Category Archives: News

Southern Phantom to Enter Stud in Virginia at Mountain View Equine Hospital

The 4-year-old son of Bodemeister will stand at Mountain View Equine Hospital.

  • The following appeared at bloodhorse.com and was written by
Southern Phantom, the 4-year-old son of Bodemeister  who commands attention because of his predominately white head, is moving on to a career as a stallion.

Owners Danny and Allison Caldwell will stand Southern Phantom with Dr. Wynne DiGrassie at Mountain View Equine Hospital near Steeles Tavern, Va., which is 15 minutes from the Virginia Horse Park.

 “We immediately knew Dr. DiGrassie was the perfect fit, as she shares the same passion and vision we have for Phantom’s future,” the Caldwells shared on Twitter. “We felt getting him located back east was an incredible opportunity to reach the wide variety of mares interested.”

Southern Phantom will stand at Mountain View Equine Hospital in Steeles Tavern, Virginia

Southern Equine Stables bred Southern Phantom, who got his name in a competition from Mary Beth Woods of Shreveport, La. She said the colt reminded her of “The Phantom of the Opera.”

The colt made 10 starts from 2 to 4 in New York, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas but managed two third-place finishes at best. The Caldwells bought Southern Phantom for $20,000 at the 2019 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

Southern Phantom is out of the Bernardini  daughter Out for Revenge, making him a full brother to stakes-placed winner Stronger. His second dam, Castanea, is a half sister to group 1 winner Minardi, grade 2 winner and sire Tale of the Cat , and stakes winner Spunoutacontrol, who is the dam of Fed Biz.

Dr. Wynne DiGrassie owns Mountain View, which is located in Augusta County near the Horse Center in Lexington.

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Southern Phantom retired October 20, 2020. This piece was written by Mary Rampellini at that time and appeared on the Southern Phantom Fans facebook page.

Southern Phantom failed to win in 10 starts but could still have a stud career ahead of him. Southern Phantom, the uniquely marked son of Bodemeister who commanded the attention of cameras from New York to Arkansas to Texas to Oklahoma, has been retired from racing, owner Danny Caldwell said.

Caldwell purchased Southern Phantom at auction as a racing prospect. The horse made three starts for the barn, with his best effort a fifth-place finish in a maiden special weight at Lone Star Park. Southern Phantom finished seventh at the same level in his last start, which came Sept. 16 at Remington. Overall, he ran 10 times, starting his career in New York.

“He was too spoiled to be a racehorse,” Caldwell said. “The last race, we couldn’t get him pulled up. He was going back to the barn – going to get treats. He’s pretty smart. I decided there’s no sense keeping him on the track – even though he loved it. He loved to train. He just has a mind of his own.”

Southern Phantom, a bay with an almost entirely white head, large splashes of white on his legs, and a blue eye, is currently being let down at WestWin Farms in Purcell, Okla. Although he retires a maiden, Caldwell is currently debating the best locale to stand the horse at stud – for a career that would reach beyond racing and into the show horse community.

“A lot of venues are interested because of his color and conformation,” Caldwell said. “Where the most interest is generated, we’ll see where that’s at. It could be Oklahoma.”

Mountain View has been in business 17 years and is 63 acres.

Caldwell said plans are to register Southern Phantom as a Paint, a process that he had started before the pandemic hit. He also has had blood tests taken on the horse through the University of California, Davis. They show Southern Phantom likely will pass along his coloring to his offspring and “quite often,” Caldwell said.

“As of now, we plan on keeping him and just figuring out where he would work best, what would be best for him,” Caldwell said. “I can’t wait to see his babies.”

Bloodlines Presented By Diamond B Farm’s Rowayton: Patience Helped Largent Grow Into His Pedigree

The following appeared in bloodhorse.com and was written by  | 12.16.2020 | 11:37am

Largent entered the Pegasus World Cup picture with a come-from-behind victory in the Ft. Lauderdale

Virginia-bred Largent captured the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale Stakes December 12. Photo by Ryan Thompson.

In winning the Grade 2 Ft. Lauderdale Stakes at Gulfstream Park, Largent became the second stakes winner for his dam and the 34th graded stakes winner by leading sire Into Mischief (by Harlan’s Holiday). Largent had already won restricted stakes, and the Ft. Lauderdale was his step up into the major leagues.

The hefty bay gelding took the rise of competition in stride.

Winning for the sixth time in nine starts, Largent was second in the other three races and now has earnings of $314,470. He was a growthy colt who was unraced at two, then made a pair of starts at three, winning his debut, then finishing second. Off for eight months, Largent returned to win an allowance at Gulfstream and has continued to progress through 2020.

