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Barn Notes: Thursday, July 22, 2010
In Today’s Notes:
· Workin for Hops Movin Toward Fourth Mid-America Triple Sweep
· Pedro Kept
WORKIN FOR HOPS MOVING TOWARD FOURTH MID-AMERICA TRIPLE SWEEP
Estrorace LLC’s Workin for Hops, who won Saturday’s Grade II American Derby after annexing the 75th renewal of the Arlington Classic on May 22, is now in the position to become the fourth horse in history to win
The first horse to sweep the
That left Tom Rolfe with the unenviable task of winning races at nine furlongs, eight furlongs and 10 furlongs respectively, but Tom Rolfe was up to it.
The Ribot colt had finished third in the Kentucky Derby that spring after being blocked turning for home, but was coming again in the late stages. He had won the Preakness and then finished second in the
Given a breather after the Triple Crown, Tom Rolfe had resumed preparations for the Mid-America Triple by winning the $50,000 Citation at
Jockey Bill Shoemaker, already elected to the Hall of Fame seven years earlier, had replaced Ron Turcotte as the rider for Tom Rolfe in time for the Mid-America Triple, and on Aug. 7, the pair won the Chicagoan in a time of 1:47.2, a fifth of a second off Round Table’s track record.
Sent back at the one-mile distance on Aug. 28 for the Arlington Classic, Tom Rolfe got the eight panels over a dull track in 1:34.4 while carrying 124 pounds.
The American Derby came on Sept. 13, and once again, although carrying 124 pounds with the rest of the field at 114, Tom Rolfe was up to the task, touring the
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Barn Notes
July 22, 2010
Page 2
Earlier that year, Tom Rolfe’s owner, Raymond Guest, had been appointed Ambassador to
A decision was made to send the colt to
The following year, in 1966, the Arlington Classic was the first leg of the Mid-America Triple, and enjoyed one of its finest renewals, featuring Kentucky Derby winner Kauai King, owned by Michael Ford; and Jersey Derby winner Crème de la Crème, who raced in the silks of Bwamazon Farm. But it was Ogden Phipps’ Buckpasser, who had been sidelined from the Triple Crown after winning the Flamingo that winter, who was the horse to beat.
A son of Tom Fool, Buckpasser had prepped for the Mid-America Triple by winning the $50,000 Leonard Richards at
Buckpasser stayed at
Buckpasser eventually ran his victory streak to 13, and when it was broken, it was because he had been asked to switch to the grass for the first time in his career in
PEDRO KEPT
Hall of Fame jockey Earlie Fires, who retired in 2008 as Arlington’s all-time leading rider and combined with his Kentucky-based trainer brother Jinks to win Arlington’s 2007 Grade III Hanshin Cup with Robert Yagos’ Spotsgone, left a third brother Edgar “Pedro” Fires as an active member of Arlington’s starting gate crew until this season.
Last Sunday,
“I didn’t know anything about all this,” said a surprised “Pedro” Fires immediately after posing in the winner’s circle with brother Earlie and the
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