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Thedayofthegrey, Pacific Coast Win Ohio Thoroughbred Race Fund Stakes Races At Thistledown

A pair of $100,000 Ohio Thoroughbred Race Fund Stakes (OTRF) were contested early on the JACK Thistledown program on Saturday, August 14 at JACK Thistledown in North Randall, Ohio.

Both events were for Ohio-registered 2-year-olds at six furlongs, with the first being the Best of Ohio Cleveland Kindergarten Stakes that featured a field of nine colts and geldings, while the second was the Best of Ohio Miss Ohio Stakes that saw six fillies vie.

Thedayofthegrey left no doubt he was much the best in the Cleveland Kindergarten, using a front-stepping effort to score in 1:12.06 under the handling of rider Sonny Leon. Bred by trainer Robert Cline, the grey son of Twinspired-Sharon's Way, by Proud Citizen left the gate at 9-1 odds and returned $20 on a two-dollar ticket to his backers. Thedayofthgrey bested 6-5 rival Tantrum (Malcolm Franklin) by nearly two lengths, with 20-1 Rumble Strip Ron (Scott Spieth) third and 6-5 Condemnation (Luan Machado) fourth.

Thedayofthegrey had only two previous starts under his belt coming into the Cleveland Kindergarten Stakes, and after winning his maiden effort on Jun 1 at Thistledown, was third in the $75,000 Hoover Stakes on July 23 at Belterra Park in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“He stumbled in the Hoover and kind of lost his footing,” explained Cline, who owns the youngster in partnership with Richard Wilkinson. “He broke well today, however, and he's an accredited-bred, so that shows what a nice colt he is.”

Thedayofthegrey, a striking deep grey gelding who dons a white hood with can't-see-back blinkers over a white bridle, now has $85,500 in career earnings as a result of today's triumph.

Pacific Coast gave an impressive showing of herself in the 53rd running of the Best of Ohio Miss Ohio Stakes, flying under the wire in 1:11.88 for rider Jose Bracho.

“Tim gave me the opportunity to ride this filly and I'm grateful for that,” Bracho said. “At the start, we got into a little bit of trouble, but once we got in the clear, by the three-eights, she just did it all by herself.”

The well-built, dark chestnut filly with the tiny star and beautifully braided mane, walked into the Thistledown winner's circle like an old campaigner for trainer Tim Hamm and owners-breeders WinStar Farm and Blazing Meadows Farm. Pacific Coast is by Exaggerator, out of the Indian Ocean mare Ocean Princess.

“Our operation started in 1992 or 1993,” Hamm stated. “We came out and watched the Best Of Ohio races at Thistledown and decided that was the way to go. We started breeding our own and our first crop was in 1995. We get our horses ready in Florida, and our partnership with WinStar has really boosted our program.”

Pacific Coast, who broke from the gate as the 6-1 choice, won by open lengths over 5-2 rival Candlelight Hours (Malcolm Franklin) with 4-1 Flatter Her Again (John McKee) third and 5-1 Squid (Luis Rivera) fourth. Pacific Coast now has $78,900 in her career coffers.

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Cox Prepares Colonel Bowman For Ellis Park Derby, Three Fillies For Groupie Doll

Meet-leading trainer Brad Cox has a barn well-stocked with 3-year-old stakes-winners, and Colonel Bowman will try to become the latest in Sunday's $200,000 RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby.

Colonel Bowman earned a shot at stakes company by taking an Ellis Park allowance race.

“He's trained very well up to the race,” said Jorge Abrego, who oversees Cox's Ellis Park operation. “It was his first time going two turns last time; he handled it very well. After the race, he came back good, breezed a couple of times really good. I'm very excited because it's a mile and an eighth. I think he'll run well. I like the horse. I'm not really scared of the competition. I think he has a big shot to win the race.”

Abrego, who was around Colonel Bowman all spring at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., says he's noticed a change.

“He gallops a mile and a half every day,” he said. “Second round, he gets stronger and stronger. I think the two turns for him is very good.”

Cox entered three horses in the $125,000 RUNHAPPY Groupie Doll for fillies and mares: stakes-winning and graded stakes-place Dreamalildreamofu, sprint specialist Lady Rocket, and Indiana Grand stakes-winner Matera, who needs a scratch to run. When it was suggested that he was going to be busy in the paddock saddling horses, Abrego quipped, “I hope it keeps me busy in the winner's circle!”