A significant part of the reason for his improvement is that during last year’s layoff, Largent was also gelded. Co-owner Randy Gullatt of Twin Creeks Racing said that “Largent was a handful as an early 3-year-old. He’s a strong horse who was a handful in the paddock, was a handful in the morning, and his behavior got to the point of making us ask what sort of racehorse we were hoping he could be. We decided the best thing was to allow him to be the best racehorse possible, and to do that, he needed to be a gelding. He’s a completely different horse now, laid-back and quiet, a push-button performer.”

Bred in Virginia by Lazy Lane Farms, Largent is out of the Unbridled mare Life in Seattle, who won two of her four starts. After finishing fourth in her stakes debut, Life in Seattle retired to stud, presumably due to a physical issue.

As a broodmare, Life in Seattle produced the stakes winner Kona Blend (Dixieland Band) as her first foal, and the now-22-year-old mare’s last reported foal is the 4-year-old Largent, who is her second stakes winner and first graded stakes winner.

Gullatt noted that “Largent is a really good doer who carries his weight well, and he has been very sound” in training with Todd Pletcher. The Ft. Lauderdale was the fifth victory in seven starts this year for Largent, and he has made significant strides this year toward becoming the quality racehorse that the owners, Twin Creeks Racing and Eclipse Thoroughbreds, envisioned when they purchased him.

Largent is shown after winning the Bert Allen Stakes at Laurel. Photo by Jim McCue.

Twin Creeks and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners paid $460,000 for Largent at the 2017 Keeneland September sale, the sixth-highest price of the year for a yearling by Into Mischief. He was consigned by Warrendale Sales, agent.

Gullatt recalled, “I thought he was the best two-turn Into Mischief at the sale that year;” most buyers think of speed when they approach a yearling by Into Mischief, but Gullatt was coming from another angle.

“I was thinking of the Unbridled side of his pedigree,” Gullatt said, “and looking at Largent as a classic prospect over dirt. He’s trained well over dirt, but he’s been pulling us toward the turf.” The results of the Ft. Lauderdale indicate there could be further improvement in that regard, as well.

Winner of the 1990 Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic, Unbridled (Fappiano) was out of a mare by the French-bred classic influence Le Fabuleux, and Unbridled bred both speed and classic quality. He sired the winners of all the Triple Crown races, as well as the Travers and other major races at 10 furlongs and up.

Furthermore, the second dam of Largent is Life at the Top, one of the very best daughters of Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. Life at the Top twice won at the Grade 1 level (Mother Goose and Ladies Handicap), and she produced Grade 3 winner Elizabeth Bay (Mr. Prospector). The third dam is See You at the Top, by Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Riva Ridge (First Landing), and the fourth dam is Comely Nell (Commodore M.), who produced Kentucky Derby winner Bold Forbes (Irish Castle) and his winning full sister Priceless Fame, who became the dam the top English juvenile Dunbeath (Grey Dawn), the unbeaten Grade 1 winner Saratoga Six (Alydar), and his full sister Milliardaire, who became the dam of four-time Grade 1 winner Lakeway (Seattle Slew).

Largent wins the 2020 Edward P. Evans Stakes at Colonial Downs July 29. Photo by Coady Photography.

This is a high-class classic family, and “we’ve been patient with him because we’re very confident in him and the ability that we saw at the sale,” Gullatt said. “At the time (of sale) Into Mischief was forcing us into buying one by him.”

Looks like they got a good one.

Virginia-Bred Largent Helps Pletcher Bag Fourth Win Of Day In Grade 2 Ft. Lauderdale

The following appeared in The Paulick Report December 12 and came from a Gulftstream Park press release. Fort Lauderdale Stakes winner Largent is a Virginia-bred that won the Edward P. Evans Stakes at Colonial Downs this past July and the Bert Allen Stakes at Laurel in October. With the Fort Lauderdale win, he advances to the $1 Million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational January 23. The 4-year-old Into Mischief gelding was bred by Lazy Lane Farms and is trained by Todd Pletcher.    

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Twin Creeks Racing Stables’ Largent put an exclamation point on a four-win afternoon for trainer Todd Pletcher, punching his ticket to next month’s $1-million Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) with a come-from-behind victory in Saturday’s $200,000 Fort Lauderdale (G2) at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The 64th running of the 1 1/8-mile Fort Lauderdale for 3-year-olds and up on the grass was the headliner on an 11-race program featuring five stakes, four graded, worth $575,000 in purses including the $100,000 Harlan’s Holiday (G3), a prep for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) Jan. 23, won by Tax.

