Racing News

He came to Harrisburg to sell some horses and really had no intention of purchasing any stock but when Paul Kelley saw Obrigado in the ring he relinquished the taut hold he had instituted on his purse strings.

“The truth of the matter is we came up there with a bunch of yearlings and were selling some other horses,” he said. “I didn’t anticipate or plan to shop for a racehorse but I happened to see this horse out on the floor and I saw who he was. He is a really good looking horse. If someone told me he was by Muscles Yankee or Donato Hanover I would believe it.

“Then I realized the horse came from Maine and although it’s been years since I raced up there, I know all the fair tracks and I’m friends with Mike Andrew and I bought a horse called Up Tempo from him about two years ago by the same sire that was also a Maine champion as a 2- and 3-year-old. I can look at those miles and kind of get a sense whether it was a great one or so-so.”

With 2013 coming to a close and racing getting ready to take an early winter break in western New York, year-end awards are something that many people look forward to. With that in mind, the members of the Upstate New York Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association have cast their votes for the top gait performers for the Batavia Downs meet as well as their pick for the top horse overall.

UNY-USHWA has named Naked News as the western New York Horse of the Year.

Naked News (1:54.1, $266,433, Passailed-Santiago Sissi) is a tough veteran race horse that made every one of his starts this year at either Buffalo Raceway or Batavia Downs. In those 39 outings, he had 10 wins, seven seconds and seven thirds for total earnings of $72,598.

Both Ronnie Wrenn, Jr. and Bruce Aldrich, Jr. are looking forward to their drive-off at Monticello Raceway on Thursday (Dec. 12).

Wrenn, the leading dash-winning driver in North America, is headed for a showdown against Bruce Aldrich, Jr., who is third in races won on the continent. Next Thursday both reinsmen will drive in every race on the card. And to be able to see two great talents go head-to-head, arguably the biggest winners will be the racing fans, both on and off-track.

On Wednesday (Dec. 4) Wrenn drove three winners at Northfield Park and Aldrich had four wins at Monticello Raceway. Both are leading drivers at their respective racetracks.

Two-year-old fillies will line up for the Hollywood Starlet (gr. I) for the last time Dec. 7. The Starlet, 32 years old and a companion race to the CashCall Futurity (gr. I), offered juveniles one last big race with which to end the season, and its roll call of winners—from Althea to Goodbye Halo toSerena's Song to Blind Luck represents true star power. However, it was one filly that didn't win the Starlet that has Thoroughbred owner Ray Struder chasing ghosts at Betfair Hollywood Park with his filly Rosalind this weekend.

Struder, like many in the industry, feels a connection to the great Landaluce. He hopes he can come full circle and help to extend her legacy far beyond the track, Hollywood Park, which will close forever at the end of the month.

Struder, 51, grew up in Knoxville, Tenn. A football injury in high school left Struder in a wheelchair. 

Life after the Breeders’ Cup seems to be going very well for a number of horses who have bounced back with big efforts following their exploits at Santa Anita Park. Three will be using the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) as a possible steppingstone to a grade I victory when they contest the $500,000 Hollywood Starlet Stakes (gr. I) at Betfair Hollywood Park Dec. 7.

While the Juvenile Fillies third-place finisher, Rosalind, will look to confirm her form from the Breeders’ Cup, two classy fillies–Concave and Untapable–will be attempting to rebound off nightmarish trips, in which they were beaten an astounding 72 3/4 lengths and 68 1/2 lengths, respectively.

But both fillies, who ran into a world of trouble, having to check and take up sharply, have proven themselves in stakes company, with Concave finishing third in the Del Mar Debutante (gr. I) and Untapable winning the Pocahontas Stakes (gr. II) at Churchill Downs.

Alexandra Jara, the 23-year-old sister of 2006 Belmont Stakes (gr. I)-winning jockey Fernando Jara, is set to make her riding debut on Dec. 8 at Hipódromo Presidente Remón in Juan Diaz, Panama.

Jara, a graduate of the Laffit Pincay Jr. Jockey School, spent two years in the well-known program that also produced her brother and generations of top riders—from current reinsmen like Jose Lezcano, Alex Solis, Cornelio Velasquez, Gabriel Saez, and Luis Saez, to Hall of Famers such as Manuel Ycaza, Braulio Baeza, and Pincay himself.