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Lady Kate Seeks A Second Groupie Doll Win At Ellis Park

Anderson Stables' Lady Kate, the 2020 RUNHAPPY Group Doll winner, is the only return winner from last year's five dirt stakes on the RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby Day card at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky. Then again, she's the only who could, with the other four stakes limited to either 2-year-olds or 3-year-olds.

Lady Kate also is seeking to become the first two-time winner of the stakes, which dates to 1987. Even Groupie Doll, the two-time Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint and champion female sprinter, only won the stakes now named for her once, that coming in 2011 as a 3-year-old. Groupie Doll also was third in 2013 en route to her second championship.

The 5-year-old Lady Kate, with Adam Beschizza to ride, goes up against familiar faces in last year's Groupie Doll runner-up New Roo and third-place Istan Council.

“She's doing well,” trainer Eddie Kenneally said of Lady Kate, who recently shipped over from his Keeneland barn. “She seems to like it here, and she was successful in the race last year and got it done first time running on this track. She's been here a few days and settled in nicely. She's been doing her breezes at Keeneland. It's a loaded race, quite a few runners in there. But I think it was a good big field here last year as well.”

After the Groupie Doll, Lady Kate finished second to champion Monomoy Girl in Churchill Downs' delayed Grade 1 La Troienne. She tired to 10th after pushing the pace in the Breeders' Cup Distaff, then in her only start this year was fifth in Aqueduct's Grade 3 Distaff Handicap in April.

“She seems to like Ellis and Churchill,” Kenneally said. “So hopefully we can repeat something like we did last year with her. But she's in great shape. She didn't have a prep for the race this year. She hasn't run since the first week of April. So she's coming in fresh with no prep. That's the only concern: She doesn't have a race under her belt coming in against horses that are fit and racing.”

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That Grade 1-placing was huge for Lady Kate, a daughter of champion Bernardini who cost $485,000 as a yearling.

“For a filly with a pedigree like her it enhances her value tremendously to be placed at all in a G1,” Kenneally said. “It stamps her value going forward. So it means a lot for those kinds of fillies. She was a high-dollar yearling and thankfully it's turned out.

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Morse Preps Verylittlecents, Texas Red Hot For Ellis Park Juvenile Stakes Tries

Randy Morse won a pair of 2-year-old maiden races at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., on July 11 with Randy Patterson's filly Verylittlecents prevailing by 2 1/4 lengths at five-eighths of a mile and Donna Clark's colt Texas Red Hot wresting victory by a head at seven-eighths of a mile. Both youngsters were making their second start.

Now Morse tries to pull off a sweep at the next level, with Verylittlecents the 2-1 favorite in the $125,000 RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Debutante and Texas Red Hot at fat 8-1 in the $125,000 RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Juvenile.

Morse is very high on Texas Red Hot, even if the Texas Red colt doesn't seem to get that much respect elsewhere.

“He's a really nice-moving colt,” he said. “I'm really high on him. He ran a really slow (speed figure) number the other day. But we'll see. I think he's pretty special. In his last race, it had rained that day. I think they'd opened (harrowed the track) up, and it still wasn't very fast, let's put it that way. It was really muddy out of the chute, and that race was seven-eighths.

“But bottom line is, he did it very professional, I thought. He was boxed in behind horses, nowhere to go. And when he did get a seam, he did what he needed to do.”

Texas Red Hot, who'd been second in his debut, made a leap forward between races. Morse expects another progression for this race, saying, “I think the farther they keep going he'll just get better and better.”

Verylittlecents finished fourth in her first start.

“She got away really bad,” he said. She had the one hole. But she's really quick. But she showed she had some class, because she kept finishing that day, where most of them when get away bad will just throw in the towel.”

Morse said she put it together in her last start. “A horse came up and hooked her, and when he asked her, she ran away from the field,” he said.

“The filly looks pretty good on paper,” Morse continued, speaking of the Debutante. “The colt, he's going to have to step up numbers-wise. But I think he's capable.

“Both of them, knock on wood, have done very well. Both of them had a really good breeze here, worked in a minute by themselves, just real easy. As hot as it's been, I haven't wanted to overdo anything with them. They're still just babies, still learning.”

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No matter what happens Sunday, Morse believes both babies have a bright future.

“This doesn't mean their whole future, this one race,” he said. “…. (but) you'd like to see them finish. This is seven-eighths of a mile. This will separate a lot of them. They're doing well. It's just a matter if they're good enough.”

Joe Talamo rides both horses.

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