With Paco Lopez aboard for the first time, Largent ($35.80) swept to the lead on the far outside approaching the stretch and outran fellow longshots Breaking the Rules and Doswell late to win by two lengths in 1:46.16 over turf course rated good.

Virginia-bred Largent captured the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale Stakes December 12. Photo by Ryan Thompson.

Since the Pegasus Turf was inaugurated in 2019, the Fort Lauderdale was moved from early January to mid-December to serve as the local stepping-stone to the Pegasus Day event. Eight of the 10 horses in Saturday’s field were stakes winners, six of them in graded company led by millionaire favorite Factor This.

“Very salty field, indeed, and very fast fractions,” Pletcher said. “[Largent] is a horse that’s generally laying up close. I just told Paco, ‘It looks like there’s a lot of pace, just try to sit in the pocket,’ and he delivered a very good ride.”

“One thing is, he’s always loved Gulfstream. He’s always run very well here and we just felt like it was the right time to step up,” he added. “He’d been training great and it was the right time to see if he could step up into a big spot.”

Largent is shown after winning the Bert Allen Stakes at Laurel. Photo by Jim McCue.

It was the third career stakes win and first in graded company for Largent, who captured a pair of Virginia-bred stakes earlier this year at Colonial Downs and Laurel Park. The 4-year-old Into Mischief gelding has now won four of his five starts at Gulfstream, with one second.

“He’s always run well here and he’s a horse that has shown some talent. This was definitely his toughest task to date but he showed that he likes it here and delivered a big performance,” Pletcher said. “I think he certainly ran well enough today to earn a spot into the Pegasus, which we’d love to do.”

Lopez settled Largent in mid-pack as his Pletcher-trained stablemate, Grade 1 winner Halladay, and Factor This battled dueled on the front end through fractions of 23.22 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 46.34 for the half, going six furlongs in 1:09.62. Lopez tipped outside after saving ground early and powered through the stretch to cruise past the tiring leaders.

“[Pletcher] said, ‘Paco, there’s a lot of speed, four or five horses. Just go behind them and relax. Figure out where you are and ride your race,’” Lopez said. “He broke well, he came back and he was very comfortable. We came around horses at the top of the stretch and went on.”

Doswell, a winner of his previous two races, came up the rail to edge Breaking the Rules for second. They were followed by graded winners Spooky Channel and Channel Cat, Tide of the Sea, Halladay, Factor This, multiple graded-stakes winner Somelikeithotbrown and French Group 3 winner Delaware.

Largent wins the 2020 Edward P. Evans Stakes at Colonial Downs July 29. Photo by Coady Photography.

“There was a little bit of cut [in the ground] and they were certainly going fast enough. The key was that [Largent] was able to settle and relax early on and that allowed him to deliver a big closing kick,” Pletcher said. “Unfortunately for Halladay there was so much pace in today’s race. We didn’t want to take away his weapon, but at the same time he was probably doing a little too much early on.”

Pletcher was the trainer of Channel Cat when he ran 10th of 12 in the most recent edition of the Pegasus Turf, won in an upset by Zulu Alpha.

“With Largent, I think he certainly earned his way in and with Halladay, we’ll assess how he comes out of it,” Pletcher said. “We’ll get them home and evaluate both of them but we’ll just kind of play it by ear with Halladay.”

Virginia-Sired Mr. Buff an Unmistakable Presence in the Alex M. Robb

The following appeared at bloodhorse.com on 12/9/2020. Million dollar earning horse Mr. Buff is by Friend or Foe, who stands at Robin Mellen’s Smallwood Farm in Crozet. Mr. Buff is 3-for-7 this year and has earned $287,500. His stakes wins in 2020 include the Empire Classic Handicap at Belmont, and the Haynesfield and Jazil, both at Aqueduct. In 41 career starts, he has 15 wins and earnings of $1,220,786.   

Provided he does well in the coming days, Mr. Buff could return to Aqueduct Racetrack to head the $100,000 Alex M. Robb Stakes vs. New York-bred rivals Dec. 12.

The veteran speedster ran fifth in the Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) Dec. 5 contested on a sloppy track at Aqueduct after scoring against state-bred rivals in the Empire Classic Handicap Oct. 24 at Belmont Park. Those efforts leave him as the classiest entry for the 1 1/8-mile race Saturday, but trainer John Kimmel wants to monitor him before committing to the rapid turnaround.

“His energy level was quite high. He actually seems quite full of himself,” Kimmel said. “I’m not committed to running. We’ll get a couple more gallop days into him. The exercise rider (Jorge Munoz) that has been on him says he feels extremely energetic. He seems to be doing fine.”

