Friday, October 22, 2010
Contact: NYRA Press Office
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- Banrock back on worktab; Get Stormy will prepare for Breeders’ Cup Mile in Kentucky
- Fields coming together for closing weekend at
- Fort Hughes eyeing Nashua
ELMONT, N.Y. – Notably absent from Saturday’s Mohawk field is Nyala Farm’s 7-year-old turf veteran Banrock, who has competed in the race each of the last three years, winning it for the first time in 2009 as part of his sweep of all four turf route stakes for New York-breds on the NYRA circuit that year.
Sidelined by a virus earlier this fall which caused him to miss a planned engagement in the Ashley T. Cole on September 12, Banrock worked three furlongs over the main track at
“We never figured out exactly what it was, but it was obviously some kind of intestinal problem,” said trainer Tom Bush. “He spent a week or so at New Bolton, but he’s been back here for six or seven weeks and he’s doing well again.”
Though he has no plans for Banrock, Bush said he might consider taking the horse to
“We’re just going to take it day by day,” said Bush. “He actually breezed a little slower than I wanted on Wednesday, but he’s not a fabulous work horse on dirt anyway. It’s certainly a possibility we would take him to
Bush also reported that Sullimar Stable’s Get Stormy, a three-time stakes winner on the turf in New York who picked up a pair of Grade 2 victories at Saratoga this summer in the Fourstardave and Bernard Baruch, exited his fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile in good shape and would remain in Kentucky until the Breeders’ Cup Mile on November 6.
“I don’t think anyone was going to beat Gio Ponti in the Shadwell Mile, but Get Stormy got stuck in the pocket for awhile where he probably wasn’t all that comfortable to begin with,” said Bush. “When he tried to come out, Valenzuela [the jockey aboard third-place finisher Courageous Cat] wouldn’t let him out, which was smart for him but bad for us.”
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Closing Saturday at
A handicap for 3-year-olds and up, the Bold Ruler is expected to attract Caixa Eletronica, Half Metal Jacket, Jersey Town, Tahitian Warrior, Temecula Creek and Wildcat Brief, with Jack on the Rocks and Roaring Lion listed as possible by NYRA Stakes Coordinator Andrew Byrnes. Charles Fipke’s
In the Turnback the Alarm, a handicap for three-and-up fillies and mares, Byrnes named Banker’s Buy, Blind Date, Funny Moon, Miss Match, Our Khrysty, Starship Angel, and Way With Words to the list of probable entrants. Awesome Maria, Nicksappealinglady, and Stage Trick are possible for the race. Funny Moon looks to return to the winner’s circle for the first time since taking the Grade 2 Shuvee at Belmont on May 15, while Starship Angel, campaigned by NYKY Thoroughbred Stable, would be trying for her first graded stakes victory.
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Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said that Fort Hughes, an impressive debut winner at
The Henny Hughes colt, owned by Darley Stable, led every step of the race and hit the wire 5 ½ lengths in front of even-money favorite Rift. His winning time for the 5 ½ furlongs was 1:02.98 under Alex Solis.
“There’s not a whole lot of options this time of year,” said McLaughlin. “It’s going from a maiden to a graded stakes, but he’s a very nice horse.”
His main concern, said the trainer, would be stretching out from 5 ½ furlongs to a mile.
“The mile is a question mark, but it is a one-turn race,” he said. “We’ll see how the race comes up.”
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