Tag: Top News

Power Squeeze Makes It Three Straight With Suncoast Win

Power Squeeze may have finally put it all together in time to pick up 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks with a win in Saturday's Suncoast S. Racing along the Mid-Atlantic last season, it took the $90,000 OBSAPR grad three tries to break her maiden when she caught an off-the-turf one-mile event at Delaware Oct. 7. After a short layoff, Jorge Delgado shipped Power Squeeze south to Gulfstream where she upset the Cash Run S. at odds of 8-1 to open her 3-year-old season Jan. 1.

Second on the board at 3-1 Saturday behind last-out GII Demoiselle S. winner Life Talk (Gun Runner), Power Squeeze was always involved with the early pace and stalked from third while locked in against the fence behind pacesetter Managing Mischief (Maximus Mischief). Still caught in amongst the pack through a half in :48.94, the Delgado trainee began to find running room past the quarter pole and shot clear once space opened inside the furlong marker. 6-1 shot Whocouldaskformo barely held off 28-1 shot America's Vow to fill a pricey trifecta. 2-5 favorite Life Talk came up empty into the stretch and faded to trail the field home.

Union Rags currently sits at 32 stakes winners while Callmethesqueeze, now a producer of two stakes winners herself, has a 2-year-old Street Sense filly and a yearling Liam's Map colt still to run. She visited top freshman stallion Vino Rosso for 2024. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

 

SUNCOAST S., $100,000, Tampa Bay Downs, 2-10, 3yo, f, 1m 40y, 1:40.22, ft.
1–POWER SQUEEZE, 122, f, 3, by Union Rags
                1st Dam: Callmethesqueeze (MSW, $324,499),
                                by Awesome Again
                2nd Dam: Mop Squeezer, by Roanoke
                3rd Dam: Honey League Girl, by Honey Jay
($50,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $90,000 2yo '23 OBSAPR). O-Lea
Farms, LLC; B-Forging Oaks LLC (KY); T-Jorge Delgado; J-Daniel
Centeno. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 5-3-1-0, $188,650. *1/2 to
Call On Mischief (Into Mischief), SW, $283,237.
2–Whocouldaskformo, 120, f, 3, Uncle Mo–Midnight Belle,
by Bernardini. ($450,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). 1ST BLACK TYPE.
O-Courtlandt Farms (Donald Adam); B-Summer Wind Equine
LLC (KY); T-Claude R. McGaughey III. $20,000.
3–America's Vow, 120, f, 3, Constitution–Cloudy Vow, by
Broken Vow. 1ST BLACK TYPE. O/B-Patricia Pavlish (KY);
T-Timothy E. Hamm. $10,000.
Margins: 2 3/4, HD, 3/4. Odds: 3.00, 6.00, 28.70.
Also Ran: Managing Mischief, Gorgeous Girl, Life Talk.

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Oaklawn Adding Two Race Days

Oaklawn Park is adding two race days to their calendar–Sunday, Apr. 7 and Sunday, May 5–to make up for recent cancellations due to inclement weather.

“We are excited to announce the two additional dates of Apr. 7 and May 5 to Oaklawn's 2023-2024 racing calendar,” said Oaklawn President Louis Cella. “Thoroughbred racing is the heart and soul of Oaklawn, and adding these days provides even more opportunities for faithful fans to cheer on their favorite horses and for our horsemen to compete for additional purses.”

Oaklawn will race four days a week, Thursday through Sunday, for a period of three weeks beginning Mar. 7. The Apr. 7 addition will conclude four days of live racing that week. Oaklawn was originally set to close on Kentucky Derby day, Saturday, May 4.

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Straight No Chaser, Off Since Breakthrough Performance on Preakness Undercard, Back Galloping at Santa Anita

Straight No Chaser (h, 5, Speightster–Margarita Friday, by Johannesburg), unraced since posting a powerhouse, front-running victory in the GIII Maryland Sprint S. on last spring's GI Preakness S. undercard, is on the comeback trail for trainer Dan Blacker.

After stopping the clock for six furlongs in a razor sharp 1:08.27 and earning a career-best 107 Beyer Speed Figure in that 7 1/2-length decision at Pimlico, an undisclosed party agreed to purchase a minority interest in the MyRacehorse colorbearer. The deal, however, was called off after a positron emission tomography (PET) scan in a pre-purchase exam in June revealed “some abnormalities in a sesamoid,” per Blacker.

“Even though the horse was sound, it was the early stages of something that would've likely developed into an issue,” Blacker said. “And when you're dealing with sesamoids, it's significant. As a trainer, that's why the PET scan has been such a game changer for us at Santa Anita. It could show the initial stages of a training injury like this.”

He continued, “For me, it was an easy decision giving him time off. We had hoped to give him 90 days initially, but when we rescanned him (after 90 days), there was still activity in that same spot. So, we just gave him more time. The unfortunate thing with sesamoids is that they take time.”

In Straight No Chaser's case, six months' time, to be exact. Given the green light to resume training following a clean PET scan, the bay is now nearing his first workout back at Santa Anita, Blacker reports.