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Should Mr. Buff scratch out of the Alex M. Robb, Kimmel said the Queens County Stakes Dec. 19 at Aqueduct against open company would be another option.

Owned and bred by Chester and Mary Broman, Mr. Buff has won the past two runnings of the Alex M. Robb. He notched the first of his nine stakes victories in the 2018 edition by a nose over Twisted Tom. Last year, he was an emphatic 7 1/2-length victor over Dynamax Prime.

Mr. Buff has amassed the most earnings in the field, banking $1,220,786 with a record of 41-15-7-4. He captured the Jazil Stakes in back-to-back years and won the 2020 Haynesfield Stakes by 20 lengths.

Kendrick Carmouche has been named to ride Mr. Buff.

Mr. Buff is shown winning the Empire Classic for the second straight year. photo courtesy of Adam Coglianese.

 

ENTRIES: ALEX M. ROBB S.

Aqueduct Racetrack, Saturday, December 12, 2020, Race 8

  • STK
  • 1 1/8m
  • Dirt
  • $100,000
  • 3 yo’s & up
  • 3:45 PM (local)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L
1 Sea Foam (NY) Joel Rosario 121 Christophe Clement –
2 Yankee Division (NY) Jorge A. Vargas, Jr. 121 Rudy R. Rodriguez –
3 City Man (NY) Manuel Franco 123 Christophe Clement –
4 Mr. Buff (NY) Kendrick Carmouche 126 John C. Kimmel –
5 Danny California (NY) Luis A. Rodriguez Castro 126 Orlando Noda –
6 Bankit (NY) Jose Lezcano 121 Steven M. Asmussen –

Sir Rockport, American Dubai Add More Wins To Their Impressive Resumes

Virginia-bred Sir Rockport made it 6-for-12 in 2020 on December 4 when the 8-year-old Rockport Harbor gelding finished a nose better than Calculated Thinking and two others in a three-horse photo at Penn National.

Sir Rockport (between horses) is a nose better in a three horse photo December 4 at Penn National. Photo courtesy of B&D Photography.

With the close win, Sir Rockport earned his 35th “top three” career finish, and his earnings increased to $325,806. From 68 starts, he has 15 wins, 8 seconds and a dozen third place finishes. His current year bankroll surged to $76,357. The consistent sprinter was bred by Legacy Farm & Larry Johnson and will have a new owner come next start — he was one of three horses in the field of six to be claimed for $6,250.

American Dubai, another six-digit earning horse, had a gate-to-wire performance at Remington Park the same day in a $32,000 allowance optional claimer. The 7-year-old E Dubai gelding won his ninth career race from 29 starts by a half length at the one mile, 70 yard distance. Bred by Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin, American Dubai has amassed a $533,141 bankroll from those starts, which includes a win earlier this year in the Ruidoso Sprint Handicap.

Great Camanoe wins a $47,586 allowance race at Laurel under jockey Victor Carrasco. Photo by Jim McCue.

Great Camanoe and Ready and Rich each scored allowance wins last week at Laurel and Penn respectively. The former, bred by Corner Farm and Patrick Lawley-Wakelin, wired the field in an upset that returned $34.40. The 3-year-old Tonalist gelding set the pace along the inside and crossed one length ahead of Abuelo Paps in the $47,586 race at 6 1/2-furlongs. He is 2-for-7 now with earnings of $63,915. The latter rallied from third in the turn of his $28,000, six-furlong test and won by 2 1/2 lengths. The 4-year-old Super Saver gelding was bred by Chance Farm and is owned by Four Real Stable, who collected a 25% bonus as part of the Mid-Atlantic owner’s incentive program. Ready and Rich has earned $169,088 from 30 career outs.

Rounding out the slate of Virginia-bred triumphs was Still Alive, who prevailed at Parx December 8 in a $27,000, seven-furlong starter event. The 3-year-old Midshipman filly wired the field and hit the wire a neck the best in her fourth life win. The winner was bred by Daybreak Stables and has accumulated $112,472 in earnings.

Virginia-Certified Posse Can Disco broke his maiden at Aqueduct on December 5. Photo by Adam Coglianese.

Ten Virginia-Certified horses won in the last week including Posse Can Disco, who broke his maiden at Aqueduct this past Saturday in gate-to-wire fashion, beating 12 others. The New York-bred spent a six-month residency at Woodberry Payne’s Ingleside Training Center in Montpelier Station before he started racing. Posse’s jockey Kendrick Carmouche made history of sorts later in the card when he rode his first Grade I winner ever, after competing in 20,376 races over 20 years. The 36-year-old jockey guided True Timber to victory in the $250,000, Grade I Cigar Mile.

