Sunday, November 21, 2010
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AQUEDUCT RACETRACK NOTES
- Girolamo and Vineyard Haven breeze for Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile
- Dubai Dancer to get class test in Gazelle
- To Honor and Serve on target for Remsen
- Albertrani to send out Belle of the Hall, Buffum in Saturday stakes
- Bribon, Awesome Maria, Summer Laugh breeze for holiday weekend stakes
Breezing for the first time following disappointing efforts in the Breeders’ Cup, Girolamo and Vineyard Haven covered the distance in 59.67 and 59.40, respectively.
Rick Mettee, assistant to Godolphin Racing’s trainer Saeed bin Suroor, is hopeful both horses will have better fortune in the Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile than in the Breeders’ Cup, where Girolamo was 11th in the Sprint and Vineyard Haven was sixth in the Dirt Mile.
“Girolamo got an inside draw in a big field, and I don’t think he is the kind of horse who is sharp enough to stalk a 44-and-change pace,” said Mettee. “I think he has 45-and-change speed. Hopefully the mile will suit him a little better.
“Vineyard Haven was drawn outside and stalked a very fast pace. It looked like for a brief second he’d be there turning for home, but then he faded a little bit. Zito’s horse [Morning Line] was able to hang in there and finish second, but everybody else faltered in the last furlong. It looks like, on paper, that there isn’t a tremendous amount of speed going in the Cigar Mile, and he’s another one who should pull a better trip.”
Also on the worktab for Godolphin this weekend was Sara Louise, who earned a bullet for her 47.03 four-furlong breeze at
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Dubai Dancer breezed four furlongs in 49.06 yesterday as she prepares for Saturday’s Grade 1 Gazelle, which will be her first start in graded stakes company.
Owned by Darley Stable, Dubai Dancer has made four starts, finishing seventh on debut over the inner tack in January, breaking her maiden by seven lengths at Saratoga in August, earning an allowance victory at Belmont in September, and picking up a stakes victory when trying two turns for the first time in the Witches Brew at Monmouth Park on October 31.
Dubai Dancer will stretch out from one mile, 70 yards in the Witches Brew to 1 1/8 miles in the Gazelle, and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin expects the daughter of A.P. Indy to relish the additional ground.
“We’re happy the race is a mile and an eighth because she wants to run all day,” said McLaughlin. “Ramon Dominguez will ride her, and she’s doing very well.”
On Saturday, Darley Stable’s Fort Hughes, a 5 ½-length debut winner at Belmont on October 10, had his first workout since bypassing the November 6 Grade 2 Nashua at Aqueduct, breezing four furlongs in 49.07 on the Belmont training track.
“He had spiked a little temperature before the
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To Honor and Serve, an easy winner of the Grade 2 Nashua on November 6, will attempt to double his stakes tally when he competes in the Grade 2 Remsen on Saturday.
The Live Oak Plantation representative has breezed once since the Remsen, drilling three furlongs in 37.06 at
“He'll breeze tomorrow if we get a good track,” said Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. “We can’t complain about his win in the
To Honor and Serve started twice prior to his Nashua victory, finishing second to eventual Grade 3 Iroquois winner Astrology at Saratoga on August 4 and drawing clear to a 8 ¾-length score in an off-the-turf maiden event at Belmont on October 2.
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Trainer Tom Albertrani will be well-represented at Aqueduct on Saturday, with West Point Thoroughbreds Belle of the Hall in the Grade 1 Gazelle and the very promising Buffum headed to the Grade 2 Remsen.
Belle of the Hall, third in the Grade 1 Test at
“She’s doing well, and the Gazelle looked like a good spot for her,” said Albertrani, who pointed out that it will actually be her second start around two turns. She finished ninth in the $400,000 Charles Town Oaks on September 18, a seven-furlong race run around two turns.
“The race at Charles Town was her only poor performance, and she came back fine. We don’t know what happened in that race, but we’re going to try to stretch her out next weekend.”
Albertrani will saddle Darley Stable’s Buffum for the Remsen, one of the final major juvenile graded stakes remaining on the calendar.
The Bernardini colt’s debut at
His victory earned him a 96 Beyer Speed Figure. The only three juveniles with a faster Beyer this year are Breeders’ Cup Juvenile 1-2 finishers
Buffum had his final tune-up for the Remsen on Saturday, breezing five furlongs in 1:00.94, second fastest of 12 workouts at the distance over the
“His workout went very well,” said Albertrani, who also trained Bernardini. “His first race was very good, and he came out of it in great shape. We thought he deserved a shot in the Remsen.”
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Multiple graded-stakes winner Bribon breezed a half-mile Sunday morning over Belmont Park’s training track in 49.06 for next week’s Grade 1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile, which will be the 37th start of his career. Now 7, the Mark of Esteem gelding heads into the race off a late-running victory in the Grade 3 Bold Ruler on October 30.
“He’s an interesting horse,” said Todd Pletcher, who this year took over Bribon’s training for owner Derrick Smith. “He’s bred to be a turf route horse, but is at his best sprinting on the dirt. He’s a really cool horse to be around, with a great personality. He’s got a big heart, loves the game, tries hard, and is talented to go along with it.”
Second by a head in last year’s Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile and third in the 2008 edition, Bribon is 2-1-1 in four starts at the Big A, with both victories coming in optional claimers.
Also on Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile Day, Pletcher will be saddling Awesome Maria in the Grade 1 Gazelle and the juvenile duo of Summer Laugh and Tap for Luck in the Grade 2 Demoiselle.
Awesome Maria, fourth as the favorite in the Topicount overnight turf stakes at
“I am not 100 percent sure what her best distance or her best surface is; I think she is one of those rare fillies who handles a variety of surfaces and distances well,” said Pletcher of Awesome Maria, who won the one-mile Riskaverse on the turf at Saratoga Race Course in her 2010 debut, then finished third to Havre de Grace and Blind Luck in the Grade 2 Fitz Dixon Cotillion at 1 1/16 miles on the main track at Parx Racing. “I do think 1 1/8 miles on dirt, having three starts under her belt this year, should be the right combination for her.”
Summer Laugh, who has won both her starts, breezed a half-mile in 50.81 on the training track Sunday morning, while Tap for Luck, most recently second in the Grade 3 Tempted on November 6 at Aqueduct, will have her final work tomorrow, Pletcher said.
“This is a real test for 2-year-old fillies, going 1 1/8 miles,” he said. “It generally separates the fillies that just don’t want to go that far. It’s obviously late in the year but it’s pretty early in the game for all the 2-year-olds, especially the fillies. The ones that want to go that far have a big edge. With their pedigrees, we are hopeful that Tap for Luck and Summer Laugh will handle the distance.”
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Trainer Rick Dutrow plans on sending out a pair of promising juveniles next Saturday, with Paul Pompa’s
“In his training,
Dutrow also trains Grade 1 Three Chimneys Hopeful winner and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up Boys At Tosconova, who Saturday breezed a half-mile in 54.44 at the Big A, and Rustler Hustler, who is 3-1-1 from five starts, including a victory in the 1 1/16-mile Gnomes Gold overnight turf stakes at Belmont on October 31.
“He needed to breeze; he was getting to be too much of a handful in the stall,” said Dutrow of Boys At Tosconova.
While Boys At Tosconova’s next move will be heading to
“Keeping the three of them apart has been like clockwork so far,” said Dutrow. “I love my babies.”
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