** To watch video of Forever Together enjoying a pint of Guinness with her dinner please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nILpow_mpnU **
**Please see attached photos of trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey Rajiv Maragh in action during Wednesday evening’s charity basketball game, credit NYRA Photo**
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Contact: NYRA Press Office
(518) 584-6100, ext. 4237
- Mine That Bird works 6 furlongs in lead up to Whitney
- Jocks beat horsemen in charity basketball game
- Guinness is good for two-time Diana winner Forever Together
- Maram takes on top fillies in Diana
- Perfect Shirl emerges from
- Seven off-the-turf races in first four days qualify for purse bonus
- Winslow Homer tops Sunday’s Curlin Stakes
- Warrior’s Reward works toward Forego; Bear Path targets Sword Dancer
“I was real pleased – I thought it was his best work yet,” said Lukas of the move, which was the lone workout at the distance over the course. “We won’t work him between now and the Whitney.”
Lukas was also happy with the 4-year-old gelding’s recent physical development.
“He’s put on a lot of weight and muscle,” said Lukas. “Calvin remarked about how much he has changed.”
With the Whitney expected to draw
“We’re definitely going into the deep end,” said Lukas. “You can’t go into a race like this soft.”
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There was some good-natured grumbling among trainers Thursday morning following the Saratoga Jockeys’ 45-41 victory over the Saratoga Horsemen the previous evening in a charity basketball game, primarily directed at several 6-foot-plus players, one of whom was purported to be an apprentice rider at Suffolk Downs.
“It was hard to out-rebound them when they had three players over 6-foot-6,” said trainer Todd Pletcher, who scored an early three-pointer and led his team in fouls. “And some of those jockeys are pretty quick. It was a good time, and hopefully we raised some money for a good cause.”
WinStar Farms’ racing manager Elliott Walden and trainer Billy Badgett were the standouts for the horsemen, while Eibar Coa, Kent Desormeaux, and Victor Santiago led the local jockeys.
Kiaran McLaughlin coached the horsemen, while Hall of Famer Angel Cordero, Jr. coached the jockeys in the game, which raised money for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys’ Fund and the Racetrack Chaplaincy.
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“Guinness used to use the slogan ‘Guinness is good for you,’ and apparently it is,” said Forever Together’s Hall of Fame trainer, Jonathan Sheppard. “My grandmother died 20 years ago at the age of 96. She lived in a small town in the country [in
And Guinness has been good for Forever Together, too. The mare used to overheat because she wouldn’t sweat, but the mare has perspired properly ever since Sheppard started adding the stout to her feed. The tactic has worked brilliantly as Forever Together received Champion Female Turf Horse honors in 2008 and has earned nearly $2.9 million to date.
“It’s a good additive,” said Sheppard of Guinness, which consists of malted and roasted barley, hops, water, and yeast. “It definitely helps horses who don’t sweat properly, and I think it helps their appetite, too. Usually darker foods and liquids are richer. The lager type beers are basically like ginger ale.”
And Guinness will give Forever Together extra incentive to win Saturday’s Diana.
“If she doesn’t run well,” said Sheppard, “I’ll punish her by giving her Budweiser or Bud Light!”
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Chad Brown, who entered Thursday’s card tied with Todd Pletcher for the lead among trainers with four victories, decided at the last minute to enter Maram, who is 2-for-2 over the turf at
“I’ve stopped being conservative,” said Brown of Maram, who in two starts this year finished second in the Eatontown Stakes and won the Ms. Liberty on July 4, both at Monmouth Park. “She’s going to run with good fillies – I’m not going to duck anyone.”
Brown, who grew up in nearby
“She’s showing me she wants to run; it’s a chance to get a Grade 1; she’s 2-for-2 on the turf here; it’s her third race off a layoff, and while it’s a quality field, it’s not a large field in terms of numbers,” he said.
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Perfect Shirl, winner of Wednesday's Grade 2, $150,000
"They're back, they shipped well and everybody seems fine," Attfield said. "We'll certainly look at the [Woodford Reserve Lake Placid] as the next start for both - whether they both come or just one comes will depend on how they train from here."
The Grade 2, $150,000 Woodford Reserve Lake Placid will be run on Sunday, August 22.
* * *
Of the nine races taken off the turf during the first four days of racing at
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Sunday’s eighth race, the $75,000 Curlin for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8th miles, drew a field of eight 3-year-olds, several of whom are eyeing a possible start in the Grade 1, $1 million Travers on Saturday, August 28. Fox Hill Farms’ Winslow Homer, winner of the Grade 3 Holy Bull and third in the Grade 3 Iowa Derby, is expected to receive considerable support as he breaks from the rail with Robby Albarado aboard. Also entered, from post position 2 out, are Quiet All American, Miner’s Reserve, Regal Warrior, Westshore, Winaholic, So Elite, and Citrus Kid.
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Grade 1 Carter winner Warrior’s Reward worked a half-mile in 49.10 Thursday morning as trainer Ian Wilkes readies the 4-year-old colt for a start in the Grade 1 Forego on September 4.
The move was the second for the Medaglia d’Oro colt since his sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Met Mile behind
“We gave him 30 days off after the Met Mile,” said Wilkes of Warrior’s Reward, who finished second in last year’s Grade 2 Jim Dandy and fifth in the Grade 1 Travers. “He’s a big horse, and he’s getting more mature. He’s always been very professional.”
Warrior’s Reward began his 2010 campaign with an allowance victory at
“That was my mistake – I put him too close to the pace,” said Wilkes. “I tried to beat
Wilkes added that Bearpath, most recently fourth, beaten less than two lengths, by Gio Ponti in the Grade 1 Man o’War at
“He’s really starting to mature into a nice horse,” said Wilkes of Bearpath, who won the Grade 3 Pan American at
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