Churchill Downs To Be Barbaro’s Final Resting Place
In an announcement made Tuesday, January 29, by Barbaro’s owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson, Churchill Downs has been chosen as the final resting place of the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro.
Barbaro captured the hearts of horse racing fans around the world for waging a brave fight for survival following a horrific breakdown at the Preakness Stakes in May of 2006. After a lengthy battle with laminitis, Barbaro was euthanized and was cremated following his death on January 29, 2007.
Barbaro‘s ashes will be interred outside of Gate 1 at Churchill Downs, in a large elevated space enclosed by bricks. The site, which will be open to the public and is currently being used as a garden, will include a bronze statue of the Kentucky Derby winner that will be commissioned by the Jacksons and loaned to Churchill Downs as part of Barbaro’s official memorial site.
The popular colt, Barbaro, will become the only horse buried on the grounds of Churchill Downs to date. The adjacent Kentucky Derby Museum has the remains of four Kentucky Derby winners interred on its property — Sunny’s Halo (1983), Carry Back (1961), Swaps (1955), and Broker’s Tip (1933).
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2007 Eclipse Award Winners
Preakness Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Curlin won the Horse of the Year and 3-year-old Male honors at the 37th Annual Eclipse Awards on Monday night, January 21.
Curlin took a landslide vote over the competition in Horse of the Year voting, receiving 249 first-place votes to 12 for Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches. The 2006 Horse of the Year, Invasor, earned two votes.
Corinthian, English Channel and Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense received one each in balloting by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Daily Racing Form (DRF) and National Turf Writers Association.
Curlin dominated Street Sense and Kentucky Derby runner-up Hard Spun in voting for 3-year-old Male category. Curlin got 262 votes, Street Sense 3 and Hard Spun 1.
Curlin’s 2007 campaign were included winning the Arkansas Derby and the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
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2007 Eclipse Award Finalists
Last Friday, January 4, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, National Turf Writers Association, and Daily Racing Form announced the finalists for the 2007 Eclipse Awards. Winners will be announced at the 37th Annual Eclipse Awards Ceremony on Monday, January 21 at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
The 2007 Eclipse Award Finalists are…
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Curlin’s Racing Future Undecided
2007 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and leading candidate for Horse of the Year, Curlin‘s racing future is still undecided. According to trainer Steve Asmussen, Curlin is not immediately scheduled for active training, and will walk the shed under tack for now.
Steve Asmussen has guided Curlin’s racing career since just after the Smart Strike colt’s maiden victory at Gulfstream Park. He brought him to Fair Grounds early last season, eventually shipped him to Oaklawn to win the Rebel Stakes and Arkansas Derby, and then saddled Curlin to capture the Preakness Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup prior to the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
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Gomez Breaks Bailey’s Stakes Record With Moccasin Stakes Win
Garrett Gomez set a new record in North American horse racing when he broke Jerry Bailey‘s record for stakes wins in a year riding Spring Awakening into winning the Moccasin Stakes at Hollywood Park, Sunday, November 11th. This is Garrett Gomez’s 71st stakes win of the year.
Trained by Mike Mitchell for owner Gerald Frankel, Moccasin Stakes winner Spring Awakening covered 7 furlongs in 1:21.38 and paid $5.20, $3 and $2.40. Sindy Jacobson returned $5 and $2.60. The Golden Noodle paid $2.60 to show.
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Lava Man to start California Cup Classic but to miss 2007 Breeders’ Cup
Lava Man, the Santa Anita Handicap and Hollywood Gold Cup winner will not compete in any Breeders’ Cup race this year said Lava Man’s trainer, Doug O’Neill.
Lava Man comes form a family full of Breeders’ Cup Classic history. Owned by STD Racing and Jason Wood, Lava Man will start next in the $250,000 California Cup Classic on Saturday at Santa Anita. The gelding has lost his last twoo stars.
The California Cup Classic will give Lava Man a chance to salvage the second half of the season, which has seen the 6-year-old gelding’s form tail off remarkably after two seasons as the leader of the California handicap division.
In the Oak Tree Mile, Lava Man was beaten 4 3/4 lengths by Out of Control. Ridden by Corey Nakatani, Lava Man was third along the rail to the top of the stretch but faded through the final quarter-mile.
The California Cup Classic over 1 1/8 miles on the synthetic main track will be Lava Man’s first start in restricted company since he won the $500,000 Sunshine Millions Turf for California-breds and Florida-breds at Santa Anita in January.
A winner of 17 of 42 starts and $5,214,706, Lava Man finished second in the 2004 California Cup Classic, shortly after he won the first stakes of his career in the Derby Trial Stakes at Pomona. Since the 2004 Cal Cup, Lava Man has won 10 stakes, including six Grade 1s.
His last victory came in the Hollywood Gold Cup on June 30, which was followed by a sixth-place finish in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 19.