Street Lute wins the $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship December 5 at Laurel. Photo by Jim McCue.

 

Street Lute, another Virginia-Certified horse, took down the field in the $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship December 5 at Laurel. The 2-year-old Street Magician filly beat eight others as her outstanding freshman campaign continued. She has four wins and a runner-up finish in five starts, which includes stakes wins in the Small Wonder at Delaware and Smart Halo at Laurel. The Maryland-bred was ridden by Xavier Perez, is trained by John Robb and is owned by Lucky 7 Stables. She enjoyed her Virginia residency at Diana McClure’s DMC Carousel Racing Stable in Berryville.

Of the eight other Certified wins last week, seven had their photo taken at Charles Town including Chiefs Kingdom. The 4-year-old Our Entourage filly was best in an allowance optional claimer and scored victory number seven while boosting her lifetime bankroll to $154,821. Owner/trainer David Bloom’s West Virginia-bred has two wins this year and over $50,000 in ’20 winnings.

Chiefs Kingdom, shown winning the Valentines Day Stakes at Charles Town, has 14 top-three finishes in 19 career starts. Photo by Coady Photography.

Secret Castle, another of those seven, kept rolling in 2020 with her 10th “top three” finish in 11 starts at Charles Town. The 3-year-old filly started the year out with a fifth before going on a year-sweeping run which includes a trio of wins.

Other Charles Town winners include Bronze Diva, City Princess, Auburn Mill, Firebird and Slew The Turn.

Online Betting Handle in Virginia Continues to Thrive as 2021 Nears

Online betting handle on horse racing continues to flourish in Virginia as handle figures through the first 11 months of 2020 were announced this week. The overall handle through November was $126,669,820 compared with $81,215,279 in 2019, a 55.97% increase.

Top handle producer of the four Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW) companies licensed in Virginia was TVG, whose $66,274,640 handle represents a 70.94% gain over last year. In November alone, they accepted $5,470,846 in wagers and for the year, TVG is averaging $197,834 in bets per day, highest figure of the four ADWs.

The Windmill OTB Sports Grill is inside the Dutch Inn in Collinsville. It features 45 TVs that show both sports and horse races.

Twinspires was next with $37,146,583, a 31.34% increase over last year’s $28,283,150. Xpressbet experienced a 54.26% boost, accepting $17,050,364 in wagers so far this year compared with $11,052,944 in 2019. NYRAbets, newest of the four online partners, showed a 99.42% increase with a handle of $6,198,231 versus $3,108,172 a year ago.

Over $2.57 million was wagered on horse racing action at Virginia’s seven OTBs — the four at Rosie’s Gaming Centers in New Kent, Vinton, Richmond and Hampton, and the three VA-Horseplay sites in Henrico (Breakers), Chesapeake (Buckets) and Collinsville (The Windmill). Breakers was the top handle producing venue with $544,176 during the month that featured the two-day Breeders’ Cup Championships. Buckets was next with $511,576 and the Hampton Rosie’s was third with $408,056. The Windmill OTB handled $364,965.

The Richmond Rosie’s location on Midlothian Turnpike features a video wall and many self serve terminals.

December’s stakes calendar often sees a break in major events until just after Christmas but there still is a nice selection of pre-holiday graded stakes on tap in the coming days. Gulfstream has four of them on Saturday December 12 including the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale and a trio of Grade 3’s — the Harlan’s Holiday, Rampart and Sugar Swirl.  Fair Grounds also hosts seven stakes worth a combined $750,000 that day in their Louisiana Champions Day program. The following Saturday, December 19, west coast freshmen thoroughbreds compete in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity. Gulfstream hosts the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector Stakes that afternoon.

Breakers is located in the Ollie’s Shopping Center in Henrico, at 9127 W. Broad Street between Parham and Gaskins Roads.

On December 26, Santa Anita serves up its traditional post-Christmas monster card with a trio of $300,000 Grade I events — the La Brea,  Runhappy Malibu and American Oaks. The Grade 2 San Antonio and Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile complement the Grade I showcase. Laurel also has a powerhouse program filled with eight stakes including the $150,000 Allaire duPont (Gr. 3). Seven others at $100,000 will be contested including the Gin Talking, Native Dancer and Howard County.

