You're kidding! Well, it's going to be fun.'

“I wasn't disappointed at all. I was laughing. I said, 'OK, it looks like home.' In France sometimes you're driving for hours and you look on the side of the highway and you find the rails and you think, 'Wow, I can't believe there's a racetrack here.' So I wasn't that shocked. But it was funny to approach the track, just watching and seeing it for the first time.”

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Texas Summer Yearling Sale Posts Gains Across the Board

Monday's Texas Summer Yearling and Horses of Racing Age Sale at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie recorded sizable increases in gross sales, average and median with a Texas-bred colt by Too Much Bling topping the auction.

A total of 228 yearlings went through the ring with 176 selling for $3,219,600, a 138.9 percent increase from last year when 106 of 137 sold for $1,347,700. The yearling average this year came in at $18,293, a jump of 43.9 percent from last year's $12,714. The median soared to $10,000 this year, up 96.1 percent from $5,100. The buy-back rate was 22.8 percent this year compared to 22.6 percent last year.

There were also three horses of racing age in the sale this year, which sold for a total of $17,500. Last year's auction had 15 older horses sell for a total of $162,500.

“The numbers are almost overwhelming compared to last year, and this sale exceeded even our very high expectations,” said Tim Boyce, sales director. “The recent gains in purses and breeding incentives in Texas, along with the strong programs in place in Louisiana and Oklahoma, have helped make this a very powerful regional marketplace. This is truly one of the best sales we've ever had in Texas.”

“We recently announced increased purses of $300,000 for sale horses to run at in the two divisions of the Texas Thoroughbred Association Futurity, and we added a total of $200,000 for a Derby and Oaks race, so that has attracted some extra interest,” added Mary Ruyle, executive director of the Texas Thoroughbred Association.

Proving the point about the resurgence of interest in Texas racing, the sale-topper was Hip 101, an accredited Texas-bred colt by Too Much Bling, who stands at Valor Farm and is a perennial leading sire in the state. Consigned by Benchmark Training Center, agent, and purchased by Finisterre Racing, the April 3 foal sold for $175,000. The colt is out of Swifterthantaylor, a multiple winning daughter of another top Texas stallion at Valor Farm, My Golden Song. Swifterthantaylor's first starter is a stakes-placed winner.

Two other horses sold for six figures, both Louisiana-bred colts. A son of Not This Time named Star Redemption sold for $120,000 from Clear Creek Stud, agent, to Al and Bill Ulwelling, and a son of Violence sold for $100,000 from 4M Ranch, agent, to Set-Hut LLC.

For complete results, go to www.ttasales.com.

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