** For video of Rachel Alexandra breezing on the
** For video of Phola's work for the Ballston Spa, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/nyravideo#p/a/u/0/t4-2LJBnHJI **
Monday, August 23, 2010
Contact: NYRA Press Office
(518) 584-6200, ext. 4237
- Rachel Alexandra maintains good rhythm in final workout for Personal Ensign
- First Dude to arrive at
- Phola breezes for Ballston Spa
- Divine Fortune, Sermon of Love top Turf Writers 'chase
"With her, you're very careful with the rhythm she gets into to start off," said Steve Asmussen, who trains Rachel Alexandra for Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick. "She's very strong and very physical and likes to do quite a bit. I think Shaun has done a great job with her, getting her away from the pole smoothly. And once she's into a rhythm I think it's been pretty good from there."
The Personal Ensign, which will be Rachel Alexandra's first start at 1 ¼ miles, will be contested one day after Saratoga Race Course hosts the Grade 1, $1 million Travers and four other graded stakes.
Fans of Rachel Alexandra can follow the 4-year-old filly as she readies for the Personal Ensign on her own website, "Rachel's Sandbox," a multimedia site which gives fans an interactive experience and allows them to keep up with the latest news and information.
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Trainer Dale Romans said Monday that First Dude would arrive at Saratoga Race Course on Tuesday afternoon at approximately 3 p.m. in advance of his engagement in Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million Travers Stakes.
Third in the Belmont Stakes and runner-up in the Preakness, First Dude exits a third-place finish in the Haskell Invitational on August 1. He breezed five furlongs in the slop over the main track at Churchill Downs on Saturday, clocking in at 1:01.40 in his final move for the Travers.
"He looks good and he's training well," Romans said.
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Phola tuned up for her expected start in Saturday's Grade 2 Ballston Spa with a late-morning work over the
"It looks like she handled the soft ground well, which she has done in the past," said Todd Pletcher, who trains Phola for Graydon Patterson. "I'm happy with it."
Phola began her 2010 campaign with three straight wins before being beaten a half-length by Proviso in the Grade 1 Just A Game at
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Divine Fortune, winner of the A. P. Smithwick Memorial Steeplechase, will seek his second major victory of the
Divine Fortune and Sermon of Love, winner of the $70,000 Jonathan Kiser Novice, will be coupled in the wagering as the 2-1 favorites as owner William Pape and Racing Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard attempt to continue their domination of the current Saratoga meet. The longtime owner-trainer team swept the three races to date with Divine Fortune, Sermon of Love and Lead Us Not, winner of an allowance-optional claiming race on August 12.
Divine Fortune, who again will be ridden by Danielle Hodsdon, will be attempting to extend a comeback that struck a high note with his three-quarter-length score in the 2 1/16-mile Smithwick, his first stakes victory in nearly three years. Irish jockey Brian Crowley returns aboard Sermon of Love, who surged powerfully to win the Kiser, also at 2 1/16 miles on the Mellon Turf Course.
Ken and Sarah Ramsey's Slip Away, who again will have champion jockey Paddy Young in the saddle, is 5-2 second choice as the probable pacesetter for the 2 3/8th-mile Turf Writers.
Although the 7-year-old Skip Away gelding set a slow pace in the Smithwick, he could not hold off the late charges of Divine Fortune and Arcadius and was beaten three-quarters of a length.
Also entered are Dark Equation (10-1), Seer (12-1), Swagger Stick (8-1), Arcadius (4-1), Virginia Minstrel (6-1) and Birthday Beau (30-1).
The New York Turf Writers, first run in 1938 at
Scheduled as the first race on Thursday's
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