Virginia-Certified Air Token Wins $100,000 Concern Stakes Over Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving week saw a dozen Virginia-Certified horses reach the winner circle at Mid-Atlantic tracks including a stakes winner at Laurel and a pair of maiden special weight winners at Aqueduct and Charles Town respectively. Of the twelve wins, six were by Maryland-breds, five by West Virginia-breds and one by a New York-bred.

Air Token captured the $100,000 Concern Stakes at Laurel November 28 where he won by a neck over betting favorite Francatelli in a thrilling finish. The Maryland-bred was fresh off a pair of solid efforts at Laurel — an allowance win November 7 and a second in the Maryland Million Turf Starter Handicap October 24. Sent off at 16-1, Air Token and jockey Horacio Karamanos wore down frontrunning Francatelli and rider Trevor McCarthy on the outside to capture his fourth win from 11 starts this year. The 3-year-old Golden Lad gelding has earned $145,122 for Corrales Racing. Air Token spent his six-month Virginia residency at Horseshoe Hill Farm in Ashland.

Air Token (outside) wins the $100,000 Concern Stakes at Laurel over Francatelli. Photo by Jim McCue.

JP Racing Stables’ Perfect Munnings impressed in his lifetime debut, winning a $70,000 maiden special weight at Aqueduct by two lengths. The 2-year-old Munnings colt is trained by Todd Pletcher and was ridden by Jose Ortiz. The winner, out of Our Perfect Ten by Medaglia d’Oro, spent six months in Virginia at Ingleside Training Center in Montpelier Station.

Perfect Munnings was best in a $70,000 maiden special weight at Aqueduct. Photo by Adam Coglianese.

Heretodaygonmanana captured the other maiden special weight, a $27,000 seven-furlong race, November 26 at Charles Town. The 2-year-old Creative Cause filly, a West Virginia-bred, won for the first time in four starts. The Jeff Runco trainee was bred by O’Sullivan Farms which co-owns the horse with Huntertown Farm LLC. She spent her residency at Bel Boi Farm in Berryville.

A pair of Crystal Pickett West Virginia-bred trainees reached the winners circle at Charles Town last week. Hypothesis won a $32,500 allowance race while Buff N captured an $18,000 claiming event Thanksgiving night. The former is a 3-year-old Algorithms gelding who has been a model of consistency this year. He has three wins, four seconds and a third from nine starts. Hypothesis, who spent his residency at Whiskey Creek Farm in Berryville, has provided owner Jill Daniels $93,109 in purse winnings and three Certified bonus checks. The latter is a 3-year-old Buffum filly that has recently found her groove. She won by a nose on turkey day and in her last five outs, has a pair of wins and runner-up finishes. Buff N is owned by Eight Stone Stables.

Air Token spent his six month Virginia residency at Horseshoe Hill Farm in Ashland.

Another pair of Certified horses each won their third race of 2020 holiday week at Charles Town. Maryland-bred You Made It rebounded from sixth at the top of the stretch to reach the winners circle in a 4 1/2 furlong claiming race, her seventh lifetime triumph. Owned by Wasabi Ventures Stables, the 4-year-old Congrats filly has purse earnings of $149,002. She was bred by Larry Johnson and qualified for residency status at his Legacy Farm in Bluemont. Take Time, a 3-year-old Charitable Man gelding, was best in a seven-furlong, $19,000 claiming race. Owned, trained and bred by John Casey, Take Time resided at James Casey’s Rt. 340 Farm in Boyce prior to racing.

Other winners included Maryland-breds Tunstall, who prevailed in a $18,000 claimer for owner/trainer by Greg Viands, and Ken’s Lady, who won a 2-year-old filly maiden claimer for owner/trainer John Salzman. Merry Mery Mojo got his picture taken in a 1 1/16 miles claimer for Blue Streak Racing while Sojourner was tops in a $10,800 claimer at Penn National for owner Larry Rabhold.

Stakes participants last week included Never Enough Time, who finished second in Laurel’s Primonetta Stakes. Juba Train and Strolling Through were third and fourth respectively in the Eleanor Casey Memorial at Charles Town. Princess Theorem finished fifth in the Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill and She’s Crafty was third in Mahoning Valley’s First Lady Stakes.

The VTA’s Certified program rewards horse owners who send their babies to Virginia to spend a minimum six-month residency prior to December 31st of its 2-year-old year. Once they begin racing, owners receive a 25% bonus for wins at tracks in the Mid-Atlantic region. A complete list of Certified farms and program specifics is at vabred.org.

