Tag: Racing

Named after Bay Area media icon Sam Spear, Monday's inaugural running of the Sam Spear Memorial at Golden Gate Fields was won by 4-year-old gelding I'mgonnabesomebody. Ridden to victory by Santos Rivera, the son of Will Take Charge set leisurely fractions of 24.64, 49.70, and 1:13.68 before holding of runner up finisher and 9-5 race favorite Jimmy Blue Jeans throughout the length of the stretch run.

I'mgonnabesomebody hit the wire three-quarters of a length ahead of Jimmy Blue Jeans and produced a final clocking of 1:43.76 seconds for one-mile and a sixteenth on firm turf.

Winning trainer Bill McLean was thrilled to win the Sam Spear Memorial, named after legendary sports media figure Sam Spear, who passed away last October at the age of 72. Spear was an icon in the Bay Area sports world and, along with hosting horse racing radio and television shows, also held the position as publicity director for Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields throughout a large portion of his career.

“I got to know [Sam] on and off-track,” said McLean. “I went to his house one night for a big party. We went to a bunch of wine tasting deals. After the races, we'd all go out to eat. Sammy was great, great, great. He had a great sense of humor. He was big for horse racing.”

I'mgonnabesomebody, sent off as the third choice in the betting at 7-2, paid $9.60 to win, $4.40 to place and $3.20 to show. Jimmy Blue Jeans returned $3.60 to place and $2.60 to show. Third place finisher Me and Mr. C paid $3.00 to show. Harmon rounded out the superfecta, followed by Black Caspian, Huge Bigly, Govenor's Party, American Farmer and Our Silver Oak.

I'mgonnabesomebody was purchased for $30,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale by McLean and a large co-owner group that includes Nin Auyeung, Sharon Broetzman, Phillip Crosby, Cheryl Hauck, Todd Miller, Elizabeth Moran, and Marilyn Taylor. In his racing career, I'mgonnabesomebody has produced five wins and one third place finish from 11 lifetime starts. With the Sam Spear Memorial victory, career earnings for I'mgonnabesomebody have climbed to $109,780. He was bred in Kentucky by Elm Tree Farm LLC.

Live racing at Golden Gate resumes on Friday and runs through Sunday this week, with first post each day at 1:45 PM.

The post I’mgonnabesomebody Goes Wire To Wire In Inaugural Sam Spear Memorial appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Entries for the 29th Minnesota Festival of Champions, a night of racing on Saturday, Sept. 10, at Canterbury Park restricted to Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses bred in the state, attracted a total of 107 horses for 12 races. Owners, jockeys and trainers of those entrants will seek a share of $855,000 in purse money. Six $100,000 Thoroughbred stakes and two $70,000 Quarter Horse stakes are accompanied by four undercard Thoroughbred races with a first post of 4:10 p.m. CDT at the Shakopee, Minn. racetrack.

The shortest field of the evening is the five-horse $100,000 Northern Lights Debutante and it may produce the shortest odds as Thunders Rocknroll is 3 to 5 on the morning line. The 2-year-old filly was bred and is owned by Bob Lindgren of Prior Lake. Thunders Rocknroll won on Aug. 17 leading gate to wire in her only start, beating Cupids Crush by 5 3/4 lengths as the wagering favorite. She is trained by Hall of Famer Bernell Rhone who has won 20 Festival races since its inception in 1992. Leading jockey Harry Hernandez has the mount.

Cupids Crush, also entered in the Debutante, raced again on Aug. 28 and won easily by 15 1/2 lengths. She will be ridden by Alex Canchari on Saturday. Cupids Crush is owned by Xtreme Racing Stables LLC and is trained by top trainer Mac Robertson.

Robertson is the all-time win leader in Festival of Champions history with 39. He will saddle 16 horses in eight of the 10 Thoroughbred races.

Robertson has entered defending champion Clickbait and Ready to Runaway in the $100,000 Bella Notte Distaff Sprint. Constantino Roman has the call on Clickbait, the 7 to 5 morning line favorite. Ready to Runaway won the Bella Notte in 2020 and will be ridden by Canchari. The 6-year-old mare, owned by John Mentz, has won 14 of 21 races at Canterbury and has earned $541,085 in 27 total starts.

A filly new to Canterbury entered in the Bella Notte is Charlie's Penny. In 2021, Charlie's Penny, owned and bred by Canterbury's leading owner Bob Lothenbach, was considered a Kentucky Oaks contender following her victory in the Silverbulletday Stakes in January of that year at Fair Grounds in New Orleans. She was scratched from the Rachel Alexandra a month later with a shin fracture and did not return to racing until June of 2022 where she finished second in the $75,000 Crestwood at Hawthorne in the Chicago area. She ran second in a turf race at Colonial Downs in Virginia and will make her first Canterbury start, and her first under the care of trainer Joel Berndt, in the Bella Notte with Ry Eikleberry aboard.