“He's been training as good as ever,” Blacker said. “He looks super out there on the track. Obviously, we've lost a bit of time training wise just because all of the wet weather recently, but he's getting close to being ready to breeze. He certainly looks as good if not better than ever. We'll let the workouts be the real judge of where he's at though.”

Hailing from the second crop of Speightster, Straight No Chaser is one of two graded winners for the late son of Speightstown, who was euthanized following a stall accident at Northern Dawn Farm in Ontario in 2022.

Bred in Kentucky by John Eaton and Steve Laymon, he was produced by the winning Johannesburg mare Margarita Friday. She is also responsible for the stakes winner Hangover Saturday (Pomeroy). This is the extended female family of two-time champion sprinter Housebuster.

Straight No Chaser brought $110,000 from MyRacehorse as a Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-old following a :10 2/5 breeze for consignor Paul Sharp.

He currently sports a career record of 7-4-0-1 and earnings of $245,800. His resume also includes a debut maiden win over the Del Mar lawn, a pair of optional claiming wins at Santa Anita and Oaklawn and a third-place finish as the favorite in last year's GIII Palos Verdes S.

Straight No Chaser's aforementioned win in the Maryland Sprint was further flattered when the distant third-place finisher that day Nakatomi (Firing Line) subsequently placed a close third in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Santa Anita.

“It's great as a trainer when you have patient owners and I'm really grateful to have owners like MyRacehorse,” Blacker concluded. “To me, he's always been a horse that is gonna keep improving with age. I'm excited to get him back to the races.”

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The Jockey Club’s Nancy Kelly Passes Away Following Long Illness

Edited Press Release

Nancy C. Kelly, who helped raise millions of dollars for equine research and for individuals in need throughout the Thoroughbred industry over the course of a 32-year career at The Jockey Club, died Feb. 9 in Garden City Park, NY.

Kelly was 71 years old and had been battling ovarian cancer since February 2019, approximately one year after she retired.

As the vice president of development for Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and the executive director of The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation, Kelly organized countless fund-raising events ranging from golf tournaments and ladies' luncheons to formal gala dinners. She also managed domestic and international racing conferences, including The Jockey Club's annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing and multiple editions of the Pan Am Conference in New York City.

Kelly had worked in the clubhouse relations department of The New York Racing Association before The Jockey Club chairman Odgen Mills (Dinny) Phipps, who became a longtime friend and cherished colleague, recruited her to join The Jockey Club staff in 1985.

“Nancy had hundreds if not thousands of friends throughout the Thoroughbred industry, and she was as universally respected and admired as much as anyone I've ever known,” said Stuart S. Janney III, the chairman of The Jockey Club. “She was the face of The Jockey Club in many ways and no one was ever a better representative of our organization. Our sincere condolences go out to her entire family.”

Kelly, a native of New Hyde Park, NY, and a resident of Westbury, NY, maintained a long-standing and deep appreciation for the backstretch community and served in a variety of key volunteer roles in the creation and/or development of several Belmont Park-based organizations. Among them were the Belmont Child Care Association and the New York Race Track Chaplaincy.

She was named president of the chaplaincy shortly after retiring from The Jockey Club at the end of 2017, but stepped aside shortly thereafter due to her illness. From then on, she served as the vice president and as a board member.

“This is a sad day for anyone who ever knew Nancy and that includes all the racetrack chaplains around the country with whom she worked on a regular basis,” said Humberto Chavez, the lead chaplain and executive director of the New York Racetrack Chaplaincy. “She was a humanitarian in every sense of the word and took great joy in helping others.”

Though Kelly avoided the limelight at all costs, she was often honored by organizations and community groups for her service to the industry and nearby communities. Among many other honors, she received the Race Track Chaplaincy of America's Award of Excellence, the Jockeys' Guild's Eddie Arcaro Award (presented annually to a person who shows exceptional commitment to jockeys and the organization) and the New York Turf Writers Association's Red Smith Good Guy Award.

Kelly is survived by her sister, Fran Dtugokenski; brother-in-law, Ray Dtugokenski; nieces Lisa Locurto and Michelle Mirabile; and four grand-nieces and two grand-nephews.

Kelly's late husband, Jack Kelly, an Equibase chartcaller and field supervisor, died in November 2010 after a long battle with polycythemia.

The wake will be held Monday, February 12, at 9 a.m. at the Leo F. Kearns Funeral Home, 445 E. Meadow Avenue in East Meadow, NY. It will be followed by a Mass at 11 a.m. at St. Brigid Catholic Church, 85 Post Avenue in Westbury.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation, the New York Race Track Chaplaincy, or the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

Donations in Nancy Kelly's name can be made to The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation through its website tjcfoundation.org or by check, payable to The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation and mailed to The Jockey Club Safety Foundation, 250 Park Avenue, Suite 2020, New York, NY 10177.

Donations in her name to the New York Racetrack Chaplaincy can be made through its website rtcany.org or by sending a check, payable to the New York Racetrack Chaplaincy, to the New York Racetrack Chaplaincy, PO Box 37191, Elmont NY, 11003.

Donations in her name to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center can be made at giving.mskcc.org or by sending a check, payable to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Office of Development, PO Box 27106, New York, NY, 10087.

 

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