Thanksgiving Weekend Results In Four-Pack Of Virginia-Bred Wins

Four Virginia-bred horses reached the winners circle over Thanksgiving weekend including a pair who expanded their six-digit career bankrolls, another who scored her first lifetime win and another who stayed the course in a consistent 2020 campaign. All four won at tracks in the Mid-Atlantic region, which provided their owners a 25% bonus on top of the purse monies won courtesy of the VTA’s incentive program.

Divine Interventio’s November 27 win at Laurel pushed his bankroll to $371,884. Photo by Jim McCue.

Divine Interventio won for the ninth time and collected his 29th “top three” finish November 27 at Laurel. The 7-year-old Malibu Moon gelding got away slow in the eight-horse field of claimers and settled into sixth at the quarter mark. Jockey Katie Davis directed the comeback, guiding her charge to second at the top of the stretch before taking an inside route to pass front running Drill’s Li’l Man before the wire.

Divine Interventio’s sixth win came March 16, 2019 at Laurel. Photo by Jim McCue.

Bred by the William Backer Revocable Trust, Divine Interventio is out of the Out of Place mare, Art Show. He won for the third time this year, pushed his 2020 bankroll to $62,090 and his career earnings to $371,884.
Fly E Dubai’s gate-to-wire victory November 29 at Charles Town enabled the 6-year-old E Dubai’s career bankroll to hit the $200,000 mark. Bred by Carlos Moore & Gillian Gordon-Moore, Fly E Dubai completed the 1 1/16ths miles claimer in 1:48.55, finishing three-quarters of a length ahead of Tizezzy in earning his second straight win. Interestingly, the Anthony Farrior trainee has only raced twice at Charles Town in 55 career starts — and both resulted in the two most recent victories. Fly E Dubai, with six wins and $205,075 in earnings, is owned by James Wolf and is out of the Siphon mare, Senate Caucus.

Fly E Dubai earned a win in his first lifetime start in November, 2016 at Laurel. He has made 54 starts since. Photo by Jim McCue.

Sing Along Suzy came from four lengths back at the third fraction of her one-mile maiden claimer at Laurel November 27, took the lead at the top of the stretch and won by 1 1/2 lengths in besting ten others. The 3-year-old First Samurai filly crossed in 1:39.82 under Julian Pimentel. She was bred by Lazy Lane Farms, is trained by Kelly Rubley and is owned by Stuart Grant. She has earned $24,340 this year.

Sing Along Suzy broke her maiden at Laurel November 27 with Julian Pimentel up top. Photo by Jim McCue.

Goodluckchuck kicked off the weekend by winning for the third time this year in a $24,610, seven-furlong claimer at Laurel. The 4-year-old Big Picture gelding came from fifth at the head of the stretch, went five wide heading for the wire and crossed a length in front. Bred by Heidi Overfelt, the Rob Bailes trainee has a trio of second place finishes to complement three victories in 2020. Michael Overfelt owns Goodluckchuck who is out of the Boundary mare, Grand Scheme.

Rob Bailes trainee Goodluckchuck went 5-wide in the stretch to win November 26 at Laurel. Photo by Jim McCue.

Finite Proves Best In Chilukki; May Head West Next For La Brea

The following appeared in The Paulick Report. VTA Executive Director Debbie Easter is a co-owner of 3-year-old Munnings filly, Finite, who captured a nice Grade 3 stakes win November 21 at Churchill Downs. With the win, Finite’s bankroll stands at $757,869 from 11 career starts. Easter is one-fourth owner of the filly. 

Favored Finite closed into a swift pace, moved into contention around the turn and ran down Sanenus (CHI) near the top of the stretch to comfortably win Saturday’s 35th running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Chilukki Stakes at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., by 2 1/2 lengths at odds of 6-5.

Finite, ridden by Ricardo Santana and trained by Steve Asmussen, clocked one mile over a fast track in 1:35.53 to beat eight other fillies and mares. It was the 3-year-old filly’s fifth stakes win of her career and first against elders.

Risky Mandate led the field in the one-turn mile through swift fractions of :22.75 and :45.59 with Finite tracking in seventh down the backstretch. As she moved into contention circling around the field, Sanenus (CHI), who was sitting just off the pace-setter, grabbed the lead and crossed the six-furlong marker in 1:10.81. But the closing Finite quickly forged an advantage in upper stretch and willingly drew off thereafter.

Finite, co-owned by VTA President Debbie Easter, wins the 35th Chilukki Stakes. Photo by Coady Photography.

“We had a great trip rating behind the pace,” Santana said. “I think at this stage of her career she is just getting better. She’s only 3-years-old and today was her first time against older horses. We went one-turn today but she’s maturing and going to be really nice at longer distances, too.”

