Sunday, May 1, 2011
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- Caixa Eletronica in fine shape following G3
- More Than Real has first turf tune-up; other stakes starters on worktab for Pletcher
- It’s Tricky returns to work; Trappe Shot back at
- Fields taking shape for Fort Marcy, Beaugay
A 6-year-old son of Arromanches, Caixa Eletronica was claimed by Pletcher for $62,500 on behalf of owner Mike Repole two starts back at
Caixa Eletronica was able to sit just off swift early fractions of 22.34 and 44.72 set by Christmas for Liam – trained by Pletcher for the Estate of Edward P. Evans – who was closely tracked by favored Haynesfield. The front runners finished fifth and fourth, respectively, as Caixa Eletronica took command in the stretch to hit the wire three lengths in front.
“Both horses came out of it well,” said Thomas of Caixa Eletronica and Christmas for Liam. “We certainly have not lost any faith in Christmas for Liam; he may have gotten used up a little early and we’ll chalk it up to tactical error.”
While the Grade 1 Met Mile on May 30th is a potential target for Caixa Eletronica, Thomas said Christmas for Liam’s next start was undecided.
Haynesfield, the New York-bred horse of the year in 2010 who was making his season debut in the Westchester for trainer Steve Asmussen and owner Turtle Bird Stable, also emerged from the race in good order, said Toby Sheets, the trainer’s
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Celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s 2010 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner More Than Real breezed on the
“It’s very exciting to have a Breeders’ Cup winner, that’s why you’re in this game,” said Flay, who is well known for his role in many Food Network shows, including Throwdown with Bobby Flay and Iron Chef America. “More Than Real is very special to me. She spent the winter in
It was the first turf work of the year for the More Than Ready miss, who went four furlongs in 51.93 over the course labeled good. The horses that ran 2-3 behind her in the Breeders’ Cup, Winter Memories and Kathmanblu, have both already returned to win graded races in 2011.
Jonathan Thomas, assistant trainer to Pletcher, said there are no immediate plans for where the talented filly will make her 3-year-old debut. She had two previous dirt works this year, both three-furlong breezes at Palm Meadows on April 17 and April 24, before arriving at
The first stakes race for 3-year-old turf fillies at
Also on the worktab for Pletcher Sunday morning at Belmont were graded stakes winners Life At Ten and Awesome Maria, as well as Hudson Steele, who turned in his final work before a planned start in next Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Fort Marcy on the turf.
Candy DeBartolo’s Life At Ten worked for the second time since a runner-up finish in her season debut, an allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream on April 10, drilling a bullet half-mile in 47.56 over the
“We thought she went very well,” Thomas noted.
E. Paul Robsham Stables’Awesome Maria, winner of the Grade 3 Rampart at Gulfstream on April 2, also turned in her second work back, covering a half-mile on the training track in 49.03.
Finally, Hudson Steele, whom Pletcher trains for Roger Weiss, worked a half-mile toward the
“We felt it was a good work with a strong gallop out,” Thomas said. Hudson Steele won the Jersey Derby at
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Darley Stable’s It’s Tricky, winner of the Busher at Aqueduct Racetrack in January, turned in a 48.07 four-furlong breeze over Belmont Park’s training track yesterday in what was her first official workout following her fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks on April 2.
“It was nice to see her a little bit sharp and fresh,” said Artie Magnuson, assistant to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. “She’s had a few weeks between the race and her work, so that was good. We’re just trying to keep weight on her.”
Plans remain undetermined for It’s Tricky, who was unbeaten in three starts prior the Gulfstream Park Oaks.
“She’s doing very well and training well,” said Magnuson. “We’re letting her settle in. We’ll look at the 3-year-old filly races in the spring and summer, but we don’t have anything definite yet. We’ll let her tell us more.”
Magnuson added that Mill House’s Trappe Shot, winner of the
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Next weekend’s stakes offerings at Belmont Park include a pair of Grade 3 races in the Fort Marcy and the Beaugay, for fillies and mares, both at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.
According to NYRA stakes coordinator Andrew Byrnes, likely for the Fort Marcy in addition to Hudson Steele are the Barclay Tagg-trained Beau Choix, an allowance winner at Keeneland in his 2011 debut; Sal the Barber, seventh in the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap; Straight Story, winner of last year’s West Point, and either Mikoshi or Nicanor from trainer Michael Matz’s barn. Scientist is questionable.
Pointing to the Beaugay are Bet On the Blue, second by a neck at Gulfstream Park in her first start for Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens; Comic Marvel, recent allowance winner at Keeneland; the German-bred Daveron, who has won two of her three starts at Belmont; Gitchee Goomie, who won the Topicount last fall at Belmont and began her 4-year-old campaign with an optional claiming victory at Gulfstream Park, and Maram, making her first start since finishing seventh in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa at Saratoga.
Tuning up for the Beaugay this morning at Belmont Park were Bet On the Blue (6f, 1:16.05), Comic Marvel (5f, 1:03.67) and Maram (5f, 1:03.02), while Daveron went six furlongs at Fair Hill in 1:15.80 for trainer Graham Motion.
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