Jara was the only female to graduate from her class of 11.

Don’t look now Danny Gill but Bob Lounsbury is closing in on you and is just three training wins behind.

On Tuesday (Dec. 3) at Monticello Raceway, Lounsbury sent out seven horses and finished with four wins and two seconds and now has 179 winners for the meeting, just three wins shy of Gill’s 182.

Gill’s assistants sent out two because he wasn’t here. He’s on vacation in Florida at Disney World. However, both came up empty.

Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) winnerMucho Macho Man will return to competition in 2014 with a goal of defending his title in the $5 million race he won Nov. 2 at Santa Anita Park, according to his connections.

For a third consecutive year, the World Championships will be hosted by Santa Anita next year.

A 6-year-old son of Macho Uno  trained by Kathy Ritvo, Mucho Macho Man overcame early-season health issues and an injury to return to form late, winning the Awesome Again Stakes (gr. I) previous to his Classic triumph.

After a season of presenting races for drivers of different ethnicities, the winners of each event will convene at Monticello Raceway on Thursday (Dec. 19) to compete in the Heritage Drivers Series final, dubbed the All-America Cup.

The Heritage Drivers Series began in January and at various intervals throughout the year a different ethnic race was presented and the winners of each event earned the right to compete in the series finale.

Bruce Hollander and Cary Shapoff'sCsaba returns to graded stakes company for the first time since this summer in a title defense of the$100,000 Fred W. Hooper Handicap (gr. III) Dec. 7 at Calder Casino & Race Course.

The 123-pound highweight in a field of 10 3-year-olds and up, 4-year-old Csaba appears primed for a top effort after demolishing a Nov. 16 allowance field by 7 1/4 lengths at the Florida oval last time out. The Kitten's Joy   colt cruised wire-to-wire in hand in the 1 1/16-mile event, coming off a runner-up finish 2 1/4 lengths behind the gate-to-wire route of Sr. Quisqueyano in the Oct. 5 Quality Road Stakes going the same distance at Gulfstream Park.

Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer will have a pair of representatives—Broken Sword and Curvy Cat—as he seeks his third Bayakoa Stakes (gr. II) win in four years.

The 1 1/16-mile contest for fillies and mares, 3 years old and up is slated as the eighth race on the card Dec. 7 and has an approximate post time of 4:05 p.m. PT. The Bayakoa will be staged two races following the Hollywood Starlet Stakes (gr. I) at the soon-to-be shutteredBetfair Hollywood Park.

Hollendorfer, who won the Bayakoa with Washington Bridge in 2010 and Lady of Fifty a year ago, now rests his hopes on Broken Sword and Curvy Cat, both previous stakes winners, in the field of 10.

Stueben Jumpinjack continues to do solid work at this year's Cal Expo meeting for Gretchen Smith, as the Pacific Fella gelding has now posed for pictures following four of his last five trips to the post with James Kennedy giving directions on each occasion.

The water gets quite a bit deeper for the 5-year-old this weekend, as he steps up to the Invitational ranks. Looking to deny the sharp pacer are such heavyweights as It’s Getting Hairy and One And Only and well-regarded invaders Pancetta and Somethinginthewind.

Stueben Jumpinjack is owned in partnership by Smith and Maureen Pittaro and has been money in the bank when competing for a claiming tag at this session. He used his patented track-and-attack method to prove a punctual favorite last weekend and has earned a ticket to the rarified air of the Invite for this week’s go-around.

The two American entries drew reasonably well for the Dec. 8 Longines Hong Kong International Races, but not without a little drama for King Kreesa in the Hong Kong Mile (HK-I).

The Dec. 5 barrier draw at the Sha Tin Racecourse parade ring also set up a bit of intrigue for the Longines Hong Kong Sprint (HK-I) with Japanese star Lord Kanaloa drawing the 12 gate while Hong Kong's top threat, Lucky Nine, got a relatively cozy Post 5 in a race where the starting position can make a big difference.

The better-fancied U.S. hope is Little Mike, who will contest the Longines Hong Kong Cup (HK-I). Little Mike drew Post. 6 for the Cup, well inside reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year Military Attack in 9 and French raider Cirrus Des Aigles in gate 10.

