Bennett in coma after trials fall
Jockey Kristy Bennett has been placed in an induced coma with a brain bleed after a fall at the Gold Coast trials on Tuesday. Previously located in West Australia, she had recently moved to Queensland in late-May.
“I just got to the point of my life where I wanted to experience something new and have a new challenge,” she told racingqueensland.com.au about the move back in May. She has over 180 wins in WA.
Jimmysstar to miss Stradbroke
Part-owner Ozzie Kheir notified punters that Jimmysstar (NZ) (Per Incanto {USA}) will miss the G1 Stradbroke Handicap, and instead spell ahead of a spring campaign. “It was a tough call and we were 50-50 about wanting him to go on to the Stradbroke, or not wanting him to go,” Kheir told racenet.com.au.
“He would have been peaking for the Stradbroke and, even with topweight, he could have gone close to knocking off his Group 1 for the preparation. But the negative of running him in the Stradbroke was we would have lost a couple of weeks to get him ready for the best spring races.
Jimmysstar (NZ) | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“We need to get the best out of him this spring, and running him in the Stradbroke would have lost us some time. In some ways, we are sacrificing him running in the Stradbroke to give him the best chance possible in major races in the spring.”
Darmanin to return from back injury
Tasmanian jockey Anthony Darmanin returns at Hobart on Sunday after missing five months due to a fracture to his T12 vertebrae. “It’s been a long, hard road to get back, but I’m ready and raring to go in Hobart this week,” Darmanin told tasracing.com.au.
“When the injury was first diagnosed, we weren’t sure how long it (damaged disc) would take to heal. There was a loose horse on the big track that had suffered a colic attack while my horse was working on the inside sand [track]. The loose horse was trying to get up and kicked the running rail, which spooked my horse, causing it to whip around really quickly, and I came off. I landed on my back, and that caused the T12 vertebrae to rupture in the middle of my back.”
Anthony Darmanin | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“There is usually quite a bit of pain in the limbs when you resume riding trackwork from an injury like mine, but surprisingly there was only a bit of pain for the first two days, and that was it. I’ve been back riding work for nearly six weeks, and I’ve been working on my fitness, so I’ll take up to five rides at my first meeting back, if I can get that many, and we’ll go from there.”
Laing’s omen bet for Flemington
Trainer Jack Laing will run El Soleado (Toronado {USA}) at Flemington on Saturday in the same race the horse ran second in a year ago. El Soleado’s trainer Robbie Laing died in his sleep that evening and El Soleado was his final runner. “I did the maths in my head of where El Soleado was up to and I thought it was a little bit far away but he's quite an athletic horse that doesn't carry a lot of condition,” Laing told racenet.com.au.
El Soleado | Image courtesy of Racing Photos
“I thought, even without aiming for it, I wanted him to go to a pre-training place for two weeks just to build that up before he went back to the races. Because he'd been back in work a week-and-a-half from there, I thought it would be actually the most appropriate race despite the sentimental side of it.
“If there is a racing god out there, due to the timing, then you'd almost hedge your bets and be praying for him.”
Show A Heart remembered with race this weekend
Saturday’s Listed Show A Heart Stakes is a good chance for the late-sire’s connections to remember his influence. Show A Heart won Group 1 races at two, three and four, an achievement that wasn’t done again until Anamoe did the same a few years ago. "One of the things that people don't know about Show A Heart, or don't really appreciate, is how tough this horse was,” Glenlogan Park's Steve Morley told racingqueensland.com.au.
“As a 2-year-old, he ran three times in three weeks, including the Group 1 J.J Atkins, that he bolted in. As a 3-year-old, he started in an Ascot Vale (G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes) and then went on to wear the number one saddlecloth in the Victoria Derby, over 2500 metres, which is amazing.
“It's amazing for a horse who could really compete at the top level in that 1000 to 1400 metre range. As an early 4-year-old, he went over to Hong Kong and competed. Then, by the end of his racing career, he was still there battling it out. At his second-last start, he ran second in the Doomben 10,000 behind Falvelon. Then, in his final start, he beat Falvelon in the Group 1 Stradbroke. So, just that whole career was something very special and I don't think I've seen another horse do that.”
Part-owner Judy Cutts credits her late husband Ross with breeding Show A Heart. “All accolades go to Ross for breeding Show A Heart,” Cutts said.
“We raced Show A Heart's mother, Miss Sandman, who won 12. We raced her sire, as well. So, we've had a long connection with the family of Show A Heart. We just loved him. As a horse, as an animal, he's a treasure to not just our family, but I know how Steve Morley feels with the breeding side of things. He's just the best we've had. It's heartfelt, that's what it is.
“It was a surprise when they first reached out to me about (him getting a race named in his honour). It was the night of his induction into the Hall of Fame a few years ago, the committee came and saw me and said what they had in mind. I didn't put two and two together that if you get inducted into the Hall of Fame, you get a race named after the horse.” The inaugural Show A Heart Stakes (formerly The Phoenix) was won last year by Sunrays (Hellbent).
Double for The Autumn Sun at Kembla Grange
On Tuesday at Kembla Grange, The Autumn Sun celebrated a double. Team Hawkes-trained Five Of A Kind won her maiden at her fourth start. Mitchell Beer and George Carpenter-trained 3-year-old filly Autumn Blonde added her second career victory. She was purchased by Tricolours Racing at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale from Arrowfield Stud’s draft for $80,000.