Tags: Breeders’ Cup, Lava Man, Breeders’ Cup Classic, Califonia Cup Classic
Speed Is Name of the Game on Monmouth’s Dirt Track
By GREG MELIKOV
Monmouth Park, host for the 24th Breeders’ Cup, has a reputation of being a fast dirt track. As one racing writer put it two months into this year’s 79-day meeting:
“Calling it speed-favoring doesn’t do it justice and the favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint will look more like a top-fuel eliminator.”
Through July 21, according to Brisnet.com, 40 percent of winners in 191 races at six furlongs (distance for BC Sprint and Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint) went wire to wire. By the time the 62nd meeting was history on Sept. 2, winners that led at every call captured 40 percent of more than 300 races.
“Records fell all over the place,” said Paul Grimm, editor of the online Oceanport Racing Report (http://oceanportracingreport.com) “I heard many complaints from owners that the strip was too fast.
“Claimers $20,000-$18,000 were running in the 1:09 range, kind of skewed many handicappers because the speed was so dominant that the bias made horses that were mediocre look better than average for a while.”
And good horses did even better, like Idiot Proof. The Hollywood-based 3-year-old rocketed to a 7 ¼-length victory in the Jersey Shore Stakes at six furlongs in 1:07 2/5 on July 4 for his fourth win five starts.
“The record that stood out is the six furlong mark, which was set by Gilded Time as a 2-year-old in 1992 – 1:07 4/5,” Grimm said. “I can remember at that time people being up upset that a 2-year-old would set such a time. I never in my lifetime thought that record would fall again.”
The outstanding performance had trainer Clifford Sise Jr. considering coming back on Oct. 27 to try the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
While there were only 27 races at 5 ½ furlongs, wire-to-wire jobs were 44 percent. Joey P., who loves the oval, broke the track record of 1:02 4/5 set last year by Man of Danger.
The 5-year-old gelding shattered the mark by a full second winning the opening day Decathlon Stakes on May 12 for his ninth victory at Monmouth Park. Don’t be surprised if the 5-year-old also shows up for the BC Sprint.
In all, there were five track records broken, including a pair on the turf.
“I will say that over the final five weeks or so the times got slower as it looked as if the dirt surface was adjusted,” Grimm pointed out. “Quarter and half-mile split times in sprints still ranged from 21 to 22 seconds and 43 to 44, but coming home was 1:11 to 1:12. At the beginning of the meet those races were finishing in 1:10.”
That’s the way one of my favorite tracks played before the main track was enlarged and redone several years ago. Gulfstream Park was known as speed favoring, especially in the first month of a meeting.
Naturally, there were complaints after the South Florida track landed the 16th Breeders’ Cup, which I covered. On that gorgeous Nov. 6 afternoon in ’99, Artax defeated Kona Gold by a half-length in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, equaling the track record of 1:07 4/5 set in ’73 by Mr. Prospector.
Since Gulfstream was renovated in time for the ’05 season it has played more fairly. Monmouth could do the same in the future since its main track was redone for the ’07 meeting.
Next: A look at Monmouth’s routes and turf races…
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Greg Melikov has been handicapping and writing about horses for decades. His articles and columns appear in print and on the Internet around the world. Greg is a retired newspaperman who became a racing fan at 13 when he saw 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation, his favorite horse, whip 20 older horses at old Arlington Park.
Tags: Breeders’ Cup, Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Monmouth Park, Gulfstream Park
Horse of the Year Invasor Retires Due To Leg Injury
2006 Horse of the Year, Invasor, officially retired Saturday after cracking a bone in his right hind ankle during a workout at Belmont Park. The injury was not life-threatening, though, and the 5-year-old horse will be sent to stud at Shadwell Farm in Lexington, Kentucky.
The injury happened while Invasor was working out in his final prep before next Saturday’s Suburban Handicap. The injury was not readily apparent but after the horse was cooling off, it appeared he was in discomfort. X-rays revealed a fracture at the top of the sesamoid, a bone in the ankle.
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Invasor, Discreet Cat Head Dubai World Cup Entries
Horse of the Year Invasor drew # 7 post position and while undefeated colt Discreet Cat got the rail when the field was drawn Wednesday for Saturday’s $6-million Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) at Nad al Sheba.
Invasor, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin for owner Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum, will be seeking to affirm his status as the world’s top racehorse when he takes on six international challengers in the 1 1/4-mile World Cup.
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Barbaro’s Resting Place Could Be Churchill Downs Along Past Kentucky Derby Winners
Barbaro‘s owners and Churchill Downs are now discussing the Kentucky Derby champ’s final resting place, which could be just a few hundred yards from the scene of his greatest triumph.
Kentucky Derby Museum, located on the grounds of the Downs, and its officials announced that they’d be “honored” if Barbaro were buried in a garden along with four other Derby winners Sunny’s Halo (1983), Carry Back (1961), Swaps (1955) and Brokers Tip (1933)
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