FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
International Festival of Racing Notes: Friday, August 15, 2014 – First Edition
In Today's Notes:
- Goldberg Throwing Out Last Race And Hoping For Rain With Tannery
- Can Sheldon Provide Big Bang in Secretariat?
- Follow the Million Day Action Via Social Media
GOLDBERG THROWING OUT LAST RACE AND HOPING FOR RAIN WITH TANNERY
There are two things that trainer Alan Goldberg thinks can help land Richard Santulli's Tannery in the winner's circle following the Grade I $750,000 Beverly D. on Saturday at Arlington International Racecourse - a willingness to throw out her last race and rain.
Tannery is one of six Grade or Group I winners in the Beverly D., Arlington's signature race for female turf horses during its International Festival of Racing, but the 5-year-old Dylan Thomas mare is coming off a last-place finish in the Diana Stakes where fellow Beverly D. entrants Somali Lemonade and Stephanie's Kitten finished one-two, respectively.
"She's training great now, you know, so I'm just throwing that last race out," Goldberg said Friday on his way to the airport for his first-ever Arlington trip. "I've trained her a long time now, and earlier in her career I would have regrouped after a race like that, but I know her well enough now to throw the race out and take another shot."
Rain wouldn't likely hurt Tannery's chances, either, as her Grade I win came on yielding ground at Woodbine for the E.P. Taylor, and she also captured the Sheepshead Bay on soft turf last year.
Goldberg said he considered the 1½-mile Grade I Sword Dancer on Sunday at Saratoga for Tannery. She finished fourth in that race last year, but the trainer thought his charge would benefit from the wider turns and 1 3/16-mile distance at Arlington.
Tannery has won seven of 23 starts and has earned $862,392.
CAN SHELDON PROVIDE BIG BANG IN SECRETARIAT?
Ninety North Racing Stable named Sheldon after Sheldon Cooper of The Big Bang Theory, and the racing partnership hopes its Purim colt will put his smarts to good use on Saturday in the Grade I $500,000 Secretariat Stakes at Arlington International Racecourse.
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International Festival of Racing Notes
Friday, August 15, 2014
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"We call him the smartest horse in the barn because he does his work in the morning then takes a nap," said Ninety North President Justin Nicholson. "My wife is a big fan of the show, and she was an astrophysics major in college, so she just loves Sheldon. We wanted to name a horse Sheldon, but not just any horse. This horse is playful and goofy, so he's Sheldon."
Sheldon Cooper would likely love the challenge of figuring out the optimum path for his equine namesake to navigate in the 1¼-mile Secretariat, but with Jim Parsons unable to make weight, Eclipse Award-winning jockey Javier Castellano has the call instead.
"Javier got to work him last time, and it was just what we were looking for and gave Castellano some confidence," Nicholson said of the bullet :59.60 move for five furlongs on the Saratoga turf Aug. 8. "Every day his neck is bowed, and he moves right into his gallop and is really, really moving well. It feels like a lot of things are falling the right way."
Sheldon took seven starts to break his maiden, but Nicholson said that was more a function of distance than talent, as the colt was second when finally stretching out to the American classic and Secretariat distance of 1¼ miles before breaking his maiden in his second try at that distance. Then he was fifth, beaten just 4½ lengths by Mr. Speaker, in the Grade I Belmont Derby, a race in which runner-up Adelaide is the morning line favorite for the Secretariat.
"If we never got that 1¼-mile grass race, he might still be a maiden," Nicholson said. "We expected him to be a long price in the Belmont Derby off just the maiden win, but he proved he belonged with some nice horses at [35.25-to-1], and with a little bit of trip help he might have been third.
"This is the last stop for 3-year-olds going long on turf for a Grade I and nice purse, so we're taking our shot."
Sheldon has won one of eight starts and has earned $127,280.
FOLLOW THE MILLION DAY ACTION VIA SOCIAL MEDIA
There will be no shortage of coverage and opinions emanating from Arlington International Racecourse on Saturday for the track's International Festival of Racing with updates aplenty expected via Facebook, Twitter, and websites such as ArlingtonPark.com and TwinSpires.com/blog.
Follow @ArlingtonRacing and @Arlington_Park for updates from the track, and follow @JohnGDooley, @HowardSudberry, @Gabby_Gaudet_, @Alyssa_Ali, @AdolphsonRacing, @betonbyrne, @JoeyDaKRacing, @MKJohnson, @ABRLive, and @EJXD2 for handicapping insights and more throughout the day.
The TwinSpires.com/blog website will provide more detailed handicapping analysis, including links to a podcast discussing the race, and Ed DeRosa's full-card selections. For handicapping information, visit Brisnet.com/derby.
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David Zenner│Senior Manager of Communications
Arlington International Racecourse
2200 W. Euclid Ave. Arlington Heights IL 60006-0007
P 847.385.7535│C: 847.371.1670 | F: 847.870.6727│E: David.Zenner@arlingtonpark.com
Twitter: @dave_zenner, @arlingtonracing
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