Lothenbach, who races as Lothenbach Stables, Inc., has nine entered including Minnesota Derby champion Love the Nest who will face older horses for the first time in his career in the $100,000 Crocrock Sprint. Eikleberry has the mount. The morning line favorite in the Crocrock is Thealligatorhunter at 2 to 1 who would be undefeated in four starts this season if not for a disqualification in the Strangis Stakes on July 16. Alonso Quinonez will ride for trainer Tim Padilla who co-owns the 4-year-old with Pete Mattson.

The largest field on the card is the 12-horse $100,000 Blair's Cove at 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Eight-year-old Hot Shot Kid, 12 to 1 on the morning line, has career earnings of $681,112 just $19,727 shy of recently-retired Mr. Jagermeister who is the all-time earnings leader for a Minnesota bred with $700,839. Hot Shot Kid, trained by Robertson and ridden by Eikleberry, would need to win the Blair's Cove to eclipse Mr. Jagermeister's career earnings record.

Stakes Line-Up

Race 3 – $100,000 Northern Lights Debutante – Post Time 5:12 p.m.
Race 6 – $100,000 Princess Elaine Distaff Turf – Post Time 6:45 p.m.
Race 7 – $100,000 Blair's Cove Turf – Post Time 7:16 p.m.
Race 8 – $100,000 Northern Lights Futurity – Post Time 7:47 p.m.
Race 9 – $100,000 Crocrock Minnesota Sprint – Post Time 8:18 p.m.
Race 10 – $100,000 Bella Notte Minnesota Sprint – Post Time 8:49 p.m.
Race 11 – $70,000 Minnesota Quarter Horse Futurity – Post Time 9:20 p.m.
Race 12 – $70,000 Minnesota Quarter Horse Derby – Post Time 9:50 p.m.

More information at www.canterburypark.com .

The post Saturday’s Festival of Champions At Canterbury Will Crown Best Minnesota-Breds appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The National Steeplechase Association summer racing season ended with a thrilling finish as Riverdee Stable and Ten Strike Racing's regally-bred Awakened unleashed an all-out rally to nail South Branch Equine's Robert's Luxury by a nose in the final stride in Monday's $50,000 flat race for jumpers at Colonial Downs.

The two-mile contest over Colonial's outer turf course was written for hurdlers who had started at the meet but didn't win. A field of 10 went postward, and up until the stretch run it appeared as if it it was a one-horse race.

Hurricana Farm's Real Factor, under Feargal Lynch, broke quickly and spurted off to a huge lead that held up until the field began turning for home for the final of two times around the New Kent, Va., course. By the time Real Factor headed into the far turn the first time, he had amassed a lead of about a sixteenth of a mile. Passing the wire after that first full loop, the track announcer described Real Factor's lead as a “multiple Secretariat-like margin.”

Meanwhile the rest of the field bided their time, with Sonny Via's Welshman, ridden by Graham Watters, Ashwell Stable's Honor Up (Tom Garner), and Awakened racing closest to the runaway pacesetter.

At the quarter pole, Real Factor maintained a 15-length cushion, but his stride was beginning to shorten, as South Branch Equine's Robert's Luxury, ridden and trained by Sean McDermott, mounted a charge on the outside, and assumed command. But making an even bigger move to his outside was Awakened under Bargary's furious urging, with the duo dueling to the wire, and Awakened getting the nod. William Russell's Seismic Wave (Gerard Galligan) made a seismic move of his own to get up for third, beaten only a length or two by the leaders. Real Factor hung in for fourth.

For Jamie Bargary, the victory was the fourth in his past five mounts and his sixth overall this summer. For Hall of Fame trainer Jack Fisher, it was his third straight trip to the winner's circle and fourth in his last five outings. Of course, Fisher scored the biggest prize of the summer when Bruton Street-US' Snap Decision captured the Grade 1 Jonathan Sheppard Stakes at Saratoga in August.

For 5-year-old Awakened, who like Snap Decision was bred in Kentucky by the Phipps family, the victory was his first since breaking his maiden on the flat at Ellis Park in July 2021 when trained by another Hall of Famer, Shug McGaughey. The son of Curlin out of the Phipps-bred multiple stakes-winning mare Daydreaming (by A.P. Indy), signaled his readiness for a big performance with a close second in a maiden hurdle at Colonial in July.

The replay of the race can be watched here: https://vimeopro.com/nsafilms/colonial-september-5-2022

Full results will be found here: https://nationalsteeplechase.com/racing/

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