Finite banked the $59,520 first prize for owners Winchell Thoroughbreds (Ron Winchell),Thomas J. Reiman, William Dickson and Deborah A. Easter. She rewarded her backers with $4.40, $3.40 and $2.40. Sanenus (CHI), ridden by Rafael Bejarano at odds of 10-1, paid $7 and $3.80. Whoa Nellie was another 1 ¼ lengths back in third at 6-1 under Joe Rocco Jr. and returned $4.20.

Gold Standard, Grand Cru Classe, Risky Mandate, New Roo, Crazy Sexy Munny and Unique Factor completed the order of finish.

Prior to the Chilukki, Finite was the narrow runner-up finisher behind Venetian Harbor in last month’s $200,000 Raven Run (G2) at Keeneland.

Overall, Finite has won six of 11 starts and $757,869. Her previous stakes scores came in the $122,097 Rags to Riches and $300,000 Golden Rod (G2) at Churchill Downs as a 2-year-old and the $148,500 Silverbulletday and $294,000 Rachel Alexandra (G2) earlier this year at Fair Grounds.

Following her fourth-place effort in the $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) in March, Finite underwent minor ankle surgery but returned to Asmussen’s stable a few months later.

“She’s a really quality filly,” said Asmussen, who also won the 2007 Chilukki with Rolling Sea. “We had a really nice win last year at Churchill in the Golden Rod (G2) and going one-turn in the Rags to Riches. I think she had five wins in a row at one point last year. It was a disappointing race in the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) and after that is when this year was sort of turned upside down. We gave her some time off after that race and she didn’t really handle the going in her start at Kentucky Downs. In the Raven Run, she ran really well against some nice fillies that day.”

In an attempt to land a Grade 1 win to her resume, Asmussen plans to send Finite to California’s Santa Anita for a start in the $300,000 La Brea (G1) for 3-year-old fillies over seven furlongs on Dec. 26.

Finite is a chestnut daughter of Munnings out of the Tapit mare Remit and was bred in Kentucky by Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC.

Known as the Churchill Downs Distaff from 1996-2004, the Chilukki was renamed in 2005 to honor Stonerside Stable’s graded stakes-winning filly who was trained by Bob Baffert. The daughter of Cherokee Run made four starts at Churchill Downs, all of which were victories. Chilukki won the 2000 edition of this race in what would be her final start with a final time of 1:33.57 – a track record at the time.

Racing at Churchill Downs resumes Sunday with a nine-race program that begins at 1 p.m. ET. The carryover in the Single 6 Jackpot, which covers Races 4-9, is up to $162,270.

Rosie’s Gaming In Dumfries Eyes January Opening

The following appeared in the Prince William Times on 11/17/2020 and was written by Jill Palermo.

Work has begun at the Triangle Shopping Center on the new Rosie’s Gaming Emporium, which is now slated to open in early January, according to its parent company the Colonial Downs Group.

The company is holding a hiring fair today, Tuesday, Nov. 17, and plans to hire more than 100 new employees for the Dumfries site.

The company offers a minimum wage of $15 an hour for all positions. The average salary and benefits package is $42,000 for full-time workers. The job fair is being held from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today, Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 3600 Point Center Court in Dumfries.

Those interested in a job at the new Rosie’s Gaming Emporium can also apply online at www.rosiesgaming.com.

The Rosie’s Gaming Emporium in Dumfries will be the fifth Rosie’s location in Virginia and the first to open in Northern Virginia. Dumfries voters approved a ballot referendum in November 2019 to allow historical horse-race betting within the town limits.

The Dumfries location is slated to have 150 historical horse-race betting machines, which resemble slot machines, as well as a restaurant that will serve both food and beverages. The operation was estimated to generate about $55,000 a month in local tax revenue, according to earlier estimates.

The new Rosie’s was initially slated to open by the end of 2019 but was delayed because of safety precautions related to COVID-19, according to Mark Hubbard, a Colonial Downs Group spokesman.

The company’s other four locations temporarily closed in compliance with Gov. Ralph Northam’s COVID-19 shutdowns last spring, but all team members were kept on the payroll “during the duration of the shutdown,” Hubbard said.

Now that Rosie’s has reopened its other locations, all are following COVID-19 mitigation strategies that include mandatory face coverings and temperature screenings for all patrons. Tables have also been rearranged for social distancing, and extra cleaning protocols are in place, according to the company’s website.

Earlier this year, the Virginia General Assembly cleared the way for Rosie’s to open a much larger facility in Dumfries with up to 1,650 betting machines. But the company is currently focused on the Triangle Shopping Center location, which will have 150 machines, Hubbard said.