MiamiScreamingEagles
Global Moderator
- Jan 17, 2004
- 71,230
- 48,220
September 23, 2017
Belmont (New York):
Parx (Pennsylvania):
Delaware Park (Delaware):
Laurel (Maryland):
Gulfstream (Florida):
Arlington (Illinois):
Churchill Downs (Kentucky):
Woodbine (Toronto, Canada):
Century Downs (near Calgary, Alberta, Canada):
Belmont (New York):
- Many local riders were elsewhere today including Javier Castellano, John Velazquez, Luis Saez, in Philadelphia where the purses were far superior.
- Once again, if Joel Rosario wins early on the card he normally repeats. And once again that happened today. He won races 3 and 6.
- Paco Lopez also won twice including the $300,000 Grade II Kelso Handicap for trainer Jorge Navarro who has made some controversial headlines in recent days.
- Trainer Chad Brown added two more wins to his meet lead.
- Mid-atlantic rider Daniel Centeno rode for a rare time in New York and won race 8.
- Mike Luzzi finished 3rd in the finale on a 35-to-1 shot and paid $8.50. Luzzi doesn't get the opportunity to ride much talent but he has been in the money in three of his last six starts.
Parx (Pennsylvania):
- Philly had its signature race day and over $7,000,000 wagered with two feature races holding purses of $1,000,000.
- With all the talent on the card, only John Velazquez (races 6 and 9) and Todd Pletcher (races 7 and 9) had multiple victories.
- West Coast came off a dominant Travers victory and repeated the performance in the $1,000,000 Pennsylvania Derby at a chalky 4-to-5. Mike Smith/Bob Baffert have what will elevated into the top five echelon of current runners in North America (he was eighth prior to today). While I was all over his Travers Stakes victory at 6-to-1, I wasn't sure the colt could pull a repeat and looked at Irap (Mario Gutierrez/Doug O'Neill) who offered some value but he finished second even after an objection/inquiry. Irap suffered an injury during the race and the prognosis appears good. West Coast is now 8 6-2-0 lifetime.
- In the $1,000,000 Grade I Cotillion, 3-year-old filly It Tiz Well (Drayden van Dyke/Jerry Hollendorfer) won for the fourth time in 8 starts in 2017. Abel Tasman, the favorite, finished second and she is now 10 6-3-0 with earnings well over $1.5 million.
- My gosh, Page McKenney. What else needs to be said. Sending that beast off at 6-to-1 is wistfully criminal especially at Parx where he is now 6-for-7 lifetime. He won for the 20th time and sports a record of 20-15-4 in 51 starts. Once claimed for $16,000 in July 2013, the Pennsylvania-bred has now earned over $1.7 lifetime. That is what is known as a good purchase.
- The $2 Pick 4 after race 8 paid over $29,000.
Delaware Park (Delaware):
- A first-timer won race 5 at 34-to-1 with the longest odds on the board and paid over $70. The trainer tasted victory for the first time in 2017. The $2 tri paid over $8,000. The $1 super paid over $15,000 when three of the four highest odds managed to factor in the wager.
Laurel (Maryland):
- Kevin Gomez won the last two races and the double paid $624. One of the victories led to an astonishing 10/12/1 trifecta of $17,000+. The exacta was $726. The $1 super paid more than $22,000.
Gulfstream (Florida):
- The $.20 Pick 6 paid over $93,000.
- In the second to last race, a 24-to-1 bomb, first-time starter with the second highest odds on the board, was removed for a 4-to-5 Todd Pletcher 2-year-old. And guess who had the bomber on top?! $14.40 and $7.00 for 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Gulfstream usually isn't as generous with DQs. Damn, that would have been a whopper. You expect something more egregious when a bomb is removed. And imagine the Pick 6 with the favorite not winning that 5th leg.
- The race day opened with a 17-to-1 winner.
- In race 6, the original order was 18-to-1, 13-1, 7-1 and 16-1 which would have obliterated the tote board; however, after the first DQ of the day, the results changed to 18-1, 7-1, 16-1, 13-1. Pay outs included a $1 tri that paid over $2,700 and a $1 super for $25,000+.
- Race 9 was topped by a 58-to-1 bomber. The winner paid $118. The exacta was $1,104.30. The trifecta paid $6,703.60. The $1 super was $14,873.80. The $2 Pick 3 was $9,048.80. The double was a phenomenal $1,047.40.
Arlington (Illinois):
- The $.20 Pick 6 Jackpot paid out $142,348
- The meet ended today. Jose Valdivia, Jr. had 84 more wins than the runner up rider which is as dominating figure at a meet as I recall. According to track summaries, his 31% win percentage is the highest at the track for any meet through at least the last 40 years.
- Larry Rivelli, the leading trainer at the meet, set a track record with 79 wins.
- Hawthorne Race Course opens October 6. The racing board of Illinois meets Tuesday to discuss racing dates for 2018.
Churchill Downs (Kentucky):
- The $.50 Pick 5 after the finale paid over $42,000.
- There was a dead heat for victory in race 5.
Woodbine (Toronto, Canada):
- The $.20 Super High Five jackpot paid out $71,064.93.
- Eurico Da Silva had four victories. He has been in the money in 17 of his last 27 rides. One of the wins today was in the $125,000 feature race with Mr. Havercamp who is 3-for-3 lifetime at Woodbine (2-for-2 on turf) with his only loss at Saratoga this summer in a Grade III.
Century Downs (near Calgary, Alberta, Canada):
- A new facility debuted T-bred racing today.
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