Harness racing driver Jeff Gregory is getting nearer to racing, but still has a lot of work to do before getting to hear “go” from the starter, or his doctors.

Gregory, 47, suffered a broken left elbow in a racing accident on Sept. 6 at Freehold Raceway. The elbow shattered, requiring it to be wired together by two doctors during a lengthy surgery.

He began his rehabilitation two weeks after the procedure.

The first major event of the Gulfstream Park Championship Meet will take place Dec. 7 with the Claiming Crown, a collection of eight stakes races worth a total of $1 million.

In 2012, horses sporting the red-and-white silks of Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey and trained by Mike Maker swept four of the seven Claiming Crown events, including the $200,000 Jewel withParent's Honor. They also came within a head of winning a fifth with Major Marvelin the Emerald. The popular couple currently leads all owners in 2013 earnings with more than $11.8 million, and will have a chance to go one better in this year's Claiming Crown with contenders entered in five of the eight races.

Classified racing is coming to Freehold Raceway in 2014.

The Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association of New Jersey and Freehold Raceway have jointly announced the change.

Designating the conditions of races by ABC classification will go into effect with the 2014 meet that begins on Jan. 2. Opening day entries will close on Monday (Dec. 30) at 9 a.m.

“Our faith in the switch to classified racing at the Meadowlands yielded fuller fields, more competitive racing and increases in wagering,” said SBOANJ President Tom Luchento. “We expect it will work well at Freehold. Sometimes a change is needed to shake things up and make for better racing.”

Robert Leibner’s Gulfstream ParkMillions Turf Preview Stakes winner Bad Debt shares co-highweight assignment with Brushwood Stable’s Philly Ace in the $100,000 Tropical Turf Handicap (gr. IIIT) Dec. 7 at Calder Casino & Race Course, a race Philly Ace won in 2012 in his last start.

Trainer Christophe Clement has Pennsylvania-bred Philly Ace back in training after a layup, and will saddle the 5-year-old Smart Strike   gelding in the 1 1/8-mile turf test he took by half a length last Nov. 30.

That victory was part of a solid season for Philly Ace, who won four of six starts including the Alphabet Soup Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack. He was third in the Red Smith Handicap (gr. IIIT) won byBoisterous last year before getting his first graded score in the Tropical Turf. Brice Blanc gets the mount from Post 6 as part of a 118-pound impost.

Ron Pierce has been busy this year, so busy he didn’t realize he reached another career milestone Tuesday.

Pierce got lifetime North American win No. 9,000 yesterday when he drove No Bu to victory in the 13th race at Harrah’s Philadelphia. No Bu, trained by Rene Allard, won by a length over Sheer Brilliance in a $13,000 conditioned race at the five-eighths-mile oval.

“I didn’t even know,” Pierce said about reaching the milestone. “I guess I’ve been out there so long that everything keeps going up. I’m lucky I’m still able to do it and I’ve been really busy. I’ve been doing a lot of racing, but it doesn’t bother me. I’m in shape to do it.

Not only did Bob Johnson own, train and breed last week’s Cal Expo Invitational Trot dead-heat winners Franks Best and Inside Broadway, but these two top performers are half-brothers as they are out of the American Winner mare Inside Edition.

They square off again this Friday night.

“Inside Edition was an Open mare with a 1:57.2 mark at 4, but she developed an ankle infection which ended her career,” Johnson related. “She was retired at the Desomer Farm and bred to Armbro Scribe.”

This Week: W.N. Reynolds Memorial 3-year-old paces, Meadowlands Racetrack, East Rutherford, N.J.

Schedule of events: Meadowlands Rac

etrack will feature a pair of W.N. Reynolds Memorial stakes for 3-year-old pacers on the Saturday night (Dec. 7) card with the $58,000 (est.) contest for colts and the $50,000 (est.) race for fillies.

Versatile Angelica Zapata will try to register her fourth straight stakes victory and first career graded stakes win when she faces a full field of fillies and mares in the $100,000 My Charmer Handicap (gr. IIIT) Dec. 7 at Calder Casino & Race Course.

Herman Van Den Broeck's Angelica Zapata will return to the Calder turf for Saturday's 1 1/8-mile test after registering a one-length victory on that course in the 1 1/16-mile Capano Handicap on Nov. 2.