Tag: Thistledown

Tawny Port Whistles Home at Thistle

Saturday's GIII Ohio Derby–the lone graded event carded annually in the Buckeye State–attracted three runners who made their last start on the first Saturday in May beneath the Twin Spires in neighboring Kentucky. The trio, sent off the first, second and fourth wagering choices in the $500,000 test, would go on to combine for a trifecta that returned a chalky 14-1, as Peachtree Stable's 13-10 favorite Tawny Port (Pioneerof the Nile), a respectable seventh in the Derby, gathered up 3-2 second-elect White Abarrio (Race Day)–16th at Churchill–in the waning stages to take it by a length. Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway), who outran odds of nearly 79-1 to be 11th in the Run for the Roses, boxed on gamely for third in his first run for the Ken McPeek barn.

Tawny Port broke without incident and was happy enough to sit back in the latter half of the field as longshot Pineapple Man (Gormley) and Classic Causeway led from White Abarrio, who appeared to be falling into yet another perfect trip. Classic Causeway, who displayed a bit of a rating gear, re-engaged and poked his head in front with about five furlongs to travel and galloped them along down the backstretch, as the chief protagonists bided their time a few lengths in arrears. White Abarrio was the first to come after the front-runner at the three-eighths marker and Tawny Port was also finding his best stride while forced to cover a bit of ground on the turn. White Abarrio poked his gray snout in front between rivals at the top of the lane, but Tawny Port was doing slightly the better work to the outside and grinded out the victory.

Two-for-two over the Turfway synthetic to start his career, Tawny Port was an even fifth behind Epicenter (Not This Time) in the GII Risen Star S. Feb. 19 before returning to the Florence oval to complete the exacta underneath Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb) in the Apr. 2 GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks. Backing up on just two weeks' rest in an attempt to pick up the necessary points for a Kentucky Derby bid, the dark bay scored a one-length success in the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland. Drawn 18 of 20 in the Derby and sent off at 80.50-1–30 cents lower than the victorious Rich Strike (Keen Ice)–Tawny Port raced in the last third of the field for the opening three-quarters of a mile, came six wide for the drive and was beaten just under five lengths.

Pedigree Notes:

It has been a remarkable 2022 posthumously for Pioneerof the Nile, who passed away suddenly just over three years ago. Of course the sire of Triple Crown hero American Pharoah, Pioneerof the Nile has been represented by no fewer than nine black-type winners this season, including recent GI Acorn S. heroine Matareya, GII Summertime Oaks/GII Santa Ynez S. victress Under the Stars, GII TwinSpires Turf Sprint hero Arrest Me Red and Canoodling, winner of the GIII Megahertz S. and GIII Wilshire S. He is the sire of an additional 10 black-type performers this season alone.

Tawny Port is one of three winners from four to the races for his talented dam, a half-sister to Korean-based stakes winner and millionaire Clean Up Joy (Purge). Third dam Trust Greta bred eight winners from as many starters, including six-time GSW Surf Cat (Sir Cat) and GSW Rosie O'Greta (Fight Over). Livi Makenzie is the dam of a yearling filly by Always Dreaming from the same Empire Maker sire line as Tawny Port and foaled a colt by Global Campaign this past Apr. 25.

Saturday, Thistledown
OHIO DERBY-GIII, $500,000, Thistledown, 6-25, 3yo, 1 1/8m, 1:50.46, ft.
1–TAWNY PORT, 126, c, 3, by Pioneerof the Nile
1st Dam: Livi Makenzie (SW & MGSP, $354,069), by Macho Uno
2nd Dam: Greta's Joy, by Joyeux Danseur
3rd Dam: Trust Greta, by Centrust
($430,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Peachtree Stable; B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $300,000. Lifetime Record: 7-4-1-0, $727,000. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–White Abarrio, 126, c, 3, Race Day–Catching Diamonds, by Into Mischief. ($7,500 Ylg '20 OBSWIN; $40,000 2yo '21 OBSMAR). O-C2 Racing Stable LLC & La Milagrosa Stable, LLC; B-Spendthrift Farm, LLC (KY); T-Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.. $100,000.
3–Classic Causeway, 126, c, 3, Giant's Causeway–Private World, by Thunder Gulch. O-Kentucky West Racing LLC & Clarke M. Cooper; B-Kentucky West Racing LLC & Clarke M. Cooper Family Living Trust (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $50,000.
Margins: 1, 1 1/4, 5. Odds: 1.30, 1.50, 6.30.
Also Ran: Barese, Droppin G's, Ethereal Road, Pineapple Man. Scratched: Brigadier General. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Dooley Named Track Announcer at Horseshoe Indianapolis

John G. Dooley, a fixture in the announcer's box at numerous Midwest tracks, has been tabbed to replace Bill Downes as the voice of racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis Race Course, the former Indiana Grand Racecourse. Eric Halstrom, the vice president and general manger of the track, revealed the news in a tweet Friday afternoon.