Autumn Blonde is the first foal of unraced Tall Blonde (Shalaa {Ire}) who is a half-sister to Doubtland and Listed winner Pretty Fast (Not A Single Doubt).
Newnham pair to close gap on Trainer’s table
Mark Newnham has a strong pair of runners for Happy Valley on Wednesday being Armor Golden Eagle (NZ) (Ace High) and Loving Vibes (Zoustar). He’s currently third on the Trainer’s Premiership with 55 wins, with Caspar Fownes leading on 58 wins. “Armor Golden Eagle had to win to get into Class Two – he won and he won well, and pulled up well. So it’s a good opportunity for him – especially to test him at that level and up to 1800m,” Newnham told scmp.com.
Mark Newnham | Image courtesy of The Hong Kong Jockey Club
“So far this season my horses stepping into Class Two with light weights have done well. He’s in good form since switching to Happy Valley, he’s three wins and a third from his four starts, so he’s good around Happy Valley. He might be catching some horses at the end of a busy season while he’s still on the up.”
Renegade favourite for Belmont Stakes
Golden Tempo (Curlin) and Renegade (Into Mischief), the top two finishers in the GI Kentucky Derby are poised for a rematch in the GI Belmont Stakes Saturday at America's oldest race track, where many titans of the sport have done battle over three centuries.
Separated by a neck in the dramatic finish of the Derby, Golden Tempo and Renegade are in leading positions of an up-for-grabs 3-year-old division. They are the headliners of the 158th running of the Belmont, which will be contested for the third and final time at Saratoga during the complete rebuild of Belmont Park.
A field of nine was entered for the post-position draw Monday, which was held at the Universal Preservation Hall downtown. The race, which has a scheduled post time of 7:04 p.m., will be run at 1 1/4 miles. The standard Belmont distance since 1926 is 1 1/2 miles, but it cannot be run at 12 furlongs over the 1 1/8 miles dirt course at Saratoga.
Renegade drew post four and was installed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the Belmont by New York Racing Association odds maker David Aragona.
Golden Tempo's last-to-first rally under Jose Ortiz was a historic milestone, making Cherie DeVaux the first woman to train a Derby winner. DeVaux prepped Golden Tempo for the Belmont at her base at Keeneland Race Course. He worked a half-mile under Ortiz in :48.20 Saturday and shipped Sunday to Saratoga where he will try to become the 13th horse to complete the Derby-Belmont double.
DeVaux said she is pleased with the way her colt has come out of the Derby. “He has really improved physically and mentally,” she said. “He was starting that upward trend going into the Derby and he has continued that.”
James Ferguson to finish up training
English trainer James Ferguson has announced that he will cease training at the end of July after accepting an “an offer that, upon reflection, I simply could not refuse” to work in the bloodstock insurance industry with a company operating on the international stage.
“Training racehorses has been both a dream and a privilege, and the last seven years have brought me more enjoyment, fulfilment and memories than I could ever have imagined,” said Ferguson, who has spent his entire training career in Newmarket.
“I want to be clear that this decision is driven by the opportunity I have been offered, not by any lack of belief in the sport, nor any sense of disappointment. I'm leaving proud of what we've achieved and hugely grateful to everyone who made it possible.”
Ferguson, who was previously pupil assistant to Sir Mark Prescott and an assistant trainer with Godolphin, sent out his first runner in November 2019. He landed a breakthrough Group 1 victory with El Bodegon in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud in October 2021, and he also sent out Group winners Deauville Legend, the winner of the G2 Great Voltigeur Stakes who was later fourth in the Melbourne Cup, and Mise En Scene.
Win and You’re In for Eccentric
Haras Don Alberto's homebred Eccentric (Chi) (Ivan Denisovich {Ire}) clinched a spot in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf after posting a victory in Sunday's 'Win and You're In' G1 Gran Premio Club Hipico Falabella over 2000 metres at Club Hípico de Santiago.
The Breeders' Cup Turf will prove a challenge for the filly, but she has proven consistent, finishing fifth in the GI El Derby, her lone off-the-board finish in 12 starts. The Feb. 21 Derby was over the same 1 1/2 miles as the Breeders' Cup Turf, however, she was only beaten 2.5 lengths that day. Her other start at 12 furlongs was a third in Grade I company last October.
Cotto injured in trackwork collision
A fundraising effort is underway to help 26-year-old exercise rider Hector Cotto, who has been hospitalized in Philadelphia since Saturday after being unable to avoid a head-on collision with a loose horse while he was breezing another Thoroughbred during morning training at Parx.
Chelsea Hackbarth of the Paulick Report broke the story on Monday about the May 30 accident, which reportedly resulted in the deaths of the two horses involved. TDN could not confirm the names of the deceased horses prior to deadline for this story.
Hackbarth quoted trainer Robert Reid, Jr., who said that Cotto was breezing one of the horses in his stable near the head of the stretch when another horse got loose and careened toward Cotto's mount. Cotto attempted to get out of the way but couldn't, and suffered “multiple fractures to his jaw, one arm, and several ribs,” the Paulick Report story stated.