A native of Staten Island, New York, Dooley graduated from St. John's University on Long Island and served as an intern at the Meadowlands and at the New York Racing Association before accepting his first announcer's job at Thistledown in 1991. After five years at the Cleveland-area oval and after calling the winter meet at Aqueduct in 1996 and 1997, Dooley relocated to the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and was on the mic at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie from 1997-1999.

He got his major break in the year 2000 when he was given the nod to take over announcing duties at Arlington Park when the track reopened following a two-year closure. Dooley brought the curtain down on racing at Arlington this past September.

In 2004, Dooley added the Fair Grounds to his portfolio and has called the races in New Orleans ever since. The 2022 racing season at Horseshoe Indianapolis, highlighted by the GII Indiana Derby in July, begins Apr. 19.

 

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Late Wagering Caused By Wiring Malfunction Forces Refund On Tuesday Race At Thistledown

Wagers on Tuesday's sixth race at Thistledown was refunded when it was discovered that betting was not stopped until 52 seconds after the start, reports Horse Racing Nation.

According to Patrick Ellsworth, director of racing at Thistledown, betting is typically locked when judges press a button in their stand, and another button is pressed in the tote room. In this case, wires had become dislodged. When officials became aware of the issue, a manual override was engaged to stop betting.

“The cables that had been determined to be dislodged have been replaced, tested,” Ellsworth said. “We don't anticipate this being a problem going forward, but extremely unfortunate.”

All wagers on the sixth race were refunded and the race was declared a “no contest” for wagering purposes. The issue was repaired in time for the seventh and eighth races to be held without issue.

Read more at Horse Racing Nation.

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Loose Wiring Blamed For ‘After the Bell’ Betting at Thistledown

Dislodged wiring within the United Tote Company circuitry at Thistledown resulted in betting pools remaining open for nearly a minute into a one-mile race on Tuesday. Wagering had to be manually stopped once the error was discovered mid-race, and the race was eventually declared a “no contest” for pari-mutuel purposes.

Based on pool totals shown on the Thistledown post-race video feed, this meant refunds of $82,191 in wagers for the sixth race Aug. 17.

It is unclear how much of that money was bet “after the bell.”

A lack of communication seems to have compounded the confusion, with horseplayers taking to the Internet to vent frustration and wonder what happened in the immediate aftermath of the no-contest decision, which led to a 57-minute gap until the next Thistledown race was run. The Equibase chart described it only as a “tote malfunction.”

Bill Crawford, the executive director of the Ohio State Racing Commission, did not reply to a TDN voicemail message seeking an explanation prior to Wednesday's deadline for this story.

It was up to Dave Basler, who is not a regulator, but the executive director for the Ohio Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, to first explain what happened via social media.

“Apparently, the tote system was not locked until 54 seconds after the horses broke from the gate…. Just wanted to pass along what information I do have now, as my phone has been ringing nonstop with questions,” Basler wrote in a post. He noted that purses were paid out for the race.

Later on Wednesday, Patrick Ellsworth, the director of racing at Thistledown, told Horse Racing Nation (HRN) that the betting was left open for 52 seconds, and that the cause was wiring that had come undone.

That HRN story stated that (as is typical at many North American tracks), betting is locked by stewards via a button pressed in the judges stand as soon as the race goes off. At the same time, another button is pressed in the tote room as a backup.

“The cables that had been determined to be dislodged have been replaced, tested,” Ellsworth told HRN. “We don't anticipate this being a problem going forward, but extremely unfortunate.”

The sixth race Tuesday was an Ohio-bred MSW won by Little Bita Smoke (Paddy O'Prado). The 4-year-old gelding was 0-for-10 going into the race and was listed as the second choice in the morning line behind a favored pari-mutuel coupling.

Just prior to the gates opening, Little Bita Smoke was 2-1 on the track's video feed, with the entry bet down to 3-5 odds.

Little Bita Smoke veered sharply outward at the break of the one-mile race, then gunned to a contending position on the turn and seized the lead onto the backstretch.

One clue that something might have been pari-mutuelly amiss was that no running order and odds were listed at the bottom of the track's video feed, which is customary at Thistledown.

As the field hit the far turn, the running order briefly flashed on the broadcast feed. With a tenuous lead and three furlongs left in the race, Little Bita Smoke had plunged in price to 4-5, while the entrymates were bearing down in second and third at rising 6-5 odds.

Although Little Bita Smoke eventually swatted away the advances of the entrymates and was drawing clear by 2 1/2 lengths approaching the finish, the gelding gave his would-be backers a scare by jumping tire tracks left by the starting gate just prior to the wire. The track was listed as “fast” on the chart, but rain during the race had quickly turned the track wet

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